Missouri Books

Jerry Eskenazi, sports writer for the New York Times, among other papers, relates what it was like growing up in New York in the pre-war years. His mother was divorced, and worked full-time, making young Jerry somewhat of an outcast, although he grew up under the watchful eye of his immigrant grandmother. Radio became his solace in the hours at home alone after school. Like all kids in Brooklyn, he discovered and enjoyed baseball, especially when he realized that Ted Williams was also the child of divorced parents.

With considerable glee, Eskenazi writes of his introduction to the [then] rough-and-tumble world of newspapering, first at the New York Mirror, then at the Times. Along the way to writing this book, he compares radio memories with Tom Brokaw and Colin Powell.

Although the book is nominally radio nostalgia, it paints an excellent picture of the way both radio and newspapers shaped the American experience in the pre-TV era.

An interesting companion book to this would be Stud's Terkel's autobiography, Talking to Myself. Terkel, fully a generation older than Eskenazi, grew up in Chicago in similar circumstances (an immigrant family), and by the time Eskenazi discovered radio, was a bit player on many of the latter's favorite shows.

This is a very enjoyable book. It's a little difficult to categorize -- a memoirs that revolves around radio. If you are looking for an encyclopedia of old time radio, this is not it. This is radio as heard through the ears of one boy at one place in time. But it also presents a window onto what this device was in people's lives in a different error. There is a lot of information on the history of broadcast radio, the range of shows on air in the 40s and 50s and who listened to them, but this book is more about the role it played in the author's life (including a lot of coincidental meetings between the author later in life with many of his childhood on-air heroes).
It is particularly poignant because the writer was the only child to a single mother and found himself relying on the radio for company.

The 1930s, 40s, and early 50s were the age of Radio. This is when most of America would tune in nightly for their favorite comedies, mysteries, westerns, science fiction, adventure, news, culture, and entertainment programs for children and adults. This was the ultimate era of "theatre of the mind" entertainment that took place in front of the glow of a radio dial. I Hid It Under The Sheets: Growing Up With Radio is Gerald Eskenazi's personal account and recollection of radio's broad impact on his generation and explains how and why it became such a major factor in shaping American and Americans during the years of the Great Depression, World War II, and the first decade of what was called the Cold War when the United States and the Soviet Union had the power to exterminate the human race in a nuclear holocaust. I Hid It Under The Sheets is a simply fascinating, original, and highly recommended contribution to mid-twentieth century American Cultural History library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Well written and informative bio of a very great and gracious lady. I have been an admirer of the froman sound for many years and it is wonderful to get to know the singer. It is to bad she is not known to more generations who sing today, they could learn a lot about there craft by listening too her.

As a fan and friend of the late Jane Froman, I found Ms. Stone's book factually accurate and researched thoroughly. As I had lost touch with Ms. Froman, I was pleased to learn about her retirement years and sad to learn how ill she had become. My only adverse comments is the tone of the book. Jane Froman was a kind, compassionate, warm human being that only one having known her could capture the essence of her personality and character on paper. I feel that "Jane Froman: Missouri's First Lady of Song" is a wonderful research essay, great for public libraries, but does not capture Ms. Froman's personality. But at any rate, I'm happy that after all these years. there is something concise in book form for Jane Froman admirers to read and own. Thank you, Ms. Stone.

Having been an avid fan of Jane Froman for many years, I was pleased to see that a long overdue biography has finally been written. Jane Froman was an outstanding entertainer and an inspiration to those that met her. Now sadly almost forgotten outside the USA her recordings to the few of us that know of her talent are prized additions to any collection of popular music. Now to the book, Ilene Stone was able to draw on the limited ammount of resourse material available from the Froman papers and Jane's few surviving friends. Given the fact that the subject died over twenty years ago Ilene has done a commendable job with her biography. This book is a mine of information about Jane, I do however wish that Ilene had expanded on some of the facts she quoted in her book, for example why was Jane Froman's hand held microphone technique famous? Bing Crosby, Marlene Dietrich and many other used hand held microphones after all.
All in all an excellent attempt to bring to public attention the talents and bravery of one of America's greatest entertainers. Perhaps that now Ilene has led the way Fox studio's will now make available "With A song In My Heart" on VHS and DVD.

Live from South St. Louis: Joe Baker is Dead by Mary Troy

It's not the first time an author has interwoven short stories in a collection, setting them all at the same place, or centering on the same characters. But Mary Troy's Joe Baker is Dead [U. of MO Press, 1998] does things a bit differently: while these stories make brief references to characters in its other stories (usually as part of this South St. Louis City neighborhood's character), every one of them is touched by this dead grocer Joe in some way. Although there is no story for Joe Baker himself, by the end of the collection, the reader gets to know the departed through all of the other characters' references to him.

It begins with a lumpy, middle-aged woman Joe had an affair with, and it ends with Baker's own twitchy, depressive son. In the other of these nine stories, we learn of Joe through both nosey and self-absorbed neighbors, customers of his lousy produce market, hopeless hairdressers and bad open-mic poets, insane preachers and every other type of local color the gifted Mary Troy can snag off of South Grand and hold captive in language.

But it's not really about Joe, and one doesn't need to read the whole collection to garner some larger truth. These are individual stories, in the best sense of the word. Each one is full of emotion, detail and personality that makes it an event to read on its own, sit with, and wait for the aftershocks before rushing into the next.

Perhaps most impactful and entertaining is "On Iron Street," which may just be one of the finest short stories this reviewer has ever read by anyone. Why it hasn't been at least nominated for a Pushcart Prize is beyond me.

As in Troy's follow-up collection of stories, The Alibi Café [Bkmk Press, 2003], a dark humor creeps through each tale in Joe Baker is Dead. But Joe Baker steps away from that predominant first-person, sassy female protagonist voice in the second book (which isn't to slight that voice in the least). Rather, her debut collection first shows her readers her great range with a more diverse character and perspective.

Indeed, Mary Troy's talent is inspiring and worth the extra effort it may take to find a copy. We all know a Joe Baker. Do it to remember him. You won't be sorry.


[this first appeared on Nighttimes.]

Mary Troy gives a wonderfully honest look at the lives of many different people in her debut collection of short stories set in and around the city of St. Louis. Each of the stories offers an insightful look at what it is to hope, dream, want, and live. Her characters are deeply sympathetic and powerfully portrayed, and at the end of each tale Troy leaves us wanting to get to know these characters that much more. This is a terrific book.

One of Mary Troy's sympathetic and world-weary characters says near the end of the book that understanding your luck in being alive makes you "want to live it up." So does this collection of stories set in St. Louis. Though many of her characters are lonely, confused or down-at-the-heels, Troy portrays them full-on, with their own humor and grace to console us in the reading. To write simply is like hitting the bullseye--it's always harder than it looks, and Troy shoots for the targets of Welty, early Faulkner and even Chekhov. Buy and enjoy.

If you enjoy reading history then you'll enjoy this book. Especially, of course, if your from St. Louis or have a particular interest in the city itself and its surrounding area.

Though obviously well written and deeply researched, Lion of the Valley is so incredibly dense it's a challenge to read. Every page is so packed with tiny factoids about people, associations, political developments, bond issues, etc., that only a few topics rise above the clutter to stick with the reader. (I found myself frequently going back a page or two to reestablish the identity of a person, place or thing.) But then again, in covering 200+ years of history, how does one limit the subject matter?

Having read other city-specific histories (namely, Chicago and NYC), I view Lion as more of a textbook than an engaging narrative. Informative, enlightening, yes. But not an easy read.

This is simply one of the best books I have read on the history of a city. Not a simple tour of neighborhoods, architecture or ethnic groups that settled in various enclaves of the city, but rather a comprehensive and intelligent look at a city from its earliest days, placed against the backdrop of its development in the region and history. the only comparable book on a city that i have read which is better from an economic and regional development standpoint is nature's metropolis about chicago. one wonders why we do not have more gems like these about all american cities. perhaps we would take better care of our hometowns if we knew more about their past from a thoughtful perspective. anyway, lion of the valley is superb.

j. martignon

This hymnal has a fantastic collection of useful hymns, services and prayers for both public worship and personal or family devotion. The Liturgies are complete and easily learned, and yet provide for great variety. There are possibly too many options, however, which makes it more difficult to get through the first time. The Psalms (NIV translation) are set to simple chants that even children can easily learn and use. The hymns are some of the best in Christianity, although some of the translations are inferior to older translations. I highly recommend this hymnal for use for either congregational or family use.

