Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space by Lynn Sherr

Astronaut Sally Ride was a very private person, a tough position to keep for someone so famous, an icon for the women's movement and hero of many children. Being the first American woman in space in 1983 put her in the national spotlight and subjected her to media attention for several years. Offered publishing contracts, she resisted writing anything more than a few magazine articles and a children's book about herself, and those writings can be described as more inspirational than personally revealing. She kept her affairs private. So, it was a surprise to the public when her obituary revealed that she enjoyed a long same-sex relationship.

Two years after her death, Ride is the subject of a biography by one of the journalists who closely followed her career from her early days at NASA. Lynn Sherr also counted herself as one of Ride's friends, having often had dinner with her over the course of nearly 30 years. In Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space, Sherr admits that even she knew nothing about her friend's secret relationship.

While Ride's sexual orientation may now be the topic that may bring many readers to Sherr's book, it is not the overriding focus of the biography. Even Ride's initial trip into space is just an episode (though a very important episode) right at the halfway point in the book. Sherr takes a look at all of Ride's life, showing how her subject identified herself more as an athlete, physicist, and educator than astronaut, not exactly the person the media portrayed.

Because Sherr says so much about America from the 1950s to the present, the biography Sally Ride serves as a portrait of all of us, showing the way we reacted to Ride's fame and now to her death. Sympathetic to Ride, never sensational, this new biography may help us understand the way we treat science, celebrity, and controversy.

Sherr, Lynn. Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space. Simon and Schuster, 2014. 320p. ISBN 9781476725765.

My Brief History by Stephen Hawking

Only this book is brief. Stephen Hawking's life, as he describes in My Brief History, has been relatively long compared to his prospects after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in his senior year at Oxford in 1963. He has been under the cloud of short expectations ever since, just carrying on as best he can. That's 51 years in which he has had a family and three children, written numerous hefty books, travelled the world, and become nearly as famous as Albert Einstein as a theoretical physicist. The threat of death encouraged him to make the best of his time.

His mobility and dexterity declined steadily after diagnosis, and in 1985 he required an emergency tracheotomy which stole his ability to speak. He now communicates through a wheel-chair-mounted computer linked to movements of his cheek bones. His ability to stay positive and involved in life is remarkable.

What I like about My Brief History is that Hawking is a natural story teller, concise and humorous. I almost wanted to both laugh and cry when the first doctor he consulted about his growing awkwardness told him to lay off the beer. I also enjoyed reading about the childhood bet of a bag of sweets that he would never amount to anything. That wager foreshadowed bets with other physicists made throughout his career.

I also like that Hawking included some serious science with challenging questions in this short memoir. My favorite question may be (paraphrased): if all time is current and everlasting, why don't we remember the future like we remember the past? Hawking says time travel is theoretically possible but impractical, as massive numbers of infinitesimally small particles would have to be controlled and sent at the speed of light. At least, that the way I understand what he said.

My Brief History is a slim book and only a little over two hours as an audiobook. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook twice.

Hawking, Stephen. My Brief History. Bantam Books, 2013. 127p. ISBN 9780345535283.

also, 2 compact discs. Books on Tape/Random House, 2013. ISBN 9780804164306.

Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas by Lynne Cox and illustrated by Brian Floca

Floating in the Avon River through the center of beautiful Christchurch, New Zealand is not typical elephant seal behavior. Elephant seals usually prefer beaches by the ocean farther from humans. There are exceptions. While traveling in New Zealand years ago, author Lynne Cox heard an unusual story about a lone female seal who made Christchurch's lazy river her home and won the love of its citizens by her refusal live anywhere else. With illustrations by Brian Floca, Cox now tells the story in her children's picture book Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas.

The people of Christchurch named the seal Elizabeth because they thought her regal in demeanor, like their queen. Not everyone, however, agreed that the Avon River was a good place for an elephant seal, especially a seal who would climb out and take naps in a busy street. For the safety of all, well-meaning officials resolved to remove her from the city, but Elizabeth refused to relocate.

Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas is a charming story that is even more touching to those who know of the city's recent earthquakes. Floca's watercolor illustrations depict a happy time, including in the background buildings that have since been destroyed. The book has a happy ending, and I wish the same for the city.

