On My Bookshelves

So Your Husband's Gone to War!

2009-05-25T15:26:00.008-04:00

This is another great book I picked up at a Memorial Day yard sale (how appropriate). It was only fifty cents, but what makes it special, besides the interesting content, is it still has the cover. That's unusual for a book going on 70 years old. When I checked on e-Bay I didn't see any that still had the cover. The book was given to someone named Emily on Christmas 1944--and I'm guessing she was entering this new experience of being the woman left behind. Oddly, the handwriting looks exactly like my mother's, who in March 1944 had to learn all the tips and tricks the author Ethel Gorham writes so well about as a war-time wife.

This was a very interesting book to research on a number of levels. I found a great review at "Library Thing" where people share reviews of books in their own collection. I particularly liked this one by a retired librarian, Mary Lou Miller, living in Nebraska:

I found the many references to WWI very interesting--because that was the "big" war of Gorham's memory, even though she was a young child then. She thought Americans wouldn't make the same mistakes--like men returning from war to find their jobs taken by women. She was obviously a career woman and she really walks a tight rope on this advice.

What a wonderful read for Memorial Day, a day when we honor the war dead, beginning with the Civil War in 1868.

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary

2009-05-24T06:41:00.007-04:00

The only thing more fun than poking around a Lakeside yard sale is finding a bargain for one dollar. This book, purchased on Oak Street near 5th on May 23, 2009 looks new. I did find some papers in it, so it has been used. When new it retails for about $25, but on used book sites it's quite a bit less.

I spent several hours looking at it last night, and although I'd planned to leave it at our lake house, I'm going to take it home and remove some less satisfactory, less readable Bible sources. Why would anyone get rid of such a nice book? I think because it is conservative. Many of the editors and writers are Baptist. The illustrations are fabulous--particularly interesting (and worth a dollar by themselves) are the entries on Ephesus, which we just visited in March. But I really appreciate its fairness--something you never find in a liberal, scholarly compilation, who like to pretend that evangelicals and fundamentalists scholars don't exist or it's an oxymoron. Here's the product review:

The Holman Bible Dictionary

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Revised and Expanded, Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England, general editors. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, 2003. (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0805428364
ISBN-13: 9780805428360
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Out the door, no room for more

2009-01-22T10:58:00.005-05:00

After getting a look at my messy bookshelves I decided it was time for a bit more culling.

Martyrs' Davy by Michael Kelly
An alphabetical life by Wendy Werris
A new prescription for women's health by Bernadine Healy
Abraham by Bruce Feiler
Working men by Michael Dorris (d. 1997)
Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
Cloud Chamber by Michael Dorris
The Crown of Columbus by Michael Dorris
A heart a cross and a flag by Peggy Noonan
This Week's short short stories by Stewart Beach, c1947
A book of the short story by E. A. Cross, c1934
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.

I suppose you can tell I loved Michael Dorris' writing. Never did believe the tales told about him after his suicide and he wasn't around to defend himself. Supposedly he was part native American, but it's hard to prove--anyone can say it. But he did adopt 3 native American children, all of whom had some problems with alcoholic birth mothers as I recall. Euro-Americans are so guilt ridden they often elevate people of native parentage to a special status. Still, I liked his writing, and he believed so passionately that he could make a difference in the life of a damaged child. Call it suicide, but I'd call it a broken heart.

And Peggy Noonan. Flippity flop, where to hop? Where will her garden grow next? Not on my bookshelves.

I've pretty much cleaned out most of my short story books, both the how-to's and the collections thereof. In the 90s I had a lot of fun writing short stories, so I liked to read other authors to see how they managed to pack a punch in a few pages. The short stories of 40-50 years ago were much better than today, but no one writes that way any more.

Bernadine Healy was head of the College of Medicine for awhile at Ohio State when I was still working. She was attractive and on TV a lot. Went on to NIH. Appears in articles from time to time.

Michael Kelly (1957-2003) was the journalist and editor (The Atlantic) the libs loved to hate because he reported on the Iraq war. Then he was killed and they were so angry because he deprived them of their favorite target. Such hysteria. As bad as BDS. May have been the start of that when they had to move on to a new host for their parasitic behavior. I don't think I ever even cracked this one open.

I think I picked up the Wendy Werris book because she used to work for Pickwick, and so did I. She has a blog that she writes in about twice a year. Tsk, tsk.

The Bruce Feiler book was for our book club. I think I missed that meeting.

