Finally...I can now respond to Jim Rowes challenge to list 10 books which influenced my life. In turn, I challenge John Slagle, Pinky Slagle, Kate Cone and Beth Staples to show us their lists. I would like to include a short explanation of the significance of each book, so, in the interest of holding your attention, I will break my list in half and put up the first five today, followed by the last five tomorrow. Because I had such a hard time to get down to 10...Ill also throw in a bonus of Honorable Mentions! Ive attempted to list them in the order in which I read them: #1. Up Front, by Bill Mauldin (1944) I first found this book when I was in early grade school. It was in my Moms library, and I was fascinated by all things WWII. Mauldin was a cartoonist who served with the 45th Army Division in the European Theater. His cartoons featured two scruffy dogfaces named Willie and Joe and were published in Stars and Stripes...the newspaper for our troops overseas. I LOVED that he depicted the grubby and weary reality of war. I returned to this book time and again during my life to see my old friends, Willie and Joe. See pics below. #2. The Longest Day, by Cornelius Ryan (1959) I told you I was fascinated by WWII! This book has been cited as a definitive history of D-Day by many subsequent historians and authors. Ryan does an amazing job of making the monumental undertaking of the June 6th, 1944 Normandy Invasion a very personal event. Over three years he interviewed D-Day Veterans to be able to tell their stories. I read the book several times between 7th grade and college and used it as a foundation for my Manson Essay, Junior year at MCI. I also watched, several times, the epic film (1962) based on the book...starring: John Wayne, Richard Burton, Eddie Albert, Paul Anka(!), Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Peter Lawford, etc., etc. To this day I plan to spend a significant vacation touring the sites of The Longest Day. #3. Bert And I, by Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan (1958) Dodge and Bryan made me proud of my Maine accent! I would spend time listening to their records and refining my accent so I could re-tell the stories like a good Downeaster. I loved the Bluebird and Bluebird II, and could make the sound of The Bangor Packet as it smuck the Bluebird about midships and drove on through her like green corn goes through the new maid. I even recorded (on a 60 minute BASF cassette tape) several of the stories in my best accent to give to my father-in-law (from away) as a Christmas gift in the days of creative (read, cheap) gift-giving. Total cost: $.67 + tax. #4. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (1939) I read this in H.S. English class, as did the majority of us Boomers. I was very affected by the hopeless desperation of the Joads and their fellow Okies. The concept that a person, or family, could try so hard to overcome their situation, only to find their efforts futile, was a bit of a mind-blower to me. Steinbeck also introduced me to the allure of Route 66, which I have since traveled and enjoyed...and plan to again in my S2000! #5. Instant Replay, by Jerry Kramer (1968) As a huge Green Bay Packer fan, I devoured this book when it came out. I was playing offensive guard in high school, and Kramer was my hero! I read his accounts of the 1967 Packer season under Lombardi, climaxing with his lead block to beat the Cowboys in the famed Ice Bowl Game, and tried to become #64 leading the devastating Packer Sweep against the likes of Jay and Dexter and Livermore Falls. No disrespect to my HS running backs: Richard Milligan, Buck Rodgers and Dave Varney...but it wasnt quite the same without Paul Hornung behind me. I got a little closer at Colby College with Joseph C. Mattos and Peter Gorniewicz lugging the leather, but when I stood beside John Krasnavage and my other line-mates in the huddle (and looked up at them), I knew my dream of being a pulling guard in the NFL were over! 59 and 160 lbs. just wasnt going to cut it.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 18:36:53 +0000
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