Cox, Lynne. Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas. Schwartz and Wade Books, 2014. ISBN 9780375958885.

Touching the Wild: Living with the Mule Deer of Deadman Gulch by Joe Hutto

If you are a Baby Boomer like me, you were probably told as a child that animals other than humans had no self-awareness and did not think. The prevalent scientific holding of the 1950s and 1960s was that animals instinctively knew how to act. They were merely on the earth to serve human needs. Primatologist Jane Goodall showed us that this is not true, and many other scientists have followed her path, including naturalist Joe Hutto. For anyone who still doubts that animals think and feel, Hutto's new book Touching the Wild: Living with the Mule Deer of Deadman Gulch is going to be a challenge.

Hutto is a very interesting man who invests himself in multi-year studies of animal species. Before spending seven years with the mule deer of Wyoming, he spent years in daily observation of wood ducks, wild turkeys, and bighorn sheep. Two of his books, including Touching the Wild, are associated with episodes of PBS Nature. He also tells us in his book that he has been a collector of venomous snakes and a life long hunter.

Touching the Wild is a physically beautiful book with easy to read type and filled with color photographs of mule deer in dramatic Wyoming landscapes (as well as in Hutto's yard). It is divided into three parts, the first of which is a very personal account of the mule deer he has known. The second part tells about mule deer life and behavior, and the third explains why the survival of the mule deer in our Western States is in jeopardy.

In the third section, as a hunter, Hutto is very critical of many of the other hunters. He reminds me of Native Americans who ask the spirit of an animal for forgiveness when killing. Hutto believes hunters should be fully aware of who they shoot, but he instead sees modern hunters with high powered rifles and high tech devices shooting individual of his study from great distances, never even having to stalk their prey. He decries hunting in this form of casual money sport. He is particularly upset at the state of Wyoming for allowing the bow hunting of does and fawns when mule deer populations are crashing.

I hope Hutto's excellent book is purchased by more libraries than his previous titles Illumination in the Flatwoods and The Light in High Places. He tells a touching and often sad story that should resonate with readers in love with nature.

Hutto, Joe. Touching the Wild: Living with the Mule Deer of Deadman Gulch. Skyhorse Publishing, 2014. 306p. ISBN 9781626362130.

For the Love of Baseball: A Celebration of the Game That Connects Us All edited by Lee Gutkind and Andrew Blauner

Baseball has a great literary tradition, and with the histories, biographies, memoirs, and novels that I have read, I have just barely sampled what is available. Every summer I try to read a couple of baseball books. (I also read a few in winter to rekindle memories of summer.) I started this June with a book sent to me by a book publicist, For the Love of Baseball: A Celebration of the Game That Connects Us All edited by Lee Gutkind and Andrew Blauner.

For the Love of Baseball is an updated collection of baseball-related stories and essays previously titled Anatomy of Baseball and Great Baseball Stories. Many are somewhat autobiographical and are as much about their authors as about actual games. In some, stars of the game play supporting roles for fans who are the real subjects. Contributors include a few familiar names, such as George Plimpton, Gay Talese, Frank Deford, and Roger Angell, but most names were new to me.

As you might expect with a diverse collection, not every piece fit my taste, but I found many entertaining and thought-provoking. I particularly liked "My Brilliant Career" in which Susan Perabo tells about her difficulty retiring from her pretend career as a major leaguer. She has mostly succeeded. I'm not sure I am there yet. I laughed while reading "My First Day with the Yankees" in which Matthew McGough describes his initiation as a batboy surrounded by well-known players and coaches. I was moved by the story of Art Williams, second black umpire in the major leagues, told in "Overhustle" by Lee Gutkind. The most surprising story was "Pesapallo: Playing at the Edge of the World" by teacher Caitlin Horrocks who describes baseball's evolution in school yard Finland.

For the Love of Baseball is a book you can read a little at a time if you like, savoring each story. You might even understand your own role in the culture of baseball by the time you finish.

For the Love of Baseball: A Celebration of the Game That Connects Us All. Skyhorse Publishing, 2014. 237p. ISBN 9781629142470.

Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics by Kathryn J. Atwood

The first global war of the twentieth century was a sad yet in some ways exciting time for women. Their brothers, husbands, and sons rushed off to battle for personal glory or the honor of their "king and country," leaving them to take up men's work. Those in Belgium, Serbia, and other invaded countries were in harm's way. In the shadow of a war that proved to be long and bloody, some strong women felt compelled to take up causes or even join the men in battle. Kathryn J. Atwood has written about them in Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics. 

Atwood's new book is a logical and useful prequel to her book Women Heroes of World War II. In both books she sets the historical stage and profiles women who acted bravely for causes in which they believed. A few of the women, such as mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart, were famous in their time, and others, such as Emilienne Moreau, became national heroines, but most are names current readers will not recognize. Atwood thinks they should.

With interesting sidebars explaining important details in the stories, such as the use of poison gases in warfare or the popularity of the song "Over There," and with a generous use of photographs, Women Heroes of World War I is a good introduction to the war that started 100 years ago for readers of any age. It is also a helpful addition to the literature of women's studies. Look for it to be popular in school and public libraries.

Atwood, Kathryn J. Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics. Chicago Review Press, June 2014. 246p. ISBN 9781613746868.

The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible ... on Schindler's List: A Memoir by Leon Leyson

Many baby boomers grew up with fathers who never talked about their World War II experiences until late in their lives. Leon Leyson was like them, but instead of being a soldier, he was a Jewish boy in Poland in and out of work camps run by the Nazis throughout the war. In post-war America, he wanted to live in the present and raise his children as average citizens of no particular origin. Only with the release of Stephen Spielberg's epic movie Schindler's List did Leyson begin to tell his incredible story, one bound to interest listeners for it included his working for Oskar Schindler, who saved his family from certain death. He told the story in his posthumously published The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible ... on Schindler's List: A Memoir.

Throughout World War II, Leyson was malnourished and small, not a good candidate for factory work. In the camps, he had to endure through heavy manual labor and show no sign of failing to keep from being executed, as so many children and older adults were. Luckily for Leyson, his father was a skill worker who was able to get the sympathetic Schindler to employ Leon. When Nazi inspectors came through Schindler's factory, he would stand on a box behind equipment to appear larger and capable of the work.

There have been many Holocaust stories written in the last half century, and The Boy on the Wooden Box fares well among them. Leyson told a compelling story with a great cast of characters about one of the most dramatic periods in our recent history. I listened to it read by five-time Tony Award nominated actor Danny Burstein. My interest never wavered.

Leyson, Leon. The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible ... on Schindler's List: A Memoir. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013. 231p. ISBN 9781442497818.

audiobook. Recorded Books, 2013. 4 compact discs. ISBN 9781740369439.

The Vinyl Dialogues: Stories Behind Memorable Albums of the 1970s as Told by the Artists by Mike Morsch

I am nearly the perfect reader for The Vinyl Dialogues: Stories Behind Memorable Albums of the 1970s as Told by the Artists by Mike Morsch. First, I listened to a lot of rock music in the 1960s and 1970s. Second, I enjoy behind-the-scenes stories about rock music. Third, I owned (or still own) several of the recordings profiled in this book. My shortcoming as a reader of this book is I stopped listening to pop music radio and buying rock records around 1976 when I went through a classical music phase. As a result, I had not heard of some of the artists interviewed by Morsch for the stories in The Vinyl Dialogues.

The author compensates for my deficiency by including hooks in every story. Even when I did not know the artist or album, the stories were good and I recognized someone involved in the plot. The group Head East toured with Jethro Tull and was essentially fired by its leader Ian Anderson. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes were given songs by Bruce Springsteen. Player reminded listeners of the Hall and Oates, Steely Dan, and the Doobie Brothers.

My favorite story may have been the one about the album recorded by Dave Mason and Cass Ellliot, which was called Dave Mason and Cass Elliot. I recently read about two in Graham Nash's book, Wild Tales. In the story about Joe Walsh and Barnstorm, I was struck by a statement by Joe Vitale that albums of the 1960s and 1970s were "variety shows." I think that is a great description for Beatle albums. I also read with special interest stories about the Guess Who, Three Dog Night, and America.

