"As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you.”
  -Anthony Bourdain

Last week my sister Judy, while working on her memoirs, asked me to recall some of the vacations we had taken together. We started naming the big ones...Paris, Florence, Amsterdam, and the small ones...Disney World (at least twenty times), Sarasota, and most recently Naples, Florida. We reminisced about the wonderful trips with our children and the romantic ones with Arthur and Allan. We remembered my first time in a luxury resort...the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona. I first walked in and exclaimed my discomfort with the opulent surroundings. We were still young enough to be impressed with a clean Holiday Inn, and the Phoenician’s chandelier was seemingly worth more than the entire Holiday Inn we had last stayed in.

It took me about two hours to feel totally at home and two days to realize I definitely wanted more of this lifestyle. I immediately broadened my book reviewing skills to include travel reviews and spent the next ten or so years reviewing as many luxury hotels as we could fit into our schedules. It was fun, and I learned to get over my college girl disdain for the material things in life.

Each trip did leave its mark on me, as Anthony Bourdain explained, and I became a better person for them. We played with Beluga whales in Vancouver and watched the fish tosses in Seattle, and both adventures made me more aware of the sea. Hiking through Kings Canyon in California heightened my awareness of the beauty of nature, and traveling through Europe made me braver.

Food has always been an integral part of our travel experiences, and Anthony Bourdain’s adventures made us all a little braver. The first time I ate sweetbreads I felt as though I was crossing the Rubicon...passing the point of no return. Of course my insane allergies put a damper on my adventurous food spirit, so at times I must be satisfied with watching Arthur try the absolutely weirdest things on various menus. Every now and again though, I find a chef who will make me something delightfully different while working within my allergies, and those are indeed the best of all meals.

Of course those same allergies have introduced me to some of the top chefs in the country, so I am not complaining. Always one to be proactive, I have spent the last twenty years checking with chefs before eating in their restaurants. The use of MSG is pervasive and used in many foods unknowingly, and that is my most disturbing allergy. I met with Wolfgang Puck when he was still a chef at Spago in L.A. and before he became a rock star, and I remember when Chicago’s legendary Charlie Trotter offered to give me a tour of his Kitchen. I found that the bigger the chef, the more apt they are to share the secrets of their kitchens. Even the chefs in Europe worked with me as I tried to communicate in unfamiliar languages in my quest to enjoy the foods of the world.

So yes, Anthony Bourdain, whatever it was that caused you to take your last trip in a realm you can not share with us, I hope you find a buffet of the finest (and weirdest ) foods to feast on, and I hope that you know that you left an indelible mark on those of us that vicariously shared your adventures.

David Bell left a little mark on me with his book, Somebody I Use To Know. First love is a tough one to get over, and when his first love, Marissa, died in a fire, Nick Hansen spent the next twenty years grieving her death. When he spies a young woman with Marissa’s looks and characteristics in a nearby grocery store, his search for a muddled truth begins.

As always, a complete review of this book follows this blog.

Happy reading,
​
-Beverly

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​​Genre: Thriller

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David Bell’s book, Somebody I Used To Know, pulled me in on page one. While the premise is implausible, there was something about the story line that kept me going. The writing is somewhat simplistic, but that didn’t detract from the plot. I did start losing patience with it about three quarters of the way through though and found the ending disappointingly predictable.

It begins with Nick Hansen noticing a young woman who resembles his college girlfriend, Marissa Minor, while he shops at his local grocery store. Marissa died in a fire twenty years before and this young woman with her face and mannerisms takes him by surprise. She rushes off when he approaches her, and is found dead in her hotel room the following morning with Nick’s name and phone number on a scrap of paper in her pocket.

When Nick becomes a person of interest in this young woman’s (Emily) murder, he enlists the help of several friends as he begins an investigation to clear himself and find out why Emily was looking for him, and why she ran away. While Nick is an engaging protagonist, his obsession with the long gone Marissa seems odd, and his on again, off again relationship with Heather (a college friend of his and Marissa’s) seems too contrived. 

Bell brings in an aging dog and an adorable stepson to add to Nick’s appeal, and the reader can’t help but liking him as he blunders into one predicament after another. While the book has its flaws, I did enjoy it and recommend it as a fun vacation read.

- Beverly​

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Publisher - Berkley
Date of Publication - ​​​July 7, 2015

“I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.”
—-Laura Bush

“Sometimes truth transcends party.”
—-Michelle Obama

I am not Christian, but I am familiar with the Old and New Testament. I have read about Jesus and his beliefs, and this much I know...he would have been horrified at what is happening at our borders today. Attorney General Jeff Sessions tried to justify the policy of separating families by a misinterpretation of the Bible. To use the Bible or any part of religion to justify separating a child from his/her parent is beyond blasphemous. To quote James J. Martin, a Jesuit priest and secretariat of communications for the Vatican, "It is not biblical to enforce unjust laws. Do not use the Bible to justify sin."

If you have read my blogs through the years, you are aware of my belief that every argument has two sides, and compromise is our greatest weapon in most cases. I understand the need to protect our borders from people entering illegally, and although I believe we should open our arms to the world’s hungry and oppressed, I understand the need to do so in an orderly fashion. Unfortunately, what our government is doing now is the opposite of orderly. To rip a child from his mother’s arms causes chaos for everyone involved and proves we have learned nothing from our most horrifying actions of the past.
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In 1830, President Andrew Jackson was able to gain Congressional passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, after American settlers pressured the federal government to remove Native Americans from the Indian lands in the Southeast. They, wanted more land available for European (Caucasian) settlers, so the Native Americans were forcibly relocated. Many were separated from loved ones, suffered from disease, exposure and hunger, while the government took over their land. This Trail of Tears is looked back on in horror, and yet here we are again, showing the inhumanity we had hoped to have overcome.

The Civil War abolished the practice of slavery which had been legal is some states since the formation of our country. Families were separated, children were sold to the highest bidder, and our government allowed it to go on until the mid 1800’s, when our country was almost torn apart over the rights of one person to own another. We look back on it now and wonder how it could have been, and yet here we are again, separating families and showing the inhumanity we had hoped to have overcome.

During the Second World War, our government saw fit to build internment camps right here on American soil. Between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were relocated and incarcerated in these camps according to various sources. Families were torn apart, with many losing everything of value that they owned. According to the Semiannual Report of the War Relocation Authority, for the period January 1 to June 30, 1946, sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens. Looking back we vowed that we would never allow ourselves to act in such a manner again, and yet here we are again, separating families and showing the inhumanity we had hoped to have overcome.

It might be comforting for us to place the blame on the immigrants fleeing Mexico and  Central America for a better life. After all, if they love their children they shouldn’t risk crossing our border now, with all of the new laws in place. Unfortunately, these people don’t have access to newscasts that tell them what the United States has become. They make this arduous journey over land with their children, to escape the gang-fueled violence, extortion and recruitment of the children they love. They are coming to ask for asylum and instead find themselves separated from those babies they are willing to risk their lives to protect.

I have not been sleeping. I know what is happening in this country I love is wrong, but I don’t know what I can do to help. I read the stories of children crying for their parents and realize we have a long way to go as a country before our inhumanity is overcome. Donald Trump is one man who is presiding over a country of supposed checks and balances. How can so many leaders in his party allow this to go on? How can so many men and women put their jobs and political desires over the welfare of innocent children? How can those that claim to represent me get it so horribly wrong?

I am heartened by Republicans like the Bush family, who speak out in an effort to pull their party back on track. I fear the demise of our two party system and support the Republican Party whose ideas and existence, along with those of the Democratic Party, represent what is best about America. That Republican Party, along with our country, has been hijacked, and unless we work (and vote) together to hold on to this country that has so proudly been represented by a statue that welcomes all to our shores, we will lose more than our humanity...we will lose the very soul of America.

I have to believe that we are better than that, and Jon Meacham’s book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, was a good book to read this week. He inserts a glimmer of hope with his beliefs, and hopefully we will get through this too.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

Beverly

​​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​​Genre: Non-Fiction

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As a fan of "Real Time With Bill Maher", I am familiar with frequent guest Jon Meacham. I enjoy listening to him and decided to give his book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, a try, and though it is filled with depressing windows into our history, it gave me great hope. He isn’t saying that we aren’t in a frightening period of bigotry right now but rather that we have been there before and came out the other end.

