A Big Stink - Guest of Honor

"A Big Stink" is the Chapter title on page 203 of Guest of Honor by Deborah Davis.  Booker T. Washington was the guest of honor at a White House dinner hosted by Theodore Roosevelt on October 16, 1901.  The following day the Washington Post  had one line mentioning the event.  The Atlanta Constitution mentioned 4 important facts.  Firstly, the President had Booker T. at the White House for dinner.  Secondly, all the Roosevelt family was present at the table. Thirdly, Booker T. was in evening dress.  Finally, Booker T. was the first Negro ever entertained at the White House.

By October 17th, the language of the press in the South had changed for the worse. Concerns about miscegenation and the "Negro Aspiration" dominated in the South.   "....this is white man's country. President Roosevelt has committed a blunder that is worse than a crime." Roosevelt, in the minds of the Southerners, had subjected his womenfolk to the indignity of dining at the same table as a man of color. He had undermined family values in America merely by dining with Booker T.

Booker T.'s work as a respected educator was supposedly undone.  He was ridiculed and the negative language extended to Booker T's eldest daughter and the Roosevelt children.   This bit on the President's children reminded me of the big stink made in 2009 about an 11 year old Malia Obama wearing a simple T-shirt with a peace sign.

Even the black newspapers portrayed the dinner in a negative way.  The Charleston Messenger chastised Booker T. claiming that race relations in the South were wonderful before Booker T. came along and messed things up by accepting the dinner invitation.

The post dinner discussion even spread to Europe.  I am on page 217 and I am enjoying this fascinating period of social history as presented by Deborah Davis.

My Dear Mr. President (Roosevelt, that is)

"Can a dinner change history?" That's the first sentence in the introduction to the book, Guest of Honor by Deborah Davis. This is about a dinner at the White House that shocked the nation.  It was hosted by President Theodore Roosevelt with Booker T. Washington as guest of honor on October 16, 1901.  Why was it shocking? Well this was because Booker T. was a man of color. Up to this point in history, no black man had ever been invited to have dinner at the White House so even Booker T. was shocked by the invitation.

The parallel lives of these two men is what this book is about. Two different races, two different social backgrounds yet they developed a special relationship.  I am on page 188.  Theodore Roosevelt wanted to combine business and pleasure so he extended the "scandalous" dinner invitation.  Booker T. would normally turn down social invitations of this kind to avoid crossing the color line. However this time, on his Tuskegee stationery, Booker T. accepted the invitation with the salutation, "My Dear Mr. President."

The book covers social history in a very interesting way, showing us life in the 19th to early 20th centuries.

What are you reading?

I have just finished reading the historical fiction and murder mystery, Dissolution by C.J. Samson.  I would give this 4.5 stars.  I enjoyed the writing and learning about this period in history, the Reformation.  Dissolution is about dissolving the old way of life and making way for the new.  Unfortunately, some of the deceit and cruelty of the old way of life carried over into the new life. Historically, the Dissolution of the Monasteries was a time when King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries initially by forcing the monks to surrender the monasteries and later by encouraging the monks to voluntarily surrender the monasteries to the king .  The monasteries were considered places of deceit, idolatry, and fraud.  Thomas Cromwell, the King's chief secretary and vice general was determined to tear down the buildings, destroy the relics, and seize the land and give it to his cronies.  We will be discussing this book at our book club meeting this month.  This is a reading guide that we use.

I have two books I want to read next. I enjoyed the hunchbacked astute lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, and would like to read the next book in the series, Dark Fire.  However, I also want to read the latest Louise Penny murder mystery, The Beautiful Mystery, and coincidentally the setting for that novel is a monastery in Canada.  The monks in Dissolution were Benedictine monks and in Penny's story they are Gilbertine monks founded by St. Gilbert. My reading list is getting longer and longer.

Dissolution by C. J. Sansom

The setting of Dissolution by C.J. Sansom is a monastery named St. Donatus located in the south east of London in 1537, a time when the country was divided between those loyal to the Roman Catholic Church and those loyal to King Henry V111 and the Reformation.  Matthew Shardlake, the protagonist, is an astute lawyer who is very conscious of his deformity, a hunched back. He believes in reformation but he does not like his boss, Thomas Cromwell.  He was sent by Thomas Cromwell to quietly and discreetly investigate the murder of a Commissioner at the monastery. The Commissioner was stationed at St. Donatus for the purpose of checking out any irregularities, sexual or otherwise, at the monastery.  Naturally, the monks are suspects in his murder but the monks suggest outsiders are to be blamed; smugglers or practitioners of witchcraft.  Shardlake is sent to investigate with only one assistant, young Mark Poer.  

I am on page 180.  So far I am finding the characters at the monastery very interesting. The ones who stand out are the black healer, referred to as an infirmarian, named Brother Guy; Alice, the 22 year old Aide who works in the infirmary; and Brother Gabriel; the librarian and musician who seems to be attracted to Mark.   Brother Guy is referred to as the black goblin by the prejudiced townspeople. In general, the monks who have a monopoly on the brewing of beer, are not liked by the people in the town. For one thing, their beer is filthy with hens dropping dung in the beer. At this point in the story.  Shardlake suspects that the Commissioner may have found some accounting irregularities at the monastery which could be a motive for his murder.

The other books in the series are Dark Fire, Sovereign, Revelation, Heartstone.

Blog Action Day 2012: The Power of We

Blog Action Day (BAD) started in 2007.  BAD has turned out to be very effective in bringing bloggers together from different countries, interests and languages to blog about one important global topic on the same day. Past topics have included water, climate change, and poverty.  Food was last year's theme, that's when I first participated.  Today, October 15th, the theme is the Power of We, a celebration of people working together. 


I am participating in this Blog Action Day to ensure that more and more people will know about the work of this particular organization with regard to the health of women and children.   This is one international body not afraid to reach out to ELIMINATE Maternal/Neonatal  Tetanus (MNT) in Third World countries; it's The Kiwanis Club working with UNICEF

Have you noticed how fearful some people are about the Power of WE?  Why?  Is it that some people are all about the "ME" and so they fear the awesome Power of "WE"?  The irony is that WE have the power to do great things together and at the same time it takes only ONE to step forward.  WE can end poverty, WE can stop stop criminality and end violence, WE can advocate for healthy children.  Only ONE is needed to speak up and get things going.

6 Things to Do:

1. Make a pledge to become an agent of Change in your community.
2. Educate yourself about the issues.
3. Read about Collaboration.  This, after all, is a book blog: Power of WE: Succeeding Through Partnerships,  Collaboration,  Collaborate: The Art of We
4. Keep current by reading the Kiwanis/Eliminate Blog
5. Volunteer time, money, expertise for a worthy cause.
6.  *Speak up about children's health issues!

*If you have issues speaking up, here is another international organization that will help you.  Learn to speak up or hone your communication and leadership skills in a fun and supportive group environment, Toastmasters International.

Man Booker Prize 2012: 6 Finalists

Six books, six authors shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize this year. Apparently this year, the judges have passed over some well known favorites and chosen a new generation of writers which include four first-time novelists.  The winner will be announced on Tuesday.

Hangman's Daughter series

I have finished reading The Dark Monk.  This story reminded me of some of Dan Brown's thriller fictions with the Christian icons, the clues to be solved, a little history, a little mythology, and some crooked monks.   Just as Brown's readers actually visit the Italian sites mentioned in Angels and Demons, the writer seems to be expecting that his readers will be visiting some of  the Bavarian sites mentioned in the story and so he has provided a guide to the sites at the end of the novel.

Also, at the end of the story we get to know a more about the writer Oliver Potzsch and a little bit about the real Jakob Kuisl, the Schongau Hangman and also the writer's ancestor.   Interestingly, there are 14 executioners in Potzsch's family tree. 

There is also a preview of the third book in the series, The Beggar King.  The romance between Magdalena, the Hangman's daughter and Simon the Physician Assistant is moving right along in the first few pages.

I am moving on to another historical fiction, Dissolution by C.J. Samson, our book club pick for November, set in 16th century England.

October Reads

Suggestions for October reading from Oprah's website.  The list includes several non-fiction titles.  There is  Life After Death by Damien Echols, one of the "West Memphis Three".  Also, The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace By Lynn Povich, a story of 36 staff  members, including the writer, who filed a gender discrimination lawsuit in 1970.

I am reading Dark Monk

I am on page 179 of The Dark Monk: a Hangman's Daughter's Tale,  set in 17th century Bavaria. A Knight Templar Master, Friedrich Wildgraf, has hidden a great treasure, possibly large enough to finance wars in Europe.  The Templars wanted to ensure only Christians would find the treasure so there are riddles to be solved, with Biblical vocabulary, and they are planted in various locations.  One was found in a church crypt, another at a basilica, and one more at the ruins of a castle   One of the major characters, Physician Assistant Simon, says the riddle he found at the castle is a prayer and on page 179 it puzzles him that the word TREE, in the prayer/riddle, is capitalized.

In the meantime a priest has been murdered.  The hangman's daughter, Magdalena, has gone shopping for herbs in another town.  The hangman, Kuisl and a group of his fellow citizens have gone out to capture some bandits, The Scheller Gang, who have been ambushing and murdering traders and citizens traveling to and from their town.   The vigilante group led by the hangman seems to have gotten out of hand.  To the disgust of the hangman, women and children were killed.

The first book in the series, The Hangman's Daughter, is our book club pick this month.

Historical Fiction by Oliver Potzsch

I finished reading The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch, set in 17th century Bavaria, a few weeks ago and recommended it as our book club pick for October.  In this story hangman Jakob Kuisl; his daughter Magdalena; and Simon,a Physician's Assistant; try to solve the mystery of a murdered child and to vindicate the midwife accused of murdering the child and practicing witchcraft.  It turns out that this historical fiction is the first of 4 books by Potzsch, a descendant of the Kuisl family.

I have moved on to the second book, The Dark Monk.  I am on page 71.  In this story the hangman, Simon and Magdalena are taking an interest in a priest who was poisoned in the city of Altenstadt.   Simon and Magdalena had a romantic relationship in Book 1 and in Book 2 jealousy is raising its ugly head as Simon seems to have an interest in the dead priest's wealthy sister, Benedikta.  However on page 71, the hangman's attention has to be directed from the mystery of the priest to other matters. He has been assigned the job of leader of a 17th century Bavarian version of  a posse.  He and the townsmen are supposed to hunt down some bandits who have been attacking their city of Schongau.

The Knight Templars is mentioned in this novel.  The church where the dead priest was found was once the headquarters of the Knight Templars; a band of religious zealots with headquarters across Europe originally assigned to guide travelers safely to Israel. The Knights have been mentioned in several novels lately.  I know I read a Steve Berry book about them, Templar Legacy.

Watch a Novel

I heard you dear reader saying, "Yeah right, how do you watch a novel?  Well, read this very interesting article titled, "Watch a novel being written live."  It is about a new trend in writing novels.  Specifically, it is about a project called The Naked Writer  which was launched on September 12th by British fantasy writer Silvia Hartman.  Hartman invited fans to watch her write her novel, "The Dragon Lords" using Google Docs via her social networks.

Also interesting was this storyteller, Willy Shyr, who had a "crowdsourced" novel published by an Australian newspaper titled, The Necklace.  He invited readers to participate in the actual writing of the novel by submitting their own sentences.  We live in a connected world dear reader.