Marcia Calhoun Forecki's Blog
March 1, 2022
Ebook Sale - 3.1.22 - 3.31.22
Murder, Mystery and Mayhem Sale
At Kobo.com 3.1.22 – 3.31.22
Ebook on sale for $3.99
The hantavirus pandemic in this novel is fiction.
1979 radioactive spill at Church Rock, NM really happened.
At Kobo.com 3.1.22 – 3.31.22
Ebook on sale for $3.99
The hantavirus pandemic in this novel is fiction.
1979 radioactive spill at Church Rock, NM really happened.
February 24, 2022
The Largest Environmental Disaster in U.S. You Never Heard Of
Church Rock, NM - Site of the biggest environmental disaster you never hard of.
If 1,100 tons of radioactive uranium mine tailings are released into the environment where only a few hundred people life, is it a national disaster?
What if the release is the second largest contamination after Chernobyl?
What if it could have been prevented?
The contaminated water flowed into the Rio Puerco and even into the sewer system of Gallup, NM, only eight miles away. The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande that runs over 200 miles through the southwestern United States. As of 2021, Church Rock is still an active EPA Superfund site. More information and the complete GAO Report to Congress is available here. As of September 2021, no legislation has been enacted to address the incident for congressional consideration.
In 2011, I was invited to collaborate on a novel, set in the Four Corners. The idea for the book came from Gerald Schnitzer (1917-2016). Gerry was a writer, director and producer of movies and documentaries. We met when I edited his autobiographical book, My Floating Grandmother. The novel we created together was a medical thriller, set in a fictional hantavirus pandemic, called Blood of the White Bear. During the research for this novel, I discovered information about the Church Rock disaster. It was not difficult; just a few internet searches.
Learn more about Church Rock in Judy Pasternak’s book:
Yellow Sand; a Poisoned Land and The Betrayal of the Navajos
Also, find interviews and podcasts by Ms. Pasternak online.
If 1,100 tons of radioactive uranium mine tailings are released into the environment where only a few hundred people life, is it a national disaster?
What if the release is the second largest contamination after Chernobyl?
What if it could have been prevented?
On July 16, 1979, a wall of an earthen dam broke. The dam contained tailings from the Church Rock, NM uranium mine. The dam was not reinforced with steel reinforced concrete or any other material. Cracks in the dam, located on the Diné (Navajo) nation were noted two years before the breach. Ninety million gallons of radioactive water poured through the broken dam. (Photo by Judy Pasternak, 2010)
The contaminated water flowed into the Rio Puerco and even into the sewer system of Gallup, NM, only eight miles away. The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande that runs over 200 miles through the southwestern United States. As of 2021, Church Rock is still an active EPA Superfund site. More information and the complete GAO Report to Congress is available here. As of September 2021, no legislation has been enacted to address the incident for congressional consideration.
In 2011, I was invited to collaborate on a novel, set in the Four Corners. The idea for the book came from Gerald Schnitzer (1917-2016). Gerry was a writer, director and producer of movies and documentaries. We met when I edited his autobiographical book, My Floating Grandmother. The novel we created together was a medical thriller, set in a fictional hantavirus pandemic, called Blood of the White Bear. During the research for this novel, I discovered information about the Church Rock disaster. It was not difficult; just a few internet searches.
It is part thriller and part mystery but more than that.
Blood of the White Bear
Marcia Calhoun Forecki and Gerald Schnitzer
Writelife publishing, an imprint of BQB Books, 2013.
(Available from Amazon in print, ebook, and audiobook formats)
Learn more about Church Rock in Judy Pasternak’s book:
Yellow Sand; a Poisoned Land and The Betrayal of the Navajos
Also, find interviews and podcasts by Ms. Pasternak online.
May 10, 2019
Free Story at The Write Launch
It's been a long time since I posted, but here I am - and with a free story to share with you. It's called "Me and Woody" and appears online in the May issue of
The Write Launch
. This is a wonderful online lit journal - you'll want to add it to your favorites. A LIKE wouldn't hurt, either. Better yet - a donation.
