The Stories of the Places We’ve Lived

This week I reviewed The Invisible Giants, the story of the Van Sweringen brothers, real estate developers and rail tycoons who left their lasting mark on Cleveland’s skyline, transit system and the suburb of Shaker Heights. We lived in the Cleveland area for a time, had seen and visited Terminal Tower, shopped and visited friends in Shaker Heights.

Likewise, in writing over five hundred Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown pieces, I read several full-length histories of Youngstown, a variety of other histories on aspects of the Mahoning Valley, as accessing many issues of the Youngstown Vindicator and other sources. I discovered that there was so much I did not know about my hometown. And, as I wrote, I found this was so for my readers. Together, we found it enriching to learn of our rich historical and cultural heritage, and how the area’s past influenced its present, down to our street names.

I continue to be fascinated by local history. Having lived over thirty years in Columbus, longer than anywhere, my next project is to read more about Columbus. I’ve enjoyed local histories by two well-known Black writers, Hanif Abdurraqib and Wil Haygood as well as the writing of local author James Thurber.

I think history carries some bad school memories for some of us. But learning the stories of where we live can add a dimension of richness to our sense of a place. Often, the lack of a sense of the place we live contributes to the sense of rootlessness in our society. Knowing about and loving our place leads to care for its cultural and physical riches, whether the natural landscape or the built environment. That’s why I’m a proponent of local history. Librarians and booksellers can help. So can your local historical society. The History Press, part of Arcadia Publishing is a leader in publishing local history and a great source for your community. Consider adding some local history to your reading!

Five Articles Worth Reading

“Han Kang Is Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature” profiles the newest Nobel Prize winner in literature and the first person to win the prize from South Korea.

Mark Krotov and Alex Shepherd think the publishing world tends to focus in on one book (at present, they argue, Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo). They celebrate the Nobel committee’s choice of Han Kang as a counter movement to this trend in “Can The Nobel Prize Save Publishing From Itself?”

I’ve always dreamed of having a study. My home office is probably a messy alternative and one of my retirement projects is to change that. Publisher’s Weekly interviewed Andrew, whose The Study (Princeton Univ., Dec.), chronicles the emergence of the personal library.

While finding a book is sometimes a treasure hunt in itself, a thirty-one year, book-based hunt just concluded! “A 31-Year Book-Based Treasure Hunt Is Finally Over” describes the quest for the Golden Owl written about in Sur la trace de la chouette d’or (On the Trail of the Golden Owl), first published in 1993. We learn that proof of solving all the clues and the discovery of the owl has been reported.

Finally, October 5 was Global James Bond Day. I went through a Bond phase before my father confiscated the books as “too adult.” In “7 James Bond Books Better Than Any of the Movies” I discovered that Ian Fleming was not the only Bond novelist. However, I also learned that my first and favorite Bond novel by Fleming (Thunderball) was number one in their ranking

Quote of the Week

I agree with the reading and writing advice of fellow Columbus native R. L. Stine, who turned 81 on October 8:

“Read. Read. Read. Just don’t read one type of book. Read different books by various authors so that you develop different styles.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I’m hoping to start reading Our Team while the Cleveland Guardians are still in contention for the World Series. The book is on the 1948 World Champion team, one of the early teams to integrate. This is where a good baseball book and local history come together!

I’ve been a wannabe bird-watcher all my life. I have a few bird books, binoculars and enjoy noticing the birds on my daily walks. I even spent some time sketching gulls in flight as I relaxed at a couple lake- and seaside locations. A book connecting birding and grieving has sparked my interest as has Amy Tan’s book, on my TBR pile.

I’m not a comic book collector. But a photo of children reading comics reminded me how comics were one of the “gateway drugs” to a life of reading for me. Hard to imagine Archie and Veronica and Superman doing that for me but it was true. I wonder how many others would say that.

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for this week!

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