Burn - Nevada Barr

This was a very dark tale – the topic is hard for me to listen to but Barr did a good job keeping it from getting out of hand.  It is very different from other Anna Pigeon stories and Barr must face quite a challenge to keep developing new materials and tales with at least a minimum sense of possibility for this woman who has been a part of every kind of death and mayhem.  The NPS connection here is very minimum – you might even miss it.  It has no relevance other than the connection needed for the series.


Anna Pigeon, a Ranger with the National Park Service, is on administrative leave from her job as she recovers from the traumas of the past couple of months - while the physical wounds have healed, the emotional ones are still healing. With her new husband busy and back at work, Anna decides to go to stay with an old friend from the Park Service, Geneva, who works as a singer at the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park .Anna isn't in town long before she crosses paths with a tenant of Geneva's, a creepy guy named Jordan. She discovers what seems to be an attempt to place a curse on her - a gruesomely killed pigeon marked with runic symbols - and begins slowly to find traces of very dark doings in the heart of post-Katrina New Orleans. Tied up in all of this evil magic are Jordan, who is not at all what he appears to be; a fugitive mother accused of killing her husband and daughters in a fire; and faint whispers of unpleasant goings-on in the heart of the slowly recovering city. Now it will take all of Anna's skills learned in the untamed outdoors to navigate the urban jungle in which she finds herself, to uncover the threads that connect these seemingly disparate people, and to rescue the most vulnerable of creatures from the most savage of animals.

The Defector by Daniel SIlva

Easy reading, a light fare that goes quickly; but I disagree with the summary that I have copied below – Carre and Greene have much tighter writing.  Silva is highly suspicious of Russia today and does not trust it (who does) and his afterward makes that clear.  This is an Israeli/Russian conflict and it is fast and creative until the end, then it feels contrived and dragged out, but then I find many of books in this genre to be that way.  When you have a hero either putting the tale in first person or part of an ongoing series the tension about whether that person will survive is forfeit.


Over the course of a remarkable career, Daniel Silva has established himself as one of the world's finest writers of international intrigue, a craftsman worthy of comparison to John le Carre and Graham Greene. His latest bestseller, Moscow Rules, was not only superior entertainment, but a prescient cautionary tale about the emergence of the New Russia. Now he takes that tale to the next level.Six months after the blood-soaked conclusion of Moscow Rules, Allon is in Umbria, trying to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, when a colleague pays him a shocking visit. The man who saved Allon's life in Moscow and was then resettled in England has vanished without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double agent all along, and they blame Allon for planting him. To discover the truth and clear his name, Allon must go immediately to London - a decision that will prove to be the most fateful of his career.In the British capital, he finds himself once more on the front lines of the secret war between East and West, where Russian spies and dissidents engage in the old game of cat and mouse. There, Allon uncovers a much greater conspiracy, a plot by an old enemy to resurrect a network of death, to bring the world to the precipice of a new confrontation, and in order to stop it, he must risk everything: his ties to an organization he has served since his youth, his new marriage . . . even his life.

The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance,

The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance,

Rolf Peterson

My copy has a different cover than the one shown with a photo of wolves walking the icy edge of the island.  It is the copy you would want to buy since it includes a short epilogue that is important.

Rolf wrote this in 1994 after a plunge from 50 to 14 wolves in three years and the fear was high that the wolves would disappear from the Island. 

The argument that he makes for stepping in to put wolves back should they disappear is not as compelling now that the wolves have stabilized their populations, but the argument should not be lost because it could still be important in the future.

Almost destroyed by Parvo Virus – a dog disease that was brought in by a dog (from Chicago) on a boat and the drop was fast and lethal.  It left a small population (13) with only three females, dominated by one that was too old to bear pups.  Fortunately the other two females produced four pups each (and four of the reproductive partners died within a year) and this meant that the wolf would remain on the Island for the foreseeable future.

But the books value is more than this dramatic event.  Fifty years of continuous wolf research has left a collection of stories of angry moose, fox, wolves, and flights that can be dramatic, surprising and humorous. 

Rolf is a passionate observer and a wolf advocate.  His research has opened new views of this amazing animal. Until the crisis he was a passive observer of bones and scats, carcasses and airplanes, but after 1988 he had to utilize traps.  This quote shows his personal feelings:

“The fine weather was a good omen, yet our mission and our boatload of wolf traps engendered a sense of foreboding.  For the first time, the wolves of Isle Royale were to become targets, and I, their longtime observer and admirer, would become the hunter.  In my heart, I didn’t much care for the idea of capturing them – even for the purposes of temporary study.  But I felt compelled to expose them to possible risks, in order to ascertain the causes of their decline and possible extinction.”  No wolf was injured during the successful trapping.