Including Morsch's introduction and Epilogue, there are 33 chapters in Vinyl Diaglogues, none over 10 pages. Reading one and then searching the web for some relevant videos once a day would give a younger reader a good sense of the variety of the 1970s music scene. Older readers will already many of the songs. More about the project can be found on the Facebook page Vinyl Dialogues.

Morsch, Mike. The Vinyl Dialogues: Stories Behind Memorable Albums of the 1970s as Told by the Artists. Biblio Publishing, 2014. 265p. ISBN 9781622492077.

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

How do you feel about Lily Bart, the central character in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton? What kind of person do you think she was? I use the past tense in referring to her (spoiler alert!) as she dies at the end of The House of Mirth. What did Wharton intend by having Lily die? Our book group found much to discuss when we tackled the novel last week. I felt it was one of our more focused discussions.

While Wharton's second novel, the one that earned her initial fame, can be called a classic, it is not guaranteed to be liked by readers. At least two of our group thought Lily was irredeemable. Most of us thought that there were very few characters to like in the book. Readers have to look hard to find good points for many of the men and women in this society novel, but I think they are there, especially for Lily. I think her failure to carry through on some of her schemes to land a wealthy husband were subconsciously conscience-driven. Sadly, she never achieved anything good for herself.

While reading I realized that The House of Mirth can be cast as a prequel to The Great Gatsby. There were more self-made millionaires invading society by the time of Gatsby, and Wharton heralded their coming twenty years earlier. By the time of Gatsby and the Jazz Age, the refined cover over the emptiness and cruelty of high society had been removed.

The characters, the story, the historical setting, and the life of the author all led to a lively discussions. Keep The House of Mirth in mind for the classic fiction slot in your book club's schedule. If you do choose it, suggest your members keep their own scorecard of characters. There are many of them. 

Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

I think Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink is one of the most disturbing books that I have read in a long time. While there are no totally evil people on which to blame what may have been unnecessary Hurricane Katrina-related deaths at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans in 2005, many seemingly good people behaved in ways inconsistent with their training and ideals. The doctors and nurses at Memorial were obviously in a crisis and not helped by the shockingly inadequate response of the corporation that owned the hospital, but they let their fears blind them to other courses of action than those that they took. Tragically, they had more resources within easy reach than they realized. Lack of planning and poor communications inside and outside the hospital led to confusion. Patients could have been treated for their diseases and kept more comfortable throughout the crisis. Some might have been saved. Fink tells the story in much fascinating and dramatic detail.

There are many lessons to be learned from Hurricane Katrina stories, but, as the author tells in the later chapters and the appendix to Five Days at Memorial, people are not learning them. Our society does not as a whole have a will to make the sacrifices and do the work necessary to prevent future tragedies. Fink tells how a hospital in New York performed much better in Hurricane Sandy, showing that preparation and clearer thinking can make a difference, but she also reports on many cases in which medical personnel and community emergency workers make the same mistakes made in New Orleans.

Five Days at Memorial is too large a book for many book discussion groups, which is unfortunate as there are so many topics to discuss. Groups that focus on public policy or meet quarterly (giving members more time to read) can tackle it. Five Days at Memorial is a great read for someone willing to make the effort.

Fink, Sheri. Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital. Crown Publishers, 2013. 558p. ISBN 9780307718969.

Unabridged audiobook: Random House Audio, 2013. 14 compact discs. ISBN 9780804128094.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

It is Memorial Day, so summer reading is upon us. At the Thomas Ford Library this summer, we will be featuring graphic novels in our adult summer reading program Picture This: Exploring Graphic Novels. Along with the reading of books to earn prizes, we will have some graphic novel events, including an author talk by Lucy Knisley, whose graphic novel memoir Relish: My Life in the Kitchen came out in 2013.

Liking to read authors who come to our library, I borrowed Relish and found it very entertaining. Knisley recounts her admittedly still young life with charm and humor through full-color drawings and well-chosen words. In each chapter, she tells about a period or particular aspect of her life. I kept reading wanting to know more about her mom the chef, her dad the gourmet, and the kitchens in which Knisley has cooked.