Dear old Garrison Keillor. I loved to listen to his old radio show. He's wandered a bit. That movie, "Prairie Home Companion" he did a few years ago was good--sort of recaptured the feel. Some of the performers had been at Lakeside.

Sophie's world came highly recommended, and I bought it intending to read, but could never get into it. The blurb says "a wondrous journey of intellect and imagination that will make you look at life through the eyes of a child again." I suspect it was too late.

I'm trying to decide if I want to get rid of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 2 (very fat) vol., 3rd ed. You can probably get them for $2 or so--so cheap you could start a fire with them. However, because editors keep revising what is "American" you almost want to hang on to them. This edition is from the late 80s. When I pulled it off the shelf I took some time to read Anne Bradstreet's poetry about her children leaving the nest. She may have been the first to think of it as "empty nest syndrome." It's a terribly painful time. I'm sure she causes a lot of conflicted feelings among feminists--I mean, she's our earliest published woman poet, but she's so. . . so. . . womanly.

Out the door--cleaning my office

2008-12-22T15:46:00.006-05:00

All these titles looked good at the time, but I haven't read them, probably won't. So I've put them in a plastic bag, and they'll go to the library book sale next trip. It's tough culling books.

Columbus The Musical Crossroads

2008-08-29T05:49:00.002-04:00

David Meyers knows more about the Columbus music scene than anyone I know, and he has a new book in the Arcadia series, Images of America, called Columbus The Musical Crossroads. It follows the usual format of about 130 pages and 2 photos per page with text. That's probably murder for a guy like Dave who has boxes of research and documentation, but it's fun for the reader.

“Columbus has long been known for its musicians. Unlike New York, San Francisco, Kansas City, Nashville, or even Cincinnati, however, it has never had a definable “scene.” Still, some truly remarkable music has been made in this musical crossroads by the many outstanding musicians who have called it home. Since 1900, Columbus has grown from the 28th- to the 15th-largest city in the United States. During this period, it has developed into a musically vibrant community that has nurtured the talents of such artists as Elsie Janis, Ted Lewis, Nancy Wilson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Dwight Yoakam, Bow Wow, and Rascal Flatts. But, in many instances, those who chose to remain at home were as good and, perhaps, even better.”I have only leafed through it (my husband brought it back to Lakeside with him), but I think Columbus boomers will get a kick out of Chapter 8, "Out of the Garage," which features the local high school rock and roll bands of the 1960s.

Dantes

Other Columbus teen bands of the 60s: The Triumphs; Vadicans; The 5th Order (Electras); The Grayps; The Rebounds; The Epics; The Shilohs; The Toads; The Thirteenth Dilemmas; The Dubonnets (Phantom Duck); The Trolls; The Edicates; Lapse of Time; In-Men; Four O'clock Balloon; The Fugitives.

Cross posted at Collecting My Thoughts.

American Shelter; an illustrated encyclopedia of the American house

2008-07-24T09:38:00.002-04:00

Today I am the porch hostess at Green Gables, a cottage in Lakeside, Ohio, which is on the 52nd Annual Tour of Homes. I'm supposed to check off tickets and tell the guests, "Green Gables was built as a cottage in 1883 and is Steamboat Gothic style. S.R. Gill, a founder of Lakeside, had hoped that all new buildings would be built in this style, copying the Steamboat Gothic style found in Martha's Vineyard. . . point out the original Gothic windows, ornate bargeboard, gingerbread gable pendant."

Not to be picky, but according to American Shelter (Lester Walker, 1981), a book I bought at the Port Clinton book sale many years ago, Green Gables is actually Carpenter Gothic, not Steamboat Gothic.

The invention of powered saws for cutting wood, and the popularization of the new ballon frame gave the American carpenter the tools he needed. The result was a building phenomenon unique to this country. . . The Carpenter Gothic Style is characterized chiefly by its profusion of decorative sawn details (gingerbread). . . Carpenter Gothic houses were being constructed all over te nation during the mid19th century. Some cities such as Cape May, NJ; OakBluffs, Martha's Venyard, MA; and San Francisco became famous for the whimsical forms the decoration too on their buildings."American shelter; an illustrated encyclopedia of the American house by Lester Walker, Overlook Press, 1981.
Location: Lakeside, Ohio bookshelf
ISBN 0-87951-131-1

Begins with the American Indians and ends with post-modern. Wonderful illustrations. Purchased as a discard (Ida Rupp Port Clinton) many years ago for $1.

