It was a very good book, a work of historical fiction with vivid and interesting characters coupled with scholarly accuracy.  I received it as a Christmas gift and, despite a busy schedule, could not stay away from it.  The story fulfilled my criteria for a great work; it had a staying power that will remain in my memory for a long time, perhaps forever.  It also had a timeless quality that made for as interesting a read in 2012 as when it was published in 1930.  When I reached the final page, I felt a sense of loss, like leaving a friend whose company I enjoyed keeping.

I suspect that you have determined already that this newsletter is about books, their joy and their importance.  It is increasingly becoming a lonely subject, for many people in today’s culture see book reading as outdated and insignificant.  Indeed, some remarks made to me in recent years concerning books have shaken me to the core.  I have heard people say with pride that they have not read a book in years; that no one needs to read books anymore, just key excerpts; that with a fast moving society, people no longer have the time to invest in long periods of reading; that what we really need to know, we can find from the internet and cable news.

Perhaps you disagree with my assessment.  Perhaps I am coming across as some sort of elitist.  Whatever your thoughts, I ask you to conduct an easy experiment.  In you conversations with family, friends, and colleagues, begin a discussion on books.  Make it casual and unthreatening.  Try hard not to approach the subject of books and reading as some sort of privacy invasion.  What you will find, I can tell you already, is that most people are very uncomfortable with the topic.  And the reason for that discomfort is that most have nothing to say.  Books are irrelevant to their lives, behind the times, antiquated, and clearly out of fashion.

Well, so what!  Do I have some point to make or are these simply the ravings of a Jeffersonian who still holds libraries in high regard?  Let me put it this way.  Modern education has many problems and even more critics.  The news is filled with opinions on how to fix the problems.  If we could only end teacher tenure; if only the school year were longer; if only schools would place more emphasis on math and science; if only there were more national standards; if only educators would recognize the need to compete in the global economy.  Yes, the litany of problems and solutions is endless.  This issue is, no doubt, complex, and there are no silver bullets.  But one thing that would surely help would be if people read more good books.  Society would be much more thoughtful, tension and stress would be reduced, actions and discourse would be more civil.

The time has passed for New Year’s resolutions, but permit me to propose one anyway.  Determine to read more books.   Set aside some time each week when your family sits quietly and reads.  Try to find books of common interest that will precipitate discussion.  You may well find that your quality of life improves.  You may also discover that many of the educational problems of our time suddenly disappear.  Please let me know.

Three topics occupy my mind right now.  They appear unrelated, but perhaps that is not the case.  At any rate, I give them to you today.

Topic One:  Two men died last weekend.  Their names were Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong Il.  Havel was a playwright/activist who championed the cause of freedom in Czechoslovakia.  He focused on the need for human rights and strong moral standards.  His writings rallied the nonviolent revolution that freed the Czech people from the grip of the Soviet Union.  Kim Jong Il, on the other hand, was the mysterious leader of North Korea, responsible for the torture and starvation of countless citizens in his own country.  Yes, two people died last weekend.  Vaclav Havel represented the best of the human spirit while Kim Jong Il displayed the worst.

Topic Two:  My favorite contemporary historian is a man named J. Rufus Fears.  He often contrasts a politician from a statesman.  A statesman, Fears believes, is endowed with four qualities.  He has a bedrock of principles, a moral compass, a vision, and the ability to build a consensus to achieve that vision.  I often think of Professor Fears’ criteria for a statesman and lament how lacking our country currently is in that regard.  Instead of statesmen, we seem to be led by politicians whose focus is less on the country and more on the next election.  Professor Fears often speaks of the ancient Athenian leader, Solon, who came to power at a time when many citizens were heavily in debt and were losing possession of their land.  It was a time when a few extremely rich people had a monopoly on wealth and influence.  (Sound familiar?)  Solon made the hard decisions, often displeasing both groups.  Some of the wealthy were not pleased with the abolition of slavery often imposed on the indebted.  They were suspicious of the concept of balanced government with constitutional protections for all.  But Solon was also careful to allow for a class system where hard work and ambition enabled citizens to gather wealth and influence.  What Solon developed was a fair and balanced political, social and economic system.  Little wonder that many of the founding fathers, including Franklin, Jefferson, Adams and Washington, eagerly read Plutrach’s Life of Solon.   I cannot help but think how much in need our country is for some men and women with Solon like qualities.