Like all food memoirs, Relish includes recipes. Unlike many memoirs, these instructions are heavily illustrated. I particularly like the exploded view of the huevos rancheros and the action-packed telling of how to make pickles.

As you can see, graphic novels are not all super hero tales. With Relish, Knisley has shown that everyday life is a great subject for the genre. It is not alone. Check for graphic novels at your library.

Knisley, Lucy. Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. First Second, 2013. 173p. ISBN 9781596436237.

Jim Green in Concert at the Library

The library is a place for learning. Last Friday everyone who came to Jim Green's concert at the Thomas Ford Library learned the sound of percussive acoustic guitar, a method perfected by the Chicago area musician. With his fingers positioned above the strings, Jim can sound like a guitarist and a drummer, and when he adds his harmonica, he is a band. Several of his compositions played Friday night evoked the sounds of trains, especially his instrumental "Hotshot" and his vocal piece "Boxcar Man." In the later we also learned classic hobo vocabulary.

As appropriate as it is, learning was not really the objective Friday night. The pleasure of being entertained by a talented musician with a sneaky sense of humor is what I take away. We all laughed at his story of being a street musician getting advice from a preschool boy, a story I do not want to spoil in case you attend one of his concerts. I also took away his CD Boxcar Man.

If you look at the cover of his CD, you will not see the name Jim Green. Until recently he performed as The Wandering Endorphin, but has now decided to use his own name. The CD has eight pieces, two vocals and six instrumentals. Of course, there is a lot of instrumental in the vocals, too. Like his concert, the pieces create many moods. My favorite might be the foot-stomping "Let It Ride," though I am very moved by "Old-Timer" and "Weathered." Well, "Boxcar Man" may be my favorite, or maybe whichever piece I am listening to when I'm trying to decide.

If you get a chance to hear Jim at a library, pub, or summer festival, take it. In the meantime, you can learn more at his website or view Boxcar Man on YouTube.

Tim's Vermeer, a film by Teller

Tim Jenison is a former rock musician whose tinkering with sound equipment led to his becoming an inventor and computer graphics artist. At some unspecified time in the past, he noticed how perfect the light, shadows, and colors are in the paintings by Johannes Vermeer. He read books questioning Vermeer's undocumented techniques and concluded that the Dutch painter had to have used an optical device. Flush with funds from all of his successful inventions, he set out to discover Vermeer's method.

Tim's Vermeer is an entertaining film documenting Jenison's obsessive five-year effort. The "proof" of discovery would be Jenison's recreating one of Vermeer's masterpieces using the theorized methods. How could the inventor pull this off, for he was not even an amateur painter? Confidence in himself is something Jenison seems to have in abundance. His experience with the infinitesimal details of computer graphics probably helped developed his awareness of all things optical. Through trial and error, he developed an unusual sequence of mirrors that helped him paint spot by spot with no underlying drawings. The results were almost photographic.

Many in the art world doubt that Jenison really discovered Vermeer's method. If Vermeer did use Jenison's system of mirrors, it would help explain why there are so few paintings by the master, for it is a very slow process. But neither the secretive Vermeer nor any of his contemporaries wrote about how he painted nor left any such mirrors in their studios. We will never know unless some 17th century documents are discovered.

In any case, as I have said, the film is very entertaining. Jenison and the cast of characters around him, including magician Penn Jillette and painter David Hockney, are fascinating people. The mysterious subject of Vermeer appeals to many art fans. Viewers are left with numerous unanswered questions. I think Tim's Vermeer is a great choice for film discussion groups.

Tim's Vermeer. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2014. 80 minutes.

Pitching in a Pinch: Baseball from the Inside by Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson was one of the most important figures in early 20th century baseball. Not only was he a great pitcher and later an able manager, he was college educated and an important symbol for the proponents of a more gentlemanly game of baseball than had been played in the late 19th century. He was one of five great players honored with election to the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Knowing he could cash in on his fame, he "wrote" a column for the New York Herald with much assistance from sports writer John Wheeler, and from those pieces came his 1912 book Pitching in a Pinch: Baseball from the Inside. It was his moment, as he had been a star for slightly over a decade and his skills were just starting to decline. He had already witness and been part of many legendary games. His World War I disability and early death were yet to come.

