Indiana Books

An important book on life insurance by the most knowledgeable author on the subject. THE book to read.

Joseph Belth provides the analytical consumer with a rational, systematic approach to understanding personal insurable risk and how to transfer that risk to an insurance company. Readers can browse the chapters to get answers to questions specific to their individual situation, or read it cover-to-cover for a comprehensive overview. Of particular value are the strategies for assessing how good your policy is and whether it's a "good deal". Although a bit dated, it is still the best book on the subject. Those interested in a more current discussion of the industry, company ratings, and consumer issues are referred to Professor Belth's newsletter THE INSURANCE FORUM, PO Box 245, Ellettsville, Indiana, 47429.

In half a lifetime of writing history and poetry about the...communities of the Jasper [Indiana] area and their German antecedents, Krapf has shown a sense of place and ethnic identity that radiates out to universal brotherhood....He reminds us of the all-American Walt Whitman, who remained "a part of all that I have met" and of Wendell Berry, who sings of his beloved Kentucky that he has seen the worst and best of humankind there.

- Dan Carpenter, The Indianapolis Star

The past often turns up in Krapf's poems, but not in a nostalgic way. The poet does not nostalgically pine for or color the past because it is so lively in his memory anyway. That a "shopping mall and a big/black parking lot" have replaced the packed-dirt basketball court of the poet's youth is not cause for sorrow or regret because when he sees this, the poet hears in his mind "that leather swish/inside a cord net like the sound/of an angel landing in heaven." [from "Barnyard Hoops"] The poet has memories which nothing can take away from him. But these do not pale the immediate or remove the poet from it. Rather, they give fullness and a wide emotional expanse to the present; as when in "Going to Church" two elderly widowers smile and move with a grace that "says ladies they love/are going to church, too." Throughout his life, Krapf has retained his connection to his German ancestry in various ways. This is seen in this volume with black-and-white photographs by the German photographer Andreas Riedel at the beginning of each of the four sections.

There are Social Historians and there are Intellectual Historians. It is a sad thing that people today seems to prefer the findings of the Social Historians over the Intellectual Historians. For example, the Reformation is today analysed by many from the perspectives of economic pressures, political climate and social conditioning when the most crucial perspective of analysis should be centered upon the "Battle of Ideas".

This book seeks to do just that. Steinmetz shows Luther as someone born to Theology as much as Bach was born to Music! More than that, Steinmetz's Luther is a fighter - a wrestler! Like Jacob of old, here we see Luther contending with his "contemporaries" - by that I mean the characters and ideas that more than any social concerns or pressures occupied his thoughts and demanded an appropriate response. We see Luther versus Abraham, Luther versus Isaiah, Luther versus Paul, Luther versus Augustine, Luther versus Ockham, Luther versus Erasmus and ultimately we see Luther versus himself and Luther versus God!

In short, we see Luther's beliefs as the product of conflict/crisis - much unlike the convenient/functional sort we see in many today. Reading this book allows me to see many Lutheran doctrines with far greater clarity than ever - e.g. the Hidden God, the Bondage of the Will, etc. I see Luther as someone like Jacob in the Book of Genesis holding on to the LORD, clinging on for his dear life! Then I see Luther limping away after his fights... a better man, a defeated man, a victorious man, a rebel and a worshipper. Israel.

Read Althaus' "Theology of Martin Luther" as your primer on Lutheranism. Then read this book to see everything in clearer perspective and context. I dare you to remain cool and disinterested after experiencing these vigorous battles of the mind and spirit.

David Steinmetz brings an excellent study with "Luther In Context" (2002). This 195-page paperback offers 20 pages of informative endnotes and a helpful 7-page index. Steinmetz writes authentic Luther!

Steinmetz brings a very readable style presenting a fresh new look at the originator of the Protestant Reformation. The book is replete with Luther theology (from salvation by grace alone, to only Scripture, to virtue arrives only through grace). Luther is diligently compared to Aquinas, Pelagians, Occamists and Anabaptists (and found superior to each). The book's discussions range from Augustinian doctrines that influenced Luther's early thinking, to the Zwinglian controversies that required Luther's later response (Luther strongly disliked the militant Protestant Ulrich Zwingli), to Luther's own commentary on Scripture (bringing, for me, his best Protestant effort).

