Dedication

I have received my Beaucoup, Arlo & Janis book. Reading slowly to make it last. Noticed the dedication was For Peggy Singleton. Today Jimmy Johnson enlightened his blog followers with information on this lady.

Quoted from www.arloandjanis.com

"Many of you who’ve seen the book will have noted the dedication, “To Peggy Singleton.” Peggy Singleton was an English teacher who began teaching at Lanett High School in 1966, my freshman year. I was in one of her first classes, and it was apparent she was going to be a capable and well-liked instructor. However, I was not in her class again until 1969, the beginning of my senior year. She was a bit more collegial with us seniors than she had been with my freshman class three years earlier. Her lectures on English literature and such, often delivered while leaning against her desk, were interspersed with comments and questions from the class. It was in this loosely structured atmosphere I first heard a group of people laugh at my remarks, for it was in Mrs. Singleton’s room I developed something of a reputation as a wit. Not a goofball, not exactly a class clown, but an observer who could be depended upon to put a wry spin on the topic at hand. Such a proclivity was as much a surprise to me as it was to my classmates. Mrs. Singleton’s tolerance and her occasional failure to suppress her own laughter encouraged me. Of course, she openly encouraged my aptitude for writing. She was the person who suggested I might study “journalism” in college. I did. I would like to give her all the credit, but the truth is, I was clueless and highly impressionable. Still, her influence was great, and I am convinced I would not have taken the path I did had it not been for Mrs. Singleton’s senior English class."

A wonderful tribute to a teacher. All teachers both current and former (though we never really stop being a teacher, it is what defines us) would be thrilled to read from a former student.

Think about it and write a note to that one special teacher that helped you chart your future path.

Beaucoup Arlo and Janis

Jimmy Johnson, cartoonist who makes comic strip Arlo and Janis, has published a collection of his comic strips in Beaucoup Arlo and Janis. It is available for purchase today.


The following informations is from his blog http://www.arloandjanis.com/

This is one you don't want to miss.

Been Kindle Reading

I've been doing lots of Kindle reading of late. Still visiting the library though. Happy to have talked with two former colleagues who are honoring Veteran's Day in their libraries with America's White Table by Margot Thesis Raven. (See November 2007)








Thanks to all who serve.
11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour

Kathryn Tucker Windham memoir published posthumously by NewSouth Books

As you may know I was a great fan of Alabama author Kathryn Tucker Windham who passed away earlier this year. Her latest book She: The Old Woman Who Took Over My Life has been published by NewSouth Books. Below is the information from the publisher about this memoir.



Kathryn Tucker Windham began her new book, She: The Old Woman Who Took Over My Life, in the late fall of 2010. That project saw fruition this week with the release of She in print and ebook formats by NewSouth Books.This slender volume, the last of twenty-nine written by Kathryn Tucker Windham over her long and productive life, will be an exquisitely bittersweet read for the many fans of the late storyteller and author from Selma, Alabama. Windham died shortly before the publication of this volume, in June of this year.Only over the last eighteen months of her life did Windham seem much constrained by her advancing years. Characteristically, she faced old age and its accompanying limitations with humor and curiosity. In She, the author describes how she woke up one day to find that she had an unwanted houseguest, an old woman who had suddenly moved into her home and was taking over her life. Windham referred to this interloper simply as “She,” and here the reader has been invited into the lively colloquy between the author -- whose spirit has not changed though her body has slowed -- and her alter ego, as they move together toward their earthly end.She is the fifth book by Kathryn Tucker Windham published by NewSouth Books in recent years. The others include: Alabama, One Big Front Porch, Jeffrey’s Favorite 13 Ghost Stories, Ernest’s Gift, and most recently a memoir called Spit, Scarey Ann, and Sweat Bees. Surely your library, bookstore, or gift shop will be richer for having these titles on its shelves.She: The Old Woman Who Took Over My Life is available from NewSouth Books at 334-834-3556 or from your favorite book wholesaler. Learn more at http://www.newsouthbooks.com/she.ISBN: 978-1-58838-278-8. Price: $20.00. Available in hardcover and ebook formats.


Also today I received the Tallapoosa River Electric Co-op magazine that is published monthly by our electrical cooperative. If you can get your hands on a copy there was an excellent article about Kathryn.

Here is the web address for the online edition of the magazine.


http://www.areapower.coop/content.cfm?id=2049


Click on the October edition of the magazine.

Quote of the Week

"Be Careful Around Dragons, For You Are Crunchy & Good with Ketchup"

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater

Hooray!!!!! It's Happened.

I can now check out library books on my Kindle. My local library is a member of Camilla Net....the state of Alabama's Digital Library. If your library has joined Camilla Net you can now check out books to your Kindle. Previously the Kindle was not supported. You log in with your library card number, select the book, then somehow with magic (I guess) you are on the Amazon Kindle page. Click here and the book is yours for 2 weeks.

This "library girl" is now a happy camper!!!!!

Sarah's Key

Paris, July 1942

Vel' d'Hiv


Ever heard of it? Me, either. Until I read this book based on things that happened during the German Occupation of France during WW II. One of those "can't put down" books. Julia Jarmond's research as a reporter for a magazine in Paris results in life altering findings. Changes not only for Julia but all around her...those before and after. Sara Starzynski and Michel Starzynski will be with me for a long time.