Amazing coincidence

We were in Vermont on Sunday to bury my older brother Vin; an event that amazingly coincided with the first visit to the cemetery by a woman named Sue who had been close friends with my younger brother Jon, who had died at the age of 20 in 1966. It was a short friendship, a month or so in person & a year or so of writing letters, but one, she said with tears streaming down her face, that had "changed her life." Although I have no memory of writing to her about Jon's death, she said I did and she still has my letter; she also has all of Jon's letters.

When the service for Vin started, I motioned for Sue and Bill (her husband of eleven months) to join us. They stood slightly behind and off to the right of me in front of Jon's grave. It was quite amazing--beautiful, Linda said--to experience her quietly mourning for Jon, 44 years later.

As you can see, it was a gorgeous New England day. The headstones from left to right are: Vin, Dad, Jon.

Catching up

Wow! Thanks to everyone who came to hear Jon Colman (www.colmanmusic.com)perform yesterday at the DUMBOArts Festival in Brooklyn. What a setting--Buzzito's beside the East River with a spectacular view of Manhattan on a beautiful day. I'll post some terrific video when I figure out how to do that.

I'm sorry to get behind on my blog posts, although the reason is forward moving, i.e., the page proofs arrived for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship that Changed the World. Since this is the last time I get to make corrections or changes, I went into total obsessive mode for a couple of week, surfacing only to teach my class at Teachers College & pick up Sophie for an overnight, actually two overnights. There were stray commas from the copy editing stage to delete, facts to triple check, photos that somehow could mixed up in the production process, and a missing source that drove me crazy until I finally tracked it down! Anyhow I just got a grateful email from my editor re my "thoughtful and thorough job." I also scheduled my first book signing; it's at the Gerrit Smith Estate Historic Site in Peterboro, NY on August 27, 2010. Gerrit was ECS's cousin, and the father of Elizabeth Smith Miller, ECS's lifelong friend who is credited with introducing Bloomers.

Save the Date

Come if you can to Jon Colman Acoustic Show at the Dumbo Arts Festival--Fulton Landing, Sept 26, 1-2 p.m. www.colmanmusic.com
www.dumboartsfestival.com

Fun Time!

Wow! I turned 66 yesterday and had a fabulous celebration with my precious family! l-r: Linda, me, Katrin, Jonathan, Steve, Crystal, David, and, of course, Sophie! The band at Havana Central at the West End played a rousing salsa Happy Birthday accompanied by hearty singing, it seemed by most everyone in the restaurant & at the bar; in my youth I would have been under the table with embarrassment, but I'm so glad to be alive & loved that I went along with the fun of it all! (click to enlarge photo)

wildlife spottings and a book

I was transfixed by an array of zinnias in a formal garden at the New Jersey State Botanical Garden (yes, there is such a place in Ringwood State Forest located in the relatively unpopulated northwest part of the state) when a large, dark shape edged into my line of vision.
"Pets aren't allowed here," I thought as my brain sorted through breeds to match the shape. Just as I settled on "Afghan Hound . . . ," I heard Linda gasp--"Bear!" It was about 20 feet away and oblivious to us--what a thrill. A day later, we were walking along the beach to the end of Barnegat Peninsula in Island Beach State Park (one of my all-time favorite walks) when we got a good long look at a black & white shore bird with a long bright orange bill that we had never seen before. "That's an Oystercatcher," I said, having no idea where I got that name, except perhaps from the gazillion of books I've read with Sophie about animals and nature.
Driving out of the park, Linda shouted "Fox!" And there it was, close enough to the car to reach out and pet, which of course we didn't!
On our way home, we stopped at the Ben Franklin store stuffed with everything from trinkets to towels to toys to books. Holding a copy of a book, Linda exclaimed, "It was an Oystercatcher!" And there it was illustrated by Barbara Patrizzi on the cover of her book O is for Oystercatcher: A Book of Seaside ABCs. Delighted that I had somehow from somewhere retrieved that name, I bought the book, which is a beautiful book published by Down the Shore Publishing, a reminder of what readers give up when they limit themselves to Kindles & Nooks (which I'm not against, but there is something so special about the look, the feel of a carefully, lovingly written, illustrated, produced book.)

I met a wonderful group of women yesterday when I spoke at the
Emmanuel Cancer Foundation's event, "A Classical English Afternoon Tea with a Splash of Generosity." Established in 1983, ECF provides free, in-home support for New Jersey's pediatric cancer patients and their families. Yesterday's event was to honor the mothers of children who have cancer. In recognition of the EFC Moms, I presented "Celebrating Women, Especially Mothers," in which I highlighted historic women, including Abigail Adams, Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and their role as mothers. Rita Slatterly, an ECF volunteer who invited me to speak, took this picture. From l to r: Elsa Saucedo, an ECF Mom, me, Yanira Ceara, an ECF caseworker. The link to ECF is: www.emmanuelcancer.org.

Serendipitous Meeting and Churro Sheep

During our recent road trip through Wyoming, we serendipitously discovered Polly Hinds, a dynamic used bookseller & sheep rancher who introduced us to the Churro sheep. This morning I happened to hear an NPR piece on the Churro, "Sacred Sheep Revive Navajo Tradition, for Now." Here's my video of Polly & one of her Churros (the background noise is the sound of the Wyoming wind) & a link to the NPR piece
and the Navajo Sheep Project (the logo on Polly's Hat)www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127797442 Note: The NPR story left out a critical piece of the story: it was the Navajo women who hide & tended to the Churro sheep in the canyons for forty years. The NPR story appears to give all the credit for their recovery to the male professor.
Here's a link to a great story about how Polly & her partner & their adventures:
http://www.newwest.net/city/article/mad_dog_and_the_pilgrim_booksellers/C101/L101/

Connections, ECS/SBA

My dear, dear friend Annie Unverzagt & I were roommates in graduate school 44 years ago! We went on to have flip-flop life trajectories: I had children first, then a career; she had a career and then children. We kept in touch via Christmas cards until a couple of year ago when we reconnected in person. What a special treat!! She was in NYC for a few days & today we ignored the chilly rain to see the engaging exhibit, "Emily Dickinson's Garden: The Poetry of Flowers," at the New York Botanical Garden.
After a stimulating, joyous day of catching up, I arrived home to discover the copyedited manuscript of my forthcoming book, Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship that Changed History, waiting for me with a letter from editor saying she needs it back ASAP. Since Linda & I leaving early tomorrow morning & traveling until the 26th, guess what's coming with us in the red bag--to quote Linda, "What's a vacation without a manuscript."

Author Visit

Last week I made a return author visit to Marie Russell's 6th grade classes at P.S. 174 in Rego Park, NY. Last semester Marie, who is a highly skilled & creative teacher, used my book Where the Action Was: Women War Correspondents in World War II, as a class read aloud. In December, I went to the school to talk to her terrific students. They were just as terrific the second time I visited! Good luck to all of them as they graduate and go to middle school next fall!

Nonfiction Rocks!

Last night I wrapped up my teaching career as a Distinguished Lecturer at Queens College, the City University of New York. I was delightedly surprised when Christine Schachter arrived at my Nonfiction Literature class with this very cool & delicious cake. David J. Jansen took the photo. Thank you to my former and current students who have made my years at Queens so stimulating, rewarding, and fun!

What a storm

What a wind & rain storm! Huge trees uprooted all over our town & surrounding area. We were without power for 36 hours, at least. On Friday, the night before it hit, we had Sophie and Linda's 18-month old granddaughter Francesca for a fun-filled sleepover! The next day, in a blustery downpour, we returned Sophie & Francesca to their respective parents; then we set out in an increasingly serious storm to met our friends Sue (the science educator in earlier posts, e.g., why cranberries float) and Moshe at the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. Moshe took this picture of us--dripping wet, but happy--beside a Jade Vine. The theme was Cuba. (Click on picture for larger image.)

Snowing

Tonight I called Sophie to compare notes on the snowstorm & she asked if I had "done the thing with the cardboard," i.e., try to see a snow crystal (there's an earlier post about that). I had tried earlier but the snow was too wet; so, I tried again. By the light of the porch light, I think I saw one!

Happy Birthday

Today is it, the actual day David and Stephen were born, eight minutes apart, forty years ago--and what a fabulous adventures we have all had together along the way!!!! Here's a picture from our celebration on Sunday at Sophie's, Jonathan's & Katrin's home in New York. Crystal, David's wife, and Sophie are presenting the cakes. Jonathan & Linda are in the pics also.

catching up

At last!!! A few days ago, I sent to my editor everything that is needed to publish my forthcoming book about the friendship between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony that changed history--revised manuscript, front matter and back matter, captions, jpgs, etc. etc.! What a job--interrupted by shoveling snow, teaching three classes, baking chocolate cookies to keep our energy up, etc.--but it's done! Special thank you to Denise Gilrane and Debbie Ganeles who read the manuscript and gave me feedback. Then there is Christine Schachter who undertook a last-minute close read and emailed me pages of indispensable comments, which ranged from typos to her responses to ECS & SBA--thank you, thank you!!!!!

