February 24, 2009
Stewart Gordon, '66, MA'67, PhD'72
When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks Who Created the "Riches of the East," Da Capo Press, 2008.
While European civilization stagnated in the "Dark Ages," Asia flourished as the wellspring of science, philosophy and religion. Linked by a web of spiritual, commercial and intellectual connections, the distant regions of Asia's vast civilization, from Arabia to China, hummed with trade, international diplomacy and the exchange of ideas. Stewart Gordon, senior research scholar at U-M's Center for South Asian Studies and author of three books on Asia, has fashioned a compelling look at a time when Asia was the world by relating the personal journeys of Asia's many travelers.
AAUM: What do you mean by the title of your book, "When Asia Was the World"?
In the thousand years from 500 to 1500, Asia was the center of scientific innovation, sophisticated long-distance trade and elegant urban life. Family, intellectual, commercial, philosophic and ambassadorial networks tied Asia into a common world in spite of great oceans, high mountains and vast deserts. Tracing these networks shows that Europe was on the margins of this vibrant, exciting world.
In general, describe Asia during the time period you chronicle in your book.
For men (and some women) with education and skills, Asia was a world of opportunity. Literally hundreds of thousands of people moved across Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Persia and India and on to Southeast Asia and China. They knew where to go to become a government official, a judge, a soldier, the leader of a mosque or a successful trader. So much information flowed across Asia that weavers in western India knew—year by year—what colors of cloth sold well in Indonesia or Egypt. A Tunisian spice trader, resident on the west coast of India, branched out into recasting broken copper and brassware shipped all the way from the Mediterranean and made good money at this 12th century outsourcing.
You base each chapter of the book on the memoir of someone who lived in Asia. Can you name two or three of the most interesting stories and why you chose them?
This is history, not fiction—stories of real people, Asians who lived in this world. I chose people who moved (rather than staying in one city their whole life) and left observant, thoughtful memoirs. We can see life around them through their eyes. I opted for rather ordinary folk who stayed in hostels, caravanserais [roadside inns] or monasteries, people who were like many others who traveled for the same reasons.
One of my favorite travelers is Ibn Sina. Late in the 10th century he was a precocious youth who studied both medicine and neo-Platonist philosophy. It says much about this Asian world that teachers and books were readily available in the Central Asian caravan city of Bukhara where he lived. Through the course of his life, Ibn Sina moved from court to court seeking patronage for his studies. Among dozens of other books, he produced the "Canon of Medicine," which circulated in Arabic from Afghanistan to Spain. It was then translated into Latin and became the most widely used medical book of medieval Europe. Centuries later it was one of Europe's first printed books.
Another favorite is Abraham bin Yiju, a Jewish spice trader who lived on the Malabar Coast of India. His story emerges from more than 150 letters found in a building next to a synagogue in Cairo. Sometimes the letters are so intimate that his feelings flow across 1,000 years and touch the heart. Christian Crusaders kidnapped Abraham's brother and sister and took them to Sicily. He frantically tried to reach them by letter to offer what money and assistance he could. "Would I write all that is in my heart, no letter could contain it."
How did you find these stories?
The accounts were written in many different languages. Fortunately, there has been much academic interest in historical travel accounts in the last 20 years, so scholars have produced translations. I selected the memoirs I used from about 40 that I considered. It took more than a year to find them.
Can we learn from Asia's past to understand its present and predict its future?
We should to keep in mind the long history of networks that cross national boundaries in Asia. We still find them today—in finance, religious institutions, friendship, family and scholarship. These ties are often at least as strong as ties to any country.
Did you write the book for scholars or a more general readership, and what can either audience take away from the book?
A journalist friend challenged me to bring this Asian world alive for a general readership. "When Asia was the World" is the result. The stories contain all the necessary background, in addition to lots of maps and illustrations. It has heartened me that the book, in its first year, is also being taught in high schools, community colleges and universities. The book has been translated into Korean, Indonesian and, most recently, Arabic.
Go online to read more about this author and book.
http://web.mac.com/stewart_gordon
Posted by tobiaslw at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2008
Leslie Carol Roberts, '02
The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica, University of Nebraska Press, 2008.
Leslie Carol Roberts was a Fulbright fellow at Gateway Antarctica, New Zealand, in 2003-04, and spent many hours in polar archives. She currently teaches in the MFA programs in writing and graduate design at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. She has written hundreds of articles and essays for magazines, newspapers and literary journals, including the Bellevue Literary Review, the Christian Science Monitor and the Sydney Morning Herald. In this book, she describes Antarctica as a land of the imagination, shaping and shaped for centuries by explorers, adventurers, scientists and dreamers. She conjures all these ideas and interweaves them with the experience and history of Antarctica, balancing the reality of the frigid outpost populated by a ragtag alliance of international researchers against the crystalline dreamscape of the continent.
AAUM: Explain some of the work you've done in Antarctica and why you traveled there in the first place.
I traveled to Antarctica in 1988 as a reporter on a Greenpeace ship. We visited more than 30 research stations in the Ross Sea, south of New Zealand, and around the Antarctic Peninsula. I have seen more of Antarctica, thanks to Greenpeace, than most people who go. Antarctica, a continent the size of Mexico and US combined, is mainly inhabited by scientists, and they focus their work on narrow stretches of the continent. They dig in deep, but tend not to cover vast stretches like Greenpeace did. Basically, I wrote articles—for the Christian Science Monitor, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Baltimore Sun, among others—about how people lived and worked on the ice.
