A Christmas Story for Thanksgiving

A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness--and a Trove of Letters--Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression / Ted Gup

Ted Gup's story of his grandfather, family secrets, and random acts of kindness.

On Dec. 17, 1933, an ad appeared in The Canton Repository newspaper offering $10 to 75 families in distress. A benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot invited readers to submit a letter describing their struggles. He promised to keep the letter writers’ identities secret “until the very end.” In 2008, Ted Gup discovered the letters in a trunk and learned that Mr. Virdot was his grandfather, Sam Stone. He had kept the letters and the secret until the end.

Many families wrote of their need for food or fuel; others wanted to buy a toy for their child or a set of encyclopedias. Gup tracked down the writers or their descendants, discovering that his grandfather’s gifts had an enormous impact on the recipients. Gup eventually hosted a gathering for his grandfather's beneciaries; ninety-year-old Helen Palm was the last living recipient of Mr. Stone's gift. (Read about the event at The New York Times).

Gup also learned more of his grandfather’s secrets. Stone was a Romanian Jewish immigrant who had survived a terrible childhood of poverty and abuse. He made every effort, legal and illegal, to assimilate into American society and eventually became a successful businessman.

As we gather for Thanksgiving, may we be truly grateful to God for our blessings and ever mindful of the needs of others.

Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1936 - Franklin D. Roosevelt

I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, hereby designate Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November, 1936, as a day of national thanksgiving.

The observance of a day of general thanksgiving by all the people is a practice peculiarly our own, hallowed by usage in the days before we were a nation and sanctioned through succeeding years.

Having safely passed through troubled waters, it is our right to express our gratitude that Divine Providence has vouchsafed us wisdom and courage to overcome adversity. Our free institutions have been maintained with no abatement of our faith in them. In our relations with other peoples we stand not aloof but make resolute effort to promote international friendship and, by the avoidance of discord, to further world peace, prosperity, and happiness.
Coupled with our grateful acknowledgment of the blessings it has been our high privilege to enjoy, we have a deepening sense of our solemn responsibility to assure for ourselves and our descendants a future more abundant in faith and in security.

Let us, therefore, on the day appointed, each in his own way, but together as a whole people, make due expression of our thanksgiving and humbly endeavor to follow in the footsteps of Almighty God.

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:

"Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

"And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best."

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

And the winners are. . . .

National Book Awards
Nonfiction
Just kids / Patti Smith
"A memoir of her relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe and life in the bohemian New York of the 1960s and ’70s."

Fiction
Lord of Misrule / Jaimy Gordon
Tells the story of the ruthless world of horse racing in West Virginia.

Young People's Literature
Mockingbird / Kathryn Erskine
The story of an 11 year old girl's struggle with Asperger's.

Poetry
Lighthead / Terrance Hayes

Tom Wolfe was awarded the 2010 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Joan Ganz Cooney, a public television producer and founder of the Children’s Television Workshop in 1968, won the 2010 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.

[from The New York Times)

Save the Words!

Every year hundreds of words are dropped from the English language. Today, 90% of writing is communicated by only 7000 words.

Would you like to help combat this problem? How about adding a new word to your vocabulary each day? Visit "Save the Words" website, click on "word-a-day," and register to receive a daily word via email from Oxford Press.

Only you can halt the erosion of language.

What books did you really enjoy this year? Buzz in with your favorites

Best books of the year


Not a stuffy list, just responses to a question about books from "The Guardian," a British paper.

So here are my titles.

The Forgotten Garden / Kate Morton
A suitcase with a child's dress and a book of fairy tales the only links to Nell's past. Her mysterious history leads to a manor house, a cottage with a walled garden, and a hedge maze. The historic portion of the story is especially well done.

The Music Room / William Fiennes
Fiennes is an excellent storyteller. Don't miss this poignant tale of Fiennes' family, his brother who suffered from severe epilepsy, and a childhood spent in a medieval castle.

Operation Mincemeat / Ben Macintyre
An undercover operation inspired by Ian Flemming (the James Bond novelist). A dead body is given false identification and a letter with false information about an Allied attack. The tale traveled all the way to Hitler's desk and helped assure an Allied victory.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society / Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Stories of the German occupation of Guernsey Island during WWII. Told in a series of letters. The characters are so vivid I was surprised to learn they were not based on real people.

Wintergirls / Laurie Halse Anderson
A dark, disturbing story of a teenage girl's battle with anorexia.

Please buzz in with your favorites.

One more list. . . .

From "The Atlantic," the top twenty books of 2010.

Book Title Spoofs

I was reading a book catalog as part of the constant effort to improve the collection and decided to have some fun. The bits in italics are book titles - yes, real book titles. The rest are my musings. Enjoy!

The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest – got stung?

Hell bent – and froze over too. (But it didn’t break.)

Finger lickin’ fifteen – so good it requires three hands!

Plum spooky – pears, apples, cinnamon. Chutney, anyone?

My husband’s sweethearts – um, that would be me, me , and oh yes, me!

The complete idiot’s guide to the constitution – 535 copies to Capitol Hill, please!
“I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm; and that three or more become a Congress!” (from the Broadway musical 1776)

Cast Iron cookbook – for cast iron stomachs - the hardest, toughest recipes ever put between two slabs of cardboard.

The only grant-writing book – well, if it will do the job, you only need one. Does it type or use voice-activated software?

20/20 thinking – a book about hindsight?

And finally,...
You’ve been warned – enough said!

New Professional Resources

Boys adrift : the five factors driving the growing epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving young men : video games, teaching methods, prescription drugs, environmental toxins, devaluation of masculinity / Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Sax uses scientific literature and professional experience to explore the reasons boys are failing at school and disengaged at home. He illustrates how social, cultural, and biological factors have created a toxic environment for boys. Sax offers strategies for teachers and parents on such topics as homework, video games, and medication. (from the cover.)

Girls on the edge : the four factors driving the new crisis for girls : sexual identity, the cyberbubble, obsessions, environmental toxins / Leonard Sax
Sax addresses problems that stem from early and over-sexualization; the identity crisis that may result from texting, sexting, and social networking; disorders and self-mutilation that may result from obsessions and over-blown anxieties; and environmental toxins that may lead to early onset of puberty and a slew of problems. (from the cover)

Temple Grandin [videorecording]
The movie tells the story of Dr. Temple Grandin. Diagnosed with autism at 4 years old, Grandin overcame the odds to graduate high school, earn a Ph.D., and become a scientist who revolutionized the treatment of livestock.

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is celebrated in the United States each year on November 11 to honor out military veterans. The date is fixed on the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice to end World War I.

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.
Know that the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell.

In loving memory of
Calvin B. Ellis, 1929-2010
Lt. Col. Lewis Sherouse,USAF, ret. 1934-2010

Highlights - 11/9/10 - in honor of Veteran's Day

And if I perish : frontline U.S. Army nurses in World War II / Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee
More than 59,000 nurses volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, and more than 1,600 were decorated for meritorious service and bravery. These are their stories.

The Navajo code talkers / Doris A. Paul
During World War II, a platoon of Marines known as the Navajo Code Talkers devised a code based on their native language that the enemy was unable to decipher. Their code enabled Allied forces to prevail in the South Pacific. (Amazon.com; 11/08/10)

1776 / David McCullough
Tells the dramatic events of the year of the Declaration of Independence, the beginning of the war with Great Britain, the leadership of Gen. George Washington, and the bravery and ingenuity of civilians-turned-soldiers. One such man was Henry Knox (heard of Fort Knox?), a young bookseller with the audacity to attempt to move 120,000 pounds of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in the middle of winter. To move canons across the frozen Hudson River, Knox drilled holes in the ice to allow water to rise through and freeze over the top, thickening the ice to hold up under the heavy load. Did it work? Read the book and find out.

Operation Mincemeat : how a dead man and a bizarre plan fooled the Nazis and assured an Allied victory/ Ben Macintyre
[Where James Bond got his start!]
At its most visible, war is fought with weapons, leadership, courage and brute force. There is also a less visible conflict, a battle of deception, seduction and bad faith, ‘protected as Church put it, by “a bodyguard of lies.” (p.10)

"Operation Mincemeat" was the brainchild of Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming, who would go on to write the James Bond novels. “The man lying in the dunes at Punta Umbria was a fraud. The lies he carried would fly from London to Madrid to Berlin, traveling from a freezing Scottish loch to the shores of Sicily, from fiction to reality, and from Room 13 of the Admiralty all the way to Hitler’s desk.”(p.10)

[The Librarian is currently reading this book, and there’s no way she’s giving it up till she’s finished. But she reads fast!]

An American Knight / Norman Fulkerson
The story of Col. John Ripley – decorated Marine and American hero.

New Books - 11/08/10

The cardturner : a novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker / Louis Sachar
The summer after junior year looks bleak for Alton Richards. His girlfriend dumped him for his best friend. He has no job. Then his parents insist that he drive his rich, blind uncle to his bridge club and act as his cardturner. His uncle can’t see the cards, and Alton doesn’t know the rules of the game. How are they supposed to be partners? (from the cover)

Revolution / Jennifer Donnelly
A story of intrigue, romance, pop music, and history. Andi Alpers, a teenage guitar prodigy, is grieving over her brother’s death and her parents’ failed marriage. While in Paris with her geneticist father, hired to match the DNA of a heart said to belong to the last dauphin of France, Andi discovers a diary hidden within a guitar case. Thus begins the story of Alexandrine Paradis, a companion of the dauphin.

Thrillers
Girl, stolen / April Henry
For Cheyenne Wilder, a blind teenager suffering from pneumonia, a quick trip to the pharmacy becomes a nightmare when her stepmother’s car is stolen, and Cheyenne is kidnapped.

Star Crossed / Elizabeth Bunce
Celyn Contrare is a glamorous lady-in-waiting by day and a thief and spy by night. Celyn knows many secrets, but Lord Daul knows hers and is blackmailing her. Will she survive or fall victim to the king’s Inquisition?

Fantasy
The Scorch Trials / James Dashner
Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end of the puzzles, the variables, the running. Now Thomas and the Gladers find themselves crossing the Scorch, a dangerous, unruly wasteland that lacks food, water, and shelter. Sequel to The Maze Runner.

Making a list and checking it twice....

'Tis the season for lists and America's literary circles are making them. Here's hoping some of the top titles appear on your Christmas wish list.

2010 Best books for Young Adults (American Library Association)

Amazon’s Best Books of 2010

Best Books of 2010 – Publisher’s Weekly

Top Ten Books of 2010 – Library Journal

Best illustrated children's books of 2010 (from The New York Times)

"An American Knight"

Norman Fulkerson will speak at Bishop McNamara on Veteran's Day. He is the author of "An American Knight," the story of Col. John Ripley, a decorated Marine and devout Catholic.

The library has added Fulkerson's work to the collection. You will soon hear the speech. Don't miss the book!

Col. John Ripley representation

An American Knight: The Life of Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC / Norman J. Fulkerson

"I have never known anyone with enduring repetitive courage who was not also a person of faith. In combat my faith was for me a substitute for fear; it was a source of comfort, calm and courage -- it allowed me to do things that for me would have otherwise been impossible. John Ripley was also a man of faith. It was clearly the source of his extraordinary physical and moral courage. He was a true hero, not a celebrity. Not only a person who performed acts of courage, rather he was a good person who performed acts of courage. Only when you combine courage with goodness do you have a true hero. His goodness crowned his courage and defined his character which marked him as an extraordinary example for those who follow the warriors path. It is for this reason that I highly recommend Norman Fulkerson's book on John Ripley, An American Knight, to all who seek to understand heroism. --General Pat Brady, US Army (Ret.)Medal of Honor Recipient" (from Amazon.com; accessed 11/2/10)

Marine Colonel John W. Ripley was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic action during the Easter Offensive of 1972 in Vietnam. Facing 200 North Vietnamese tanks and 30,000 troops, Ripley was ordered to "hold and die" at Dong Ha Bridge. Ripley destroyed the bridge to prevent the enemy from crossing.

Norman Fulkerson will speak at Bishop McNamara on November 11.

The Difference between Infinity and Eternity - a Nobel Laureate gets on with class

Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. the next day he taught class as if nothing had happened. . . .

"Mr. Vargas Llosa twisted around in his front-row seat to face the class. Can anyone, he asked, explain the difference between infinity and eternity?

Several students tried, but Mr. Vargas Llosa was not satisfied.

“But what’s the difference?” he said. “Who can explain the difference to me? It’s not clear to me.”

After other students suggested definitions and references to Borges stories, Marc Lanthemann spoke up.

“Infinity is an absolute, whereas eternity is a temporal relation,” Mr. Lanthemann said. “Infinity is a general property of having no bounds, whereas eternity is a property of time.”

Mr. Vargas Llosa paused and smiled. “I’m not that convinced,” he said, drawing laughs."

Read more at The New York Times.