Jul, Aug, Sep, and Oct 2015 Book Clubs "Bloodroot," "Mademoiselle Chanel: The Novel," "The Secret Life of Violet Grant," and "Still Life With Bread Crumbs"

Hi Everyone,

Okay, a four month absence from writing about the books we read went virtually unnoticed; however, for my own managerial compulsiveness, I do need to play catch-up on our book club minutes.  In order to stay updated on past, present, and upcoming Butler Women of Wisdom topics, please continue to peruse this document. 

 

The last time I had forwarded an email of any length was in June of 2015. Since then our book club has roamed from house to house in search of sequestered nooks for meeting locations.  First to host our “book club’s home tour season” in May was Ginnie, me in June, Cheryl in July, Lori in August, Becky in September, Mandy in October, and now Barb K. will host our last in-home meeting on November 19. Each hostess provided a lovely atmosphere and luscious goodies that added sugar and spice and everything nice to our lively discussions. These private gatherings are always so much more intimate and less hurried, so I hope you can join us at 6:00 PM on Thursday of this week at Barb K.’s, 205 Homewood Drive, Butler, as we discuss the book Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter in the comfort of Barb’s lovely home. 

Moving forward with upcoming events to post on your calendars, our book club has had in past years a tradition of attending the Butler Symphony Holiday Tour of Homes. This year the symphony’s 26^th home tour is scheduled for Saturday, December 5.  There are eight locations in the itinerary including the Hill United Presbyterian Church where the cookie reception will be hosted. Also, one of the featured attractions is Butler’s Maridon Museum; if you haven’t taken the time to see this local treasure, this may be the perfect occasion.  In addition, six beautiful homes will be open for us to ooh and awe over their charming Christmas décor, architectural design, and historical significance. For those who plan to attend, we will meet for breakfast at Reichhold’s Café, 772 Pittsburgh Road, Butler, at 7:30 AM. Afterward, we will proceed to the home of John and Connie Stobert in Renfrew.  The holiday home tour has always been a favorite activity for the members of our book club, and I know that Lori and I will be attending. Please, let us know either at this week’s meeting or through an email or a text message if you plan to make it, too.

Also, as in past Decembers’ (disregarding last year), no book will be assigned for reading as we elect to simply celebrate the season at our Annual Book Club Christmas Party which will be on Saturday, December 12, at 6 PM! The Red Rock Falls Restaurant in Slippery Rock is reserved for our 2015 Christmas party destination. This venue is BYOB, so remember to bring your favorite beer or wine. Glasses will be provided, and it is agreed that we may order off the menu. Like the home tour, please let us know either at the November 19 meeting or through an email or text message if you and your spouse or friend plan to attend. 

 

Finally, as for our yearly Women of Wisdom charity, we had discussed a donation to the Life Steps Children’s Center in Butler at our October meeting. My husband, however, who is the purchasing manager for Life Steps expressed that we should allocate our charity to another source. Therefore, at our Thursday meeting, we need to come to the table with ideas for alternative beneficiaries. Please give this matter some serious consideration.

Since my June email, we have discussed at our last four meetings four notable books by four distinguished authors. I don’t often talk at length about the authors of the books we read, but their lives have a direct impact on the books they write. First, Bloodroot by Amy Greene, our July selection, takes place in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. The setting was chosen by Greene because this region is where she has lived all her life and still resides with her husband and two children. She chooses to write about the folklore and people of Appalachia in her novels and the places she has explored as a young child. C.W. Gortner, the author of Mademoiselle Chanel: The Novel, was born in Spain where he spent most of his childhood. Although later he moved to the United States and studied writing, he concentrated his studies in Renaissance literature and now chooses to write historical fiction adding life experience to his writing as he travels the world seeking the most accurate details for his plots. In Mademoiselle Chanel: The Novel, Gortner takes the reader to many European cities during specific eras in history. Beatriz Williams, the New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Violet Grant, our September title, first worked in the corporate world before settling into writing. After graduating from Stanford with an MBA from Columbia and entering the workforce as a communications consultant, she lived for several years in both New York and London. In her novel The Secret Life of Violet Grant, Williams uses both cities to support the conflict of her story. 

