Summary

October 1994

A teacher for thirty-two years, Harold Dunn, collected some of the intriguing answers of his pupils. This caught my eye:

“Australia is located in the Pacific Ocean.
It is presently still floating.”

So with me – still floating and brash enough to share my observations for the fifth year.

Books are still my major time-sharer. For brain-jogging, and, often enough, good writing and plot construction, I still devour “mystery” novels. I enjoy finding authors I had not previously known: Sprinkle, Kelley, Carter, Sue Grafton, others, as well as old favorites. My journals include The Nation, Harper’s, Liberal Weekly, American Scholar, Spy, Church and State, Extra, and (of course) The New Yorker.

But I am still engrossed and entertained by biography and history. New 1994 books (new to me, anyway) include:

THE GREAT DEPRESSION, T. H. Watkins

C. S. LEWIS – A BIOGRAPHY, A. N. Wilson

WITHOUT SIN – THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY, Spencer Klaw/Allen Lane

BERTRAND RUSSELL – A LIFE, Caroline Moorehead

ALBION’S SEED (Four British Folkways in America), David Hackett Fisher

BLASPHEMY, Leonard Levy

IN THE BEGINNING (THE ADVENT OF THE MODERN AGE – EUROPE IN THE 1840s), Jerome Blum

SHAKESPEARE (Because ALWAYS there are new and profound insights into the human condition when re-reading. Thus his plays, particularly the tragedies, are ever new.)

All of these books are worth the reading if the subjects touch on your areas of interest.

Grandson Carl sent me Bertrand Russell’s “Liberal Decalogue” and as parting words of advice which I have tried to embrace, I quote numbers 1, 3, and 6 because they are succinct and wise:

1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
3. Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do, the opinions will suppress you.

Oh, by the way, my reference book used constantly is SHAKESPEARE, by Charles Boyce, to which I was steered by Clarke Wells. Visiting John and Renee in Phoenix last month I found that they used Isaac Asimov’s GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE. After scanning it, I know that I will acquire a copy when resettled.

As I have no editor (and could use one), please forgive errors, grammatical and otherwise. But as Mark Twain once noted:

“If you find a mistake in this paper, please consider that it was put there on purpose. We publish something for everyone, including those who are always looking for mistakes.”

That barbed statement does not apply here, because I know my audience is both forgiving and affectionate.

BLESS YOU ALL