Bride's Bible

2008-06-10T15:17:00.003-04:00

Maybe it didn't last. Why would anyone not keep this? I found this (17 x 12.9 cm), 96 pg, Tyndale House book in the freebie box. The intention of the publisher was someone, maybe the mother-in-law or a bridesmaid, was to present it as gift for a bride. It's not really a Bible, but a selection of verses from a variety of translations with a lovely reproduction of a painting. Brides used to carry a small white Bible under their bouquet, but I don't know if that is still the custom. I don't have a white Bible, so I don't think I did this; it sticks in my mind I carried my mother's Bible. Anyway, I sat down and read it this morning during my devotions, and it's a lovely selection to be read any time. Paintings are wonderful too.

The Bride's Bible
Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL
A Dorline Kindersley Book, London
First American edition 1999
Color reproduction in Italy by GRB
Manufactured in China by Imago
Contents:

ISBN-10: 0842336508

God's Gift for Mothers

2008-04-08T11:30:00.002-04:00

My husband was listening to me complain, for the umpteenth time, that so many Christian Life (a subject category) books are about 80% fluff and cotton candy. I showed him "God's Gift for Mothers" a Thomas Nelson (2008) inspirational paperback. It has about 100 meditations on marriage, parenting, friendships, careers, children, etc. arranged by subject, beginning with ABIDE and ending with WITNESS. Very little about Jesus except in the most generic, general way, not even in the Preface, where the Good News might have been a foundation for building on other topics. I read to him the LOVE passage--it's not untrue, it's just not the TRUTH about love as revealed in Jesus:

"Poets have tried for centuries to capture the essence of love. The Bible tells us quite simply that real love is caring more about others than we care about ourselves and our own needs. Be a model of selfless love in your relationships. It will be contagious." p. 75 (John 13:34)My husband said no daily meditation book could include the Gospel in every selection. But there is one that hits the mark about 99%. Concordia Publishing (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) manages to produce 4 times a year a daily meditation pocket or purse size booklet, Portals of Prayer, a serial not a book, where the three authors of most entries begin with a scripture, then 1) introduce the day's topic with an anecdote, 2) move to application in your life, then 3) close with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in some form--usually in two sentences. Sometimes the authors will switch the template around a bit, but usually this is the pattern. I mean, how hard can it be to say, You are a sinner unable to please God, but Jesus has died on the cross for your sins and risen from the grave, and you will too as a believer? Yet, that powerful message, the theme of the Bible from the fall to the 2nd coming, seems to be the toughest for Christian writers and publishers to either quote directly or paraphrase!

Here's April 2, 2008 (which begins with the role of an architect in construction)

"Regardless of our diligence, we cannot earn favor with God. But Jesus earned God’s favor on our behalf. Christ accomplished the work of our salvation when He carried our sins on the cross. His resurrection was God’s mark of approval that proclaims Christ’s victory over our sin. We cannot add to His gift, but daily work, done in faith, can be a grateful response that honors our Master Architect."But the price was right. I picked it up from the freebie box at church to read as I do my morning walk.

Communicating with Hispanic Workers; Contractor's edition

2008-02-05T18:49:00.002-05:00

I've seen a lot of language books, and I think this one is terrific. The price was right too. I found it for $1.00 at the Discovery Shop (benefits cancer research) on Kenney Rd. in Columbus. And there are several more copies there, if you think you might need one. The author, Trish Rodriguez, has a B.A. in Spanish and International Studies and an M.A. in International Training and Education and is married to a contractor. There are also other titles for dry wall, masonry, landscaping, etc. The format is an easy to use, flip chart style, that would fit easily into a pair of coveralls or jeans.

One of the key chapters, which I might have put at the beginning, includes interview questions, paperwork phrases, such as Complete esta solicitud and Necesito ver su identificacion. In the introduction Ms. Rodriguez includes a few tips on basic communication such as, be polite, and remember, not everyone is from Mexico. She also points out that many of the Spanish speakers may not know the Spanish words in the construction trades.

When I checked this book title at the various book selling sites I was a bit surprised to see speakers of English referred to as "Anglo-Saxons." Didn't they die off about 1,000 years ago? Millions of Americans have no direct descent from the British Isles or England--English is our language, not our ethnicity.

The parent company of Cool Springs Press is Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher. In her acknowledgments Ms. Rodriguez thanks God and gives him the glory. Nice touch in a well written language guide. I hope there are similar books for nurses, hospitality managers, and city workers.

