A Few Bits About Books

    My output has been sparse so I will attempt to come up with something quickly to boost my April production. It is also the case that the weather remains dreary and I am not that interested in hockey.

National Library Week

"National Library Week begins on Sunday, and the timing couldn’t be better. This annual celebration used to feel quaint; now it sounds like an existential rallying cry."(Ron Charles)  

   I noticed that it was a week to celebrate libraries in the U.S. In Canada the month of October is dedicated to them and there are library days, weeks and months throughout this country. As you will know, I am a fan of libraries and books and I suggest we should all be paying more attention to both of them.

Banned Books and Censorship
   One reason to do so is that libraries are under attack and librarians are being threatened. President Biden even mentioned the problem in his recent announcement about running again. Canadians should not be complacent as this headline indicates: "Libraries Are In the Political Crosshairs as They Fight Back Against U.S. Book Bans: Canadians Should Keep an Eye on Efforts to Remove Books From Libraries South of the Border," Nick Logan, CBC News, April 21, 2023. Another headline indicates the situation is the same in the U.K.: "Third of U.K. Librarians Asked to Censor or Remove Books, Research Reveals,"

  The libraries and books are victims of the collateral damage inflicted by the culture wars. There have always been people who wanted to restrict what others read, but generally the focus was on sex and ideology whereas now the concern is mostly  over books about gender and identity. Librarians, usually a liberal bunch, have been resisting, but one hopes they also protect the illiberal items on the shelves as well (even the Dr. Seuess books and the unedited Roald Dahl ones) and keep the other books which are now deemed noxious and continue ordering them.

  There is even a Banned Books Week, during which the American Library Association calls attention to the censorship pressures. The ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom notes that censorship challenges are up nearly 40% over 2021.

"ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, the most challenged and reasons cited for censoring the books are listed below." 

 

  The censorship efforts extend beyond libraries and into schools. The chart above comes from this study: "Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools."

Library Appreciation
   The importance of libraries to some patrons is noted by Ron Charles of the Washington Post, who wrote in this week's newsletter that a fundraiser has been established to dedicate a chair in the New York Public Library to Alfred Kazin who died 25 years ago. Kazin spent a lot of time in the room pictured above. 

"In his 1978 memoir “New York Jew,” Alfred Kazin recalled his early enthusiasm for the New York Public Library:
“Whenever I was free to read, the great Library seemed free to receive me,” he wrote. “There was something about the vibrating empty rooms early in the morning — light falling through the great tall windows, the sun burning the smooth tops of the golden tables as if they had been freshly painted — that made me restless with the need to grab up every book, press into every single mind right there on the open shelves.” 
The library was Kazin’s sanctuary and his laboratory. He started publishing book reviews when he was 19. Before he was 30, he’d written “On Native Grounds,” an instant classic of literary criticism."

  You may recall that another Jewish writer close by in New Jersey spent a lot of time in the Newark Public Library and donated his library to it and a space was dedicated for a room for Philip Roth (see: Actual Libraries.)

Books: Real or Fake?
   That is Lord Black of Crossharbour who is once again a Canadian citizen and the picture was in Canadian papers today. It is here because he appears surrounded by books. Even if you do not like Conrad Black, you would likely agree that he has read a few and perhaps that may be one reason you do not like him. 

  Also in another article where books are featured in another paper, you will learn that some things are not always as they appear. The picture below is from: "Go Ahead, Judge This Book By Its Cover: Already the Norm For Film Sets and Commercial Spaces, Fake Books Are Becoming Common Fixtures in Homes, But if You See One, You Might Never Know," Anna Kodé, New York Times, April 28, 2023. About this phenomena I have already written. See, "Books By The Meter."

Real Books and Book Lovers

  As I have complained, university libraries are getting rid of books right and left and even those in the middle. Spaces are needed for lounging for the students and for the children of graduate students. Sometimes, however, some people have difficulty in throwing out the third copy of a book in their home library unless threatened by their partner who they accuse of being a philistine. The following passage is perfect for those who do not have fake books, but real ones and know how difficult it is to toss them:

"F. Scott Fitzgerald declared in an excellent late story that ‘the second half of life is a long process of getting rid of things’. It is certainly what I am striving to do. I have far too much stuff so I’ve decided a little culling is needed. Some weeding out imperative, deaccessions inevitable. I’ve started with books; I’ll end up with people and finish with me.