At that time, Greenpeace had a base in the Ross Sea and was protesting a few things. The first was the destruction of the fragile environment by scientific research stations—there were few protocols for how to handle the disposal of rubbish. So they did things like parking old trucks on the ice and then waiting for them to fall through and "disappear" when the ice melted. The second problem was an international effort to establish mining protocols. The Antarctic belongs to all of us—while there are land claims, these are held in abeyance under the Antarctic Treaty. In the late 1980s, a lot of debate centered on how to mine the sea beds when the technology became available. Greenpeace wanted Antarctica to be declared a World Park, free from all commercial activities.
Why do you find the continent so compelling?
I recall my first iceberg. We steered a course around her and got a good look. Massive green and blue, buffeted by seas and wind, its curvilinear form reminded me of the Taj Mahal. Then, three days later, we arrived in Antarctica, with the 24-hour summer sun lighting up the whole place better than the Emerald City. Penguins porpoised along with us. Orcas followed our wake, perhaps dreaming one of us would fall overboard. Imagine blue and green ice as far as you can see. Imagine tall mountains glistening against a perfect marine-blue sky. Imagine the sound of ancient air, trapped in so many pinprick-sized ice bubbles, slowly pinging open against the waves of the clear, bright sea. Imagine the feeling of being the only person to ever stand on a particular rock.
Your book includes memoirs from other travelers. Please share one or two of the most interesting stories in the book.
Well, being a "polar junkie," I find them all interesting. However, I do find some of the weirder, smaller stories to be among my favorites. Robert Falcon Scott was second to reach the South Pole, arriving on January 17, 1912, to find Roald Amundsen had been there five weeks before. Bitterly disappointed, Scott and his men turned for the coast. They never made it. The cold killed them. Fuel spent, with frostbite eating away at their feet and hands, they were unable to warm themselves or cook essential hot foods, such as hoosh, a calorie-rich mush that was a staple for Antarctic explorers.
One reason many believe they failed was their choice to shave. Yes, they chose to use fuel to melt ice and make shaving water for themselves. This complied with British Naval regulations that stipulated men had to sign a contract that they would be either clean shaven or bearded.
Then there was their choice to not use dogs to pull sledges. Instead, they man-hauled. In the Lyttelton (New Zealand) Museum, next to a calendar commemorating Scott's journey and tragic death, is the mounted head of a dog. This dog, it turned out, was Deek, one of dozens of sledge dogs brought to the Antarctic by Scott. They were used extensively to move food and fuel to the depots set up to aid the trek home from the pole. He did not take them to the pole because that would have required killing them for food on the return journey, a common practice in polar explorations. Deek returned to New Zealand after Scott's death. I found this weirdly ironic: The man wants to spare dogs from the polar walk—first they pulled your sled and then they became dinner on the return journey, which bothered Scott to no end—and then the dogs went home to lead lives of celebrity and comfort. Deek lived on as companion to the mayor of Christchurch.
What is the state of Antarctica now, what with climate change and human tourism?
More than 35,000 tourists went south last season. That's a lot of boats. The MS Explorer sank down there last November. Experienced polar hands were not surprised. Indeed, all have been waiting for this to happen because it’s a hard place to run a ship. The conditions are very dangerous, and you get into larger numbers of voyages and opportunities for disaster rise. Climate change is the number-one focus of Antarctic science. This is truly remarkable when you recall that, until very recently, Antarctica was a place for geologists, physicists and marine biologists, among others, thinking about many different ideas—from Gondwanaland theories of continental breakup and drift, to how benthic fish survive. Now, much of that work has been pushed aside while all eyes and ears focus on the Antarctic as the key lab for understanding climate change. From the ozone hole to how the ice seems to be affected—warming in the peninsula, leading to the disintegration of whole ice shelves (Larsen B and others), to colder interior temperatures.
Do you plan to travel back there?
Yes, I hope to go back in the next couple years. I am working on a book about Admiral Richard Evelyn Bird, the famed American aviator and explorer. I love that man's moxie, and he represents the best of what Antarcticans bring to the world: A taste for the unknown, a belief that exploring the unknown matters more than, say, money, and a desire to throw one's whole body at the world. The world is real to polar explorers. It's not something to be watching on the television or the Internet. This is essentially where my title comes from, the entire earth and sky—that hunger to reach out for it all, to feel it, see it, put it in your mouth. There's nothing better than a fat chunk of Antarctic ice, held in a gloved hand, then cracked into pieces and thrown into a glass of Australian rum.
Posted by lingjiex at 04:59 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2008
Miriam (Hammerman) Goodman, '64
Reinventing Retirement: 389 Bright Ideas about Family, Friends, Health, What to Do and Where to Live, Chronicle Books, 2008.
With 76 million baby boomers on the cusp of retirement, it's time to look beyond finances and examine how ending traditional, full-time work affects every aspect of life. Miriam Goodman interviewed hundreds of retirees, who weigh in on the subjects of home, marriage, family, friends, hobbies, health and even going back to part- or full-time work. Their insights will help readers create their personalized strategy for an active and fulfilling retirement. Goodman is a public relations consultant, journalist, radio producer and Emmy-nominated television producer. She has interviewed more than 1,000 people, from celebrities to diplomats, during her career. She has served on boards of nonprofit organizations in the fields of women’s rights, children’s rights and politics and is known in the San Francisco area for her work in social action causes.
AAUM: Why "reinvent" retirement?
