More Private Library Photos

  I have presented many posts about libraries, private ones as well as other kinds. A few weeks ago, I included some photos of the libraries of Eric Hobsbawm and William T. Vollman. Once again, I have stumbled upon another article which included some pictures of a writer sitting among his books.

John Berendt's Books
   This may not be Mr. Berendt's library and he may have more books scattered among the photographs, art and a collection of gongs which are described in the article.  Apparently gongs are a way to send guests "out in style." Somewhere in his collection, he surely has a copy of the book for which he is best known - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
   Before he wrote that book, he produced many columns for Esquire, mainly about men's clothes and manners. The rather narrow focus was broadened and "Berendt found a tantalizing story in every subject. The columns in “Classics” reveal gruesome and useful facts — for example, the skin of wild animals is better for gloves, because it’s more supple. He included debonair, noble characters like Benjamin Guggenheim, who sacrificed his spot on a lifeboat on the Titanic and then put on his white tie and tails to die “like a gentleman.” And he debunked myths, such as one about Bermuda shorts, which are not from Bermuda; another about the argyle pattern, which is not connected to the Argyle family (and they don’t like it when you ask).”

   The columns have been collected and are found in this new book: Class Act: A Gentleman's Guide to Dressing Well, published by Penguin Random House.
  "Full of surprising facts, unforgettable characters, and amusing anecdotes, this fully illustrated collection of snappy, elegant essays is as stylish as its subject matter. Part cultural history, part handbook, Class Act serves as a reminder that the clothing we wear is not simply fabric, but a reflection of our character… and sometimes our sheer audacity. A wildly entertaining ride through men’s style and its place in our collective imagination, Class Act makes a strong case that taste and wit will never go out of fashion."
   Apparently Mr. Berendt can be defined as "dapper". We can use a primer such as this these days since many more people are seen out and about in pajamas than pinstripe suits.
Source: 
  "Famous for His Tale of Murder, He Honed His Literary Voice in Fashion: Before John Berendt Wrote His Classic “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: He Trained His Keen Eye on Men’s Wear and Manners in a Long-running Esquire Column," Maggie Lange, NYT, Oct. 13, 2026.

Post Script: 
  I have not read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but I did see the movie which was directed by Clint Eastwood. It takes place in spooky Savannah, but Mr. Berendt lives on the Upper West Side. 

  I was a fan of Esquire in those days. Weldon Library has some old issues, but unfortunately they are on microfilm. The LPL offers access to the eMagazine and they have a couple of compilations including: Eat Like a Man: The Only Cookbook a Man Will Ever Need.
  For another fine library in Manhattan, look at this one which belongs to Amor Towles.  See The Talented Mr. Towles.    

Northern Cruising

Leaves & Lobsters

Montréal

    A few weeks ago I mentioned that we drove from London to Lorneville in New Brunswick, where we stayed for a week in a very nice house overlooking the Bay of Fundy. We were not far from the port of Saint John and there were often ships offshore waiting to be piloted into the city. 
   Some were tankers and some were container ships, but there were also ferries and cruise ships. There are several online resources which report on the vessels and their locations. Using one, this ship was easily identified as Regent's Seven Seas Splendor, sailing from Boston to Montréal and visiting various ports in between. The itinerary is provided and shows exactly where the ship was located when I spotted it. The "splendor" was not obvious through binoculars, but if you go to the website for Regent Seven Sea Cruises, you will learn that the use of the word is more than marketing hyperbole and that the cruise is in the luxury category. 

     That ship is likely in some warmer port by now. We are back home in Ontario after doing a bit of leaf peeping of our own. My posting rate may pick up, but right now, the sun is shining, as are the leaves, and it is better to be outside than in, looking at a screen.

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 47)

 Known Londoners - Glenn MacNutt - Artist - 1905-1987

   Mr. Macnutt was born in London and died in Pubnico, Nova Scotia in 1987. This obituary appears in The Boston Globe on Oct.19, 1987.

  "Glenn Macnutt, 81, of Boston, An Artist, Died Friday in His home After a Short Illness."

   Mr. Macnutt was born in London, Ontario, and grew up in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. He came to Boston in 1924 and studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School.

   He specialized in watercolor paintings, which are exhibited in many public and private collections all over the country, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard University, Tufts University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Institute of Chicago and The Brooklyn Museum.

   He was also represented in exhibitions at The Critic's Choice in Cincinnati, the Royal Water Color Society of England, and America's Top 40 at the Frye Traveling Exhibition.

   He was a member of the National Academy of Design, the American Water Color Society and the Guild of Boston Artists.

   He received many awards, including the Adolph and Clara Obrig Prize from the National Academy of Design, the Emily Lowe Prize from Allied Artists and six consecutive awards from the American Water Color Society.

   His paintings have also been featured in various publications, including American Artist Magazine.

   Mr. Macnutt leaves his wife, Evelyn (Simpson); two daughters, Jean Aho of Bridgewater, Maine, and Karen L. Macnutt of Dorchester; a son, Glenn Stephen Macnutt of Danville, N.H.; a brother, Donald Macnutt of Digby, Nova Scotia; three sisters, Evelyn Meuse, Vivian Snow and Frances Peters, all of Digby; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

   Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the McHoul Funeral Home, Dorchester. Burial will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Dorchester.

Sources:
   I did not find anything about Mr. MacNutt in the local (London) area. His name sometimes appears as Macnutt.
  A short biography with a self-portrait appears in the Dorchester Atheneum.
   There are references to him and his work in The Boston Globe. For example: 

"A Few Works Stand Out in Watercolor Show," The Boston Globe, June 19, 1988.
  A biography is found on askART.com and here is a portion from it:

"Artwork by Glenn MacNutt"

1905 London, Ontario, Canada - 1987 Pubnico, Nova Scotia. Known for: Sea-landscape and genre painting, illustration.
   "The following biography is from Karen Macnutt, daughter of the artist, and from the booklet she has written titled "A Sketch of Glenn G. Macnutt": . Glenn MacNutt was known primarily for his landscape paintings, and was a pioneer in using acrylic painting. Born in London, Ontario, Canada, he earned many prestigious honors during his career including a chair in watercolors at the National Academy of Design, New York. He was a Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society, a Member of the Allied Artists for both watercolor and oil, Past President of the New England Water Color Society, and a member of the Guild of Boston Artists. His parents blended two of Canada's pioneering blood lines of people, the Scots and the Arcadians. His mother's people were from the French speaking village of Pubnico, Nova Scotia, and his father owned a music store in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia."

Post Script:
  These "snippets"are being provided to celebrate London's 200th birthday. The official London website is found here: Celebrating 200 years: London's Bicentennial.
   The subjects of the snippets have varied widely, but a few recent ones have been about those from London who have become well-known - e.g. Frank Colman and Kate Nelligan. 
The Bonus:
  For information about another talented Londoner who moved to Boston and recently became a major benefactor to Western University, see this "Homage to Bill Hodgins." 

  Back in better days, The Boston Globe had a weekly column consisting of "Canadian American News." To see some of the stories from the '50s and '60s see:
"Canadian American Relations." 

From London, ON to Lorneville, NB

 The Bay of Fundy
   I see that my last post was from a week ago and the subject of it was in the Maritimes. That I now also happen to be in New Brunswick is accidental, the result of an opportunity that was presented and too good to ignore. The trip illustrated above took place along a route that was mainly rural and lined with brightly coloured trees.
  The path taken was the longer one shown by the darker blue line and it was not chosen so more trees could be seen. It was picked because it remained above the border, which is a much bigger divide than it used to be. The lighter line goes through the state of Maine. From where we are, near Saint John, we can look down on the folks in Bar Harbour. 
  Although there are cruise ships passing by, they are probably full of Americans looking at the last of the leaves. It is doubtful this year that there will be as many Canadians heading south in search of the sun.

