(I wrote this copy last year for the Southern Reporter)
Just 3 days after an earthquake hits our region, Jay Feldman appears on C-SPAN2’s Book TV discussing, When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes. The book’s March 2005 debut eerily coincides with three quakes of 4.0 magnitude in our New Madrid seismic zone since February tenth.
Adding to the coincidences, the book also appears on my desk Friday afternoon. The same day, an excited patron relates his reaction to the early Thursday morning tremors of June 2, felt in his vegetable garden. Therefore, I had to read this book; Mother Nature herself created the hype.
By weaving three stories together, author Feldman has managed to keep his book from becoming stagnated like the Coldwater Bottoms.
The first story opens with Creek Indians meeting in the woods. Great Indian Warrior Tecumseh is rallying them to action against the whites with another powerful speech. When the Indians refuse to join his uprising, he prophesizes, upon his arrival at Detroit, he will stomp his feet and the earth will tremble. Later that year, the earth does tremble and a wall of water destroys their village.
Drunken slave owner, Lilburne Lewis and equally drunk brother Isham, nephews of Thomas Jefferson, have gathered their male slaves in the cookhouse. In this second story, Slave George is in trouble. He is spread eagle on the floor, as the other slaves must watch his brutal execution. Once dead, the slaves are instructed to dismember and burn the body in the cook’s fire place. Later that night the earth shakes, toppling the chimney and preserving evidence to the horrendous crime.
Feldman encompasses these stories with the fascinating tale of the first steamboat to travel down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Captained by Nicholas Roosevelt, great-grand uncle to Theodore Roosevelt, the newly constructed New Orleans is a joint venture with the famed Roberts, Fulton and Livingston.
Nicholas and Lydia, 24-years younger and very pregnant wife, transverse the dangerous “Falls of the Ohio” which induces Lydia’s birth. The couple, having survived the early perils, feels the rest of the trip will churn smooth like butter. That is until they wake up to discover their beloved New Orleans moving up the river without the aide of steam.
This is a must read for anyone interested in history, the Mississippi River, or the largest earthquake North America has ever recorded. Reel Foot Lake’s formation is also covered and debunks the story I heard as a child. Feldman makes a nice transition into the War of 1812 as he wraps up the aftershocks and their results.
For younger readers, try Judith St. George’s The Amazing Voyage of the New Orleans. Released in 1980, the book still captures the dangers and trails of being the first steamboat to successfully navigate the treacherous, snag laden Mississippi River. Not only did it encounter the surprise earthquake, but survived the “Falls of the Ohio” and a boiler fire. Great for second—fifth graders, especially boys, and the illustrations have hidden humor, kids love pointing out.
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Monday, July 31, 2006
When the Mississippi Ran Backwards (copy)
Blog Eyed!
Blog photo everyone uses to look mysterious… 
Professional Photographer Please!
One with the fuzzy lens!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Sandy, Baby!
We brought home a new edition to our family today. Sandy, originally named Julie, is settling in quite well, but we have yet to hear her purr. The helpful staff and volunteers gave us sound advice and she has used her new box without any oops. Now, she is resting at my feet, see pic below…
This is the ad for Sandy, and the nice volunteer told us she just got her picture on the website at noon today. We went in to get Rose, my husband wanted a cat that didn’t like competition, and I didn’t care. (He knows I would take them all!) Julie's story was heart breaking and we drove over an hour to see her and Rose...
Collierville Animal Services
Collierville, TN
901-457-2670
Cat
Domestic Short Hair - buff and white
Size: Medium
Age: Adult
Sex: Female
Notes: Now here's a story that will break your heart. A car pulls up early one morning, the occupant finds the front door unlocked, the lobby empty, and proceeds to throw a cat inside and speed away just as an employee comes in from the back. This poor baby huddled in a corner, scared half to death, as our employee tried to figure out WHAT had just happened. We have named her Julie; she is declawed and already spayed. Whoever did this doesn't deserve her anyway. She is safe and loved here and we will do whatever we can to find someone who will love her always...