Goodman: We need to reinvent retirement because boomers say they don't want to have the same kind of retirement their parents and grandparents had. Too often in the past, retirement was followed by deterioration—physically and mentally—and boomers are more experienced, educated, healthier, wealthier and, we think, wiser than the previous generations. We reinvented so much along the way, when or whether to have kids, how often we change jobs and spouses, how to question authority—these are all reinventions of boomers. Also, retirees who are 65 today have a good chance of living 30 more years, and we want them to be exciting years, not ones filled with dread.
What are the keys to a successful retirement?
Most of all, one should be free to follow his passion, whether it is music, golf or gardening. You must find something that is meaningful for you. Next, if you are fortunate enough to have a partner, you must both communicate your feelings about your retirement years and not make assumptions about what the other person wants to do. We also must recognize what we took from our work—structure, purpose and a community—and find ways to replicate these things in our post-work lives. So finding a purpose, establishing some kind of structure and participating in your community are other keys to a "successful" retirement.
What’s your best advice to someone preparing for retirement?
We need a plan. It is not good enough to say, "Oh, when I stop working I will find plenty to do." It doesn't work that way. You should have outside interests all through life, whether it is gardening or photography or singing, and then use your retirement to pursue the things you really love. Also, talk to your children about your plans. They may assume you want to be full-time babysitters and then will be disappointed when you take off on a long trip. Communication is key.
What were some of the common problems or challenges you heard about retirement when you wrote your book?
There is a great deal of anxiety involved with retirement. Some women say, "My husband is not allowed to retire." Wives don't want their husbands invading their "space" 24 hours a day, and too many men have no plans and just assume their wives will give up their lives and careers just because he is now home. Another problem is that many people think they must move to a new location without considering the advantages of where they are now. Perhaps the home is already paid for, they know how to get around on public transportation, they like their neighbors and neighborhood. Or they move to be near grandchildren only to discover that the kids are so busy with school and other activities that there is often little time for them to be with grandparents. The biggest challenge is to be true to yourself, understand your own limits and interests, and follow those.
There’s more to retirement than financial planning. What are some of the issues that retirees will have to deal with that they might not anticipate?
Looking for another job, dealing with the loss of self-image that was connected to their work, deciding how they are going to relate to their families. People tell pollsters they want to "give back," but they don't really investigate the volunteer activities and end up in a place where they are unhappy or not needed. People need to "play" again—at sports, at other recreation—and not feel guilty about it.
Were there any interesting stories about retirement that you heard when writing your book—an unusual path someone is traveling during retirement?
I talked to a retired attorney who moved his retirement up to 62 when he realized that most of the people in his mother’s retirement home were women and he wanted to have time to do things before it was too late. He and his wife began studying Italian for a few years and then they moved to Italy for a year. They would have stayed longer had the economy not interfered, but they came back and live full-time in their "vacation" house in the mountains where they have become involved in local politics and where he works on his collection of old cars. They travel every year to some place new. I have to say that women do much better in retirement than men do, perhaps because they have always been multitaskers while many men were involved in only their careers.
Posted by lingjiex at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2008
Julie Halpert, '84, and Deborah Carr
As young women today wrestle with decisions about work and family, they need all the support they can get. But the person whose support they crave most—their mother—often can't get on board. Why does a mother's approval matter so much? And why is it so painful for mothers when daughters choose paths different from theirs? Julie Halpert and Deborah Carr answer these questions by focusing on the issues of dating/marriage, career and child rearing. Relying on interviews with nearly 100 mothers and daughters, and offering tips from more than two dozen therapists, they explore a range of communication issues and how to resolve them.
Julie Halpert is a freelance journalist with more than two decades of experience writing for national publications, including The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Self, FamilyFun and Parents. She has been a contributor to public radio programs such as "The Environment Report," "Marketplace" and "Living on Earth." She lives in Michigan with her husband and three children.
AAUM: Why is the mother-daughter relationship so intense?
Halpert: Mothers and daughters historically have had a closely knit, tight bond. And they tend to share their feelings with one another more than men do. Daughters often look up to their mothers and care about how their mothers view their choices. Mothers often see their daughters as a reflection of themselves, more than they do with their sons.
Why is the relationship between mothers and daughters more strained today than it has been in past generations?
Mothers and daughters have always squabbled. What’s unique about mothers and daughters today is that the two generations have had vastly different upbringings, opportunities and life experiences. Mothers of a generation ago faced far more limited opportunities in the areas of romance, work and childbearing. The two generations are making such fundamentally different life choices today that it inevitably spills over into how mothers and daughters treat one another.
Do you see these problems in certain types of mother-daughter relationships or are they universal?We focused on mothers and daughters who had a fundamentally solid relationship. But the common thread was there were disagreements that created stresses and got in the way of a harmonious mother/daughter bond. Problems were more pronounced when one of the two women took a "my way or the highway" approach and couldn’t understand, respect or validate the other’s choice.
Your book focuses on the core issues of dating/marriage, careers and child rearing—why?Those were the main hot-button issues among the women we interviewed. That’s because women today have so many more options in these areas than their mothers did. So we had many situations where mothers could not relate to their daughters’ choices in these areas. And that made the situation ripe for conflict.
You interviewed nearly 100 mothers and daughters in preparation for writing your book. Can you share one or two interesting or touching stories?I was particularly moved by situations where mothers and daughters rallied around each other. We had one woman who was put on bed rest when pregnant with her twins. Her mother drove three hours round-trip and stayed with her daughter half the week for several weeks to take care of her. The daughter said she instantly felt a feeling of calm once her mom walked through the door. The mother said when you have children you should "be behind them right to the bitter end, through school, going through college and afterward." It was a moving instance of how the mother-daughter bond can help you weather a crisis.
