"Once upon a Wardrobe" by Patti Callahan

I hate to read names in novels and not be able to pronounce them. It slows me down, and I'm already a very slow reader. So I'm reading "Once upon a wardrobe" a novel by Patti Callahan for book club this afternoon (see, I told you I was slow) and there is a character named Padraig. By p. 142, I'm just calling him Patrick because phonetically (pad-rag) it sort of sounds like that to me. So I looked it up. Close enough. Podric

https://youtu.be/ffUVEq8xTsE?si=5bxfKzgJPgzNxyrt

I finished the book at 11:15, fixed lunch, we ate at 11:30, and after lunch I summarized the entire novel for Bob, whose eyes were starting to cross. But I should be able to remember it by 1 p.m.

S4E98 – AH – "After Hours" with Patti Callahan - Pints With Jack

And there was light, book club selection September 11

 For book club this month I'm reading Jon Meacham's "And there was light; Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle." (Random House, 2022) By page 140 I was noticing a subtle hint of 21st century moral superiority and self- righteousness in the author's tone.  I grabbed a second Lincoln book from my personal library, Ronald White, Jr.'s "A. Lincoln; a biography." (Random House, 2009) They are both massive books (676 pp. and 796 pp.) The bibliographies/notes sections are so huge and so different, it's almost impossible to check one against the other. I'm supplementing my reading with Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People," pts 3 and 4, which covers 1815-1870, which emphasizes links to England's history and our country's religious beliefs and formation. I was a little fuzzy on the Mexican War and the Nebraska-Kansas problem.

The bibliographies are incredibly difficult, but here are some rough, ballpark stats: Meacham cites Steven Douglas 27 times, White 106 times; Meacham cites Frederick Douglass 58 times, White 30 times. Both men were important, but for telling the story of pre-Civil War America and what Americans thought and believed, Steven Douglas is a better example of the pro-slavery forces Lincoln was up against convincing Americans (many of whom had never seen a black man or a slave) to stop the expansion and then ending slavery.

I've come away from this reading experience with a suspicion that all great heroes of our history will never pass muster because of the 21st century's race problems. They won't survive the Obama presidency and the George Floyd riots which were far more damaging to our national fabric than January 6 riot. Statues will continue to be torn down and schools renamed. 

 In this era of abortion up to the day of birth, maiming children in sex change surgeries, border sex trafficking, and energy and welfare policies that hurt the poor some of our scholars, publishers and activists find 21st c. American morals and ethics superior to the 19th and 18th centuries!

Although White never hides Lincoln's failures, he faithfully follows through on an outstanding study of his growth, integrity, and complexity, as well as his evolution in religious values and struggles. Plus, he's readable. Meacham does say good things about Lincoln but always "balances" with what his detractors from 3 centuries had to say. Cherry pickers for CRT classes will love it. Does Lincoln's passion for saving the country and destroying slavery have to be explained through a (failed) 21st century racialist lens?

I noticed the similarities to what we are going through today. In passionate love for their country, Lincoln and Trump are pretty well matched, regardless of what you think of their causes. And I can't think of any president more vilified than Lincoln except Trump. Lincoln was ridiculed, damned, hated with a passion, lied about, and feared just like Trump is today. There was more than one assassination attempt. The Republican party was in its infancy in 1860, lively and eager, and in its dotage in 2016 and 2020, careless and timid. The Democrats were racists then and they are racists now. The stakes were different, but slavery was embedded in every aspect of American life, even for northerners. The danger from non-elected entities in the deep state are as stubbornly embedded in our way of life as slavery was then. The desire to control others' lives it still with us today. To challenge the deep state today is as dangerous as challenging slavery was then. And abortion, although not a cause for Trump, is OUR moral issue overshadowing all other events and decisions just as slavery was in 1830-1860.

Trinity Forum Conversations | Lincoln in Private: Leadership Behind Closed Doors with Ron C. White (transistor.fm)

Abraham Lincoln's Diary on Apple Podcasts

Book Club Selections and suggestions, for 2023-2024

Each May our book club selects nine titles for the next September through May reading period. And today was that day.   This year’s selection list was very strong, so I’ll list them all, but first the nine choices. And who would have thought there was anything left to be said about Abraham Lincoln?  I don't know much about flowers, but look forward to reading about the flower designer at the White House who served many first ladies. Having just survived Covid, the Pale Rider about the 1918 pandemic will probably be riveting. Or maybe not. . .  I didn't recommend any titles.