Anna Quindlen, the author of our October selection, was expected to beguile us with her writing in her novel Still Life with Bread Crumbs. She has the longest writing career of the four authors and a Pulitzer Prize to her credit. Quindlen had a bi-weekly column in Newsweek for ten years, has written five best selling books, and two of which were made into movies. Despite all of these accolades, her novel Still Life with Bread Crumbs, however, was the only one out of the four that our book intensely criticized. Quindlen’s novel lacked what the other three had - a specific time and place in history and characters who are distinctively carved from their unique environments. Readers like the Butler Women of Wisdom club members are book savvy. We want more than just a rehashing of life’s predictable moments. We want to learn more from our book experiences, we want to come away with a discovery about what it’s like to be born somewhere different or raised in a diverse culture. We want to learn how to overcome an unusual adversity or fulfill an impossible dream. We want to laugh at ironic witticism and marvel at the imagery in a descriptive phrase. To meet our book club’s standards, Quindlen just didn’t hit the mark.

Attached to this email is the updated list of our book club’s titles for your reference. Remember, I always have the books and emails posted on our blog at www.butlerwomenofwisdom.blogspot.com. I look forward to seeing everyone this Thursday when we close the year’s litany of books and prepare for a new line up for 2016. Remember, we are meeting Thursday, November 19, at Barb K.’s home at 6 PM!

Your friend in reading,

Tammy

May and June 2015 Book Clubs "The Rosie Project" by Graeme C. Simsion and "Lost Lake" by Sarah Addison Allen

Hi Everyone,

Vive! Book club is alive and kicking! I’m just behind, apologetically, again on the emails, so May and June’s meetings will be compacted into one.

This is our summer of outdoor book clubs. Since very few venues in our town accommodate patrons outdoors, we agreed to have this season’s meetings at members’ homes on our patios to bask in some fresh air and evening sunsets. Our May club, however, was greeted with a cold snap, so Ginnie, thankfully, entertained us all indoors with over-the-top homemade yummies! Gratefully, the weather for our June meeting postponed the rain just long enough for us to enjoy an evening on my deck for our discussion where I served farmer’s market goodies, a less complicated menu for a reluctant cook.

In attendance at our May book club were Barb K., Cheryl, Ginnie, Lori, Jody, Mandy, and myself. The title we discussed was The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Using a unique plot, Simsion draws us into the world of Don Tillman, a college professor researching genetics. Combining nerdy with Aspberger’s Disease, Simsion creates a mega antisocial character in Tillman. Simsion’s use of first person narration is great for taking the reader into Tillman’s bizarre brain processing, thoughts that are totally insensitive to social cues. When he carefully concocts the plan to find a wife, we see exactly how much Tillman’s Aspberger’s leaves him socially compromised.  “The Wife Project,” as he calls it, is littered with loopholes and flaws. When Tillman meets a young bartender/grad student named Rosie, he begins revising his project and even putting it on hold as he contrives the inane schemes for what he labels “The Rosie Project” another endeavor that leave us in stitches. Collecting DNA samples from a litany of men who may or may not be Rosie’s father, Tillman steps out of his social comfort zones in an illogical quest to help Rosie, the most unlikely candidate for “The Wife Project.”

This is one book that is perfectly designed for the big screen. Our club members discussed possibilities for acting roles. I would love to see Colin Firth somewhere in this movie. Sadly, though, he is too old to play Tillman, and I don’t know if I want him to play one of Tillman’s only friends and colleague, a sleazy psychology professor by the name of Gene. Gene (a “Rosie Project” clue) is the epitome of a slime-ball who charts a map marking all the countries for women he has blinked!

Tom Hardy from the movie Inception or Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame could both easily be made-over into nerds then back to hotties for the movie’s starring role of Don Tillman. Possibly teaming Radcliffe with his former The Sorcerer’s Apprentice costar Teresa Palmer as Rosie, and we may have a cute combination. Forgoing cute, however, another option is to typecast Rosie as more of a skanky character and feature Lindsay Lohan or Miley Cyrus in the role. Already, however, Simsion has signed with Sony Pictures who is offering an all star staff to get this movie off the ground. Add to this film all the great music noted from the 70’s, and I can’t wait for The Rosie Project to open in theaters and the nerdy Don Tillman to come to life! No joke, this book is shaping up to be my Women of Wisdom pick for best novel of 2015. Loved it!