How can the two generations find common ground or at least learn to get along?
Communication is key. Think before you speak. Word your messages in ways that are empathic and understanding, without anger. Try to understand what the motivations are behind the message. Try to learn more about each other. That will pave the way for better understanding.
Did you have a personal motivation to write this book in light of your own relationship with your mother?
My mother is like so many mothers out there today. She is caring and wants what’s best for me. She sees my life as far more chaotic than hers was as a young mother. And she often feels compelled to give me advice on everything from home decorating to how my kids and I wear our hair. I tend to interpret this as criticism, so I’m quite defensive. I wanted to explore a way that other mothers and daughters could get past the sniping and improve their relationships. This book got me there.
Our main message is that two people get along best when they truly understand each other’s motivations for why they’re doing what they’re doing. We encourage mothers and daughters to learn more about one another; those insights will help both generations to be empathetic rather than judgmental.
We also recognize that emotional intimacy and a Lifetime TV mother-daughter moment can’t happen magically. And for some women it won’t happen at all. Some mothers and daughters may have to accept that a "good enough" relationship is just fine.
Posted by lingjiex at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
Susan Tyler Hitchcock, '70, MA'71
Frankenstein: A Cultural History, WW Norton & Company, 2007, $25.95
The Frankenstein story began as the nightmare of an unwed teenage mother in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1816. At a time when the moral universe was shifting and advances in scientific knowledge promised humans dominion over that which had been God's alone, Mary Shelley envisioned a story of human presumption and its misbegotten consequences. That story is still constantly retold and reinterpreted. Author Susan Tyler Hitchcock uses film, literature, history, science and even punk music to help us understand the meaning of this monster made by man.
Susan Tyler Hitchcock's last book was "Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London." Married with two children, she lives near Charlottesville, Virginia.
AAUM: How was the story of Frankenstein conceived?
Hitchcock: The version we tell today took shape in the summer of 1816 as 18-year-old Mary Godwin traveled with her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, and her lover, Percy Bysshe Shelley, to Geneva, Switzerland. They were in search of Claire's intended love, the poet Lord Byron. Godwin and company rented a cottage downhill from Byron's villa, and the group spent many a night together. To amuse themselves, they read from the German ghost story book "Phantasmagoriana," and at some point, Byron challenged his friends to write better. Of the group, three produced works that went into print. Mary Godwin (later to marry and become Mary Shelley) began "Frankenstein." The idea came to her in June 1816; she worked on it through the coming year, and the book was published early in 1818.
What was Mary Shelly's original monster like? What did he symbolize when she wrote him nearly 200 years ago?
When you read the novel for a description of the monster, you come up with very little. He stood eight feet tall, because it was easier for Victor Frankenstein, his creator, to work at that scale. His skin was dull gray, his hair black and stringy, his eyes yellow. He was horrible to look at—but not necessarily horrible inside, and that is one of the central points of the original novel. Mary Shelley uses this juxtaposition to show how society creates evil: when others see this horrible creature, they assume him to be dangerous and attack him. His violence is a response, but it is not inherent. That meaning is one of the key symbolisms in the novel. The other meaning that comes through is an exploration of the limits of human knowledge and the ethics involved in pushing those limits. Victor Frankenstein, in the eyes of many, transgressed because he ventured into realms reserved for God alone. My reading of the novel, though, suggests that the moral message is very ambiguous. We are led both to judge against Frankenstein and to admire his intellect and courage.
What is it about the monster that has captured our imagination and made him an icon?
The story captures the dilemma posed by the human condition: we can imagine far more than we are able to achieve. So are we supposed to push those limits, or are we supposed to be happy with things as they are? There is no easy answer to this question, and it poses itself over and over on the stage of life, both public and private. We ask it and rehearse our answer as we experience the story of Frankenstein again and again. We all have our monsters. In childhood, there are monsters under the bed. In adolescence, it feels like you ARE the monster. In adulthood, we try to forget these fears, but then modern science and technology present the possibilities, very real and horrifying, of monsters among us—whether we are talking about what auto accidents or weaponry can do to human bodies and minds or about the worst-case scenario coming out of the amazing developments in genetic engineering. Monsters lurk in our imaginations all the time, and reliving a story about a monster helps us to come to terms with those fears.
How ubiquitous are the story and the monster in culture?
The actual story of man making a monster has several precursors that came before Shelley's. There is a famous Jewish folktale of the golem, a man made of clay, but I have no evidence that Mary Shelley knew that story. There is the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus, clearly woven into the fabric of Shelley's novel, and in one version he is portrayed as the creator of humans, having made man out of clay and then having given him the gift of fire, for which Zeus punished him mercilessly. Shelley's novel is subtitled "The Modern Prometheus," and in many ways Victor Frankenstein's saga mirrors that ancient Greek myth. Since Shelley's telling of the story, though, "Frankenstein" has become the seminal myth for the making of human life, and it has been retold hundreds, maybe thousands, of times around the world, in specific recreations and in allusions over and over.
What are some of the most interesting, or your favorite, representations of the monster?
Over these years of considering "Frankenstein," I have come to have a deeper and deeper respect for Boris Karloff's portrayal of the monster in the first two Universal films, "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein." Although the script he was given encouraged a mindless, heartless, born-to-be monster, Karloff gave that character such a depth of soul. His version of the story did as much to keep the monster myth alive as anything else since the novel was written.
One of my favorite appearances is in a little-known 1970s-era Spanish film titled, in English, "The Spirit of the Beehive." It tells the story of a girl coming of age in Franco's Spain, and the Karloff-created monster symbolizes all the fears of adulthood, violence and sexuality that one must come to terms with as one becomes an independent adult. Putting it into words spoils the film, which is quiet and subtle and beautiful. It's definitely worth seeing.