Steinmetz teaches the great Reformer's reasons for translating Scripture form Latin into German. We discover Luther's "Two Kingdoms" for 16th century political theory. The author submits chapter 9- "Luther and the Drunkenness of Noah"- to effectively demonstate how Brother Martin went about Scriptural exegesis.

Perhaps Steinmetz makes his best effort with chapter 8- "Luther and Calvin on Church and Tradition". This is a brilliant presentation hosting Luther and Calvin together. We hear of the brief theological inter-play between the two Reformation icons (Luther was almost two generations older than Calvin). Steinmetz's account makes one wish for a presence during the Luther-Calvin 1539 conversation.

This book is recommended to all students of the Reformation, Luther readers, students of Church history and those curious about Martin Luther. Amazon.com's price is good, order yours soon.

I can't recommend this book enough for Indiana fans, especially those like me with no memory of the 1953 championship. It was incredibly well-researched, with great information about the state of the game at the time (coming off the point-shaving scandals at CCNY, LIU, and Kentucky), the opposing teams and coaches, the individual players on the team, and the play-by-play action of each of the games. The play-by-play was especially exciting for me, because I went into the book without knowing which games we'd won and lost, so I didn't know the outcomes until the final whistle sounded. It is full of quotes by the players, coaches, and the press articles of the time. Buy it and read it - you won't be disappointed.

Here's a few anecdotes to whet your appetite:

- Indiana lost 3 games that season, and each of them were lost on the last-second shots.

- Branch McCracken told his players at the beginning of each season to avoid "drinking, smoking, and gambling." This worried the players, because they knew these were three of Bobby Leonard's favorite things.

- The Minnesota coach was Ozzie Cowles, who went to Minnesota from Michigan, where he led Michigan to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance. After returning from the NCAA tournament, here's what Cowles had to say: "We'd been gone for a week, but no one seemed to notice. A couple of days after we got back, Fritz Crisler [UM AD and head football coach] stuck his head in my office and asked me where I'd been. That was when I decided that Michigan was no place to coach basketball."

- Because of the draft for the Korean War, there was an exemption that allowed freshmen to play in 1951-52, which allowed Don Schlundt to play as a freshman. He was a sophomore in 52-53, and (answering my trivia question below) he broke the all-time B10 scoring record a bit more than halfway through his sophomore season. Remarkable.

- Though IU beat Kansas in the championship game, it was that Kansas team that really changed college basketball in the years that followed. Kansas had lost Clyde Lovelette the year before and weren't considered contenders. But they changed the way they played defense and adopted Iba's Oklahoma A&M pressure defense that Iba played in the final few minutes of the game when down by less than 6 points. This was a pressure defense that played passing lanes and guarded players without the ball (and new concept). That year's Kansas team decided to play that way for the entire game and almost road their defense to the title.

- Kentucky was banned from playing the entire 52-53 season because of recruiting violations and point-shaving. Kentucky chose not to penalize Rupp, though. At all.

The book starts by laying an excellent historical foundation prior to the '53 seaon. The GI Bill, growth in big state universities, increased emphasis on college sports and the invention of the point spread all led to corruption that threatened the legitimacy of college athletics in the early post WWII years. Hiner goes into fascinating details involving Godfather-like characters with names like Sollazzo to illustrate how the great New York City basketball colleges were brought down by gambling scandals.

Game fixing struck not only the east coast but migrated out to the heartland. Hiner discusses the corruption that forced Kentucky to give up its 1953 SEC season.

The next chapters involve the individual players and how they ended up coming to IU.

There was Leonard, the deadend runt from the railroad tracks of Terre Haute who grew from 5'4" as a sophomore to 6'3 in high school. Rangey Charlie Kraak, whom Branch McCracken snagged from Illinois' Harry Combes' backyard. Dick Farley , the poor kid from a huge family in southern Indiana (Winslow). Burke Scott, the gym rat from Tell City who never really quite believed that McCracken wanted him, and had to decommit from Western Kentucky to attend Indiana. And Don Schlundt, the "rich kid" from South Bend. Schlundt was rich because his family could afford to give him a basketball, which was a rare possession in those days. As a young kid Schlundt was so fat, dumpy and lacking in skills that he needed that basketball so that other kids would play with him.