There is good insight into the history of the island as well as the history of wolf research.  There are lessons about wolves and forests and it is an ecological web told well in a small book with wonderful color photography that aids in capturing the full story.

One more perspective to be added.  Twice this summer I have had the great pleasure of being with Bob Krumenaker, the superintendent of Apostle Islands Lakeshore.  He had been on Isle Royale as the staff researcher who was their to work with Rolf in the first trapping and collaring ever on the island and we had good discussions about the park, the wolves, and ecology.

I take no side in this, but I know Bob felt that Rolf went beyond his scientist position in writing the conclusions to this book.  I agree, but I do not think that is bad.  It is a good book, a complex situation, and worth losts of discussion and debate - as well as some really planning to match the situations that could arise suddenly and soon.

Happy Birthday - from Garrison Keillors Almanac

One of my favorite writers - I have read his Alchemist three times and continue to be fascinated by its allegories and hidden messages.

It's the birthday of Brazilian author Paulo Coelho (books by this author), born in Rio de Janeiro in 1947. When he told his parents that he wanted to be a writer, they had him committed (briefly) to a mental institution. In 1970, he dropped out of law school and traveled all over South America, Mexico, Europe, and North Africa; when he returned to Brazil two years later, he worked as a lyricist for several Brazilian pop stars, and in 1974, he did a brief stint in jail for alleged subversive activities against the government.
In 1980, he returned to Europe, and walked the entire 500-mile Santiago de Compostela route first trod by pilgrims in the Middle Ages. He described the journey as a turning point: "It was then that I, who had dedicated most of my life to penetrate the 'secrets' of the universe, realized that there are no secrets. Life is and will always be a mystery." He also became interested in Catholicism again after rejecting it as a young man; these experiences inspired his 1987 book, The Diary of a Magus, which was reissued as The Pilgrimage in 1995. Many of his books, both fiction and nonfiction, deal with themes of mysticism and religion.
He wrote, "If I must fall, may it be from a high place."

The Masque of the Black Tulip - Lauren Willig

I had a difficult time getting in to this book.  Somehow the characters and the action seemed confusing and did not grab me.   There were some good sections and a nice trip in to the seedy part of England during one section.  In one encounter with a bar maid the “hero” worried about “asphyxiation by bosom” as he has an encounter with a barmaid.

The writer has some very witty descriptions that made me laugh - “Richards lips clamped up with a sound that might have become a growl if allowed to grow up.”

This is strange combination – romance novel meets spy thriller, but it is low on thrills, and more romance than I bargained for.  I did not have any trouble finishing the book – but I would not recommend it except for the lightest reading.  However, those of you who read my reviews regularly know I have an eclectic taste, but still it is limited and my like or dislike should not necessarily affect yours.

Description from Audible.com  might give more details for you and a better look at the storyline.
The Pink Carnation, history's most elusive spy and England's only hope for preventing a Napoleonic invasion, returns in Lauren Willig's dazzling, imaginative new historical romance. The Masque of the Black Tulip opens with the murder of a courier from the London War Office, his confidential dispatch for the Pink Carnation stolen. Meanwhile, the Black Tulip, France's deadliest spy, is in England with instructions to track down and kill the Pink Carnation. Only Henrietta Uppington and Miles Dorrington know where the Pink Carnation is stationed. Using a secret code book, Henrietta has deciphered a message detailing the threat of the Black Tulip. Meanwhile, the War Office has enlisted Miles to track down the notorious French spy before he (or she) can finish the deadly mission. But what Henrietta and Miles don't know is that while they are trying to find the Black Tulip (and possibly falling in love), the Black Tulip is watching them.

The Writer's Almanac

Some highlights:
X. J. Kennedy:  "I write for three separate audiences," he told Contemporary Authors. "Children, college students (who use textbooks), and that small band of people who still read poetry."

Sergey Brin once said, "Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making a big difference in the world."

Ellen Hinsey said: "Contrary to a generally held view, poetry is a very powerful tool because poetry is the conscience of a society. [...] No individual poem can stop a war — that's what diplomacy is supposed to do. But poetry is an independent ambassador for conscience: It answers to no one, it crosses borders without a passport, and it speaks the truth. That's why ... it is one of the most powerful of the arts."