For now, just enjoy the story. Hope you like it.
https://thewritelaunch.com/2019/04/me...
For now, just enjoy the story. Hope you like it.
https://thewritelaunch.com/2019/04/me...
January 16, 2017
I found a place to share my voice - join me!
Writing is the most satisfying thing I do. Editing the writing of others is a very close second. For five years, now, I have been privileged to be a contributing editor to Fine Lines, a literary journal for writers of all ages and all nationalities, founded by David Martin.
Fine Lines began in 1991, with a teacher’s inspiration to offer the healing power of creative writing to failing students’ desperate for a voice for their fears and hopes. David Martin, an English teacher in Omaha’s Central High School, helped students find their voices. “That first magazine was an eye-opener for me,” David Martin said. “Providing a place where writers could see their work in print; well, it just makes prose and poetry important, meaningful, and real. Providing that venue to teens and adults can be strong medicine.”
Based in Omaha, Fine Lines, began its 26th year of publication in January 2017. The journal started as a four-page, stapled-in-the-corner issue featuring the written works of students. Today, Fines Lines is published four times a year in book form. Each issue features 200 pages or more of writing by people of all ages. The journal is now offered electronically and in on-demand print editions. Fine Lines, has contributors and members from across the nation and around the world. Manuscripts have come from Europe, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on patrol in the Pacific Ocean.
Writers of all ages, interests, and abilities have kept the publication fresh and interesting. The youngest poet published (so far) was an eight-year-old third grader. A 94-year-old great-grandmother had several pieces published to make her the oldest contributor. Teachers, truck drivers, doctors, lawyers, students, janitors, ministers, nurses, and more have all moonlighted as writers for Fine Lines.
For me, finding my voice in Fine Lines was a blessing and a challenge. Not only are my stories read by strangers around the world, but my co-editors, my friends, are the most supportive, nurturing group of artists. Writing for them, and learning from them, inspires me to reach for my best writing in every piece.
On the journal’s website, finelines.org, writers find so much to motivate them. “Monday With Martin“, the blog, tips for writers and more are there for the plucking (or should I say clicking). Fine Lines even provides a week-long summer camp for writers young and otherwise. Every June for the last 15 years, David Martin, his writers, editors, supporters and friends, gather for five mornings of exploration of the writing craft and inspiration from other art forms. Details are available on the website.
Want to contribute? Fine Lines welcomes articles on all topics of interest to our readers and reflective writing about interesting life experiences. We accept all approaches and styles, even graphic work - drawings and photographs. The editors reserve the right to reject submissions that use profanity, abusive violence in all forms, alcohol, and drugs. Our journal is used in classrooms from fourth grade through graduate school.
For more information on Fine Lines, including how to subscribe and how to submit works for consideration, go online to www.finelines.org. For more motivation, see David Martin's book, Facing the Blank Page.
Facing The Blank Page
Fine Lines began in 1991, with a teacher’s inspiration to offer the healing power of creative writing to failing students’ desperate for a voice for their fears and hopes. David Martin, an English teacher in Omaha’s Central High School, helped students find their voices. “That first magazine was an eye-opener for me,” David Martin said. “Providing a place where writers could see their work in print; well, it just makes prose and poetry important, meaningful, and real. Providing that venue to teens and adults can be strong medicine.”
Based in Omaha, Fine Lines, began its 26th year of publication in January 2017. The journal started as a four-page, stapled-in-the-corner issue featuring the written works of students. Today, Fines Lines is published four times a year in book form. Each issue features 200 pages or more of writing by people of all ages. The journal is now offered electronically and in on-demand print editions. Fine Lines, has contributors and members from across the nation and around the world. Manuscripts have come from Europe, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on patrol in the Pacific Ocean.
Writers of all ages, interests, and abilities have kept the publication fresh and interesting. The youngest poet published (so far) was an eight-year-old third grader. A 94-year-old great-grandmother had several pieces published to make her the oldest contributor. Teachers, truck drivers, doctors, lawyers, students, janitors, ministers, nurses, and more have all moonlighted as writers for Fine Lines.