My favorite quote from The Rosie Project comes after Tillman has reached rock bottom. He must come to accept the consequences of his immoral behavior, stealing DNA had smeared the flawless, saint-like image he possessed of himself. “I could no longer be equated with the Virgin Mary,” he concedes, “I had been corrupted. I was like everyone else. My stone-casting credibility had been significantly compromised (251).” I’m always up for a good, clean Blessed Mother joke, and besides, there’s much truth in Don’s analogy. For most of us, our stone-throwing days have long been over; mine, most likely, were cut off shortly after I was born!

For June’s title we read Sarah Addison Allen’s book Lost Lake. Members in attendance were Barb K., Becky, Cheryl, Ginnie, Lori, Mandy, Jody, and myself. Only read the novel a little more than a week ago, Allen’s plot is already fuzzy in my mind. It follows, we agreed, a standard made-for-Hallmark movie storyline. My husband, who will on occasion sit down and watch these movies with me, always predicts before it starts, “It’s going to be about a woman who loses her husband and has to raise her kid alone or vice versa.” Ninety percent of the time he’s correct, and yes, it is true for Lost Lake.  A young widow, Kate, must reinvent her life after her husband’s fatal bicycle accident. She and her daughter Devin reconnect with Kate’s Aunt Eby, an estranged relative. It seems that providence, in the form of a lost post card, has led Kate to Lost Lake, Eby’s lakeside cabins in Suley, Georgia. There, Kate predictably rekindles feelings she has left for a friend from the summer she spent at the lake as a child. Wes, now a handyman/pizzeria proprietor has never married (of course), as his one encounter with real love had only been with Kate. Surprise, surprise!

            Beyond a few quirky characters like Selma an aging divorcee with six husbands in her wake and Bulahdeen Ramsey, a spunky retired school teacher, our club discussed the Lake’s mute French cook and Eby’s best friend Lisette. Jody, our book club dietician, reminded us of Lisette’s great recipes mentioned in the book: cinnamon pecans, chive biscuits, summer corn soup, carmelized butternut squash, fresh fruit tarts, and top it all off with Lisette’s butter coffee! Really, though, what was up with Lisette’s ghost in the chair and her fetish for sexy silk lingerie, were we to ascertain at the subliminal level that she was entertaining her imaginary specter in other ways unstated? Think about it.

Although Lost Lake was probably one of our least discussed books ever, the fantasy element of the novel was also argued. Some members stated that the fantasy details are not sufficiently woven into the story, while others affirmed that Allen provides just enough whimsy. Like a Hallmark Christmas story, we are satiated with a few “flights of the imagination” cultivating the ambiguity of Santa Claus then it is back to reality. As is the case with the alligator in Lost Lake, appearing only to the young and clearly imaginative Devin (concluded by her mismatched and wacky wardrobe) as a wise and all-knowing creature, are we really expected to believe that the alligator led Devin to the “alligator box?” That the alligator is really Billy, Wes’s brother who died in the house fire Wes had set long ago, and where Billy’s “alligator box” was thought to have burned? That Billy, the alligator, toted the alligator box from the charred remains of the fire to a watery tomb at the bottom of the lake where a letter from Wes to Kate just so happens to have remained perfectly intact and unopened for more than a decade? Couldn’t Allen have come up with a more credible plotline for revealing Wes’s dark secret? Ho, hum!

In summary, Lost Lake did not go without commendations by our book club. We all found the book basted with juicy words of wisdom. Here are a few we especially liked: 

Good line - Jack, the shy cabin guest and Lisette’s suitor, remembers his mother’s words: “The trick to getting through life,” she’d told him, “is not to resent it when it isn’t exactly how you think it should be (64).”