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (copy)
Nothing is better than sitting in a cool theatre, watching a summer blockbuster; one gets a break from the heat and entertained at the same time. Well, after viewing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, the second best thing is to read a nautical tale.
This week I chose The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This true story first appeared as a series of articles in a Colombian newspaper, El Espectador. Sailor Luis Velasco was tossed overboard the Colombian naval destroyer Caladas, during a routine trip from Mobile, Alabama, to Cartagena, Colombia. He was at sea, devoid of food and water, for ten days.
Once on dry land, Velasco became an instant national hero, “kissed by beauty queens, made rich through publicity,” but unable to tell his real story. After a year of publicity rounds, sporting his unstoppable watch and inedible sneakers, he showed up on the steps of Bogota’s El Espectador.
At the time, the newspaper was in its infancy with a director, editor-in-chief and staff reporter all under the age of thirty. Colombia, ruled by military and social dictator General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, played down the true events and Velasco’s vastly publicized story had a certain sugary taste.
Author Garcia Marquez was the lone reporter assigned Velasco’s story—a story, which eventually saw the demise of El Espectador, not because of Marquez’s writing ability (he became a Nobel winner in 1982) but rather Velasco’s proof, as in photographs, to damage Pinilla’s government.
Apparently, there was some contraband loaded on the destroyer’s deck, which added instability to the craft. Were they transporting atomic weapons? Not really, they loaded on the regime’s refrigerators, washers and dryers, televisions and air conditioners. So much so, the weight and balance was out of kilter, and the ship began to list.
After midnight, an order came from the loudspeaker, “All personnel to the port side.” At 11:30 the following day, the order again reissued. This time Velasco and shipmates were on watch, not safe in their bunks. At 11:50, one of the many forceful waves knocked some crates loose, and as they began to slide into the sea, eight sailors seeking shelter from the waves went with them.
On February 28, 1955, seven crewmembers lost their lives because, “ill-secured moral and political cargo,” repressed the large destroyer from maneuvering to save them.
This is the story of one man surviving ten grueling days at sea. These few paragraphs are just the beginning; it is up to you to read a budding master at his craft.
“Aye, ‘tis good reading to be sure.”
Sunday, July 23, 2006
The Mermaid Chair (notes)
“Submerged, I would always go off into a dreamy state. I had always loved Chagall’s Lovers in the Red Sky, his painting of an entwined couple soaring above rooftops, above the moon. The image would come to me each time I sank into the wave, the couple sometimes flying through a red sky but more often swimming in searing blue water.Other times I would think of the mermaid Chagall had painted, suspended above the water, above the trees, a flying mermaid, but without wings, and I would think of Thomas saying he envied mermaids who belonged to the sea and to the sky” p129 ~ Sue Monk Kidd
How effective is art in visualizing a mood if the reader is unfamiliar with the piece?
Friday, July 21, 2006
July 7, 2006
Pete and I toured the streets of Charlottetown, PEI today. Without order, we explored the marinas and discussed the architecture, when a small sign caught my attention. Located at the corner of two streets, the sign claimed, “local books ahead.” I hastily took hold of Pete and swung us ‘round the corner, my appetite whetted by imagined stories of local folklore and ghosts.
Upon entering, I cried out, “Where are your local books!” The jovial bookseller pointed me in the right direction and added his recommendations on the latest. As I shopped, he put on a fresh pot of coffee and the little book nook took on a heady scent.
My host, a cheeky old salt, with rousing beard and salaciously witty manners, had a Gordon’s Fisherman appearance. It is with professional curiosity I asked him which genre he preferred to read. He likes a good mystery or thriller, quick to point out the new Evanovich, but in truth, he leans less towards the genres and more towards the books of substance.
My question, “Would that be the substance of learning in non-fiction or the substance of literary fiction?”
My short Hemingwayish peddler said he enjoyed the writings of modern literary greats like Nobel Prize winner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. As he named his favorites among Senor Marquez’s works, I thought it about time to tackle “Love in the Time of Cholera.” I mean RA is more effective when one actually reads the recommended books.
To this Papa I owe a gift. What recommendation can I possibly make as equal?
PEI's best bookstore is called The Reading Well.