He begins the book with then governor of South Carolina, Strom Thurmond on October 7, 1948. Thurmond was the segregationist Dixiecrat candidate for president, and he was railing against President Truman’s civil rights program that included anti-lynching legislation and protection against racial discrimination in hiring. He felt this would undermine the American way of life and stated “there’s not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes and into our churches.” He was interrupted by cheers and standing ovations, but ultimately he was defeated.

He was not the first, and surely not the last politician to rile up crowds. In August of 2017, white supremacy reared its head again in Charlottesville where twenty-first century klansmen and neo-nazis riled up a group of their followers in support of then Republican candidate Donald Trump. Meacham shared many surprising stories featuring our presidents through the years, but the most important thing to take away is that ultimately our better angels won the battles.

I found the stories interesting, the writing captivating and the message heartening. Thanks Jon, we needed that this week.

- Beverly
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Publisher - Random House
Date of Publication - ​​May 8, 2018

"Love what you do and do what you love. Don't listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. You do what you want, what you love. Imagination should be the center of your life." 
--- Ray Bradbury.


Years ago I read Up The Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman and To Sir With Love by E. R. Braithwaite and decided that I wanted to become a teacher. Years later I realized that neither book was particularly realistic, but both books stressed one thing...the right teacher can make a difference in the life of a child. There are those few people today who are where they are, in no small part because they knew me, but make no mistake, I am who I am because I knew them.

Some go through life believing that money will be their savior, and some strive for power to show who they are, but it is the people who touch them along the way that will ultimately define them. I have known people through the years who have truly believed that I could have been “so much more than just a teacher.” I could have certainly made a lot more money if I worked in the corporate world. A Dr. before my name would certainly bring more prestige, but would either of these professional paths have brought me more happiness?

I awoke every morning excited to start my day. Each year was a new beginning filled with adventures that only teenagers can present. My fellow teachers were, for the most part, equally happy with their profession and willing to give up some material possessions for the opportunity to share their time with young men and women who kept us all young in mind and spirit. I taught them Emerson and Thoreau while they taught me Rap and Hip Hop. I taught them Shakespeare’s English while they kept me up on current day slang. I gave them hugs when they needed them while they gave me hugs when I was the one in despair.

The take away from this is not that teaching is the best profession, but rather that any profession that makes you happy is the best one for you. My brother-in-law left a very lucrative career as a construction plumber and went back to school to work in the field of physical therapy. He found his happiness in the service of others and made many lives more comfortable in the years that followed. Yes, many people jumped to a second career after realizing the importance of loving what you do.

This all came to my mind because of the book I read and reviewed this week. I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High by Tony Danza takes us in a classroom once again and highlights the life of a teacher. Danza spent a year in a Teach for America kind of program which combined his skill as an actor with his dream of teaching. He spent a year being filmed teaching a tenth grade English class in a Philadelphia high school. Like its fictional counterparts, this “real life” teaching situation didn’t reflect total reality, but it helped to show a small part of what teachers face each day.

Unfortunately, the current television sitcoms feature teachers who are less than the upstanding citizens we want them to be. The 2016 show, Teachers, put teachers in such a disparaging light that I couldn’t watch it. This season’s A.P. Bio features a somewhat insane and totally vindictive college professor teaching an A.P. Biology class in a high school in Toledo, Ohio. He is surrounded by underperforming teachers and a clueless principal. Funny show, but scary messages. Gone are the days of Welcome Back Kotter, White Shadow and Room 222, where teachers were role models and students used only words as weapons.

I am happy to say though that in the non-television world, the lion’s share of teachers are still heroes, and a preponderance of students are kind, hard working young people who are learning to follow their own dreams in a world that can use a few more dreamers.

As always, a complete review of the previously mentioned book will follow my blog.

Happy reading,

Beverly
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​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​​Genre: Non-Fiction

​​Click book cover for Amazon.com

I enjoyed this book more than I anticipated and believe it was fairly well written. In I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High Danza tells us that he always wanted to be a teacher, and after a bit of training bought into the idea of taking part in a reality show that features him teaching in a high school in Philadelphia. I have always been amused at people from other professions being certain that they would be outstanding teachers if given the chance. I have also watched the downfall of many people who attempted to make that career change.