The winners

September 11   And there was light (biography of A. Lincoln) by Jon Meacham (leader undesignated)

October 2    To America; personal reflections of an historian (memoir) by Stephen Ambrose (Peggy)

November 6    House in the sky (hostage memoir) by Amanda Lindhout (Gail)

December 4    Once upon a wardrobe (historical fiction, C.S. Lewis) by Patti Callahan (Linda)

January 8    My first ladies (memoir) by Nancy Clark (Mary Lou)

February 5   Sisters of Sinai (history, 19th c.) by Janice Soskice (Carolyn)

March 4     Pale rider (history, 1918 flu) by Laura Spinney (Isala)

April 1     Soul Survivor (selections of writers) by Philip Yancy  (Marti)

May 6    Fifth Avenue story society by Rachel Hauck (leader undesignated)


Other suggestions, not selected

Home for Christmas (anthology) published by Plough

The burning pages (mystery, Scotland) by Paige Shelton

So help me God by Mike Pence

The important thing about Margaret Wise Brown (children’s book)

Holdout by Graham Moore

The Spy and the traitor by Ben Macintyre

The Personal Librarian of J. P. Morgan

I've been reading "The personal librarian" the story of J.P. Morgan's curator of his rare books and manuscript collection, Belle da Costa Greene. I'm not impressed with the novel. I just came across the bio of her father, the first black graduate of Harvard, Richard Theodore Greener. http://www.mixedracestudies.org/?tag=richard-theodore-greener If the fictionalized account of Belle's life is to be believed, then her father abandoned his family to suit his own ambitions and had a Japanese concubine and two children when he was the first black diplomat to Russia in the early 20th century. That said, she's not to blame for her father's abandonment of her mother and large family. However, the writing is clunky and awkward, and it's a very preachy book about the struggles of a light skinned woman passing as a white in order to have a good life using her remarkable talent and intelligence. But she also had an affair with a married man (who had other lovers) and an abortion when her Jewish lover chose his wife and station over her (she wanted her child). Maybe I'm just tired of reading about amazingly successful people who are seen as victims. Porch reading. I've talked to others who have read it, and many LOVE this book, so don't be afraid to pick it up.

Belle da Costa Greene (1883-1950) • (blackpast.org)

Belle da Costa Greene, the Morgan’s First Librarian and Director | History of the Morgan | The Morgan Library & Museum

A Look at Belle da Costa Greene | Rare Book Collections @ Princeton

The Women Who Made the Morgan: Belle da Costa Greene, Felice Stampfle, and Edith Porada - YouTube Lecture, March 3, 2021

https://youtu.be/uiHz5YKAnhg Her letters to Bernard Berenson (1865–1959), lecture, June 19, 2021

https://youtu.be/JWcaePIBLCU Unmasking a forgery. The Spanish Forger.

Summary and Review: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Murray - The Bibliofile (the-bibliofile.com)

The Personal Librarian Summary & Study Guide (bookrags.com)

a book review by Judith Reveal: The Personal Librarian (nyjournalofbooks.com)

Belle da Costa Greene - Wikipedia

Bernard Berenson - Wikipedia

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott, c. 2017

Our Monday Book Club's selection for May was The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott. We had a lively discussion with some points mentioned, but not developed. This is a copy of my letter to the group to address some of the issues.

Before I returned the book to the library I wanted to check 2 things—Sally’s reason for leaving Chicago as soon as she got there, and Sister Jeanne’s statement, “I gave up my place in heaven a long time ago.” I’d also like to address the concern about theology of the characters/the writer.

The first is summarized on pages 153-159. Sally is thinking at night on the train about her father’s job on the BRT, dozes, sees the little boy, and muses on “She was going to give her life to others, in the name of the crucified Christ and His loving mother. She was going to join the Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor, Congregation of Mary Before the Cross, Stabat Mater, which Sister Jeanne thought the most beautiful name of all the orders. Because it reminded us all, Sister Jeanne said, that love stood before brutality in that moment on Golgotha and love was triumphant. Love applied to suffering, as Sister Illuminata put it: like a clean cloth to a seeping wound.” (Then images of the convent laundry where she’d spent her most formative years with the nuns). Then she physically attacks the disgusting woman who tormented her. She sees she cannot live up to her images of the nuns who helped raise her.

