Teacher and Author
Watched The Great Ziegfeld last night. The movie, produced in 1935-36, was an homage to the recently departed impresario. (He had died barely three years earlier.) It was also a lifeline for his indebted widow, Billie Burke, who sold the … Continued
“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden.” This would not have … Continued
In late summer, 1926, the North Atlantic world was struck by Channel-crossing Fever. Five hearty souls had already swum the waterway dividing England and France, beginning as far back as 1875, so what was all the fuss? For starters, three … Continued
The first edition of The Chicago Defender, a run of three hundred papers, went on sale May 5, 1905. For two cents, readers received six columns of text on four full pages. It was a humble beginning for one … Continued
I grew up convinced I would die in the jungles of Vietnam. I needn’t have worried. My birth had come almost a full decade too late. My worries weren’t constant, in any case. Most of the time I was too … Continued
Juba! by Walter Dean Myers is historical fiction with a strong emphasis on the history. The title character actually existed. The events in the book are documented. Fourteen archival images grace the pages, including map, photo, and engraving; portraits, posters, … Continued
Before Woody Guthrie strummed out his version of “Hobo’s Lullaby,” he had probably seen–and laughed at–Will Rogers’s lovable tramp, Jubilo, in the movies. As an older teenager, he had likely heard–and was moved by–Rogers’s words on the radio: “The only … Continued
Woody Guthrie lost his older sister when he was not yet seven years old. Clara should have been at school taking final exams, but her mother insisted she stay home to do the ironing. Mid-morning, Clara burst out of the … Continued
Nonfiction has become hot–or, at least, very warm. For now, publishers are eager for nonfiction, especially of the narrative variety. They understand that young readers (like more mature ones) are engaged by a story. Science, history, sports, art: they all … Continued