Communicating with Hispanic workers; contractor's edition. Trish Rodriguez, Cool Springs Press, 2005, 160 p. ISBN 1-59186-232-9. Spiral bound. PB.

Keep a quiet heart

2008-01-08T09:15:00.001-05:00

Liberated from the freebie box at the church library, Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot may be one of the best devotional titles I've ever read. I try to spend about 30 minutes in the morning reading either scripture, or a short meditative selection, or both. This title is a collection of her essays from her newsletter (The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter, published 6 times a year, Ann Arbor, MI, 1982-2003). My paperback was published in 1995 by Vine Books, an imprint of Servant Publications. There are 104 selections, arranged by 5 topics, but including small excerpts from other authors (verses from poetry or hymns usually) there may be a total of 120-130.

The most amazing entry in my opinion is pp. 118-120, "Lost and found," which is about an answer to prayer. I've told this story to anyone who will listen, and photocopied it to give away. I love it. I've enjoyed this title so much, I'm rereading it. The newer editions of this book have a different cover.

Elizabeth Elliot, widowed twice, is 81 and has been married 30 years to Lars Gren. Her webpage is here. Lars and Elizabeth keep an update going called Ramblings from the Cove, and here's December 2007, quite lively and filled with humor.

Off the shelves and out the door

2007-11-26T11:00:00.001-05:00

A friend and I are challenging each other to remove some of the clutter. We both have a problem clearing books and magazines. These have now gone to the garage; they are inside boxes that I have taped shut. If I peek, I might be talked out of it. The next step is to get them into the van, then off to the Friends of the Library book sale.

In general, there are two categories: computer books that are too old to be useful, and books on the craft of or compilations of the short story. I did a lot of writing of fiction in the early 90s. It was great fun, and I enjoy going back and reading them today (especially since I don't remember how they end!). However, I never did follow the experts' instructions, and barely opened the books (all bought used). Here's my good-bye blog.

Alice Munro

2007-08-11T10:14:00.003-04:00

A collection of short stories by Alice Munro, a Canadian, is the latest on my book shelf at the lake house--or rather, on the floor, next to the bed. "Hateship, friendship, courtship, loveship, marriage; stories" (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001), purchased at the UAPL Friends sale for $2.00. Abbie, the Chihuahua, is my daughter's, and she is showing off by running away from me on her hind legs.

I'm so glad you married me

2007-07-10T08:22:00.000-04:00

Until I saw the obituary for Lois Wyse last week, I'd forgotten I had this title on my bookshelf at the summer cottage. She was 80 years old and had written over 65 books. I think I've owned 2 or 3 of her poetry books, and this one I had given my husband on his 34th birthday. It was published in 1971 by American Greetings. At the time she wrote this she was still married to Marc Wyse, with whom she'd formed Wyse Advertising. They divorced in the late 70s and in the 80s she married Lee Guber. Maybe it was this line: "I have figured out at last that/ Second isn't first, and first is all that matters." Needless to say, this book doesn't appear on the internet, except in one used book site, so I can't post a photo unless I take it. Meanwhile, I'll post this.

The Moonflower Vine

2007-07-04T13:12:00.000-04:00

is residing on my bookshelf at our lake house. Jetta Carleton (d. 1999) must have been a one book wonder (Simon & Schuster, 1962). This novel may be the best you'll ever read with a midwest setting (Missouri). I read it in the early 80s when it was reissued in paperback, after its best seller status in 1962. My copy is a hardcover Book Club edition with a nice cover that I picked up at a booksale for $1.00. The paperback copy I started with disappeared on one of its many loans to friends.

"Jetta Carleton's autobiographical novel captures the mood and times of midwestern rural life and brings it to life. From the idyllic, heartwarming beginnings springs dark and hidden truths; truths only the reader will see and know. The gentle revelations of the secrets, fears and heartaches that drive these wonderful and endearing characters is storytelling at its best. THE MOONFLOWER VINE received the International Book Award in 1963 and became a Readers Digest Condensed Book and Literary Guild selection. Author Jetta Carleton (1913-1999) only published one novel, putting her in a club with other unique woman writers like Harper Lee and Margaret Mitchell. You might be wondering why anyone would bother to review an out of print book but it is for that reason it was chosen. Don't let the opportunity to read an endangered book slip away." from a review by Barbara Fielding.

Later in life, Jetta Carleton and her husband developed a private press, The Lightning Tree.