The second is the death of Mrs. Costello. “Her troubles were endless and her care was endless.” Both Sister Jeanne and Sally love Annie who will not be moved from her sinful behavior. Sally’s intentions are preceded by a few signs, like leaving the food uncovered and leaving the apartment before taking care of Mrs. Costello’s fever (p. 208) and her easy lies (p. 211). The writer repeats the “butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth” line she used with the disgusting woman on the train. It sounds minor but it shows Sally slipping away from her values. We already know the details of the poorly prepared applesauce, and how alum can kill, although we don’t know why we have those details. If Mrs. Costello died, then Annie would be free to marry Mr. Costello, Sally could have her mother back, and the sinning would stop. “Her plan was to exchange her own immortal soul for her mother’s mortal happiness.” (p. 225) Four times on one page this plan is called ridiculous. However, if you read p. 224-226 carefully, neither Sally or Sister Jeanne actually carry out their plan—or at least we don’t see it and the narrator (Sally’s children) doesn’t either--one with poisoned tea and one with applesauce. Sister Jeanne stops Sally with her arm movement, Mrs. Costello is coughing, gulping and choking. We never see/read (in the writer’s words) Sister Jeanne give Mrs. Costello the applesauce, she has the cup and spoon in her hand, and Sally is looking at the photograph of the wedding photo. When she turns and sees what is happening the spoon is still poised in sister’s hand. Sister Lucy arrives and the 2 nuns begin to slap and pounded on her back in a last attempt to restore her breathing.

McDermott’s skill as a writer and plot developer is incredible. It’s very spare; every detail matters. Her use of words, even reusing phrases and simple thoughts over, seems appropriate for the simple life of the characters—not rich, not educated, not clever. Short, crisp phrases and sentences, words that are not multisyllabic. We never could pin down the era or dates, but did you notice WWI, The Great Depression and WWII do not appear as characters or even a back drop. The Civil War figures in slightly to show another kind of substitutionary behavior. Their world is very self-contained and small.

As far as theology goes, I do see a serious lack on Sister Jeanne’s part, in that Confession (called the Sacrament of Reconciliation) could have absolved her of her guilt. Same with Sally. I think they knew that, but chose not to seek forgiveness. With Sister Jeanne it might have been her less than generous opinion of the parish priests. Even if they didn’t actually do the deed (and that’s up to interpretation) they had planned it, and in the heart according to Jesus it’s a done deal. Jesus gave that authority to his disciples who pass it down to priests today. It’s even that way in Lutheran and Anglican churches. Lutherans (I be one) say it every Sunday and the pastor says, “As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (sign of the cross).”

As far as the differences between Protestants and Catholics, it is more common for Protestants even if not openly Calvinists, to believe in “imputed righteousness” and Catholics to believe in “infused righteousness.” Catholic theology would take very seriously the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount and Matthew 25, that one meets Jesus in person while offering aid and comfort to the hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, etc. The nuns in McDermott’s novel live out this theology, they meet joyfully Christ in the suffering of the people they help. Whether or not McDermott is only nominally Catholic she accurately portrays Catholicism.

Thank you, Margie, for bringing this book to us. I really enjoyed it.

https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/alice-mcdermott-talks-about-latest-novel-the-ninth-hour/ 

https://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2017/11/15/review

Book Club Schedule 2022-2023

Yesterday we had our final meeting of this season, and a lively discussion of The Ninth Hour by Anne McDermott. We voted on selections for next season. Some excellent suggestions, even those that didn't make the cut--one title was a three-way tie.

Here is the schedule for next season's book club.

Sept. 12, 2022 The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson led by Justine at Bethel

Oct. 3, 2022 A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd led by Cindy at Bethel

Nov. 7, 2022 Ghosts of Gold Mountain by Gordon Chang led by Gail at Peggy's home

Dec. 5, 2022 The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa led by Carolyn A at her home. The Christmas party.

Jan. 9, 2023 The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray led by Marti Bethel

Feb. 6, 2023 Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder led by Linda at Bethel

Mar. 6, 2023 How the Post Office Created America by Winifred Gallagher led by Carolyn A. at Bethel

April 3, 2023 Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey led by Carolyn C at Bethel

May 1, 2023 The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey led by Peggy H. at Bethel. Bring titles to suggest for the next year.

Gilead, our March book club selection

To avoid watching the news and the mess Biden has made of our lives, I've been reading the March book club selection while on the exercycle. Gilead by Marilynne Robison promises to be an interesting read, and I believe it's the first of a series. So I've looked for a few reviews. Her first novel was "Housekeeping" but it was about 24 years before she wrote her second.

