After church each Sunday, there’s always a long line of cars working its way out of our parking lot. Ours is a big congregation—five different sub-lots feed the single lane that leads off parish property. And of course, as we’ve all just been to church, we’re all feeling charitable toward our neighbors, and, consequently, those of us already in line tend to slow as we approach each sub-lot to let one of the cars waiting there enter ahead of us. In this way, eventually, the entire parking lot empties in a more or less fair and orderly fashion.
It was a beastly hot day and I had already made it past the last of the sub-lots, righteously fulfilling my obligation at each junction to permit one (and only one!) car in ahead of me, when, absently, my brain registered the fact that there was a maid walking home from work down the blacktop beside us. Then, noticing her outfit (gauzy black blouse, bright red skirt, high-heeled sandals slapping against the bottoms of her feet), my mindless reverie evaporated and I snapped into full alert and functioning mode. This was no maid. Or, if it was a maid, she certainly wasn’t on her way home from work; she was on her way home from the Mass she had just attended with the lot of us creeping along beside her in our air-conditioned cars.
Shamefacedly, I braked, lowered my window and asked the lady if she’d like a lift. She nodded gratefully, ran around to the passenger side of my car and got in. As it turned out, she spoke almost no English, but with my limited library Spanish I was able to work out that she lived somewhere up off Aurora. What you have to remember here is that Ss. Peter & Paul Church sits at the far end of a vast soybean field that sits at the far end of Washington Street just before it gives up the ghost at the far end of the bypass. I drove my unexpected passenger up Washington till it reached Aurora, and then north on Aurora till she asked me to let her out on Dover, a distance of 2+ miles. Had she walked all the way to church that morning on her own?! And if she had, on how many Sundays now had she made that long, lonely journey?
But then, of course, it came to me that this was one lady who probably knew a fair amount about long, lonely journeys. And clearly, for all her finery, she was a lot tougher than I.
This year’s One Maryland One Book is called All American Boys. One Maryland One Book is the program of Maryland Humanities in which people all across the state read the same book at the same time. All American Boys [written by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely] is the story of what happens when a policeman allows an unconsidered first impression to determine his behavior. In a day and age when patrol car cameras have unexpectedly illuminated a few dark and (hopefully) seldom frequented corners in our policing of America’s underclasses, the subject is a timely one. Of course I would like to think that as an enlightened Southerner I have long since risen above such unconscious prejudice. But then I come up against that “maid” I saw walking down our church lane.
On Monday, September 12, at 6:00 p.m., in the Easton branch of the Talbot County Free Library, and again on Friday, September 16, at 3:00 p.m., in our St. Michaels branch, I will host a discussion of All American Boys. I hope you will join me. Who knows? We might all discover a corner or two in our own particular lives that could use a little light.
Bill Peak is the communications manager and all-encompassing “Library Guy” at the Talbot County Free Library on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He is the author of the novel “The Oblate’s Confession” (2014). Bill writes a monthly article for The Star-Democrat about working at the Talbot County Free Library. This essay was originally published in The Star-Democrat on August 2, 2015.
Four years have passed since Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi launched the social justice international activist movement, #BlackLivesMatter (BLM). What began as a hashtag in response to the murder of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin quickly became a rallying cry. Both the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and its meaning resonate around the world—from Ferguson to Tibet, from the White House to the United Nations. BLM is an intergenerational movement and a call for action to reform policies, racial profiling, police brutality, and racial inequality. Given that BLM is a movement in action, it is difficult to participate in the movement while critiquing it, but Dr Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor did just that in her new book, From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. We begin our discussion below with a shorter interview, and an extended version can be found on my website with poetry and resources for further discussion.
Kaye Whitehead: Why did you decide to write this book?
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: I decided to write the book because I thought I had insight and analysis that would be useful for people either in the movement or sympathetic to the movement.
KW: Which writers inspire you?
KYT: There is nothing like reading something that makes sense. I am a fan of W.E.B. Du Bois, Anne Petry, Toni Morrison, Leon Trotsky, Nathan Connolly, Alan Maass, Michelle Alexander, Edmund Morgan, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
KW: How much research did you do?
KYT: I did not do a ton of research. I was not trying to show something new. I was trying to analyze and understand what historical dynamics have resulted in the persistence of racism in our contemporary society. I read a lot, not necessarily for new information but to make sense of the existing information.
KW: What is the hardest thing about writing and/or your research?
KYT: Well, writing is hard. It is hard to get it right and to most clearly and succinctly express oneself. Probably the most difficult thing about writing now is having the time to do it the way you want. Writing is about revision. Everyone wants the “hot take,” but writing should be a slow process. It is about re-writing and stopping and thinking and doing it over.
KW: What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
Read. If you want to write then you have to read. Read a broad range of things. And then write.
KW: What is your next project?