For me, finding my voice in Fine Lines was a blessing and a challenge. Not only are my stories read by strangers around the world, but my co-editors, my friends, are the most supportive, nurturing group of artists. Writing for them, and learning from them, inspires me to reach for my best writing in every piece.
On the journal’s website, finelines.org, writers find so much to motivate them. “Monday With Martin“, the blog, tips for writers and more are there for the plucking (or should I say clicking). Fine Lines even provides a week-long summer camp for writers young and otherwise. Every June for the last 15 years, David Martin, his writers, editors, supporters and friends, gather for five mornings of exploration of the writing craft and inspiration from other art forms. Details are available on the website.
Want to contribute? Fine Lines welcomes articles on all topics of interest to our readers and reflective writing about interesting life experiences. We accept all approaches and styles, even graphic work - drawings and photographs. The editors reserve the right to reject submissions that use profanity, abusive violence in all forms, alcohol, and drugs. Our journal is used in classrooms from fourth grade through graduate school.
For more information on Fine Lines, including how to subscribe and how to submit works for consideration, go online to www.finelines.org. For more motivation, see David Martin's book, Facing the Blank Page.
Facing The Blank Page
July 4, 2016
Tribute to a Writer and Friend
Quick note to friends and followers: Blood of the White Bear is available for preview through Book Grabbr at www.bookgrabbr.com.
I was so sorry to hear of the death of my collaborator on Blood of the White Bear. Gerald Schnitzer passed on New Year's day 2016. I became acquainted with this amazing man when I edited his memoir, My Floating Grandmother. Jerry was a writer, as well as a film producer and director. He directed all of the Bowery Boys movies. He also directed episodes the television show Lassie and many commercials. He was the creator of the advertising campaign "A Kodak Moment." To me, he was a dear friend, even though we only knew each other by email and telephone. Jerry was 98 when he passed. He truly lived his life to the fullest! In the months of his life, he was working on a book about the history of television commercials with an author whose name I never learned.
Jerry contacted me with an idea for a book about a female virologist who sees visions of Kachinas which pull her to the Four Corners where she confronts a pandemic of a hanta virus, which very much resembles a Kachina in its structure. Jerry enlightened, encouraged and taught me so much about story telling. We were both elated when Blood of the White Bear was a finalist in the Willa Awards presented by Women Writing the West.
I'm so grateful for the time we had together.
I was so sorry to hear of the death of my collaborator on Blood of the White Bear. Gerald Schnitzer passed on New Year's day 2016. I became acquainted with this amazing man when I edited his memoir, My Floating Grandmother. Jerry was a writer, as well as a film producer and director. He directed all of the Bowery Boys movies. He also directed episodes the television show Lassie and many commercials. He was the creator of the advertising campaign "A Kodak Moment." To me, he was a dear friend, even though we only knew each other by email and telephone. Jerry was 98 when he passed. He truly lived his life to the fullest! In the months of his life, he was working on a book about the history of television commercials with an author whose name I never learned.
Jerry contacted me with an idea for a book about a female virologist who sees visions of Kachinas which pull her to the Four Corners where she confronts a pandemic of a hanta virus, which very much resembles a Kachina in its structure. Jerry enlightened, encouraged and taught me so much about story telling. We were both elated when Blood of the White Bear was a finalist in the Willa Awards presented by Women Writing the West.
I'm so grateful for the time we had together.
May 15, 2016
June Rise
I’m so excited to announce that my latest book is now available. June Rise a novel set in Western Missouri during the Civil War era, has been published by Burnt District Press. It is the story of Amanda Blue Hill, who is blown out of her mother’s arms in a tornado and set down in a basket in Shoal Creek, Clay County, Missouri. She is found and adopted by the Hill family, who name her Amanda Blue Hill, because she was so cold she was blue when Joel Hill found her in the creek. She is known as Bluesey to her family. Bluesey’s origins are a mystery. With dark hair and a tan complexion, she is taken for the child of a runaway slave or a Shawnee Indian. Her adoptive parents don’t bother about her background, they are so happy to have found her alive and well.