But Gilead, a book about fathers and sons, where Housekeeping was a book about girls and women, and fragmentary where one of Housekeeping's achievements was its fluid narrative completeness, takes an opposing narratorial position with a protagonist whose insider credentials could not be stronger. In Genesis, in the story of Joseph, Gilead is the casually mentioned place left behind by the merchants who bought Joseph from his brothers. Robinson's Gilead is a small American town in Iowa in 1956. John Ames, a preacher in his mid-70s whose heart is failing him, is writing letters to his only child, now aged six, so that when the boy reaches an adulthood his father won't see, he'll at least have this posthumous one-sided conversation: "While you read this, I am imperishable, somehow more alive than I have ever been."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/16/fiction.alismith

"GILEAD is better than a good book. It is a slim, spare, yet exquisite and wonderfully realized story that will long stand as one of fiction’s finest reflections on the sacramental dimensions of life, especially the Christian life lived in the routines and wonderments of prayer. It is, like a good sermon, a passionate meditation.

The book is slender only in the number of its pages — a mere 247. Otherwise, it is a fuller, richer and more deeply textured novel than most contemporary fiction twice its size. Robinson makes use of a form — the epistolary novel — that is classic but one of the most difficult to pull off well. It can often seem forced and cumbersome and — to the contemporary reader more attuned to e-mail and instant-messaging rather than the carefully considered craft of composing a letter — irritating in its deliberate pace.

Robinson’s epistle takes the form of a letter from 76-year-old John Ames, a fourth-generation Congregationalist minister, to his just-about-seven-year-old son. Ames is suffering from heart disease, and his letter, written in 1956, is a summing up of the past sprinkled with anecdotes and advice and sketches of the present, especially of his son and his wife and his best friend, also a minister."https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2005/03/18/march-18-2005-book-review-gilead-by-marilynne-robinson/4232/

A book friend goes home, Jean Ives

I knew Jean only casually before I retired from Ohio State, but got to know her better after 2000 when we were both in the same book club. She was always prepared and added a lot to our knowledge. I think she was the one who brought Maisie Dobbs to our book club, and my husband read the first in the mystery series and he's read them all since then. Maisie became a regular fixture for our summer porch reading.

Ives, Jean Ellen, 1934 - 2021

Confident of her destination, Jean Ives went to her heavenly home on March 31, 2021. Preceding her in death were her parents Burt and Mary Seldon, and sister Ann Williams. Her surviving family include her husband, David; her children, Eric Ives and Laura (Lino) Lino; along with granddaughters, Luciana and Isabella Lino and Kaylee and Jessa Ives; and great-granddaughter, Keilana Lewis. Jean was a founding member and actively involved in Bethel Presbyterian Church as an elder and teacher in the Bethel Series bible course, among many other activities. Jean attended Bethel College and the University of Minnesota, and earned her MS at Kent State U. Always open to new challenges, she also earned Para-legal certification from Capital University Law School, and the CPCU Insurance designation. She served as librarian for the Griffith Insurance Library for 15 years and worked in the main OSU library for the remainder of her career. Jean was an avid reader, particularly of mystery novels, and also enjoyed symphony and jazz concerts and travel. A Celebration of Jean's life will be on June 12 at Bethel Presbyterian Church, 1735 Bethel Rd, at 11 am, with visitation the previous hour. Memorial gifts in Jean's name may be made to Bethel Presbyterian Church.

Book Club selection for 2021-2022

  

Book Club Schedule for 2021-22  
All Book Club meetings will be on first Monday at 2 PM at Bethel Presbyterian unless noted otherwise.

September 13--The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron led by Mary Lou 

October 4--The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore led by Peggy at Peggy's home

November 1--A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier led by Carolyn C.

December 6--Pearl Harbor Christmas by Stanley Weintraub led by Carolyn A. at Carolyn's home

January 3--This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear led by Carolyn A.

February 7--A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd led by Cindy 

March 7--Gilead by Marilynne Robinson led by Marti 

April 4--The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott led by Margie 

May 2--Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky led by Peggy 

Runner-ups include--The Gown by Jennifer Robson,  Good and Angry by David Powlison, 
No Surrender by Chris Edmonds

Modern day slavery--labor, sex and children

Our book club selection today was "7 men and 7 women," by Eric Metaxas. Two of the individuals, William Wilberforce and Hannah More were English abolitionists. Amazing stories--and few people know of them, nor did most people of their era (18th century) know about the evils of slavery. Same thing is happening today. There's more slavery today than in the 18th century. Candace Owens interviews Tim Ballard who is fighting sex slavery--of children. The fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world is selling people. Most people don't know that. Now you'll have no excuse. Candace and Tim are telling you.

https://www.prageru.com/video/the-candace-owens-show-tim-ballard/?

Operation Underground Railroad (ourrescue.org)

For Book Club, Monday March 1

I am the hostess (on Zoom) for the March book club and we’re reading the book by Eric Metaxas, Seven Men and Seven Women and the Secret of Their Greatness. (2016).  The main characters are presented in chronological order, and all are deceased.  The men are George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Saint John Paul II, and Charles W. Colson.  The women are Saint Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Saint Maria of Paris, Corrie ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa).

