1 comments about Small Boat to Freedom: A Journey of Conscience to a New Life in America.

1. In 1987 the South African government was failing and the nation on the brink of a civil war. British born John Vigor emigrated to South Africa at the age of thirteen. By age fifty he had become a syndicated columnist for an anti-apartheid newspaper. Yet he realized when the revolution came people wouldn't care who he was or what he stood for. He and his family were in harm's way. When racist graffiti appeared on their garden wall and discussion turned to the possibility of buying a shotgun, John knew it was time to leave. Abandoning a comfortable life and a country they loved, John and his American wife, June, were forced to give up most of their life savings to the South African government. Risking everything, the Vigors purchased a 31-foot sloop and provisions for a trans-Atlantic voyage to America, where they hoped start over. Hidden on board was a small fortune in gold coins.

   Small Boat to Freedom narrates the dramatic story of this voyage across some of the most dangerous seas in the world-past the Cape of Storms, around the Cape of Good Hope, north along the Skeleton Coast, and into the vast South Atlantic. John with his wife and their youngest son braved these dangers along with hurricane winds, rogue waves, failed equipment, and other perils as they made their way towards America. It is chock full of sailing details and the history of famous captains, hidden islands, record breaking voyages, and the legacy of ocean travel. It is a poetic look at nature, being out of reach of land powered only by the wind and sea-and being at its mercy:

   "We had been lucky so far. The storm waves had grown with the howling wind as the hours passed, but, as fate would have it, the real monster waves, the widely spaced graybeards with their fiercely plunging crests, had laid down their acres of seething white foam on either side of us.... Now for the first time, we were in the direct line of one, and there was nothing I could do about it. ... What I remember now is not so much the fear-though, heaven knows, I was paralyzed with fear-as the helplessness of it, the feeling of inevitability, of not being able to do anything about it. That was somehow more frightening than the raw fear... just before the wave struck, I closed my eyes, crouched down in the cockpit, and wondered if fish would gobble up the precious gold coins we were trying to smuggle out of South Africa, as they swallow the shiny lures of fishermen..."

   Most importantly, however, is the message the author writes for Americans in a time of war and government reaction. John watched in dismay following the attacks of September 11, 2001 as the American government cracked down on civil liberties. Raised in a society divided by apartheid, and witness to the destructive affects of tyranny, John wrote his story of sacrifice and survival as a reminder to us what lengths others will go to live in a free society. He cautioned Americans of relinquishing their hard won civil rights to a federal government, and to the dangers of ignoring the voices of other peoples and cultures, even if they are among our enemies. It is a poignant story of surprising depth, and relative to the American situation in 2004 as we face war against terrorism at home and abroad.

5 comments about Best of Friends, The.

1. Do you need to know how people cope with immigration, or do you want to understand the strength and power of woman? Do you need inspiration to realize your dreams or do you want to see the wonder of the animal instinct humans have in friendship?
   Do you know anybody that immigrated? Then if you value that friendship, read this book now. It does not matter how wonderful the country is to which one immigrates, your longing for your original home, family and friends can never be alleviated. It becomes part of who you are. One does not need to be depressed or wingy about the matter, but it is always there. Pulling at the very strings of your heart. And one try to justify it on a daily basis.
   Ginger and Sara lives this globalization. Sara's office is the world. While she has a family at home. Her friend and support system is at least 3 long haul flights away. Ditto with her in laws.
   Ginger lives the dream, finds the love of her life at a price. Though her office is confined to one country, she is vulnerable to the excruciating elements of this desert.
   My admiration of these two woman knows no bounds, and on top of all of that, they can write!
   Best gift ever for your best friend.



2. I read this book because these authors went to school with my daughters. As I read, my interest went far beyond my connection. The candid sharing of both triumphs and let-downs of each woman was unique and interesting.
   The lessons learned, the sacrifices and wisdom gained from following their dreams was fascinating. I highly recommend this book and hope they will continue writing.



