Malaria tough to beat: Canadian Press review of The Fever

July 5, 2010

At Canadian Press, Carl Hartman reviewed The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years, a dramatic work of non-fiction about malaria and mosquitoes by Sonia Shah (Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2010).  Hartman concluded:

Evidence of mosquito resistance to the drug has been recently reported.

Shah is skeptical of a surge of private charity that emphasizes the use of mosquito nets following the decline of government-led anti-malaria programs in the 1990s. Acknowledging the contributions of Bill Gates and former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, she lists Veto the ‘Squito, a youth-led charity; Nothing but Nets, an anti-malarial basketball charity; and World Swim Against Malaria. She quotes The New York Times as decrying “hip ways to show you care.”

Her own comment: “Just because something is simple doesn’t necessarily mean that people will do it.”

“(T)he schools, roads, clinics, secure housing and good governance that enable regular prevention and prompt treatment must be built,” she concludes. “Otherwise the cycle of depression and resurgence will begin anew; malaria will win, as it always has.”

Anti-environmentalists, anti-scientists, and other conservatives won’t like the book:  It says we can’t beat malaria cheaply by just spreading a lot of poison on Africa and Africans.

Especially if you’re doing the noble thing and vacationing in the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama, or Mississippi, or Louisiana, you may want to read this.  If you’re vacationing in the Hamptons, Martha’s Vinyard, or Cannes, buy several copies to pass out at dinner with your friends.

More:

4 Comments | Africa, Books, DDT, Disease, Entomology, Journalism, Malaria, medicine, Public health, Science | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Typewriter of the moment: Wallace Stegner

June 4, 2010

Wallace Stegner and his typewriter - KUED image

Wallace Stegner and his typewriter – KUED image (via What Fresh Hell Is This?)

Wallace Stegner's books, KUED imageI’ve lived with Wallace Stegner’s work since I first got to the University of Utah.  Stegner was the biographer of Bernard DeVoto, whose works I read in a couple of different classes.

More important, Stegner wrote about the West and wild spaces and places, and how to save them — and why they should be saved.

Salt Lake City’s and the University of Utah’s KUED produced a program on Stegner in 2009 — he graduated from and taught at Utah — a film that wasn’t broadcast on KERA here in Dallas, so far as I can find..

In conjunction with the University of Utah, KUED is honoring alumni Wallace Stegner – the “Dean” of western writers. WALLACE STEGNER, a biographical film portrait, celebrates the 2009 centennial of his birth. Wallace Stegner was an acclaimed writer, conservationist, and teacher. He became one of America’s greatest writers. His books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Angle of Repose” and “Beyond the Hundredth Meridian.” His “The Wilderness Letter” became the conscience of the conservation movement. Wallace Stegner mentored a generation’s greatest writers including Ken Kesey, Edward Abbey, and Larry McMurtry. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was a student.

It’s difficult to tell from the photo, but his typewriter here looks a lot like a Royal.

Have you seen the film?

More:

5 Comments | Biography, Books, Environmental protection, History, Literature, National Parks, Technology, Typewriters, Utah | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Towel Day 2010

May 25, 2010

After the train wreck in the Star Chamber of the Texas State Soviet of Education last week, I’m glad to have my towel.

How big a towel would it take to fix the McLeroy Massacre?

Remember the words of Douglas Adams, wherever he is:  “Don’t panic.”

More:

Towel Day display, 2010

Towel Day display, 2010 - from http://wxpython.org/blog/about-42/

So long!  And, thanks for the fish!

Leave a Comment » | A Good Story, Books, History, Humor, Literature | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Concord Hymn, read by Bill Clinton

April 19, 2010

What came after Paul Revere’s ride?  The Battle of Lexington, and the Battle of Concord.

Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” was written in 1860, 23 years after Emerson wrote “The Concord Hymn” for the dedication of the monument to the Minutemen at Concord Bridge.

1 Comment | 1776, America's founding, American Revolution, History, literacy, Literature, Poetry, War | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote of the moment: Martin Niemöller, “. . . I did not speak out . . .”

February 26, 2010

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

— Pastor Martin Niemöller

Martin Niemoller on a postage stamp, painted by Gerd Aretz in 1992 - Wikipedia

German theologian and Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller on a postage stamp, painted by Gerd Aretz in 1992 – Wikipedia

It’s spring, and school curricula turn to the Holocaust, in English, in world history, and in U.S. history.