I’ve looked around the Internet for some interviews and opinion pieces.

Eric Metaxas telling how he became a Christian through intellectual discussions with a Christian at his job, and then God revealed something to him in a dream. Eric Metaxas testimony how he became a Christian - YouTube

Study guide with links for 7 men (original title): A Discussion Guide for Eric Metaxas’s Seven Men and The Secret Of Their Greatness – home (chrisbrauns.com)  Includes Metaxas’ personal testimony. If you are unfamiliar with Metaxas’ background, this is a good start.

There are many videos of Metaxas discussing William Wilberforce. This is at Calvary Church https://youtu.be/njLUCmtLQpY

Metaxas lecturing about Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce at Grace Church in 2012.  https://youtu.be/48U3D74SwLs  

Metaxas laments in a secular publication that the Jackie Robinson movie left out the faith of both Robinson and Rickey in 42. Jackie Robinson a man of faith: Column (usatoday.com) “Omitting the role of faith in this story does a serious disservice to history — and to the memories of Robinson and Rickey.”

Interview (2013)  with Metaxas about the book Seven Men and the secrets of their greatness

https://youtu.be/yw-hVleL1DI (pt.1) and https://youtu.be/1UmJESQ-5iw (pt.2) and https://youtu.be/tiaXPGNje-E  (pt.3)

Interview with Metaxas about the book  Great Women from Joan of Arc to Mother Teresa | Eric Metaxas

The Secret of Mother Teresa's Greatness | Eric Metaxas  Mother Teresa  Opinion piece written for Fox

Article by Metaxas on Susanna Wesley, Joan of Arc, and Rosa Parks, Susanna Wesley, Joan of Arc, Rosa Parks and Other Ordinary-Extraordinary Women God Used to Change the World | Eric Metaxas in Christian Post.

For an extra if you’re interested in Mother Teresa.  Interview 1974 https://youtu.be/Th2QzJwy8tI  in Ireland.

Full movie on Corrie Ten Boom https://youtu.be/GHjiGwG4cFY

Movie on the life of William Wilberforce William Wilberforce | Full Movie | Steve Bell - YouTube  voice over with drawings--very well done.

Book suggestions for 2019-2020

Our book club, which doesn’t have a name, was organized by a group of young mothers mostly who lived in Clintonville and attended Bethel Road Presbyterian Church in 1979.  So this fall, it will be 40 years old.  The babies are grown, most members are grandmothers, new members have joined (I joined in October 2000), others have moved out of the area. We are missionaries, librarians, school teachers, lawyers, administrators, volunteers, and of course, daughters, mothers, wives, sisters, widows and grannies.  Except for a few special occasions, we now meet in the afternoon instead of the evening and at Bethel Road Presbyterian where we have good parking and is centrally located for all but one of us. Part of the group split off and still meet in the afternoon.  In May we select our new books for the next September through May, and these are the suggested titles.  All looked good, so I’ve listed all, but starred the ones who got the votes.

**1. Becoming Mrs. Lewis, by Patti McCallahan  September 9 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39189837-becoming-mrs-lewis  The marriage of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis.  Led by Bev

**2. The black ascot, by Charles Todd November 4  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40133569-the-black-ascot  Inspector Ian Rutledge  Led by Justine

**3. Dream of death, by Connie Berry (local author) March 2 Murder mystery https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42785284-a-dream-of-death Led by Carolyn C.

4.  Beneath a scarlet sky, by Mark Sullivan.  Historical fiction. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32487617-beneath-a-scarlet-sky

5.  What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarity. Fiction, woman forgets a decade of her life

**6. Before we were yours, by Lisa Wingate, October 7, at Peggy’s, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32148570-before-we-were-yours Historical fiction, stolen children placed for adoption. Led by Margie

**7. Road to dawn by Josiah Henson April 6 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32148570-before-we-were-yours  Real life story of slave who inspired Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Led by Gail

8.  Heavenly Man the story of Brother Yun, Chinese Christian.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79421.The_Heavenly_Man

9. Another kind of madness by Stephen Hinshaw. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450861-another-kind-of-madness  Memoir of mental illness

10. White Rose by Kip Wilson, with We will not be silent. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39884755-white-rose  WWII era historical fiction 

11. Road to Character by David Brooks  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22551809-the-road-to-character  Thinkers and inspiring leaders

12.  Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/155712.Mrs_Mike Love story set in Canada

**13. Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.  January 13. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18079776-the-invention-of-wings  Grimke sisters. Led by Peggy

**14. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. February 3. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3228917-outliers Unusual interesting people. Led by Carolyn A

**15. One of the Narnia stories—A Horse and his boy. At Carolyn A.’s home December 2.  Everyone shares in this one. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84119.The_Horse_and_His_Boy

**16. Elephant whisperer by Lawrence Anthony. May 4.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6375561-the-elephant-whisperer  Led by Peggy.

Thurberville--March book club selection

Although I haven't ordered it yet (library computer system seems to be locked up) the selection for our book club on March 4 is Thurberville, by Bob Hunter. (Ohio State University Press, 2017)

"James Thurber’s Columbus was not today’s Columbus—or even yesterday’s. It was a Columbus he both knew and created, a place perched on the fringe of reality and the fringe of his imagination. It is the place Bob Hunter revisits in Thurberville, a book where the author separates truth from fiction and identifies what parts of the famous humorist’s hometown of 180,000 exist in the burgeoning metro area of more than two million today.

Thurber’s Columbus was a wild and crazy place, a city full of fascinating and sometimes peculiar characters, many in his own family. Because of the widespread popularity of his stories, that was also the Columbus that many of his readers around the world came to know.

Thurberville chronicles those characters and explores that world. But it also examines the real city where Thurber struggled and then blossomed as a college student, worked as a newspaper reporter and a press agent, and achieved international fame as a humorist and cartoonist after he left town, in part by writing about the subjects he left behind." 

https://ohiostatepress.org/books/titles/9780814213377.html

January was more social than usual

December is always a fun month with lots of special activities like concerts, dinners and get togethers. So in noting our January schedule, I see it was more social than usual, mostly church activities, but a nice members' opening at the Museum of Art, too. I'll jot down what I remember while listening to a Dvorak Cello Concerto on a Spectrum channel--no commercials.

January 6--We hosted our SALT group here on Epiphany after church--I served turkey Tetrazzini  fruit cups and assorted Christmas desserts, so I was able to use up both our Thanksgiving and Christmas left-overs.  We're studying Hebrews, and Bob was the leader.

January 7--Book club at Bethel Presbyterian Church,  "The Other Alcott," by Elise Hooper, and although I didn't care much for the selection, it's always a great discussion and this included a lot of art. I joined 18 years ago when I first retired in 2000.  Originally, the club was a group of young mothers from the Clintonville area of Columbus who attended the same church.  Now they are no longer working or taking care of kids (most are grandmothers) and we meet during the day instead of the evening.

January 9--Coffee with Adrienne, who is now living at Wesley Glen.  Weather problems have been interfering with our coffee time!

January 10--Bible study class at 10:30 for mostly retirees and seniors led by Pastor Jeff Morlock. We're doing Revelation which works well with the Saturday group study of Genesis--lots of references to Genesis. That was followed by lunch and a wonderful talk by John Kohan of Delaware, Ohio, discussing his sacred art collection   http://sacredartpilgrim.com/

January 12--In January I "returned" to three different Bible studies (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at our church that I've attended at various times over the years. It's easy to spend time inside and not see many people, so I'm making a greater effort to get out.  Women of the Word on Saturday is led by Mary Jo and is using Jen Wilken, "God of Creation, a study of Genesis."  She's an excellent speaker (video plus workbook).

January 13--Also returned to Adult Sunday School taught by Charlie, who is very good--well prepared, great prayers, kind, and keeps us on track.  We're studying Acts.

January 17--Dinner at Windward Passage on Henderson Rd.  with Joan and Jerry and Joyce and Bill.  Joan, Joyce and I are making plans for the 2009 reunion of our Steps of Paul voyage, and we don't have a list, but are contacting everyone we remember.  It will be at our MR campus on March 3.  After dinner we came back here for chocolate pie.

January 22--We attended the Columbus AIA meeting downtown to learn about the building and recent renovation of the LeVeque Tower here in Columbus.  I used to work there in the 1980s for the Ohio Department of Aging. It's now a boutique hotel, apartments and condos with businesses on the first level.  Our Conestoga group will tour it in March. I'm looking forward to that now that we've heard how it was done.  Figuring out where to park and getting back to the parking garage in the dark was an adventure in itself.

January 23--Coffee with Adrienne at Panera's. We had to cancel the next one due to the cold (polar vortex)

January 25--Met with Steve DeWeese, our lawyer, to settle wills, power of health attorney and health directives. He's a member of our church, a few years older than our children, and he knows them.