This is going to sound very silly, but another of my favorites is a tabletop toy I bought one Halloween. He stands about a foot high and is a chunky plastic version of the Karloff monster. Push a button at his feet, and it looks like he's doing the Twist to the tune of "Monster Mash."He makes everyone happy—everyone loves to push that button and dance along.
As a collector of "Frankensteiniana," you seem to have a personal fascination with the story. What is it about Frankenstein that compels you?
I'm fascinated by the ambiguity of the monster—something we fear and love at the same time. Because there is no simple moral message, but a vibrating balance between good and bad, repulsion and attraction, the story can be told and interpreted endlessly. To me, such stories are more true to life than the ones with a simple, happy—or bluntly sad—ending. We are all bundles of contradictions, and exploring the monster and the myth, therefore, helps us sort through those complexities.
Posted by lingjiex at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2008
Lois Gordon, '60
The only child of an English baronet and heir to the Cunard shipping fortune, Nancy Cunard abandoned the world of a celebrated socialite to pursue a lifelong battle against social injustice as a wartime journalist, humanitarian aid worker, and civil rights champion. Her involvement with the civil rights movement led her to be ridiculed and rejected by both family and friends. Throughout her life, she was plagued by insecurities and suffered a series of breakdowns, struggling with a sense of guilt in response to her mother's constant criticism of her as "worthless" and the sexual promiscuity she initiated as a response to the carnage of World War I. Her friend William Carlos Williams called her an "ascetic voluptuary," providing soldiers a talisman against likely maiming or death.
AAUM: What was Nancy's childhood like?
Gordon: Although she was born into great privilege, her mother made it clear that having a child was "the lowest thing" that could happen to a woman. Nancy, who was highly intelligent and sensitive, was raised by 40 servants and strict, punitive tutors. She spent an isolated childhood either reading and writing or observing her unfaithful mother entertain lovers during weekend parties. She was forever confused by the strict rules she was forced to obey while no one else followed any rules.
How was her life event-filled?
She was an iconic figure of the 1920s—the Cunard heiress who was both very beautiful and who set the fashion styles. Reporters followed her everywhere to describe her short cropped hair, dark eye makeup, long beads and short skirts. She also participated in the art circles that defined Modernism, and many called her the "Gioconda of the Age," while "lovely enough to seduce a saint." Her lovers—and all wrote extensively about her in their work—included Ezra Pound, Aldous Huxley, Louis Aragon, Tristan Tzara and the Nobel Prize winners T.S. Eliot, Pablo Neruda and Samuel Beckett. She also was sculpted many times by Brancusi, photographed by Man Ray and Cecil Beaton, and painted by Kokoshka, Wyndham Lewis and numerous others.
But didn't she want to be more than that?
Yes—to be a poet, and she did publish excellent poetry. But it was "reviewed" in terms of her wardrobe or rebellion against her class and its expectations. So she started the very successful Hours Press, publishing the first work of Samuel Beckett and Pound's "XXX Cantos." Then, on vacation in Venice, she met a black jazz pianist from America, Henry Crowder, and began a long love affair with him. This was the beginning of her education into American racism and it precipitated a lifetime commitment to social causes.
After an enormous amount of research and travel, she published "Negro" in 1934. This was an 855-page compendium of the history and achievement of Africans throughout the world. Her mother disinherited her, and they never spoke again. Her second greatest cause was the Spanish Civil War, when she reported for the Manchester Guardian from the fronts. After Franco's victory, Nancy was one of very few reporters to remain in Spain, and she described—and this is now entering the history books—France's complicity with Franco in opening concentration camps for the Spanish Republicans, camps later used by Vichy collaborationists during World War II. She reported the torture she witnessed and worked both to smuggle prisoners to her home in France and to find them refuge in Central and South America. She was jailed many times but continued her underground activities against Franco.
It sounds like you really came to admire Nancy.
I grew to love Nancy. The more I learned about her, the more I admired her. The book was truly a labor of love. I am convinced that she is one of the most remarkable women who ever lived. She gave so much, and I want her to gain the recognition she deserves.
The author: Lois Gordon, distinguished professor of English at Fairleigh Dickinson University, is internationally known for her work in drama and American culture. She is the author of the first book in the United States on Harold Pinter, and her most recent books include "Pinter at 70," "The World of Samuel Beckett, 1906-1946," "Reading Godot" and "American Chronicle: Year by Year Through the Twentieth Century," a classic reference on American culture.
Posted by tobiaslw at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2007
Jennifer Allison
Did you always see yourself as a published author?
I always thought of myself as a writer, but it was an evolutionary process. I was always drawn to liberal arts and English classes at Michigan, and I loved writing and was interested in using my writing skills in some way.
What made you decide to write children’s literature?
I had an opportunity to live in Oxford, England, for a couple of years. England has a strong interest in children’s literature–it’s part of their culture, and they have some great children’s bookstores there. I would visit and browse through them, and it inspired me. I also lived in San Francisco, which has some interesting neighborhoods and quirky houses. Exploring the area sparked my imagination. Venturing through the area, I wondered what kinds of people live in those houses. It was while I was living in San Francisco that I got the idea for Gilda.
You recently returned to U-M to speak to students about your writing. What value do you think that provides students?