Martin Niemöller’s poem registers powerfully for most people — often people do not remember exactly who said it.  I have seen it attributed to Deitrich Bonhoeffer (who worked with Niemöller in opposing some Nazi programs), Albert Einstein, Reinhold Niebuhr, Albert Schweitzer, Elie Wiesel, and an “anonymous inmate in a concentration camp.”

Niemöller and his actions generate controversy — did he ever act forcefully enough?  Did his actions atone for his earlier inactions?  Could anything ever atone for not having seen through Hitler and opposing Naziism from the start?  For those discussion reasons, I think it’s important to keep the poem attributed to Niemöller.  The facts of his life, his times, and his creation of this poem, go beyond anything anyone could make up.  The real story sheds light.

Resources:

Save

Save

5 Comments | Famous quotes, History, History and art, Holocaust, Literature, Poetry, Quotes, Religion, World War II | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Typewriter of the moment: L. Frank Baum, in 1899

February 7, 2010

L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz and other stories, at work at his typewriter in 1899, the year before his first Oz book was published.

L. Frank Baum at his typewriter in 1899

L. Frank Baum at his typewriter in 1899. Where?

Bonus: I found the photograph illustrating an essay by Kennesaw State University historian David B. Parker in the Bluegrass Express, a reprint of his 1994 article in The Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians, on the claim that The Wizard of Oz was written as a populist parable.

Every history teacher ought to read that article.

http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2009/october2009/ozpoppycockoct09.php

4 Comments | Books, History, History and art, History Methods and Tools, Literature, Populism, Teaching, Technology, Typewriters | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Typewriter of the moment: Sylvia Plath

February 5, 2010

Sylvia Plath at her typewriter

Sylvia Plath, author and poet, at her typewriter - photographer unknown to me

Is it a Royal typewriter?  Why is it so many photos of people at typewriters show them outdoors — and will there be many pictures of authors at their computers, let alone at their computers outdoors?

Mystery solved?  Update December 30, 2011 — looking at the photo of Rob’s Hermes, in comments below, it sure looks to me that Plath’s machine is a Hermes.

7 Comments | Books, Literature, Poetry, Technology, Typewriters | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Edith Wharton on Facebook: What a horrible thought!

January 3, 2010

Nancy Sharon Colllins, reporting after her recent work at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, including reading some original letters and other writings of Edith Wharton, wonders what would be the effect on history and literary studies, had Edith Wharton used Facebook instead of keeping her journal and writing copious numbers of letters.

And that got me thinking: What if Edith Wharton had Facebooked? Had she lived in our time and communicated digitally, I wonder what her literature would be like. Looking at five days of cursive writing and personal letters made me realize that her compulsion to jot down her thoughts was no different than ours today when we tweet about what we had for lunch or share some fab link we just discovered. The difference between a letter written longhand and a Facebook post is that one takes a little bit longer (and leaves a more lasting trace), but the purpose is the same. Whether we live on a grand, Whartonian scale or a quieter, more ordinary one, we feel more significant when we share intimacies about ourselves with others.

There’s a good warm-up and/or journaling exercise in there for literature teachers.

4 Comments | Bell Ringers, Books, Lesson plans, Lessons of history, Literature, Teaching, Technology, Technology in the classroom, Warm-up exercises | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote of the moment: Mark Twain, a majority of fools

December 7, 2009

Illustration from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884 edition - the King, "Travelling by Rail" - Wikimedia

Illustration from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884 edition - the King, "Travelling by Rail" - Wikimedia. (The "King" is being tarred, feathered, and "ridden out of town on a rail.")

Well, the king he talked him blind; so at last he give in, and said all right, but said he believed it was blamed foolishness to stay, and that doctor hanging over them.

But the king says: “Cuss the doctor! What do we k’yer for HIM? Hain’t we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain’t that a big enough majority in any town?”

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter XXVI

Leave a Comment » | Books, Famous quotes, Literature, Politics, Quotes | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

What books and papers literally turned history around?

November 6, 2009

Debating the effects  of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring got me wondering about the true influence of that book.  That quickly turned into wondering about the true influence of other writings, books and papers that might be credited with having turned around history in a given field, or in the United States (I’m focusing on U.S. history this year since that’s what I’m teaching).

What books and writings — not events, not inventions — literally changed U.S. history?

I have a quick list, not in chronological order, nor any other order, really:

  1. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
  2. “Common Sense,” Tom Paine’s broadside
  3. Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations
  4. Federalist Papers and Antifederalist Papers
  5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriett Beecher Stowe
  6. Das Kapital, by Karl Marx
  7. On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin
  8. Perhaps The Bible, at least after 1880 during the rise of fundamentalism
  9. Einstein’s five papers in 1905 (which led to a cascade of events to nuclear weapons, and more)
  10. John Maynard Keynes’ General Theory on Employment, Interest and Money (or would his Treatise on Money be the one to look at?)
  11. Ludwig von Mises (which writing?)
  12. Crick’s and Watson’s paper on DNA in 1953
  13. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
  14. Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” in the way it recast the Declaration of Independence

What about Profiles in Courage? Did it have so much influence?  Any influence at all?

I didn’t include Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but I wonder if it should be there.  I regard it as the novel in which America came of age, when Huck decides he’ll go ahead and burn in hell by not turning Jim in as an escaped slave, because Jim is a man and a good friend.  (I don’t think a discussion of the validity of Huck’s religious beliefs gets at the issue here, where he does what is right assuming bad consequences, but maybe that’s a greater influence later on.)

Oh, surely I’ve overlooked some very important contribution by someone.  De Tocqueville perhaps?  Were there other books that were greatly influential in their time, that we now generally don’t consider?  Ida Tarbell’s work, perhaps?  Did Edwin Hubble have a fundamental publication we can point to?  How about Alpher, Herman and Gamow and Big Bang?

A follow-on question might be music, plays and movies that had similar results —  not sure of any that qualify, though I wonder about the influence of “Show Boat” in the campaign for desegregation and civil rights, and I wonder about the influence of “Our Town” on our view of civic government and small town life especially given that so many thousands of people participated in local and school productions of the thing over the years.  “Hair!?”

I’m looking for sources to use to provide genuine light to a high school student in U.S. history.  Some of these sources we touch on, but others are completely ignored in all current U.S. history texts for public schools.

What do you think?

27 Comments | Books, History, Turning Points | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote of the moment: Eric Blair (George Orwell) on lies becoming history

October 25, 2009

George Orwell (Eric Blair) on cover of Time Magazine, Novmber 28, 1983

George Orwell (Eric Blair) on cover of Time Magazine, Novmber 28, 1983

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’

— George Orwell, 1984

Tip of the old scrub brush to Kate at The Urban Primate

If Big Brother is watching, why not let him watch all of us? Spread the word:

Add to FacebookAdd to NewsvineAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Furl

1 Comment | Books, Famous quotes, History, Literature, Propaganda, Quotes | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Ten typewriters of the moment

October 3, 2009

Stacy Conradt writes about ten authors and their typewriters, at Mental Floss.  Some we’ve seen here at the Bathtub, some we haven’t:  Steinbeck, Hemingway, Kerouac, David Sedaris, Mark Twain, John Updike, George Orwell, Hunter S. Thompson, David McCullough, P. J. O’Rourke.

Leave a Comment » | Banned Books, Books, Literature, Technology, Typewriters | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote of the moment: Victor Hugo, telescope vs. microscope

September 23, 2009

Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has a grander view?

— Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, St. Denis, bk. III, ch. 3

Leave a Comment » | Astronomy, Biology, Books, knowledge, Literature, Quotes, Science | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Frederick Douglass Book Award nominees (read ’em!)

August 16, 2009

What to read this year for U.S. history?

Kevin Levin at Civil War Memories notes three worthy candidates for outside reading, for student projects, and other good use (I’ve stolen his whole post — you’d do well to go visit his site and see what else he has):


Out+of+the+House+of+BondageI‘m a little late in posting this, but wanted to point your attention to the three finalists for this year’s Frederick Douglass Book Award that is sponsored by Yale’s Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition.

The finalists are Thavolia Glymph for Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household (Cambridge University Press); Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton and Company); and Jacqueline Jones, “Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War (Alfred A. Knopf Publishers).  The prize comes with a generous check of $25,000.  I’ve read both Annette Gordon-Reed’s book (a National Book Award winner) and Glymph’s study.  Although the publisher sent me a copy of Saving Savannah, I have not had a chance to look through it.   My money is on Glymph’s Out of the House of Bondage.

Leave a Comment » | Books, Civil War, History, Slavery, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

2009 Poets Forum – October 15 – 17, in New York City

August 3, 2009

This sounds like fun, actually.  I wonder if they offer Continuing Education Units?

Shouldn’t schools make sure all English teachers get to make this pilgrimage at least once every four years?  Principals, are you listening?

Poets Forum Update:
New Events and More Participants Announced for 2009
Discounted passes available for a limited time at poets.org/poetsforum

Participants include Frank Bidart, Rita Dove, Lyn Hejinian,Edward Hirsch, Haryette Mullen, Sharon Olds, Ron Padgett, Carl Phillips, Robert Pinsky, Kay Ryan, Gerald Stern, Susan Stewart, Jean Valentine, Ellen Bryant Voigt, and many more.