Spot on for those who are grieving: “Eby knew all too well that there was a fine line when it came to grief. If you ignore it, it goes away, but then it always comes back when you least expect it. If you let it stay, if you make a place for it in your life, it gets comfortable and it never leaves. It was best to treat grief like a guest. You acknowledge it, you cater to it, then you send it away (154).”

One of the perks of getting old: “Lisette remembered her grand-mere once holding out her spotted papery fingers and telling her that old hands made the best food. ‘Old hands can hold memories of good things,’ she had said (182).”

My personal favorite: “I always thought that, at any moment, someone was going to tell me to put down my books and get a real job (Bulahdeen, 201).”

More sage words from Bulahdeen: “You can’t change where you came from, but you can change where you go from here. Just like a book. If you don’t like the ending, you make up a new one (254).”

On the same line of advice and Lori’s personal favorite: “When your cup is empty, you do not mourn what is gone; because if you do, you will miss the opportunity to fill it again (Lisette, 284).”

Cheryl will be hosting our July book club at 6 PM on Wednesday, July 22, on her patio. The novel Bloodroot by Amy Greene, recommended by Jody’s daughter, will be the topic of our discussion. I opted for my old-fashioned hard copy over the Kindle version this time and grabbed the last one at Barnes and Noble in Cranberry! They’re hot!

Set in southern Appalachia, Greene reveals some of the dark folklore that haunts this region through her story of Myra Lamb, a mountain girl. If anyone should have a strong background for telling the tales of the Smoky Mountains, it is Greene, she was born, raised, and still resides in the mountain’s foothills. I’m excited about this book; like Myra, I grew up in a family of strong and hardworking women, all surviving on a will that goes beyond understanding, a spiritual sustenance that suspends us, keeps us afloat. Our discussion for Bloodroot is sure to be fueled by our own personal tales, so join us for what may turn out to be our own book club version of the TV series “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” Tell Greg to build a fire, Cheryl; we’ll need it for ambiance!

Yours in our shared wisdom of books,

Tammy

April 2015 Book Club "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" by Beth Hoffman

Hi Everyone,

We just met for our April book club this week at Morgyn’s Yogurt place on Main Street. We had a good attendance welcoming back Becky from her winter in Florida, and a potential new member, Cori Futcher! Also in attendance were Barb D., Barb K., Cheryl, Ginnie, Lori, and myself. 

The venue was very quaint for an ice cream parlor, but seating was awkward for discussion and the loud oldies music made it difficult to hear one another. In addition, we decided that we need more of a menu for those of us who are arriving directly from work and need real food. Our plan is to enjoy garden/patio parties starting in May at Ginnie’s, in June at my house, July at Cheryl’s, and I believe Becky volunteered for August (Becky, let me know if I’m wrong). I think we all can use the fresh air and sunshine after being locked up for 6 months (except for you Becky; no one should show up at book club flaunting a dark tan - emphasized by the angora pink sweater and white pearls - after the rest of us have recently just suffered the torment of a long winter!).

Yes, three of us remembered to wear pink with pearls. “If you want to glow like you’re lit from within, CeeCee, wear pearls and a pale pink sweater,” said CeeCee’s mother in our book Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. Well, Ginnie and Becky glowed, but I surely didn’t. I was coming down with stomach flu that evening of which I’m still laying here at home trying to kick. Certainly, brighter days are ahead as we all blossom along with the spring flowers and find our “fires” reignite with the promise of summer.  As CeeCee recalls of her mother, “Just when I thought she’d never smile again, spring came. When the lilacs bloomed in great, fluffy waves of violet, Momma went outside and cut bouquets…she painted her fingernails bright pink, fixed her hair, and slipped into a flowery-print dress.” Good tips for all of us!

The author Beth Hoffman’s first novel, we all agreed was weak in plot development but richly embedded with words of wisdom. A great beach read, we decided, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt can provide the languishing sunbather with lively characters and heartfelt moments. It is a book about friendship, stated Barb K. In it are the unlikely relationships that CeeCee, a child, develops as a result of her difficult circumstances. After her mother is killed, CeeCee learns that her Life Book is not completed, she must “turn the page so a new chapter can begin.” And begin it does in Savannah, Georgia! There CeeCee meets more friends than she ever dreamed she could.