The Hills of Clay County are not slaveowners. However, Bluesey’s uncle Braymon, who lives on a plantation in the area known as Little Dixie, owns several, including a young girl about Bluesey’s age, named Onie. The two girls become friends, and as teenagers they attempt a daring escape for Onie, crossing the Missouri River during the June rise when the river is high.
Bluesey lives through the guerilla war between the Missouri bushwhackers, confederate sympathizers, and the Kansas jayhawkers, abolitionists from across the border. Her family is attacked by bushwhackers because they are against the owning of slaves, and by the jayhawkers who believe that Bluesey is the daughter of a runaway slave and want to take her to Kansas to freedom. She works in a make-shift hospital at William Jewell College in Liberty after the Battle of Blue Mills landing. She falls in love with an abolitionist from St. Louis, and later becomes engaged to a Confederate soldier. Throughout it all, Bluesey holds onto her friendship with Onie, who manages to escape and becomes a contraband laundress for the Union Army.
With emancipation and the end of the war in sight, Bluesey and Onie travel together to Nebraska where they become homesteaders.
I loved doing the research for June Rise. I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and went to William Jewell College, so I knew a little about the history of this area. My research brought me so many fascinating stories of the people of Western Missouri, in whose fields a bloody war was being waged, neighbor against neighbor. June Rise is my fifth book and my second novel. Watch for a Goodreads Giveaway soon.
The Hills of Clay County are not slaveowners. However, Bluesey’s uncle Braymon, who lives on a plantation in the area known as Little Dixie, owns several, including a young girl about Bluesey’s age, named Onie. The two girls become friends, and as teenagers they attempt a daring escape for Onie, crossing the Missouri River during the June rise when the river is high.
Bluesey lives through the guerilla war between the Missouri bushwhackers, confederate sympathizers, and the Kansas jayhawkers, abolitionists from across the border. Her family is attacked by bushwhackers because they are against the owning of slaves, and by the jayhawkers who believe that Bluesey is the daughter of a runaway slave and want to take her to Kansas to freedom. She works in a make-shift hospital at William Jewell College in Liberty after the Battle of Blue Mills landing. She falls in love with an abolitionist from St. Louis, and later becomes engaged to a Confederate soldier. Throughout it all, Bluesey holds onto her friendship with Onie, who manages to escape and becomes a contraband laundress for the Union Army.
With emancipation and the end of the war in sight, Bluesey and Onie travel together to Nebraska where they become homesteaders.
I loved doing the research for June Rise. I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and went to William Jewell College, so I knew a little about the history of this area. My research brought me so many fascinating stories of the people of Western Missouri, in whose fields a bloody war was being waged, neighbor against neighbor. June Rise is my fifth book and my second novel. Watch for a Goodreads Giveaway soon.
June 28, 2015
Some Acknowledgments
It has been a long time since I wrote anything in this blog. My apologies to those who are gracious enough to read this blog. I have been working on a new book, a work of historical fiction called June Rise. It is set in the Civil War era, before and during, in Western Missouri. The border war between Missouri and Kansas was particularly brutal in that area, and civilians were often dragged into the fighting merely for their beliefs regarding slavery or the preservation of the union.
I did a lot of reading for this book and I wanted to share some of the titles with others fascinated by this period in our history. One of the greatest finds was a little book called Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott. It is a sentimental but poignant collection of stories about a nurse working in a Union hospital during the war, which Alcott did for a period of several months. It is a real treasure. Another interesting book I used was The Devil Knows How to Ride by Edward Leslie. This is the “true story” of William Quantrill and his raiders who struck terror into Missouri citizens and helped shape the life of Jesse and Frank James. One of the most fascinating books is a large and detailed volume written by Tom A. Rafiner. It is called Caught Between Three Fires and chronicles life in Cass County, Missouri between 1860 and 1865. Mr. Rafiner is an amateur historian who has done a brilliant job of combing archival material and writing a book which takes the reader into the daily lives of ordinary people. Two other “straight history” books for those interested in the this time and place, are Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border by Donald L. Gilmore and Civil War on the Western Border 1854-1865.
