Grandpa Ramer, Letter Writer Extraordinaire

My Grandfather Lynne O. Ramer wrote scores of letters to people: relatives, college friends, students, and strangers including public figures, could count on his sending a letter.

When Gramps died in 1971 I received his personal papers, as per his desire. They were stored for many years before I could see what was there. Here is a selection of letters he received from the famous and near-famous.

Robert F. Kennedy

What 1962 article in the Saturday Evening Post did Gramps write about in his letter to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy? I can only wonder! But RFK wrote a nice letter back.

US Senator Warren Magnuson

Senator Magnuson refers to the contents of Gramp's letter. Gramps also wrote that the Senator supported the oceanographic research bill S. 901 which was 'pocket vetoed' by President Kennedy.

My grandfather had sent Senator Magnuson articles about the Lobo Wolves of Kane, PA. Summer of 1961 my grandparents, my mother, and I went on a trip to Pennsylvania. My mother and her siblings had all been born in Kane where my grandfather had been a teacher. We visited the Lobo Wolves and I have post cards, a flyer, and a magazine article about them in my scrapbook.

Lobo wolves postcards

Flyer for the attraction

Dr. McCleery saw his first wolf as a young man. After earning his doctor's degree he returned to his hometown of Kane to practice. The U S. Biological Service was exterminating the wolves that had once followed the Buffalo but now were attacking cattle. In 1921 McCleery asked for several wolf pups and he started a zoo or preserve for the wolves. They were filmed for the Walt Disney film The Legend of Lobo.

Magazine article on the Lobos at Kane, PA

 After McCleery's death, Paul Lynch took over to care for the wolves.

Senator Philip Hart

A letter dated September 13, 1961, from United States Senator Philip Hart mentions that Senator Magnuson had forwarded him Gramps' letter of September 9. "This I have read with much interest. Your observations and philosophical comments have brought home to me some things I have not thought of before, and I am grateful to you." Gramps noted that Hart supported Magnuson on 

S 901.

Governor G. Mennen Williams

This letter from Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams responded to Gramp's congratulations on his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Gramps wrote about Kayoes Mogaji, a Nigerian he had been exchanging letters with after seeing Kayoes' letter in the Saturday Evening Post.

The Governor graciously thanked Gramps for sharing Kayoe's letter and even said he would "do my best to say hello to Kayoe and give him your personal regards." The Governor also said, "if there were more people like yourself helping the "Kayoes" of Africa, I am sure there would much more understanding in the world."

Gramps notated,"but he (Williams) didn't find the time when in Lagos! Kayoes saw "Soapy' from afar! From the street."

Gramps added, "Kayoes Mogaji, 21 in 1959, sent a letter to Editor (Saturday Evening Post), "Ben" Hibbs [editor of the Saturday Evening Post], asking: "Tell us about U.S.A.; from 12 Eiselgangau Street, Lagos, Nigeria. Subsequently, we exchanged a dozen letters--"bearing gifts"--with Kayoes and two others. "Brown, yellow, and black boys"--all members of Lagos Epis.[copal] Cathedral Orchestra."

So my grandfather wrote to members of the Lagos Episcopal Cathedral Orchestra after reading Kayoe's letter in a magazine!

Williams' term as the Governor of Michigan ended on January 1, 1961, at which time President Kennedy appointed him to the post of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, where he served from 1961 to 1966. 

George Pierrot's World Adventure Series

Whenever we were at my grandparent's house we all watched George Pierrot's World Adventure Series,  Mondays through Fridays at 5 pm. The show debuted on October 10, 1948, on WXYZ and ran until 1979. 

I have a letter dated November 29, 1961, written from Pierrot to my grandfather, a response to Gramps sending him a lengthy letter and a clipping of his article "Mindin' Cows and Larnin' which had appeared in the "We Notice That" column in his hometown paper the Lewiston Sentinel. 

Pierrot wrote,

"I had a little bit of farm experience. My father was a doctor in Seattle but he operated an orchard in the Yakima Valley of Eastern Washington. We had no livestock, but summers we had a pony, and drove a team of horses ten hours a day, cultivating and ditching for irrigation. In 1913 when you were ten, I was fifteen and getting reading for journalism by editing my high school newspaper. Later I edited the University of Washington daily and took my A.B. in Journalism at the same University.

"I edited both the American Boy and Youth's Companion. In 1913 the editor would have been Clarence Budington Kelland [later to become editor of the Saturday Evening Post], later to become one of America's most popular magazine writers. I was his protege when I came along in 1922, and he was very helpful to me. As a boy I also used to read Horatio Alger, G. A. Henty, and the rest. You could turn in an Alger and get another one for an additional nickel. I remember par, for reading an Alger book, was from 4 p.m. when I got home from school to 6 p.m. when it was supper time. The skinnier Alger books took less than two hours.

