Bibliophile

Tis the season for "best of" lists. If you are a book lover, read on.

I am guessing Amazon pings you regularly with suggestions. But they use some algorithm based on your buying and browsing habits. Instead of relying on Amazon to tell you what you should read, try the Literature Map app:  https://www.literature-map.com/   This nifty little tool will identify authors with an affinity to those you like, the closer the proximity, the more similar.

I here offer you here some book recommendations based on actually having read them. This list is culled from what I read in 2018 although few if any of these books were written in 2018.  Of course, everyone has a different idea of what constitutes a good book. Just check a few critics. So, this list may ring hollow to you but perhaps you'll discover a new author that tickles your fancy. 

Forewarning:  I tend to read mostly fiction because ....  according to Harvard Business Review & Scientific American.  
"... we have known for a while that people who are most successful ... read fiction. And people who read fiction have more empathy, no matter where they land on the gender or personality trait spectrum ... and exposure to nonfiction correlates with loneliness and lack of social support."

All well and good but when it gets down to it, I read fiction because it can transport you to places and times you would never be able to visit or imagine. 

So here's my best of 2018 list - unranked, rather alphabetic by author name ..

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

An terrific novel about a clever architect who secretly devises ingenious hiding places for Jews in World War II Paris

Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

The English language and how it got that way from the inimitable Bill Bryson.

Moonglow by Michael Chabon

A dying “my grandfather” tells his story to the narrator. Jewish slums of prewar South Philadelphia, the invasion of Germany, a Florida retirement village, a New York prison, the heyday of the space program ... collapsed into a single week. 

Work Song by Ivan Doig

A wonderful story set in Butte, Montana, the copper mining capital of the world in its Anaconda dominated 1919. 

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

The first of the Claire Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne crime series. An Episcopal priest and an upstate New York sheriff. Ripping good yarns.

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowlings using her alter-ego pen name Robert Galbraith and a curmudgeonly character, amputee private eye, Cormoran Strike. This is book #4 in the Cormoran Strike series. You might want to start with #1 The Cuckoo's Calling.

Alan Turing: The Enigma by Anthony Hodges

The biography of Alan Turing, British mathematician, founder of modern computer science, Bletchley Park cracker of the Nazi enigma code and tragic death by suicide at age 41.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

A black writer writing of the black experience in the south in 1930's America. "Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature."  The Florida hurricane segment is gripping.

A Legacy of Spies by John LeCarre

The sequel to A Spy Who Came in From the Cold (read or re-read that first) This is that same story from the MI5 administrator side of the house.

How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

An examination of the history of the breakdown of democracies throughout the world and the relevance to today. 

The Coffee Trader by David Liss

Cornering the coffee market in Amsterdam in 1659. Modeled after the actual tulip mania and the Dutch financial crash in the 17th century.

A Man With One of Those Faces by Coimh McDonnell

Book 1 of the Dublin Trilogy. "The Troubles" crime story.  Entertaining, witty writing.

Kristin Lavransdatter: The Bridal Wreath by Sigrid Undset

Book 1 of the trilogy by the Nobel Prize winning Norwegian author. 14th century Norway.

The Free by Willy Vlautin

Three memorable characters: a brain damaged veteran of Iraq, a caring nurse and a care worker impoverished by medical bills working 2 full-time jobs.  " .. issues facing modern America, characters who are looking for a way out of their financial, familial, and existential crises". Inspires both compassion and admiration.

Consider the Lobster and other essays by David Foster Wallace

A collection of essays covering a variety of topics from John McCain's presidential run to a lobster fest in Maine.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

A poverty stricken Louisiana family trying to survive Hurricane Katrina.

Dirt Music by Tim Winton

Set in Western Australia. A broken man whose entire family were killed in a rollover accident and now makes his living as an illegal fisherman. Before the tragedy, he counted stars and loved playing his guitar. Now, his life has become a “project of forgetting.”"