When The Rivers Run Dry - Fred Pearce

A very thorough look at our disappearing rivers, our increasing reliance on water for our intense agriculture, the demand of population growth and the distribution of population compared to water geography.  It is obvious that the story of water is one that is playing out with all our resources – a scramble to get all you can get before it runs out and then let the future generations figure things out for themselves.

Think about the idiocy that goes on when each political body dams the river and extracts the water upstream before the traditional cultures downstream can get their share.  Think about ignoring the melt waters of glaciers and not considering that their slow summer melt keeps a source of water going to the communities at lower elevations.  There is the loss of habitat, the loss of streams, the displacement of people, and the inevitable silting and deterioration of these assaults on the environment.  One study showed that 80,000,000 people worldwide have been displaced by dams and their reservoirs.  And of course the reservoirs evaporate extensive amounts of water that cannot be used and silt fills in the back of the dam instead of recharging the fertility of the flood plains.

Then the horror continues when the heavy waters come and the need to save the dam means a release of water in a flash flood event that is seldom conveyed to the peasants downstream until too late.  What a system.

In China, Pakistan, India and many other places in the world raw sewage is used for crops, untreated, disease and toxin laced human sewage – at the time of this book – 10% of the world agriculture grows in this way.   Israel uses 70% of treated water for its export crops.  Treatment works – In London the water has gone in and out of our septic systems 18 times or more before it comes out of the tap for drinking, but it is treated and therefore safe as far as we know.  But without treatment – the world is at risk.

The Valley of Death changed its name to the Imperial Valley and suddenly history shifted, but the Colorado River is the second siltiest river in the world (Yellow is Number 1).    The shifting of the Colorado River for irrigation with new canals and floods running out of control, the flow of water created an inland sea and a new route was created by the flow.  As a result it cut back upstream creating the desert canyon ½ mile a day.  With millions of acre feet pouring into the valley a railroad company that was going bankrupt was hired to bring rocks and dump them for years until the Colorado River was once again under some form of control.  Next was the American Canal – another massive boondock.  This sustained a portion of the new inland sea – the Salton Sea – which quickly became a salt lake, sustained by sewage and drainage. 

Now the Salton Sea produces fish and is home to more birds than the everglades, however, this strange story has one more twist.  Because of more urban needs the irrigation water will be less abundant which creates less drainage, more evaporation and the potential loss of the lake, habitat, and local communities.  The move to efficiency in agricultural water increased the awareness of the water value and those who own the water under the old and complicated water allotment laws, and those farmers are thinking they can get more from Las Vegas and its extreme wastefulness than they get from the work of growing crops.

Ultimately we have to quit flushing freshwater to the sea as quickly as possible and find ways to utilize the flood waters and the natural flows as well as the marshes and wetlands that server as important sponges for year around water.  The damage of engineering following old paradigms multiplies every year, but there is a chance to improve conditions if humans and governments can commit.  The chance of that?????????????????

Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water both for agriculture and for individual consumption, but now economists say that by 2025 water scarcity will cut global food production by more than the current U.S. grain harvest.In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce focuses on the dire state of the world's rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing world water crisis and its ramifications for us all. Pearce traveled to more than 30 countries examining the current state of crucial water sources like the Indus River in Pakistan, the Colorado River in the U.S., and the Yellow and Yangtze rivers in China. Pearce deftly weaves together the complicated scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the water crisis, showing us its complex origins - from waste to wrong-headed engineering projects to high-yield crop varieties that have saved developing countries from starvation but are now emptying their water reserves. He reveals the most daunting water issues we face today, among them the threat of flooding in China's Yellow River, where rising silt levels will prevent dikes from containing floodwaters; the impoverishment of Pakistan's Sindh, a once-fertile farming valley now destroyed by the 15 million tons of salt that the much-depleted Indus deposits annually on the land but cannot remove; the disappearing Colorado River, whose reservoirs were once the lifeblood of seven states but which could easily dry as overuse continues; and the poisoned springs of Palestine and the Jordan River, where Israeli control of the water supply has only fed conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.The situation is dire, but not without remedy. Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is not more and bigger dams, but a greater efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest....

Climatopolis

Climatopolis by Matthew Kahn is an easy and good read.  Here is an economist from UCLA looking at the ability of cities to adapt to the changes caused by climate change.  It is interesting because he does not question whether there will be climate change, but instead is an optimist when it comes to the ability of free market capitalism to adapt to the climate change by seeing financial rewards in the responses.

He draws some conclusions from studies that show both forests and animals are moving to habitats at higher elevations, but does not continue in this book to look at the consequences for those species except to note that human changes have reduced their options for adaptation.

Overall it is a fascinating look at one persons thoughts on human urban adaptation potential.  The second weakness of the treatise is that the rural aspects of the book are weak.

Last Campaign - Thurston Clarke.

 Here is a wonderfully told story of 1968 and the promise and the darkness of Bobby Kennedy's campaign.  For me, it was full of memories and what ifs.  There was so much promise and Bobby was such a strong character.  The assasinations of King and Kennedy bring up too many thoughts about the shooting in Tucson and guns run amuck.

South of Superior, Ellen Airgood

This wonderful book is set in the U. P. – the upper peninsula of Michigan, a wonderful wilderness landscape that Michigan often forgets is part of the state.  (And that is not all bad).  Youpers are unique and only a geographic designation makes them a part of the lower peninsula.

This book had to be written by someone who lives there.  Ellen Airgood runs the West Bay Diner in Grand Marais, MI (one of our favorite places from our hike) and has the special personality that has allowed her to listen to the elders and to catch the stories and the personalities that dot the isolated communities.

Living in a small town, I know these people and I understand the struggles that are so different from the large cities, like Chicago  where the principal character – Madeline comes from.  I love the connection with Madeline Island, even if it was unintentional. 

This was a relaxing read with a fun cast of characters.  You can guess a little of the ending early on, but the fact that it is a happy ending should not deter you from readind this novel. 

The lake does not play a big role in the story or the lives of the individuals, but it presence is important to everyone and to the setting of the story. 

“Behind her, over the low rooftops of the stores, Lake Superior crashed to shore in huge white-capped waves.  There was something magic in that endless turn of water, something oceanic and wild and old, something that would outlast the petty arguments of customers and cashiers.”

 

“A seagull keened.  It was sneaking up on her, but this remote was starting to seem normal to her.  She remembered how it looked from on top of the hill that first morning: a tiny clearing ina vast wilderness of trees, Lake Superior spread out before it like the sea.”

 

She also captures the reality of small town life – “It ain’t everybody who can liver here, she said finally.  “You’ll live poor.  Like a farmer plowing old stony ground.  You’ll never have much of nothing.  Except troubles.  They’ll come and they’ll be hard to fix.”

 

“McAllaster was a kind of tribe.  This wasn’t cozy or nice.  Sensed that it was an equation that membership would  exact a price: the loss of privacy, anonymity, certain freedoms she’d taken for granted in Chicago, maybe the loss  of the right to selfishness.  Everybody in this tribe didn’t love each other.  They disagreed and gossiped and argued:  they laid traps for each other and rejoiced when the trap was sprung; they relished placing blame wherever it would stick and took pleasure in one another’s mistakes.  But when there was trouble, there was help.”

 

Settle in for a pleasant  read and take a trip South of Superior.

http://southofsuperior.com/southofsuperior.shtml

Being Caribou, Karsten Heuer

This is a walking adventure in the tundra.  Karsten and his wife – Leanne Allison – chose to follow the caribou on their migration both to and from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  The Canadians begin with the native populations of people and their relationship with the caribou and then with the caribou themselves.

There adventure includes snow and rain, crossing wild rivers, facing the threat of grizzly bears, observations of wolves and predation, and then the calving at the Arctic.  Any questions about the importance of the Arctic NWR should be answered here.  The great migrations are being destroyed by development and human encroachment.  We are losing some of the most inspiring movements animals on all continents and this is the most significant large mammal movement on N. A.

You can feel the days of frustration and how these two had to work out being together 24 hours a day for five months (Kate and I can relate to that) and they are very honest about the rough points as well as the inspirations.

Here is an honest description of their beginnings – “I wanted to tell her it was an illusion, that the smaller trees, lower mountains, and cleaner air created an alternate sense of scale.  But the truth was, we hadn’t done well.”

When they finally get into the caribou herd – “A few bedded down, but most milled around our camp, sniffing at our skis and poles, stopping to mouth the sweaty stains on our packs before pushing on.  Chins propped on our makeshift pillows, Leanne and I grinned as the procession of furry legs and splayed hooves passed at eye level for twenty minutes.”

Just as rivers presented problems to Kate and I – they had even more intense issues of wild rivers and ice.

