J.R. Lindermuth's Blog, page 17
April 7, 2010
Wanna Kiss a Frog?
It seems there's a day or month to celebrate everything under the sun. April is National Frog Month.
Some might ask why should we celebrate the frog? Well, to me, the frog is one of the most anticipated harbingers of spring. When I was a boy their singing from a nearby marsh announced the arrival of this cherished season. The marsh is gone now, paved over and sanitized. I miss that familiar herald and have to go elsewhere in search of it. Though more fond of birds, the noble Gilbert White amon...
Some might ask why should we celebrate the frog? Well, to me, the frog is one of the most anticipated harbingers of spring. When I was a boy their singing from a nearby marsh announced the arrival of this cherished season. The marsh is gone now, paved over and sanitized. I miss that familiar herald and have to go elsewhere in search of it. Though more fond of birds, the noble Gilbert White amon...
March 30, 2010
Homage to the Humble Pencil
Today is National Pencil Day.
Personally I think it’s an observance that should be international, maybe even a worldwide holiday.
Next to the gift of speech and the advent of reading what has been more important to the spread of ideas then the means to transcribe them? Though writers today are less apt to use a pencil, the humble instrument is still valued by artists, carpenters and craftsmen, not to mention children.
The original pencil was probably the stylus, a stick of metal used to scratch symbols on papyrus. Sometime in the early 16th century, a deposit of graphite was discovered in Cumbria, England, revolutionizing the instrument. Erroneously mistaken for a variety of lead, it was referred to as plumbago (Latin for lead ore). We still refer to the core of the pencil as lead.
Graphite was deemed so valuable ownership of the mines was taken over by the Crown and England held a monopoly on pencil making for a lengthy period. Nicholas Jacque Conte, a Frenchman, perfected the instrument in the form we know it today in 1795.
Americans imported pencils from Europe until after the Revolution. William Munroe, a cabinetmaker in Concord, Mass., is credited with the first American-made pencils in 1812. Henry David Thoreau, a more famous resident of Concord, later developed an improved pencil-making process, binding inferior graphite with clay. Joseph Dixon, another Massachusetts inventor, was the first to mass produce pencils in this country and Dixon pencils are still among the most popular.
Artists from Leonardo to Durer, from Rembrandt to masters in modern times, such as Eakins and Wyeth, have cherished the pencil. Just look at this selection by Rembrandt, http://images.google.com/images?hl=en...
Or these from Constable’s sketchbooks, http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/pain... as examples of what beauty can be created with a mere pencil.
As noted, the pencil isn’t the chief instrument of the writer today. But John Steinbeck is said to have used up 300 pencils in the writing of East of Eden. Hemingway also relied on the pencil for his first drafts and Nabokov was another advocate. There are still writers who start a story in longhand, feeling it’s more intimate; not so many as in the past, though; machines have spoiled most of us.
Still, I think it important we all recognize our debt to the pencil and pay homage at least once a year.
Personally I think it’s an observance that should be international, maybe even a worldwide holiday.
Next to the gift of speech and the advent of reading what has been more important to the spread of ideas then the means to transcribe them? Though writers today are less apt to use a pencil, the humble instrument is still valued by artists, carpenters and craftsmen, not to mention children.
The original pencil was probably the stylus, a stick of metal used to scratch symbols on papyrus. Sometime in the early 16th century, a deposit of graphite was discovered in Cumbria, England, revolutionizing the instrument. Erroneously mistaken for a variety of lead, it was referred to as plumbago (Latin for lead ore). We still refer to the core of the pencil as lead.
Graphite was deemed so valuable ownership of the mines was taken over by the Crown and England held a monopoly on pencil making for a lengthy period. Nicholas Jacque Conte, a Frenchman, perfected the instrument in the form we know it today in 1795.
Americans imported pencils from Europe until after the Revolution. William Munroe, a cabinetmaker in Concord, Mass., is credited with the first American-made pencils in 1812. Henry David Thoreau, a more famous resident of Concord, later developed an improved pencil-making process, binding inferior graphite with clay. Joseph Dixon, another Massachusetts inventor, was the first to mass produce pencils in this country and Dixon pencils are still among the most popular.
Artists from Leonardo to Durer, from Rembrandt to masters in modern times, such as Eakins and Wyeth, have cherished the pencil. Just look at this selection by Rembrandt, http://images.google.com/images?hl=en...
Or these from Constable’s sketchbooks, http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/pain... as examples of what beauty can be created with a mere pencil.
As noted, the pencil isn’t the chief instrument of the writer today. But John Steinbeck is said to have used up 300 pencils in the writing of East of Eden. Hemingway also relied on the pencil for his first drafts and Nabokov was another advocate. There are still writers who start a story in longhand, feeling it’s more intimate; not so many as in the past, though; machines have spoiled most of us.