KYT: I am working on my book, Race for Profit: Black Housing and the Urban Crisis of the 1970s. It looks at the federal government’s promotion of single-family homeownership in black communities after the riots in the 1960s. It is a critique of private institutions like banks and the real estate industry shaping public policy to their benefit and the detriment of black communities they claimed to be serving.
KW: What is the current state of the Black Lives Matter Movement and how do you see it moving forward?
KYT: I think the movement is still sorting out what it is and what it wants to be. I do think that right now the movement is going through a process of maturation; meaning that two years ago when everything was erupting, it was tempting to believe that a seat at the table—especially if it were a table in the White House—might put us in closer proximity to political power which might in turn get us closer to our goal of ending police violence. Instead, it was a stalling mechanism from the political establishment, which has no real answers to ending police violence. Not everyone has learned that lesson, but enough people have learned the lesson that there is a greater emphasis on the political independence of the movement and advancing goals that will build the movement and worry less about appealing to those in power. About the Writer: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and the author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (Haymarket Books, 2016), an examination of the history and politics of Black America and the development of the social movement Black Lives Matter in response to police violence in the United States. Interested in Dr. Taylor’s work? Follow her on Twitter: @keeangayamahtta.
About the Interviewer: Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D. is Associate Professor, Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland and the Founding Executive Director at The Emilie Frances Davis Center for Education, Research, and Culture. Her new anthology, RaceBrave, was published in March 2016.
When you hear the word “etiquette,” do you think about finishing school and fine china? Do you remember wracking your brain at an important dinner, wondering which fork comes next and where to place your napkin? If so, you’re not alone. Etiquette gets a bad rap. In 2016, we rarely even speak of etiquette anymore. In contemporary society, having “good manners” is good enough. After all, etiquette books and advice columns are full of uncomfortable, outdated rules with no room for negotiation. Right?
In 1922, a woman from Baltimore dared to state that what was “socially right was what was socially simple and unaffected.” She believed that people should be treated equally, that ordinary citizens want to do good, and that creating a comfortable, open environment where no one is judged was the duty of every person. Do you know who this woman was? If you said Gertrude Stein, you’re close—but only geographically.
Emily Post, born Emily Price, spent the first ten years of her life living on Chase Street in Baltimore (a mere three blocks away from where Stein lived while enrolled at Johns Hopkins University). She was the daughter of Josephine Lee and Bruce Price, a successful architect whose “Shingle Style” influenced legendary innovators such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Robert Venturi. When the Price family moved to New York, their social circle included some of the richest families in America—the Vanderbilts, the Astors, and the Morgans, just to name a few. After marrying into a well-off family, Emily Post was ready to enjoy life as a wealthy Gilded Age wife.
Emily Post’s “Etiquette” 1947 edition.
Instead, the marriage brought her scandal and shame. After being subjected to the public ridicule that followed her husband Edwin’s many affairs, Emily Post needed to reinvent herself. After her name was tarnished in the blaring headlines of newspapers and gossip rags, being a society dame was no longer an option. So she took to writing. For the next fifteen years, Post wrote anything she could in order to support her two sons—novels, newspaper articles, digest features, travelogues, and serial stories. She befriended iconoclasts such as Mark Twain and Edith Wharton. In 1922, she published her first etiquette book: Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, a title that she would soon revise to the much simpler Etiquette.
You might be wondering how a scorned and scandalized woman became the American authority on decorum. Instead of pandering to society’s upper crust, Post tailored her advice for the newly rich. In subsequent editions, she moved her focus to the middle class. To her, etiquette represented not money or education or “good breeding,” but civility. In fact, Post’s standards of caring for guests and being considerate of others are right in line with those of Johns Hopkins University professor P. M. Forni, whose 2002 book Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct was the impetus for Howard County’s Choose Civility initiative, led by the Howard County Library System.
“Etiquette is the science of living,” Post once remarked. “It embraces everything. It is the code of sportsmanship and of honor. It is ethics.”
Interested in learning more about Emily Post? See her childhood home and more on the Literary Mount Vernon Walking Tour. Our next public tour is Saturday, August 20.
Want to meet Ms. Post? Join us on October 15 for our first Literary Mount Vernon GHOST Walking Tour, where a ghastly Emily Post and other bygone literary luminaries will join us on our walk!
It’s hot outside—really, reallyhot. I’ve lived in Maryland for twenty-four years and still every summer about this time I’m amazed by our collective ability to not melt. I distract myself from the heat by reading—voraciously. I consume almost as many books in the summer as I do ice cream cones.
One of my favorites so far is This One Summer, a graphic novel by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki. The beautiful indigo panels inside follow Rose, a girl who is reluctantly growing up, on her yearly family vacation at a lake-side cottage (Deep Creek Lake, anyone?). This book is full of love, friendship, growth, and a bit of tragedy, too. It gave me some pretty serious nostalgia for my girlhood summer vacations. My summer days were always punctuated with a cold sweet treat. To satisfy my nostalgia (and my sweet tooth), I started looking into the best places to get ice cream in Maryland.
