4 comments about Dear Medora: Child of Oysterville's Forgotten Years.

1. If you have a bibliophile or a Washington State history buff on your Yuletide shopping list or just want something for your Amazon wish list, Dear Medora: Child of Oysterville's Forgotten Years just might fit the bill. Retired Ocean Beach School District teacher Sydney Stevens' most recent book, published this summer, brings to life the world of the remote village of Oysterville at the beginning of the 20th Century. Dear Medora is a collection of correspondence between teenage Medora, who is sent to high school in Portland, and her mother; enhanced by many photographs of the times and drawings which makes the Oysterville of that era come to life.
   Oysterville is a tiny village of 48 that seems nearly frozen in time. Nestled on the shores of the Willapa Bay on North and East coast of the finger of land that is the Long Beach Peninsula, it can be difficult to find even if you know where to look. Founded in 1854 by Robert Espy and I.A. Clark, it was originally the county seat of Pacific County. It lost that distinction one night in 1893 when a group of South Bend townsmen came by boat across the Willapa and stole the court records, taking them back to South Bend which remains the county seat to this day.
   
   Oysterville features a lovely little church, a one-room-school house turned community hall, a bit of the industry from which it derives its name and a handful of houses from the 19th Century, of which the Espy home place is one and where Sydney Stevens and her husband Nyle reside. Sydney is Medora's niece and also the niece of writer Willard Espy who wrote the forward for the book in 1998 while Sydney was working on the project. He died the next year. The letters between Medora and her mother Helen paint a picture of life in Oysterville during that time.



2. "Dear Medora" is unlike any other memoir, journal, diary, or correspondence collection I've read. What makes it special is that it allows us to look at life in the early 1900s through a "real-time" mother-daughter relationship. I love this book. I savored it, reading a chapter every day while quietly enjoying my first cup of coffee of the morning. I bought several copies of Dear Medora and gave them to friends and family members. My sister's reaction to the book was similar to mine--as she read it, she didn't want it to end. We both became emotionally attached to Oysterville. And we both became quite captivated by Medora's charms. My sister, who's about to become the grandma of a baby girl, actually crusaded for her kids to name their baby "Medora."



3. When Harry A. ("Papa") and Helen R. ("Mama") Espy returned to the family home in Oysterville on the north end of Washington's North Beach peninsula in 1902, their eldest daughter, Medora, was 3 1/2 years old. As the family grew, traveling throughout western Washington and Oregon for business, politics, or schooling become commonplace for family members, but Medora and Mama kept in touch through a lively and loving correspondence that lasted until tragedy struck the family in 1916. The Espys carefully preserved Medora's and Mama's letters, and Medora's niece, Sydney Stevens, has incorporated them into a wonderful book that not only documents the history of an area and an era, but allows us a glimpse into the deep emotional attachment between mother and daughter. Beautifully illustrated with vintage photographs, "Dear Medora" is a treat for the eye as well as sustenance for the heart and mind.



4. Medora Espy was the eldest daughter of Washinton State senator and dairy farmer Harry Albert Espy. She grew up in the quaint, somewhat remote, coastal village of Oysterville. "Dear Medora: Child Of Oysterville's Forgotten Years" is a collection of letters Medora wrote and received from 1902 to 1916 (as well as personal diary entrees) -- until a devastating tragedy occurred soon after her 17th birthday. Compiled and organized by Sydney Stevens (the daughter of Medora's youngest sister, Dale), "Dear Medora" is profusely illustrated with historical photographs and illustrations. This body of lively correspondence opens a 'window' into an American yesteryear through the life and observations of a sensitive young woman. "Dear Medora" is fascinating, rewarding, highly recommended reading and a welcome addition to American Regional History & Biography reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

1 comments about As It Was: Sin Mar a Bha : A Ulva Boyhood.

1. This slim volume is a pleasant history of Ulva, off the coast of Mull, and the memories of someone who has lived there. (Current population:12) Of primary interest to those curious about Scottish history and culture. Not for the general reader I wouldn't think.

3 comments about Boston Boy: Growing up with Jazz and Other Rebellious Passions.