Of course, I consulted with lots of archival material, mostly on the internet. One book I want to call your attention to is called Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. This small volume is the first person account of a slave who hid in an attic for seven years before she was able to escape to freedom. It is fascinating, well written and a truly heroic tale. I learned so much about slave life from it.
I am indebted to these books for lots of background material I used in my own book, June Rise.
I did a lot of reading for this book and I wanted to share some of the titles with others fascinated by this period in our history. One of the greatest finds was a little book called Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott. It is a sentimental but poignant collection of stories about a nurse working in a Union hospital during the war, which Alcott did for a period of several months. It is a real treasure. Another interesting book I used was The Devil Knows How to Ride by Edward Leslie. This is the “true story” of William Quantrill and his raiders who struck terror into Missouri citizens and helped shape the life of Jesse and Frank James. One of the most fascinating books is a large and detailed volume written by Tom A. Rafiner. It is called Caught Between Three Fires and chronicles life in Cass County, Missouri between 1860 and 1865. Mr. Rafiner is an amateur historian who has done a brilliant job of combing archival material and writing a book which takes the reader into the daily lives of ordinary people. Two other “straight history” books for those interested in the this time and place, are Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border by Donald L. Gilmore and Civil War on the Western Border 1854-1865.
Of course, I consulted with lots of archival material, mostly on the internet. One book I want to call your attention to is called Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. This small volume is the first person account of a slave who hid in an attic for seven years before she was able to escape to freedom. It is fascinating, well written and a truly heroic tale. I learned so much about slave life from it.
I am indebted to these books for lots of background material I used in my own book, June Rise.
April 30, 2014
My summer reading suggestion
Pretty soon the lists of summer books, vacation books, and beach reading will start to appear. Whenever I go on a trip, even for a weekend, the first thing I pack is a book. I know a lot of travelers like easy or fast reads; nothing too thick or ponderous. Even if you are not going anywhere, it's fun to set aside books for summertime reading.
This year, I'd like to suggest that you consider doing an author study. It's not as academic as it sounds. I simply mean picking an author you like and reading several of that writer's books or story collections. It's a great way to get a little deeper in to the mind of a writer, by sampling his or her work over the course of a career or through different genres. Many novelists have written short story collections, for example.
I love to discover a "new" writer, or new to me, and dive into their work in chronological order or no order at all. Right now, I'm reading as much of the work of Jose Saramago as I can. What's so great about reading multiple works by the same author is that you get to know the tone of the author's work, and become familiar with his or her voice as a writer. For example, Saramago has a great wit and uses lots of dry humor in his writing. When I start a new book by Saramago, I know the humor is there waiting for me and I can't wait to discover it. I've also gotten use to his particular quirks as a writer, such as not using quotation marks in dialog. Reading the works of a writer in the order they were written lets you see how the author has grown as an artist. Recurring themes let you know the writer's philosophy. I recommend that you start with Death with Interruptions and then read The Double or The Year of the Death of Ricado Reis.
Doing an author study is not only for fiction writers. I have read all the work by John M. Barry, who wrote Rising Tide and The Great Influenza. I admit that I have not read his football book, and probably won't. His third book, Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul, was a quite different from the first two works of nonfiction, about the 1927 flood of the Mississippi River and the 1918 influenza pandemic. If I had not decided to follow Mr. Barry's work, I might have let it slip by me and missed a fascinating read.
I find that when I do an author study, I become very interested in the biography of the writer I'm following. Learning about where the writer grew up, what her family life was life, her non-literary interest, or her literary influences only adds to the experience of discovering the author's work.
So, when you're planning to sit under an umbrella, either on a beach or at your back yard picnic table, consider reading through the works of an author you admire. I guarantee you'll enjoy the experience.
Comment and let me know a writer you've studied, or would like to study.
This year, I'd like to suggest that you consider doing an author study. It's not as academic as it sounds. I simply mean picking an author you like and reading several of that writer's books or story collections. It's a great way to get a little deeper in to the mind of a writer, by sampling his or her work over the course of a career or through different genres. Many novelists have written short story collections, for example.