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin

Lutheran Blood Sport

In 1996, I attended a choral concert at Skoglund Center in Northfield, where the choirs of Augsburg, Concordia, Gustavus, Luther & St. Olaf all performed. The concert program was titled "F. Melius  Christiansen 125th Anniversary Concert". We in the audience, however, were fully aware of the true nature of the gathering - a battle of choirs, a.k.a. "Lutheran Blood Sport". (if the name F. Melius is not familiar to you, you're probably not a good candidate for this post.)

Most college rivalries are rooted in athletic contests. But we Lutherans leave that trivial pursuit to the Catholics: St. John's vs St. Thomas, St. Scholastica vs. St. Catherine's. We understand where the true test of excellence plays out: Concert Choirs on risers. While other schools batter themselves on the gridiron or the backboards, Lutheran schools do battle with hymns. "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"; "Wake, Awake"; "Lost in the Night"; Randall Thompson's "Alleluia"; F. Melius' "O Day Full of Grace" ...

Audience listening in hushed silence with tears flowing. If you think Scandinavians are a stoic bunch, attend a choir concert. At concert end, the audience rises as one with rapturous cheers and clapping for their champions. No experience quite like a well tempered choir concert.

A Christmas gift to you. Experience it. Turn up the volume.

Click HERE for Kurt Bestor's "Prayer of the Children" composed in anguish over the genocide in Kosovo. Performed by the Nordic Choir. If this does not bring a tear to your eye, you should go back to your football game.

Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
Turning heavenward toward the light

Crying Jesus*, help me
To see the morning light-of one more day
But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take

Can you feel the hearts of the children?
Aching for home, for something of their very own
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to,
But hope for a better day a better day

Crying Jesus*, help me
To feel the love again in my own land
But if unknown roads lead away from home,
Give me loving arms, away from harm

Can you hear the voice of the children?
Softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands

Crying Jesus*, help me
To feel the sun again upon my face,
For when darkness clears I know you're near,
Bringing peace again

Dali cujete sve djecje molitive?
(Croatian translation:
'Can you hear all the children's prayers?')
Can you hear the prayer of the children?

(*note: Originally, the song was written with the lyrics “Crying Jesus…” Bestor now recommends substituting the words “Crying softly…” enabling people to subconsciously substitute “Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, etc.” This way, the song's universal message of love will be felt without any barriers or limitations.) 

Read the Story Behind the Prayer of the Children.

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin

A Minnesota Treasure

Unless you are a student (or a prof), you likely relate to the University of Minnesota through their sports teams. It is, perhaps unfortunately, the principal face of the University to the outside world. That said and although there are many problems with Division I college athletics, I too, am an avid follower of U of M teams. It is particularly satisfying to see to see the success of women's' sports.








But the treasure that is the University of Minnesota is not the athletic programs. It is so much more ...

You don't have to be an enrolled student to reap the benefits of one of the country's great land grant universities. The U of M was one of the beneficiaries of the 1862 Morrill Act that established colleges on federally controlled land throughout the country. The intent was to foster "practical education in agriculture, military science and engineering".  The U's administration building is named Morrill Hall to commemorate that legacy.

Maybe you have insatiable curiosity.  The U of M has a robust continuing education program (ccaps.mn.edu) which offers degree programs but also a myriad of enrichment classes for life-long learners. The Headliners series  offers distinguished speakers on a wide variety of topics once a month during the school year. The Learning Life program offers short courses on such a wide range of subjects, you will surely find something that touches you (see Minnesota Daily article).

Maybe there's a topic you'd like to know more about. The main University libraries (Walter Library & Wilson Library + numerous specialty libraries) are available to the general public. Check out the Borchert Map library in the basement of Walter - you'll be amazed.  There are almost always interesting exhibits to take in.  For example, you have until March 23, 2019 to see Mysterious Beauty: Photographs by Thomas Rose at the Architecture and Landscape Library in Rapson Hall. If you're interested in computers/information technology, check out the Charles Babbage Institute in the Elmer L Andersen Library. You might recognize the name Seymour Cray, a U of M grad, instrumental in making Minnesota the super computer capital of the world.


