Category Archives: From the Library – A Weekly Column

Charmed by the Hike: The Appalachian Trail – by Charlotte Canelli

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Canelli

Read Charlotte Canelli’s column in the April 20 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin or listen to the podcast on SoundCloud. Podcasts are archived on the Voices from the Library page of the library website.

In the 1998 bestseller, “A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail”, Bill Bryson recounts his experiences, with and without his friend, Stephen, along the 2,184 mile challenge of the Appalachian Trail. Bryson hiked the trail from Georgia to parts of Maine. It doesn’t matter much that Bryson, never completed the hike. Only one-quarter of those who attempt the hike as a “thru-hike” in one season actually complete all of it. His obsession with the trail, his humorous exploits and his discoveries, among them how hard it is to team up with a friend under extenuating circumstances, made for a bestselling memoir.

Somewhere in the 1990s (before Bryson’s book was published, I might add) I had the very silly and romantic thought of hiking the trail myself. I had hiked the notorious Mount Washington in my 20s and had done my share of backpacking and camping over forty odd years. However, I had lost my enthusiasm for hiking around the time my young daughters and their father began leaving me in the dust on all trails, hiking and otherwise. Out-of-shape, overweight and much more interested in the feat of cooking gourmet camping meals, my interest in hiking the Appalachian Trail lasted about a week. I do remember receiving a guidebook for my birthday that year when a friend took me much too seriously. I was reminded of my humiliating quest when I read “It’s Always Up: Memories of the Appalachian Trail” by the Mountain Marching Mamas.

Six Mountain Marching Mamas began hiking one fall in the late 1970s when their children were small. A weekend together with women, no matter what the reason or weather, was an inviting thought. Several were close friends, two others were sisters and most of them lived in Florida, near enough to the Georgia mountains where the southern trailhead of the AT begins.

Six, and then five, of the women began spending time backpacking together each year. With grime in their knees, wind in their hair and families left far behind, they soon began hiking parts of the Trail until all “five million steps” or over 2,000 miles were complete. All of them took the quest seriously and Charme Burns, one of the Mamas, wrote that once they started talking about hiking the entire trail, the mission took on a life of its own. From mothers of young children who were left in the care of their supportive husbands, the Mamas have hiked together for over forty years becoming grandmothers, senior citizens and very experienced hikers.

We had the pleasure at the Morrill Memorial Library of presenting one of the Mamas (and authors of the book, “It’s Always Up”) on Tuesday, March 6. Mother-in-law of one of our trustees, Charme Burns shared her experiences with photographs, anecdotes and readings from the book she co-authored with the other four of her lifelong friends. All of us lucky enough to be in the audience were amazed at the dedication of this group of adventurous women. It is a story full of friendship and fellowship, humor and humility. It is complete with tales of the strangers they meet along the way, the antics they share and the challenges they endure. Near the end are accounts of the celebration after their 27th hike, the end of their trail, in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. That didn’t end their hiking days, however, as the women still meet annually somewhere in the world.

Many others have written memoirs about hiking the entire length of the AT. “The Things You Find on the Appalachian Trail: A Memoir of Discovery, Endurance and a Lazy Dog” by Kevin Runolfson was published in 2010. Another hiker, Jeff Alt hiked 2,160 miles along the Appalachian Train for charity. In his inspirational account, “A Walk for Sunshine” (2009), Jeff trekked for his brother who has cerebral palsy and he has raised over $150,000 with his annual Walk-With Sunshine for the Sunshine Home where his brother lives.

In “Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail” (2010), Jennifer Pharr Davis shares her solo experience of completing the trail in fifty-seven days, when she was 21 years old. In 2000 Leslie Noyes Mass decided to walk the Trail during a ‘thru-hike’ at the age of 59 and recounts the story in her book, “In Beauty May She Walk” (2005). A college professor, Leslie is not only challenged by the hike but is also confronted with the needs of those she left behind, her family.

For those who think they might like to take on the challenge, there are recent books such as “The Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Planner” (2009) by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, “The Appalachian Trail Food Planner: Recipes and Menus for the 2,000 Mile Hike” (2009) by Lou Adsmon and at least twenty other publications focused on specific portions of the Trail.

For the less adventurous (and more practical) there are guidebooks for taking the trail one day, or one night, at a time. Victoria and Frank Logue have written “The Best of the Appalachian Trail: Day Hikes” (2004) and “The Best of the Appalachian Trail: Overnight Hikes” (2004).