3. How refreshing to read about two loving, smart, independent women and how they realize the need for loving interdependence between friends! The idea of writing a book together over time and many miles is a perfect illustration of their connection. Their stories of being there for each other -- in spirit and when possible in person -- through the best and worst of times are inspiring. They remind us that the realities of adult life are best viewed through loving eyes -- our own and those of our friends and families. I have read it and shared it with friends with joy and confidence that they will enjoy it as well. Definitely add it to your summer must read list.



4. Usually, I'm not a non-fiction reader, but the story of Sarah and Ginger's enduring friendship kept me glued to the book. I'd suggest this to anyone who has a friend of any length of time. Loved it!



5. It's a great read - the intertwining lives of two childhood friends and how they have cleaved together over the decades. What's rare about this book is that each woman has her say and tells her own story - yet the sum is much more powerful than the two parts. Wonderful to see how these two young girls evolve into women as they nurture each other along the way. I loved it.

1 comments about Legacy of Wisdom: Great Thinkers and Journalism.

1. Simply a must-read....not only for journalists, but anyone interested in modern application of classic (and not-so-classic) philosophic thought. From Korzybski to Aristotle, this book does not disappoint!

3 comments about The Woman and the Dynamo: Isabel Paterson and the Idea of America.

1. In 1943, belief in what we today would call libertarianism was at its ebb. Collectivism, in the form of bolshevism, fascism or even the non-totalitarian movements of socialism and New Deal liberalism, seemed to be the order of the day. Individualist anarchist Albert Jay Nock was in such despair, that year he published his autobiography under the title Memoirs of a Superfluous Man.
   
   Yet also in 1943, a counterattack began in the guise of three books written by three different women. Two of those women, Ayn Rand and Rose Wilder Lane, are better remembered today, Rand as the founder of Objectivism and Lane as the editor (and possible author) of the Little House Series of books and of her own books of life on the frontier.
   
   But in terms of formulating the freedom philosophy, the third woman, Isabel Paterson, less well today, was probably the most important. Paterson was born in humble circumstances in the middle of Lake Huron. A Canadian by birth, her somewhat shiftless father moved several times along the American and Canadian west.
   
   Though she had little formal schooling, Paterson was a voracious reader and taught herself what she missed at school. Despite the lack of formal education, she ended up working in newspapers, initially along the west coast of the US and Canada (one of her bosses ended up as Prime Minster of Canada). By 1925, she was an editor for the influential "Books" supplement to the New York Herald Tribune, somewhat mischievously signing her "Bookworm" columns with the initials I.M.P. Along the way, she managed to write a few books of her own, briefly hold the altitude record for a woman in an airplane (though a passenger) and marry and quickly discard a husband (who she never seems to have divorced).
   
   Professor Cox really has a feel for his subject. He does lose some objectivity as he is quite taken in by her. But he is willing to show her negative points. Paterson comes across as intelligent and gifted, a self taught intellectual, but as someone who was difficult to get along with. She had a tendency to break friendships over ideological grounds. Yet she also found friendship with her immigrant neighbors.
   
   The book is well written and researched and while the last few chapters, detailing Paterson's retirement and decline in health drag a bi, it is understandable as her earlier life was so interesting. Paterson's importance in American political history cannot be understated. Paterson's 1943 book, "The God of the Machine" would help Rand formulate her philosophical system. Paterson also corresponded with Russell Kirk and worked for William F. Buckley. Those three, who would help shape the philosophical battles in post World War II America, each got something different from Paterson, and in turn, influenced American political discourse.
   
   So why is Paterson not well known? Professor Cox provides the answer - Paterson was "a committee of one". Rand had Objectivism, Lane had the Freedom School, Hayek and von Mises their academic activities, Friedman his web of like minded academics and the ear of presidents. Paterson had her column and her novels. Cox notes that she resisted calls to teach at the Freedom School, and she had a tendency to drop her friendships (such as breaking off relations with Rand and Lane).
   