Illustrated Dictionary of Sailing

2007-06-27T08:23:00.000-04:00

My most recent acquisition is on my bookshelf (or porch table) at our summer home in Lakeside, OH. This is my husband's third summer of sailing--I won lessons with my apple pie, and he used them since I wasn't interested. I was walking home from the grocery store on Sunday and saw a box of free books in a neighbor's yard. It was authored by Jane Daniels and published in 1989 by Michael Friedman Publishing Group, but this book in hand is an imprint of Gallery Books and the verso of the t.p. says "available for bulk purchase for sales promotions and premium use." Terms are alphabetized with little anecdotes about sailing, and there are over 200 illustrations. Many in color. Great price.

A Book of Prayers for Boys and Girls

2007-06-21T16:23:00.000-04:00

This little (5.5" x 4") book was purchased at the Acorn Used Book Store in Grandview and was published here in Columbus by Wartburg Press in 1943. Wartburg was one of the early names of Augsburg Press, which is now Augsburg-Fortress, reflecting a merger in 1988 of The American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America for form ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America). My children were grown by the time I bought this, so I probably bought it because of its local ties. I could use any of these prayers myself by adjusting the "thees, thous and hasts."

The Foreword says, "Your heavenly Father loves you and wishes to give you every blessing. But He wants you to talk to Him, to tell Him all your wants and hopes and sorrows: He wants you to pray to Him. . . Just in case little Lutherans didn't know what to say, this child size book has prayers for just about all situations and special days. Lots of morning prayers and evening prayers. Here's a sweet one.

I don't recall giving thanks on my birthday, but then I wasn't a very religious kid. Here's a birthday prayer, which would make much more sense to me today than when I was 8 or 10:

Dear Father in heaven, out of Thy hand my life has come. For this gift do I thank Thee most heartily on my birthday. I pray Thee so to guide me by Thy Holy Spirit that from year to year I may learn to know Thee better and to thank Thee more heartily for Thy goodness. And may every added year, O Father, find me ever more ready to do Thy holy will. In His name do I pray who for me and for all Thy children died upon the cross so that we might rise from the grave and live with Thee forever. Amen.I found a photo on the internet (a post card) of the old Wartburg Press building, which is where the Augsburg book store was in the 80s. I used to go there to buy books for the church library.

The Art of Reading Scripture

2007-06-18T16:46:00.000-04:00

From the church library free box I selected "The art of reading scripture," (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2003). The librarian puts withdrawals or donations not needed for members to take home. The Eerdmans title is a compilation of essays by scholars.

I took it to the coffee shop the next day and enjoyed the essay, "Reading scripture in light of the Resurrection" by Richard B. Hays, pp. 216-238. It confirmed what I've often thought. We need to hear about the Resurrection all year long, not just at Easter. I think it may be the most under-preached and under-discussed topic in Christian churches.

"Many preachers and New Testament scholars are unwitting partisans of the Sadducees. Because they deny the truth of Scripture's proclamation that God raised Jesus from the dead--or waffle about it--they leave the church in a state of uncertainty, lacking confidence in its mission, knowing neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." I've never heard a better description of why so many Mainline protestant churches are struggling to find an audience and a message!

I haven't attended a liberal church in 30 years, yet I think we evangelicals don't hear this message often enough. He specifically points out three texts, John 2:13-22 with Psalm 69, the identification between the temple and Jesus' own body; Mark 12:18-27 where Jesus goes to the heart of God's self-revelation in the Old Testament; and Luke 24:13-35 where Jesus opens the scriptures to his followers after the resurrection and points them to the prophets.

Hays then goes on to list nine implications of reading Scripture in light of the Resurrection, and points out again that most New Testament scholars are not believers--but would be if they'd open their eyes and hearts to reading Scripture this way.

I love it when someone agrees with me, don't you?

Bruce

2007-06-18T12:33:00.000-04:00

This is a photo of me standing in front of the bookshelves that hold old books and family memorabilia. Behind me are lots of old books from four generations. They look like they have fancy bindings, but books of my grandparents' era had a lot of chemicals in the paper, and disintegrate easily. Like me, they bought for value, not for quality. I think it is funny that I saved a book from my childhood called "Bruce" about a collie, written by Albert Payson Terhune (Grosset & Dunlap, 1920), never imagining someday it would be my name.

The shiny white, blue and green box on the far left of the 5th shelf contained a card catalog of my grandparents' library, assembled by several members of the family when they were closing up their home after their deaths in the 1960s. This list of books, found by me in the late 1980s, launched several publishing projects, including a spin off into agricultural magazines used by farm families in the early 20th century and women who wrote for Ohio farm magazines in the 19th century.

You can barely see the top shelf, but that holds children's books, some old, some from my childhood--mostly horse stores--and some I purchased because I liked the illustrations (from the days when I wanted to write a children's book). I've done some rearranging of my magazine collection on the lower 2 shelves (premiere issue collection), but these shelves stay pretty much the same.

"From a fuzzy and adventurous fluff-ball of gray-gold-and-white fur, Bruce swiftly developed into a lanky giant. He was almost as large again as is the average collie pup of his age; but, big as he was, his legs and feet and head were huge, out of all proportion to the rest of him. . . seemed totally lacking in sense, as well as in bodily coordination. He was forever getting into needless trouble. He was a storm-center. No one but a born fool--canine or human--could possible have caused one-tenth as much bother."With that, we know this dog has to turn out to be a hero, right? Wins a medal for bravery in WWI.

Wayne Public Library in Wayne, NJ, has the Albert Payson Terhune Collection with photos of Terhune and his collies of Sunnybank, known as The Place in the book.

My Town: Remembering Mt. Morris

2007-06-18T10:38:00.000-04:00

Donald L. Smith does a nice job of weaving together his family and personal memories with the town's considerable history, even mentioning some sources I've never seen, like Kable Brothers Company, 1898-1948, and the late-1980s Memoirs of H.A. Hoff, the school superintendent, both of which I assume are on someone else's bookshelf. There's a few personal family things I think could have gone unsaid out of respect for his parents' memory, but that would just be my own preference as a mother. Don Smith taught journalism at Penn State, State College, PA for 33 years and began writing this title about 10 years before he published it in 1997. My copy was a gift from my sister.

Pine Creek Recollections Revisited

2007-06-16T11:48:00.000-04:00

My grandparents were tenant farmers in an area south of Mt. Morris, near Dixon, Illinois called, Pine Creek. This book is one of several I have about towns or areas in Ogle County. The author is Jane Shoemaker, and although I don't know her well, I remember her stopping by after the death of my mother in 2000 to visit. The book was a gift from Ruth Balluff, who also grew up in Pine Creek, and attended school with my Dad.

"This book describes life during the 20th Century in a small area of northern Illinois, Pine Creek Township. Although it tells about life in a small area of Ogle County, it should not be considered just a book of local interest. Within these pages is a description of rural and small town life that honed and defined the generation of people who parented, nurtured, and shaped the Greatest Generation, as was defined later by Tom Brokaw, in his book with the same name. The harsh realities of life during the early 1900s, that finally led to prosperity after the world's largest depression, shows a stamina and grit in those who lived it, that still holds us in awe. My Mother, Lela Mae Feary Stomberg, lived in this incredible century. She was born on October 13, 1901, on the Pine Creek Farm, nestled between a winding creek and a dirt road, in rural Ogle County. A few years ago, I sat down with her with a small tape recorder. We conducted an oral history of her life. She has remarkable recall especially for details in her early years. After many sessions together, we had three tapes full of her remembrances." From the Prologue by Jane Shoemaker. (Mt. Morris, IL: Pinecone Productions, 2001)

When I die, what will happen to my bookshelves?

2007-06-16T11:35:00.000-04:00

I've written this poem for our daughter, who is our Executor. Still, you can't control what other people do, and I know that, so it's important to sift, sort and give away. My mother, aunt and grandmother all fussed about their books and memorabilia. Now I have them, and I'm worrying about them. Today I put grandma's dishes out to use for Sunday dinner tomorrow.

To my daughter, about my treasures August 29, 2005 I want you to have our paintings, of flowers, children, boats and trees. You’ll sit back and admire I know, closing your eyes in a squint to see the artist’s true intent. I want you to have the books, Bibles, histories, poetry and lit. You’ll treat them well I know, opening them from time to time so their wisdom doesn’t go stale. I want you to have the china, silver, pottery, and goblets. You’ll dine with them I know, setting a lovely white linen table as you continue the traditions. I want you to have Aunt Martha’s quilts, pieced and stitched by lantern light. You’ll fold, touch and smooth I know, positioning them on wooden racks to display her detailed handiwork. I want you to have the photographs, albums from way back when. You’ll wonder at your folks I know, dancing and partying with their friends when the whole world was young. I want you to have Mom’s recipes, sewing chest and maple suite. You’ll puzzle where I know, shifting and rearranging like I did until they are welcomed in your home. I want you to have our calico cat, kitty toys, bowls and love. You’ll feed, pet and groom I know, holding her close at night until she leaves to join us. All the rest just haul away, the auctioneer’s close, up the road. You’ll get a good price I know, banking the rest for a sunny day, after you lock the door.

Technorati tag: memorabilia

Companion to American Immigration

2007-06-15T16:29:00.000-04:00

One of the eye-opening experiences of reading Companion to American Immigration (Blackwell, 2006) is its foundational assumptions based solidly on Marxist thought and scholarship. Not that I was naive about the Marxists in our universities, but reading essay after essay--about food, education, demography, social customs, microeconomics, politics, and law--all rooted in and rooting for Marxism is quite an eye opener as I read along at the Lakeside coffee shop, a vacation spot more like the 1950s than a TV "Happy Days" recreation.

If you've ever wondered what became of the "tenured radicals" who went from sit-ins in the presidents' offices in the Halls of Ivy in the 1970s to populating them, read this book! They are indeed the adopted intellectual grandchildren of the 1930s faculties and labor activists who were pacifists until Germany invaded Russia and then had to go underground when the Gulags were being revealed after WWII. When the Berlin Wall fell, they used chunks of scholarly concrete to rebuild their fables.

I've learned a lot of new words and phrases for us and U.S. reading this book:

And academic gibberish even worse than library jargon:

Incidentally, if there was a lynching, a killing, a riot, or a law about ethnicity, these are liberally interspersed at every opportunity to demonstrate the shallowness of the minority "dominant Anglo-Saxon culture." The chapter on religion isn't about religion at all--it is about the anti's--anti-Semitism, KuKluxKlan, anti-Catholicism, anti-muslim, etc.

I had this book checked out about 8 weeks from the Ohio State University Libraries. It was quite a challenge.

Eastern Approaches

2007-06-15T16:17:00.000-04:00

One course of action when you are up early in a log cottage in the pine and birch forest by a pristine lake in South Karelia, Finland, is to read by the morning sunlight (no electricity) with a freshly brewed cup of coffee (bottled gas). Days without TV, radio, the Internet, or newspaper has a way of returning one to the joys of reading known by earlier generations. The hand woven birch bark baskets and pine shelves of the cottage were full of books--flora and fauna, old novels from the 40s, biographies, guides/tourism for the local events, and some old how-to-manuals. I found only one in English, "Eastern Approaches" by Fitzroy Maclean who was a member of the British Diplomatic corps in the 1930s-40s and wrote of his experiences traveling in the USSR and Balkans during 1937-45. Although this book technically isn't on my bookshelf, it was a welcome sight.

There was one eerie passage that seemed true even 60 years later. [Communists in 1942] all had one thing in common, their terror of responsibility, their reluctance to think for themselves, their blind, unquestioning obedience to the Party line dictated by a higher authority. . . the terrible atmosphere of fear and suspicion that pervaded their lives." This would be a book to read for anyone wishing to do business in Russia today, needing to understand the roots of the culture.

Either Maclean was an outstanding writer or after a week of being deprived of reading, I was like a starving woman at a banquet. In either case, it was a good read, given the years I had spent studying the history and politics of the USSR in the 50s and 60s. The chapter on the purge of the Party in the late 1930s was riveting because of all the old familiar names, particularly Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (who was posthumously rehabilitated in 1988).

Maclean sat through the entire trial and with friends tries to sort it all out. He decides that everyone needs a cause to die for--judges, prosecutor, prisoners and NKVD. And for the prisoners, it was the Party. Even in facing death, they were characters in a theatrical production about good and evil. The trial served as a reminder to the people to be suspicious of everyone--to see spies and traitors everywhere, to shun foreigners, to explain the shortages of food and goods not on a failing economic and political system, but on those terrible traitors who were on trial. Certainly the benign and benevolent Stalin couldn't be at fault, but these traitors now being purged from the Party.

When I got home I looked up Maclean and found he was a very popular writer who had written a number of books (some think his life was the inspiration for James Bond) and that Bukharin, one of the more unforgettable characters in this book, had written an autobiographical novel while imprisoned before his death.

What Grandma saw at the Columbian Exposition

2007-06-15T14:51:00.003-04:00

My grandmother was a teen-ager attending Ashton High School in Illinois at the time of the Chicago Columbian Exposition. Along with 27 million other people, she strolled through the exhibits and marveled at the sights from foreign lands, and the fabulous architecture of the "White City." I'd seen many knick-knacks, guidebooks and souvenirs in her home and book collection.

It was very easy to get to Chicago from their farm--much easier than today. In fact, I think the train came through Franklin Grove depot 5 or 6 times a day and the family often shopped in Chicago, visited friends and saw a doctor there. Her father owned property in Chicago and it was later donated to the Church of the Brethren for the Bethany Sanitarium and Hospital. So I just love to read about the fair, and in 1993 when the Medical Library Association had its annual meeting there, I thoroughly enjoyed all the exhibits of the 100th anniversary of the fair.

Libraries and Culture, Vol. 41, no. 1, 2006, has seven essays on the Woman's Building of the Exposition. The Woman's Building [floor plan]contained a library with 7,000 volumes authored, illustrated and edited by women,(including 47 translations and editions of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin) produced between the 16th to 19th Century. If you are from Illinois, you'll be interested in the article about the 58 novels in that collection which were authored by Illinois women. Libraries and Culture (which will be changing its title to Libraries and the Cultural Record, which seems a bit redundant to me and will mess up serial records in thousands of libraries with vol. 42, is available on-line if you have a login to a library that has a subscription. Or you can ask for it from interlibrary loan at your local library.

One of the most stunning books you'll ever read about murder, mayhem and architecture is Devil in the White City. But you'll need a strong stomach.

Vocabulary Builders on my Bookshelves

2007-06-15T14:37:00.000-04:00

At Liberty Books one night after dinner, I picked up one or two vocabulary drill books. They always look so interesting, but I know I won't do the exercises. Besides, I have two books on my shelves that I just love--and I don't know all the words yet!

The first is English Vocabulary Builder by Johnson O'Connor published by Human Engineering Laboratory, Hoboken, 1939 [c 1937]. O'Connor opens the book with an article he wrote for Atlantic Monthly, Feb. 1934, about the relationship between vocabulary and success. But note this from "Acknowledgments":

"The International Business Machines Corporation has enabled the Laboratory to have a set of data-handling machines for the accurate assembly of material. The Atwell Company of Boston has made it possible for the Laboratory to have Ediphone equipment which has contributed to the preparation of this volume."
Of course, we know what IBM is, so this book used the latest technology in 1937 (there were 9 men and 5 women listed as collaborators, which may have been less sexist than IT staffs today), but the Ediphone was used to replace stenographers. It was invented by Thomas Edison to compete with the Dictiphone. The Ediphone had a tube to speak in and the voice vibrations would be recorded on a wax cylinder. A secretary would then type up the recording and then shave the used layer of the cylinder so it could be reused.[scripophily.net]

O'Connor arranged this book by order of familiarity. In 1937, apparently just about everyone, including children, knew the word, "horseshoer," so it was #1. Seventy years later, you probably wouldn't find many children who had ever seen or touched a shoe for a horse, and if they had to draw one might sketch something resembling a Manolo Blahnik. Using the latest data crunchers of the time, the laboratory found 55 words known to all adults, including "fragrant," "quench," and "disordered." From known to all, he moves on to "unknown to 1 per cent," all the way through to "unknown to 99 per cent." The last group has words that 70 years later would not be that rare, like "brochure," "unconscionable," "utter," and "detraction." I was a bit surprised to see that 50% of high-schoolers knew the meaning of "elegiacal" and "asseveration" in 1937, which I might figure out in context, but would not likely use.

With most words, he gives the percentage that knew it or thought it was something else, and what group they were in (college seniors, adults, prep-school, etc.) and words that might be confused, like retinue and retainer or annulled and nugatory.

The second book I have is Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage by Bergen and Cornelia Evans, Random House, 1957. It's not really a vocabulary builder, but a correct usage guide. This book is lots of fun--snarky remarks about English all over the place. This book is old now, and the authors warn the readers that the language is constantly changing--that silly once meant holy, fond meant foolish, beam meant tree and tree meant beam. But I still like it, and am not ready to replace it with something until I learn all the words I should have known in 1957. Don't pay more than $1.00 for it if you see it at a sale.

Cornelia was Bergen's sister, not his wife, and his papers are at Northwestern; if you look through the description of the files, her name appears also. They had planned a second edition, but didn't complete it. She was also a novelist and wrote "The Cloud of Witnesses," and "Journey into the Fog," using the name Cornelia Goodhue. They were born in Ohio.

Bergen Evans, Cornelia Evans, English language, Vocabulary