“I’ll tell you something, Cecelia Rose. Northerners are exactly like their weather – cold and boring. And I swear, none of them has one iota of etiquette or propriety.” CeeCee didn’t understand her mother’s words until she was able to experience southern hospitality for herself. When she is taken in by her great Aunt Tootie in her lavish Georgian home, CeeCee finally begins to heal after the tragic loss of her mother. It was after Tootie’s neighbor Mrs. Goodpepper explained that camellias couldn’t survive above the Mason Dixon Line, they needed warmth to thrive and bloom that CeeCee wondered if her mother was the same way, Camille Sugarbaker Honeycutt. Like her flower name sake, “She was geographically doomed,” thought CeeCee. Relocating from Savannah to Ohio would kill anyone! Our club discussed the finer points of southern kindness as opposed to our harsher northern temperaments.  Quoting Lori -but excuse my use of the vulgar reference, “The north (Butler) is a SHIT hole!” however, most accurately stated.

I think we are all sappy for the south right now, because I don’t know about you, but I can smell the magnolias. “…magnolia blossoms smell so delicious they’ll make your heart ache.” There are a wealth of quotes in Hoffman’s book that peak our yearning for the lazy days of a southern lifestyle from the description of Aunt Tootie’s lovely gardens, “mounds of creamy-white flowers billowed over the edge of the brick patio like runaway soapsuds” to the description of her grand home “… made of stucco and painted the color of lemonade, was three stories tall and had lots of arched windows.”  Our club decided that Hoffman should have included pictures of some of the old historical homes of Savannah to compliment our imagery of the setting. Although, Becky was lucky enough to stop in Savannah on her return trip from Florida! Now, that is what we call an “extension” activity after reading a novel!

The most thought provoking quote for me from the book, however, is stated by Aunt Tootie when she explains to CeeCee that she needs to find her fire. “Everyone needs to find the one thing that brings out her passion. It’s what we do and share with the world that matters.” After months of severe winter depression, I feel my fire is lost. I did have it, but it has been gone for, oh, close to 180 days. Although, Aunt Tootie adds, “Life will offer us amazing opportunities, but we’ve got to be wide-awake to recognize them.” Maybe I’ve been sleeping. I don’t know, but like Aunt Tootie says, “…you’ve got to find your fire, sugar. You’ll never be fulfilled if you don’t.” Lori says my fire is yoga. I do love yoga, but I desperately need an ashram retreat in the mountains to reunite with my fire again!

Our next book club will meet at 6 PM on Wednesday, May 20, at Ginnie’s house. The book we will be discussing is titled Rosie’s Project by Graeme Simsion. Humorous fiction, Rosie’s Project, according to NPR, works because it will charm you with the sweet geekiness of the main character geneticist Don Tillman as he searches for the perfect mate the scientific way. I don’t know what we are getting into with this one girls, it sounds edgy, sharp, quick witted, yet heartwarming.  Join the club to share your opinions and thoughts on Graeme’s fresh take on romance. Maybe even enjoy a Long Island iced tea while we’re at it!

Yours in reading,

Tammy

March 2015 Book Club "The Boys In the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold..." by Daniel James Brown

Hi Everyone,

We made it! The sun is shining this morning, the crocuses and daffodils are sprouting strong and hardy in our yard, and the weatherman is calling for “fair weather ahead!” Oh, my, it’s like I am an addict desperate for a cocaine fix; my body is craving for sunshine. Just looking at the sun’s rays stretching along my living room floors and onto me sitting at my kitchen chair has me giddy. You people who have had your summer flings in the dead of winter don’t even know how extremely malnourished we feel, those of us who have not had an ounce of vitamin D since the early days of autumn. My mind is so absolutely depleted of brainpower, mental sharpness is a side effect of Vitamin D deficiency –no lie!, that it is a struggle for me to write this email. However, reading The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (I think this book wins for our longest title) by Daniel James Brown inspired me. It was a great interlude for biding away the dreary month of March. Although, don’t get me wrong, I am more than ready to enjoy my reading in a lawn chair on our overly sun-exposed deck or on a beach chair centrally located under direct UBV rays along a seashore!

