Recently, after reading a list of the books read during the year 2012 by a member of a writing group to which I belong, I was astounded at the sheer quantity (not to mention quality) of reading he'd accomplished.
And the man teaches school full time, too. I am fully retired, I read a goodly amount each and every day, and my list of books read over the year (if I had kept one) would not come even close to approaching his.
There is one book in particular, though, that I would like to mention. It is a book of short stories by Sherman Alexie titled The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven. What struck me as amazing was how 'truthful' these stories were, how factual was the fiction of Mister Alexie. The people in his stories, instead of being storybook people, were real people while still being fictional story characters.
This is one of those books I will be able to read and re-read time and again, always finding something or someone new to stun me with the ability to remind me of something or someone I once new earlier in my own life. It seems to me that this recognition of reality transcending race or color of creed or whatever, is a story's indicator of the quantity of truth contained within.
The book I am trying to describe is a little book. And it contains little stories. But the little stories are carriers of some BIG truths. Whether the reader recognizes them as such... -- or not.
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WORD FOR TODAY
meta- or met-
pref.
1.
a. Later in time: metestrus.
b. At a later stage of development: metanephros.
2. Situated behind: metacarpus.
3.
a. Change; transformation: metachromatism.
b. Alternation: metagenesis.
4.
a. Beyond; transcending; more comprehensive: metalinguistics.
b. At a higher state of development: metazoan.
5. Having undergone metamorphosis: metasomatic.
6.
a. Derivative or related chemical substance: metaprotein.
b. Of or relating to one of three possible isomers of a benzene ring with two attached chemical groups, in which the carbon atoms with attached groups are separated by one unsubstituted carbon atom: meta-dibromobenzene.
Born January 4, 1917
Died January 9, 1997
Died January 9, 1997
Jesse White was an American television, film, and stage character actor. He is best remembered for portraying the Maytag repairman in television commercials, a role he played from 1967 to 1988.
White made his Broadway debut in The Moon is Down, followed by a successful performance in the role of a sanitarium orderly in the popular play Harvey. He would later reprise his role in the 1950 film version and the 1972 television movie.
In 1947, White made his film debut in a small part in Kiss of Death. During the 1950s, he began landing roles on television shows, including appearances in Danny Thomas's Make Room for Daddy and Peter Lawford's Dear Phoebe. In 1954, he landed a semiregular role on Private Secretary, starring Ann Sothern, Ann Tyrrell, and Don Porter. The role led to another semiregular part as the deceitful Oscar Pudney in The Ann Sothern Show in 1960. White guest-starred on Four Star Playhouse and The Bob Cummings Show. He also appeared in roles in The Bad Seed (1956); Designing Woman (1957), with Lauren Bacall; and Marjorie Morningstar (1958), with Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly.
In the 1960s, White also appeared on Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show; The Donna Reed Show; Mickey, starring Mickey Rooney; The Beverly Hillbillies; The Munsters; The Addams Family; That Girl; and I Dream of Jeannie. In a memorable cameo, he played a frustrated airport tower controller (alongside a hilarious Paul Ford, Carl Reiner & Eddie Ryder) in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Born: Jan. 4, 1838
Died July 15, 1883
Died July 15, 1883
General Tom Thumb was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton, a little person who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum.
Stratton died suddenly of a stroke on July 15, 1883. He was 45 years old, 3 ft 4 in tall, and weighed 71 lb.
Born January 4, 1809
Died January 6, 1852
Died January 6, 1852
Louis Braille was the inventor of braille, a system of reading and writing used by people who are blind or visually impaired. As a small child, Braille was blinded in an accident; as a boy he developed a mastery over that blindness; and as a young man – still a student at school – he created a revolutionary form of communication that transcended blindness and transformed the lives of millions. After two centuries, the braille system remains an invaluable tool of learning and communication for the blind, and it has been adapted for languages worldwide.
Born: Jan. 4, 1930
Age: 83 years old
Age: 83 years old
Donald Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach.
He is best known as coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National Football League's only perfect season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. He currently holds the NFL record for most career wins with 347. Shula only had two losing seasons in his 36-year career of coaching in the NFL. He has been head coach for a record six Super Bowls.
__________
There isn't a lot of poverty literature in the young-adult world. And I don't know why that is, but I think certainly I felt a gap.
--Sherman Alexie
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