BRW: Behind the Blind 7

Back in January I renewed my library card for the first time in a long time.

As a kid I used the library fairly often. I remember going on class outings there to learn about the Dewey Decimal System and stuff like that. In high school I used the Mid-Manhattan Library, across the street from the main one (the one with the lion statues), for their picture collection. When I lived in Columbus, I used their library to go job hunting and check out DVDs.

Actually checking out a book to read, though, was different. The writing gurus say one needs to read in one’s genre to be a better writer, so it was probably past time to reacquaint myself with the most basic of library uses. I did not expect to have to search through those cards in the small file cabinets to find the book I wanted—remember those? I did, however, need to learn how to use the computer system to check it out.

And now that I’m going to explore historical fiction by other writers, I’ll document it. You’ve already noticed the new “book reviews” page. I’ll update it as frequently as I can, whenever I finish a book. The “writings” page combines my previous fiction and non-fiction links.

Let me know what you think of the changes.

#popculture55: B-Side Single “Sixteen Tons” Turns Coal Into Gold

The plight of Kentucky coal miners inspired a country music song that became a smash.

by Rich Watson 

Merle Travis was a Kentucky country singer known for his unique style of picking the guitar. In 1946 he wrote a song called “Sixteen Tons,” about slaving in a coal mine for little pay.

In 1955, Tennessee Ernie Ford remade the song.

It exploded.

#popculture55: “Auntie Mame,” Marion Tanner, and 1920s Greenwich Village

This book, which might have been about the author’s aunt, captured the spirit of a time and place in New York history.

by Rich Watson 

The 1955 novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis sold over two million copies in its first print run, spent five weeks atop the New York Times bestseller chart, and inspired plays, stage musicals and films. The character became one of the most iconic literary women of the twentieth century.

She was probably based on the author’s real-life aunt. The New York neighborhood she inhabited and its unique world, though, was and is all too real.