I love to discover a "new" writer, or new to me, and dive into their work in chronological order or no order at all. Right now, I'm reading as much of the work of Jose Saramago as I can. What's so great about reading multiple works by the same author is that you get to know the tone of the author's work, and become familiar with his or her voice as a writer. For example, Saramago has a great wit and uses lots of dry humor in his writing. When I start a new book by Saramago, I know the humor is there waiting for me and I can't wait to discover it. I've also gotten use to his particular quirks as a writer, such as not using quotation marks in dialog. Reading the works of a writer in the order they were written lets you see how the author has grown as an artist. Recurring themes let you know the writer's philosophy. I recommend that you start with Death with Interruptions and then read The Double or The Year of the Death of Ricado Reis.
Doing an author study is not only for fiction writers. I have read all the work by John M. Barry, who wrote Rising Tide and The Great Influenza. I admit that I have not read his football book, and probably won't. His third book, Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul, was a quite different from the first two works of nonfiction, about the 1927 flood of the Mississippi River and the 1918 influenza pandemic. If I had not decided to follow Mr. Barry's work, I might have let it slip by me and missed a fascinating read.
I find that when I do an author study, I become very interested in the biography of the writer I'm following. Learning about where the writer grew up, what her family life was life, her non-literary interest, or her literary influences only adds to the experience of discovering the author's work.
So, when you're planning to sit under an umbrella, either on a beach or at your back yard picnic table, consider reading through the works of an author you admire. I guarantee you'll enjoy the experience.
Comment and let me know a writer you've studied, or would like to study.
April 6, 2014
School Days Again
The dreams began the same way, me standing befuddled in hallway of a school, just as classes are changing. Students spill out of the rooms walking quickly, talking in high pitched excitement (the girls), and low mumbles (the boys.) I stand in the middle of it, not sure where I'm going. Am I late for the class just ending or early for the class about to begin. Later, in another hallway, or a cafeteria or a dormitory, I am the only students in her sixties trying to find a lunch table or climb into a twin bed. These are the dreams I have had for the past several years. I am in college, a complete misfit, but happy nonetheless.
Pay attention to your dreams. Your heart speaks through them, and sometimes it shouts into your sleeping ear. Later this summer, I will re-enter a university, on a path to my MFA. After nearly forty years, I am completing the education that stopped when life happened and by that I mean the life of my son.
The first inhibiting voice asked me whether I could learn new information and link new ideas to my existing neural data bank. In short, did I have the plasticity to pull off an advanced degree in creative writing. All the popular neuroscience I read indicated that it is possible for an older brain to learn, especially when presented with ideas which challenge existing perceptions. That sounded like exactly the experience I was looking for: a shaking up of my personal literary acumen so as to stretch and stimulate my creativity. If neuroscience said I could do it, who was I to argue that I could not.
Will earning an advanced degree truly help me become a more successful writer? This was my second inhibiting question and it was a big one. I don't yet have the answer, but whatever I learn will be mine to keep forever; it will never wear out and I will never outgrow it. Whether I become the bestseller I long to be or not, what I learn can never be taken away from me. How I use the ideas I acquire will be my responsibility.
Am I ready to return to school? Will it be as fulfilling as in my dreams? Will I leave in disappointment after one semester? I don't know the answers to those questions. What I do know for certain sure is that whatever experience I have, I will benefit from it and that is reason enough to take the plunge.
If you have returned to school, or to a hobby or passion, after a long absence, I'd love to hear your experience.
Pay attention to your dreams. Your heart speaks through them, and sometimes it shouts into your sleeping ear. Later this summer, I will re-enter a university, on a path to my MFA. After nearly forty years, I am completing the education that stopped when life happened and by that I mean the life of my son.
The first inhibiting voice asked me whether I could learn new information and link new ideas to my existing neural data bank. In short, did I have the plasticity to pull off an advanced degree in creative writing. All the popular neuroscience I read indicated that it is possible for an older brain to learn, especially when presented with ideas which challenge existing perceptions. That sounded like exactly the experience I was looking for: a shaking up of my personal literary acumen so as to stretch and stimulate my creativity. If neuroscience said I could do it, who was I to argue that I could not.