This is an ok Hymnal for use at home and church. But it use of
modern language weakens it much in my option. Some good things
about it is that is has both a 1 and 3 year lectionary. It has
the text of Luther s Small catacism (but any good LCMSer should
still have their copy, maybe Luther s large catacism would have
been a better one to add). They try to hard to have LW used at
home, unlike TLH (The Lutheran Hymnal 1941) they break the
service up to much, in TLH you just drop the last part of vespers
and matins. LW has to many prayer services that could be
reasonably used in a home setting. But in its divine it does
have a simple form for Private confession and absolution, which
TLH sadly lacks. Also it has to many or s this leaves the user
having to jump around a lot.
Another problem is the inclusion of Amazing Grace in the hymn
section, Amazing Grace is a nice song, but it is no hymn, it
does not mention Christ in it at all.
LW is a very good resource, but I would suggest TLH for daily use
in ones prays life.
But again in its defense they did add some very good hymns.

This is an excellent hymnal which sets up the order of service for everything from early morning to prayer late at night. Matins and Vespers are two of the best services. The prayers outlined in this hymnal include prayers for everyone in the world, from your friends and family to the leaders in the church and nation. One of the best things about the hymnal is that all of the words in the hymnal are taken from the inerrant and inspired by God. This is truely the best hymnal ever written. The Commission of Worship of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod truely accomplished alot with the help of God. Please prayerfully consider this hymnal for your collection, I enjoy it and I thank God for helping to add it to my library. Take care and God Bless.

Brauer's book is a helpful resource for those looking to get a synopsis of what the Lutheran Confessions teach on worship. As worship is the active theology of the church (and not necessarily a specific systematic theology topic) we often don't find clear definitions of worship in the Confessions. This is especially true of what many today in the evangelical culture call "worship". But Brauer broadens our perspective with this work. I have found it more helpful as a resource than a book to read from cover-to-cover.

This book is a collection of essays released to accompany hymnal, Lutheran Worship. The essays are written by bright theologians and pastors on a range of topics concerning liturgy and worship, including Liturgical renewal, Evangelism, history, the Church Year, Church Music, the worship space, Baptism, Communion, Confession and Absolution, and the Divine Service itself. The essays are informative even to veteren pastors, yet generally they are written well enough that they can useful to any interested layman. I consider this book a MUST HAVE for any Lutheran Pastor. For those who are not Lutheran or who are interested in the liturgy will gain a well rounded understanding of worship from this book.

In true LCMS fashion, this work was done by committee. A reputable group of theologians and musicians wrote on the various constructs of the liturgy and Lutheran worship. Given not only is the history, practice and commentary on various Divine Service components, but excellent essays are here to be mined, especially the opening chapter by Dr. Just and Dr. Nagel's contributions!

The pamphlet is nice, but I was expeciting a small book - something a little more detailed.

Iloved the fine pictures in the book.The book was great for
easy identification and was compact for travel.

This really is a great little guide to the most commonly seen birds in Missouri. It is a fold out laminated guide that can be tucked into your binocular case and taken out and about as you go looking for birds. My kids enjoy using it to identify birds as well. It even has a guide on the back of Birding Hotspots in Missouri.

Modernity Without Restraint comprises three overlapping essays / lectures by Voegelin in which he explores the "pneumopathological" effects of Gnostic beliefs on the individual and the society they infect. Voegelin intended them to target gnostic elements in the ideologies of two of the totalitarian movements of his time, Fascism and Communism, though they bear a chilling relevance to the current intermingling of right wing politics and evangelical Christianism in contemporary American political culture. His style can be difficult, his vocabulary (translated from the German) can seem strange at times (e.g., "pneumopathology," "immanentization"), and his central theme of the importance of ordering the individual soul, and society at large, in harmony with a "transcendent order of being" could be initially off-putting to a "social scientist," but his thesis, well supported and argued through a synopsis of relevant thinkers and topics from the history of religion, philosophy and social science, provides an interesting and broadening counterpoint to "modern" positivist / realist / behaviorist influences in political science and social science generally. Though much of Voegelin's argument centers around the importance of spirituality for the individual and society, and connection to a transcendent order that is "given," "Modernity Without Restraint" provides a timeless warning against "immanentization of the (Christian) eschaton," the spiritual and practical consequences for any society that succumbs to it.

_Modernity Without Restraint_ presents three of Erik Voegelin's essays on the modern political religions, including Marxism, National Socialism, Hegelianism, Nietzschianism, and Heideggerianism. To Voegelin, these thinkers are all best described as "gnostics" and in their effort to create God's Kingdom on Earth seek to "immanentize the Christian eschaton". In "The Political Religions", Voegelin traces back the origin of political religion to the Egyptian worship of the Sun, the cult of Akhenaton. He traverses the history of the Middle Ages, and he shows how the archetype of the Christian apocalypse (a heresy to the orthodox Christian) came to occupy a central role in political religion. He includes a good discussion of the leviathanic state of Thomas Hobbes. Finally he ends with a compelling picture of the National Socialist state embodied in the Fuehrer. Although he was criticized in this essay for not outrightly condemning the National Socialists, Voegelin stated that this in fact just reveals the satanic allure that this political religion holds. To Voegelin, National Socialism is "satanic". In "The New Science of Politics", Voegelin examines various modes of representation from Plato and Aristotle through the Roman Empire. He then discusses the idea of gnosticism; he views the modern political religions as a restoration of the Gnostic heresy (condemned by early Christianity), an attempt to replace faith with certainty and bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth. This idea arose in the apocalyptic tradition, transmitted through the Middle Ages by the followers of Joachim de Fiore. He discusses in particular the case of the English Puritans. According to Voegelin, the modern political philosophies of liberalism, communism, and the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes are under the spell of gnosticism. In "Science, Politics, and Gnosticism", the most interesting of the essays presented, Voegelin delves into the thinkers Hegel, Marx ("an intellectual swindler"), Nietzsche ("the murder of God"), Heidegger, and psychoanalysis and National Socialism. To Voegelin, these thinkers are all "gnostics", and the movements spurred by their philosophies are "ersatz religions".

Voegelin represents an interesting alternative to modernity and liberalism. And this book among his collected works serves as an excellent introduction to the thought of this profound thinker, philosopher of gnosticism.

For those of you who are new to Voegelin perhaps a word generally about his work will be helpful. Voegelin was born in Cologne, Germany in 1901. In 1938, he and his wife fled from Germany to the United States. From this context alone it is not surprising that Voegelin is very critical of the Nazis in particular and totalitarian regimes in general. What is perhaps more surprising to those who first come across Voegelin is his claim that regimes such as the Nazis are derivatives of such generally loved intellectual movements as the Enlightenment and Progressivism.

Taken together, the three works published in this volume provide a good basis for understanding how Voegelin comes to this conclusion. In this regard, "The New Science of Politics" is probably the most comprehensive work of the three. However, I would make two suggestions to those who are considering tackling this volume. First, read the first and third (that is, "The Political Religions" and "Science, Politics, and Gnosticism") before reading "The New Science of Politics". I think that the first and third pieces are much easier to read, even though they are less encompassing overall. Second, read "The New Science of Politics" twice. I read that installment for the first time about a year ago and I feel that I understood a lot more the second time around.

Voegelin is a great thinker, and his works in this volume provide a different, and yet very profound way of looking at modern Western society. I think Voegelin's construction of Gnosticism is right on as a critique of the modern psyche. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to explore the work of Voegelin; this is a great place to start. The writing is fairly difficult, but you don't have to understand everything to take a lot from this book.