Still, I think it important we all recognize our debt to the pencil and pay homage at least once a year.
Homage to the Humble Pencil
Today is National Pencil Day.
Personally I think it's an observance that should be international, maybe even a worldwide holiday.
Next to the gift of speech and the advent of reading what has been more important to the spread of ideas then the means to transcribe them? Though writers today are less apt to use a pencil, the humble instrument is still valued by artists, carpenters and craftsmen, not to mention children.
The original pencil was probably the stylus, a stick of metal used to scratch ...
Personally I think it's an observance that should be international, maybe even a worldwide holiday.
Next to the gift of speech and the advent of reading what has been more important to the spread of ideas then the means to transcribe them? Though writers today are less apt to use a pencil, the humble instrument is still valued by artists, carpenters and craftsmen, not to mention children.
The original pencil was probably the stylus, a stick of metal used to scratch ...
March 25, 2010
We're All Guilty
Today is the International Day of Remembrance of Slavery Victims and the Transatlantic Slave Trade and I have seen not a single reference to it in the media this morning.
The United Nations proclaimed March 25 as a day to annually honor the lives of those who died as a result of slavery or experienced the horrors of the slave trade. It is also an occasion to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice.
What's that? Your ancestors didn't have any slaves, you say. Doesn't matter. Yo...
The United Nations proclaimed March 25 as a day to annually honor the lives of those who died as a result of slavery or experienced the horrors of the slave trade. It is also an occasion to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice.
What's that? Your ancestors didn't have any slaves, you say. Doesn't matter. Yo...
March 12, 2010
Observing Genealogy Day
National Genealogy Day will be observed on Saturday. As one who has spent considerable time on genealogy I thought it appropriate to expend a few words on the subject here.
Since retiring from the newspaper business in 2000 I have been librarian of our county historical society where I assist people with genealogy and historical research. I was doing it on a personal basis long before that and took on this responsibility partly to share what I had learned, but also because I enjoy it.
Call it a...
Since retiring from the newspaper business in 2000 I have been librarian of our county historical society where I assist people with genealogy and historical research. I was doing it on a personal basis long before that and took on this responsibility partly to share what I had learned, but also because I enjoy it.
Call it a...
March 5, 2010
Irish-American Heritage Month
March is Irish-American Heritage Month. In honor of the observance, I offer these notes:
Fleeing famine and brutal oppression, more than a million Irish refugees flocked to the U.S. between 1846-1855 in search of opportunity for a better life. It's been estimated an amazing 44 percent of immigrants in that period were Irish.
They worked whatever jobs they could find and were routinely exploited. That exploitation was partially based on their poverty and willingness to accept whatever wages they...
Fleeing famine and brutal oppression, more than a million Irish refugees flocked to the U.S. between 1846-1855 in search of opportunity for a better life. It's been estimated an amazing 44 percent of immigrants in that period were Irish.
They worked whatever jobs they could find and were routinely exploited. That exploitation was partially based on their poverty and willingness to accept whatever wages they...
March 1, 2010
Interview On Line
I'm interviewed today at http://suspensebyanne.blogspot.com/
Stop by and leave a comment. You could win a book.
Stop by and leave a comment. You could win a book.
February 27, 2010
Bargain Prices
available now on my books in electronic format at http://browse.barnesandnoble.com/book...
February 25, 2010
A Prologue is Just a Beginning
I've been monitoring a hot and heavy discussion on prologues on one of the writer forums.
The contention has been advanced readers don't like them and many editors and agents now decline to consider a novel with a prologue.
Personally I find that ridiculous. Why would an author include a prologue if he/she didn't intend it to be read? A prologue is defined as a preface, an introduction to a story, providing background or other details essential to the tale. The narrative device has been in use ...
The contention has been advanced readers don't like them and many editors and agents now decline to consider a novel with a prologue.
Personally I find that ridiculous. Why would an author include a prologue if he/she didn't intend it to be read? A prologue is defined as a preface, an introduction to a story, providing background or other details essential to the tale. The narrative device has been in use ...
February 19, 2010
Speaking in Strange Tongues
Americans have long been xenophobic when it comes to language.
This is apparent in Benjamin Franklin's warning about German "aliens" who he feared would gain prominence over the English-speaking populace:
"And since Detachments of English from Britain sent to America, will have their Places at Home so soon supply'd and increase so largely here; why should the Palatine Boors [Germans:] be suffered to swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the E...
This is apparent in Benjamin Franklin's warning about German "aliens" who he feared would gain prominence over the English-speaking populace:
"And since Detachments of English from Britain sent to America, will have their Places at Home so soon supply'd and increase so largely here; why should the Palatine Boors [Germans:] be suffered to swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the E...