Danza was given a tenth grade class to teach and admits he was given a few advantages. His classroom is large with windows for natural light. When he visits with another first year teacher at his school, he finds him teaching in a windowless room in the basement. Tony has under thirty students, therefore making teaching, grading and planning a great deal easier for him than for the average first year teacher who deals with 150 students a day. He also has a mentor teacher who sits in the back of the classroom to help guide him.

The book may not tell the story of a completely true teaching experience, but it does give the reader a sense of what a teacher goes through and one gets the idea that Danza really cares about his students. I enjoyed some of the personal stories he shared, both with his students and his readers, and I like watching him get involved in the extra curricular activities that presented themselves.

I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High, much like Up The Down Staircase and To Sir With Love, is a feel good book that will make you laugh a little, cry a little and probably wish you had the opportunity to spend a bit of time in Tony Danza’s classroom too.

- Beverly
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Publisher - Crown Archetype
Date of Publication - ​​September 11, 2012

“America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, human rights invented America.”
——Jimmy Carter


History shows that Jimmy Carter may not have been the best of Presidents, but he was surely one of the kindest. He is also an excellent speaker whose morals are never questioned, and his true contribution to society started after his presidency ended. A truly religious man, Carter never uses the Bible as a weapon but as a tool. When asked about his feelings on religion as it pertains to gay marriage he answered, “I believe Jesus would approved. I don’t have any verse in scripture. ... I believe Jesus would approve of gay marriage, but that’s just my own personal belief. I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else.” Such a simple premise could bring such positive change in so many walks of life.

Carter gave the commencement speech at Liberty University in Virginia on May 19th. He talked about what he sees as the biggest problem facing our world today. He didn’t focus on world hunger, climate change or even the Middle-East issues. He clearly stated that the biggest crisis our world must address is discrimination against women and girls. He spoke about human trafficking and sexual assault, and he mentioned the countries that abort or kill newborn girls.  It is difficult to conceive of these things happening in the twenty-first century, but indeed they do.

This past year has brought our attention to the abuse women experience in our country every day. The correction of these problems must begin with mothers and fathers as they raise their sons and daughters. Amy Schumer said something on Saturday Night Live several weeks ago that resonated with me, and I have been thinking about it ever since. When I was in second grade, there was a little boy, Harvey, who used to annoy me constantly. He would push me, trip me and make fun of my curly hair. When I complained to the teacher, she smiled and whispered, “ that is because he likes you, Beverly. Some little boys are embarrassed to show their feelings, so they hurt you to get your attention.” WHAT!!! At the time I just nodded my head like I understood, but WHAT!!!

Think about it. From the earliest days of social contact, girls are taught that boys show affection in violent ways, and boys are taught that girls will accept it. Harvey needed to learn right then and there that violence against women is NEVER acceptable, and I needed to learn that I should never allow ANYONE to disrespect me. I was lucky enough to be raised by parents who instilled this in me, but that didn’t protect me from some unpleasant situations as I matured. We tried to raise Michael and Beth to be respectful of all people and hopefully they too will continue to rise above what society considers the norm.

It is all in our hands. In fact, the only thing that we can truly control in our lives is how we act and react, and that is the lesson that parents and teachers need to focus on.  In his commencement speech President Carter shared similar thoughts with a rapt audience.  “We're the ones who decide, do I hate or am I filled with love?  We're the ones who decide, do I only think about myself, or do I care for others? We ourselves make these decisions and no one else.”  Hopefully his audience got the message.

I was interested in finding out more about Jimmy Carter and his presidency, so I read
President Carter: The White House Years by Stuart E. Eizenstat. Our 39th President is quite an interesting man who probably doesn’t get proper credit for his accomplishments while in Office. While not my favorite book on a President, this was is definitely worth reading.

As usual, a complete review of this book will follow my blog.

Happy reading,
- Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​Genre: Non-Fiction

​Click book cover for Amazon.com

Stuart Eizenstat first met Carter when he started working as policy adviser on Carter's campaign for governor of Georgia. From page one of his book, President Carter: The White House Years, it is obvious that the author admires the former President immensely, appreciates his strengths but also is aware of his weaknesses. Eizenstat shares his thoughts with his readers in a clear and concise way and helped me get a much better perspective of the Carter presidency.