Topic Three:  My son, Billy is blessed with musical ability.  Several years ago he recorded a Christmas song and each year he adds a new one.  The C.D. now includes many songs and I have noticed that many of his selections are favorites of his dad.  Choosing a favorite would be difficult, but should I be forced to, I probably would select I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.  The distressing middle stanza goes like this.  But in despair I bowed my head, There is no peace on earth I said, For hate is strong and mocks the song, Of peace on earth good will to men.  Then comes the inspiring final verse.  Then pealed the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead nor doth he sleep, The wrong shall fail the right prevail, With peace on earth good will to men.  To me, the bells in that song are a metaphor for the good and decent people who, all too often, remain silent to the evil and suffering all around.  As we approach Christmas and the new year of 2012, may we be the bells that ring out for peace and good will.  Being human, we won’t always do it perfectly, but we can surely try.  Merry Christmas.

I am convinced that most of our economic woes could be overcome if we made a massive and immediate commitment to wind and solar power.  I am further convinced that the purity of the nation’s air and water supply would improve dramatically.  Further it is obvious that millions of Americans would find good and stable employment, the national debt would decrease as our dependence on fossil fuels declined and billions of dollars currently paid to oil rich nations that hate us could be used for domestic projects including infrastructure, health care and education.  Where would these massive wind and solar farms be created?  Well, we could begin with the millions of acres of government owned lands, many of which are located in arid areas of the country where both sun and wind are plentiful.

Now let me get back to Solyndra.  Just before going belly up, they received a five hundred and twenty eight million dollar loan from the Department of Energy.  Critics of this loan say that it shows either gross incompetence by the Energy Department, led by Energy Secretary Steven Chu or worse yet that the loan was somehow connected to campaign contributions from Solyndra to the Obama Campaign.  Now Republicans in Congress are demanding an investigation hoping to unveil a major scandal in the months leading to the next election.  They are demanding all sorts of data, including White House emails, which the Administration is resisting turning over.  The press, in its usual way, is politicizing the story with the right wing ecstatic over the possibility of scandal and the left wing essentially ignoring the story.  From my perspective, no one is covering the real issue of the damage this debacle is having on the cause of renewable energy.   I even heard one talking head say that renewable energy sources will play a role sometime in the future, but not for now.

So here is the tragedy.  Renewable energy will be ignored for another generation while we continue to drill and frack and buy oil from those who hate us.  Meanwhile, the country will continue to struggle economically while the air and water qualities continue to deteriorate.  But wait!  Perhaps there is a solution if we look at the issue from a Jeffersonian viewpoint.  We need to think local rather than national.  We need to find a civic minded community with a bright and innovative mayor.  We need to team this well led community with a talented entrepreneur capable of producing renewable energy to power the area.  The results will be obvious.  The air and water will be pure.  Money saved by using this cheap renewable energy will be used to rebuild crumbling bridges, modernize schools and hospitals, and attract new job producing businesses.  Other communities will see the results and follow the pattern.  Town by town, the nation will transform itself while the Washington politicians and incompetent media outlets wallow in an increasingly insignificant bureaucracy. 

I am convinced that my vision, or some form of it could actually happen.  Should you agree, please think about it and talk about it.  Somewhere out there is a community or city or perhaps a county with the sense of civic responsibility, the leadership and the expertise to start the process.  Some may think that we are dreamers, but I have the feeling that we are not the only ones.

Anders Lewendal is an economist turned builder who determined to build a house with products made exclusively in the United States.  The venture proved daunting, but eventually he located every necessary item, more than one hundred products from thirty three states.  Lewendal was pleasantly surprised to discover that his “American Made” house was only one to two percent more expensive than one made from foreign sources.  He also found that some of the American made products, while more expensive, were of superior quality.  American made nails, for example, were less likely to jam in the nailing gun than their China made counterparts.  Since his experiment, Lewendal has created a list of his American made products and sent it to builders and suppliers throughout the country.  He determines that if all builders simply increased their American made products by five percent more than two hundred and twenty thousand jobs would be created.

Leeton, Missouri, is a tiny town that was struggling to the degree that some worried that the place would literally disappear.  Local businesses fell victim to larger establishments miles away.  The local grocery store closed, creating a serious problem for senior citizens.  Teachers Bonnie Seymour and Marijayne Manley saw the problem as a possibility and, with their students, created a local grocery store called the “Bull Dog Express.”  The store is run by students and is doing so well that soon a deli will be added.  Other business people, impressed by the action taken by the teachers and their students, are beginning to join in the effort to revitalize the struggling community.

Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks Coffee.  Disenchanted with the constant bickering in Washington, Schultz has embarked on a mission to break the gridlock.  He has contacted business leaders and called on them to withhold campaign contributions to the president and members of congress until they reach a “fair, bipartisan deal” on the national debt, revenues and spending.  Further he has challenged other executives to invest in new products and projects to give the national economy a boost.

The media chooses stories and issues that it feels worthy of coverage.  One story they seem to ignore, for the most part, is a movement called “No Labels.”  No Labels is a non partisan group dedicated to fostering cooperation and more effective government.  The group is focused on several major issues crucial to the future yet ignored or bickered over by those in power.  These issues include:

-          Ending the polarization in Washington.

-          Dealing head on with the federal deficit.

-          Real election reform that takes money out of politics.

-          Developing a comprehensive energy policy. 

You can learn more about this group by checking out their website.

So there you have it; four examples of positive developments in a world seemingly out of control.  For me the message is simple.  Find a problem, focus on it like a laser, seek out others willing to help, and roll up your sleeves and get to work.  It seems so much more effective than sitting in a park somewhere, surrounded by garbage, costing taxpayers millions in police overtime, and unable to articulate specifically what it is you are there for.

When I reached grade seven we spent the year studying the history of New York State.  The book had a wine colored cover and many of its contents remain with me.  Endlessly I looked at pictures ranging from the Statue of Liberty to Niagara Falls.  Another picture was of a small bridge located near my town.  Whenever I passed that bridge I thought it remarkable that something familiar to me was in a book.  It made me feel famous.  I remember the text of the book too.  The story of the building of the Erie Canal especially intrigued me.

I was blessed with excellent history teachers in high school where my range of topics expanded.  It was during my high school years that I was first exposed to the earliest civilizations of Samaria and Egypt; to the rise of freedom and democracy in ancient Athens; to the grandeur of the the Roman Empire; and to a multitude of other “firsts” including the Renaissance  the Reformation and the Age of  Enlightenment.  My course in American History during grade eleven showed me conclusively the connection of the great political philosophers of Europe to the development of constitutional government in my own country.  I believe that it was during that time that I first realized that knowledge of history was not only interesting but also important.  I began to discover the power of ideas, both for good and evil, in the minds of influential people.  I learned that the course of history was determined, not by random happenstance, but rather by people who possessed the qualities of big ideas, leadership skills, the ability to communicate and ambition.  Let’s face it; both Lincoln and Hitler possessed such attributes, Lincoln using his for good and Hitler for evil.

I arrived at college almost certain that history would be my major and thanks to wonderful professors I was not disappointed.  Then came graduate school and with it two more inspiring professors who helped me develop a larger inventory of knowledge along with the ability to impart that knowledge to others.  How grateful I am for the teachers of my youth who prepared me for thirty years of teaching, a career that I look back upon with satisfaction.

From what I can tell, history is having a rough time of it in many schools today. More than one elementary level teacher has expressed frustration in trying to fit the social sciences into a curriculum focused on “preparing students to compete in the global economy.”  I really dislike that phrase for to me it is simply a way of diminishing the importance of learning about history and the humanities.  Yes, history does find its way into the curriculum but usually as a second class citizen.  Administrators like to schedule it in the afternoon reasoning that students are fresher in the morning for their truly important studies, you know, the ones that train them to “compete in the global economy.”  And sadly, even many history teachers concentrate on wars and politics, often dismissing the topics of intellectual and social history as unimportant.

This is the time of year when parents visit their children’s schools for open house.  In a few weeks they will return for parent conferences.  Should you agree with me on the importance of learning history, I urge you to raise this issue with your teachers and administrators.  A more civil and peaceful future might just be the result.

Change came slowly despite the unrest and many historians feel that the real impetus for reform came from a group of investigative reporters pinned with the label “muckrakers” by Theodore Roosevelt.  Unlike the modern day types whose goal is to uncover the most sordid and voyeuristic stories possible, these true journalists hoped to correct societal ills by exposing the evils and injustices of the industrial age.  Their writings were often starkly graphic and uncomfortable to read.  I think of Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, one of the most brutal books I have ever encountered.  This graphic description of the meat packing industry around Chicago is credited with the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.  I think of Ida Tarbell whose exhaustive investigation into the workings of the Standard Oil Company exposed the iron fisted dealings of John D. Rockefeller and helped bring regulations of monopolies.  There were many others.  Frank Norris’ novel The Octopus, showed the plight of small farmers squeezed out of the system by railroad magnates.  Lincoln Steffens exposed political corruption in the nation’s cities.  There was David Graham Phillips and Jacob Riis.  The list of ethical investigative journalists seems endless.  My personal favorite muckraker was a man named Ray Stannard Baker.   A prolific writer, Baker covered a multitude of issues ranging from the abuse of children working in mines, to racial discrimination.  He once said that he and his fellow writers muckraked, “not because we hated our world but because we loved it.”  Baker went on to write a multi volume work on Woodrow Wilson. He also wrote a series of books with a pastoral bent under the pen name of David Grayson.  How I love those books.  I reread them endlessly.  Some of Grayson’s thoughts are referenced in my second book, Wilson Hill and he will surface again in my new book, now near completion.  But I digress.  So let me get back to investigative journalism. 

Although I am a critic of modern journalists, I firmly believe that journalism can be a noble profession, one that is vital in a democracy.  Thomas Jefferson was often attacked by the press and yet he once said that “were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”  So, if you are a young person choosing a career for the first time, or an older person looking for a new one, let me suggest investigative journalism.  But please choose to be like the muckrakers of old, people who loved their country and worked for a society that valued justice, fairness and compassion.



All of these issues hit me like a rock a few weeks back when I was parked on a quiet country lane mowing someone’s lawn.  While I worked I was deep in thought about the details of chapter thirty one of my upcoming book when I noticed an officer of the law carefully inspecting the contents of my truck and landscaping trailer.  I decided to ignore him and continue my work, but occasional glances in his direction confirmed his interest in two items I was carrying.  Before long he approached me and as best as I can recall the conversation went something like this.  He told me that he had read the label on a bag I was carrying in my trailer, and it appeared there was no problem with its contents.  With some effort I did not smile as I thought of the bag clearly labeled in large print, “Organic, Composted Cow Manure.”  The officer was much more concerned with the tank sprayer in the back of my truck.  “It’s empty,” I told him, even though I knew he was aware of that fact from his inspection.  He also knew that I had nothing in the truck or trailer to put in the sprayer.  He asked what I used the sprayer for.  “Well,” I told him calmly, “I noticed poison ivy on some property I own and I am hoping one of these days to find time to take care of it.”  He asked if I used the sprayer in my business.  “No,” I told him, “I just have a mowing business.  I don’t have a pesticide license.”  He then told me that I was not allowed to carry the sprayer, even an empty one with nothing to place in it, while conducting my business.  Not knowing how to respond, I remained calm but am certain that a confused look appeared on my face.  I think that he could sense that I was not going to be argumentative or confrontational for his approach seemed to soften.  Voluntarily he said that he did not agree with all the regulations, but that it remained his obligation to enforce them nonetheless.  Next he informed me that he was only issuing me a warning because an official citation would result in a very heavy fine and a requirement to attend classes on pesticide safety.  Again I remained calm.  Actually my recollection is that I said nothing except for a continued look of confusion.  After a few more closing remarks, he went on his way.  Later that day I removed both of the dangerous items, the organic cow manure and the empty tank sprayer, from my truck. 

Sadly, my writing and thinking have suffered since that day.  Rather than mentally working on my book or contemplating something recently read, I find myself replaying the details of that episode.  Quite frankly I felt harassed.  Even though he was a reasonable young man, I felt the heavy hand of government on my shoulder and I didn’t much like it.  Me, the guy who is careful not to throw a gum wrapper on the ground, interrogated like a common criminal.  The event seemed very un-American.  

Since that day I have observed and read about many dangerous situations.  I have seen people driving too fast while talking or texting.  I have read about bank robbers, sexual predators, even plots of terrorism.  I have listened to stories about public officials who apparently are more interested in sending out racy pictures than dealing with the country’s problems or helping constituents.  I have watched the national debt continue to explode while our nation’s credit rating plummets.  Yes, it is a dangerous world out there, but at least you can go to sleep tonight confident that the authorities are keeping a close watch on us lawn mowing guys.



A statement on the death of Osama Bin Laden



I knew little of C. S. Lewis in my youth, but I must say that as an adult his words have been life changing.  Rarely does a day pass when I fail to read at least a small passage from his works, and his profound thoughts frequently occupy my mind.  While he is best known for The Chronicles of Narnia or perhaps Mere Christianity, I am most intrigued by The Screwtape Letters.  In this masterpiece of satire, Screwtape, a very important assistant to the devil, sends advice to his nephew, Wormwood, on the most effective methods for destroying the joy and contentment of a young man under his watch.  Screwtape warns Wormwood that he must never allow his subject to be satisfied with life’s simple and ordinary things like snowdrops, sun rises or plum pudding.  Rather, he says, “You must continually remind the young man of all that he is missing.”  This demand for novelty, Screwtape points out, will diminish the young man’s pleasure while increasing his desire.  Increased desire for expensive novelties, be they fast cars or exotic holidays, cost money and this cost will further distance the young man from true joy and contentment.  Yes, Screwtape explains excitedly, by inflaming the horror of “the same old thing” the young man will be drawn into the “excesses of lasciviousness, unreason, cruelty, and pride.”

Strangely, this episode from The Screwtape Letters came to mind after I attended a funeral during the first week of April.  My cousin, Helen, had passed away less than three months after she lost her brother, Don.  Salutatorian of her high school class, Helen went on to become a registered nurse with a distinguished career.  But listening to those who spoke at her funeral, I realized that an even greater accomplishment was Helen’s discovery of the joy and contentment found in life’s ordinary things.  She took daily walks on the country lane by her home and often she would pause to look across the fields and up at the mountains where she played as a child.  People spoke of the thrill she found in spending time and caring for her grandchildren.  I thought of her faithful attendance at our annual family reunion.  I suspect, by the world’s standards, our reunion is far from an exciting affair.  We gather on the final Saturday of July to sit beneath a tent, share a covered dish, watch the little ones play, look at old photos, and visit.  Yes, they are very ordinary things, but for Helen they were enough.  And so I could not help thinking that Screwtape would have been displeased with Helen for she had escaped his trap of needing “ever increasing novelty.”  That is her legacy.

Please do not misunderstand me.  In no way am I suggesting that it is wrong or inappropriate to do special things.  Special events can be both fun and fulfilling.  So take that trip to Paris or Tahiti.  Buy nice things for yourself once in a while.  But avoid the snare of thinking that such things are all important.  Remember to enjoy the simple, ordinary things all around you.  Which reminds me; I need to check on the status of my tiny vegetable plants growing under the greenhouse light in my basement.

P.S.  This Wednesday, April 27, is cousin Helen’s birthday, and I dedicate this newsletter to her memory.

So, let me see if I have this right.  Japan is approximately the size of California.  It has a large population and one of the world’s biggest economies.  They require huge amounts of electricity to maintain their way of living, and so they invest heavily in nuclear power.  Now, nuclear power has definite advantages over fossil fuels.  To begin with, Japan has few, if any, fossil fuels so all of their supply must be imported, while the energy generated by nuclear fission is unlimited.  Also, the use of fossil fuels leaves a huge carbon footprint whereas nuclear energy leaves none.  Yes, nuclear power is very clean except for two things; first, what to do with the spent nuclear rods that remain highly radioactive for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, and secondly, how best to manage nuclear plants to prevent catastrophic accidents.  Now, correct me if I am wrong, but from what I can determine, Japan built several nuclear reactors very near the ocean and on a major fault line.  Then, beside the reactors, they built pools where they place the spent rods and cover them with water to prevent a meltdown.  So what happens?  A nine point earthquake hits the reactors designed to withstand quakes of no more than six or seven.  The earthquake sparks a tsunami wave of twenty some feet at the reactor site designed for a wave several feet smaller.  The result is the disaster currently unfolding before our eyes.  At this point, the world watches, hopes and prays for the few hundred brave people sacrificing their lives as they try to stem the tide.  Perhaps my term “unsettling” is much too mild. 

As Americans, we have our own reasons for concern for we too have nuclear plants sitting on fault lines near the ocean.  Like those in Japan, our plants are not designed for a nine point earthquake.  It appears only a matter of time before the problems of Japan will be ours as well.  So, what to do?  That, I guess, is the big question for a national government so dysfunctional that it cannot pass a yearly budget, much less come up with a safe energy plan.  Some experts say that reactors in unsafe places should be shut down and replaced with new ones in more secure locations.  But that would take years and cost billions.  Besides that, no one wants the new plants located in their neighborhood.  What sane person would?  Then there are other experts clamoring for more drilling and digging of oil, coal and natural gas.  Natural gas, by the way, is now a big deal in my area of Pennsylvania.  They call the process “fracking” and most people agree that it is environmentally unfriendly to say the least.

I have my own solutions to the energy issue.  You have read some of them in previous newsletters, but because of the importance, I repeat and expand on them here.

More than thirty percent of our huge country is government owned.  Millions of acres, unavailable to private citizens, are located in areas of unlimited wind and sunlight.  We, the regular people, the voters, need to demand a massive and immediate program to construct huge solar and wind farms to replace nuclear power and fossil fuels as a way of energizing the nation’s electrical grid.  Next we need to demand that speed limits on interstate roads be enforced.  Slowing motorists by ten miles per hour would conserve millions of gallons of gasoline and save countless lives.  Further, we need to elect innovative governors, mayors and school boards who insist that municipal buildings be equipped with solar panels.  Our churches need to set a good example by turning to wind, solar or geothermal sources of energy.  Individual homes, especially new construction, need to go solar.  The process is simple and straightforward.  (See pages 36-41 of the February/March issue of Mother Earth News).  Yes, change is possible, but I am convinced that it will only happen with a grass roots movement.  Both major political parties are inept and paralyzed.  I ask you to spread the word and get involved.  I do not believe that we have much time to waste.  The clock is ticking.