Lynn L. Clark's Blog: Writing in Retirement, page 10
January 31, 2016
Voyage of the Damned: The Nightmare of History
I was a young university student when I saw the film version of Voyage of the Damned. It's taken me forty years, but I've just finished reading the book by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts. The book is well-written and well-researched with a compelling, straightforward narrative.
The SS St. Louis, carrying almost one thousand Jews from Germany in the months prior to the Second World War, sets sail with high expectations and renewed hopes. Some of the passengers have been released from concentration camps and told never to return to Germany. Many have been separated from their families. The professionals aboard--teachers, doctors, lawyers--can no longer work in Germany because they are Jews.
The ship heads toward Cuba with passengers in possession of documentation issued by the corrupt Cuban Minister of Immigration, who pockets their money. They plan to stay in Cuba until their names come up on a list of refugees authorized to enter the United States. But the President of Cuba has issued a decree that will make their papers worthless and deny them entry, in large part due to the local antisemitism stirred up by the Nazi secret service operating in Cuba.
Nor do the passengers realize that they will not be welcome in the United States, with its isolationist, anti-immigration bias.
They are also unaware that they are deliberate pawns of the Nazi propaganda machine: why should Germany be criticized for its treatment of Jews when so many other countries refuse to take them?
Finally forced to turn back to Europe, the passengers await their fate as the world looks on. Reluctantly, Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands are persuaded to accept them.
But there is no happy ending for the passengers of the SS St. Louis. When war is declared, the majority of those who have gone to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands are sent to concentration camps by the invading Nazis.
Only twenty per cent of the original passengers of the SS St. Louis survive World War II. Because the book was published in 1974, the authors were able to interview survivors, which adds to the sense of intimacy and personalizes the victims of this true story. We see the young children aboard initially playing pranks on other passengers, unaware of what awaits them. We feel the despair of the teacher who has been interred in a concentration camp and vows never to go back to Germany. (Sadly, he does not survive the war, but his diary has been preserved.)
If the passengers had been accepted into Cuba and the United States, the majority of them would have lived. But corruption, political intransigence, immigration policy, antisemitism, posturing, and inept negotiations doomed the majority of the passengers.
It is a cautionary tale.
Anti-immigration sentiment and racism have reared their ugly heads again in the United States and other countries. We need look no further than to the front-running Republican party candidates for the presidential nomination to see the parallels: xenophobia, fear-mongering, discriminatory immigration policies, refusal to accept refugees, and barbed wire to keep out the unwanted.
If we cannot learn from the past, where do we go from here?
The SS St. Louis, carrying almost one thousand Jews from Germany in the months prior to the Second World War, sets sail with high expectations and renewed hopes. Some of the passengers have been released from concentration camps and told never to return to Germany. Many have been separated from their families. The professionals aboard--teachers, doctors, lawyers--can no longer work in Germany because they are Jews.
The ship heads toward Cuba with passengers in possession of documentation issued by the corrupt Cuban Minister of Immigration, who pockets their money. They plan to stay in Cuba until their names come up on a list of refugees authorized to enter the United States. But the President of Cuba has issued a decree that will make their papers worthless and deny them entry, in large part due to the local antisemitism stirred up by the Nazi secret service operating in Cuba.
Nor do the passengers realize that they will not be welcome in the United States, with its isolationist, anti-immigration bias.
They are also unaware that they are deliberate pawns of the Nazi propaganda machine: why should Germany be criticized for its treatment of Jews when so many other countries refuse to take them?
Finally forced to turn back to Europe, the passengers await their fate as the world looks on. Reluctantly, Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands are persuaded to accept them.
But there is no happy ending for the passengers of the SS St. Louis. When war is declared, the majority of those who have gone to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands are sent to concentration camps by the invading Nazis.
Only twenty per cent of the original passengers of the SS St. Louis survive World War II. Because the book was published in 1974, the authors were able to interview survivors, which adds to the sense of intimacy and personalizes the victims of this true story. We see the young children aboard initially playing pranks on other passengers, unaware of what awaits them. We feel the despair of the teacher who has been interred in a concentration camp and vows never to go back to Germany. (Sadly, he does not survive the war, but his diary has been preserved.)
If the passengers had been accepted into Cuba and the United States, the majority of them would have lived. But corruption, political intransigence, immigration policy, antisemitism, posturing, and inept negotiations doomed the majority of the passengers.
It is a cautionary tale.
Anti-immigration sentiment and racism have reared their ugly heads again in the United States and other countries. We need look no further than to the front-running Republican party candidates for the presidential nomination to see the parallels: xenophobia, fear-mongering, discriminatory immigration policies, refusal to accept refugees, and barbed wire to keep out the unwanted.
If we cannot learn from the past, where do we go from here?
January 24, 2016
Back from the Deep Freeze
My hiatus from this blog has lasted a bit longer than I expected, but I'm now back to share some thoughts with you and to catch up on library and book news.