"Well, I'm the only one in my immediate family who isn't a teacher. I am glad that I have always managed to stay in fields where the dissemination of information was the important thing, such as the American Boy. Such as our illustrated lectures. And our tv shows, on the average, are as informative as we can contrive without losing the popularity that keeps them on the air.

"It is always a pleasure to hear from a teacher, especially when he is a former reader of the magazine where I spent fourteen happy years.

"Sincerely, George F. Pierrot"

The second letter from Pierrot to Gramps is dated December 15, 1961. It is more formal in tone.

My grandfather affixed a Detroit Free Press newspaper clipping from February 27, 1971, written by Charlie Hanna and entitled, "At 73, George Pierrot is TV's Oldest Travelor." Hann writes that in the 1930s Pierrot was the country's youngest magazine editor and was then the nation's oldest television star of the nation's first and longest running travel show.

Ralph J. Bunche, Under-Secretary, United Nations

My grandfather was related to Maude Shannon Ramer, whose cousin Rev. James Shannon was the motivation for an international gathering for understanding in Aaronsburg, PA. Mr. Bunche was one of the attendees. You can read about it at my post here.

Upon the Reverand's death, my grandfather wrote to Mr. Bunche, forwarding Maude Ramer's letter regarding her cousin's death.

A June 14, 1960, letter from Mr. Bunche to my grandfather includes a copy of the letter he sent to Maude, who had also written to him.

"I am very sorry to learn that he is gone," Mr. Bunche wrote, "...he was a thoroughly dedicated man who stood for the right, fortified always by the staunch courage of his convictions. It is too bad, in the light of his deep interest in Africa, that he could not have lived to see the exciting developments that have been taking place in that continent, with almost explosive rapidity, during the past three years."

copy of Mr. Bunche's letter to Maude Ramer

Ann Lander

In April 1960, My grandfather sent columnist Ann Landers an article he had written entitled "This is Your Wife" recounting all the things husbands take for granted. Ann wrote back, saying, "If the married world were packed with husbands like you, I'd be out of business."

Walt Disney Studios, Carl Nater, Director

Grandpa had a masters degree in mathematics. In his later life, he taught calculus and trigonometry at Lawrence Technological University. He had developed a cartoon Micky Mouse to explain algebra.

He wrote a letter to Walt Disney Productions and received back a letter dated October 16, 1962, from Carl Nater, Director.

"Your very fascinating letter has been received and I've been asked to answer it for it does relate rather closely to some of our activities. This division is responsible for the distribution of our films which have educational values to the schools and we, therefore, work quite closely with the school people all over the country.

"The use of the Mickey Mouse symbol to explain some of the concepts in algebra strikes us as being most imaginative and while I fear I have forgotten all of the algebra I learned at one time I shouldn't be a bit surprised that it is well received by your students. I have two youngsters at home who are currently struggling with algebra and I'm going to give them a chance to use the "Mickey Mouse" approach.

"It is obvious to us you are certainly a real teacher and I should think every youngster who has been in your classes has had a wonderful and exciting experience with algebra. We are most grateful for your interest in our activities and thanks so much for your letter."

I admit that when Gramps tutored me in Algebra I passed the class.

Roger Blough, U. S. Steel

Gramps had attended Susquehanna University with Roger Blough, who became Chairman of the Board of U. S. Steel. Blough and President Kennedy had a battle over steel prices. Blough's article in LOOK magazine on January 29, 1963, offered his belief that the market, not the government, should set commodity prices.

This letter from Blough dated October 12, 1959, is interesting only for Gramps' note: "Nick" Blough and I were building cleaners, "white coats" (table waiters) at S.U. in the 1920s."

Denis Baly, author "Geography of the Bible

A. Denis Baly was the author of "Geography of the Bible" and a professor at Kenyon College. A December 12, 1961, letter notes his engagement to speak in Detroit, and Gramps noted he was at the lecture, noting, "He's wonderful!"

Baly mentions his upcoming trip to Syria and Lebanon, and to see Abu Simbel "in case they do not manage to collect the money to protect it!" The ancient temple of Ramses II was threatened by the planned Aswan Dam. The money was raised to relocate the temple.

Harold Moldenke, author of Plants of the Bible

When I was a girl my grandfather gave me a thick stack of educational papers in biology, prepared by Moldenke. Moldenke was another Susquehanna U alumni, class of 1929. My grandfather had sent him a leaf for identification

Gramp's note reads, "Hey, Jack! Got the hepatica along his (John Geiger) lake (Dunham!) Now dig up root, stem & leaves; leave to dry, then send that poison ivy (like) plant to the above--you'll know! We (and wives) have been constant pals since 1942! Our kids (4) and theirs (2) grew up together--H.S. (Kenmore, N.Y.) Their kids were grads of M.S.U. and U of M (Roger has 2 A.M. from U of  M!