  It was a beautiful day, but it looks like it might turn rainy and I may do a bit more blogging.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Mastriano and the Maritimes (Again)

 

A Doctoral Dissertation in History - In the News!
   This is an update on a post I did about Dr. Mastriano's dissertation which was done at the University of New Brunswick back in 2013. Mastriano is now a Senator for the state across the lake, but he was defeated when he ran for governor of Pennsylvania back 2022. During that campaign, questions about the quality of his dissertation were raised, which created problems for both Mastriano and UNB. All of the issues are discussed in my post and my only purpose here is to provide a brief update and add to the sources I have already provided. 
  In 2024, Mastriano sued UNB and a few other individuals for a variety of reasons which are outlined in this article: "Controversial U.S. Politician Sues UNB for Releasing His widely Criticized PhD Thesis: Doug Mastriano Says UNB Leaked His Thesis, Resulting in Lost Potential Revenue From Book Sales, Speaking Gigs," Aidan Cox, CBC News, July 12, 2024.
  Lately universities have been losing lawsuits, but the good news is that UNB will probably not have to pay the millions sought by Mastriano. Given that most of the news these days has been about the Arday Affair, which involves another problematic dissertation and a university (Cambridge), you may have missed it.
  Here is a source for this recent development: "Judge Removes University of New Brunswick From U.S. State Senator's Defamation Suit," Canadian Press, Sept. 24, 2026.
 "FREDERICTON — An Oklahoma judge has removed the University of New Brunswick as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by a Pennsylvania state senator with ties to U.S. President Donald Trump. 
   Sen. Doug Mastriano alleged defamation, racketeering, antitrust and other claims against UNB and almost two dozen academics in 2024 over criticism of his academic research into the American First World War hero Sgt. Alvin York.
   The university granted Mastriano, a retired U.S. army colonel, a doctorate for his research in 2013. York was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading U.S. soldiers behind German lines in France during the First World War to disrupt machine gunfire. More than 20 German soldiers were killed and 132 captured. A movie about York's heroics won Gary Cooper a best actor Academy Award, and the story was memorialized in comic books.
   Mastriano’s academic credentials from UNB were called into question in 2022 when The Associated Press reported allegations from scholars asserting that his doctoral dissertation was plagued by factual errors and amateurish archeology. The university then conducted an independent review on how he received his PhD.
   Mastriano claimed in his lawsuit that UNB engaged in co-ordinated efforts to destroy his academic reputation and eliminate him as a competitor in First World War scholarship, as well as to interfere with his political campaigns.
   Mastriano was a little-known state senator in Pennsylvania until he took an active role in the movement to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat. He attracted headlines when Trump backed him for Pennsylvania governor during the senator's unsuccessful campaign in 2022.
   In the 2024 lawsuit, Mastriano was seeking millions of dollars in damages, claiming criticism of his research cost him income from tourism-related events, as well as book, media, television and movie deals. The senator claimed his book sales were reduced, his publisher stopped possible second editions and that he had been prevented from university job opportunities.
   He was also suing former UNB president Paul Mazerolle, vice-president of research David MaGee and professor Drew Rendall, who a few months before the 2022 election for Pennsylvania governor made public Mastriano's dissertation that was based on his research into York.
   Another defendant was James Gregory, who as a University of Oklahoma graduate student and researcher into First World War history and York, filed an academic fraud complaint against Mastriano with UNB.
   UNB successfully argued that it was immune from the jurisdiction of the U.S. district court for the western district of Oklahoma because the school is an “organ of a foreign state.” In a Sept. 1 ruling, District Court Judge Bernard M. Jones II cited UNB's creation in 1859 for a national purpose, its active supervision by the provincial government and the fact that its staff are considered to be public employees."
 The above is also found in  The Toronto Star, "Judge Removes University of New Brunswick From U.S. Senator's Defamation Suit," Sept. 24, 2026.
  I have found no additional information from either UNB or Senator Mastriano about this new development. 
  The University of Kentucky Press has published two books by Mastriano based on his dissertation - Alvin York and Thunder in the Argonne - if you wish to decide for yourself.

Post Script:
  The lost lawsuit alluded to above, is this one: "University of Lethbridge Was Wrong to Cancel Frances Widdowson's 2023 Lecture, Judge Rules," Stephen Tipper, CBC News, Sept. 18, 2026. For another example see, "Professor Timothy L. Jackson Wins $725,000 Settlement," in MM. 