   Cox's book rights a great wrong and hopefully puts Isabel Paterson back into prominence. Anyone interested in the roots of the modern conservative and libertarian movements should read it.



2. Those who known the name Isabel Paterson probably know her from her outstanding 1943 work THE GOD OF THE MACHINE. That work, as Prof. Stephen Cox noted in his 1993 introduction, is "one of the few original theories of history that have been developed in America."
   
   Paterson was also a successful novelist and one of the most important columnists and book reviewers of her time. Her life also intersected with many of the most important thinkers in the libertarian and conservative individualist tradition, including Ayn Rand, Russell Kirk, Whittaker Chambers, William Buckley, and H. L. Mencken. Certainly Paterson deserves a full-scale biography and Prof. Cox has filled this gap with this admirable work.
   
   Paterson is also well known for her influence on Ayn Rand. Prof. Cox sheds new light on their relationship. Paterson was a compulsive reader, particularly in history and politics. Rand, on the other hand, appears to have read little in this area. Rand would talk to Paterson for hours at a time, and many of Rand's ideas flowed from what she learned from her. They were both strong-willed and difficult people and their relationship began to show strains when Rand accused Paterson of using some of her own ideas without credit. (Rand had an exaggerated sense of her own originality.) In 1948, Paterson said something offensive to Rand and their relationship came to an end. To Rand's credit, she continued to recommend THE GOD OF THE MACHINE.
   
   This book is something of a "life and times" biography of Paterson. There is much of interest concerning the politics of the time, the New York publishing scene, the nascent libertarian movement and the like. Unfortunately, only THE GOD OF THE MACHINE remains in print and it doesn't appear that an anthology of Paterson's non-fiction writing was ever produced. Hopefully Prof. Cox or someone else will remedy this situation.



3. I really enjoyed reading this biography of Isabel Paterson, mostly I suppose because she is a fellow traveler to me. An American living from 1886–1960, Paterson was a libertarian intellectual who lived mostly alone in a world which did not understand. She is best known today for her book about the source of America's greatness, The God of the Machine, but she was also a famous literary critic and a novelist. What makes Paterson special to me, her political values, will probably cause most people to dismiss her.
   
   Stephen Cox gives a good deal of information about the life, relationships, and character of this woman. But, as a bonus, along the way the reader also gets short introductions to many other important people who Paterson knew. These include Ayn Rand, Rose Wilder Lane, John Chamberlain, Leonard Read, William F. Buckley, Herbert Hoover, and many more. The interactions with Rand are especially interesting because Rand achieved surpassing fame as a novelist and movement leader. Rand admired and learned from Paterson, who was 19 years older. On many occasions they sat up and talked most of the night.
   
   The reader of this biography gets a good review of each of Paterson's novels, a few of which show characters much like Paterson herself. From having read a few of her novels, I would have guessed the author was considerate, polite, and feminine — a welcome contrast to Ayn Rand. But the reader of this biography learns that Paterson was routinely rude and ill mannered, and like Rand she broke off many relationships in cold ideological rejection.
   
   Probably this book should be called scholarly; it has lots of footnotes. It seems carefully edited and produced. I noticed only one typo.

2 comments about No Regrets.

1. This book is not only about Marietta Tree, it is about her time and her environment. It is about the options se had as a woman of her class, and the consequences of the choices she made. She did not make the usual choices.



2. This well written book sheds light on the many aspects of a complex woman. The contrast between her somewhat puritanical streak - a result of her upbringing in the famous Peabody family - and her enjoyment of the high life is riveting. In the end the reader finds her to be likable but not without fault.

3 comments about Stopping the Presses: The Murder of Walter W. Liggett.