The Academy of American Poets invites you to join us in New York City for the annual Poets Forum, a series of events exploring the landscape of contemporary poetry in America.

This year’s Poets Forum includes new talks and discussions with an array of distinguished poets, readings, publication parties, and an expanded selection of literary walking tours, led by poets, through Manhattan and Brooklyn.

“In only three years, the Poets Forum has become the poetry event of the fall, as poets (and fans of poetry) of all aesthetics celebrate and learn about what they all have in a common: a desire to give life itself a shape through language.”
– Carl Phillips

Poets Forum Reading
Thursday, October 15
7 p.m.
Join us for an unforgettable evening as some of the most acclaimed poets of our day come together on one stage to read from their latest work. Featured readers include Frank Bidart, Rita Dove, Lyn Hejinian, Edward Hirsch, Sharon Olds, Ron Padgett, Carl Phillips, Robert Pinsky, Kay Ryan, Gerald Stern, Susan Stewart, and Ellen Bryant Voigt.
The Times Center
242 West 41st Street

Poetry Walking Tours
Friday, October 16
10:30 a.m. & 2 p.m.
Take a trip down the same streets traversed by Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, E. E. Cummings, Langston Hughes, George Oppen, and countless other poets. Walking tours will explore the literary history of Brooklyn, Harlem, the Museum of Modern Art, the West Village, and SoHo. Tour guides include poets Anselm Berrigan, Jordan Davis, Bob Holman, Katy Lederer, Greg Pardlo, Tom Thompson, and Mónica de la Torre.
Meeting locations throughout New York City.
TOURS ARE RESERVED FOR ALL-EVENTS PASS HOLDERS ONLY

NEW: Poets & Place Talk
Friday, October 16
2 p.m.
“Show Me Your Environment, and I Will Tell You Who You Are”:  Place, Pathos, and the Problems of Identity
David Baker discusses the relationship between poets and their environment.
Philoctetes Center
247 East 82nd Street
Co-sponsored by the Philoctetes Center
RESERVED FOR ALL-EVENTS PASS HOLDERS ONLY

Poets Awards Ceremony Friday, October 15 7 p.m. Celebrate contemporary poetry and recipients of the premier collection of awards for poetry in the United States. The night will include readings and presentations by Linda Gregg, Jennifer K. Sweeney, J. Michael Martinez, Harryette Mullen, James Richardson, Avi Sharon, Jean Valentine, and many others. A reception will follow.
Tishman Auditorium
The New School
66 West 12th Street
Co-sponsored by the New School Creative Writing Program

Poets Forum Discussions Saturday, October 17 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. 6 Sessions Examine the issues central to contemporary poetry as we present a day of engaging and intimate conversations with some of the most renowned poets of our time, including Frank Bidart, Rita Dove, Lyn Hejinian, Edward Hirsch, Harryette Mullen, Sharon Olds, Ron Padgett, Carl Phillips, Robert Pinsky, Kay Ryan, Gerald Stern, Susan Stewart, Jean Valentine, Ellen Bryant Voigt and other special guests.
Tishman Auditorium
The New School
66 West 12th Street
Co-sponsored by The New School Creative Writing Program

“This public forum on American Poetry is the first of its kind for our brave, wild world of poesy. We will leave no stone unturned to address all the voices and all the thoughts that beset, overwhelm, confuse, delight, and alarm us.”
– Gerald Stern

American Poet Publication Party
Saturday, October 17
7 p.m.
Reading and reception for the new fall issue of American Poet, the journal of the Academy of American Poets. Noelle Kocot, Robert Polito, and Brian Teare will read from their work. Ico Art and Music Gallery
606 West 26th Street (at 11th Avenue)
Co-sponsored by the Ico Gallery

Ticket Information
All-Events Pass: $85 before Sept 15 / $110 after
Saturday-Only Tickets: $60
Students (with current ID): Student rates are available by by phone.
Contact: Jennifer Kronovet, (212) 274-0343, ext.10.

Purchase tickets online at poets.org/poetsforum or by phone,(212) 274-0343, ext.10.

All times are subject to change. Contact Jennifer Kronovet at jkronovet@poets.org with further questions.
Academy of American Poets
584 Broadway, Suite 604
New York, NY 10012
212-274-0343

4 Comments | Creativity, Cultural Literacy, History, History and art, Literature, Poetry, Teachers, Teaching, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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