“As I stumbled barefoot a few steps across snow and sharp rocks, it was almost a relief to slide onto the flat ice.  But then the cold set in.  Sole-numbing cold crept up into my ankles, turning my lower legs into wooden stumps.  Using my poles like crutches, I made my way across the brisk current, seeing but not feeling the water rise over my knees.  Apart from an occasional slipperiness, I had no sense that it was ice underfoot, not gravel or rocks.

“I wanted to make the crossing look easy for Leanne’s sake, to show little pain or discomfort, but when the ice shelf on the far side collapsed beneath me, the composure I’d worked so hard to maintain vanished. Screaming, I bolted for the nearest patch of bare ground, breaking through the ice every second and third step in a trail of blood and shredded skin.  When I reached the shore, I rolled onto my back and shook my cut feet skyward, howling as the pain worsened in the biting wind.”

If you are looking for the times of discomfort – here is a bleak image:

“But sleep didn’t come easily.  My stomach churned, and both tossed and turned, giggling like kids as we burped and farted.  Before long, I was back outside the tent, squatting, waiting for a purge.  But before that could happen, every orifice in my body tightened and the urge to relieve myself suddenly disappeared.  A huge, dark grizzly bear had appeared on the canyon rim across the river, and it was looking intently at this strange creature with his pants down around his ankles.  I fumbled with my belt buckle, embarrassed and shocked as I hastened back to the tent, but by the time I got there, the bear had stepped back and was gone from view.  A few clumps of falling earth and snow were the only signs of that the ghostly image had been real.”

ANWAR:

“There are three main reasons why the caribou go to Alaska’s coastal plain to calve, and after a week of sitting, Leanne and I had observed each firsthand.  First is the nutrient-rich forage.  Believed by scientists to contain the highest protein content of any food found in the herd’s range for that time period, the unique cotton grass that grows there turns half-starved mothers into milk factories for the rapidly developing calves (caribou’s milk has the highest fat content of all land mammals).  Second is the lack of predators.  The terrain is too wet and flat for wolves to dig dens and relatively unattractive to grizzly bears for unknown reasons, so potential for a cow or her newborn to be hunted is less likely here than elsewhere.  Indeed, after running into wolves and as many as four grizzly bears a day on the spring migration, Leanne and I had yet to see evidence of either animal on the coastal plain.  Finally, a steady breeze off the Arctic Ocean delays the emergence of biting insects.  While friends in Old Crow and other inland areas were already swatting at the year’s first mosquitoes, Leanne and I sat with the tent doors wide open and dressed in short sleeves.

“So what will change if oil development happens in the refuge?  Would the caribou keep coming? And if not, would they survive?

“In years when the majority of the caribou haven’t reached the ANWAR (because of deep snow, for example), calf mortality has skyrocketed (40% in the first month of 2001, for example, compared to the average of 20-25%)  And in recent years when some cows have calved in the refuge and others have lagged behind and given birth in the Yukon, some undeniable trends have emerged: calves whose mothers made it to the contested portion of the calving grounds enjoyed higher birth weights (presumably because of better nutrition) and lower rates of mortality (less predation) and maintained their size (and hence strength) advantage over cohorts born elsewhere.”

In the end, Leanne, like Kate was fulfilled and ready to end and Karsten, like me, was regretting the loss of the walking lifestyle and the transition back.

Cold Wind, C. J. Box

This series has been entertaining since the beginning.  I do like the game warden and the wonderful wild country of Wyoming that is the setting of the stories.  I have also grown fond of the characters in the series and this book was a good continuation of the set – in fact, it was one of my favorites.

Complex characters, mixed feelings, and a good set of unknowns that play out well:  I could not stop reading.

Audible.com description:
When Earl Alden is found dead, dangling from a wind turbine, it's his wife, Missy, who is arrested. Unfortunately for game warden Joe Pickett, Missy is his mother-in- law, a woman he dislikes heartily, and now he doesn't know what to do - especially when the early signs point to her being guilty as sin. But then things happen to make Joe wonder: Is Earl's death what it appears to be? Is Missy being set up? He has the county DA and sheriff on one side, his wife on the other, his estranged friend Nate on a lethal mission of his own, and some powerful interests breathing down his neck. Wh ichever way this goes... it's not going to be good.

http://www.cjbox.net/

The Star-splitter by Robert Frost : The Poetry Foundation [poem] : Find Poems and Poets. Discover

www.poetryfoundation.org

‎"You know Orion always comes up sideways. / Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains, / And rising on his hands, he looks in on me / Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something

"You know Orion always comes up sideways.

Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains,

And rising on his hands, he looks in on me

Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something

I should have done by daylight, and indeed,

After the ground is frozen, I should have done

Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful

Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney

To make fun of my way of doing things,

Or else fun of Orion's having caught me.