Maybe you like architecture.  Take a stroll through the campus and you will find the modern architecture of Frank Geary's Weisman Art Museum, the (for me) hard to like 'brutalist" architecture - Malcom Moos Towers & Ralph Rapson's Rarig Center.  The Architecture Building (Rapson Hall) designed by Steven Holl won the American Architecture prize for innovative design. The interior of Shevlin Hall is stupendous. And don't neglect the classical architecture of the University Mall.








Maybe you like honoring discoverers. Take a stroll down  the Scholar's Walk, honoring achievements of U of M professors and alumni.










Maybe you like art. Art is everywhere on the campus, indoors and out, from the Weisman Museum to the amazing stainless steel outdoor art of Julian Voss-Andrea.  And that's just a start. There are galleries all over the place.










Maybe you like statuary.  They're everywhere.  Just keep your head up as you walk around.










Maybe you like film or theater.  Northrup Auditorium hosts events that vary from dance, theater, film, authors to wrestling matches (see Takedown Northrup).

Maybe you like plays, dance or opera. The Rarig Center is home for University Theater and Dance.

Maybe you get sick.  The University Medical Center is world renowned and a leader in medical research.  The cardiac pacemaker was invented by Earl Bakken, a U of M alum.

Maybe your cat gets sick.  The University's Veterinary department is world renowned. And the Small Animal Hospital has an emergency room.

Maybe you are starving.  Agronomist Norman Borlaug won a Nobel prize for his work in developing hardy wheat plants that dramatically reduced world hunger.

Maybe you like music.  Nobel prize winner for Literature in 2017, Bob Dylan attended the U of M.

Maybe you like bookstores.  U of M has a good one in Coffman Union.






Maybe you want to do a self assessment. The MMPI - Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality Inventory was developed at the U in 1943.

Maybe you like to walk in the rain.  Robert Gore invented Gore-Tex.


Maybe you like rappelling.  Try the Armory tower.











Maybe you breakfast on "food shot from guns". Puffed rice was invented by a U of M grad.

Maybe you got to this post through this link. The "Gopher Protocol", which introduced "hyperlinks", was the predecessor to WWW.


Maybe you like ice cream.  Can't beat Annie's Parlor in Dinkytown.

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin

In Memoriam: Elwood Johnson

It is with sadness I report the death of Elwood Andrew Johnson.  Those of you with ties to Lowry will know the name.

Elwood died today, December 7, 2018 in Phoenix, AZ - but his heart was with Lowry, Minnesota
Born 18 Nov 1931 to John C & Nora Johnson, Elwood was 87.

Elwood was one of Lowry, Minnesota's biggest boosters. 

• He was the founder of the "Lowry Group", an adhoc collection of Lowry luminaries.
• He was the webmaster of the Lowry web page: lowrymn.com, a source for all things Lowry.
• He was the force behind the chronicling of the history of every Lowry residence and business. You can view the product of that work in the "Our Home Town" history. [a downloadable .pdf file]. It contains a photo and a genealogy of every building in the Village of Lowry - to the best of the compilers recollections. Elwood did all the photography. Elwood, Glenn Hoplin, Arnold Hedlin (and others I suspect) created the ownership lineage for each property.

Elwood worked for NASA for many years.  

  

From Charles A Biggs Oral History

We put together a team and designed the Apollo 11 van, for lack of a more sophisticated name, which housed the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the whole Apollo, and a lunar rock from Apollo 11. The sides folded down, and we could drive this thing then to the state capitols, open it up, and it would stay there for a few days, and the public would be invited to got through and look at it. Neil Armstrong's parents were deeply moved by the exhibit, and as Johnson described them, "salt of the earth people".

We took that van to fifty states, every state, and ended up going to Hawaii, flew it to Hawaii, and that was the last stop. It took quite a while.

Wright: Did you travel with it at all?

Biggs: No, I didn’t. We hired a good friend of mine [Elwood Johnson], as a matter of fact, to stay with it. Again, in NASA style, we were always on a pretty thin pocketbook. So he would put on his work clothes and set it up, and then he would take his work clothes off and put on his suit and then be there with the inaugural ribbon-cutting.

Read Elwood's NASA story on lowrymn.com HERE.


A fine man, greatly missed.

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin