Pennsylvania Books

Traces the origins and early development of TIAA-CREF and describes the operating philosophy and practices of an organization that holds in trust the retirement hopes of more than one million participants from non-profit educational and research institutions.

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The book describes the organizations struggles with the strictures of state and federal laws designed to regulate commercial life-insurance companies and other, more conventional, for-profit financial institutions. It deals candidly with the conflicts over such issues as investment strategy, governance, state insurance regulation, sex-distinct annuity rates, the perceived paternalism of noncashable annuity contracts, and the need for broader ranges of investment options. It traces the landmark modifications that TIAA-CREF introduced in response to the changing financial and regulatory environment.

"More than just a book about a company. It is the story of a movement that has transformed the way we think about and plan for retirement." -- Dr. Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., current CFO of TIAA-CREF.

The films 'Room With a View' and 'Wings of the Dove' make one wonder about the Italy reflected in classical paintings executed before the destruction of WWII. My curiousity was heightened in an art history class when the instructor showed a photo slide of the Ponte Vecchio and told the amazing story of the Nazi pilot who disobeyed orders to destroy the last bridge the allies could cross on their advance north.

This beautiful book brings to mind the saying, "The Past is a Foreign Country." Italy of the 19th Century is a place none of us can know except through records left by one who witnessed it. The book consists of essays James wrote on his travels to various places in Italy including Venice, Rome, and Florence. He visited some places several times and the text reflects the changes he observed on revisits.

He records an Italy whose poverty for a time prevented the intrusion of developers, who later made many changes perhaps for the worse. James was not a worshipper of old buildings, he appreciated them, but he was also aware of the suffering of the Italians, many of whom existed in dire poverty. His reflections on various cathedrals, churches and other objects of artistic interest are humanized by his comments about the individuals he encounters. He muses on the morality of travel, "whether it has been worthwhile to leave his home [and] encounter new forms of human suffering." His awareness of the Italians themselves makes his writing a bit like that of Paul Theroux, a travler and writer in our times. James differs from Theroux however. My sense is that James is a little less likely to criticize and a little more willing to overlook unpleasantness. Perhaps that makes him less of a realist, or perhaps Italy was a more pleasant place in the 19th Century.

To paraphrase what Ms. Longo wrote in her introduction: When people think of Italians in Pennsylvania, they don't think of Northeastern Pennsylvania - the areas of Jessup, Dunmore, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, etc. - but Stephanie Longo has done a beyond excellent job of not only documenting the strong Italian presence in upstate Pennsylvania, but in accentuating the fact that that presence is felt in that area today as much as it was almost one hundred years ago.

Ms. Longo's contribution to the Images of America series starts off with the wedding picture of her grandparents, to whom she dedicated the book. This is a taste of how much Italians valued their families, a value that continues to the second and third generation Italian-American, and beyond, whether the person grew up in that environment or not.

Her picture selection was one of the better ones that I have seen emerge from the I.O.A. series. She chose images that showed everyday life and, more importantly, she took advantage of archives direct from Italy. She put her Italian degree to good use there!

I have to be honest when I say that I didn't think the Italians who immigrated to upstate Pennsylvania were many and I certainly didn't think their presence was instrumental in shaping the various communities up there, but Ms. Longo cleared up that misconception awful quick.

I have heard many stories of the awful discrimination Italian immigrants faced while working in the coal mines and railroads, and while Ms. Longo addressed what needed to be addressed, she made sure to stress the fact that those immigrants, many of whom didn't speak a word of English upon their arrival, persevered under horrible conditions and not only made something of themselves but their families as well. I have heard about people who initially settled in upstate Pennsylvania when they immigrated from Italy, but who resettled in Philadelphia, and they stressed the fact that the Italian community was very active in those parts (quite a few folks who lived in the Germantown neighborhood of Philly came from Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, among other towns in upstate PA, and they were Calabrese).

I was very pleased to finally (!) know the town where the majority of those immigrants came from in Italy. Never would I have guessed they came from Umbria! I was also shocked to see the settlement goes back quite a while, with the first Columbus Day Parade held in 1892!

I was especially touched by the part in her introduction when she stated that many Italian immigrants' descendants are, perhaps, unaware of their ancestors' sacrifices. I'd like to expound upon that and say those people probably don't even know they're Italian at all (or, incredulously, are ashamed of their heritage, so they change their names, among other things. Or, better yet, if they're mixed in with another nationality - most predominately Irish or German - they will, majority of the time, deny their Italian heritage and claim they're 100% German or 100% Irish. They'll know to the enth degree where their ancestors came from in Germany or Ireland, and the very day their ancestor arrived in the U.S., yet ask them what region their Italian ancestors came from and you'll be greeted with a blank stare for an answer).

One of the saddest things I've ever seen are the graves of so many Italians (who, I can tell by their date of birth, were immigrants) who died either very young and/or many years ago whose markers and stones lay vacant in many cemeteries year after year after lonely year.

Ms. Longo's volume qualifies as a book-lover's pleasure. Even if your Italian ancestors didn't settle in upstate Pennsylvania (like mine), this is a must-have book in order to get a fuller story of Italian immigration to the U.S.

Great job, Stephanie! - Donna Di Giacomo

Nick Ciotola's beautiful tribute to the Italians of Pittsburgh and Western Pa uses photographs to tell the story of a bittersweet past. Joyful occasions, sad occasions and hard work are carved in the faces of the photos.
I must tell you how I found the book. I saw it on the Book shelf at the History Center and opened to a page. On that page was an image of my Aunt as a child in the "procession" of the Blessed Virgin. I looked at the name and saw it was contributed to my late Father. (Himself an immigrant and photographer)
It is masterfully edited together by Ciotola in to segments of life; Church, Work, Family, sports etc. The words kept to a minimum because; there is little need for them.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the Italian immigrant experience Bravo!

I was introduced to the life and ministry of J. Gresham Machen by the book by David Hart titled Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America, which is an outstanding read, and then again in John Piper's wonderful Book Four of his Swans Are Not Silent series titled Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen. This was the first selection of Machen's own writings that I have read and I was greatly impressed. This short book is comprised of four different selections from Machen: "The Gospel and the Modern World," some selected correspondence between Machen and a student named Harold John Ockenga, a charge delivered to Ockenga's ordination titled "Preaching the Gospel in the Modern World," and a short essay published in McCall's in 1931 titled "Skyscrapers and Cathedrals." Each selection demonstrates Machen's profound understanding of the world around him and the severe implications facing a church that was moving away from the truth of Scripture in an attempt to be relevant and consistent with the world.

As I was reading the first essay, "The Gospel and the Modern World," I couldn't help but think about another profound selection written at the same time - Huxley's Brave New World. Machen's conclusion in this essay is that instead of protecting or expanding liberty, the modern world actually ends up destroying human liberty. In the battle between the natural and the supernatural, Machen recognizes that as the naturalistic worldview prevails, it not only eliminates the supernatural explanation of God, it also eliminates the need for God and the life lived in pursuit of any higher purpose or transcendent calling. While man has succeeded in becoming the master of his own universe, he has also succeeded in destroying any meaning or purpose for his very existence. This thought is probably best summarized in his final essay titled "Skyscrapers and Cathedrals" where he writes about the contrast between the modern builders amazing buildings that can lift the body to great heights in comparison to the medieval cathedrals that we able to uplift the soul of a man.

I have a tremendous appreciation for the life and ministry of Machen - he was a man that stood at the turn of the century and understood the profound changes that were taking root in Europe at the time and he sounded a clarion call to the United States warning us not to follow the folly overseas. But, as we stand here a century later, we realize that we as a nation, with much of the church included, did not heed his warning. I pray that a new generation of Christians will rise and understand the significance of following Christ and the cost that will be required to stand firm on the gospel and I believe that Machen's writings will be an essential element of our return to authentic Christianity if that day, indeed, does come.

J. HORACE McFARLAND A Thorn for Beauty

by Ernest J. Morrison

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 1995 ISBN 0-89271-063-2

This fine work by Ernest J. Morrison might be a little dry for some readers, but not for those who are; "one of us"; passionate lovers of nature, and the whole of life.

Morrison is a great writer, who has done us all a lasting service by bringing people like J. Horace McFarland to his readers. He has a concise and clear, and yet deeply sensitive way of revealing the true and subtle nature of a personality's inner character. I hope, like John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage," that he will continue to find and hold up to recognition, the lives and dreams of great men and quiet heroes of history who have been lost or forgotten by posterity.

Morrison has shown us in this perceptive biographical sketch of the life of J. Horace McFarland, that not only was McFarland a practical idealist in his work to enrich us all with the enrichment of beauty, but he was also a visionary and an early wholistic thinker who saw, long before many men, some of the truth concerning God's will, and man's needs as reflected in the needs of nature, in what we are only now beginning to see as the bio-one-world.

Mr. McFarland didn't just think of beauty, preservation and reconstitution of nature as being a nice cutesy adjunct or afterthought to the activities and relationship man has with nature. He considered it an absolute necessity to counter-balance the disastrous negative effects that man has had on the environment, and spiritually; a saving grace for the disastrous effect man has had on himself.

Few could argue with this prophetic view from the past, as we begin to realize the universal wisdom and truth in living in healthful harmony with ourselves and with nature; with respect and love instead of the self abuse of exploitation. Horace would say it's time to start giving something back to mother earth, instead of just taking. There are ways to do this, by proper city planning that helps make people proud of their neighborhoods, and by constant beautification, and by protection and replacement of natural resources.

He felt that if mankind is to evolve successfully, he must displace the love of money with the more adaptive love of nature and beauty.

After being involved with the cross pollination and hybridization of plants, he began to see evolution as a process that God uses to change things in His on-going creation of life.

He believed in "equality" and helped get out the vote for women, and was involved with them in the many projects related to nature and beauty, and city planning during his lifetime. He had a view towards equality of value of other life forms- What we might today call an appreciation of, and sensitivity to, bio-diversity. He thought we should all be stewards of nature, and like the emerging global unity paradigm, that we have an obligation and responsibility to nurture and protect it. And that these were democratically based concepts, activities, and relationships. Ie: Of, by, and for the people.

J. Horace was, like a truly religious and spiritual man should be, a person who practiced his religion, his ideals, and his world view, like a daily prayer, each and every day of his life- like a church without walls. He wanted to be remembered as "a man who loved a garden." Indeed, he, materially, nurtured and loved, and helped renew the Garden of Life on this Earth; and will continue to do so spiritually through his life as example, and with his words, and with his works. We could all use a little of the spirit of McFarland in our hearts and in our souls.

McFarland was not only a great defender and protecter of nature and his beloved roses; he himself was like a "Rose of the World," a "lover of all good things, surmounted (and surrounded) by his love of beauty." His life was made up of tentacles of successes that reached far into many diverse areas of endeavor, each supporting and giving sustenance to the main body of his beautiful and high ideals. J. Horace McFarland, indeed a thorn for beauty... and a giant Oak of a man.

Curtis Bard, Editor - Bard Books on CD-ROM and The Computer Classifieds:

This is an excellent book for either scholars or serious Jane Austen fans. It contains a great deal of information, but is not ladened with jargon, obscure schools of interpretation, or outlandish attention-getting novelties.

I would recommend reading this with Margaret Kirkham's Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction and Claudia Johnson's Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel. All three are worthwhile for the reader interested in Austen's reactions to her society, since all three have slightly different approaches.

Sulloway considers Austen's writing in the view of conduct-books and other sources of masculine advice, as well as the writings of moderate and radical feminists. If Sulloway is right, and I think she probably is, I have been missing a great deal of the irony in Austen's work. I shall try to keep this in mind as I read them again. The advice for the proper rearing and conduct of women is rather horrifying, worse than I knew (which was bad enough). Sulloway points to such things as Austen's mimicking of works that were then famous and now obscure to make her point.

Sulloway has organized her work into topics such as "Dancing and Marriage", and analyzes examples from the works, rather than a book by book analysis. In all, very worthwhile for increased understanding of the books.

Kirkham and Johnson approach the subject more from a look at contemporary literary works.

I have two cavils with the book. One, Sulloway, writing in 1989, often states that such-and-such is the first feminist reading of this point in Jane Austen. She is the one who has read the literature, but while her particular analysis is new and useful, I think that the general point has been made before. I could be wrong.

The other is that this simply isn't the most readable book. As I said above, it is not that it is an example of clunky academic writing, somehow it just doesn't flow. I was certainly interested enough in the contents to make the effort, but I am a little surprised at how long it took me to read it.

The book has a few explanatory notes included with the bibliographic notes, although it is not necessary that these be checked as the reader goes along. One annoying point is that while the notes are divided by chapter numbers (e.g. Chapter 2), with no names, while the pages of text have running titles with no chapter numbers. This makes the notes somewhat difficult to match up. There is an extensive bibliography and an excellent index. I particularly like that the index includes some brief notes in paragraphs such as "Anna Austen (niece). If one finds oneself wondering who Anna Austen is, it isn't necessary to look up a lot of pages.

This is a very good introduction to the gorgeous arts of Japan done by contemporary craftsmen. There is a long Japanese tradition of ceramics, lacquerwork, woodwork, basketry, textiles, jewellery, metalwork and glass. The book covers modern interpretation of these age-old crafts. There are many full color plates, hence the price of the book. However, it is not possible to appreciate the intense craftsmanship and skill of the artisans without top quality photography. A beautiful book

What exactly has Brian McGuire accomplished here? [1] He has produced a first rate biography of one of Catholicism's most controversial medieval minds. [2] He has shed light upon Jean Gerson's major contributions to Catholic philosophy and moral theology. [3] He has provided a colorful and insightful vision of Church, university, and civic life at the turn of the fifteenth century. [4] He has done the above in a prose style that seamlessly integrates multiple languages, primary sources, and flowing narrative. Other readers will no doubt fault me for neglecting the author's treatment of contemporary spirituality and church councils, for example, as equally impressive.

Jean Gerson [1363-1429] will never become a saint, for much the same reason that Thomas Merton and Fulton Sheen never will--the paper trail is too extensive. Gerson also carries the added baggage of bad timing--his professional life coincides with an era that Catholicism would like to forget, the Great Schism--a subject about which our subject had much to say and write. Gerson was highly visible in his own lifetime as Chancellor of the University of Paris and later through his extensive body of writing, on subjects as diverse as "The Mountain of Contemplation" and as mundane as his "On Nocturnal Emission and Preparation for the Mass." [His youngest brother, the monk Jean the Celestine, collected and edited his papers, an act of love with immense long-term historical importance.] He was a senior player in the reform Council of Constance, though in a way that perhaps stunned his contemporaries and derailed his career. That Gerson's body was twice buried and twice lost reflects the Church's ambivalence about his work.

Gerson himself grew up in a town that now no longer exists, in the shadow of a nearby monastery. The oldest of a large family, student Jean was sent to Paris to improve the next generation's fortunes. As priest and scholar, he would find himself at a young age Chancellor of the mother of higher studies, the University of Paris. McGuire is careful to delineate the delicacy of this position. As chancellor he was responsible for academic excellence, suppression of error, and the spiritual well being of his students. He was beholden to both the cathedral and the crown, and in fact found it necessary to curry favor for decent living arrangements. This alone was no easy task: with Charles VI mentally ill, civil power tipped periodically from the Duke of Orleans to the Duke of Burgundy. On the other hand, his proximity to such men gave Gerson frequent access to the royal pulpit and a widespread circulation of his thinking.

Gerson's private and public thinking was conflicted. He harbored a deep wish to flee to the peace and security of obscurity, and twice in his career he did actually resign his university position. But he always returned, the weary warrior who wanted nothing better than lasting Church reform. He did not have to look far for an agenda: the Western Church was inexorably breaking in two under the weight of dueling papacies. From a theological vantage point, this was the epic lose-lose situation: every conceivable solution involved, to some degree, a denigration of papal power. Gerson operated in a spectrum between those calling for the expulsion of popes and those counseling no action. Gerson could not embrace the latter; he feared, and with very good reason, that the split between Avignon and Rome would become as permanent as that between Rome and Constantinople. The idea of forceful expulsion was a step he was not willing to take.

Gerson looked to a restoration of a monolithic papacy but not without several preconditions. The first was the efficacy of a reform council; the second was the cooperation and participation of Christian princes; and the third was the reform of dioceses through the efficacy of local bishops and diocesan clergy. Gerson distrusted religious orders--the Dominicans had been a handful at the university--and he was equally suspicious of mystics, though intrigued by manifestations of the Via Moderna throughout France.

Key to his planning, of course, was civil stability. When his own patron, the Duke of Orleans, was murdered by the Duke of Burgundy, resulting in a violent local civil war, Gerson made public order his cause. The matter of tyrannicide so enveloped his passions that when his long hoped for reform council finally took place at Constance in 1415, Gerson derailed the council and his own career in a virtual filibuster on the matter of royal conduct. McGuire recounts Gerson's puzzling metamorphosis through the council from the West's leading theologian to a marginalized, discredited figure whose profound insights were lost to the fathers of Constance.

For reasons of reputation and safety, Gerson could never return to Paris, but instead lived in exile in Lyon. Here he produced a remarkable body of literature, much of it centered upon moral theology and devotion. He tackled questions of human rights, commerce and nationalism. His writings give evidence of considerable moral debate in his day about the psychology of penance. Gerson anticipates the great debates of the Manualist era and even the twentieth century controversies of double effect and situation ethics. In discussing the propriety of celebrating sacraments with troubled conscience, for example, he drew from the wisdom of Ovid, of all people: "He who is not present today will be less fit tomorrow." [224] Gerson, curiously, was instrumental in establishing greater intensity to the cult of a more youthful St. Joseph, with emphasis upon the saint's sexual restraint.

McGuire's biography of Gerson is the first since 1929, but his exhaustive bibliography gives evidence that the University Chancellor's writings and influence may be entering a new springtime. I would not expect the Church to proclaim a "Year of Gerson" any time soon, but he might get invited to dinner.

This is a great book about a boy who goes to work in one of the early glass houses in New England.
It is written for a youngster, but the historical references and accuracy are great for a glass lover!