Had my grandfather lived into the age of social media, he would have been a Facebook addict with thousands of friends.

And Baby Makes Three

Gary, me and Chris at his baptism

Our folks had long since given up any hope of grandchildren from us. But now, I was thirty-four and Gary thirty-six years old and we were expecting!

My first doctor at the HMO, a young intern, went berzerk. "Do you know what this means?" he asked. "I'm having a baby," I responded. He went on to tell me all the horrible things that happen to older women, suggesting I needed testing to be sure the baby did not have a birth defect. I said no, I would mother the baby God had given me. I then asked for a new doctor. Our new physician, Anita Darpino, was wonderful.

I, of course, bought or borrowed twenty books on child raising in preparation. We signed up for an expectant parent class and were the oldest people in the room!

We decided to name our baby Christopher if a boy or Elizabeth if a girl. This way our baby could have a nickname, Chris or Beth.

As my pregnancy advanced I made a dress like a tent with a big bow. I discovered some people at work who didn't know me well thought I was just gaining weight.

My work friends held a baby shower for me.

At the baby shower wearing the pregnancy dress I made

Mom held a baby shower for me at her house and then my folks drove the unwrapped gifts to us and gave me a baby shower.

Mom's baby  shower held at my home.
I made the dress. My brother made the toy box.

On July 6 we went to the doctor after work. She said I had another two weeks. I was exhausted. At 10 pm I was in bed and turning off the light when my water broke. I got up and dressed and we went back to the hospital-- where we had just been as my doctor's office was there-- and I was admitted.

Gary had prepared mixed tapes for me to listen to, Gordon Bok and other folk singers we enjoyed. I had a fetal monitor on and every time I rolled on my side to sleep, a nurse woke me up and told me to get on my back. I can't sleep on my back!

The next morning they induced labor. That afternoon Gary told the nurses it was time but they did not believe us because of the monitor readings. Finally, Dr. Darpino arrived and said yep, it was time. Too late for the epidural dose! I was told to wait until the OBGYN arrived. Right.

Around two in the afternoon we had a son. The doctor remarked on two things: I never screamed and our son was born with his eyes open.

Chris one day old

When they placed Chris on my tummy we looked into each other's eyes, too exhausted to move. I fell in love.

Me and Chris

Gary had to return home to take care of P.J. and call our parents. The baby was taken away and the nurses disappeared. During the birth, there must have been a dozen people in the room. Suddenly I was alone. And helpless.

The television above the bed had been turned on and was airing a daytime talk show. It was driving me crazy. It felt like forever before I could get the energy to push the buzzer to call the nurse."Turn that TV off," I demanded, "and turn the air conditioner down--I'm freezing." I was covered with a blanket, the room was now dark and quiet, and I finally got some sleep.

The next day I was sent home although Chris had a high bilirubin count. I had three months pregnancy leave and Gary had a month. Gary waited on me hand and foot. A nurse came to the house and we took Chris to the clinic. Chris was losing weight and I had to give up trying to nurse and use a bottle. We gave him light therapy for jaundice. Soon he improved and rallied, putting on weight until he was in the 98%.

It was hot that July with two weeks straight with heat in the high 90s. I didn't leave the house except to take Chris to the clinic.

Gary took the 11 pm and 2 am feedings and I took the 6 am. By the time Gary returned to work, Chris was sleeping through the night, midnight to 6 am!

Friends from work came to visit me on for 35th birthday.

the girls from the office brought me a birthday party

We researched daycare options for Chris. The affordable ones were horrible, ten babies to one caregiver, and open windows with bees flying in. We found one that had only five babies to a caregiver, but it cost $100 a week.

Gary and Chris. We bought our first computer during my last months of work.

My folks came to visit. Mom planned to stay for two weeks to take care of Chris when I returned to work.  I cried all day my first day back. I missed my baby. I wanted to raise him myself and not miss a second. $79 a week was not a worthwhile tradeoff. I turned in my notice.

My going away card from Vic.

Larry, who is a marvelous cook as well as a talented musician, gave me a going away dinner. I kept in touch with my BOP friends, Chris and I joining my old friends for lunch at the cafeteria.

Gary and I had left FUMCOG and joined the smaller Chestnut Hill UMC where our clergy friend John from MFSA was a pastor. John always gave a sermon to the baby being baptized. It was very memorable and when he returned to parish ministry Gary adopted the tradition. There were a number of young families with preschool children.

Larry called me the 'only married single mother' he knew. Gary was gone so much, and Chris and I were home alone.