London's Bicentennial (Snippet 46)

 Pigeon Racing - From Boston to London - 1887
   You will learn from the article below that a fellow released some pigeons on a Tuesday morning in Forest, Ontario and one of them had arrived back home in Boston by Thursday afternoon. That beat the record from the year before, when a pigeon from London took a bit longer to fly back to Boston.
   There are still likely many pigeons racing to and from London. Back in the 1970s the baby sitter who took care of a bunch of our kids up around UWO had a husband who had a loft in the backyard and he frequently let the residents loose to race.

   Even those who are more aristocratic can be interested in pigeons. This picture is from a British Pathé film which can be watched by clicking on this link: "The Guiding Princess (1943)." (1:36)

Sources: 
 The Canadian Racing Pigeon Union has produced a good "Short History of Pigeon Racing." There are around 20,000 registered pigeon lofts in North America.
 A thorough and much longer article is found in Wikipedia under "Homing Pigeon."

The Bonus: There were once also Passenger Pigeons.

The Great Outdoors - and Libraries

    Those who work in many university libraries are no longer much interested in the gathering and collecting of books, particularly those which are printed. The stacks are being removed and the spaces are now often simply auditoriums to which students can go to watch their screens. I have suggested before that it might be better for the librarians if they collected something - see, for example, "Libraries As Cabinets of Curiosities." It would also likely be better for the students since surely the collection of just about anything would be more interesting than a gathering of students looking at their laptops. Well, maybe not, but at least the librarians would have something to do and the place could legitimately be called a "Library."

Utah State University's Outdoor Recreation Archive

  Utah State's ORA is a good example of an interesting collection and the purpose of it is explained in the mission statement:
  "The mission of the Outdoor Recreation Archive is to document the history of the people, products, and brands of the outdoor industry through unpublished documents, published materials and audio/visual materials. We strive to make those materials widely accessible to the public, including Outdoor Product Design and Development students, academics, enthusiasts, industry (including marketing and design), and others with interest in the history of outdoor gear."

  Catalogues are collected and while students might not be interested in the older ones, they may be attracted to the more recent examples. 

 

   There are also posters, and periodicals ranging from the Atlantic Coast Kayaker to Washington Trails. 
   Even the books would attract browsers, for example: Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the End of the Map; Mountain Girl: From Barefoot to Boardroom and A Mountaineer's Life. 

  Click on the link provided above to examine the collection. I noticed when looking through the ORA books that they had a copy of Simple Fly Fishing. That reminded me of the collection of "Angling Books" held by the Western Libraries and Harvard, Princeton, the University of Alberta and UBC also have a lot of books about fish and fishing. Perhaps some libraries will continue to be interesting places to visit.

CANCON - A Camping Collection That is not Campy
  For a Canadian outdoor collection, visit Trent University in Peterborough. In the Trent University Archives they have gathered, since 1968, books about camping, brochures and pamphlets about camps, as well as the magazines and newsletters they produced. If you want to read a digitized version of Canadian Camping, you can, without actually going to Peterborough. 
  Since 1925, Camp Tanamakoon in Algonquin Park has operated a summer camp for girls. It is likely that this book in the Trent collection would be both interesting and useful: Camp Tanamakoon, 1925-2024 : a collection of stories from Alumni to celebrate 100 years!

   If libraries are repositories rather than sheds for students, perhaps both the Aesthetes and the Hearties and the Athletes and the Arties will continue to be attracted to them.

Post Script: 
  If you are interested in literature relating to the outdoors and forests and streams and mountains, check the university library near you. While they may not have a special archival collection, they may be able to offer access to related material. For example, EBSCO offers a digital archive of over 1,000 issues of Outdoor Life Magazine, from 1898 to 2010. (Not all libraries can afford such purchases or repurchases and use may be restricted.)



The Bonus:  
  One of the largest "outdoor" libraries is available to you over the internet. Visit: Biodiversity Heritage Library  It contains thousands of titles, including: Forest and Stream. The birds above are found in the BHL.