Ohio Books

If you grew up in the Greater Cleveland Area, you'll be drawn back to the "golden age" of Euclid Avenue. It's all there... the department stores, the restaurants, the shops and stores, even the giant Christmas Tree at Sterling Linder Davis. It's amazing how much stuff I forgot, that came charging back when I read through this book. I highly recommend it.

A stroll down Euclid Avenue in the Jazz Age and beyond, at a time it was packed with top-tier restaurants, ornate theaters, and appealing stores, becomes pleasant in the hands of James Toman and Richard Karberg. Toman and Karberg have worked together before; they produced a wildly popular pair of books about Cleveland's venerable Silver Grille restaurant.

Toman--the author, coauthor, or editor of around 20 books of local interest--puts his usual strengths on display here. He chocks his books full of appealing photographs, combing through the archives, one suspects, to get just the right ones. The text is tightly written, carefully edited, and filled with anecdote, but it lets the pictures do much of the talking.

Cleveland is a decent respectable city of half a million now. Our art museum and orchestra are nationally prominent. Our hospitals, particularly UH and The Clinic, are among the country's best. But there was a time we were a million strong and on the grow, the future opening giddily before us. We were home to Rockefellers and a burgeoning industrial giant, and Euclid Avenue became a microcosm of that success spiced with a bit of "Great Gatsby"-style hedonism. To dip into this book is to date a "Sophisticated Lady," to feast the senses on the mink stoles, early film classics, and luscious cuisine of Cleveland's golden age.

It's hard to believe, but it's true. I've been reading a cookbook. I don't mean reading every recipe; I just scan those for ingredients and ease of preparation. No, I'm reading "Farms and Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate to Dinner Plate" a cookbook written by Marilou Suszko.

The book not only features some wonderful recipes using fresh ingredients farmed throughout the state, but it draws attention to the work of family farmers and the food industry in general. For me, it has inspired a greater interest in where food comes from and to be more socially responsible when shopping.

In the book's forward, Carol Goland, executive director of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association and assistant professor in the environmental studies program at Denison University, writes that "half of the food items found in grocery chains are produced by 10 multinational corporations." She goes on to write, "Of every dollar we pay for our food in the conventional system, about 19 cents is for the food itself and goes back to the farmer (less than half what it was in 1950)."

Startled at these and other statistics cited in the book, I contacted Ursuline Sister Christine Pratt, director of Catholic Charities Rural Life Office.

"Eating is a moral act," she says. In addition to the nourishment to our bodies, she talked about how the food system is related to Catholic principles: the dignity of each person, respect for life and caring for creation.
Food-related issues she talks about include the amount of food that is wasted, the rights of the workers in the fields, how our natural resources are used or abused and the food system's dependence on petroleum for travel, chemicals and packaging. All point to the fact that we can make a difference when we purchase locally-produced foods.

It's not that difficult to find foods grown close to home. Ms. Suszko's book contains several pages of information on how to purchase from the farmers featured in the book as well as other organizations that promote family farms. Additionally, Sr. Pratt notes the Saturday morning farmer's market at Toledo's Erie Street Market and the community supported agriculture farm run by the Tiffin Franciscan Sisters. She also suggests asking your grocer to carry locally-grown food or simply driving on almost any major country road to find a roadside stand.

With an informative and inherently interesting background on Ohio farming personalities, including their barns, fields, and vineyards, "Farms & Foods Of Ohio" author and culinary instructor Marilou K. Suszko accompanies her compilation of delicious recipes with stories about the people and places that made them possible. Along with a map of Ohio farms and succinct series of farm histories, the recipes are arranged into categories: Eggs, Milk, & Cheese; Meats & Poultry; Fish & Seafood; Fruits & Vegetables. Of special interest are the chapters on 'Finding a Niche; Vineyards 7 Wineries; Ohio Chefs & Farmers; and 'Save a Farm'. The recipes range from Buttery Shortbreads; Roasted heritage Turkey; Shrimp and Shiitake Mushroom Angel Hair Pasta; and Raspberry Tart in Nut Crust; to a Basil Pesto and Basil Pesto Dipping Sauce; Autumn Salad with Maple Vinaigrette; Markko vineyard Rice Pilaf; and Roasted Root Vegetables. Enhanced with the inclusion of a resource list, a bibliography, recipe credits, and a recipe index, "Farms & Foods Of Ohio" is a welcome and certain to be popular addition to any personal or community library cookbook collection.

Three brothers with fourteen sons, all members of the upper middle-class, based in Ohio watch the American Civil War descend like a dark cloud. None of them questioned the need to "Save the Union". All of them activity participated in the saving, some as members of the military and some as civilian volunteers. In the process, they became famous as "The Fighting McCooks". Most readers of Civil War history are familiar with the name and know the outline of the story. However, many of us cannot tie the McCooks together or identify where they fought and died. Reading this book will be a revelation as you pull the stories together and build a full picture of their contributions.

The family members start as Stephen Douglas Democrats, who not liking slavery are willing to accept it to avoid war. The families' politics is one of the strongest minor story lines in the book. They are very well connected and willing to use those connections if they feel it is necessary. By 1860, more than one McCook works for the Republican Party and one has become an Abolitionist. Lincoln's election, secession and war find one McCook drilling at the White House to protect Lincoln from an expected attack of Southerners. This is April 1861 and Washington is cut off from the United States as Maryland decides what to do. In 1865, four members of the family are dead, several have their health ruined and the Union is saved.

The Whalen's produced a unique format by placing the McCooks into a history of the war. As the war unfolds, we meet a family member or renew a friendship with one. This keeps the reader firmly in step with the events of the war, while family participation and problems continually play out. We do a minimal amount of backtracking getting to see the families' story as the war progresses. This took some thought and effort but the result is very rewarding. One of the nicest items is a map of Civil War America at the end of most chapters. Each part of the story updates the map, showing where the McCook was during this phase of the war. The last of these map, on page 346, catalogues the contribution this family made in a very visual and easy to grasp manner.

This is a rousing story of heroic deeds and the authors are able to do it right. The prose is very heroic, intelligent and readable without being awe struck. This is a "warts n all" book, making them all the braver for being human. The authors manage to convey the unique personalities of the seventeen men, while always presenting them as one family. That family was always ready to spring to the defense of a member, pull a string and accept an enemy of one as an enemy of all. Lincoln, Hays, Grant, Garfield, Stanton, Sherman and Vallandigham people this book. One or more of the McCooks was partners with, worked for, talked to, liked or disliked all of these men and a host of others. This was a partisan time and this is a partisan book. The authors accept the stories that favor or damn these men, depending on how the McCooks feel about them. This may cause a reviewer to question some of the book's history, which I feel is incorrect. While modern historians do not agree with many of the stories present as fact, the McCooks accepted them and believed them to be true. The authors remain true to their subject by accepting these stories as the family did.

Physically this is a very good-looking book. Illustrations are in the right place and add to the story. I will mention the on-going map showing the movement of the McCooks again. This map seems to become part of the story an important visual reference all by itself. Another unique item is a bookmark. Each book contains a Red, White & Blue tasseled, laminated bookmark with portraits of the seventeen McCooks. This is just another indication of the thought and effort that went into this book.

The Whalens have done a remarkable job digging through what must have been significant research to bring the tale of the "Fighting McCooks" to the page.
The book is filled with detailed accounts about the campaigns of each of the McCook sons going to war for the Union army. They capture the individual struggles and ambitions of the family members vividly and personalize the stories to not only better understand the McCooks, but the larger struggle of the war and all the associated players of the era.
It's as lush as any well-written historical fiction novel and then amazing to know that the account is actually true. The details of the stories are fascinating and I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a more intimate and personalized narrative of events of that great national conflict.

This excellent, strange, ultra-realistic novel shows that once firmly inside the head of Elliot, the main character, who is perfectly unjudged by his creator, the novelist, you can do almost anything, see everything, unflinching, unblinking. It's almost tragic perfection.

THE FIREBRAT is an amazing novel: addictive, endearing, and startlingly fresh. I don't know of any other book like it. Because of McConnell's remarkable insight into the furnace of the psyche, Elliot, his protagonist and narrator, exists -- from the first paragraph -- as a convincingly odd, unique individual. To read THE FIREBRAT is to live inside Elliot's head for a while; what happens to him happens to the reader. As a result, the climax is as devastating as it is entertaining. I highly recommend this novel.

From Blackjacks to Briefcases: A History of Commercialized Strikebreaking and Unionbusting in the United States. By Robert Michael Smith. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2003. 179 pages. $44.95 hardback $16.95 paper. This book is as interesting as the title promises. It is an excellent little volume, succinct and well-researched. The main thesis of the book is compellingly laid out, bringing readers easily to share the author's contention that unionbusting today is much the same as it was in 1880. From Blackjacks to Briefcases deserves a place in the personal lending library of every labor educator and trade unionist in the country, and it should be passed from reader to reader. This book will fire up union supporters with frustration that labor's story is not told. Few people, even in the labor movement, know the tremendous investment and effort put into unionbusting over the past century. The book vividly demonstrates the need for labor history as an integral part of labor education and a stimulus to activism. For those who need convincing, this book presents compelling evidence of class warfare in America, even to this current day.

A thorough study of a little known aspect of the labor story. Smith explains that the labor movement has never taken hold in the United States partly because employers, since the dawn of the age of industrial upheaval and continuing until today have turned to contractors who specialized in breaking strikes and smashing unions. Packed with great quotes, plenty of insight and lots of vilonce he plows virgin ground as he uncovers the wide spread use of hired guards, like the Pinkertons or Baldwin-Felts thugs, the tactics of armies of professional strikebreakers and the machinations of labor spies and labor relations consultants. A must read for labor historian, labor members and anyone interested in modern American history.

Of all the books that I've read about Hegel's philosophy in the past twenty years, this book by Howard P. Kainz stands out as the one best suited for the beginner. Dr. Kainz is a world class scholar on this topic and his overview is simply the best I have ever read. (Before 1996 my favorite overview of Hegel was the first part of Ilyenkov's, DIALECTICAL LOGIC. After 1996 my favorite overview is this book by Dr. Kainz.)

What I like most about this book is that it works hard to reach the new student. Dr. Kainz removes all jargon and technical language, except to define the more common terms used by the experts in the field. He also includes diagrams to help explain complex abstract concepts. It is not often that a professor works so diligently to reach his students. He also succeeds in making his language contemporary and easy-to-read.

Dr. Kainz covers the whole gamut of Hegel's corpus and provides high-level overviews of most key ideas in Hegel's philosophy. I wish I had this book in the 1980's when I was struggling with the literature on Hegel, but in fact Dr. Kainz' book was probably not possible until 1996 because the scholarship on Hegel had to undergo a major change - it had to break away from the literature of Marxism and only the fall of the USSR could make that possible. The scholarship on Hegel since the fall of the USSR is very different - I say superior - compared with the scholarship before that period. This is due partly to English translations (finally) of all of Hegel's main works, and partly to the recognition that Hegel is not only widely different from Marx, but his work may better stand the test of time.

Howard P. Kainz is a world-renowned expert in Hegel scholarship. He is not always an advocate of Hegel's thought and he can ask some very pointed questions and offer some very critical comments. However, Dr. Kainz makes use of the latest Hegel scholarship so the new student benefits enormously. If you are thinking about reading Hegel and have seen how difficult it can be, and so are looking for a brief, high-level, yet comprehensive critique of Hegel's thought, this book is for you. I give it five stars.

Of all the books that I've read about Hegel's philosophy in the past twenty years, this book by Howard P. Kainz stands out as the one best suited for the beginner. Dr. Kainz is a world class scholar on this topic and his overview is simply the best I have ever read. (Before 1996 my favorite overview of Hegel was the first part of Ilyenkov's, DIALECTICAL LOGIC. After 1996 my favorite overview is this book by Dr. Kainz.)

What I like most about this book is that it works hard to reach the new student. Dr. Kainz removes all jargon and technical language, except to define the more common terms used by the experts in the field. He also includes diagrams to help explain complex abstract concepts. It is not often that a professor works so diligently to reach his students. He also succeeds in making his language contemporary and easy-to-read.

Dr. Kainz covers the whole gamut of Hegel's corpus and provides high-level overviews of most key ideas in Hegel's philosophy. I wish I had this book in the 1980's when I was struggling with the literature on Hegel, but in fact Dr. Kainz' book was probably not possible until 1996 because the scholarship on Hegel had to undergo a major change - it had to break away from the literature of Marxism and only the fall of the USSR could make that possible. The scholarship on Hegel since the fall of the USSR is very different - I say superior - compared with the scholarship before that period. This is due partly to English translations (finally) of all of Hegel's main works, and partly to the recognition that Hegel is not only widely different from Marx, but his work may better stand the test of time.

Howard P. Kainz is a world-renowned expert in Hegel scholarship. He is not always an advocate of Hegel's thought and he can ask some very pointed questions and offer some very critical comments. However, Dr. Kainz makes use of the latest Hegel scholarship so the new student benefits enormously. If you are thinking about reading Hegel and have seen how difficult it can be, and so are looking for a brief, high-level, yet comprehensive critique of Hegel's thought, this book is for you. I give it five stars.

I highly recommend this book. It is a beautiful object to look at and to own. Gary Bukonvnik is a master at capturing the essence of flowers. It is a book I shall keep and look at again and again and always come away feeling happy and inspired.

Gary Bukovnik: Watercolors is a splendidly beautiful full-color collection of watercolor plates, of flowers by contemporary artist Gary Bukovnik. In Gary Bukovnik: Watercolors, the art literally speaks for itself; the only text is a brief caption for each plate describing its size, materials, and the collection that houses the original. A selected bibliography rounds out this art and flower lover's treasury of skillfully and soulfully painted images.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY! This book is a great book. It tells a story about a inner city youth with a drug additced teenage mom who has many situations to deal with. This youth grows up to be a sucessful journalist and a kidney donor to his cousin. If his cousin doesnt get this kidney he will die. Read this great book to find out the rest of the story. A must read for everybody. Tell your friends and family about it. Rated 5*****.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY! This book is a great book. It tells a story about a inner city youth with a drug additced teenage mom who has many situations to deal with. This youth grows up to be a sucessful journalist and a kidney donor to his cousin. If his cousin doesnt get this kidney he will die. Read this great book to find out the rest of the story. A must read for everybody. Tell your friends and family about it. Rated 5*****.

As I watch my husband in the subtle and beginning stages of this agonizing disease and read June Shiplett's Glass Full Of Tears, I can only imagine my years of care-giving yet to come. Her log of her husband's vascular dementia is becoming my calendar as well. Most books are written about Alzheimer's and even though multi-infarct dementia is a kissing cousin of alzheimers, there is a behavioral difference. Shiplett is walking me through my days and I wish I could hug her for writing this book...... it seems it is written just for me.

It is hard to put in writing how the book effected me. It was very moving and helped to understand some of the emotions that we experience when care giving to a loved one. I appreciate Mrs. Shiplett sharing such a private and special part of her life. It is by far her richest Love Story she has written.

Life in Peking (Beijing) China before World War II was the ultimate big frog in a small pond experience for Europeans and Americans. Persons of modest means and position, such as Marine Captain John Letcher, could live like pashas on a modest salary. Moreover, Peking had fabulous art, architecture, food, and a glorious culture to enjoy.

Life was not nearly so good for the Chinese and that was why Letcher was there. He was a member of a US Marine Corps contingent with the mission of protecting foreigners and property. The Chinese had the disconcerting habit of rising up occasionally and killing the Westerners enjoying their bounty. Captain Letcher's tour in Peking was made memorable by the beginning of World War II when Japanese and Chinese troops clashed at Marco Polo Bridge, just outside Peking. What is perhaps most remarkable is how little the war between China and Japan disrupted the good life of the foreigners inside the walls of Peking although there is a sense of gathering doom in Letcher's account.

This book consists of Letcher's letters and diary entries from 1936 to 1939. A lengthy introduction, a few photos and maps, extensive footnotes, and a bibliography supplement the text. Letcher has no startling insights or wisdom to impart, but his stories of daily life conjure up life in Peking pretty well and his eye-witness observations of the war are interesting. "Goodbye Old Peking" is a well done book of interest to scholars and those of us who are fascinated by old time China and the Westerners who lived there.

Smallchief

Mr. Letcher's letters were written in a style that gives the reader a "visual" description of pre World War II China. Although some of his opinions may not be politically correct by todays standards, I think he honestly expresses his feelings of the people and surroundings at the time. Some of his predictions regarding the upcoming war are almost right on--however his prediction that California would eventually be captured by the Japanese happily did not come true. Regardless of Mr. Letcher's personal opinions, his letters are well written and gives the reader the feeling of being there. A good story. The editors did a great job of keeping the story on track, and the footnote information was very informative (Their references led me to several other publications which I subsequently read). The copy I read was from the public library. I plan to buy the book for my collection in the near future.