We in New England have the wonderful luck of being within hours of many of the trailheads and overnight huts of the Appalachian Trail. Some of it, in Western Massachusetts, is easier hiking. Much more of it is daunting, such as the Mt. Katahdin section at the conclusion of the trail in Maine. Many of the books I’ve included above, such as the one by Mountain Marching Mamas, will inspire you to try at least a day’s hike or put a smile on your face thinking about it. As the Mamas like to sing, “Some trails are happy ones, others are blue. It’s the way you ride the trail that counts, here’s a happy one for you.”

If you would like to reserve any of these titles in DVD or CD version please call the Reference or Information desks of the library, 781-799-0200 or reserve them in the Minuteman Library catalog.

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A Disaster of Titanic Proportions – by Charlotte Canelli

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Canelli

Read Charlotte Canelli’s column in the April 13 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin or listen to the podcast on SoundCloud. Podcasts are archived on the Voices from the Library page of the library website.

While both halves the 20th Century saw incredible growth and achievement, Americans endured terrific losses in the first half. It seemed like ancient history to me as I was growing up, but World War II ended less than ten years before my birth. The beginnings of the Holocaust and the meteoric rise of Adolph Hitler occurred only fifteen years before I was born in 1952. The black days of the stock market crash only twenty-three.

Put in that perspective, it isn’t hard to wonder why my parents and grandparents lived such a frugal and conservative lifestyle, always afraid of another world disaster that might strike.

In 1912 my grandparents’ first child was born, my mother’s eldest sister. It was also the year the Titanic sank.

The massive cruise liner took over five years to build before it literally rolled down the slipway and into the River Lagen in Belfast Harbour. Engineering, designing and planning the cruise liner began in 1907 and it took twenty-four months to physically build the ship in 1910-1912. RMS Titanic was enormous, she was luxurious and she was, they said, unsinkable.

American and British elite, responding to massive marketing targeted at their egos and bank accounts, were caught up in the incredible hype surrounding Titanic’s maiden voyage. Some of the world’s richest people were passengers on the ship. Isador Strauss, co-owner of the Macy’s chain of department stores was sailing home with his wife, Ida. Industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim, John Jacob Astor, IV (the richest man on board) and his young wife, Madeleine were also sailing home. On board were the cruise liner’s managing director, J. Bruce Ismay and Titanic’s designer, Thomas Andrews.

For many passengers, the cruise was simply a ‘cool’ way to sail to New York. Among those were nouveau riche Molly Brown, silent film actress Dorothy Gibson and fashion icon to the celebrities and wealthy, Lady Duff Gordon. Others, those in second class and those in third, or steerage, booked their voyage at the last minute but many more planned their trip for months. Some of those passengers only wanted a way to America where they would start a new life. Of the 2,240 people aboard the ship, 1,517 perished either by drowning or by freezing to death in the frigid North Atlantic waters.

It was a disaster of titanic proportions. Within weeks of Titanic’s sinking, actress and survivor Dorothy Gibson starred in a short silent film about the disaster. Sadly, that film no longer survives but theatergoers flocked to see it in 1912. One of the first books written, “The Sinking of the Titanic” by Logan Marshall, was reprinted many times and was again re-published in 1997, abridged and edited by Bruce M. Caplan. Marshall’s narrative, packed with survivor accounts, raised many questions about the disaster.

Another classic book written about the tragedy, “A Night to Remember” by Walter Lord, was published in 1955 and the book and movie based on it were incredible hits. Lord interviewed many of the survivors forty years after the disaster and for the first time readers fully realized the horrifying statistic that 53 of the 76 children in steerage perished while none of the children traveling in first or second class died. Walter Lord’s second act, “The Night Lives On: New Thoughts, Theories, and Revelations about the Titanic”, was published in 1976 as a companion volume to his first.

Now new books on the Titanic disaster are available just in time for the 100th anniversary this week. “Titanic Tragedy: A New Look at the Lost Liner” by John Maxtone-Graham opens with an entire chapter devoted to the fascinating and detailed accounts of two marvels of the 18th and 19th centuries that ensured the survival of the 706 passengers and crew. One was Samuel Morse’s tapped code, uncanny precursor to today’s text messages and the other was Guglielmo Marconi’s wireless telegraph. Without both inventions, a nearby ship, the Carpathian, could not have responded to the Titanic so quickly and rescued the near-frozen lifeboat occupants from the elements.

“Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived” by Andrew Wilson focuses on the lives of the survivors in the century after the sinking. (None of them are alive today; the last survivor, Millvina Dean, died in 2009, at age 97.) Many of the survivors lived to endure troubled lives, culminating in many divorces and suicides. One tragic figure, disgraced White Star Lines’ corporate executive J. Bruce Ismay, became a recluse on the coast of Ireland for most of his life.

“Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, Aristocrats, and the Worlds They Came From” by Richard Davenport-Hines, tells the story of many of the ship’s second class passengers who included artists, authors, tourists, academics, shopkeepers and clerks. More accounts are from steerage, or third class, most of them stories of immigrants. Another group, the ship’s crew, included stewards and stewardesses, stokers and firemen and many of them went down with the ship, including Captain Edward Smith and ship designer Thomas Andrews.

Another new book centered on the tragedy is one of historical fiction. “The Dressmaker” by Kate Alcott includes pieces of the action and colorful characters of period. It also stitches in just enough romance to make it a compelling read. I found myself engrossed in the story of Tess, a fictional seamstress who gets a lucky break on the Southampton dock to become the personal assistant to famous designer Lady Duff Gordon. Tess survives the doomed voyage and winds up her shipboard romances on shore with more than one marriage proposal. Many characters of the non-fiction accounts circulate in and out of Alcott’s story, including politicians and press once the passengers are safely returned to shore.

If you would like to reserve any books in the Minuteman Library System please call the Reference or Information desks of the library, 781-799-0200 or reserve them in the Minuteman Library catalog.

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Today: Clear and Cold. Tomorrow: Hot and Humid – by Margot Sullivan

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Canelli

Margot Sullivan is a reference librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read her column in the Norwood Transcript & Bulletin this week.

“What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance” Jane Austen in a letter.

“If you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes” Mark Twain

Everyone, and I mean everyone, is talking about the weather. Truthfully there is just nothing we can do about it! For those of you who missed the snow and cold and ice I have some suggestions for you here at the library. Come in and borrow the movie “The Shining” by Stephen King where a caretaker gets marooned in a snowy resort and slowly loses it! “The Day After Tomorrow” is a huge disaster movie with lots of ice bergs breaking up and global warming! How about “Doctor Zhivago” a great movie with winter in Russia! “March of the Penguins” is an entertaining DVD for all ages. Every March in the Antarctic penguins file one by one for hundreds of miles to look for a mate and start a family. For books I just finished a really taut mystery story “The Snowman” by Jo Nesbo. James Michener’s “Alaska” would be a good read if you want cold.

Attributed to Mark Twain was also the quote”the weather is always doing something”. Yes, it is always doing something and we have no control over what it is doing! The First Thursday Book Discussion Group just finished “Isaac’s Storm: a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history” by Erik Larson. Even with some weather forecasting the September 1900 storm in Galveston, Texas was incorrectly analyzed for a variety of reasons – some ignorance, some political, and some ego –driven! We all can remember storms that have been predicted and not arrived or vice versa! The weather has a mind of its own. In keeping with the theme of missing snow and snow shoveling, how about checking out “Blizzard! the great storm of 88” by Judd Caplovich (974.7 Cap). This book has great photos of mostly New York and one can imagine what it might have been like without some of the specialized machinery we have to cope with this kind of a storm. How about the “Blizzard of 78 by Michael Tougias (551.5 Tougias) – those of us around here remember this famous storm in which the snowfall amount was not predicted!

The library has a nice array of weather books I particularly liked “Weather a Visual Guide” by Bruce Buckley et all (551.5 Buckley). This book covers the atmosphere and jet streams (they are always talking about the jet stream in the weather report), ocean currents, humidity (not my favorite), clouds, rain, lightning, dust storms, and history of weather forecasting, …. and so on. Lots of photographs make this a valuable weather resource. Chris Mooney’s book “Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle over Global Warming” (363.738 Mooney) looks intriguing. Finally for you “weather at its worst” fans “Extreme Weather A Guide and Record Book” by Christopher C. Burt (551.5 Burt) presents all kinds of records on blizzards, and floods, and hurricanes and ice storms, droughts, tornadoes, and any other kind of like catastrophe. The book has great photos and is very readable.

Spring has already sprung – in March! It’s April – can summer be far behind? Wonder what July will be like?