Attending the March meeting along with me were Barb K., Ginnie, Lori, and Mandy. At first, a few in our group thought that we would not have much to discuss as Brown’s book was long and contained pages upon pages of race details, much that can be skimmed over, but once we began our discussion, we delved deeper and deeper into its message. The Boys in the Boat was one of the most inspiring novels, I for one, have ever read. We can all learn something from these nine men who grew out of America’s working class during our nation’s Great Depression. This was a story of how with the right ingredients for greatness: determination, motivation, and mentorship, men can unite their strength to achieve unthinkable goals.

This book was a so inspirational, I found it a great source of motivation for teaching. Think about it. Nine boys must forget themselves and unite their physical and mental bodies to triumph in the sport of rowing. Learning that life is not all about me, when we desire a thing, is a lesson that is hard to learn. The main character in Brown’s account of this great event in history, Joe Rantz, struggles to come to this conclusion in order to help the University of Washington’s rowing team win championships against America’s elite Ivy league’ schools then ultimately winning the 1936 U.S. Olympic Gold. Brown leads us to the climax in Nazi Berlin by focusing mostly on Joe’s life, his overcoming the obstacles of an unnatural childhood, the loss of his mother, then abandonment by his father and stepmother. We discussed at our club the awful luck poor Joe had as a child and found his choice to “never depend on anyone else, not even on Joyce,” his devoted girlfriend, “for his source of happiness,” was his coping mechanism; however, Joe had to overcome his suppressive attitude in order to completely trust and support his rowing team so that they could make their mark in U.S. Olympic history.

We must all work together to achieve on the PSSA, is the point I am trying to make with my students.  “Helping each other learn in order for our school to achieve greatness,” I tell them, “is what we need to do. Don’t think of only yourself, think of the school. If the school looks great, you look great, as you are a part of the school! Remember the boys in the boat, remember the boys in the boat . . . !” is our mantra!

The rowing team’s mentor, George Pocock, was the University of Washington’s very own Yoda. I once read, “Tie a child to a good man, and you will never go wrong.” That’s what the rowing teams at U.W. were blessed to have in George Pocock, a good man. Pocock and his brother Dick both apprenticed in the art of boatbuilding under their father who was the boat builder for Eton College. Living at Eton also gave George and his brother the opportunity to become champion rowers. With the prize money they saved, they immigrated to the United States. After the usual struggles to establish themselves as independent businessmen in America, George finally found his place at U.W. where he flourished in his craft. Not only did he build faster and more efficient boat shells, but he introduced many innovations in boatbuilding such as using Western Red Cedar for the outer shell. He mentored all of the rowing teams that came through Seattle’s rowing program during his time there, offering his sage advice to both the coaches and boys. Pocock’s knowledge of rowing was so comprehensive his words were held in the highest respect among oarsmen and coaches from all over the country. For this reason, he was appointed Boatman to four U.S. Olympic Rowing Teams: 1936, 1948, 1952, and 1956.  

It was George Pocock that helped Joe Rantz get his head on straight. Pocock gave Joe the time of day, so to speak. By teaching Joe about the art of boatbuilding, beginning with the cutting and shaping of the wood, Pocock was able to also mold Joe into a champion rower. By helping Joe remove the protective walls he had built around himself, Pocock exposed Joe to Joe. Like the wood that Pocock so expertly understood, he transferred his wisdom of transforming raw materials into pieces of art, and inspired Joe to the same greatness. When the alluring smell of cedar shavings finally led Joe into Pocock’s shell house, Pocock was ready. He let the wood teach Joe. “The wood,” Pocock murmured, “taught us about survival, about overcoming difficulty, about prevailing adversity, but it also taught us something about the underlying reason for surviving in the first place. Something about infinite beauty, about undying grace, about things larger and greater than ourselves. About the reasons we are all here. Sure I can make a boat,” he said, and then quoting the poet Joyce Kilmer added, “But only God can make a tree.”