Has a man, I should like to ask, no rights

And I love the simplicity of burning down of the home to buy a telescope -

 The strongest thing that's given us to see with's
A telescope. Someone in every town
Seems to me owes... it to the town to keep one.
In Littleton it may as well be me."

And the description of the neighborhood - community fits every place:

In Littleton it may as well be me."
After such loose talk it was no surprise
When he did what he did and burned his house down.

Mean laughter went about the town that day
To let him know we weren't the least imposed on,
And he could wait—we'd see to him tomorrow.
But the first thing next morning we reflected
If one by one we counted people out
For the least sin, it wouldn't take us long

Mill City

A Minnesota Historical Society book follows the history of the St Anthony Falls area and is rich in characters and stories.  Lots of good photos help and you will understand Minneapolis more from reading this.  But of course I am left with the wish to see the falls when they were falls.

After reading, you will want to visit the Mill City Museum for a wonderful afternoon of historical exploration.  It is a well done set of exhibits with interactive features and a wonderful place to begin your visit to the St Anthony Falls area.

The Return - Hakan Lesser.

 This Dutch mystery was everything that I missed in the Leon book.  Simple flow and light text.  Sparse in telling, easy to follow.  Good characters and interesting dialogue.  I really liked this one a lot.  The story involves the murder of a man who just got out of prison for murder.  Now the question is not just who killed him, but did the murdered man actually commit the murders he had been jailed for.

David Crockett, Michael Wallis

Far from the legend that Walt Disney presented, here is the real story of Davy Crockett and it is just as fascinating and elaborate, but lacks a little of the Disney touch. 

We learn about Davy leaving home at 12 because his father is perpetually in debt and continues to lease his children out for six months at a time to work off his financial difficulties.   Davy finishes his obligation and just continues to move on, although for personal reasons he chooses to work off two more of his father’s debts.

Davy marries young, leaves his family often and is most happy hunting bears.  He is a renowned shot, but for some perverse reason he was the black bears worse foe killing well over a 100 a year.

His young wife dies, he thinks he should have another wife for the kids, knows there is a local widow who lost her husband in the same Creek Indian wars that he fought in and he marries her.  There is no romance and this may contribute to the fact that he is gone weeks and months at a time with little remorse.

He fights under Andrew Jackson and moving to Western Tennessee he gets the itch to get elected and as a story teller, drinker, and loveable character he succeeds first in the state and then as a representative in DC.  He goes with one bill as his goal and he never succeeds in passing it.  This law was one that recognized the common man and their land holdings – the one thing that was consistently true was that Crockett fought the robber barons and rich aristocracy in favor of the man of the field, woods and homestead.

He becomes a foe of Andrew Jackson and my favorite aspect of his career was the fact that he was the lone vote against the Indian Policy that created the Trail of Tears.  He was not popular, even at home, for this vote, but he felt it was a matter of good conscience.

Through a play that is written using him as the basis for the main character and then some books he gains fame, but not wealth.  Even an autobiography did not help get him out of debt and by the time he loses his seat he has long lost his second wife who he abandoned.  She and the children were not even part of his autobiography.  In fact the coon skin cap was a myth created by these publications and the Davy Crockett Almanac.

His boast when he ran for election in Tennessee the last time was that if he lost they could go to Hell and he would go to Texas.  After losing that was the direction he went, not because he wanted to fight, but his acquaintance with the drunk Sam Houston convinced him that was where there was land and opportunity and he thought perhaps he could get elected once again.  The book also demonstrates that slavery that was outlawed by the Mexicans was the driving force, as well as land greed.  In reflection the bad portrayals of Mexico in this unjustified war and land grab do not do justice to the truth.  General Santa Anna, president of Mexico said, “Shall we permit those wretches to moan in chains any longer in a country whose kind laws protect the liberty of man without distinction of cast or color?”

Crockett and Houston split as well since Houston was an Andrew Jackson man and this caused Crockett to go to San Antonio where he would be welcomed by the whig faction of Texas.   We also learn that James Bowie’s reputation has also had a lot of alteration.  He profited by helping Lafitte bring his load of slaves to New Orleans and sell them.  Then he sold fraudulent land claims in Arkansas before moving to Texas.  There, when his wife died, he became an alcoholic.  In fact, it was his brother that commissioned his famous knife.  And the third famous name at the Alamo was Travis who came to Texas to avoid bad debts and prison.  He abandoned his wife in Alabama and became part of the slave trade in Texas.

Of the three, only Crockett actually deserved a historical recognition and his activities at the Alamo boosted the morale and showed him to be courageous and still charismatic.   At one time a candidate for possible presidential nomination until he skipped an entire session of Congress:  His land bill was finally passed when his son was in Congress, after Crockett’s death.  His life is a mix of reality and myth and the lines and the facts blur when you look too close.

Through a Glass Darkly by Donna Leon.

I did not really like this story.  Sometimes reading a book set in another country where the names are so different makes remembering which character is which more difficult so the issue with this mystery may be my own fault.  I did like the environmental theme about industrial pollution in Venice and I do like Venice, but something did not click here.  Beth Blank has read more of Leon's series and does enjoy them.

If you have read and like her, let me know which book to try.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain, Wallace Stegner

This is a novel with great width and breadth, a novel of a time in the early twentieth century, of people caught in the events of the time and the conflicts of dollars, liquor, the shrunken frontier and the complexities of a family.

It is a dysfunctional family with a wife that is perhaps the strongest of them all, caught up in kindness and understanding in the midst of violence, loss, and frustration.  Two children, one of whom dies just as the future should be opening up to him, the other forced to survive and reflect, and a father who dreams big, has touches of generosity mixed with a brooding violence and a proclivity for seeking riches that causes the family to move continually.  Bootlegging, gambling, fortune seeking are his passions as he looks for his “Big Rock Candy Mountain.”  I guarantee that Bo Mason will be a name that sticks in your unconscious.

The book follows their twisted path and moves through the four lives with a vivid reality that is startling and fascinating.  Some books you read and love the story, some you read and are fascinated, and some you read to learn.  This book is supposed to be autobiographical for Wallace Stegner and if it is I feel for him and the childhood he never had, but this is a book I would read for the quality of writing, for the beauty of the word and the sentence.  This is a book that makes you feel like you have read a true classic.

The Colonel - Edmund Morris.

This was a great book.  The writing is crisp and even as a very long book and the third in the Morris series it stayed on track and was full of new information.  After six Roosevelt bios you would think I would not be surprised any more, but the fact that this man was such a force, did so much for conservation, and got a Nobel peace prize contrasts with his over kill of hunted specimens, his readiness and love of war, and all the other foibles of one of the most compicated and important men in our history.

I have written about this before so this is a very brief, but strong recommendation.

Birds by Katrina Cook

A very large sized book that is much more than bird art.  It is an attempt to catalog the premier artists and their work checking in on each continent and showing how the print medium from wood blocks to the field guides has joined art, ornithology, and publishing in a spiral of new images.  The birds stay the same, but our ability to see them and show them does change dramatically.  Of course I should qualify that statement, if they do not go extinct, the species same the same from generation to generation.

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown

Another page turner thriller by Dan Brown.  I love the references to symbols and myths from religions to cults that are incorporated in to the text. 

This is set in D.C. and is a true cliffhanger.   Short chapters, snappy, quick, always some action and always a cliffhanger at the end compelling you to read the next short section.   Brown does a good job of mixing actual symbolism and giving insights like Amen derived from the Egyptian god Amon and other good trivia.  At the end his last few pages sound more like a sermon than a conclusion.  Too much writing after the events are over and once you know the final information you do not want to think about all that they good through, because they are essentially protecting something that needs no protection and some of the mysticism is removed, but I still recommend it as a pager turner.

The Freemasons are the central source of the story and the symbols being used.  Brown treats the group well, but they decided to put out a website to help keep their story “accurate”.  From that is the following excerpt describing their organization:
“Freemasonry is the world’s largest, oldest, and best-known fraternal organization. Mythically descended from the builders of King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, Freemasonry is believed to have developed from the craft guilds of European stonemasons who built castles and cathedrals during the Middle Ages. Temporary buildings called lodges were built next to the cathedrals, and the Masons used them to meet, receive their pay, plan their work, train new apprentices, and socialize.
Although individual Scottish lodges predate it, the first official Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717, transforming the craft from “operative” masons who constructed buildings, into a “speculative” fraternity that used the symbolism, tools, and terminology of the medieval masons as illustrations of character building. Masonic ceremonies use legendary tales of the construction of the biblical King Solomon’s Temple as symbols for building an inner temple in the hearts of men.
By the 1730s, Freemasonry had spread to the American colonies. Freemasonry circled the globe on the colonizing ships of the British, the French and the Dutch. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and many other Founding Fathers were among the first Masons in the United States. After the American Revolution, grand lodges were established in each state.

Freemasonry is based on the belief that each man can make a difference in the world by improving himself, and taking an active role in his community. It is a charitable, benevolent, educational fraternity. Yet, Freemasonry forbids the discussion in Masonic meetings of religion, creeds, politics or other topics likely to excite personal animosities.

Membership in the Masons is open to men who believe in a Supreme Being and meet its qualifications and standards of character and reputation. One of Freemasonry’s customs is not to solicit members, but any man is welcome to request information about joining the fraternity.”

http://www.freemasonlostsymbol.com/

The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane

Some books have to be read more than once and like Kon Tiki, The Three Musketeers, and Sand County Almanac and The Red Badge of Courage is one of them.  This is a fascinating and descriptive story of war and the psychological battle that a young man must face – all the contradictions, the strange settings, and the unrealistic expectations are hard to imagine.  But imagine is what Crane did.  He was never in war, he interviewed men who were and he pieced together the things he learned with such realism that Crane was offered a job as a war correspondent.

The young protagonist does run, he does panic, but circumstances give him a “do over”  and he makes the most of it to become an admired warrior – not an unrealistic hero, but a man who overcomes his internal demons and faces the demands of the moment. 

It is a book that does not glamorize; it just takes you to the field of combat in the mind of a young man who signed up with dreams of greatness. 

Crane died young, only 29 after surviving a ship wreck and four days in a life raft that affected his health. He wrote only two major works, but was dead at age 29 from tuberculosis.

Benjamin Harrison, Charles Calhoun

Here is the president that filled the one term between Grover Cleveland’s two presidencies.  Grandson to William Harrison – 9^th president and president at the turn of the century.  He was a successful officer in the northern army in the civil war and a lawyer in Indianapolis.

Here are some quotes that seem timely – except they come from the 1800’s:

His warning about the southern states – “just as wily, mean, impudent, and devilish as they ever were…Beaten by the sword, they will now fall back on the resources of statesmanship.”  “they will steal away, in the halls of Congress, the fruits won from them at the glistening point of the bayonet.”

Regarding the panic of 1873 – “There is in this country perhaps too much haste to be rich.”  He saw the panic as the “consequence of years of feverish speculation, whose promise of quick riches had lured too many people  from notions of steady labor and virtuous habits.”

Regarding the laws for education – “He made the bold step of inserting a provision that would bar funding to any state that could not certify that it provided “free common schools for all of its children of school age, without distinction of race or color.” “Unless the black boy and girl in the south can share in the privileges of education then I am opposed to the bill.”

It is interesting to see the reversal of party roles.  The Democrats blocking voting rights for blacks, against labor, etc.  The parties start to reverse roles in the TR/Wilson era and finish it with the Dixiecrat abandonment of the DFL in 1948. 

It is also informative to learn about little known, but crucial events.  For example, I did not know that we almost went to war with German over Samoa in the late 1880’s.  He appointed Frederick Douglas as a ambassador to Haiti and continued to fight for voting rights for African Americans, but the Democratic majority refused to back his effort. He wrote “the prejudices of generations are not like marks upon the blackboard, that can be rubbed out with a sponge.  These are more like the deep glacial lines that the years have left in the rock; but the water, when that surface is exposed to its quiet, gentle, and perpetual influence, wears even these out, until the surface is smooth and uniform.”  But it would take 70 years before the momentum finally caught in the US – much to our shame.

“…Harrison became the first president to attack lynchings.  These versions of justice, he said, ‘shame our Christian civilization’  wherever the practice came under federal jurisdiction, but again held no hope for action by the Democrats [notice how the parties have traded positions].”  “To my mind, said Frederick Douglass, “we never had a greater President.” 

Another accomplishment of Harrison was the Forest Reserve Act that he pushed for.  In the course of his administration he dedicated 13,000,000 acres as forest reserves.

Harrison suffered from having James Blaine (known as the plumed knight for reasons I do not know) who had been a previous nominee and remained the biggest opponent of Harrison.  Blaine missed lots of time, sickness, indifference, obstinacy…he undermined the president and opposed him for nomination for a second term.   Blaine was opposed to Harrison, his wife hated him, because Harrison refused to name their son assistant secretary of Navy and to promote their son in law to a Brigadier General.

Harrison’s wife died two weeks before the election.  Harrison could not campaign while caring for her nor could he campaign as he mourned and the divided party did not rally for him which resulted in Grover Cleveland regaining the White House.