The following chapters deal with Branch McCracken. Starting with him as a boyhood neighbor of John Wooden to Branch's excellent playing career as a high schooler, collegian and pro. Terrific background on the things that shaped McCracken's philosophies on coaching. Through every phase of his playing career, McCracken loved the running game and couldn't wait to implement as a coach.

To use the running game effectively, McCracken was a stickler for conditioning and Hiner does a good job of describing all the things he did to keep his players in shape, including having them spied on if necessary.

The rest of the book effectively weaves the games of the great '53 IU seaon with wonderful personal stories involving players, coaches, family and friends. The details on the games themselves are very thorough and greatly appreciated by an IU basketball historical nut like me. But since I knew a lot of those details, I liked the personal stories even more. I loved reading about what a scoundrel Bobby Leonard was, and it was all McCraken could do to keep him in line. There are a lot of other nice gems, but one that sticks out is how a few college kids, with no money or a plan to speak of, get themselves to the champioship game in Kansas City and end up storming the court in victory.

If you have much interest at all in the tradition of Indiana University basketball, then you'll enjoy this book.

In these days of explosive population growth and burgeoning suburbs where anonymity seems to be the order of the day, it's good to be periodically reminded that there are still small towns with restaurants "where everybody knows your name." The author does an excellent job of capturing the unique ambiance of about 140 of these Indiana restaurants, complete with their "liars' tables," plaques with pithy (and somewhat slightly raunchy) sayings, and waitresses who never let the newcomer remain a stranger for long.

This is a fun book to read, and a way to find some good eats when you are on the road in Indiana.
Basically, it is a record of mom/pop resturants in small town Indiana, places that look like they did 50 years ago. Most are on Main Street in the town, and all are frequented by early traffic (5:00 am in most places) Usually the food is good, the coffee is hot and the pie is excellent!!
Be sure to check ahead if possible, because, with the competition from fast food and franchises, some of these wonderful places have gone out of business.
Enjoy!

Very informing information...Innovative, intuitive, interesting. -B. Baggins

This collection of essays explores how individuals view commonly-owned resources. The clear conclusion is that people are biologically selfish: each person sees his/her own interests as more important than the group's interests. Altruism doesn't work as a policy. This flies in the face of common wisdom. I wish this book could be made standard reading for all high-school students. It explains the population's apparently self-defeating habit of destroying their own habitat.

I read this book shortly before returning to my former Peace Corps site in Mali a few months ago. My "jatigi" family are the blacksmiths of a small village in the Mande region. During my two years living with them I observed a lot of interesting things that I couldn't understand, or didn't realize the significance of. I was very happy to find a scholarly explanation of pretty much everything I had scratched my head over for a dozen years. I don't exaggerate when I say that every page contained something that made me say "oh that's what that was about..."

During my return visit I was able to ask the blacksmiths about details in the book. And they confirmed everything I asked about. I couldn't find a single contradiction. It was as if the book were written about them specifically. They enjoyed hearing about the notion that the blacksmiths themselves were responsible for the early anthropologists' mistaken conclusion that blacksmiths were bad and should be avoided -- just trying to get rid of the anthropologists with all their annoying questions. They also seemed happy that someone would be interested enough in what they do to write a book about it, and that I had learned so much about them while I was gone. One brother was willing to talk a little bit about nyaman and fetishism -- just yes and no to a few careful questions -- but I'm convinced that the author's discussion of the subject is right on.

I had a great couple of weeks back in the village. And this book enhanced the experience in a big way.

My thanks to the author!

Anyone who has any interest in traditional West African society should read this book. McNaughton discusses the roles, image and social context of the blacksmiths of the Mande peoples of West Africa. Blacksmiths are not simply artisans, they are skilled manipulators of supernatural power (called nyama in Bambara. As such they are considered in the same vein as jeliw (bards, praise-singers) and sorcerors. They are also woodworkers, potters, circumcisers, and workers of magic. Specifically located in Mali, this study examines the world of the blacksmiths in relation to local rulers, villagers and visitng foreigners.

McNaughton's work emphasizes an anthropological perspective and he worked with and was finally apprenticed to several blacksmiths in the course of his fieldwork. Even though this is a very scholarly book, and at times very dense, it is well worth the effort required to get through it. Like John Miller Chernoff's "African Rhythms and African Sensibility", this book deserves pride of place among people who are serious about expressive culture in West Africa.