I had to walk P.J. with Chris in the stroller. It was time-consuming, taking the stroller down the front steps, then Chris, then returning for the dog. And the door always had to be locked.

Chris was only a few months old when I noted he was imitating language. I always said, "Hi, baby" when I came into his room in the morning. He was saying "I" back at me! And then he was chanting, "E-A" when ever he saw the dog, trying to say P.J.

Pay attention to me! P.J. demanding equal time.

Chris loved that dog but the dog was miffed to have his place as 'baby' usurped. We took P.J. to training and worked to make sure he knew his place in the pecking order.

Chris was very determined. I would check on him at night and see him laying on his back, struggling to sit up, his face red and angry. When he finally could sit up he started crawling soon after. Soon he was going after P.J.'s ball to throw it. He had been watching us play fetch, and he wanted to play with the dog too. Well, when the dog realized that Chris had a purpose, everything was great between them. Chris loved to feed P.J., too.

P.J. intently waiting for Chris to throw the ball

Chris was supposed to be still on the bottle when he started reaching for food I was eating. He first was determined to eat a banana. I bought a mini-blender to make baby food, but what he really loved was rice cereal with babyfood peaches.

Going for groceries was complicated since the local Pathmark didn't allow carts to be taken to the car. I had to leave my groceries in the cart, get Chris into the car, drive the car to the front of the store, park near my cart, and get the groceries into the car. At home, I had to get Chris into a playpen and bring in the groceries.

At nine months Chris was walking, or rather running. And was climbing out of the playpen and the crib. We had to put him in a bed after he climbed out of the crib and became stuck between the crib and the wall!

After grocery shopping one day, I took Chris into the house and returned with the bags. He was running around and fell and hit his head against the edge of the dishwasher. I took him to the doctor's office. Because it was after 5 pm my doctor and usual staff were not there. Chris needed stitches. I was grilled about child safety, and told his shots were not up to date. I panicked thinking I was to be reported to child services for neglect. The next day I called the office and they said that they were catching up on the record keeping and not to worry.

I joined an exercise class at the YMCA, the oldest gal in the class. Chris loved the baby center, especially the metal bus. On our way to the Y, as I strapped Chris into the baby seat, he would make this strange noise. One day we were stopped at a red light I noticed the sound of the motor of the SEPTA bus next to us. Chris was imitating the sound! No wonder he loved that toy bus. Those buses were big, noisy, and exciting. They were like gods to him.

My folks were crazy about their first grandchild, especially Mom. Gary's folks had four grandchildren, all girls, which made my mother-in-law happy since she had all boys. But Chris was the only one to carry on the family name.

Mom and Dad with Chris in the alley behind our house

From the beginning, Chris was around books. I read out loud when he was in the womb, and I had a small library waiting for him. He loved the poetry I read, and the songs I sang with my guitar. "Dig dig krucks" were his love. We read him books about trucks and he would point to a truck and we were to say the name. He was memorizing them. At the local CVS, passing the toy area, he would reach for the plastic model trucks.

Mom reading to Chris

Chris never wanted to go to bed at night, staying up until midnight.As an infant, he would fall asleep in the swing but woke when it stopped. I would put him to bed and sing him to sleep but he would wake up again. I finally stopped putting him down for naps and he was able to get to sleep around 8:30 pm.

I was always singing, making up songs, and making up stories. Chris would tell me what he wanted to hear about. He loved a story about Dan, Dan the Purple Van and stories about P.J.'s adventures.

Pastor John and his wife had a son a few months after Chris was born. John suggested a plan: we would take turns babysitting the other's child once a week. That way we had some free time.

I walked Chris in the stroller to CVS and to the library in downtown Olney. We brought home 15 books a week. We passed a park but the ground was littered with broken glass and I couldn't let him play there.  A homeless lady had a grocery cart and hung around the main street. One day she threw glass soda bottles at us. 

The little girls on our street all came to see Chris. The little boys had flattened cardboard where they practiced break dancing and Chris liked to watch them.

When I walked the dog and Chris, strangers passing by gave us a wide berth, eyeing P.J. warily. Yes, I always agreed, he was a miniature Doberman. P. J. made us feel safe.

Chris loved to eat at Roy Roger's restaurant. They had the best kids meal toys.

Larry was our first baby-sitter. In exchange, I came in as a 'ringer' in his church choir for their annual concert. I also met a teenage girl fundraising for the school orchestra. She lived in a nearby apartment building, living with several generations of her of Korean immigrant family. I hired her to babysit now and then.

Gary only saw Chris for an hour at the end of the day and weekends when he was not traveling. Chris loved him, but thought all bearded men were 'Daddy'. So there was Daddy (Gary), and Daddy John (the church pastor) and Daddy Raffi (the singer of children's songs; Chris loved his video).

Gary knew he needed to be more active in Chris's life. He talked about returning to the parish ministry and I supported him. He contacted the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and said he was open for appointment.

His boss at UMCOR tried to talk him out of it, suggesting she could find me a job at the Board of Global Ministries, and we could enroll Chris in the child care center at Riverside Church, and buy a home in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. I knew that would never work. Chris was often ill with sinus infections and ear infections, sometimes being ill two weeks out of four. Plus, I knew we could not deal with a baby on a tight schedule that required driving in NYC traffic.

A friend from the conference told Gary he wanted him in his district. One option was discussed in Bucks County but the Cabinet appointed another man. In the meantime, we explored returning to Michigan to be near family. My mom was flying to visit us, or paying for Chris and me to fly to Michigan, every few months. I knew how much it would mean to our folks, and to Chris, for them to be closer.

Dad with Chris on a visit to Michigan.

Gary opted to request a transfer to the West Michigan Conference, the largest supporter of UMCOR. He was invited to meet a church in Hillsdale, MI. The pastor had left the ministry and they had been without a pastor for several months.

We flew out to Michigan, left Chris with my parents, and drove to meet the church. There were some red flags which we should have noted, but we were just so glad to be able to return to Michigan that we did not consider the implications. The idea of bringing Chris up in a small town, in a ranch house with a huge yard, seemed like a dream come true. And our folks were a few hours drive away.

We were found buyers for our house. Gary gave notice and I started packing up. We sold a good chunk of our library to the Princeton used book store for $500. Larry hosted a good-bye party at his house with my BOP friends.

In May 1989 we moved. We had been in our house for seven years. Chris was 22 months old.

The Heirs by Susan Rieger: Parents' Secret Lives

"I don't think children are meant to understand their parents." Will Falkes

The Heirs by Susan Rieger kept me reading, finishing the novel in 24 hours.

Eleanor and her five adult sons must contend with more than the early loss of the family patriarch, Rupert. It appears that Rupert had a secret life, and possibly sons with another woman. As we learn about the family and their history through the various characters we realize everyone has secrets, and it is all right.

"I never told you boys to always tell the truth. We don't owe the truth to everyone." - Eleanor Phipps Falkes

The British born Rupert was a foundling raised by an Episcopal priest whose last name he assumed. His early life at a boarding school was brutal. He was beautiful and smart and lucky, immigrating to America for his education, becoming a successful lawyer, and marrying the gorgeous, rich, and aristocratic Eleanor. Each had previously been involved with someone else, but none of that mattered and neither shared their stories.

Their five sons are very different from each other but devoted--and unanimous in believing their parents were each other's first loves. The boys struggle with how to deal with the lawsuit from Vera Wolinski who claims Rupert was the father of her two sons.

"At what point, she wondered, would her sons stop thinking their parents existed only for them?"- Eleanor

The stories behind the family in The Heirs are sometimes steamy and always complicated, but the book reads very cool and elegant, full of literary references.

Chapters share different character's back stories and viewpoints. We realize that the 'truth' not only changes with each character but that a character's understanding of the truth shifts.

In the end, it does not matter what is 'true.' Life is mysterious, especially the lives of our parents, who don't owe us any explanations.

I received a free book from the publisher through Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Heirs
Susan Rieger
Crown Publishing
$26 hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-101-90471-8

Note: Rieger's husband is the author David Denby whose book Lit Up I reviewed here.

I will warn there are passages with lusty sexual encounters and unwanted boarding school buggering.

Still Coloring After All These Years

Celtic Mandalas coloring book from Dover Publications

I loved coloring when I was a child and was still coloring as a teen. I developed a technique where I would color with my Crayolas and use a Kleenex to wipe off the excess wax. Later I bought good colored pencils. I have even colored with crayon and pencils on fabric for my quilts!

In 1972 I bought my first Dover Publications coloring book, Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

from The Tale of Peter Rabbit Coloring Book, 1971

 

When our son was young he and I would place big orders from Dover for coloring books.

Dover Publications, 2000

colored page from Freshwater Pond Life

 

colored page from Freshwater Pond Life

colored page from Freshwater Pond Life

colored page from Fashions of the First Ladies, Abigail Adams. 2001

Martha Washington, Fashions of the First Ladies

But it has been a few years since I last colored. So when Dover Publications offered a coloring book for review I thought, why not? Everyone else has finally caught the craze and are coloring--there are even adult coloring parties at my local library--it's time I got out my colored pencils again.

coloring a page from Celtic Mandalas. Note how the colors
appear against a black vs. a white background.

Celtic Mandalas by Cari Buziak is for advanced, experienced colorists. The Mandalas are intricate and the design is small. I used my Koh-i-noor woodless color pencils. Keeping a sharp point is essential for these designs.  There are over 30 original Celtic-inspired designs with coloring pages, perforated for easy removal.

Traditional Celtic art combined abstract patterns with fantastic animals and naturalistic motifs. It is highly ornamental, with knots and spirals, and repeated patterns.

One thing I love about coloring is the ability to try different color combinations. Unlike playing with fabric in my quilting, I can go wild without any negative repercussions. Fabric is expensive and the patterns available for a limited time. But a coloring page is inexpensive.

I enjoyed playing with warm and cool colors in the pages I colored. I also wanted to see how the colors looked against a colored background.

Sample Mandala from Dover Publications available at
http://www.doverpublications.com/zb/samples/814238/sample7g.html

My colored Mandala

I often blended my colors by layering one on top of the other. For instance, in the outer border in the mandala above I colored motifs a deep red then used a pink color for the background, coloring right over the red. I did the same for the yellow and green rings, coloring the yellow over the green. 

I need to see if my colored markers are still good. I think these Mandalas are ideal for marker use.

Download sample pages Mandala from the book at

http://www.doverpublications.com/zb/samples/814238/sample7.html

I received a free book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

Some of My Favorite Books Published So Far in 2017

Here are some of the books I have enjoyed reading in the first six months of the year. Readers and book clubs often pick books that are on 'top' lists and miss others which are as good, and even better. Here are some not to be missed, presented from the earliest to the latest 2017 publications.

Non-Fiction

The Tunnels by Greg Mitchell. The story of the Berlin Wall and those who dug tunnels under the wall, the journalists who filmed the tunnelers, and President Kennedy's surpressing the story.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-tunnels-escapees-under-berlin-wall.html

High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic by Glenn Frankel reminds us of the cost of allowing our fear to negate the rights guaranteed by our laws and warns against the misuse of power.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/02/high-noon-hollywood-blacklist-and.html

The Life and Death of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan lays out the natural history of the lakes the ecological problems we have created, and what it will take to preserve and restore the Great Lakes.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-death-and-life-of-great-lakes-by.html

Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition by Paul Watson book is sure to bring another generation under the thrall of the tragic story of the Franklin Expedition.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/03/ice-ghosts-200-years-searching-for-lost.html

A $500 House in Detroit by Drew Philip. "We have an amazing opportunity to become, as strange as it sounds, the city of the future."
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/04/building-new-world-order-500-house-in.html

The Gatekeepers: How The White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency by Chris Whipple. I enjoyed this both as history and as a model for understanding the present.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-gatekeepers-how-white-house-chiefs.html

Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. I was charmed, then delighted; then I felt educated, and finally, elevated. In beautiful language and uplifting insight, Mozart's Starling is my most unexpected find of the year.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/04/mozarts-starling-exploration-of-nature.html

Apollo 8 by Jeffry Kluger is an exciting narrative about the Space Race.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/manderley-forever-by-tatiana-de-rosnay.html

Detroit: 1967 considers the riot/rebellion from a historical perspective and first-hand accounts.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/06/we-hope-for-better-things-detroit-1967.html

The Making of Jane Austen by Devoney Looser traces how Austen was 'made' through her illustrators, the dramatization and adaptation of her novels in plays, movies, and television, the political use of Austen, and finally through how her novels were used in education.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-making-of-jane-austen-creation-of.html

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley. I so enjoyed and loved this book about Jane Austen. A must read for Janites.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/jane-austen-at-home-by-lucy-worsley.html

Fiction

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich. The novel is a complicated, slow moving, intense story, delving into characters linked by love and horrific tragedy, in gorgeous writing.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2016/12/devastatingly-beautiful-devastatingly.html

Lucky Boy. Parental love, it's obsessive envelopment and fierceness, is the theme of Shanthi Sekaran's moving and thoughtful novel. I loved the writing, the characters are sympathetic and real, the story heartbreaking.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/01/lucky-boy-by-shanthi-sekaran.html

The Animators. Kayla Rae Whitaker's novel is about two women who use their life stories in their animated films then reap the consequences.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-animators-enduring-friendship.html

The Refugees. Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2015 novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. These short stories explore the refugee experience, informed by his own family history.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/02/for-all-refugees-everywhere.html

The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis. A remarkable story, beautifully written and wise. Henry's journey resonates with self-recognition and affirms that going home can open the path to the future.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/02/you-must-go-home-again-barrowfields-by.html



Things We Lost in the Fire by Argentinian author Mariana Enriquez are more than eerie or creepy. They are disturbing, upsetting, and some are even repulsive. They are amazing.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/03/unsettling-stories-from-argentina.html

Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar is an unusual book, at once funny and probing, emotionally wise, and improbable; a blend of philosophy and fantasy.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/03/spaceman-of-bohemia-truths-must-not-be.html

The Underworld by Kevin Canty. People in a small town react to a devastating mine disaster.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-underworld-by-kevin-canty.html


To the Stars Through Difficulties by Romalyn Tilghman. The empowerment of women to impact their community, the use of art for healing, and a belief in the power of books are the themes behind the stories of three women.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/04/to-stars-through-difficulties-by.html



Grief Cottage by Gail Goodman. A 'ghost story' in which character's inner ruins lay concealed, their grief diverted by obsessions and addictions.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/04/grief-cottage-by-gail-godwin.html

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout. To understand the experiences of those who are from different backgrounds, forget some of the over-marketed best sellers. Read Strout.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/04/anything-is-possible-by-elizabeth.html

Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker. Shoemaker gives us a kinder and more lovable version of Jane Eyre's Rochester.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/mr-rochester-by-sarah-shoemaker.html

Some Rise by Sin by Philip Caputo. If God is good, why is there suffering and evil? Set in Mexico where 60,000 murders in six years have brought Father Riordan past doubt--he is losing his faith altogether. Should he break his vows to save his flock?
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/some-rise-by-sin-and-some-by-virtue-fall.html

Allie and Bea by Catherine Ryan Hyde. An elderly woman and a teenage girl, both escaping their past, are thrown together by fate and become family.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/a-friend-in-need-allie-and-bea-by.html

The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris are short stories about how good people can make very bad decisions. Mesmerizing.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-dinner-party-and-other-stories-by.html

The Reminders, musician/actor Val Emmich's first novel, is a heartwarming story of the friendship between a girl who remembers everything and a grieving man who is forgetting his beloved.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-reminders-by-val-emmich-love.html

The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron draws on new research to recreate the waning days of the Neanderthals.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-last-neanderthal-reimagines-shared.html

The Quiet Before the Thaw by Alexandra Fuller follows the lives of two Sioux boys, in writing beautiful and eloquent and charged with emotional intensity and devastating revelation.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/06/quiet-until-thaw-by-alexandra-fuller.html

Devastation Road by Jason Hewitt, set after WWI, is a chilling vision of the impact of war, a mystery, a love story, and a revelation of war's human cost.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/06/devastation-road-by-jason-hewitt.html

Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson is wildly funny and yet deadly serious, a dark comedy and a chilling look at how America, and the world, is evolving.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/06/tell-me-how-this-ends-well-dark-family.html

We Shall Not All Sleep by Estep Nagy is an intriguing Cold War family drama with elements of a spy thriller and mystery. I was riveted.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/we-shall-not-all-sleep-by-estap-nagy.html

Grace by Paul Lynch recreates Ireland during the famine. The writing is gorgeous, the protagonist, Grace, memorable, the descriptions of what she experiences while on the road crushing.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/grace-by-paul-lynch-story-of-girl.html

Central Station by Lavie Tidhar imagines a world where divisions have blurred between man-created and biological entities and corporate and personal memory. Award winning science fiction.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/central-station-by-lavie-tidhar.html

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed is a compelling dystopian novel concerning a disturbing cult, with sympathetic characters and enough mystery that kept me turning pages.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/gather-daughters-by-jennie-melamed.html

Brave Deeds by David Abrams. Six soldiers are denied permission to attend their captain's memorial service. They go AWOL, risking their lives to honor him.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/brave-deeds-by-david-abrams.html

Biography

My Life, My Love, My Legacy: Coretta Scott King. A timely lesson in how resistance movements can alter policy, raise awareness, and impact cultural norms.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/01/coretta-scott-king-tells-all.html

Manderley Forever by Tatiana De Rosnay brings alive a complicated author in context of her family history, her personal and creative growth, and literary place.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/05/manderley-forever-by-tatiana-de-rosnay.html


The Velveteen Daughter by Laurel Davis Huber. The compelling story of the daughter of Margery Williams Bianco (author of The Velveteen Rabbit) who was a child prodigy in art, and her struggle with mental illness.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-velveteen-daughter-genius-touched.html

Morningstar: Growing Up With Books by Ann Hood is a wonderful memoir about the impact of books on her life. Beautiful.
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/07/morningstar-growing-up-with-books-by.html

Morningstar: Growing Up With Books by Ann Hood

When Ann Hood's memoir Morningstar: Growing Up With Books arrived in the mail, I opened it up to glance at it. I read the Introduction, in which Hood talks about her family and hometown and discovery of books, in particular, Louis May Alcott's Little Women.

I made myself a cup of hot tea and settled in to read the first chapter.

Before dinner, I had read the entire book. I could not put it down. Hood's voice and personality, her childhood yearning for something bigger, her love of reading and the impact books had on her life, caught my heart as well as my interest. I felt a kinship. I recognized myself reflected in her life, and while reading I thought about the books that had changed my life.

Hood's reading was free ranging, preferring thick books. She believes that the right book comes into a reader's life at the time it is needed, and this small book gives credit to the books that helped her understand life, answering the questions that perplexed her, and showing the path to personal growth and adulthood.

I recommend Morningstar for everyone who loves books, whose lives were touched by books. Those who as children found answers and discovered new questions, who found understanding and direction in the pages.

The back cover reads, "In her admired works of fiction, including the recent The Book That Matters Most, Ann Hood explores the transformative power of literature. Now, with warmth and honesty, Hood reveals the personal story behind these beloved novels." Another book for my TBR list! But when I was at our local bookstore this morning, I choose to buy Hood's novel The Red Thread. I am eager to read more of Hood's work.

The chapters and major books discussed are:

• Lesson 1: How to Dream, in which Hood address the impact of Majorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk, which she read as a teenager who felt trapped in a narrow life. 
• Lesson 2: How to Become a Writer concerns The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Hood's yearning for something more. 
• Lesson 3: How to Ask Why considers Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbull and the Viet Nam War. 
• In Lesson 4: How to Buy Books, Hood agonizes over purchasing a book, in particular, Love Story by Eric Segal, and how that first purchase led to a library. 
• Hood's brother gifted her a set of Steinbeck books and in Lesson 5: How to Write A Book she writes about what Grapes of Wrath taught about layers of meaning. 
• A Stone for Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins was her introduction to another culture, which Hood writes about in Lesson 7: Be Curious. 
• As a curious teen, The Harrad Experiment by Robert Rimmer answered questions she could not ask, Lesson 8: How to Have Sex. 
• How to See the World is Lesson 9, in which Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago exposed Hood to exotic places and times. 
• The last, Lesson 10: How to Run Away, is inspired by the character longing to escape in John Updike's Rabbit, Run. 

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

Ann Hood

Morningstar
by Ann Hood
W. W. Norton & Co.
Publication Date:  August 1. 2017
$22.95 hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-393-25481-5

Brave Deeds by David Abrams

When our son threw over his obsession with dinosaurs for WWII and later 20th c wars I found myself entering new territory.

For someone who couldn't stand to watch violence, whose high school classes didn't even get to WWI, I found myself watching war movies and reading a lot of war books. At first, our son liked The Longest Day and To Hell and Back. As he grew so did his sophistication. In his mid-teens, he read the book and watched the movie Black Hawk Down over and over. Which meant so did I.

My son's interests expanded my understanding of the world and politics--and human nature.

"Tell brave deeds of war." 
Then they recounted tales,--
"There were stern stands
And bitter runs for glory."

Ah, I think there were braver deeds.
Stephen Crane, The Black Riders and Other Lines

The title of David Abrams' new book Brave Deeds comes from a poem by Stephen Crane. What are these deeds that are braver than the 'bitter runs for glory'?

Told they could not attend the memorial service for their leader Staff Sergeant Morgan, six soldiers in Iraq decide to go AWOL. They had the mission all planned out: 'Borrow' a HUMMER, drive to the base where the service was being held, and return to face the consequences.

If something can go wrong it will. They did not count on the HUMMER breaking down in one of the most dangerous sectors of Bagdad. Or a grueling hike through hostile territory without even a map that in their panic they forgot to bring.

The trek takes eight hours, encountering people who sidetrack them into conflicts. But they stick to their mission, determined to pay honor to their fallen leader, "one team, one fight, one brotherhood," hopefully alive and intact at the end.

This journey tale brings the men into danger, but we also learn that their inner life journey is just as tortured. Each soldier's inner dialogue is heard in alternating chapters, without identification. Readers learn the men's fears and insecurities and pain, how they see each other, what has motivated them to go on this arduous, dangerous journey, and what Sgt. Morgan meant to them.

One soldier admits they are not 'great men risking death on a brave mission'. No, we are 'Fucked up and flawed' he thinks.

Morgan seen through the eyes of his men is a vivid character. Some saw his death as heroic, those who believed in "the First Church of Bush". Others were there for the paycheck, his death just sad and senseless. His death affected each one, and they now they risk their lives to honor him.

Reading the novel I was sometimes disturbed, sometimes I laughed. I felt compassion and revulsion, concern and sorrow. At the end I was moved.

The novel was inspired by a true story, as Abrams discusses here.

I received a free book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Brave Deeds
David Abrams
Grove Press, Black Cat
Publication August 1, 2017
Paperback $16.00
ISBN: 9780802126863