Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy died recently. He is one of the writers that I’ve long intended to get to but never did. He is best known for his western and postapocalyptic novels, several that were made into movies. Probably among his best-known books are All the Pretty Horses, The Road, and No Country for Old Men. I will get to him. I guess it really doesn’t matter, but I feel a little bad that I didn’t read him while he was still alive.
My perfect day is sitting in a room with some blank paper. That’s heaven. That’s gold and anything else is a waste of time.
Cormac McCarthy
More Soul Food
On May 26, I wrote a blog post, “The Mother of Soul Food”, about Edna Lewis. Read the post here. https://www.twosides2thestory.com/book-people/the-mother-of-soul-food Related to that, I just finished reading High in the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris. Very interesting. I learned a lot about food, things that we take for granted with origins we haven’t thought about.
Lewis’ second book, The Taste of Country Cooking, should be available for me at the library soon. I’m looking forward to it.
The Mother of Soul Food
I read books, but my reading isn’t just books. I read magazines and, yes, I still read newspapers.
When I read magazines I’m looking to learn. I’m generally not looking to learn with any particular goal; I’m just opening myself up to things I don’t know about or maybe don’t know as much as I would like to.
This evening, I was reading the Smithsonian magazine, a favorite of mine. Pretty much every article is interesting to me in some way, but now and then one stands out. In this issue, an article grabbed my attention. “The Mother of Soul Food” is an article about Edna Lewis, the granddaughter of a slave, who became a big name in the cooking and cookbook worlds. Best I can recall, I had never heard of her. I’m not a big cook or cookbook reader, so maybe no surprise, but her story is fascinating and I couldn’t help thinking “How have I never heard of her before?”
In what seems to be an unlikely story, Lewis became an internationally recognized chef and cookbook writer who raised the profile of American Southern cuisine.
By now, some of you might be saying, “All very interesting, but what does this have to do with Two Sides to the Story and books and reading?” I’m glad you asked. Here is a line from the article, “These books would establish Lewis as a champion of Southern cooking and an enchanting storyteller.” (The italics are mine.) Enchanting storyteller! A cookbook writer is an enchanting storyteller? That caught my eye.
This I need to see! Lewis wrote a number of cookbooks, but her first two are what introduced her to the world. Her second book, The Taste of Country Cooking, is available at the library. I reserved it and was surprised to find that someone else had reserved it ahead of me. Someone else reading the Smithsonian? The library doesn’t have her first book, The Edna Lewis Cookbook. I think I hear Wonder Books calling me.
More to come after I get the book. Maybe there is an episode to come.
Do you know a cookbook that is more than just a cookbook? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com.
Book Angel
There is a little break room in the building where Lory and I work. Along with an ice machine, a microwave and a few tables, there is a small bookshelf. People leave books there for others to take. A Little Free Library of sorts.
Lory told me that an anonymous donor had left a bunch of books. I went down to take a look and was surprised at the number of books. I didn’t count but there must have a hundred or more; books of all types.
I’m not claiming credit, but this is definitely Two Sides kind of stuff – making books available for readers that want them! Our secret book angel left a lot of interesting books. I took two – A 60s New Yorker collection and Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies. I don’t remember if Rubin has come up, but this is a book with some history for us; a story for another time.
I’m hoping readers in the building will take advantage. Maybe there will be more to this story in a podcast episode sometime.
Local Writers
Lory and I participated in a book event today; a gathering of local writers talking about their books. The audience was small but we got a chance to talk about the podcast to some people who didn’t know us, and we got to know a little about some writers that were new to us.
We will have to see what emerges but there were a few ideas for things we might do as a result of the session.
One possibility is a group interview with local writers. Stay tuned.
It’s Not the Goodyear Blimp
Last Friday, Lory wasn’t able to be there, I did a solo interview of S.C. Gwynne on his book His Majesty’s Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World’s Largest Flying Machine.
The interview was at Carroll Lutheran Village with an audience of sixty or seventy.
Airship is an interesting story. I wondered how I didn’t know more about it. In the early days of airplanes, hydrogen-filled airships were competitors for the future of air travel. Among the things I didn’t know, Germany used airships to bomb England in World War I; not very effectively or efficiently, but it did happen.
As I was preparing for this interview, Lory asked me for a sixty-second summary of another book we were looking at for our Mother’s Day episode, Andrew’s Awesome Adventures with his ADHD Brain. I thought she was asking about Airship and I said, ‘Ignoring science and chasing dreams lead to disaster.’ Because we were on different books, my answer confused her until we figured out that we weren’t talking about the same book.
It turned out well. I used my short description in the interview and the author liked it.