Did you know Maryland has its very own ice cream trail? There are NINE stops! Last weekend, I visited my first stop, Broom’s Bloom Dairy in Bel Air. The farm and house date back to the colonial era, the name itself coming from the colonial land grant. Broom’s Bloom is a beautiful piece of Harford County history. During high school, I even took a few field trips there to learn more about farming and agriculture in our county. Broom’s Bloom offers classic ice cream flavors, but has a wide variety. I got cherry vanilla and it was delicious!
For my next stop, my colleague Courtney and I made a quick trip to Prigel Family Creamery. The Prigel family has been farming in Baltimore County for over one hundred years. John Mathias Prigel, the creamery’s founder, first moved to the property as a sharecropper in 1895. The farm has remained family owned and operated ever since. Courtney and I discovered that we have a favorite ice cream flavor in common: mint chocolate chip.
Courtney:
When I first found out about Maryland’s ice cream trail a few years ago, I was excited. Ice cream is one of my favorite desserts and has long been a staple in our state. In 1744, Maryland’s Thomas Bladen was the first governor to serve ice cream at an official state dinner. In 1851, Jacob Fussell opened the first commercial ice cream factory in the United States in Baltimore. Maryland’s rich history with this sweet treat continues today with the creation of the ice cream trail. As a lover of history (and ice cream), I was eager to dive in.
On a recent trip out to Garrett County, I made a pit stop at Misty Meadows Farm Creamery. Located in the town of Smithsburg in Washington County, this family-owned business is surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and adorable cows and goats. Surrounded by this picturesque scene, I decided to extend my break and relax in one of the many rocking chairs on the front porch. Joining me in the chair was one of my favorite things to read—a comic book.
I have been a consumer of comic book culture, by way of television and films, for my entire life. But it has only been recently that I have become a regular fixture at local comic book stores. Like ice cream, comic book readers tend to have a favorite flavor. While most people are familiar with comic mainstays such as Superman and Batman, I prefer indie comics—especially those with storylines that center on young girls. One of my favorite series, Lumberjanes, is perfect for summertime because it tells the story of five girls, their friendship, and the wacky (supernatural?) shenanigans they get into at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. The girls look up to a wide range of awesome female figures such as Bessie Coleman and Joan Jett. Although I never went to sleepaway camp like the Lumberjanes, I do remember the fun that summer brought: pools, plenty of books to read, rollercoasters, fireflies, and ice cream.
Ready to explore the ice cream trail for yourself? Check out the 2016 Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Tour and hit the road. Let us know what you thought, what treat you enjoyed, and—as always—what you’re reading!
Broom’s Bloom Creamery in Harford County
Broom’s Bloom Creamery in Harford County
Courtney Hobson at Misty Meadow Farm Creamery
History of Prigel Family Creamery display
Susie Hinz and Niles visit Broom’s Bloom Dairy
Courtney Hobson and Susie Hinz visit Prigel Family Creamery
In the last few years, podcasts, web series, vlogs and non-network TV have diversified our media choices—not just in format, but in the range of voices making their way to the mainstream audience. Women are, of course, still wildly underrepresented in writers’ rooms, at the host desks of late night shows, and around the tables of entertainment boardrooms. Compared to comedy’s past, we are living in a bright new era. But we still have a long way to go before the media landscape truly reflects the diversity of our society.
That said, if you enjoy the work of funny women, this summer is full of exciting, laugh-out-loud options in literature. If you’re looking for a summer read with substance, check out Tig Notaro’s I’m Just a Person and “The Bloggess” Jenny Lawson’sFuriously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things. Both newly-published memoirs explore intense and personal subject matter through a comedic lens. These books deal with some heavy topics—cancer, grief, and mental illness, just to name a few—but will make readers snort with laughter through their tears. If you’re looking for a witty novel, Arrested Development alum and Where’d You Go Bernadette author Maria Semple just released a sharply observed new tale, Today Will Be Different. Helen Ellis’ American Housewife: Stories is darkly funny short fiction à la George Saunders or David Sedaris.How to Make White People Laugh by Negin Farsad andYou’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein are on my reading list. Farsad is co-creator of the comedy-documentary, The Muslims are Coming! and Klein is Inside Amy Schumer’s Head Writer. Artist and BoJack Horseman Production Designer/Producer Lisa Hanawalt recently followed up her critically acclaimed 2013 graphic novel My Dirty Dumb Eyes with the food-centric Hot Dog Taste Test. Hanawalt’s work is not for the faint of heart, but if you like the combination of sight gags, animal jokes, rude humor and pathos present on BoJack, this one’s for you. And, if you can wait a couple months, check out Luvvie Ajayi’s I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual, out in September. In the meantime, peruse Awesomely Luvvie, the blog that made/makes Ajayi’s work go viral and earned her White House speaking engagements and the dream gig of interviewing Oprah.
Off the page, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert just hired writer Heben Nigatu, who will continue to co-host my favorite podcast, Buzzfeed’s Another Roundwith Tracy Clayton. Both Nigatu and Clayton have an abundance of charisma and comedic skill, and Another Round features great guests, from National Book Award winner, Ta-Nehesi Coates to delightfully awkward stand-up comedian, Aparna Nancherla. Nancherla’s first full length comedy recording, Just Putting It Out There, came out last week (fun fact: it’s the inaugural album from Tig Notaro’s Bentzen Ball Records). The USA Network series Playing House, starring Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair, features a profound and profoundly silly central relationship between hilarious lady besties, and debuts its third season soon. As for web series, comedian Jenny Slate’s baffling and genius new Catherine (now streaming on Amazon Prime) exemplifies the special combination of heart plus risk I most enjoy. Catherine very intentionally situates itself right between profoundly boring and extremely funny, presenting two minute “episodes” that look like a French New Wave film and sound like a kid’s idea of how adults talk at work. And, if you’re thinking ahead, don’t forget to mark your calendars for the fall premiere of web series pro Issa Rae’s new HBO show, Insecure.
A wise woman once said, “I guess some people object to powerful depictions of awesome ladies” (Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, of course). We have enough pain, fear, and prejudice in our world. Take a cue from these funny women and celebrate how we’re different and how we connect—and laugh while doing it.
Miriam DesHarnais is a Research and Instruction Librarian and Liaison to the College of Education at Towson University’s Albert S. Cook Library. She reviews books for kids and teens for School Library Journal.
One of my favorite childhood activities was reading the Sunday comics. I spent hours reading and rereading the strips, imagining that the characters were real, and wondering how their stories would end. This love of comic strips naturally developed into a love for comic books by the time I reached high school. Between studying for chemistry and writing history papers, I indulged in reading about Superman (though I challenged this idea of an alien being the most humane person on earth) and Batman (though I could not get over the fact that he was actually just a rich man with a bunch of cool toys). I often grew frustrated as I searched and hoped for a comic book character who looked like me. My hope finally became a reality when I received a copy of Brotherman, the story of a black superhero written and drawn by Guy A. Sims and his brother, Dawud Anyabwile. I have followed their work since and was delighted to see this creative team delve into the world of graphic novels as they adapted Walter Dean Meyers’ National Book Award-nominated young adult novel Monster.
When I read comics, I think of many questions I wish I could ask the artists – how do they decide what to illustrate, how do they develop the characters? In this month’s interview, I got the opportunity to learn the answers to some of my questions. I sat down with Dr. Guy A. Sims, my former college advisor, and discussed his work as a writer, a comics artist, and a graphic novelist.
*An extended version of this interview and discussion may be found on my personal blog.
Kaye Whitehead: Why did you decide to be involved in adapting Monster into a graphic novel?
Guys Sims: When the project was brought to my attention, I wasn’t sure of how to approach it. I knew there were some fundamental differences between writing a comic book and a graphic novel, so it required a little story structural research on my part. I read a couple of popular graphic novels and thought about how I would present the material. Secondly, I was not familiar with the book Monster. I read the book about four or five times, seeking to understand the story, the characters, but most importantly, what Walter Dean Myers was trying to convey. [Once I became more comfortable with the task], I was excited to get started, even though I was still very nervous. After submitting my first couple of pages to Mr. Myers and the representatives at HarperCollins and receiving very positive responses, I knew I had what it took to do this.
KW: Which writers inspire you?
GS: My all-time favorite writer, the one who inspired me to want to attempt to be a writer, is Richard Wright. My father introduced him to me when I was in sixth grade. I started with Black Boy, moved to The Long Dream, and then Native Son. After that, I was introduced to many African American authors whose styles and themes continued to intrigue me. People like Baldwin, Hansberry, Cullen, McKay, and others. Like many young writers, I tried to emulate their styles until I felt comfortable with my way of storytelling. Today, I am still influenced by writers. Contemporary writers who I look to for inspiration are people like Bebe Moore Campbell, E. Lynn Harris, and Octavia Butler.
KW: What does being a writer mean to you?
GS: Being a writer means the ability to shape culture. This is not an egoistic statement but to be able to take a statement, position, theme, or concept and deliver it in a format that’s intellectually digestible is pretty powerful. In fact, my father told me always to believe in what I wrote because people who read your writing will believe you. Being a writer is also liberating. It is an outlet for feelings. Whether I’m down or happy, confused, or angry, whatever, I can find a way to express it…and in that process, analyze what is going on inside. Then, if I share it with someone, they may find the same internal resolution needed.
KW: You refer to yourself as a scholar/writer – what does that mean to you?
GS: Being a scholar writer means my writing, the poems, prose, fiction, etc., is informed by my academic research. My writing focuses on intimate relations between groups of people. I read a lot of non-fiction and academic books on social interaction, conflict theory, and history, and group dynamics. They form the foundation for how I approach stories.