Will earning an advanced degree truly help me become a more successful writer? This was my second inhibiting question and it was a big one. I don't yet have the answer, but whatever I learn will be mine to keep forever; it will never wear out and I will never outgrow it. Whether I become the bestseller I long to be or not, what I learn can never be taken away from me. How I use the ideas I acquire will be my responsibility.
Am I ready to return to school? Will it be as fulfilling as in my dreams? Will I leave in disappointment after one semester? I don't know the answers to those questions. What I do know for certain sure is that whatever experience I have, I will benefit from it and that is reason enough to take the plunge.
If you have returned to school, or to a hobby or passion, after a long absence, I'd love to hear your experience.
January 19, 2014
A book to read 'till all hours
The Lighthouse Road
I am at the age where I finally have an excuse for the foibles of a lifetime: falling asleep at my desk, staying home from work for fear of driving in snow, losing keys, and not cleaning the bathtub regularly. One trait that I truly think has to do with age, or at least with the experience of age, is not reading to completion books that fail to hold my attention. I used to feel that I had to finish every book I started. I believed the author had done me the tremendous favor of writing this book and I was being rude or disrespectful if I didn’t read to the last paragraph. As a writer, I now feel that the author has to deserve the reader’s attention and I work hard in my writing to do just that. I am also aware with encroaching mortality that there are more good books to be read than I have time left to read them. So, if a book doesn’t catch me and hold me by about the third chapter, it goes into the pile for Goodwill. Happily, I feel no guilt whatever about this new freedom to read what I choose for as long as I choose.
I recently had the delightful experience of staying up until midnight to finish reading a book that not only caught my attention and held it, but that I have dreamed about and thought about in the days since. The book is The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye. It is set in northern Minnesota, on Lake Superior. It is described on the back cover as: “A generational immigrant saga of logging camps, desperate winters, whiskey smuggling, heartache, boat building, and dangerous love.” That doesn’t cover the half of it. The sense of place is first, last and always in this book. The richness of his vocabulary for describing this bleak, dangerous place is amazing. I was sent to my dictionary at times, and I appreciate that very much. Reading should be a learning experience as well as an emotional one. What pulled me along, and kept me awake to through hours of reading, were the characters. These are not heroic figures by any stretch, but people caught at the edge of their goodness and the limit of their strength. They are characters I came to care about and champion, or to despise but desire to understand.
Carve out some time for yourself to savor The Lighthouse Road. You will be able to stay awake, I promise.
I am at the age where I finally have an excuse for the foibles of a lifetime: falling asleep at my desk, staying home from work for fear of driving in snow, losing keys, and not cleaning the bathtub regularly. One trait that I truly think has to do with age, or at least with the experience of age, is not reading to completion books that fail to hold my attention. I used to feel that I had to finish every book I started. I believed the author had done me the tremendous favor of writing this book and I was being rude or disrespectful if I didn’t read to the last paragraph. As a writer, I now feel that the author has to deserve the reader’s attention and I work hard in my writing to do just that. I am also aware with encroaching mortality that there are more good books to be read than I have time left to read them. So, if a book doesn’t catch me and hold me by about the third chapter, it goes into the pile for Goodwill. Happily, I feel no guilt whatever about this new freedom to read what I choose for as long as I choose.
I recently had the delightful experience of staying up until midnight to finish reading a book that not only caught my attention and held it, but that I have dreamed about and thought about in the days since. The book is The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye. It is set in northern Minnesota, on Lake Superior. It is described on the back cover as: “A generational immigrant saga of logging camps, desperate winters, whiskey smuggling, heartache, boat building, and dangerous love.” That doesn’t cover the half of it. The sense of place is first, last and always in this book. The richness of his vocabulary for describing this bleak, dangerous place is amazing. I was sent to my dictionary at times, and I appreciate that very much. Reading should be a learning experience as well as an emotional one. What pulled me along, and kept me awake to through hours of reading, were the characters. These are not heroic figures by any stretch, but people caught at the edge of their goodness and the limit of their strength. They are characters I came to care about and champion, or to despise but desire to understand.
Carve out some time for yourself to savor The Lighthouse Road. You will be able to stay awake, I promise.