1. Marda Liggett Woodbury has done a first class job in researching and describing the life and death of her father, a leftist newspaper publisher who was murdered in front of her in 1935. But she does not simply write a sentimental account of her relationship with him, but delves deep into the history of a time and place. In addition, it tells the story of one man's decision to expose a deeply corrupt instituion, one whose faults he could no longer ignore. Attacking the very political party he had long supported, he exposed candidates ties to the Twin Cities's Irish and Jewish Mobs and vowed to bring down their most powerful Political Boss, Minnesota Governor Floyd Olsen. It was a crusade that would cost him his life. When he couldn't be intimidated, framed, or bribed, he was machine gunned to death before the terrified eyes of his wife and children. The shooter was identified as Isadore Blumenfield, alias "Kid Cann" the boss of Minneapolis's Jewish Mafia. I will leave you to find out the result of the trial by reading the book. In closing, as a religious conservative, I agree with virtually none of Walter Liggett's political stances, but in one regard I admire him. When the Liberal Party he supported became just another crooked political machine, he turned on them with a vengeance. For that, I wish there were more like him today.



2. Marda Woodbury's look at her own father's death is a gripping and well-researched look back at a tragedy and possibly a government cover-up. Woodbury does an excellent job of re-evaluating her father, Walter Liggett, and his death. Her father was an old-school muckraker in Minnesota and one of the most vocal opponents of then-governor Floyd Olson.

   Not being familiar with this particular case before I read the book, I was concerned that this would be some sort of apologistic, revisionist history. However, the more I researched the case, the more I found that Woodbury had given a fair assessment of the murder and of her father's career.

   The book is a case study in how political machines worked, a good look at the rise of gangland in the heart of the Midwest, and a really interesting history of Minnesota journalism in the 1930s. Liggett argues that her father was too good of an advesary, knew too much and couldn't be bribed - all fatal ingredients which spelled his demise.

   I wish Liggett would have explored her father's reputation as a blackmailer. While she makes several references to it, and while that was many the gripe of many of Liggett's contemporaries, she doesn't seem to do as thorough of a job in researching the claims of blackmailing as she does in other parts of the book. While that particular area isn't exhaustively explored, the book still seems to have objectivity and balance.

   Woodbury should be complimented for her well-documented research and her crafty ability to present this case in a new light, some half-a-century after it happened. She has done not only an admirable job in her role as a historian, but we also are given a first-hand account of what happened to the family and a look into the private dealings of Walter Liggett.




3. As a former Minnesotan, I was interested in this generally untold side of Minnesota history. I have lived in Minneapolis and loved it, but was shaken by these horrors that long preceeded my time there. I would have appreciated more specific addresses and names of businesses where events took place as it would have put the story in a more real context, but only for those familiar with the city. It is almost unbelievable to imagine the kind of opposition that existed to those publishing information which went contrary to the public image desired by those in power-both "legitimate" and underworld people. I'm glad Ms. Woodbury used her research skills to write this work. It does indeed exonerate her family, and her respect for her parents is well deserved, especially her telling of her mother's grace and dignity in coping with this tragedy.

2 comments about Remembering Charles Kuralt.

1. This is a well-written, intimate portrait of Kuralt presented in a way which itself reminds the reader of Charles Kuralt's own journalistic style. A beautiful edition including original photographs and a variety of personal and professional perspectives. Recommended for any fan of Charles Kuralt or for the reader who wants to learn how and why this charismatic individual transformed the nature of American journalism.



2. Charles Kuralt never really believed how good he was at his profession. That's hard to believe, but it's a sad truth and maybe at the heart of the man who traveled the country for over 30 years, chronicalling what he saw and felt in his "On the Road" series for CBS News.

   By that time he graduated college, Kuralt had a work record that would be the envy of a college journalism graduate. As recounted in "Remembering Charles Kuralt," a collection of interviews and essays edited by Ralph Grizzle, the high school senior had worked for a radio station, helping to call the baseball games of the Charlotte Hornet. The summer he was 13, he had a once-a-week radio show. He had won an essay contest on democracy and delivered his speech in the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg.

   Kuralt knew what he wanted to be a reporter early in his life, and he pursued it with a single-minded determination. But not only that, he did it on his work ethic and talent alone, and in a good-natured manner that came through in his television appearances. "I never heard Charles say anything unkind about anybody," jazz pianist and friend Loonis McGlohon said, "that's true, and in thinking about it, it's pretty unusual."

   "Remembering Charles Kuralt" covers the whole of his life and career: his upbringing in eastern North Carolina, his growth as a writer and reporter, his career at CBSNews, and his life in retirement, his illness, decline and death. It's an affectionate look that reveals more about the man than Kuralt probably would have wanted.

5 comments about Ogden Nash: The Life and Work of America's Laureate of Light Verse.

1. Loved the book. Ogden Nash? Not so much. As a little boy I loved his verses and would browse through THE NEW YORKER slapping the pages from left to right to see if they were carrying a new Nash poem that week. Often as not, they were, then I'd be happy, crawling away toward my treehouse to memorize his goofy sense of humor and his sophisticated attitude towards marriage. I can see how, without Ogden Nash, there might never have been a Stephen Sondheim. Parker is his ideal biographer. Obviously he had a lot of assistance from Nash's two enigmatic daughters, Linell and Isabel, whose photographs make them look like two grave Snow Whites. And yet he is not afraid to call a spade a spade, and we get the picture that the mother of these two girls, Frances, was often a Xanthippe for reasons unknown.
   
   It's great that Parker did so much work towards reconstructing Nash's other life as a Broadway lyricist, and I'm sure that his account of Nash's work with Kurt Weill and with Vernon Duke will never be excelled.
   
   He doesn't really pay much attention to the Hollywood work, however, and I don't know if he even bothered screening the Jeanette MacDonald starrer THE FIREFLY (co-written with Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett), which is nothing short of excellent.
   
   The story gets grim as Nash ages and his career takes a nosedive. You get to despise Roger Angell, Nash's editor at THE NEW YORKER, for being such an obseqious Uriah Heep, even when he's rejecting Nash's latest efforts. It's like he delights in kicking Nash's butt while kissing it at the same time. Nash seems aware of Angell's double nature, but doesn't really know what to do about it. THE NEW YORKER seems like a velvet trap--can't live without it, but it tears you to pieces inside. I also enjoyed reading the parodies or pastiches of Nash's verse that Parker has collected from all different sources, from Dorothy Parker to Scott Fitzgerald, everyone wanted a piece of the man.
   
   To top it all off, Dorothy Lamour got upset with Nash and laid into him with both barrels, when he wrote a poem for her to read on the air that contained the word "conundrum." She thought it risque, perhaps confusing it with "condom," and refused to save her reputation. Furious, she lashed out, "If you don't think I know what that word means--and that I'll be fool enough to say it on the air--you're crazy! I wasn't born yesterday!" Nash wrote to Frances, "she's very pleasant but as dumb as you would imagine." (Not as bad as his opinion of poor Ginger Rogers: "coarse, painted, dyed.")



2. When I think of Ogden Nash, I think first of a poem I read in school a long time ago titled "The Purist." I have read it too many times to actually laugh out loud again, but I still smile when I read it. I become the kid I once was somehow, happy to hear the joke over and over again.
   
   I think Ogden Nash brings back memories for many older Americans. When I was reading the new biography Ogden Nash: The Life and Work of America's Laureate of Light Verse by Douglas M. Parker, while eating a sweet roll in Panera last week, an older man noticed. As he passed my table he said, "Ah, Ogden Nash, he was a wonderful man." I noticed the older man, who looked like a retired executive, having a look of competence and industry, was cleaning tables. Was he laid off by a corporation, replaced by someone young? Was he working at Panera because he was unable to find a management job in the new economy, which disvalues the older, experienced worker? Is Nash for him a link to a happier time, his time?
   
   Nash has often been a bright spot in a dark time. He became popular for his humorous poetry during the Great Depression when his works began to appear regularly in The New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post, and other magazines. Because he was never paid much for his poems, he had to write and sell a lot of them, which he continued to do into the 1960s, when changing tastes made his work harder to sell. By the time of his death in 1971, he had published over a thousand poems.
   
   Nash did not only write poetry. He tried his hand as a book editor, magazine editor, screen writer, playwright, lyricist, and game show panelist. He was valued as an editor at Doubleday and other publishers, but the pay was poor and he left the profession to write fulltime. His efforts in Hollywood and on Broadway always started with lots of promise but usually fizzled. Radio and television appearances eventually paid fairly well, but poetry was his steady income.
   
   Being a writer, he often worked from home. Unlike many men of his era, he seems to have spent much time with his two daughters. On several occasions, he was the primary parent as his wife took long European vacations. It may not have been difficult to do, as the family always had servants. His wife had her own money inherited from her "old family" Baltimore ancestors. She and Nash were always able to live the country club and martini life.
   
   I think readers will enjoy learning how involved Nash was in the literary scene of the 1920s and 1930s. He knew Dorothy Parker, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E. B. White, and many others. Douglas M. Parker also tells much about mid-twentieth century world of publishing. Fans of The New Yorker will especially want to read this book.
   
   Some will enjoy the book for their own memories. There are many Nash verses scattered throughout the text.
   
   Read "The Purist." The punch line ends with a word that rhymes with "smile."



3. The philosopher poet, Ogden Nash,
   Though born and wed to privilege,
   was throughout his lifetime frightfully far from bogged in cash
   (Or at least he so lamented).
   Doug Parker says,
   while assuring us his penury never quite prevented
   Nash from keeping house or houses
   Servant-staffed while traveling
   in luxury with wife and kids and friends with kids and spouses.
   Though his efforts yielded flops
   In Hollywood and Broadway ventures,
   rhymes he wrote for glossies and anthologies and his hops
   Around the lecture circuit
   (Which, though ruinous
   To his fragile health, he never would quite shirk it)
   Kept his ledger black enough.
   Indeed, couplets comparing
   the speed of bonbons versus bourbon and similar wacky stuff
   (Like rhymes that ridiculed
   A bluenosed "Ut" named Smoot
   whose Senate stint by tariff acts and smiting smut was fueled)
   Consistently kept Mr. Nash `n'
   Fran `n' Lin `n' Isabel
   (his wife and daughters) living in quite comfy fashion.
   Nash's life was not a bore,
   But Parker's grand obsession
   With minutia made me often want to holler "Less is more!"
   And, moreover, many others'
   In the story, though tangential,
   Had lives of greater interest were I to voice my `druthers.
   
   :-)
   - stanwhjr -



4. Many of us probably recognize Ogden Nash as the creator of humorous poetry, but he was a man of far greater accomplishments than might be generally known.In this biography, Doug Parker gives a very complete and fascinating overview of Nash and the diversity of his works, which included movie scripts and--much to my surprise--song lyrics. Parker relates his story in manageable sequences, interspersing just enough famous lines from Nash to lure the reader into wanting to read more of the man's work. One would think that Parker knew Nash personally because of the skillful manner in which he discreetly discusses the poet's health problems, his devotion to his family, his dislike of confrontation, and the entire span of his creative life.
   
   It took an impressive amount of research to create this interesting account of Nash's life, and Parker made much use of Nash's personal letters. He does not overwhelm the reader with excessive detail, rather, he leaves the reader feeling like one who has enjoyed a great meal but has not overeaten, and who knows he can come back for seconds by reading more of Nash's work. This is an enjoyable and informative book that gives the reader a real appreciation for the talents of Ogden Nash.



5. Mr. Parker has written a terrific biography of a fasinating man. The book is meticulously researched and beautifully written. I was very impressed with this scholarly work and I am anxious to read Mr. Parker's next endeavor. Highly recommended!

No comments about Beginning to See the Light: Sex, Hope, and Rock-and-Roll.

No comments about Inside: The Biography of John Gunther.