I went to the Residential College and talked with students about the process of putting a book together and getting published. Hearing someone’s experiences is inspirational and lets them know it can be done if they put their mind to it. However, it’s difficult to get published, especially in children’s literature. Sometimes the process can take years. I developed Gilda and worked on it off and on for about two years. The one thing I wanted to convey is that the process is an interesting and necessary journey to learn about your craft and to expand your skills. The field is very competitive and you might have to write many manuscripts before you figure out what story will get people excited enough to pick up the book and read it.
What’s Gilda’s next adventure?
There’s a sequel coming out in May titled, “Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake.� Gilda gets a scholarship to attend a private girls’ school in Michigan. She discovers a secret society among the girls and she uncovers one of their secrets. I’m not sure how many sequels there will be, but it will at least be a trilogy.
Note: “Gilda Joyce: Private Investigator� has been named one of the Best Books of 2005 by the School Library Journal.
Posted by tobiaslw at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2007
Ruth Reichl, '68, MA'70
In the summer issue of Michigan Alumnus, we review Ruth Reichl's memoir "Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise." Reviewer Stephen Rosoff writes, "Reichl's many gifts as a writer and storyteller are on full display here: the lyrical and inventive prose, the eye for compelling detail, the insightful self-reflection and the even more perspicacious social commentary. This rich, warm and witty narrative is deeply satisfying, full of flavor and nuance. Reichl serves up her best dish yet."
Read an excerpt from "Garlic and Saphhires" below.
"I'm a restaurant critic," I told the woman in the wig shop, "and I need a disguise that will keep me from being recognized."
"That's a new one on me," she said. "Do you have a special restaurant you're working on at the moment?"
"Yes," I said, remembering the fragrant aroma of the soup I had eaten on my last visit to Lespinasse. When I dipped my spoon into the broth shimeji mushrooms went sliding sensuously across my tongue with the lush texture of custard. I tasted lemongrass, kaffir lime, mushroom and something else, something that hovered at the edge of my mind, familiar but elusive. I took another taste and it was there again, that sweetness, hiding just behind the citrus. It came whirling into my consciousness and then slid maddeningly away before I could identify it.
"The food was wonderful," I told her, "but I think they made me. Everything's been just a little too perfect. So I want a foolproof disguise."
"Try this," she said, opening a drawer and pulling out a cascade of hair the color of Dom Perignon. As the wig caught the light the color changed from pearl to buttercup.
The hair fell across my face as gently as silk. I squeezed my eyes tight, not wanting to look until it was seated right. I could feel it settle into place, feel the soft strands graze my shoulders just below my ears.
"Wait!" she cried as my eyes started to open, and she leaned forward and tugged at the wig, adjusting it. "Okay," she said at last, "you can open your eyes now."
The champagne blonde in the mirror did not seem to be wearing a wig. The hair looked real, as if it were growing out of the scalp. Even the dark eyebrows looked right, as if this woman had so much confidence she didn't care who knew that she dyed her hair. My mouth dropped open. "Oh!" I said stupidly, "oh my."
I don't think I would have recognized myself if we had met walking down the street, and I had yet to put on any makeup. Somehow this cut, this color, made my cheeks pink, my eyes almost violet, my lips seem redder than they had ever been. I felt new, glamorous, bursting with curiosity. What would life be like for the woman in the mirror?
"You were meant to be blonde!" cried the saleswoman, packing the wig into an old-fashioned hatbox. She looked wistfully at the hair and said, "You'll come back and tell me what happens, won't you?"
"You mean whether I'm recognized at Lespinasse?"
"Well," she said, "that too. But what I mostly want to know is—do blondes really have more fun?"
Posted by tobiaslw at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)
Sam Apple, '98
In the spring issue of Michigan Alumnus, we review Sam Apple's charming travelogue, "Schlepping Through the Alps: My Search for Austria's Jewish Past With Its Last Wandering Shepherd." As reviewer Jack Lessenberry puts it, "Schlepping" is likely to be Apple's "first act in a brilliant, if not easily classified, literary career."
Award-winning author and former U-M professor Charles Baxter says, "In this wonderful book, Sam Apple has written a brilliantly comic and very dark pastorale about shepherds, Nazis and Jews, modern-day Austria, love and fidelity, and he has done it with such subtlety—with bright colors at the center and darkness around the edges—that the effect is quite singular. I have never read a book quite like this, and I loved it. It's that simple."
Read a Q&A with Apple to learn how he embarked on his fascinating journey.
So how did you meet an Austrian wandering shepherd who is also a Yiddish folksinger?
I first met Hans in New York in July of 2000. A friend had forwarded me an email announcement from a small Yiddish cultural outfit called Yugntruf (A Call to Youth), which was sponsoring a concert and slide show by Hans at New York University. The email described Hans as a wandering shepherd, a folksinger, and a peripatetic philosopher. Since it's not every day I have the opportunity to meet someone with those three attributes, I immediately emailed my RSVP for the event. Hans had made it to North America thanks to a traveling Yiddish theater troupe that had discovered him in Austria and invited him to a Klezmer festival in Canada.
What made you decide to write a book about Hans?
Well, I was extremely interested in the novelty of his lifestyle, but what really convinced me to go to Austria and write a book about Hans wasn't the shepherding or the Yiddish singing but what I learned about him from our first discussion after his concert in New York. Hans spent his childhood fighting what he saw as the lingering Nazism in Austrian society. And so in telling the story of how Hans became a wandering shepherd, I realized I would also be telling the story of Austria's struggle to overcome its Nazi past. Austria's story seemed especially relevant when I met Hans in the summer of 2000. Just months before, Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party had experienced a real triumph at the polls, and—to the shock of Europe and much of the world—joined the Austrian government. This meant that some 55 years after World War II, a party with deep Nazi roots was suddenly in seat of power in Austria. I wanted to understand how that could happen.