I finished the draft of my third book, The Accusers, in October and it's now undergoing final comments and revisions. I hope to see it through the publication process by March. I owe a special thanks to Melanie Robertson-King, Margaret Leroux, and Katherine Hooton for reading the draft and providing excellent feedback. Thanks, ladies!
Here are a couple of items I noted on my internet search that may be of interest to you:
The Annoyed Librarian is still going strong with an ironic and very caustic tongue. To visit the latest offerings in Library Journal, please see http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/an....
If you're interested in reading about the thirty finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards, please see
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/201....
On a personal note, I see that the prices of e-books from the remaining big-name publishers and high-profile popular authors such as Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and John Grisham continue to be exorbitant (averaging $15-$18). Even books that are readily available in paperback such as Lee Child's old titles have a very high price tag attached to them.
I've also noticed that the quality of proofreading in e-books could be greatly improved. To be honest, I'm not even sure if the big-name publishers still use proofreaders. Recently I read Anne Hillerman's Spider Woman's Daughter, and she mentions in the acknowledgments that she and her mother did the final proofing of the book. I then read a Stephen Booth novel, which was distributed by the same publisher, and was disconcerted to see the number of typos in the book. It's ironic when you consider that lack of editing and proofreading has always been one of the main criticisms of self-published books.
Anyway, it's good to be back. Talk to you soon.
I finished the draft of my third book, The Accusers, in October and it's now undergoing final comments and revisions. I hope to see it through the publication process by March. I owe a special thanks to Melanie Robertson-King, Margaret Leroux, and Katherine Hooton for reading the draft and providing excellent feedback. Thanks, ladies!
Here are a couple of items I noted on my internet search that may be of interest to you:
The Annoyed Librarian is still going strong with an ironic and very caustic tongue. To visit the latest offerings in Library Journal, please see http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/an....
If you're interested in reading about the thirty finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards, please see
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/201....
On a personal note, I see that the prices of e-books from the remaining big-name publishers and high-profile popular authors such as Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and John Grisham continue to be exorbitant (averaging $15-$18). Even books that are readily available in paperback such as Lee Child's old titles have a very high price tag attached to them.
I've also noticed that the quality of proofreading in e-books could be greatly improved. To be honest, I'm not even sure if the big-name publishers still use proofreaders. Recently I read Anne Hillerman's Spider Woman's Daughter, and she mentions in the acknowledgments that she and her mother did the final proofing of the book. I then read a Stephen Booth novel, which was distributed by the same publisher, and was disconcerted to see the number of typos in the book. It's ironic when you consider that lack of editing and proofreading has always been one of the main criticisms of self-published books.
Anyway, it's good to be back. Talk to you soon.
August 10, 2015
Hiatus
I'll be taking a break from this blog to concentrate on research for my next novel. I expect to be back in the fall.
Thanks to everyone who supports me by following my blog.
Thanks to everyone who supports me by following my blog.
August 3, 2015
J.K. Rowling Turns Fifty
I thought the popularity of Harry Potter had waned so I was surprised to learn that it is stronger than ever. There are very successful theme parks, an upcoming London play, a trilogy of films based on the companion book to the Harry Potter series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and new illustrated editions of the books to be published. In fact, the Harry Potter franchise is worth a staggering $24 billion and is still growing. As Ms. Rowling turns 50, her net worth is estimated to be more than $1 billion. For statistics on the growing franchise, please see http://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/market....
I was pleased to learn that Ms. Rowling is sharing her good fortune with those much less fortunate. She has started a charity called Lumos, which strives to remove children--some of them living in caged beds--from institutions so they can be supported within their own communities. This is a very worthwhile goal indeed for someone who has brought such delight to children world-wide.
For information on Lumos, please see http://www.wearelumos.org/.
I was pleased to learn that Ms. Rowling is sharing her good fortune with those much less fortunate. She has started a charity called Lumos, which strives to remove children--some of them living in caged beds--from institutions so they can be supported within their own communities. This is a very worthwhile goal indeed for someone who has brought such delight to children world-wide.
For information on Lumos, please see http://www.wearelumos.org/.
July 26, 2015
Mansion for Sale
You have to smile at the eccentricities of the very rich. A multi-millionaire put his mansion in California up for sale two years ago for $100 million. However, there was one catch. The millionaire, in his late 70s, stipulated that the house would be sold with the condition that he be allowed to remain in it until he died.
There were no prospective buyers for the mansion, so it was taken off the market. Recently, however, the mansion was re-listed for the paltry sum of $39.9 million without the condition that the millionaire owner be allowed to stay there until his death.
There's got to be the makings of a supernatural story here. Maybe the ghost of the millionaire, upon his death, comes back to haunt the mansion because he wasn't allowed to die there...
What do you think?
To read the story and view photographs of the estate, please see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic....
There were no prospective buyers for the mansion, so it was taken off the market. Recently, however, the mansion was re-listed for the paltry sum of $39.9 million without the condition that the millionaire owner be allowed to stay there until his death.
There's got to be the makings of a supernatural story here. Maybe the ghost of the millionaire, upon his death, comes back to haunt the mansion because he wasn't allowed to die there...
What do you think?
To read the story and view photographs of the estate, please see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic....
July 20, 2015
Underfunded School Libraries
There's an eye-opening post by the Annoyed Librarian entitled "Dreaming about School Libraries" that quotes some grim statistics on the decline of school library services and staff in the poorer districts of the United States with largely African-American populations. The Annoyed Librarian speculates that it's a non-issue for people with money because they either send their children to private schools or suburban schools that are well funded. The AL sees the funding issue as a political one, stating that "[p]olitics is about money, and if you don’t have any you’re out of luck.... Most American politicians have written off the poor because they don’t need the poor to win office. They need money. Even if there are a few people who actually care, they’re outnumbered."
To read the full text of the post, please see http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/an....
To read the full text of the post, please see http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/an....
July 6, 2015
A Site for Lovers of Horror
If you're a horror fan, you might like to check out Horrornews.net (HNN). It has film and book reviews, interviews, articles, and podcasts, to name a few of its features. Over sixty writers contribute to the site.
The website also shows a great deal of diversity in that it includes music videos, horror art, comics and magazines, short films, Asian horror, and the paranormal among its subjects.
The website is available at http://horrornews.net/.
The website also shows a great deal of diversity in that it includes music videos, horror art, comics and magazines, short films, Asian horror, and the paranormal among its subjects.
The website is available at http://horrornews.net/.
June 28, 2015
Summer Reading Programs
If you're interested in a summer reading program for your children, you might want to check out the Scholastic Books Summer Reading Challenge at http://www.scholastic.com/ups/campaig.... It's free, and kids can access interesting books online and interact creatively with their computers to "unlock" stories.
For readers of all ages there is the Collaborative Summer Library Program in the United States that provides books at low prices to participating libraries. It has early literacy, children, teen, and adult programs. Please see http://www.cslpreads.org/.
And don't forget to check out your own local library to see what summer reading programs are available there.
For readers of all ages there is the Collaborative Summer Library Program in the United States that provides books at low prices to participating libraries. It has early literacy, children, teen, and adult programs. Please see http://www.cslpreads.org/.
And don't forget to check out your own local library to see what summer reading programs are available there.
June 21, 2015
On Father's Day: Moving beyond the Male Stereotypes
Usually we associate unwanted stereotypes with young females struggling to establish their own identity, but I recently came across an article with a list of reasons "why boys don't like being boys." The list was developed as a school experiment to give young boys an opportunity to voice their concerns about what it means to be "male". Among the items the boys came up with were the following: not being able to cry, expected to be violent, need to play football, and automatically have a bad reputation.
The list struck a chord with me, especially the last item, because I have a son and I watched him struggle endlessly in school to overcome the limitations placed on him by his teachers. Sadly, most of these teachers were female, and they should have known better because they no doubt had to fight their own battles against stereotyping when they were young.
My son had a particularly hard time with math, and he once told me that his math teacher would always say in class, after posing a question, "now which one of my Level 4 students can answer that?" (The Level 4 students, who were the students with the highest marks, were almost all female.) When I called this teacher to see if my son could get tutoring, she was so negative that I realized she had already written him off. To this day (he is now 26), my son hates math because "he's not good at it" and freezes every time he's asked to add or subtract without a calculator.
It would be so constructive for both sexes to move beyond the stereotypes that limit their growth and happiness.
On this Father's Day I'd like to extend a special thanks to my husband and son, both wonderful human beings who defy stereotyping.
Happy Father's Day, everyone.
The list struck a chord with me, especially the last item, because I have a son and I watched him struggle endlessly in school to overcome the limitations placed on him by his teachers. Sadly, most of these teachers were female, and they should have known better because they no doubt had to fight their own battles against stereotyping when they were young.
My son had a particularly hard time with math, and he once told me that his math teacher would always say in class, after posing a question, "now which one of my Level 4 students can answer that?" (The Level 4 students, who were the students with the highest marks, were almost all female.) When I called this teacher to see if my son could get tutoring, she was so negative that I realized she had already written him off. To this day (he is now 26), my son hates math because "he's not good at it" and freezes every time he's asked to add or subtract without a calculator.
It would be so constructive for both sexes to move beyond the stereotypes that limit their growth and happiness.
On this Father's Day I'd like to extend a special thanks to my husband and son, both wonderful human beings who defy stereotyping.
Happy Father's Day, everyone.
June 15, 2015
School Library Journal
If you're looking for the latest news on innovative school, library and community programs, as well as reviews of apps, books, and comics for children and young adults, you can check out the School Library Journal website and blog. As indicated on the SLJ website:
If you'd like to visit the SLJ website, please see http://www.slj.com/.
School Library Journal aspires to be an accelerator for innovation in schools and public libraries that serve the information, literacy, and technology needs of 21st century children and young adults. SLJ produces resources, services, and reviews that make library and education professionals savvier, and communities stronger.
If you'd like to visit the SLJ website, please see http://www.slj.com/.
Writing in Retirement
A blog on reading, writing, and the latest news in horror and supernatural fiction.
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