KW: Why did you decide to write comic books? And what can we expect next?
GS: The comic books began as a marketing tool for my brother’s airbrush business and then it turned into the opportunity to step into the comic book world. While I had never written a comic book before that time, I knew it was something I could learn to do…and I did.
I have a number of projects on the horizon. I have the fifth installment of the Duke Denim detective series to complete this summer, my brother and I are working on the second edition of the Brotherman Graphic Novel, Revelation, and I am laying out the foundation for my next novel, which looks at the Virginia Tech shootings. There are also a couple of others that are in the works…I stay busy.
“Monster” by Walter Dean Myers, adapted as a graphic novel by Guy Sims.
“Revelation,” an installment in the graphic novel series “Brotherman,” written by Guy Sims.
The graphic novel series “Brotherman,” written by Guy Sims.
“Living Just a Little,” written by Guy Sims.
KW: Fifty years from now, how would you like your work to be taught or discussed?
GS: I understand that my works, in the future, will not belong to me. My intentions and perspectives will fall away to be interpreted by the new readers…and that’s okay. I did that to William Shakespeare. I read his works and applied them to my life and understandings. That will happen to those who read my works. In fact, it happens now. I have had people write to me or contact me and tell me what they thought my writings were about and what meanings they held. Of course, it may not have been my intentions, but I’m happy to know they connected with it in their own way. That’s what writing and art are all about.
KW:What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
GS: I have several pieces of advice. 1. Be your first cheerleader. That is, celebrate when you complete a project, write a passage, develop a concept. 2. A bad idea is an idea whose time may not be right or needs a tweak or just needs a whole makeover. Save them; it may not be right for you at the moment, but you never know…one day. 3. When it is ready for the world, give it to the world. Sometimes writers ask for lots of opinions and that’s what you’ll get…diverse opinions. When that happens, many writers never finish. Complete your work and then let it go. Someone’s gonna love it, and someone’s gonna hate it. 4. Read writers outside of your genre, listen to music you are not familiar with, go to art shows you don’t understand, and go to places unfamiliar. All of this and more will feed your creativity. 5. Most of all, write whenever you can. Think of all the time spent in front of the TV that could have been used for your creativity. 6. Last, carry a small notepad and pencil with you for when you’re hit with an inspirational thunderbolt.
KW: Is there anything else you would like to add?
GS: I want to encourage people to know that we all have a story to tell. I often hear people say they can’t make up stories (or poems or whatever). Truth is, we tell stories every day when relating our experiences. We tell stories when our significant others or children make us mad, when we find money in the street, when we fall in or out of love. Stories are in us…just don’t be afraid to set them free.
About the Writer: Guy A. Sims, Ed.D., is the Assistant to the President for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Title IX Coordinator at Bluefield State College. He is the principal writer for the Brotherman series and the author of The Cold Hard Cases of Duke Denim and the critically acclaimed novel, Living Just A Little. Guy has recently written the adaptation for MONSTER: The Graphic Novel by Walter Dean Myers, published by HarperCollins Publishers. Guy also writes a blog, I is the Future.
About the Interviewer: Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D. is Associate Professor, Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland and the Founding Executive Director at The Emilie Frances Davis Center for Education, Research, and Culture. Her new anthology, RaceBrave, was published in March 2016.
Nearly one hundred years have passed since 18-year-old Ernest Hemingway’s rescue ambulance was struck by a mortar shell in Schio, Italy during World War I. He had been eager to serve but failed to make the US Army’s cut due to vision problems, ultimately finding his place in the war effort as an ambulance driver in the American Red Cross. Hemingway redeemed himself with sheer tenacity, a characteristic which became so engrained that it ultimately defined him.
Though badly injured and knocked unconscious by the mortar explosion, Hemingway continued to drive his ambulance. Careening through Schio, he focused on finding injured soldiers—his Italian compatriots. Ted Brumback, another American ambulance driver, wrote Hemingway’s father to say that “despite over two-hundred pieces of shrapnel being lodged in [Hemingway’s] legs, he still managed to carry another wounded soldier back to the first aid station; along the way he was hit in the legs by several machine gun bullets.” Whether or not he carried another wounded soldier was never confirmed, but this much is for certain—Hemingway refused to sit idly once injured, was struck again by enemy fire, and taken to recover in Milan. He was later awarded the Silver Medal of Valor from the Italian government.
Clearly Hemingway had a sensational war story. But is that the reason his works persist as examples of war literature? Maybe not. Perhaps their success continues because Hemingway embodied his experience and consistently incorporated it into his work. Hemingway never stopped writing about his wartime experience. His time as an ambulance driver and his involvement in the Spanish Civil War (during which he narrowly escaped death when three shells exploded in his hotel room) never seemed to leave his consciousness. From “Big Two-Hearted River” (1925) to The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1936), Hemingway’s works continue to be reading-list staples in college classrooms, book clubs, and Veterans Book Groups, a program of Maryland Humanities. His novel A Farewell to Arms (1927), which owes much of its story arc to Hemingway’s affair with a nurse at the hospital in Milan, and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), the tale of an American journalist’s commitment to revolution, are perennial examples of World War I and the Spanish Civil War literature, respectively.