Is Austria still, in any sense, a Nazi country?
It's a hard question to answer in a short space. Austria clearly still has a lot of work to do in coming to terms with its past. Unlike Germany, Austria never underwent a genuine de-Nazification program and so many of the issues that should have been addressed decades ago are only coming to the surface now. Despite the troubling election of 1999, I do think there has been progress in the last decade. It used to be that Austrians largely denied the country's role in the Holocaust, preferring to see Austria as "Hitler's first victim." Now, I'd say there's much less denial, but still not a widespread willingness to openly talk about Austria's role. I don't think a political party like Austria's Freedom Party could have risen to power in Germany in the 21st Century, and the fact that it happened in Austria reveals a great deal.
Is this book as much about you as it is about Hans and Austria?
I never intended it to turn out that way. In fact, in some of my earliest drafts, I'm not in the book at all. But it didn't take long for me to realize that I was in no position to write an objective analysis of Austrian Nazism or anti-Semitism. I was carrying far too much baggage from a childhood spent with a grandmother who, as I say in the book, was as clear on the distinction between Jew and Gentile as any self-respecting anti-Semite. Nor was I really able to write about Hans objectively. He is such an openly emotional man that I couldn't help but get drawn into his story on a personal level. In the end, I just had too much of an emotional stake in the material, and I didn't want to try and hide it.
You mention your grandmother. What else in your upbringing as a Jewish American influenced your views of Austria and anti-Semitism?
I knew very little about Austria prior to my trip. I was aware that Hitler was an Austrian and I recall hearing relatives mumble that the Austrians were "even worse than the Germans" but I had no real sense of why they said it, or what, precisely, they meant. Like many Jews who were born after the Holocaust, I grew up with the idea that anything related to Germany or the German language was tinged with evil, and Austria certainly fit into that category. But the real distinction in my mind was less between Jew and German than between Jew and Gentile. My grandmother Bashy was suspicious of almost all Gentiles and so the Germans/Austrians were, in a sense, simply the goyim at their worst. Growing up in America this was all extremely confusing because my own experience of Gentiles couldn't have been more different from the lurking villains of Bashy's childhood in Lithuania. I think that anti-Semitism can be an especially tricky phenomenon for American Jews to make sense of because doing so requires separating the historical (and, in many places, ongoing) narrative of anti-Semitism from the reality of the American Jewish success story. As an adult, I was beginning to sort through some of these nuances, but once I arrived in Austria, the Bashy part of my brain completely took over. I really felt like I was entering the lair of the enemy and it inevitably colored every experience I had in the country. On the one hand, I was without question being extremely neurotic. On the other hand, I wasn't in America anymore. I was in Austria and 27 percent of the Austrians had just voted for Joerg Haider's Freedom Party.
What was it like living with a wandering shepherd?
I enjoyed it at the time, but I also came to see how quickly the wandering life could lose its romantic luster. Hans spends most nights in a trailer that would make most mobile homes seem luxurious. I had the special privilege of being a lamb herder, meaning I walked at the back of the flock to make sure that no lamb was left behind. I quickly discovered that walking behind a flock of 625 sheep means thinking a lot about sheep shit. I also discovered that Hans's herding dogs, cute though they are, can be ferocious wolf-like creatures. A lot of my energy was devoted to staying out of their way.
Posted by tobiaslw at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)
Jeff Libman, '85
In the winter 2005 issue of Michigan Alumnus, we reviewed Jeff Libman's "An Immigrant Class: Oral Histories From Chicago's Newest Immigrants." The book offers a fascinating insight into the lives of 20 immigrants who made Chicago their new home.
Libman spent four years interviewing former students from his English as a Second Language class at Harry S. Truman College in Chicago. He asked them about their lives in their native lands, why they came to the United States, how they perceive lives in their new country and more. The portrait that is painted by their stories and the accompanying photos taken by former Michigan Daily photographer Steve Kagan, '96, captures the intimate details of their lives while also revealing something about our own. Through the descriptions of how newcomers see us, Libman explains, "We're not just learning about immigrants, we're learning about ourselves." The book opens with a foreword by Phil Ponce, JD'74, an award-winning broadcast journalist from Chicago.
We interviewed Libman to learn how he created "An Immigrant Class."
What prompted you to begin this project?
This book project had to do with my experience working with immigrants and refugees and teaching adult immigrants on a daily basis. This is a group that has voices that are frequently unheard in mainstream American culture. There are language and cultural barriers. Most immigrants are tied up with the pressure of the day-to-day routine of working, trying to get educated, improve, just like all of us.
Ten percent of the American population is foreign born. Twenty-three percent of the population of Chicago is for born. Given the feeling and the ideas that have arisen after the events of 9/11, we need to understand the humanity behind the stereotypes people can make and the fears that grow out of people who speak or dress differently…They're for the most part trying to struggle, survive and improve just like all of us.
How did you choose the 20 people you featured in the book?
They were all former students of mine. On one level, it was a super advantage because there was already a level of trust. Those who agreed to talk were comfortable about sharing who they were. I don't think if that would have been possible if I'd just walked into the community.
Two, I wanted to get a cross section of the various parts of the world that peoople are coming from, the reasons people are coming to the United States—green card lottery winners, refugees, marrying an American, tourists, work visas. I wanted that to be a part of the story.
I also wanted people who could speak English well enough that they could communicate in this new language of theirs to the predominantly English reader. I thought that was powerful for the reader.