I surfaced on Friday, the day before the "drop-dead" deadline for my essay in response to a chapter, "Nonfiction Literature for Children: Old Assumptions and New Directions," by Barbara Kiefer and Melissa Wilson for the Handbook of Research on Children's and Young Adult Literature, co-edited by Shelby Wolf, Patricia Enciso, Karen Coats, and Christine Jenkins, to be published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis in October 2010. Made it!!! Today we're gathering to celebrate my twins' 40th birthday!!!! Hip, hip, hurrah!!!!!!

Colman's New Album

Today is the release date of my singer/songwriter son's album, "Swallowed by the Sun COLMAN." Powerful and evocative, "Swallowed by the Sun COLMAN," will grab your heart and mind! Listen for yourself at: www.colmanmusic.com

Endings & Beginnings

Last day of 2009: yesterday Sophie & I enjoyed our final Sophie/Grammy Day of 2009, happily Linda was free to join us. Today I'm back to doing picture research but just took a break to shovel snow, bake bread with these yummy ingredients--honey, butter, rough cut oatmeal, bananas, whole wheat flour, buttermilk and believe it or not a tablespoon of baking soda and baking powder, eggs, vanilla, pecans and raisins. Our evening New Year's tradition is to listen to the Classical Music Countdown on the radio--lots of Beethoven (Sophie & I are still going back & forth about the phenomenon of Beethoven the composer & Beethoven the dog)-- and make a puzzle; It's simple but heartfelt as we move from one year to the next.

Update

Chilly, chilly day in my basement office where I'm immersed in selecting images for Sitrring Up The World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, A Biography of a Powerful Friendship. Yes, I do all the picture research, including some photography for my books, an enormously time-consuming, intense activity. (There's more info about my process in the author's note in my books Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made a Difference and Thanksgiving: The True Story.) Sophie just called: "Can we have a Grammie Day tomorrow?"
Of course, I said--Yes! So shiver, shiver--back to work because my editor wants all the images and captions on 1/4!!!

Books, Wildflower Seeds, Happy Holidays

So, the gifts are wrapped--books galore, including one I'm really excited about--The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder; in fact, I bought two copies--one for Sophie & one for Sue, my friend & science educator at NYU. I also tracked down a copy of the December 1934 (yup, 1934) "The National Geographic Magazine" that featured the article, "Half-Mile Down," by William Beebe, about his first descent in the Bathysphere, which he co-invented with Otis Barton. Recently Sophie & I had read a picture book biography about William Beebe that listed his article in the bibliography--yes, we check out all the front and back matter when we read together! Sophie expressed interest in it so I set off on a quest to buy it--hurrah for the Internet. I'll be interested to see if it engages her?!?!
My other cool gift, at least I think so, was to parcel out pieces from a puzzle (I'm a avid jigsaw puzzle maker) that are embedded with wildflower seeds!! Each person on my list is getting a baggie with puzzle pieces & a baggie of soil & instructions to soak the seeds overnight in water and plant in the soil in a pot (no, I didn't include a pot, hum) or wait until Spring then soak and plant outside.
Ooops, Linda just called down, "Should I be watching the pot that's on the stove?" Better get back to my cooking for tonight & tomorrow. . . . Happy Holidays to all!!!!!!

Sophie's Birthday

Tomorrow is Sophie's 6th birthday. But, since it's a school day she had a sleep-over on Saturday. On Sunday, we gathered for a bowling-birthday party. Katrin just emailed these pictures: l-r: Katrin, me, Linda, Sophie, Sarah, David, Crystal(cupcake & cookie maker), Steve; bottom picture: l-r Sophie, Crystal, David, Jonathan, Steve, me, Linda, Sarah, Katrin). Tomorrow I'll join Sophie & her parents for dinner; as I have since she was born I'll continuing the tradition of making the cake in the shape Sophie requests--this year it's a star, vanilla on vanilla.

A modern postcard

"Greetings from the Seine," is the caption on this photo that Steve just sent via his iPhone to my email. He titled it "A modern postcard."
Note: Steve & Sarah celebrated Thanksgiving and Sarah's birthday in Paris."