Hemingway’s trademark minimalist style exemplifies the matter-of-fact nature of war, from the battlefield to the homefront. But he was hardly the only critically-acclaimed veteran-turned-author. John Dos Passos, also an ambulance driver in World War I and a revolutionary in the Spanish Civil War, wrote the brilliant novel Three Soldiers (1921), which changed the way American citizens thought about World War I. The poems of E. E. Cummings, yet another World War I ambulance driver, often wrestled with concepts of struggle, conflict, and doom. The experience of war solidified what Cummings wanted to immortalize in his poetry: the power of humanity.
But, more than half a century after his death, Hemingway continues to be the author who acts as a literary lifeline to the war experience. Perhaps part of this status is due to his tenacity. The commitment that drove Hemingway to return to his ambulance is the same stubborn idealism that drove him to eschew his American identity as part of the “Lost Generation,” to join Spain’s Republican resistance, and to marry four very different women. This same endurance and stoicism propelled Hemingway beyond fame into a cultural legend. Ultimately, it brought its own struggles and, arguably, his demise. But the duality of Hemingway’s tenacity is what makes him irresistible as a writer and a character. Unexpectedly, it also makes Hemingway and his characters relatable. Like his life, Hemingway’s stories vacillate between obstinacy and tenderness, between rapture and pain. His characters grapple with love and death, and the will to continue on. In Hemingway’s stories, we can experience war. But, more importantly, we relate to the veteran because his story is a human one. We discover a beautiful struggle to survive—and find the tenacity to tell the story.
Hear from Ernest Hemingway, portrayed by actor and playwright Brian Gordon Sinclair, during the 2016 Chautauqua program, July 5–14. Get the full schedule of performances and more on our Chautauqua page.
Bibliography
“Biography.” Hemingway Resource Center. 2015. Accessed June 14, 2016. http://www.lostgeneration.com/.
“Hemingway’s Italy.” Ernest Hemingway Collection. 2014. Accessed June 14, 2016. www.ernesthemingwaycollection.com/
Putnam, Thomas. “Hemingway on War and Its Aftermath.” National Archives. Spring 2006. Accessed June 14, 2016. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/spring/hemingway.html
Ruediger, Steve. “Prose & Poetry – Literary Ambulance Drivers.” First World War.com. August 22, 2009. Accessed June 14, 2016. http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/ambulance.htm.
The New York Times Staff. “Hemingway Dead of Shotgun Wound; Wife Says He Was Cleaning Weapon.” The New York Times. July 3, 1961. Accessed June 14, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/04/specials/hemingway-obit.html
These are my deep dark secrets: I know my 14 digit library card by heart but don’t know my teenage son’s cell phone number, relying time and again on speed dial. I remember with certainty that the Little House on the Prairie books were located on the bottom shelf in the furthest musty corner of my Baltimore County elementary school library. When the weather gets hot and steamy, I can be instantly transported back to when I was 12 years old and on the camp bus reading Judy Blume. I take more books than clothes on vacation, much to my husband’s chagrin, and each book I take will forever remind me of that particular locale.
At every stage, reading has made my life richer. As with many adults I know, my life has taken a circuitous route, with twists and turns along the way. First I worked as a graphic designer, then an art teacher, followed by time spent as a stay-at-home mom, and now I am the Children’s Book Curator for The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore. I often wonder: how did I end up here? The truth is, those of us with an abiding love of books can’t resist their siren call. Through the different periods of life many find comfort, encouragement, entertainment, and an enduring connection through books. Customers often throw open the Ivy’s front door, inhale deeply and declare themselves in love with the smell and feel of books. Most want to pass that along to our youngsters and intuitively know that if we don’t, something vastly important will be lost.
The challenge for all of us is engaging children to be equally enamored with books. Time and time again, statistics emphasize the importance of reading. As the National Education Association states: “according to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics only 53 percent of children ages three to five were read to daily by a family member. Children in families with incomes below the poverty line are less likely to be read to aloud everyday than are children in families with incomes at or above poverty. The more types of reading materials there are in the home, the higher students are in reading proficiency, and the students who do more reading at home are better readers and have higher math scores according to the Educational Testing Service.”
This is compelling evidence and yet motivating children to read is a challenge. How do books compete with the ever-increasing allure of electronics and the media cacophony? I struggle mightily with this in my own home. How much easier it is to reach for a remote or give into the undemanding glow of a screen. I can honestly say that I don’t know the answer, though I keep trying. What I do know is that we can teach children that “easy” and “rewarding” are not one and the same. When we finish watching a night of television, do we find ourselves enriched and think the time well spent? Perhaps both watching and reading are habits and routines and if parents, teachers, neighbors, and friends encourage reading as a part of a balanced life, over time the value will be self-evident.
