Rags the WWI Hero and the Men Whose Lives He Changed

From Stray Dog to World War I Hero: The Paris Terrier Who Joined the First Division by Grant Hayter-Menzies tells the story of Rags, a lovely, heartfelt story that will appeal to dog lovers and to those interested in WWI history.

This new biography of Rags includes his post-war life as a family dog and media sensation American Hero. We learn about Rags' war record and the soldier he loved and who loved him, about other great canine heroes of  the war, and the founding and fate of the first cemetery for animals.

Sometime in 1916 a scruffy, taffy colored, floppy eared dog with a fluffy arching tale was born in the streets of war-torn Paris. The winter of 1917 was one of the coldest on record but somehow the little dog survived the bitter cold, living off scavenged food. Like the Parisians around him he learned to dive for cover when the sirens sounded; he would fall flat to the ground. Life on the street was harsh.

In 1918 American soldiers Donovan and Hickman encountered the scruffy mutt. The dog lovers must have shown him some care and they were followed. Hickman had a mascot so the dog went along with Donovan. An MP picked Donovan up but was charmed by his made-up story of searching for his lost mascot Rags and they were let go. Within four days the First Division of the American Expeditionary Force, Rags included, went into battle at Soissons. Donovan doubted his decision to bring the dog into the melee and took Rags to the division headquarters. On his return to the field he found Rags had followed him back. Rags had made his decision; Donovan was his.

Donovan found that Rags hated to do tricks but loved work. Somehow the two novices worked together to make Rags a message carrier. One day when Donovan was on patrol a shell downed the soldier watching Rags. Rags ran to find Donovan; coming across artillerymen instead he barked at them until they followed him back to the downed soldier.  Another time Rags came across a runner killed in the field; Rags found the paper he had been carrying, picked it up, and took it to Donovan. Rags became expert at finding broken communication wires. He also wandered off, one day finding himself in an surveillance balloon when it was launched. The Germans shot the balloon down, and a soldier took Rags in his arms as he parachuted down. A Fokker came towards them, but seeing the dog he waved and banked off. Killing American soldiers was one thing; but the German was not about to kill a gallant little dog! The stories of his heroism and love go on.

Rags' life changed when he and Donovan were gassed. Donovan was severely wounded, his lungs badly burned. Rags suffered injuries, his eye blinded and shrapnel wounding his paw and ear. Against all Army rules Col. Holbrook, soldiers, and nurses helped the two stay together, even helping Rags enter the United States. There were no provisions for the returning of service dogs; they were usually dispatched. Rags arrived at Ft. Sheridan hidden under a coat. He was taken up by the local fire hall but spent days hidden under Donovan's hospital cot. Chief medical officer Col. Bispham had a special collar made for Rags. Rags kept his vigil until Donovan's death, and he spent days in grief before rallying.

A new life awaited Rags. Rags fell in love with Lt. Hardenbergh's two daughters. Over the next sixteen years Rags was cared for by the Hardenbergh family. They noted his love for sweets and hatred of sudden noises. Rags would sit and salute soldiers. They made Rags a new collar with chevrons marking his war service and battle wounds. Rags became a media sensation and a prideful symbol of the First Division. Rags was briefly reunited with Sgt. Hickman, a joyous reunion for both.

The stories tell of the love between a street mutt and soldiers of all ranks. Rags never forgot a friend.

Rags was buried in Aspin Hill Memorial Park, the resting ground of many mascots and beloved pets.

The author is donating a portion of each book's sales to the non-profit Nowzad Dogs which reunites Afghanistan soldiers with the dog or cat they adopted while deployed.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

From Stray Dog to World War I Hero: The Paris Terrier Who Joined the First Division
Grant Hayter-Menzies
University of North Nebraska Press
Publication Date: November 1, 2015
$26.95 hard cover
ISBN:9781612347219

A Visit To the Flint Institute of Arts

My friend suggested we take a trip to the Flint Institute of Arts to see an exhibit of French photography. I had not been to the museum in over ten years, and it has been through a major remodeling since then.

Guernica by Sophie Matisse (granddaughter of Henri Matisse) was her response to witnessing the events of 9-11. She painted Picasso's Guernica, his response to the bombing of a village during the Spanish Civil War, using her grandfather's color pallet.

We arrived too early! But the Director of Development, Kathryn Sharbaugh, came out and took us on a personal tour of several galleries, educating us on specific pieces along the way.

  Dale Chihuly work was commissioned for the new lobby 

My husband's father grew up in Flint, MI. This Edmund Lewandowski mural was inspired by a map of Flint. We spent a long time looking at it. Read about how it was covered up and later restored here.

Horror Vacui by Judy Pfaff

Sculpture in the courtyard

African Mask

18th c Chinese celadon porcelain

19th c painting of the 1,000 Islands

Sleepy Hollow Church by Thomas Chambers, 1850

Birds attributed to Thomas Coke Ruckle

Ms. Sharbaugh spent a long time with the painting below, explaining the Victorian symbolism. It was painted by an itinerant Philadelphia artist for The Fowler family who had lost a child.

The Fowler children, 1854

My husband noted right off that the two children on the left were in mourning clothes while the girl on the right is in white, and surrounded by flowers. He deducted the girl in white was the deceased. Our guide explained another hint was her coral necklace; coral is the remains of a creature that was once alive. Also the painting is divided in it's background; the living children have ivy behind them, a symbol of growth, while the deceased girl has an idealized landscape behind her.

1840s portrait of a woman

I hope we return soon to see the galleries that were being dismantled for the annual craft fair. I picked up their book of American Art at the gift shop. Some of my favorite artists are represented!

Flint Institute of Arts
1120 East Kearsley St
Flint MI
Open 12-5 M-F, 10-5 Sat, 1-5 Sun

The Last Words of the Holy Ghost by Matt Cashion

"Listen: If you can find a collection of stories more cohesive, more ambitious in reach, more generous in its passion, and fancier in its footwork, I will buy it for you and deliver it in person." Lee K. Abbott, judge of the 2015 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Fiction 

From the first page I knew I was going to like reading the stores in The Last Words of the Holy Ghost, Matt Cashion's prize winning stories.

The press release tells it like this:

"The Last Words of the Holy Ghost, a collection of 12 Southern Gothic short stories, showcases a range of dynamic voices, characters, and settings, from the fourteen-year-old boy who speaks in tongues to the burned-out health-care administrator whose life changes during a trip to Wal-Mart."

The first story, The Girl Who Drowned At School That Time, starts with tragedy: a girl has drowned in the school pond. The school board quickly votes to fill the pond in to prevent any more drownings. It is the only responsible and sensible thing to do. Except...what to do with the fish that live in the pond? Things get complicated. It's always the small problems that cause trouble.

One man volunteers to fish them out. But they can't have one man catch and keep all the fish. They are school property after all. The fish have to be disposed of in a fair and equal way. And the fisherman already has a freezer full of catfish. The brilliant solution: have a fish fry. Plus they could raise money off the fish fry.

I was delighted by these strange folk who turn death and loss into a money making scheme! Isn't this how things work in real life, in small towns and small groups everywhere? We agree on the "big issues" and haggle over the small stuff. And--any excuse to have a party.

The responsibility to organize the event is pawned off to a secretary, a college student recently returned home. She has no intention of staying. Every day she thinks she'll quit. She sees the poverty, the ignorance, the neglected children, and the good ol' boys, and determines to leave town. Still she stays. She hasn't a clue how to pull off this fish fry. Meantime the exterminator, a veritable encyclopedia of American vermin, is pursuing her. He offers his help. At a price. The story is hilarious and dark and too true to life.

The last story, The Funeral Starts at Two, brought the book to a poignant conclusion. A man is supposed to take his father-in-law to the funeral of his brother. The father-in-law delays, enjoying his salt water pool and weaving tales about family members the son-in-law has never known. Wacky characters who would rather lift a horse, one end at a time, over a fence than go around. Who travel east to go west to be a cowboy. The son-in-law envies the older man's easy laugh. He wishes he knew more people who could laugh like that.

Parting brings a sad knowledge of how time and distance will come between them before they meet again--if ever in this life. As he drives away, the son-in-law sees "all the other ghosts who were also waving," the storied people so vividly drawn by the old man, who he can not forget.

That is the goal of a story-teller: to make people so real, in situations so real, that on closing the book these characters travel with us on our journey home.

Matt Cashion is that kind of story-teller.

To read the title story The Last Words of the Holy Ghost online click here.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Last Words of the Holy Ghost
by Matt Cashion
University of North Texas Press
$14.95
ISBN: 978-1-57441-612-1 paper
           978-1-57441-623-7 ebook
Publication Date: November 15, 2015

Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage that Made a President

For close to twenty years now I have been fascinated by the First Ladies. It started when I designed my Redwork quilt of the First Ladies, Remember the Ladies. I read book after book about these women. They are the most extreme example of thousands of women who marry men in the public eye, women who find their private lives invaded, their public image weighed and scrutinized, who watch their spouses deified and abused. Politician's wives, pastor's wives, those married to celebrities or business icons, are all married to more than a man.