Why did you choose to feature the stories as oral histories rather than writing third person stories about each immigrant?
During my years in the documentary film business, I became fascinated with the power of the spoken word and the voices of individuals. Ultimately, I believe we are each the most genuine tellers of our own stories. Not everybody is the best storyteller, but that is part of the story. Whether it is the mundane or the magnificent, I wanted each immigrant in the book to speak directly to the reader. I wanted to take away as many filters as possible to bring the reader as close to the experience of each person as possible; creating the feeling that each person in the book is speaking directly to the reader. I believe there is a level of authenticity and democracy in oral histories that is lost in third person narratives. Reading oral histories is an exercise in focused listening, something we seem to do less and less of these days.
Two other Michigan grads, Steve Kagan, '96, and Phil Ponce, JD'74, were involved in the book. How did you end up working with them?
I didn't come to Steve because he was a Michigan grad, but his name came to me because he had done some good work. He was excited about the project. I liked his approach to making images and his commitment to the idea of making the project. We only knew about our connection to Michigan a month or two after working together.
I approached Phil—I knew a bit of his background. He's a personality in Chicago that is fairly prominent to the media. The connection became something for us all to laugh about.
What do you want readers to take from "An Immigrant Class"?
Each person will come away from "An Immigrant Class" with his or her own ideas. The book was a project in listening. We all have a story, and I believe when we take the time to listen to each other, we can build understanding and compassion and erase the stranger in each other. I spent hundreds of hours listening to stories, and I think this is one of the greatest lessons of the book. I think when we take the time to listen, we can see and hear the humanity in everyone. When we do that, we can break down our own stereotypes and prejudices about immigrants or anyone, and see the "us" in "them" and vice versa. In most ways, the people in "An Immigrant Class" are no different than anyone else. They have dreams and desires. They have faced hardship and disappointment. They have experienced success and discrimination. Immigrants and refugees have faced more difficult times in the United States after 9/11, and I think "An Immigrant Class" can be a productive addition to the conversation about immigration and the humanity behind the myths.
What's next for you?
I still teach ESL. It's more than full-time in a way, though they consider me part-time. I think I'm going to do another oral history project. I've got some ideas, but it will be a year before I start. I don't think it will deal specifically with immigrants, but with another class of unheard voices.
For more information on Libman and his work, visit his Web site at www.animmigrantclass.com.
Posted by tobiaslw at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2007
James Dale, '70
The Obvious: All You Need to Know in Business. Period., Hyperion, 2007, $17.95
The secrets to success in business aren’t secrets at all. They’re obvious, so obvious that they’ve mostly been taken for granted or ignored. James Dale has compiled words to live by, lucid truths as likely to be found in a fortune cookie as an MBA textbook. And the beauty of it is, regardless of the job the same principles yield the same results, and they’re always effective. While all of Dale’s advice is obvious, its implementation isn’t. He shares ways in which any businessperson can carry out these simple lessons and achieve success.
James Dale is co-founder of the business consulting firm Richlin/Dale and the co-author of numerous books. He is former president and CEO of advertising agency WB Doner & Co., whose clients included Klondike Ice Cream, Arby’s, British Petroleum, Chiquita and Verizon Wireless.
AAUM: If these rules are obvious, why do we need a book about them?
Dale: I think that the simple answer is these principles are so obvious, they’re overlooked. We have them stored somewhere in our brain, but they’re taken for granted. Despite the fact that the principles are obvious and that they work, they have not been assembled in one place. In some very sophisticated business books, very accomplished executives will list maybe three principles and illustrate them with their own experience. I thought it would be valuable to collect them all in one place.
What are some of the obvious principles?
There are many, of course. One of my personal favorites is “honesty is the most powerful weapon in business.” It’s used so little that its use is literally suprising and refreshing. People, for some reason, have a penchant for not telling the truth. But if you do tell a lie, it often requires a second one, a sure sign you shouldn’t have told the first one. My experience is if you have bad news, tell it and get it over with. If you are known as a person who tells the truth, people will want to do business with you. Lately we’ve seen high-powered people who’ve not told the truth and gotten in trouble for it.
Are these principles universal or better suited to specific jobs, such as a salesperson or manager?
I think they’re universal, but they’re most applicable and usable by people entering the workforce or in the early stages of a career. We, as humans, are less accepting of advice as we get older. A younger person who is highly ambitious can put them to work right away. Entrepreneurs are also more inclined to embrace these principles because they’re more open to ideas.
Where did you arrive at these principles? On the job? In the classroom? From mentors?
I was in a meeting one day, bored in a board meeting, and saw some people practicing bad listening. The corporation in this case was going to make a statement to the public and press that was going to be rejected. Yet they weren’t listening. That struck me, and I went back to my office and realized there are a lot of principles like this. I kept a notebook over the next couple of months and collected 60, 80, 100 of these examples.
Some of your principles are not so obvious, for example, “Failure is good.”
If you don’t do something or try something, you’ll fail. For example, if you don’t call on a prospective client because he or she might not like your proposal, you’ll be safe for a little while, but you’ll ultimately fail by not getting any new business. Failure is a fantastic teacher, and the world is full of these great failures who fail and move on. For example, Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear on his first automobile. Michael Jordan was cut from the high school basketball team. John Grisham was rejected by agents and publishers. One of the great examples of failure and success combined in one was Babe Ruth, who set the record for the most homeruns and the most strikeouts. If he didn’t step up and try to hit the ball, he wouldn’t have hit so many homeruns.
Posted by tobiaslw at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)