The state of baseball in 1912 was far different in many ways from 2014. It was a dead-ball era when few hitters could clear the fences (hit a home run). Most players were paid poorly. Pitchers were frequently called "twirlers." The Chicago Cubs were a dominant team. But a 21st century reader of Pitching in a Pinch will find much familiar as well, especially in the descriptions of pitcher-batter encounters, which Mathewson describes with great clarity. Pitchers still need to get ahead in the count to be effective. Batter should still pick their pitch.

Penguin's 2013 republication of Mathewson's book is a must for baseball fans interested in the history of the game. Readers learn much about Giant's manager John McGraw, Mathewson's Giant teammates, and opponents, especially the Cubs Tinker, Evers, and Chance. Readers also get a foreward by novelist Chad Harbach and an afterward by famed sports writer Red Smith.

Mathewson, Christy. Pitching in a Pinch: Baseball from the Inside. Penguin Books, 2013. 178p. ISBN 9780143107248.

Chasing Cheetahs: The Race to Save Africa's Fastest Cats by Sy Montgomery and photographs by Nic Bishop

I can not decide whether I like cheetahs or snow leopards best. Luckily for me, Sy Montgomery and photographer Nic Bishop have written books about both. Chasing Cheetahs: The Race to Save Africa's Fastest Cats is the fourth of their books that I have read. The other two featured tree kangaroos and tapirs.

There are certain factors that keep bringing me back to their books:

1. Bonnie brings them home from her library.
2. They are filled with big beautiful photos.
3. Montgomery and Bishop travel to great locations to learn about their animal subjects.
4. They profile a dedicated naturalist in the field.
5. They add important factual tables and reading lists to their conservation conscious books.

In Chasing Cheetahs, the duo travel to Namibia, which has the highest concentration of the world's endanger cheetah population. There they meet with Laurie Marker and her team at the Cheetah Conservation Fund's center, where the abandoned infant and injured cheetahs are studied and harbored until they can be released into the wild. Montgomery and Bishop accompany the scientists on their daily rounds.

I am hooked on these books and hope for more. I see I missed their book on kakapo parrots of New Zealand. Time to place a reserve at the library.

Montgomery, Sy. Chasing Cheetahs: The Race to Save Africa's Fastest Cats. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. 69p. ISBN 9780547815497.

Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies by Lawrence Goldstone

I have been naive. I have always thought that scientists and inventors were mostly driven by wonder and curiosity. Men and women, I thought, wanted to discover how things work just because they longed to know. I thought most invention was a test of intellect and creativity. I understood that some research was driven by necessity, such as the need to cure diseases or protect the environment, but even then, part of the results should be joy for work well done. What I did not count on was anyone like Wilbur Wright. Intent on exploiting his patents for profit even before he and his brother successfully flew, he seemed to find little joy in putting pilots in the air.

Readers of Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies by Lawrence Goldstone will get their fill of Wilbur Wright. He truly loved his family, including the brother he sometimes bullied, but his opinion of the rest of humanity seems to have been low. He felt that all modern people owed the Wright brothers a debt for the discovery of powered flight. He expected that the brothers' broadly written patents gave them a well-earned monopoly of the industry. He also expected the U.S. and foreign governments to contract through the Wright firm for all of their aircraft development. When other inventors and manufacturers opposed paying royalties and pilots fought against paying license fees for the right to fly, he filed law suits.

Engine builder and pilot Glenn Curtis was among the many inventors who felt the Wright Brothers had learned as much from their experimental designs as they learned from the brothers. An entire society of flying men and women had been trying to fly for years before the Wright brothers even started. They took offense at the Wright brothers' notion that air flight belonged to them alone. Mostly ignoring the Wright brothers and their demands, they continued to fly, risking their lives to test and demonstrate aircraft. In a four year period, 142 of these barnstorming pilots died in accidents.

Birdmen is a great in-depth story that shows a dark side to American business history. Look for it at your public library.

Goldstone, Lawrence. Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies. Ballantine Books, 2014. 448p. ISBN 9780345538031.

The Waiting Room, a film by Peter Nicks

Who has not been to a hospital emergency room, either as a patient or as companion to a patient? I think I have been twice as a patient: once when I hit my head with a hammer trying to pull a nail and another time when I popped my knee out of joint. Both times were minor emergencies when I could not wait for a doctor's office hours. Emergency rooms are created for such times, but that is not what we see in the documentary The Waiting Room (2012) directed by Peter Nicks.

The Waiting Room was filmed at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California over a 24-hour period in 2011 or possibly 2010. On the DVD cover below the title is the statement "24 hours. 241 patients. One stretched ER." Of all those patients, several were victims of accidents and violent crimes, but most were people without health insurance trying to obtain treatments that they were unable to procure from general practitioners or the specialists to whom they would have been referred if they had health plans. Without appointments, those without life threatening conditions sometimes waited many hours to be seen by the physicians and nurses of the hospital ER. The waiting room was large and crowded.

Unlike many documentaries, The Waiting Room has no explanatory narration. One film reviewer says film viewers are "like flies on the wall." Another said that the film was true cinema verite. In an interview, the directory said that he wanted to show exactly what happens in an urban county hospital emergency room and let viewers decide what it all means. He also indicated that policy wonks from opposite ends of the political spectrum have praised the film as evidence for their positions.

Attendance at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library's showing of The Waiting Room for its film discussion was small, but our discussion was lively and somewhat personal. There was empathy for the patients followed by the filmmaker's cameras and admiration for the hospital staff. Discussion trended toward national health care policy, of course, and were left with a series of timely questions: "Has the launch of the Affordable Health Care Act relieved any of the stress on urban emergency rooms? Is The Waiting Room now an out-of-date film?" Time to ask a librarian.

Nicks, Peter. The Waiting Room. Cinedigm Entertainment Corp., 2013. 80 minutes. OCLC: 856022442.

The Giver by Lois Lowry and Messenger by Lois Lowry

On the recommendation of my eleven-year-old daughter Laura, years ago, I read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I remember liking it very much, but I had forgotten much about it until this week. I wanted an audiobook and was striking out in my search for a downloadable nonfiction title from our consortium that I hadn't already read that I wanted to read (we've got far too many books about war!). Just looking at what was recently returned to see if anything would interest me (maybe a classic mystery?), I noticed Messenger by Lois Lowry, book 3 in the series. Not sure whether it made sense to skip book 2, I went ahead and borrowed and downloaded Messenger.

To complicate matters, I then borrowed print copies of The Giver and the second book in the series, Gathering Blue. I thought I might delay listening to the audiobook to read the print books. I really wanted an audiobook, however, when it came time to work in the garden a few days later, and I went ahead and started Messenger. Then in bed the same night, I started The Giver.

Reading two books in a series at the same time, I thought that I might mix details from the stories, but I should not have worried. The settings, characters, and plots are so clear and different that I had no problem. I soon recognized one common character, and it was interesting observing him at two points in his life. Maybe that makes me the Watcher. Naming is important in both books.

Neither utopia-gone-wrong story took me long to finish. The Giver was as good as I remembered, and Messenger its equal. Now I need to fill the gap.

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Houghton Mifflin, 1993. 180p. ISBN 0395645662.

Lowry, Lois. Messenger. Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 169p. ISBN 0681404414.

Why Do Ducks Have Webby Toes? by Mim Eichmann and Doug Lofstrom

I think I met Mim Eichmann when she attended a performance of other folk musicians at a Friday at the Ford concert. She told me that she was in the band Trillium and sent over a CD to encourage me to book it for our concert series, which I did. She recently sent me a different kind of CD. Why Do Ducks Have Webby Toes? is a collection of children's song by Mim and her friend Doug Lofstrom. She kindly agreed to answer some questions that I had about the delightful CD.

Rick: I have been listening to Why Do Ducks Have Webby Toes?, thinking that I may be enjoying it as much as any kid. Some of the songs are really finger-snapping jazz. I do not usually expect such cool clarinet and saxophone parts in children's songs. I also hear some bluegrass. How many musical traditions have you folded into the song collection?