Gwynne enjoyed the interview. I know that because at the end he said to me, “That was great freaking moderating!” It is always a goal for me to make the interview enjoyable for the writer. His reaction made me happy.
If you enjoy reading about unexpected bits of history, you will want to check out Airship.
Book Women
As Lory and I were recording our very fun Mother’s Day episode, it came up that the three bookstores in Carroll County are all owned by women. This was no surprise to me, but I had never really thought about it. If any of the stores have a male employee, I’ve never seen him.
Again, no surprise but it got me thinking.
Carroll County Public Library for the last ten years has held A Day for Booklovers. This is a big event with more than two hundred attendees. I’ve been to all of them; it is a day I look forward to. Every year I look around the room and count the number of guys. Three. Four. Maybe five. That is it. Year after year.
Other book events, including author interviews I’ve done, aren’t as lopsided, but typically (maybe always) there are more women than men.
So, what is going on?
Guys don’t read? They don’t make it public? Something else? I don’t know.
Lory and I are planning to follow up the Mother’s Day episode with a Father’s Day episode. We’ve got some talking to do.
Battle of the Books 2023
I enjoy it. Every time!
The Battle of the Books. I emceed the Finksburg area elementary school battle at Winters Mill High School for the seventh or eighth time. Every year is just as exciting; just as much fun as the years before.
One little change this year – Lory joined me and we emceed as Two Sides to the Story in our Two Sides teal t-shirts. I don’t want to speak for Lory, but I think she enjoyed herself!
A podcast episode coming soon.
John Waters: Wow!
We interviewed John Waters. Waters is mostly known for his films, but now we know that he is a writer, a big reader, and the owner of more than 10,000 books. He thinks of himself as a writer.
Interviewing Waters was no part of any plan we had for the podcast, but when Lory saw that he was coming to the Carroll County Arts Center, she said, “What if…?”
We reached out to the Arts Center and found ourselves with an interview. This is the biggest thing so far, but stuff just seems to keep happening to us. Opportunities keep finding us. So much fun!
Check out episode #22 here.
Sneak Peek at Pipe the Side
One of the really fun things about the evolution of Two Sides to the Story is watching and experiencing our growing web of connections. Today we stretched the web a little further. Hampstead, Maryland is the home of Pipe the Side Brewing Company. I’ve been there a few times and Lory and I went there once scouting out podcast episode possibilities.
For some time, Pipe the Side has been drawing our attention. Clearly, brewing beer is just part of who they are. They are putting a big effort into being part of the community, and important for Two Sides, becoming part of the reading community.
Pipe the Side is building a relationship with the North Carroll Branch of the Carroll County Public Library. They are hosting a series of book discussions, and today they had a book swap. Lory and I attended. We left more books than we took. We hope some of our books will end up in the hands of readers who will enjoy them.
Owners Tim and Carol are making a big effort to be a part of the community. Lory and I really admire what they are doing and want to support their efforts. We talked with Carol today about doing an interview with them. We don’t have anything scheduled yet, but it is going to happen. We are going to talk books and beer with Pipe the Side. Stay tuned.
Jim Lane: The Book Nook
On a recent weekend trip, I stopped at a local independent bookstore in Kilmarnock, VA. I arrived before the shop opened for the day, but was welcomed to the town by a local gal named Cathy. She called to me from just down the street from the bookstore to let me know that the store owner was on his way. Cathy drove over to meet me and to bring a plant to her friend and owner of The Book Nook, Jim Lane. Her greeting immediately gave me a sense of the town and it’s people. Kilmarnock clearly had kind and welcoming people; kind, welcoming book people - my favorite.
Cathy and I talked for a few minutes about the Two Sides podcast, and she waited eagerly to introduce me to her friend Jim. When he arrived, Cathy offered Jim the plant, talked with us for a few minutes, and then was on her way. That left the bookstore owner and I to talk. And boy did we talk, for a solid two hours about books, the town, greeting cards, pottery, and even the elusive pursuit of happiness.
I learned that Jim is the sixth owner of The Book Nook and has dedicated the past 20 years to that endeavor. As is likely the case with all booksellers, he has seen many changes over the years. Changes in books, customers, publishers, and many other things related to how books end up in the hands of readers. The journey of a book, and the people it touches through it’s lifetime and the lives of it’s readers, is just one of the many thought provoking topics Jim and I discussed that day.
I left without a book, which I regret, but with memories of a conversation I will not soon forget. I am waiting just a bit longer so he doesn’t think I’m a complete weirdo, but I plan to call Jim to say hello in the coming weeks. I look forward to hearing more about his experience and his journey. I’d like to know more about how books and being a bookseller have influenced his life. I found Jim to be a person of quality and hope to find some small way to send new customers to his store.