January 25--Bobby Burns party at the Hahm's--always a great event. This birthday is celebrated all over the world.  There are instructions on the internet on how to do it, and what to serve. We wore our kilts--Bob got his as Christmas 2017 gifts from the family for his 2018 80th birthday. His was horribly expensive because it included a formal jacket, special socks, a knife, and a sporran. Mine was really cheap--$3.00 at Volunteers of America.  I had to set the buttons over, but it's probably the nicest wool I've ever owned. Having dinner parties is like a ministry for the Hahms and they have many each year, always with an interesting mix of people.

January 26--Funeral at UALC for Jon Brewer, a friend of Phil's from childhood, and he came with many of his high school friends, most of whom I wouldn't have recognized, but did remember some of the names.

January 26--SALT group at the Crosses.  We got there a little late because of the 2 p.m.  funeral, but it lasted a long time--we didn't get home until about 6:30. Carol led the study on Hebrews and it was excellent.

January 27--Chili-cook off at St. James Lutheran off of Trabue Rd on the west side--preceded by a combined choir concert of St. James and UALC Lytham Rd. choirs.  Beautiful old sanctuary, 19th century, with a recent (about 10 years ago) educational and social wing.  I can remember when it was the only building out there. Now it's surrounded by housing and shopping centers. We went with Howard and Betty from our SALT group.

January 28--Coffee with Nancy at 5 points Panera. They left Friday for their Florida break.

January 29--Got a new perm from Melissa at Shear Impressions.  I think I've been with her since the mid-1990s.  She and her mom used to go to UALC but are now at a downtown church.

January 31--Member preview party at the Columbus Museum of Art, Derby Court, light hors d'oeuvres, lecture by Peter Schoon, Director of the Dordrecht Museum, Netherlands. "Life in the Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Masterpieces from the Dordrecht Museum." It's a wonderful show and I'd recommend it.  That was our second night in the dark in downtown Columbus in January.  And it was very cold both nights.  I did see a few women other than me in a dress/skirt, however, the others all had knee high boots or leggings.

A book review in Forreston, 1949

 

At least I think it was 1949. . . that’s the year the book was published. This book was made into a movie in 1952 starring Cary Grant and Betsy Drake.

I don’t think I read any of those books she recommended, but I do remember Jimmy Lewis who had a wonderful voice and white blond hair, and Davis Folkerts, a precocious piano player. Davis must have been about 10 years old when he performed for the ladies. He retired as professor of music from Central College in Pella, IA, in 2017 and was still playing the organ at 79. He learned to play the instrument in the sixth grade according to the local paper which covered his retirement 2 years ago.

I found this clipping inside her address book which seems to be from about 1990-2000. It’s full of names I remember, many who died that decade, according to her notes.  I’m not sure how I inherited either the address book or the clipping inside it.  I’m sure she didn’t put it in there.

But it’s fun to think of her at 37, giving a book review—I don’t remember her enjoying public speaking--getting out of the house and chatting with ladies of the community may have been an adventure. As I recall, the local library was a volunteer effort, open only a few hours a week, and run by my first grade teacher, Miss Flora.

Gentleman in Moscow, September book club

I'm reading "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles for September book club. It's a great read, and I admit to being thrilled I recognize some of the names and events being a Russian major in college and taking all those history courses.  But I had to laugh at a perfect example for all the mush brained snowflakes and Bern babies who think socialism is so great. Count Rostov is indeed quite the gentleman, knows his wine, and which goes with what. One evening in the dining room of the hotel he can’t leave he orders a specific wine, a bottle of San Lorenzo Barolo, 1912, and was told he can order either red or white. He repeats his order, so the manager takes him to the wine cellar of the Boyarsky dining room of the Metropol Hotel where he discovers that 100,000 bottles of wine have had their labels removed. He inquires and is told:
"A complaint was filed with comrade Teodorov, the Commissar of Food, claiming that the existence of our wine list runs counter to the ideals of the Revolution. That it is a monument to the privilege of the nobility, the effeteness of the intelligentsia, and the predatory pricing of speculators."
"A meeting was held, a vote was taken, an order was handed down. . . Henceforth, the Boyarsky shall sell only red and white wine with every bottle at a single price."

Reading, working out and socializing at Lifetime Fitness

I know from reading Facebook that some of my friends  like and participate in on-line reading groups. I just don't get it. I often don’t like the books we read in our group, but I like the people. I see them face to face. (And sometimes am surprised when I find I actually do like a book I wouldn’t choose.)  Book Club may be the social event of the week for me. That and going to the grocery store. Or maybe the gym. Like this coming Monday. The book, "The worst hard time" is really a snore. I'm waiting to hear something good about it. Maybe it would mean more if I didn’t remember what my mother told me about the Great Depression.