1. Once, jazz was a real and pervasive presence in Boston and in the dim and scruffy clubs of the South End, this American Music-par-excellence thrilled thousands of afficionados, while yet rarely affording its dedicated and colorful creators a living.
   It was the Twenties and the Jazz Age; it was the Thirties and the age of the Big Bands; it was the wartime Forties, the age of The Savoy on Mass Ave and of Sidney Bechet; it was the baby-boom Fifties and the age of Storeyville in Kenmore Square...
   There were Big Bands and great ballrooms but there were, as well, many talented smaller bands, playing inspired improvised jazz and struggling to survive as they enthralled more limited audiences in more limited venues.
   Nat Hentoff eloquently reminisces about a time when the soulful sound of trumpet and clarinet, piano and bass - pained, glorious, yearning, introspective, challenging, alien even - could inadvertently reach out of the smoky, dark, cave-like clubs of Washington and Columbus Avenues, and so mesmerize a young boy that it could change his life.
   Nat Henhoff blends this tale of a city, its cultural glories and its social sins, with the story of the music, light and dark, somber and witty, pure and besmirched - the faithful mirror of the human soul.
   He leaves one desolate that - much too soon! - things changed, and he leaves one wondering why Boston let it happen; why the city - host to The Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, the Symphony as well as The Boston Pops - couldn't swiftly rally to support and, in time, to save a once-thriving Jazz community...
   Oh, economics and changing taste are the answer, of course, but one is left wishing that Boston had been able to sustain its local jazz scene and, failing that, wishing that it should presently choose, at the least and at last, to honor it with a South End Jazz Museum.
   Many of the greatest Jazz Musicians played there once and their presence or passage should not be forgotten.



2. It's great to see a book like this. As another Boston boy, I had many similar experiences that have been hard and perhaps confusing to explain to someone who grew up in another time and place.
   My wife feels that she understands me better now after reading Boston Boy. We are giving copies to our sons.
   The book for me is nostalgic, poignant, and somewhat reassuring. Helps to understand that generation, that time, and that place. We made it in spite of the bastards.



3. Nat Hentoff, who later became famous as a writer about jazz and civil liberties, describes his "coming of age" and discovery of jazz in the Boston of the 1940s. A very enjoyable read.

3 comments about Hope for Carsonville.

1. I would highly recommend this book. It is a collection of short stories that will make you laugh, cry, and remember things from your own childhood. When I finished the book, I flipped it over to the beginning and started reading it all over again! I cannot wait for this author to get her next book out!



2. SIMPLY AMAZING! I'll admit, I'm partially biased: my aunt Erin wrote this book, but I read a lot and know great writing when I see it. Outsiders might not comprehend our tight family bond, but read the stories and share in the laughter, tears and memories.
   
   I'm just waiting for the sequel, when she shares her adventures babysitting her favorite neices.



3. First, I have to admit that the author is a friend, and that I read a lot of the book before it was published. But it IS a great book. Her family was dysfunctional, but she shows how a child can grow up with love and faith despite a less-than-perfect, non-suburban, non-Yuppie childhood.
   
   Parts are hilarious and parts are sad. It's a lot like real life.
   
   I have read a lot of books, and highly recommend this one.

No comments about Red Hook: Confessions of a Brooklyn Eaglet, 1939-1955 (Cities series).

2 comments about Papa, My Father: A Celebration of Dads.

1. In the famous Buscaglia style, Leo writes about his childhood with humor, love, and PASSION! Its about a time gone by that perhaps we all wish we could have had. A Fathers Day tribute!



2. a fablous book wirtten with the outmost love and feeling. Leo captures the image of the Italin father perfectly. Amazing, heartwarming, perfect. A must buy!!!!!

1 comments about A Place at the Table: The True Story of Two Men -- Best Friends in Their Youth, Reunited in Adversity.

1. This is a tale of two young boys, one caucasion and one African-American, who were unlikely friends in North Carolina farmland in the late 40's and early 50's. The bond created between these two boys was strong enough to carry on to their high school years when they encountered the trials and tribulations of a newly integrated school. Together they were able to overcome these hardships and continue a relationship through adulthood, keeping in contact and sharing experiences as each man fought his own life threatening disease. This story is an inspiration and an education for all.

No comments about Dance Class: Memories of My Youth.

No comments about The Journey Home: A Father's Gift to His Son.

1 comments about We Were Not Orphans.

1. I read this book in one day and enjoyed the author's ability to give just enough information. I feel I now know these people as though they were friends. My heart goes out to all with many prayers. Thank you God and thank you Geraldine for sharing this story with us.