Pocock went on to explain to Joe the many steps in the wood’s processing and other elements that ensure the making of a great boat, “The ability to yield, to bend, to give way, to accommodate, was sometimes a strength in men as well as in wood.” Joe was glued to Pocock’s deep understanding of wood and its relationship to everything in life. Pocock’s wisdom came straight from his heart, “He said for him the craft of building a boat was like a religion. . . You had to give yourself up to it spiritually; you had to surrender yourself absolutely to it. When you were done and walked away from the boat, you had to feel that you had left a piece of yourself behind in it forever, a bit of your heart. Rowing,” he said to Joe, “is like that.”

Pocock continued to take a personal interest in Joe, leading Joe to discover his inner greatness. Until Joe was able to overcome his own motto to “never depend on anyone else,” Joe would only be a second rate rower for the U.W. rowing team. Pocock “suggested that Joe think of a well-rowed race as a symphony, and himself as just one player in the orchestra. If one fellow in an orchestra was playing out of tune, or playing at a different tempo, the whole piece would naturally be ruined.”

Joe’s determination to transform himself was an important key to U.W.’s big Swedish coach Al Ulbrickson in leading his team to victory at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He counted on Pocock to mentor Joe, and mentor Pocock did, “When you really start trusting those other boys,” he counseled, “you will feel a power at work within you that is far beyond anything you’ve ever imagined . . . as if you have rowed right off the planet and are rowing among the stars.” It was a frightening concept to Joe to trust others when he had been let down by people he loved so many times in his life, but finally he let go. For Coach Ulbrickson, this meant he finally had all of his ducks in a row. At a varsity victory, he remarked to the press, “Every man in the boat had absolute confidence in every one of his mates.” Ulbrickson knew that all the elements that constitute greatness had finally converged, “the right oarsmen, with the right attitude, the right personalities, the right skills; a perfect boat, sleek, balanced, and wickedly fast; a winning strategy . . . ; a coxswain with the guts and smarts to make hard decisions and make them fast. It all added up to more than he could really put into words.”

Brown’s account of Joe Rantz and the U.W.’s amazing rowing team is dappled with historical images of Adolph Hitler and his attempt to fool the world. By hosting the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Hitler was able to present an illusion of cultural perfection. Visiting athletes and Olympic fans were none the wiser as they were greeted by clean and perfect villages and accommodating people. It was a trip to remember for all. Although as many looked back, they were able to pick out the camouflaged cracks and flaws in the superficial image Berlin presented that, while caught up in the spirit of celebration, they simply overlooked.

Brown’s epilogue is noteworthy and a topic of much discussion at our book club. It was interesting to learn how the “Boys in the Boat” commenced on with their lives after graduating from U.W. The biographical sketches proved clearly that these nine men were all winners in and out of the boat. After serving their country in WWII, they all returned and resumed successful careers. Their U.S. Olympic Gold medals were well earned, I believe, not just for their feats in rowing, but for their lives, shining examples to all of us in America on how to live and contribute to our nation.

The Boys in the Boat: is a book I will share with students and many others who I hope will find the same source of inspiration in its pages as I did. At our meeting, our book club has selected many inspiring titles, but we pick our books based not only on their capability to inspire and inform but also for entertainment and relaxation. I’m not sure which category our April title will fall under, I haven’t started it yet; but we are reading Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. The New York Times describes it as the Steel Magnolias meets The Help. Set in a 1960’s Savannah, Georgia, our book club, I’m certain, will find much to discuss in Hoffman’s southern tale. In the story, CeeCee’s mother tells her daughter, “if you want to glow like you are lit from within, CeeCee, wear pearls and a pale pink sweater,” so let’s all wear pearls and something pale pink to our meeting! If you want to take it a bit further, add a white straw hat with a yellow band and a red flower pinned to the side like the one CeeCee’s Aunt Tootie gave her!  

We will meet at 6 P.M. on Wednesday, April 22, at Morgyn’s Frozen Yogurt and Treats, 152 N. Main Street, Butler, for our discussion. This is a new location for us and a variation from our usual dinner menus, so please allow yourself the indulgence of a sweet treat when you arrive! Lori confirms that it is a cozy little spot, so let’s give it a try.

See yah’ all soon,

(just practicing my southern dialect for club!)

Tammy