So in my journey to put books in the hands of children I try to articulate the worth of the endeavor. Is the habit of reading a method of escape, an enrichment activity, a way of learning about the world, or a means by which I become more in touch with myself? Perhaps it is all of these reasons and more, depending on the day, the hour, or the minute. The moment I select a book, I am determining my voyage, be it a mere diversion, truth-seeking, introspection, or something in between. There are times a light “chick-lit” book will do and others when I crave a classic, a best seller, or a selection of critically-acclaimed literature. I have found that this is true of children as well. Listen to what they like, where they are at, and in what they show interest, and we may find inroads to the perfect read. If we make it personal and routine then perhaps we will find a way to make books a critical part of children’s lives.
If we put all the compelling statistics aside, what remains is the intangible, immeasurable impact of reading. Our mandate as a community is to listen, to learn, and to find just the right time and just the right book to make the importance of reading known in words and deed so a child’s relationship with books is one that constantly feeds their soul and accompanies them as they learn how to move in the world.
Rona London has found a wonderful home at The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore, where she is the Children’s Book Curator. After graduating with her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters of Art in Teaching from Maryland Institute College of Art, Rona ran her own graphic design firm and worked as an art teacher in Baltimore County. She retired to be a stay-at-home mom to her two sons, volunteering at their schools – where her favorite activity was running the book fair, of course! Rona is also a freelance writer and an after school art teacher. When she is not reading, she loves gardening, ballet, theater, and the symphony.
Some events have such deep and lasting impact that you will always remember where you were and what you were doing when they occurred. My parents talk about how they were having an afternoon snack when they heard the news that Dr. King had been assassinated, and my grandmother used to talk for hours about how she was washing clothes when she heard about President Kennedy’s assassination. I was getting ready for New York Fashion Week on 9/11 and my sons were having lunch when they heard about Freddie Gray’s death. These are moments that you never forget, pivotal ones that shift your perspective, change your direction, and make you think long and hard about the world that we are living in—the one that you are helping to co-create.
Within the black feminist community, a pivotal moment happened on the eve of April 23, 2016. HBO aired Lemonade, Beyoncé’s second visual album, and the world (or at least the world within this community) paused and took notice. The reactions were immediate and many asked folks not to release any “think pieces” until people had had an opportunity to digest the pain and love and feelings of hope and frustration that Beyoncé offered up on the altar of black feminist critique. For some, Lemonade provided further evidence that Beyoncé had finally and firmly claimed her black feminist roots and for others, like the feminist writer bell hooks, it only served as a reminder that for some artists (like Beyoncé, for example), feminism was/is a commodity, a tool that could be wielded carelessly and casually by those who are not intimately connected to the true struggle. It also became a teachable moment with professors and humanists across the country immediately calling for and working on gathering resources to create a #LemonadeSyllabus. This is the type of reaction—where people are immediately compelled to create work, gather resources, hold listening parties and blog about them—that I want to explore in my reoccurring blog series A Writer With Writers, featured here on the Maryland Humanities blog.
So this month, we take a moment to sit down with Dr. Janell Hobson and Dr. Jessica Marie Johnson to explore and examine their work to create #Lemonade: A Black Feminist Resource List. In addition to including think pieces and resources that explore black feminism and black womanhood, the list also includes essays and interviews that explore and examine the visual album by discussing the women who were involved in the creative work, the women who were featured (including Serena Williams who twerked her way through a song before taking a seat on her throne), and, the meaning behind some of the visual images. As we did last month, this feature has two parts. We begin our discussion here with Dr. Johnson, discussing the resource list and her work to compile complementary resources on her website, and conclude on my blog with an interview with Dr. Hobson and her extensive work to record and write about Beyoncé as a black feminist artist.
NOTE: Much like the album Lemonade, some of the resources in #Lemonade: A Black Feminist Resource List contain sexually explicit language. Please note that this resource list is intended for mature audiences only.
Kaye Whitehead: Why did you decide to work on this project?
Jessica Marie Johnson: Earlier this year, after Beyoncé released Formation, I curated a number of think pieces and essays that explored this work. Since this song and video were specific to New Orleans (and I am scholar of that area), I decided to center the voices of black women first, then the voice of New Orleans, and then the voices of Southern women. Janell and I are colleagues and she is very familiar with my work as a historian (as I am with her work on black feminism) so when she approached me after Lemonade aired, I was excited about the collaboration. We decided to curate and compile some of the resources that were being written about Lemonade as a teaching tool for black women’s politics; as a way to explore Beyoncé and her understanding of herself as an artist, a woman, and a wife; and, as a way to join the broader discussion that everyone was engaging in about the work. […] Regardless of what people may think, Lemonade is not a shallow text and we, as scholars and researchers, need to think through it, to digest it, and to explore it.
KW: Which writers inspire you?
JMJ: I am inspired by the work of Octavia Butler and the ways in which she wrote about slavery, justice, complicated futures, and about community. I am also inspired by the work of Simone Browne and the ways in which she thinks and writes about the past as the past and the ways in which this work informs current justice projects.
KW: What does being a writer mean to you?
JMJ: I believe that writers are committed to being really engaged with the written word. They are interested in thinking about how we find and tell complicated stories to share all aspects of our human experience. Writers are artists—similar to those who use dance or music or paint. As a writer, my work helps me to process the world and hopefully help others process it as well. Being a writer is a heavy responsibility because we must be committed to creating and writing texts (good and solid work) that can stand the test of time.
KW: What books do you wish you could have written?
JMJ: I don’t have any book that I wish that I could have written but I do have books that when I read them, they spoke to me and my personal experience. The first is Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed. When I first read it, it spoke to everything that I wanted to see in the world. Toni Morrison once said that, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” Butler wrote books that I wanted (needed) to read. Her work gives people agency and power to go out and do great work.
The second is Alice Walker’s The Way Forward is With a Broken Heart. Walker has a way of excavating emotions and personal experiences that we do not really want to touch. She forces us to confront these issues. As a writer, I want to be able to write about these things. I want to be brave enough to confront these same issues with care, with generosity, and with bravery.
KW: What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
JMJ: My advice is to write every day. I know that this is the standard advice that writers always give but there is some real truth behind it. There is something very empowering about sitting down every day—regardless of whether you are tired or angry or frustrated or down or anxious—and writing something.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Daniel José Older has a great essay, “Writing Begins With Forgiveness,” that argues against writing every day. What I find most interesting about this piece is that he suggests that when you sit down to write, you start by forgiving yourself for what you did not write or what you did not do. You give yourself permission to start over. In both cases, whether you show up at the page every day or not, the only way that you can be a writer is to write.
KW: Fifty years from now, how would you like your work to be taught/explained and/or built upon?
JMJ: Recently, I was talking with some sister scholars and we were reflecting on the number of scholars that have recently died. We were talking about our work and about our legacies as scholars. When I look ahead, to fifty years from now, I would like my work to be taught with an excessive amount of pleasure and “inappropriate” behavior. I want my work to be able to speak to what it not seen or condoned in the academy. I want it to be read by everyone, particularly black women/black feminists who are not in the ivory tower. I want sex workers and strippers to read my work in the back rooms. I want it taught to everyone from activists to people who live in elderly homes. I want my work to be rich and engaging, transgressive and delicious. I want my work to give us back to ourselves without shame and without fear.
About the Interviewees:
Janell Hobson, Ph.D. is the author of Body as Evidence: Mediating Race, Globalizing Gender (SUNY Press, 2012) and Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture (Routledge, 2005). She also writes and blogs for Ms. Magazine.
Jessica Marie Johnson, Ph.D. is currently an Assistant Professor of History at Michigan State University. Beginning in July 2016, Johnson will be an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and History at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of two blogs: Diaspora Hypertext and African Diaspora PhD.
Ready for more about #Lemonade? Head over to Kaye Whitehead’s blog to read about Dr. Hobson and her extensive work to record and write about Beyoncé as a black feminist artist.
About the Interviewer: Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D. is Associate Professor, Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland and the Founding Executive Director at The Emilie Frances Davis Center for Education, Research, and Culture. Her new anthology, RaceBrave, was published in March 2016.
On April 23, Maryland Humanities celebrated Maryland’s 91 Letters About Literature (LAL) state finalists at the 2016 LAL Awards Ceremony. More than 300 people gathered at the University of Baltimore School of Law to celebrate the finalists. With nearly 2,000 entries from Maryland, these 91 young writers represent less than 5% of Maryland’s entrants. What an accomplishment!
After a special welcome from University of Baltimore president Kurt Schmoke, Senator Paul Sarbanes, Congressman John Sarbanes, and Phoebe Stein, executive director of Maryland Humanities, began the ceremony with the announcement of the Sarbanes Teacher of the Year Award. The 2016 recipient is Diane Curry, who has opened a world of creative reading and writing opportunities for her students at Howard County’s River Hill High School. Read more about Ms. Curry and the Sarbanes Award.
Keynote speaker and local author Laura Shovan entertained the audience with an interactive presentation on the lasting influence of stories based on a poem by William Shakespeare, whose 400th birthday coincided with the ceremony. After the ceremony, Ms. Shovan chatted with aspiring authors and signed copies of her new book, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary.
Emcee and LAL judge Joanna Guy introduced each finalist to be recognized individually with a special certificate, followed by the announcement of the winners and runner-ups. Then the standing-room-only crowd got the ultimate treat: hearing the winning letters read aloud. State winners Margaret Kato, Noor Saleem, and Lauralee An captivated the audience with their personal stories of how literature changed their lives.
