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January 10, 2014
Voodoo Daddy by Thomas L. Scott
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September 25, 2013
Jennifer Lawrence Set For ‘East Of Eden’ With ‘Hunger Games’ Director Gary Ross
Jennifer Lawrence is nothing if not loyal. According to Deadline.com, Lawrence will reunite with "Hunger Games" director Gary Ross for a new adaptation of "East of Eden," John Steinbeck's great American novel that was turned into a film by Elia Kazan in 1955. Ross would take things one step further, splitting Steinbeck's book into two features.
Per Deadline.com, Lawrence is attached to play Cathy Ames, the wife of the story's main protagonist. Here's a little background about Ames, as posted on the Martha Heasly Cox Center For Steinbeck Studies website (part of San Jose State University):
She's not dead, and things actually devolve from there. Ross would become just the latest director to work with Lawrence on multiple occasions. The Best Actress winner has already made two films with David O. Russell, and will have made three features with Francis Lawrence (no relation) after the "Hunger Games" franchise wraps up.
For more on "East of Eden," plus another project that Lawrence and Ross will make together, head to Deadline.com.
[via Deadline.com]
Per Deadline.com, Lawrence is attached to play Cathy Ames, the wife of the story's main protagonist. Here's a little background about Ames, as posted on the Martha Heasly Cox Center For Steinbeck Studies website (part of San Jose State University):
Cathy, one of Steinbeck’s most interesting and controversial characters, is born with what the author describes as “a malformed soul” in a small Massachusetts town (71). From early on, people are both taken and betrayed by her innocent face. She often makes people feel uneasy, though they would not be able to say why. She learns at a young age how to use her sexuality to manipulate people and is a very clever liar. She is the cause of the whipping of two fourteen year old boys and the apparent suicide of one of her school teachers. As a teenager, she murders her parents by setting the family’s home on fire while they slept. Though her body was never found, she too is presumed dead.
She's not dead, and things actually devolve from there. Ross would become just the latest director to work with Lawrence on multiple occasions. The Best Actress winner has already made two films with David O. Russell, and will have made three features with Francis Lawrence (no relation) after the "Hunger Games" franchise wraps up.
For more on "East of Eden," plus another project that Lawrence and Ross will make together, head to Deadline.com.
[via Deadline.com]
The post Jennifer Lawrence Set For ‘East Of Eden’ With ‘Hunger Games’ Director Gary Ross appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
Why I Banned a Book — Part II
After I wrote about the experiences of our lesson of the damaging effects of Banning a Book at Mansfield University during last year's Banned Book week, I was very encouraged that the fight against censorship and banning books was going in the right direction. The outpouring of emotion in defense of free speech was amazing. I heard from Australia to Ireland, and California to New York. It surely was a great feeling to let people know this type of injustice still occurs and to encourage their fight against censorship.
This year our Library, with the support of our University, is having another set of Banned Book Week events to raise consciousness. Well beyond the usual displays, some very creative staff members, Nichole Book, Jamey Harris, and Amanda Sanko), hung an art project "Out of Reach" in the atrium of our 6 story library. Additionally, the Instagram photography contest proved a winner too. Yet, the highlight was the Murder Mystery got the most attention.
We held a mock protest of censorship on the University Mall that was very successful (especially the pizza). The reaction of student passersby ranged from "What Harry Potter???" to "Why is Goosebumps banned?" to "Toni Morrison is on this list, now we have a problem!" When I asked Nicole Book about the entire event she said "The success of yesterday's event can be measured by the look of surprise on each students face as they read the title of one of their favorite books from our list of banned book. Further educating the students about who is banning books, how recently these books were banned, and why, seemed to surprise them even more and many picked up a sign and joined the protest."
Yet, despite the notoriety of our lesson, the fight against censorship continues. Just this past week, three cases of banning books came to my attention. Modesto Junior College http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09... took exception with the distribution of the U.S. Constitution ON Constitution Day. Perhaps they need to reexamine their policies on "the Common Sense level". The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison was banned in Randolph County NC schools http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketco... after a parental complaint. The book was found to have "no literary value" and the school board voted 5-2 to ban it. To top off this week, a mere 30 miles from my library, Pillars of the Earth was banned http://thedailyreview.com/news/book-p... in Troy, PA due to the complaint of a single parent.
During this Banned Book week, we all need to appreciate the freedom we enjoy and the fights of those that that went before us to allow these freedoms. Yet, the most interesting and heartfelt comment of the week came from our new University President Brigadier General Francis Hendricks, USAF (Retired) and a 1979 Graduate of Mansfield University -"I spent 33 years in the uniform of the United States Air Force defending the freedoms this nation was built on, namely the Constitution, so I'm opposed to censorship."