I kneel on the floor of my book room with a large cardboard box at my side. Do I really need all those George Meredith novels? Edgar Saltus is harder, but will I miss those duplicates of Purple and Fine Women and The Pace That Kills with the variant dust-wrapper and the misprint on page 43? My shelf of the works of Philip Thicknesse, that querulous 18th-century gentleman, contains nearly all of his 24 books, and if I were forced to sell them I could never sacrifice The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, which contains valuable information on the exorcism of gallstones, and an account of Mrs Mary Toft of Godalming who claimed that she gave birth to 15 rabbits; an assertion Thicknesse plausibly supports. Whatever the demands for space in my book room, I cannot banish my Marmaduke Pickthall, or a single one of my 15 copies of the first edition of The Wooing of Jezebel Pettyfer, which Meredith praised with the mysterious disclaimer: ‘It ought never to have been written.’ Not seldom, when I surrender a book to a rascally dealer, I return to his shop and buy it back."

(That bit is dedicated to my friend on Vancouver Island who has written some books and collected many more. It is from an article in The Spectator, Dec. 17, 2022 by Barry Humphries.)

Post Script:

   As I have noted too many times before, I think it is a mistake for university libraries to sacrifice the stacks for the students. The university libraries where I used to work are doing so. I do have to confess, however, that they had a copy of, Dr. Viper: The Querulous Life of Philip Thicknesse, In my defence, it is in storage, so as to make room for the students, or the toddlers of the graduate students, who will never be aware of its existence. I do also have to confess that although they did not have a copy of The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, it does appear in their catalogue and I (even you) can read it from the comfort of your couch (and right now!)

The Bonus:

   For the few remaining book lovers in London, I will save you time by telling you that I already have out of the library the copy of Dr. Viper. Those of you who are now looking for Purple and Fine Women are on your own, as are those of you who now are asking - "Who the hell is Edgar Saltus?" (But, I do have to be honest and make another confession - there are a couple of biographies of Saltus in the Western Libraries (in storage.) Let's hope they keep them there and do not send them to a storage bin near Toronto.)

Where I Went on My Spring Vacation

The Trip to Maryland (continued).  

   You were undoubtedly excited by my last post which seemed to suggest I might tell you more about our first post-pandemic trip across the border, but I did not. The weather was too nice, as were the surroundings, and I find it difficult to jot down things along the way, let alone write about them. Now that I am back home and the weather again is bad, I will offer a brief summary for you loyal readers and for myself so that next year I will know what I did last year. 

   If I was more efficient and it was my intention to offer a blogging travelogue, I would begin with the things observed along the way, such as the "Adult Stores" mentioned in my earlier post. I first thought about the richness of travelling, for subjects to blog about, a few years ago when we left London,Ontario for Phoenix. Our first stop in Indiana was in the interestingly named "Terre Haute", which is the home of the "Clabber Girl." I am sure most people would be interested in learning more, but I never got around to writing anything about them, until now, but won't since they are from an earlier trip. On this one, I noted on the way down, such places as Fort Couch which is not too far from Intercourse and on the way back there were Panic and Punxsutawney and the Indiana University which is in Pennsylvania. In Ocean City we looked east over the Atlantic and in the afternoon saw the sunset on Assawoman Bay which is sometimes referred to as "Big Assawoman Bay". Obviously one could continue on about such geographical tidbits, but I said I would be brief and will say only that "Big Assawoman" is likely on someone's list to be erased. 

   Briefly, we stayed on the beach for week and used it as a base from which to visit a cousin, who lives near Princess Anne, Maryland. We went to lunch in Pocomoke and had it along the Pocomoke River which, according to local lore, is supposed to be the deepest river in the world for its width.

  From there we travelled to Easton, after a brief stop in Cambridge (birthplace of John Barth) for another river lunch. Easton is a less expensive base than St. Michaels, where we had yet another lunch. We were joined by the granddaughter of a fellow I wrote a book about back in 2021. She has just assisted in the production of the second edition of one of her grandfather's books and you should buy it if you want to learn more about the Pocomoke River just mentioned (Rivers of the Eastern Shore: Seventeen Maryland Rivers, Hulbert Footner. The first edition was published originally in the fine "Rivers of America Book Series.")

   A short geographical note: The water on the right below is the Atlantic and the Chesapeake is on the left. The peninsula between is known as the "Delmarva Peninsula," or the Eastern Shore.

   

  A crow would fly about thirty-five miles to get from Easton to our next stop in Solomons which is on the mainland in southern Maryland, but almost one hundred miles by car. Solomons Island is a quaint community at the mouth of the Patuxent River and it is near the place where the Canadian-born author Hulbert Footner chose to settle down and write. He is the subject of my book and at the Calvert County Historical Society in nearby Prince Frederick, a room has been dedicated to him. So in addition to meeting his granddaughter, Karen Footner, we were able to meet with some Footner fans who helped Ms. Footner and the Director of the CCHS, John Johnson, provide a space in honour of the author. To learn more, watch this video by Diane Harrison which was produced for the Grand Opening Ceremony back in September, 2022: "A Commemoration of the Life and Works of Calvert County Author William Hulbert Footner.

   If you made it this far you deserve a reward, as did my wife. On the way home we took a bit of a detour to Confluence, PA which is near Frank Lloyd Wright's FALLINGWATER.  Have a look at Fallingwater. 

The Bonus:
     The MD. legislators were hard at work and I am pleased to announce that RYE is the state spirit (MILK remains the state drink.) This from the Baltimore Banner: "Legislators Work to Make Maryland Rye Official State Spirit," Kara Thompson, Capital News Service, March 31, 2023. 
    The Maryland State Team Sport is the same as the national summer sport of Canada - Lacrosse. Maryland's State Sport is JOUSTING, about which Footner wrote in one of his books.
    While I am at it, you will be able to figure out what the state bird is (hint, it is not the Blue Jay) and the state dog, but you may not know that the Maryland State Cat is the Calico. 
    The state song used to be, "Maryland, My Maryland," the tune of which is from "O, Tannenbaum", but it has been cancelled. I wrote about this in another very long post and to save you from having to read all of it, here is the bit about the song controversies, both in Maryland and Canada:

Be Careful What You Sing
     It is interesting, and an indicator of our troubled times, that politicians, both in my adopted country and the ones back in Maryland where I grew up, had to be mustered to re-consider the lyrics of their respective anthems. In Canada, "Oh Canada," I am pleased to report, has been rendered gender neutral (from "true patriot love, in all thy sons command"  was changed to "in all of us command,"). The spectacle was rather a sad one since the MP who introduced Bill C-210 was wheeled into the House although suffering from ALS. 
     In Maryland, many more lyrics were involved and the excision needed to be much more extensive; some want the entire song to be abandoned. The issue in this case was about race not gender. You would recognize the tune of “Maryland, My Maryland”("O Tannenbaum,"), but the lyrics which include such phrases as “Northern Scum” may be unfamiliar to you. They are based a poem by James Ryder Randall and you can look them up. I am not sure if this dispute has been completely resolved, but it is clear that the words of the anthem which were adopted in 1939 are not appropriate now.
[As of July, 2021, the MD. state song ceased to exist.]

Blogging While Travelling

   For my very few loyal readers I feel I should provide something. My excuse this time for lack of activity is that we were on the road and one is not allowed to text while driving, let alone blog. Even in the U.S., where one should be allowed to do anything.

  Although I don't usually blog about things personal and certainly don't provide photos of things personal, the one above is a photo of what our destination would look like if we arrived after the Memorial Day holiday. 

   There is a lot to be said for the "Shoulder Season." The real photo above is what the beach looked like when we arrived. The view is north and the one looking south is much the same. If you look very closely, you might spot, at the top, tiny figures who may be large Secret Service Agents since President Biden has a place nearby in Delaware. Otherwise, there are not many people around. One of the things one can say about the "Shoulder Season" is that it is cheaper than the peak one. That is odd to me since I would have thought that people would pay more to have less people around. Rich people do, but they have other ways to give the rest of us the shoulder.

 

  The trip south in search of the spring became more colourful in lower Pennsylvania and now that we are below the Mason-Dixon line it is much greener, although one does notice spots of political red. The route chosen from Harrisburg, PA to Ocean City, MD was the less travelled one on the right above and it took us through very tidy Pennsylvania Dutch country where much was in bloom.

  The sun that we have not seen for a while showed up on time and is expected to arrive every day for the next few days. We gather that will be true up in Ontario as well and perhaps it will be a little greener when we return

Post Script:

   Admittedly, the short piece above is a slight one and for something better read about Edwin Way Teale, who slowly came North With the Spring. Very slowly, since he meandered about each day, until the spring was ready to move along. Just how much wandering he did to get from Florida to New Hampshire is revealed in the subtitle of the book: A Naturalist's Record of a 17,000-Mile Journey with the North American Spring.

The Bonus: (For Adults Only)

Among the red blemishes amid the blooms were some signs for "Adult Stores" and these two caught our attention. The first one may be difficult to interpret for the growing number of people who have never worked a full week, but here it is: "Every Day Is Hump Day." The crassness of the name of the next one is mitigated  somewhat by a hint of tenderness, but it is more likely that even purveyors of porn appreciate irony: "Bend Over: A Romantic Adult Store."