Lady Bird from my quilt Remember the Ladies

One of the most fascinating presidents was Lyndon Baines Johnson. Bill Moyers called him "thirteen of the most exasperating men I ever met." He was charming and he was abusive; a womanizer who loved his wife; he believed in equality, education, and giving the poor a chance; if you got on his bad side he'd snub you for ever. The best thing he ever did in his life was to marry Lady Bird. She could soothe the savage beast. She knew how to deal with his depressions. She mended fences and kept political alliances intact. She managed their business and made them wealthy.

First Lady scholar Betty Caroli's book Lady Bird and Lyndon is a deep exploration of the relationship between Lyndon and Lady Bird. The contention is that without Bird behind him Lyndon may  never have been able to achieve his goals. Some biographers have deplored Lyndon's treatment of Lady Bird and wondered why she never stood up to Lyndon. Caroli puts their relationship in perspective and helps us to understand Lady Bird's motivations and appreciate her inner strength and surety of her husband's love.

Early on in the book I realized that Lyndon's mood swings sounded Bi-Polar in origin. I had not encountered that understanding before. During his presidency LBJ had major triumphs but also faced criticism and hatred that left him immobilized and dejected. Ever the workaholic, his health suffered, and knowing his time was swiftly running out LBJ spiraled into an angry depression.

The book covers the Johnson's families history and background, explaining their personality traits that made them 'right' for each other. Lady Bird was bright and ambitious, expected by her classmates to be the 'next Halliburtan.' When LBJ met Bird he immediately started the pressure for marriage. They had known each other a month when she agreed to marry him. They both knew Bird was the stronger, and she was going to rescue him with her love.

Theirs was a complex relationship, lived in the public eye. It makes for addictive reading.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage that Made a President
Betty Caroli
Simon & Schuster
Publication November 3, 2015
$29.99 hard cover
ISBN: 9781439191224

"The coach, the advisor, the steady soothsayer to an erratic man--in these pages, Lady Bird Johnson bursts from history's shadows to her rightful place at the heart of a stirring story...Caroli establishes the prominence of a gripping and mysterious relationship--one of the critical intimacies of the 20th century. This is a tremendous work of scholarship and storytelling." Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Power of Two

Remember the Ladies, an original Redwork quilt by Nancy A. Bekofske

FINALLY! Remodeled Kitchen Photos

Here are the photos of the finished kitchen! The contractor came with the final pieces a few weeks ago. But the wood piece under the cabinets to help block the light was the wrong color and she ordered a new one.

We love all the counter space! And the WilsonArt Betty laminate is so lovely. The top mount Kohler farmhouse sink was a great find as it can be used with laminate. And the Bosch dishwasher was worth every penny. So silent and it actually get the dishes clean.

The quartersawn cherry cabinets are aging beautifully. The middle cabinet front below is a replacement as the carpenters marred the first one, so it has not aged as long.

And the cork floor is a dream to clean!

People love the bling of the stainless steel mosaic back splash behind the hood. We have LED lighting under the cabinets.

The glass door cabinets hold some vintage tea sets, dishes, glasses and the Smiley face cookie jar we got for a wedding gift in 1972.

 The pulls are minimalist.

 Did I mention I love the cork floor?

I looked for months before I found this Michael Miller fabric with teapots. I knew it was perfect for our kitchen. It had the right colors, a nice retro feel, and we are tea lovers.

The 1950s chrome and laminate table was found in the basement of one of our parsonages. We traded it for another table we had. My husband had to remove lots of paint from the top. People drool over it. The red chairs were bought from Target about 15 years ago.

 The bread box was 50 cents at a garage sale.

 I am glad we splurged for the built in cabinets around the refrigerator.

It is a hard working kitchen.

The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild

Art has become another kind of currency, a safer investment than cash. Up for auction is a painting that has been missing for twenty years, a painting with a biography and history, a website, a motion picture contract, and collectors of all kinds are vying for top bidder. They are not art lovers, per say, although the painting affects its viewer with peculiar effect. It is a beautiful parable of the nature of love, how love makes fools of men. The Improbability of Love was Antoine Watteau's paean to his first love, then repainted as a critique of love's improbability.

Hannah Rothchild's novel The Improbability of Love is hard to classify. Is it a drama, a mystery, a Holocaust novel, a romance, a satire? It is always a book about art, art as truth telling and as beauty, and the value of art socially and financially.

There is the human drama and romance angle. The heroine Annie buys a painting for a lover who dumps her. She is being pushed to check its provenance. It may be the real deal, a painting worth big bucks. But Annie is more interesting in getting her alcoholic mom out of her life and establishing a career as a chief. She works for the prestigious and powerful Winkleman family, premier art dealers. Meantime artist Jesse is enamored with Annie and hopes that by helping her he'll be there when she is willing to trust love again.

Memling Winkleman has been searching for the painting, once in his possession but lost when he gave it to his lover. His daughter Rebbecca suspects Annie has the painting. Eventually Rebbecca tracks down how the painting came into her family's possession and learns shocking truths, so horrific when her older brother discovered them he disappeared from an ocean liner.

The art world is seen through a critical eye in all it's absurdities, the sellers and buyers of power and wealth for whom art is a commodity. Social satire abounds in Rothchild's treatment of them.

The twist takes us into Nazi Germany and the sacking of art treasures from across Europe, and the mystery of where it all ended up.

Art lovers will enjoy being in the know as artist's names are dropped throughout the book. The painting speaks for itself in the story; it is quite prideful about its long list of stellar owners from the courts of Europe. It has ideas about how it should be treated.

The Anxious Lover 

I enjoyed the book and halfway through was motivated to keep going. It was unexpected to go from a chapter of humor to a dark chapter. The ending was too neatly wrapped up, told by the painting. I felt it kept the reader distant from Annie's story. But it was not Annie's story. It was really the story of The Improbability of Love.

I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Improbability of Love
Hannah Rothschild
Knopf
Publication Nov. 3, 2015
ISBN: 9781101874141
$27.95 hard cover

Reviews:

'I am head over heels in love with this book. Every page is a joy. It's funny, sad, profound. The writing dances. It has panache. It's beautifully structured. It wears its scholarship with a balletic lightness and grace that shadows the Rococo painting at its heart. Its many and varied characters are an exquisite joy...What more can I say? It's my Book of the Year already.¹ BARBARA TRAPIDO

"THE IMPROBABILITY OF LOVE is a romp, a joy, and an inspired feast of clever delights. Reading this book is like a raid on a high-end pastry shop ‹ you marvel at the expertise and cunning of the creations, while never wanting the deliciousness to end." ­ ELIZABETH GILBERT

"Satirical, provocative, and exceedingly humorous, this novel mocks today's art world. A new twist: the leading painting speaks, gossiping about its previous owners. Rothschild delights us with glimpses of London life--as louche, chic, and freakish as early Evelyn Waugh. JOHN RICHARDSON

Pierrot

The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel by Margaret A. Oppenehimer

The tale of a young man rising from rags to riches is well known. For a woman to rise in society and in fortune there was only one way: through a man.

Betsy Bowen was born to a teenage mother in 1775. She was raised in a brothel, indentured, and confined to a workhouse while her mother was jailed. In 1803 she moved and changed her name to Eliza Brown.

She was an occasional extra in the theater when she met wealthy businessman Stephen Jumel and became his mistress. Betsy had drive and intelligence. She knew Jumel loved her and she manipulated him into marriage by claiming she was on the brink of death and concerned for her soul.

Jumel took Eliza to his native land of France. She educated herself to seamlessly fit into French society, teaching herself French through reading. Her intelligence and beauty was celebrated. She collected art and European treasures to outfit her American home. Eliza helped Jumel amass real estate and a fortune. She returned to America to manage Jumel's American assets. They lived apart for four years, during which time Eliza ensured her future financial status.

The Jumel family mansion. 

Read more about the Morris-Jumel mansion here.

After her husband's death, Eliza Jumel was the wealthiest woman in America. She was courted by the financially insolvent ex-Vice President Arron Burr who pressured her into marriage. She soon learned he only wanted her money and divorced him on (justified) grounds of adultery.

She continued to protect her fortune using all means, including lies and trickery to disinherit Jumel's family. After her death at 92 years of age, Jumel heirs fought for control of the wealth for years. Scandalous accusations were flung about the courtrooms, dismantling the respectability Eliza had worked so hard to achieve.

How Eliza changed her own story using every device in her power is fascinating to read. You won't always like her, but you have to admire the woman who defied the odds to become the legend she created in the New York Times obituary of her.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel: A Story of Marriage and Money in the Early Republic
by Margaret A. Oppenheimer
Chicago Review Press
Publication Date: November 1, 2015
ISBN: 9781613733806
$29.95 hard cover