Speaking of The Book Nook, I’m curious if any of you reading this blog are familiar with the craft book nooks that are accompanying books on shelves as of late? Well, if not, I would encourage you to google it to help illustrate this thought…
Jim Lane’s bookstore, The Book Nook, is a special little world of it’s own. Softly lit, full of warmth and treasures to be found when you look closely at what’s inside. If you get the opportunity, go experience the magic of this place for yourself.
To hear other details about my good book hunting trip to Kilmarnock and other small towns in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula area’s of Virginia, listen to the latest Two Sides podcast episode, Virginia is for…Book Lovers, by clicking here.
Nancy’s Language Doorway
Two Sides followers might remember me and Lory talking about Nancy Pearl. We’ve mentioned my interview with her and we’ve talked about her ‘four doorways’. Nancy, like me and Lory, is interested in playing a part in people finding books that they will enjoy. Nancy likes to explore what ‘doorway’ will lead people to their books. Her four doorways are story, character, setting, and language.
Lory and I are big Nancy Pearl fans and hope that we have an opportunity sometime to do a Two Sides interview with her. Nancy, if by some crazy chance Two Sides has come to your attention, just letting you know that we would love to talk.
Tonight, I have Nancy’s language doorway on my mind. I’m enjoying a book by an author that I like. I’m not sure what put the thought in my mind, but this isn’t a language book. I don’t find myself stopping to reread sentences or to think about word and phrase choices. There are books where that does happen for me. I enjoy it when it happens though it does slow reading down.
Not being a language book isn’t a criticism. Every writer, every book isn’t going to isn’t going to bring the same qualities. I don’t expect the same thing from every book. I love Anne Tyler. In a Tyler book, you expect and get stories that are driven by the characters. It isn’t that the other doorways aren’t there, but you know it will be about her characters.
I expect that Lory and I will return to Nancy’s doorways again.
My Parents Gave Me a House of Books
Followers of Two Sides might remember that my father died a few weeks ago. Lory and I did an episode, The Other Ted Zaleski, on January 14th. I told Lory about growing up in a ‘house of books’.
A few days ago, my mother died.
I don’t remember my mother reading to me, but it seems likely that she did. Or, maybe I was one of those kids that said, “No, I can do it.” I don’t know if she read to me, but I know she must have had a hand in all the kid’s books we had.
We had piles of Golden Books and other books for young readers. We didn’t have much money. I don’t know how we got so many books. Somehow she found a way and, yes, I feel sure that she was the one that made it happen. She was pretty amazing at Christmas time too.
In my father’s episode, I mostly talked about books for older readers, often books that were for older readers than me. When I talked about my father, I talked about his reading being heavily nonfiction. I think I said that I couldn’t say he never read fiction, but I couldn’t tell you a fiction book that he read. And, he was a dabbler. He would read a little here and a little there.
My mother couldn’t have been more different. I can’t say that she didn’t read nonfiction, but I couldn’t name a book. She read fiction. She read a lot of romance novels, but not exclusively. As best I know, she finished the books she started. There was a period in her life when she read on a Kindle. Late in her life she wasn’t reading as much; maybe even no books, but she still read magazines.
Lory and I have so many episode ideas piling up that it is hard to know what we are going to get to. I’m hoping that we will talk about this sometime. I grew up in a ‘house of books’, and both my mother and father played a role in that.
Have a story about books in your house when you were growing up? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com
The Lion Watches Over Readers
In front of the Westminster branch of the Carroll County Public Library is a sculpture of a boy leaning against a lion while reading. The sculpture is called Wild Imaginings.
Walter’s bronze sculpture is a nod to the importance of books in the lives of children; books that fire and support imagination. For Walter, books were part of imagining a world beyond his own, an idea that he then captured in sculpture.
Donations to Carroll County Public Library covered the cost of the sculpture that is now a landmark in downtown Westminster. Every winter, the lion gets a scarf. Children love to touch the lion. Parents want to get pictures with the lion.
Lory and I recently did an interview with Patti Callahan on her book Once Upon a Wardrobe. The Westminster lion isn’t Aslan, but….
Walter sculpts in clay, huge amounts of clay that are then cast in bronze. Lynn Wheeler, the then Director of CCPL, took me on a trip to the foundry in Baltimore where the sculpture was being cast. It was fascinating seeing the process and what sticks with me the most was touching the tail; a piece separate from the rest of the sculpture. If you go to the Book People section of the Two Sides website you will see a picture of Lynn and the lion. They belong together.
The tail might be the most comfortable connection between people and the lion. Somehow, it feels safe touching the lion’s tail. Maybe wildness and imagination and reading come together in the tail. The shine from repeated touching might be evidence of the connection.
Maybe I’m putting too much on a sculpture, but to me it feels good to have Bart’s lion, our lion watching over our library, our young readers, and our imagination.
Patti Callahan Talks About Once Upon a Wardrobe
We had been looking forward to our interview with Patti Callahan on her book Once Upon a Wardrobe. The interview happened and we had a great time. Patti was so much fun to talk with!
Lory and I quickly fell into an easy conversation with Patti and we occasionally found ourselves being interviewed. Not a big surprise. Patti is a podcast and interview veteran. Check out Friends & Fiction, a podcast she does with some writer friends.
The joy that Patti takes in reading, writing, and talking about both was evident. We could have talked a lot longer than the hour that we had.
Though I have done a few dozen author interviews, this was the first author interview that Lory and I did together. If I didn’t tell you that, I don’t think you would have known. It didn’t feel like it was our first time. I don’t know how it could have gone better.
We don’t have another author interview set up, but I’m looking forward to our next one. As discussed in another blog post, we are talking with Ernest Thompson about doing something in February. I’m hoping we can make it happen.
There is a lot I could say about the interview, but probably better to just say watch the interview. It is available through the Carroll County Public Library, Patti Callahan Henry, and soon on the Two Sides website.
We don’t know if anything will come of it, but we did tell Patti that if a book tour ever brought her our way that we would love to do an in-person interview with her. You never know.
Ernest Comes Home
Recently, Lory and I went to see a talk by Ernest Thompson. Even if you don’t recognize the name, there is a good chance you know at least one writing job of his; he wrote On Golden Pond. He has done so much more though. If you want to check out his career, put aside a little time. It will take a while.
Ernest’s event, to promote his first novel, The Book of Maps, was at Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster, Maryland where Lory and I both live, work, and, of course, do our podcast. It was a homecoming for Ernest who lived here until he graduated from Westminster High School. A number of very supportive classmates and teachers were in the audience.
Ernest was accompanied on his trip by his Academy Award from On Golden Pond. His Oscar often travels with him, and is sought out by people looking to have their picture taken with the trophy.
Ernest kept an attentive audience laughing as he shared stories of his life. He thinks of himself as a storyteller and he isn’t going to get an argument from us. For pretty much an hour, he told one good story after another.
Lory and I had already been in touch with Ernest about talking with us for a podcast episode. After hearing him talk, we can’t wait to make it happen. We are hoping to do something with him in February. Stay tuned.
Nancy Pearl
Nancy Pearl is probably the most famous librarian in the world. There is a Nancy Pearl action figure. Do you know a librarian with an action figure?
As big a deal as she is in the library world, Nancy is so much more than a librarian. She’s an author, and a radio and television show host. She has developed a methodology for helping people to find a book the reader will like (Connecting people with books they will like is big idea for Lory and me). She started a much-imitated program in Seattle to get lots of people reading the same book at the same time. She is the real deal in the reading world.
I got a chance to interview Nancy on her book, The Writer’s Library. The interview was during the pandemic and was done on Zoom. I would have really liked to have done the interview in person, but who knows, without the remote interview maybe I would have never gotten the chance.
I think we had a good time. I know I did. While writing this I thought I should refresh myself on the interview. It has been a couple of years. I watched the approximately one hour interview and enjoyed it all over again.
It would be hard to talk about favorite moments, because the whole thing was so much fun, but there are a few things probably worth mentioning.
There was a point in the interview when Nancy said “When you meet somebody who loves to read, it’s really fun to talk to them about books.” If you wanted one sentence to describe what Lory and I are doing with the podcast, that might be it. We want to make conversations about books happen.
Something else that Nancy said that seems relevant to what we are doing was “To be a great writer, you have to be a great reader.” Feels right to me. We are trying to promote the great reader part of this, but it is on our minds, that over time, we want to explore more of the writing side of the reader/writer relationship.
Something that Nancy said that I like a lot was that when you read “You can go anywhere. You can do anything. You can be anyone.” Reading opens worlds. Reading takes you places you wouldn’t go.
Our talk led us to a mutual admiration of Anne Tyler. Her books are very character-driven. Nancy and I both look at that as a good thing,
If you would like to watch the interview you can see it here.
Two Sides Top Ten: Heather Owings
Ted and I recently recorded a podcast episode with Heather Owings, Branch Manager for the Carroll County Public Library, Finksburg Branch. You can find our interview with Heather right here on the episodes page of our website, and on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Play. Here are some highlights from the interview and conversations we had with Heather before and after we recorded the show.
Essentially this is the Two Sides Top Ten on our friend, Heather Owings.
Do NOT write in library books.
DO purchase books for your own personal collection so you can write in books.
All the cool college kids keep a book in their waitress apron.
Ohio's loss is Maryland's gain…Heather, please don't ever leave :)
Read non-fiction in the morning. Read fiction at night.
Book illustrations provide great inspiration if you are considering options for a tattoo.
The Little Prince is a must read for all ages.
Nancy Pearl is a rockstar. She has an action figure.
Heather Owings is pretty awesome too. Probably needs an action figure in her likeness; or there should at least be a Team Heather t-shirt.
Be Like Heather.
I Want To Be Michael Dirda
Sometimes I think that I want to be Michael Dirda. He would probably say that I don’t really know what his life is like and eloquently explain why I wouldn’t want to be him. I’m sure he would be right. I only know him and his life through his writing in The Washington Post and his books.
So, I only know a limited part of his life, but the part I know….wow!
Depending on who is talking, he is a columnist, book reviewer, and/or book critic. However he is labeled, when he talks books I want to hear what he has to say. It doesn’t matter what book or books he is talking about; I always want to hear what he has to say.
For me, no one rivals Dirda.
Dirda has been writing for The Washington Post since 1993. I can’t say with confidence that I remember reading him back then, but I’ve been reading The Post much longer than that so I’m pretty sure I have been reading him since then. Dirda is unlike many reviewers who write reviews of the latest books and often concentrate on best-sellers. He does write about new books, but often he is writing about old books. Sometimes telling you things you didn’t know about books you do know. Sometimes telling you about books you never heard of and usually leaving you wondering how you had read this long without knowing about them.
In addition to his work at The Post, Dirda has written a handful of books about books and reading. I haven’t read them all, but I intend to. It is a measure I never thought of before I was writing this, but the list of books he has written introductions to is nothing short of amazing. Did I mention that sometimes I think I want to be Michael Dirda?
Here is a partial list:
Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle
Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan of the Apes
Robertson Davies’s The Deptford Trilogy (Any Davies fans out there?)
Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land
Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged
John Steinbeck’s East of Eden
Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita
Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes: The Novels
Frank Herbert’s Dune
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Isaac Asimov’s The Foundation Trilogy
What a reading list! And people wanted him to write the introductions to these and more. As if this wasn’t enough, he wrote an essay about Beverly Cleary’s Henry Huggins. I am a big Cleary fan. Ramona forever!
I suspect Dirda will come up again. I would love for us to interview him. That would be fun. Anyone else a Dirda fan? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com
Del Palmer
I got a Masters of Liberal Arts (MLA) at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College). There was a lot of reading and a few professors who helped me to read differently, arguably to read better.
I remember one, Del Palmer, very fondly. He was a professor of comparative literature and a co-designer of the MLA program I went through (Something I didn’t know until now.). I learned things I didn’t know about him as I did a little research while writing this. I took two classes with Del and I enjoyed them immensely. Talking to him about reading was interesting and fun. It didn’t feel like schoolwork, it felt like talking to a knowledgeable friend.
I had good conversations with him; most are lost to me now. I remember talking with him about humor in books about war. I don’t remember most of the conversation, but I do remember bringing up the book Mister Roberts (Better known as a movie with Henry Fonda, Jimmy Cagney, William Powell and a young Jack Lemmon) as a bridge between some books we were talking about. The good part, the best part, is remembering the look of approval on his face when I suggested that bridge.
Another good memory is of an important lesson. In the class, we were looking at the structure in writing. I submitted the book I was going to look at for an assignment and made a comment about seeing if there was any structure. He made a note that there is always structure; it was our job to find it. That comment pushed me to be a more analytical reader. That comment has carried through to my author interviews. Some of my best interview moments have been a result of looking deeply at the structure of their books.
Years after taking the classes, I ran into to Del and his wife, Nancy, also a professor at Western Maryland. I stopped to talk to them and she said, “You look familiar. Were you a student of mine?” Del put his arm around my shoulders and said, “No, he was MY student.” I took great pleasure from his wanting to claim me as his. It felt like very high praise.
Another professor I had at Western Maryland was Kathy Mangan. Maybe we will talk about her another time. In that research I was talking about, I found out that the Palmers took a young Kathy Mangan under their wings. I never knew. Small world.
Too late now, but Del Palmer was a book person that I wish I had gotten to know better.
Do you have someone in your life that changed how you read? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com