Mim: I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the tunes! Quite a few adults have admitted that they're listening to the cd in their car even after they've dropped the kids off at daycare, which is something of a surprise! Most of the tunes have something of a jazzy or easy pop feel, but, as you've noted, there's a bluegrass tune, a couple of folk ballads, a ragtime piece and two fast Gilbert and Sullivan-type tunes, among others. Doug Lofstrom did all of the arrangements for his contemporary jazz group, The New Quartet, which includes the clarinet/saxophone, piano, violin, bass and drums on the album. Ed Hall, who of course, is our Trillium guitarist and banjo player, did those arrangements. When I heard our first playback at the recording studio session of "I Love Pizza" (which was the first tune we tackled) it sounded so huge with all of those instruments, it was extremely daunting. I really wasn't sure that my material -- much less, my voice -- was going to sound like anything at all against that kind of awesome instrumental power. But, after that first sort of shock, it started to feel completely normal -- and it's been a very fun project!

Rick: I'm interested in knowing more about the origins of the song collection. Have you been writing these songs one at a time over a long time or do they all come from a project effort? They seem a departure from your music with Trillium. What led to the recording of this collection?

Mim: I do have an earlier kids' album of all original music called "Wander Down Beyond the Rainbow" which was released in 1999, and obviously pre-dates anything in the Trillium repertoire, since Trillium didn't form until 2005. Many of the WDBR pieces were song and dance/pantomime tunes, sung a cappella with my little 3-5 year old ballet dancers. And, after hearing the tunes, the parents wanted to know where they could find the music. I finally recorded them, to a synth track, arranged by Doug, in 1998. Actually all of those tunes have been playing on Satellite radio in particular, since 2004. I had wanted to do another album, but really just didn't have the time until recently. With the exception of a couple tunes, everything on "Why Do Ducks Have Webby Toes?" was written sometime in the past year. A couple of interesting anecdotes: The music for "The Inch Worm" I originally wrote for piano when I was about 10 years old ... I was intrigued by the fact that the bass line in Ravel's "Bolero" never changed, so that's where that idea came from. The poem is new, however. I recorded "Baby Everett's Music Box Rag" on hammered dulcimer the day that Baby Everett (my grandson) was born last October!

Rick: Do you use difference voices in the songs? I sense that most songs are from the point of view of a child. Am I getting that right?

Mim: Just about everything is written in first person, sometimes vaguely implied, but definitely seen from a child's point of view. And, same as when I sing with Trillium, I like to change things up a bit to best fit with the music style of the song. So sometimes there's a hint of Julie Andrews or Alison Krauss or Judy Collins or Whitney Houston without going too far in any direction. Tell you the truth, I think I'm something of a vocal chameleon. I really don't think I have a particular singing style, although these days, too bad I can't say that I sound like Idina Menzel ...

Rick: Are there performance plans for this collection? 

Mim: Very possibly sometime in the future!

Rick: How do people find your CD?

Mim: It's available through Cdbaby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/mimeichmanndouglofstrom and for libraries through Midwest Tapes.

American Hornpipe by Dana and Susan Robinson

One of the benefits of running a concert series is getting to meet many nice people and hear their music. I just arranged to have Dana and Susan Robinson return to our Friday at the Ford concert series in 2015, and they sent us their latest CD American Hornpipe, which I am adding to our library collection.

American Hornpipe resembles a Dana and Susan Robinson concert. Both of them have their vocal solos, there is much harmonizing, and the voices are always supported by delightful guitars, a mandolin, and/or a fiddle. Some of the pieces are original compositions while others are traditional pieces, such as "Who Killed Cock Robin" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." The duo also mix in instrumentals, such as "Fair and Tender Ladies" and "Sailing Around Cape Solstice."

I particularly like "The Invitation" which Dana sang when the couple last visited us in Western Springs. I vividly remember the lines about disconnecting the phones and Internet to enjoy a vacation in nature. As summer is just about to begin (really if it will stop being cold), I was roused by "Farmers Market A-Z," eager to get locally grown farm produce myself.

What the CD does not have is the Robinsons' delightful storytelling between songs. You'll have to attend a concert for that. We'll have one, as I said, in 2015. In the meantime, enjoy a CD.

Robinson, Dana and Susan Robinson. American Hornpipe. Threshold Music, 2012.