As a primer to the deep knowledge that comes out of the continent, this book presents an extraodinary and powerful introduction. A bonus for musicians and rhythmatists: check out the excerpt where he talks about the way the blacksmiths play drum rhythms on their bellows to accompany their work and the rhythms "played" by the women as they work pounding millet in the compound. Magic.

I am the author - Marjorie Main is NOT out of print - it is available through many sources in North America.

Having spent some time on a farm outside Muncie, Indiana myself, I was drawn into his stories immediately. I could taste that same well water in the rusted cup; I could see that old cottonwood tree and John would have eaten my mother's pie crusts! His life experiences on the farm are both funny and heart wrenching.....at times I didn't know whether to laugh or cry or both. The feelings of not ever measuring up to the people who lived in the town were the most poignant for me.....that he felt that made me sad because I never felt that way. John's poems are a true slice of life for those of us who grew up in the rural midwest.....something I'll treasure and pass along to my children.

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in ethnographic description and cultural interpretation. Glassie convincingly argues why the study of material culture challenges the received wisdom of the academy. More importantly, he applies his theory to the practice of completing an incredibly rich and lush reading of folk arts and vernacular architecture. This book provides a rich, interesting, and accessible model for learning to study cultural expressions -- be they Turkish carpets, Japanese ceramics, Appalachian face jugs, Gothic-revival houses, and an array of nifty objects. Glassie is also providing an exciting way to challenge the fragmentation of knowledge and the disconnected view of humankind that has been an unfortunate legacy of postmodernist cultural study.

Following an intriguing introduction, this book provides useful ways to study material culture. One chapter explains how material culture provides resources for studying history. This idea is key to the study of archaeology, and Glassie demonstrates how to study objects to examine the recent past. There is an vibrant chapter on the role of material culture in the life of a repairer of fine carpets who becomes a carpet seller in Philadelphia. Two of the strongest chapters deal with pottery and vernacular architecture. He provides fascinating insights into art by comparing various pottery traditions as diverse as Appalachian face jugs to Hindu religious art in Bangaldesh. The chapter on vernacular architecture is a tour de force that provides an overview of relationships between American history and architecture as well as useful ways to examine the built environment.

I was lucky enough to get to hear Peter speak last night at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. During my high school years, I was so excited about photography. I chose to not follow through with studies in Photojournalism; and at times I can't help but think back and ponder "what if... ." Last night was one of those evenings... . Hearing about the life of the two brothers was not only an informative, but a highly motivational experience. The focus and inginuity the two possessed during their high school years was intense; and this book is testament to that fact. Not only is the technical aspect of the printing intensely beautiful, but the design aspects of the images in terms of perspective and framing are absolutely incredible. Attention to aspects of subject choice, composition, and mood are a reflection of what they must have felt in their hearts and minds. The chance to hear about their friends, school, and societal aspects helped create a real cohesiveness when viewing the images at the FWMoA. Happiness, moroseness, uncertainty, and contemplation describe some of the moods in the environment. It is quite obvious that the members of the McClellan neighborhood looked at these boys as familiar and welcome fixtures, rather than intruders. Thank you to the Turnleys and the members of the neighborhood for an exciting visual journal.

As an Art teacher, I think it would be fantastic for high school students interested in photography to take a loook at this collection. Purchase this one for your budding photographer!

Inspired by some of our great street photographers in the 1960s, especially by Bruce Davidson's classic work, the Turnley brothers chose to turn their photographic lenses on their neighbors in their Midwestern town when they were in their late teens. "McClellan Street" was such an impressive body of work, that it quickly caught the attention of Magnum Photo photographers. Since then both brothers have become renowned documentary and studio photographers, covering everything from the Olympics to riots in Europe and Asia. But here, in their first photo essay - now the subject of a superbly printed book - David and Peter Turnley demonstrate not only a fine eye for detail but ample compassion for their subjects, in the best tradition of a W. Eugene Smith (Incidentally, an exhibition of this work is currently on display at New York City's Leica Gallery. It was there a few weeks ago, that I had the pleasure of meeting both photographers and have them autograph my copy of their book.). Through their lenses and film, the brothers Turnley have depicted the inhabitants of McClellan Street not only with ample compassion, but a superb sense of dignity too, with photographic skills that were truly far more advanced than their then youthful years.