Carter eschewed politics when it came to the duties of the President. He felt that once he closed the door to the Oval Office, policies should be made on merit not political agendas. In theory that is a top notch idea. In practice, he shares in hindsight, it isn’t always workable. “To be truly effective,” he explains, “a president cannot make a sharp break between the politics of his campaign and the politics of his governing.” Although people then, as people now, were/are disgusted with politicians manipulating the policies of our country, lessons can be learned from the experiment of trying to govern without it.

Eizenstat highlights so many of Carter’s accomplishments that we tend to forget, and he shows us that in his own quiet way this moral man laid the foundation for several positive changes in our country. His involvement in energy, environment, and transportation throughout his term showed his strengths in ways I hadn’t realized. The author is not shy, however, in listing the ex-presidencies failures , and this makes for a more well rounded book than some that I have read.

My take from this book is that Jimmy Carter is an extremely intelligent man of conviction who might have been a bit too moral for the sometimes dirty job of being President. This is a good book for those who enjoy looking back over history when the dust has settled.

- Beverly


Publisher - Thomas Dunne Books
Date of Publication - ​April 24, 2018

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         -Benjamin Franklin

I am a liberal. I have always believed I am more of a moderate with strong human rights leanings, but recent events have pushed me firmly into the liberal column. It is four A. M., and these events are now making sleep difficult, so I left my warm bed and landed in the den. Since Facebook often gives me a temporary escape from my mind, I grabbed my iPad. Big mistake. The first thing I saw got me riled up again.

You see, I am not losing sleep over a president who I feel is extreme. We have had presidents whom I have feared before and we will after, and we will survive. It is the pendulum of our politics that gives me hope, even as it sews the seeds of fear. I know that my doubts about an overly conservative president were matched by many other people’s fear about Barack Obama’s liberal tendencies. Those people road out their storm, and I will ride out mine.

We will even ride out the storm of what I view as an unfair tax cut, restrictive health care laws and the fact that corporations are gaining way too much power over their employees and the public. Before we know it, a more liberal political faction will take over, and the conservative part of our society will be crying foul.

What frightens me the most is the loss of our basic constitutional rights. Once the first one truly topples, which goes next? There was a reason that freedom of speech was our first amendment. Those wise men before us realized that without freedom of speech and expression we will never live in a true democracy. If the government or our fellow Americans can stop us from expressing our thoughts through threats, intimidation and punishment, then the free discourse that is the fabric of a free society will die an agonizing death.

Years ago, on Kent State’s campus, we saw what can happen when freedom to express our feelings are challenged. Innocent young people paid a terrible price for a political system gone awry. Peaceful demonstrations must never be squashed, because that can give way to a fascist regime. That can also give way to a violent society. Americans have had these freedoms for way too long to stuff them back in the box, and tonight it is the NFL’s decision and our President’s reaction that is keeping me awake.

I will not be posting this blog until next week, and I imagine that by then the threats of reprisal against NFL players taking to their knees will be lifted, because I believe they are against the law. There are several factors that can, and likely will, be challenged. First of all, this change was made without bargaining with the players union, a clear violation. The second violation is the involvement of government (in this case the president and vice- president) in the teams' decision making, which becomes a violation of free speech. Unfortunately, even though the ban might be lifted, that won’t change the fact that an uncomfortably large number of our citizens support giving up their essential liberty for perceived security.

Whether or not one believes in any particular cause, we as Americans must stand behind each other’s rights to peacefully demonstrate and express free speech. On a personal note, I have always felt the importance of standing to respect what the flag represents, and our flag represents the freedoms (i.e. of speech) that our forefathers fought for, so punishing protesters rather than protecting them seems alien to all that we profess.

On that note, and before I attempt to get back to sleep, I must mention this week’s book. Good Intentions by J. D. Trafford is a legal thriller told from the viewpoint of a beleaguered judge rather than an attorney. It was well written and brings forth many questions about our child welfare system.

As always a complete review of this book follows this blog.

Happy reading,

Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog