Washington Books

Jerome Washington gives you a human outlook on societies "inhuman" population. It is a good read. If you have family in the penal system, on either side of the bars, you will have a different outlook on what they endure.

Jerome Washington tells the stories that other sources have left out, or undetailed. Prison is a society, not just a group of people from the 'real' society. His own story is remarkable, giving him the unique ability to relate his observations to the reader. Washington strays from his own story as much as possible by examining the life of others confined to the same cage. Perhaps the pain of the recollection is the driving force of the reluctance to spill his own guts. He avoids it untill the end when he just can't hold back any further. Like all real quality writing, the author uses the language of the characters. The eerie result he may have intended has been achieved. The situations are scary, and the hope is bleek. The inmates are wild, hungry, and dangerous, and the prison employees are just as trapped - just as viscous: "They were angry that I was walking out of their prison alive ... and took false comfort in the hope that if I didn't return to prison, I would surely send my young to grow old behind their walls." Just as in other stories of prisoners or patients who believe the 'system' is corrupt, the reader must exercise his/her duty to examine the reality and the haze - and question what is perception, what is real, what is made up, and if the point of view is tainted by paranoia... why? You, the reader, will be a floating eye through a prison, through another world - with foreign rules, sanctions, and truths. And being seperated from the setting, although right there in the thick of it, you are safe from the prison's disease which spreads from animal to animal, through cage to cage, all the way to the to zookeeper.

This is a collection of poetry salvaged from the walls of the barracks on Angel Island, where Chinese immigrants were detained between 1910 and 1940. Poems are in both English and Chinese. In addition to the poems, the editors provide an introduction to early Chinese immigration, and there are several pages of quotes from various immigrants, on various subjects such as the voyage to America and their impressions of Westerners. The poetry speaks for itself -- poems of desperation, despair, homesickness, and anger. This is a wonderful collection.

No immigrant population has ever been treated as shabbily and violently as the Chinese, who began arriving in large numbers during the California Gold Rush and who were recruited in even larger numbers to build transcontinental railroads, build levees in California, and to supplant African-American cotton pickers in Mississippi. The Chinese were brutalized, excluded, mocked, and TAXED! In 1852, a Foreign Miner's Tax, which accounted for more than half of the tax revenue collected in California between 1850 and 1870, was imposed on Chinese miners. Parallel fears fueled the antagonism against the Chinese: first, that they were unassimilable; second, that they would pollute the bloodlines of the Great Race, the Anglo-Saxon stock, which would seem to imply a measure of assimilation, or else outbreed "us". Laws were passed to exclude Chinese women, and then, in 1882, to exclude all immigration from China. Laws continued to severely curtail Chinese immigration until the 1960s, but exclusion was never 100% effective. The principal loohole was the acknowledged human right of Chinese-Americans to bring their wives and children to "Gold Mountain." The officials charged with overseeing this trickle of migration were invariably convinced that most of it was fraudulent; they were fierce and self-righteous in ferreting out the "paper sons," those illegal immigrants of yesteryear.

From 1910 to 1940, all immigrants arriving in California from China - including many who were en route to Mexico or Cuba - were quarantined in wooden barracks on the hidden side of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, north of Alcatraz. About 175,000 Chinese, men, women and children, spent from three days to three years in detention on Angel Island, and quite a few of them ended up being shipped home. This book tells the story of that immigration in thirty pages of general history and through interviews with thirty-nine elderly survivors of the Island experience. Pictures of the detention station and its operations are also included, and suggest the bleak, crowded, disrespectful conditions that prevailed.

In 1940, the barracks on Angel Island were closed and abandoned. The buildings remained in disrepair until 1970, by which time Angel Island was a state park. Then the buildings were slated for demolition, but during an inspection, a park ranger, Alexander Weiss, noticed that the walls of the wooden buildings were covered with Chinese characters, carved or inscribed. He notified scholars at San Francisco State University, the inscriptions were photographed and translated, it was confirmed that they were chiefly poems composed in inmates during detention, and the Asian American community of San Francisco bagan to lobby for preservation of the historical site, equivalent to Ellis Island in the memory of European American immigrant descendents.

The station is now a major tourist attraction of the Bay Area, and easily one of the most interesting, to which thousands of visitors travel by ferry. The calligraphic inscriptions are visible, and translations are readily available. Unlike the stereoptype of "coolie" immigrants, the Chinese who cut these characters in the walls were literate representatives of a great civilization, however penniless and friendless they may have been when they arrived in the Land of the Free, only to be imprisoned.

The bulk of this touching book is composed of selected poems, in Chinese and in English translation, from the walls of the Island. Some express desolation:

"Living on Island, away from home elicits a hundred feelings.
My chest is filled with a sadness I cannot bear to explain.
Night and day, I sit passively and listlessly.
Fortunately, I have a novel as my companion."

Some are angry:

"Sadly, I listen to insects and angry surf.
The laws pile layer upon layer; how can I dissipate my hatred?
Drifting in as a traveler, I met with thsi calamity.
It's more miserable than owning only a flute
in the marketplace of Wu."

A few are vengeful:

"I have 10,000 hopes that the revolutionary armies
will complete their victory,
And help make the mining enterprises successful
in the ancestral land.
They will build many battleships and come
to the U.S. territory,
Vowing never to stop till the white men
are completely annihilated."

Of course the battleships never came. Instead there were waves of industrious and civil immigrants, and then further waves of industrial wares which we in America have come to depend on. Have the Chinese terrorized America? Stolen American jobs? Degraded American racial purity? Here in San Francisco, it seems obvious that the Chinese have been among the most valuable and assimilable immigrant populations ever. Their crime rate and public assistance rate are extremely low, and their employment rate is unmatched by any European American group. They've excelled in our public schools, raising the standards of performance for "white" students by their example of seriousness. They exceed the averages of European Americans in education, income, and marital stability. Their consumption of illegal drugs is far lower than that of white suburbanites. They are a major component of the thriving multi-culturalism that makes San Francisco the most desirable place to live in all the United States, as proven by housing prices.

America was built by immigrants, and then rebuilt again and again by later waves of immigrants, each time a richer and stronger culture. Those who blame problems on recent immigrants are wrong; they themselves are the problem.

Second in the girls devotional series developed by Linda Washington and Julie Chen, "It's Me, Leslie," brings us the journal of a young girl trying to come into her own as a believer in Christ.

Genuine and engaging, Washington pulls the reader into the life of Leslie, a lively 11 year old, by peaking into her journal.

Likely in the first in the series, "Just Plain Mel," Chen has amusing sketches and doodling of everything from the "old church mother" (I've got one just like her in my church too!) to dialogue bubbles, ice cream and scratched out portions of entries Leslie must've reconsidered.

There is nothing stuffy about "It's Me, Leslie," and you can be confident that this is not just kid-friendly, but hip to what your preteens are going through. It's fresh, challenging, sometimes goofy, while retaining the innocence and purity of youth. The book always points the reader toward Jesus.

Issues such as materialism, unfriendly churches, self-confidence, gossip, spurring others on to "love and good deeds" are all discussed in this highly creative approach. Bible-centered, verses are printed before each entry area for the reader to think about when responding to the things going on in Leslie's life.

It is well-written, with a focused, stream-of-consciousness tone not found elsewhere.

I fully recommend "It's Me, Leslie," by Linda Washington. Inquisitive and curious preteen girls will love this, and beg for more. Try it in small groups, with a Bible in hand.

Anthony Trendl

I bought this devotional for my nine-year-old. She really loves the format. It is handwriting font with lots of doodles (looks like the Amelia books).The subjects are right where she's at too: Gossip, Do clothes make the Christian?, mean girls, sharing your faith with others.

There is spce for her to journal her thoughts on each subject. I would highly recommend this book as both a devotional for a girl and a beginner's journal.

James Lavadour's collection of Landscape pieces in this book are, well just tremendous, the finish of the paper complements the works upon it. I had never seen his work prior to coming across a series landscape at the Heard Museum in Phoenix,Arizona. It stopped me in my tracks, rather knocked the wind out of me so to speak. The light the expanse, the sanctity of The Land just grabs you by the throat in his pieces. The Book pretty much captures that in this collection as best as may be in the smaller scale of things.
Yeah I ought to read this book as well, and I will as well, as for the present i am still looking, and looking. Wow.

A long time ago in Pendleton, I saw James Lavadour drag boxes and boxes of REALLY crappy paintings into my high school class. Yet his face was alight with enthusiam for the work he was doing and I can see now that his vision was providing him with the momentum he needed to reach the point he has. He spoke of sitting in the foothills all day long painting. A couple years later I saw a painting of his, it was dark and mysterious and a tiny trickle of water in it appeared to actually move. I still long for that painting today. His work now is so luminous and beautiful that you find yourself transfixed and caught in the emotional content. I have always looked up to him as an artist, that this is what you can do with your talent if you are willing to work hard and seriously involve yourself with the subject.

Absolutly the best book of one the finest "artists" in recent American history. Ken Cory's work, best described as "Play Disguised" has a wonderful childlike quaility to it. Written by friends and family after his passing it chronicles his life and work with great anecdotes my favorite being the "John Colt" letter to his teacher from abroad as a teen. Excellently published with lots of wonderful drawings and photos of his work, shop and home. This book belongs on every artist's shelf! It needs to be in print for ever! A hardcover would be welcome as well. Get it NOW!

An underappreciated text about an underappreciated artist. For anyone who's convinced inventiveness has packed its bags and left the country, this is the book that will change your mind. This is a comprehensive yet readable book about the Northwest artist Ken Cory's delightfully funky, perverse, and beautifully crafted jewelry - truly little gems that most of the art world knows little about. Mitchell does a fine job of giving Cory his due credit, and putting his life and work in a context that is entirely relavent to what we think we already know about jewelry and art and craft. Extensive photos and a beautiful publication from top to bottom. Check out Mitchell's Summer 03 article in Metalsmith magazine on another diamond in the rough, Don Tompkins.

That's Denzel Washington (not Eric Clapton) teaming his prodigious talents with those of blues legend B.B. King in this powerful retelling of the classic American legend. This is another treasure from Rabbit Ear productions: a beautifully illustrated book that can be read on its own, or with the included cassette. Go for the cassette first: You'll be treated to Denzel Washington's warm, rich, folksy, awe-struck, conversational narration.

"So y'all listen up, `cause I'm gonna tell you the guaranteed, gold plated, ninety-nine-point-nice percent truth about John Henry."

Then, enjoy the inimitable riffs of B.B. King, as he and his guitar (presumably "Lucille") sing out with the pure, clear, authenticity of the blues: "My name is John Henry. I'm a born natural man. I was born one morning with a hammer in my hand . . . " This is collector material.

John Henry's triumph defends the dignity and perseverance of human labor against the encroaching machine. In its own small way, with a low-tech assist from the aural majesty of Washington and King, this volume preserves and extends the pleasures of the written page.

John Henry is one of the best Rabbit Ears titles - which is saying a lot. BB King is wonderful; Denzel Washington is wonderful. I'm not writing this for me - but if my 8 year old goes to sleep to it every (I mean, make sure you rewind that tape) night, then it is a wonderful book

I am so pleased to find that I may be able to obtain copies of this wonderful book at this time! The photographs of scenes in the Northwest are magnificent, sensitive, and intriguing. I have a copy signed by the artist/author that is admired by everyone who sees it. Any artist can benefit from studying the composition and color of these magnificent photos. I'm proud to be acquainted with Joshel Namkung--you too can get to know him through this beautiful collection of photographs. (Why doesn't Amazon give us photo samples for books like this, as they do sound samples for CDs?) Trust me, these are wonderful images! (I am a native of the Northwest.)

I am so pleased to find that I may be able to obtain copies of this wonderful book at this time! The photographs of scenes in the Northwest are magnificent, sensitive, and intriguing. I have a copy signed by the artist/author that is admired by everyone who sees it. Any artist can benefit from studying the composition and color of these magnificent photos. I'm proud to be acquainted with Joshel Namkung--you too can get to know him through this beautiful collection of photographs. (Why doesn't Amazon give us photo samples for books like this, as they do sound samples for CDs?) Trust me, these are wonderful images!

In this gripping and controversial biography, Anne-Maree Whitaker uncovers the role of Joseph Foveaux, a neglected and sometimes unfairly criticised key figure in the colony's development.

The vivid prose plunges the reader into the worlds in which Foveaux moved: the elaborate milieu of parliamentary politics and patronage in London, and the rough and tumble of the colonies of Norfolk Island and New South Wales where he was lieutenant governor.

We meet the irascible William Bligh, the visionary Lachlan Macquarie, leading colonists including John Macarthur and D'Arcy Wentworth and an enormous cast of supporting characters in Britain and the colonies.

"I have never yet met with any Officer...that is more eminently qualified for forming and conducting to maturity and perfection any infant colony committed to his charge," wrote Governor Macquarie in 1810, praising Joseph Foveaux, the man who had presided over the colony of New South Wales since the controversial Governor Bligh was relieved of his duties two years before.

If you saw any of the Sydney during the Olympics, you are sure to find this account of its early years a fascinating revelation. Based on the life of Lieutenant Governor Joseph Foveaux, demonised in Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore, this book reveals the links and patronage networks which held the British empire together. I liked the way the author in each chapter flung the reader into a physical description of the place where the action happens. And I even found myself caring about Foveaux's successes and setbacks. This is a warm, elegantly written and compelling new departure in Australian historical writing.

Journal of Mule Train Packing in Eastern Washington in the 1860's by James W. Watt is a short, easy to read, book with tremendous connection with the past. Rarely does one have the opportunity to read actual accounts of the difficulties individuals went through in an effort to seek out their own personal business and survive during the 1800's. When we study the development of the western portion of the US we picture carts and wagons of pioneers struggling to a new life. Rarely do we realize that a tremendous amount of development occurred before there were wagon roads and much of this activity was accomplished with the use of mules packing supplies to the many places we visit by car. Mules and mule packing was one of the few ways to convey large amounts of necessary items during the western development. The book Journal of Mule Train Packing in Eastern Washington in the 1860's by James W. Watt is an outstanding collections of one man's recollection of how his life was spent packing with mules to the various camps and now cities in Eastern Washington. I highly recommend the book for any equine or mule enthusiasts, or historians who want to learn more about the development of the West.

Journal of Mule Train Packing in Eastern Washington in the 1860's by James W. Watt is a short, easy to read, book with tremendous connection with the past. Rarely does one have the opportunity to read actual accounts of the difficulties individuals went through in an effort to seek out their own personal business and survive during the 1800's. When we study the development of the western portion of the US we picture carts and wagons of pioneers struggling to a new life. Rarely do we realize that a tremendous amount of development occurred before there were wagon roads and much of this activity was accomplished with the use of mules packing supplies to the many places we visit by car. Mules and mule packing was one of the few ways to convey large amounts of necessary items during the western development. The book Journal of Mule Train Packing in Eastern Washington in the 1860's by James W. Watt is an outstanding collections of one man's recollection of how his life was spent packing with mules to the various camps and now cities in Eastern Washington. I highly recommend the book for any equine or mule enthusiasts, or historians who want to learn more about the development of the West.

The fact that Early was able to make this raid is in itself a miracle. This is by far the most entertaining and best researched book on this subject. It offers great fun and deep understanding of this most important Civil War action. Early is a complex figure and Vandiver shows us the person under the facade.

Many works about Jubal Early's 1864 Valley Campaign have been produced, but none come close to this one. Frank Vandiver's JUBAL'S RAID stands out as, by far, the most lively and insightful of all the 1864 Valley histories, keeping the reader riveted throughout. This is a superb book that should be on every Civil War library shelf.