According to Business First apparently Life Time Fitness has made it a corporate policy not to show MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC and CNN at its 127 clubs in 27 states. Apparently they don't want political discussions or outbreaks of uncivility on the premises. There's a screen on each treadmill, but I haven't figured out how to turn it on, besides I need to finish my book, “The worst hard time.”

Today  was a trifecta. I'll went to the gym, propped this boring book on the treadmill ledge, and then when exercise was over went next door to Marc's to shop.

To meet nice people, wear an interesting shirt. I wore my Black Swamp Bird Observatory long sleeve T to Lifetime Fitness today and met a lovely lady in the locker room who is a bird watcher and she's been bird watching in that area. She's planning a trip to Ecuador to watch more birds. Now that's a serious hobby!  Then I went to Marc's and ran into Diane from our church and got a big hug. She just got back from Florida.

Monday Memories--Book club memories 2002

From a letter. "I had book group here September 9. I finished the book, “John Adams,” that Monday morning!  I made my mother’s apple walnut “Autumn bread” recipe and Phoebe’s cheese ball with crackers.  The leader, Carolyn A. did a fabulous job.  She’s been a John Adams fan for 20 years, and brought along all her other books about him, many of which had wonderful illustrations.  Our next selection for Oct. 7 is “Peace like a River” by Leif Enger.  I’ve been taking it down to jury duty, but haven’t made much progress.  In December I’ll be leading “The Persian Pickle Club” by Sandra Dallas, a wonderful story about women in the Depression.  Everyone loved the condo [we'd moved in January 2002].  It was still light enough they could see the grounds.  One lady asked me if we overlooked a park.  It really is that lovely.  I must get busy and finish the decorating.  It is hard after you live with it for awhile, because you sort of don’t notice some of the oddities.  This group formed in 1979, and still has about 3 or 4 of the original members, and some who’ve been with it for 19 or 20 years.  I didn’t join until I retired in 2000, so I’m a real novice at reading on command.   One woman said that when they started they had 20 women and 24 babies."

From a letter.  "Book group meets tonight, [November 4, 2002].  I stop at Adrienne’s about 2 miles north, and she’ll drive us up to Muirfield (northwest of here) to the hostess’ home.  The book is Anne Tyler’s “Back when we were grown ups,” and I can’t say I enjoyed it much.  I hope someone else has something to offer.  I can’t imagine a woman taking so long (she is 53 when the novel opens) to figure out her 4 daughters are all losers. With names like Patch, No-No, Biddy, and Min-Foo, what can you expect? Although people usually talk about Tyler’s humor, I thought the only funny part was when she gets together with her old boyfriend from high school/college for dinner (she is a widow and dumped him to marry her husband) and finds out what a dud he is too.  She had sort of romanticized the memory of their time together. I sort of felt they deserved each other--she’s been wearing a fake happy face for 30 years and he’s been following rigid routines and is mad because she walked out on him."

Book Club titles for 2017-2018

Yesterday our book club (originally formed by a group of young mothers in Clintonville over 30 years ago and I joined in 2000 when I retired) selected titles for the 2017-2018 year. I’m partial to non-fiction, so I’m excited about this list. All will meet at Bethel Rd. Presbyterian except where noted.

September: Hero of the Empire; The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard. This will be at Peggy's

October: Being Mortal; medicine and what matters in the end by Atul Gawande. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDdtAiTrwt4

November: Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

December: Hidden figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, now a movie.  Meets at Carolyn's.

January: Worst hard time The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan

February: Leopard at the door (novel) by Jennifer McVeigh

March: Bad ass librarians of Timbuktu And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer

April: Hillbilly Elegy; A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance (he now lives in Columbus)

May: Cod a biography of the fish that changed the world by Mark Kurlansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAmVU2WL7bY He wrote a book about Salt, and if it’s anywhere near as good, I’m looking forward to this one.

Book Club selections for 2016-2017

Except where noted, we meet at Bethel Rd. Presbyterian Church.

Sept. 12--All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr--led by Carolyn at her home

Oct. 3--Ashley's War by Gayle T. Lemmon--led by Mary Lou

Nov. 7--The Wright Brothers by David Mc Cullough--led by Norma  at home of Peggy

Dec. 5--The Annotated Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll--ed. by Martin Gardener--led by Peggy  at home of Carolyn A.

Jan. 9--Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers--led by Justine

Feb. 6--Nobody Tells a Dying Guy to Shut Up by David Chilcoat and ed. by Beth Chilcoat--led by Jean

Mar. 6--The Brigade by Howard Blum--led by Peggy

Apr. 3--Lisette's List by Susan Vreeland--led by Carolyn A.

May 1--The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom--led by Bev