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Immortal Love – by Charlotte Canelli

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Canelli

Read Charlotte Canelli’s column in the March 30 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin or listen to the podcast on SoundCloud. Podcasts are archived on the Voices from the Library page of the library website.

Reading reviews and choosing both fiction and non-fiction books for our library, I often place a book on hold months before it is published. And sometimes I am puzzled when the book arrives on my desk not quite remembering just why it had piqued my interest.

This past winter I placed a hold on the book “Immortal Bird” written by Doron Weber, a program director at the non-profit Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York City. Skimming the back cover, I realized why I had reserved Weber’s book which chronicles his “struggle to save his remarkable son”, Damon, who was born with a congenital heart defect.

This is a story that I knew personally and similar to one that I, too, had experienced. I knew I must read it, if only for cathartic reasons. “Immortal Bird” sat on my bedside table for nearly a week before I dared open its cover. I was avoiding it because I knew that I would revisit tender and painful memories.

My daughter, Coleen, was born in 1980 with a congenital heart defect. Her father and I were told several weeks before she was born that she might not survive her birth. She was four months old when on my twenty-eighth birthday we were told that this child, our firstborn, would not survive her first year.

Through what some might ascribe to effective intervention and medical care, or what still others might attribute to powerful prayer, precious Coleen miraculously blossomed. She passed her first birthday and her vivid blue eyes twinkled and her impish smile captured the hearts of everyone she met. I traveled to introduce her to relatives who we never thought she’d meet. We convened with doctors in Los Angeles, south of San Francisco where we lived, who were pioneers in pediatric cardiology. All were simply stunned by her progress with no answers as to why.

Yet, during her second year, it was apparent that she could not defy the odds against her. Her deficient heart could not keep up with a body that needed to thrive. Children grow at amazing rates. A normal one-year old triples his or her birth weight and by a second birthday that birth weight has quadrupled. A healthy heart is key to this remarkable growth.

We lost Coleen a few short months before her second birthday. She was, to us, a perfect child with a personality as big as the moon and a smile unforgettable as the stars. In those twenty and more months however, as parents of a terminally ill child, we were frustrated with interminable delays, the arrogance of specialists, a disorganized medical records system and the cover-ups of mistakes. Days after she was initially released from a renowned teaching hospital at the University of California at San Francisco, it was discovered that the head physician in charge of neonatology was a fraud who had never even graduated from medical school.

We were simply stunned and yet we continued to endure a flawed medical system fraught with inaccuracies and conceit. Doron Weber, the author of “Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir” and the father of Damon Weber has chronicled his similar experience in this unforgettable book.

Doron and Sheleagh’s firstborn son, Damon, was born in 1988 with a congenital heart defect that was mended with surgery when he was very young. However, in late 2001, when Damon was thirteen years old, he became increasingly weaker and ill from complications related to his initial heart condition.

While some of the story records the medical intervention and Damon’s disheartening decline, most of the book focuses on Damon’s incredible strength, his amazing spirit and his unwavering will to beat the odds. He rarely complained but managed to enter a very competitive high school in Brooklyn where he acted in and directed stage plays. He even managed a very small part in one episode of the HBO series, Deadwood. In the fall of 2004, just months before he died, he was the recipient of a transplanted heart. The unthinkable happened soon after when he contracted an infection from that new heart – the one that had promised him a longer life.

In the last year of Damon’s life, Doron Weber fought a maddening battle, advocating for his son in medical institutions that lacked a central record and with doctors who rarely listened to the people who knew Damon best, his parents. As things spiraled out of control, I couldn’t help but react to the unbelievable mistakes and ineptitude of the medical professionals assigned to Damon’s case. In the end, a grave misdiagnosis hastened Damon’s death and a family lost their eldest son.

In the epilogue of “Immortal Bird”, Doron Weber writes that “Damon died three days before my birthday. That’s a misleading statement since no one you love dies once. They die for you repeatedly, over and over.”

All parents who have lost a child know that while you can never change what happened, you do have the choice to move on from it, keeping lost ones in your heart and reconciling the painful memories when you feel the strongest. “Immortal Bird” is frustrating, poignant, and powerful. I anguished, and sometimes I relived, many of the moments that were told in this tender and vivid story by a father who loved his child more than he could have ever imagined. Yet, it is books like Weber’s that many of us turn to in times we when need to heal from memories while we rediscover the strength within us.

If you would like to reserve any books in the Minuteman Library System please call the Reference or Information desks of the library, 781-799-0200 or reserve them in the Minuteman Library catalog.

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