This an awsome collection snippets from the life & times in the Black Hills aroung the 1870's. Written is a way that you feel like you are reading the author's diary. Deadwood was a great HBO series and this book really fills in the blanks. It is a suprise how much pain the early pioneers endured heading west (and how the American Indians were take advantage of!).

This man gives a real account of the real Deadwood and the events of the gold rush. Nothing is made up nor did he embelish. How refreshing. While reading it in the Black Hills, I am in awe of some of the places he describes. Though the topography has changed a bit, its fun to go see where the events happened. Some happy, some sad. Stories about the Sioux and Lakota Indians adds interest.

I would highly recommend this book for true facts of Wild Bill, Calamity Jane and Deadwood gold rush days

After seeing the HBO special about Deadwood I was interested in getting some factual data. This book provided insight and drama to a part of history above and beyond what a HBO special could provide. The historical accounts of people, places and gold give the reader something to chew on while contemplating what it would be like in the American past. SASS members would love the book also.

Though not the only source of knowledge about the Quakers during the Nazi period, it is currently the best. It can also be a practical guide for those confronting how pacificism and apolitical compassion may be applied in the face of modern, often evil, totalitarianism. The books documents the mistakes, the triumphs, the ideals and tactics of the Friends during one of their most trying of times. It is not surprising that the Quakers were recognized via their Friends Service Committee the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize. Strongly recommended.

Schmitt repeatedly stresses in his book the title- Quakers *and* Nazis, not Quakers *verses* Nazis. And that is the beauty of this book. Schmitt writes of how the Quakers in WWII worked to protect people from the Nazis, to engage in feeding programs, clothing the hungry, serving those the Nazis were oppressing, working to release them from prison and concentration camps. All this they do before WWII, during the war, and afterward, throughout the world- Germany, Austria, Poland, Latvia, Holland, Denmark, and even Morocco.

But Schmitt also writes of how the Friends worked to free Nazis from prison, to feed the Nazis and German soldiers, and make sure they were clothed. They believed that no one should be imprisoned for the sake of their conscience, no one should be mistreated for what they believed- no matter how insiduous those beliefs.

There are times when the Quakers struggle with their missions, and times when they don't agree. Reflecting the standard Quaker doctrine that each individual should be guided by the internal Light of the Holy Spirit, some choose to fight for Germany, though most choose the ancient Quaker doctrine of pacifism. Some choose to work in England to try to appease Germany; others realize early on this will not happen. Some are willing to agree with Germany's Semitic separations in feeding the poor and oppressed, in order that they might at least help some; others refuse to be involved in anti-Semitism at all.

Schmitt writes with copious detail, which can lead to some boredom at times- there's a lot of research here, and sometimes you have to wade through it to get to the better parts. I was particularly impressed how, as one reads step by step in the history of the period, how easy it was to not realize the horrific nature of the Nazi regime, from the perspective of the time. Even the Quakers who disagree with the anti-Semitism, violence, and injustice of the Nazis, don't realize the full gamut of the evil of the Nazi regime until the stories come out at war's end. In the beginning, it is one's own country, which has taken a wrong turn, as every country does, in every age. And the wrong turn gets a little worse. And a little worse. And it is so easy to disagree with the actions of one's country, to fight them, but still not realize that that last turn was the one that went far, far too far.

The Friends respond to these wrong turns with love. They decided they would love the Jews, and their fellow Germans. And that they would love the Nazis, as brothers and friends. Just as they won slave-owners in the South to the cause of abolition by loving the slave-owners as brothers, they hoped to win over the Nazis. They succeeded in some small measure in gaining greater rights to care for the oppressed. But most of all, they remained a witness of love and peace, a light in a time of great darkness.

Mr Schmidt extensively researched this book to not only reveal the work of the Quakers in Nazi Germany, but also to allow the reader inside the minds of so many of the participants. Though the book can become tedious because of its depth of detail, it also finds its power in those personal stories. Imagine a member of the Gestapo allowing the Quakers to feed the oppressed because he himself had been fed by the Quakers in post WWI relief efforts. This is a piece of history few if any know about, and Mr. Schmidt makes it all interesting.