This year our Library, with the support of our University, is having another set of Banned Book Week events to raise consciousness. Well beyond the usual displays, some very creative staff members, Nichole Book, Jamey Harris, and Amanda Sanko), hung an art project "Out of Reach" in the atrium of our 6 story library. Additionally, the Instagram photography contest proved a winner too. Yet, the highlight was the Murder Mystery got the most attention.
We held a mock protest of censorship on the University Mall that was very successful (especially the pizza). The reaction of student passersby ranged from "What Harry Potter???" to "Why is Goosebumps banned?" to "Toni Morrison is on this list, now we have a problem!" When I asked Nicole Book about the entire event she said "The success of yesterday's event can be measured by the look of surprise on each students face as they read the title of one of their favorite books from our list of banned book. Further educating the students about who is banning books, how recently these books were banned, and why, seemed to surprise them even more and many picked up a sign and joined the protest."
Yet, despite the notoriety of our lesson, the fight against censorship continues. Just this past week, three cases of banning books came to my attention. Modesto Junior College http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09... took exception with the distribution of the U.S. Constitution ON Constitution Day. Perhaps they need to reexamine their policies on "the Common Sense level". The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison was banned in Randolph County NC schools http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketco... after a parental complaint. The book was found to have "no literary value" and the school board voted 5-2 to ban it. To top off this week, a mere 30 miles from my library, Pillars of the Earth was banned http://thedailyreview.com/news/book-p... in Troy, PA due to the complaint of a single parent.
During this Banned Book week, we all need to appreciate the freedom we enjoy and the fights of those that that went before us to allow these freedoms. Yet, the most interesting and heartfelt comment of the week came from our new University President Brigadier General Francis Hendricks, USAF (Retired) and a 1979 Graduate of Mansfield University -"I spent 33 years in the uniform of the United States Air Force defending the freedoms this nation was built on, namely the Constitution, so I'm opposed to censorship."
The post Why I Banned a Book — Part II appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
The Book Ban Club Still Lives
Seymour Hersh was 49 years old, a winner of the Pulitzer Pride and just about every other major award in journalism. He had written four books -- one a best-seller -- and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles. Along with Bob Woodward, he was the most famous investigative reporter in America. He was also cocky and brash and not used to being either threatened or intimidated.
And then he tackled a book on a subject that had Washington, D.C. in wild speculation -- the 1983 downing of a Korean airliner over the Sea of Japan by a Soviet fighter plane. Was the commercial airplane on a spying mission for the CIA? Had the plane simply drifted off course and was it then shot down, mercilessly, by the Russians? Did America know the plane was off course and did it sit idly by when the plane, with 269 passengers, including a Congressman, was shot down?
Hersh dug in, using his sources up and down the intelligence community chain of command, and developing new sources in the complex world of surveillance and spying. "A secret intelligence world whose operations are known to few outside the Pentagon," Hersh wrote. He was ready to write the most detailed account yet -- with top-secret data and high level anonymous sources. As he neared publication, he received an unprecedented telephone call from 73-year-old William Casey, Ronald Reagan's' gruff CIA Director.
Hersh was a veteran of phone conversations with CIA directors. Back in 1975, William Colby had confirmed for Hersh that the CIA had undertaken large-scale spying on American citizens, a conversation that eventually got Colby fired. They talked constantly even though Colby considered Hersh his toughest press adversary.
But Casey was a growler, not a supplicant, and he demanded to see the manuscript of what would become Hersh's book, The Target Is Destroyed: What really happened to Flight 007. Casey wanted to make sure Hersh did not reveal any secrets that would damage national security. He bluntly told Hersh he faced criminal prosecution if the book contained intelligence secrets. He knew nothing specific about the book's contents; only that Hersh had pierced the veil of the intelligence community, as he had done many times previously. "I'm apprising you that there is this damn law and we have to take it seriously," he declared.
Hersh's attorney warned him the FBI could, with a search warrant, rifle through his Washington house or downtown office. He spent a night going through notes, deleting references to secret sources. "Chilling doesn't begin to describe my feelings," Hersh said.
Hersh, one of the toughest reporters in America, wished he had told Casey to take a walk, but, he later admitted, he was a bit intimidated. The call "shook me up," Hersh said. He had never been threatened in such blunt language by a government official.
Hersh told Casey he would have to talk to his publisher at Random House, which at first blinked, but then declined Casey's demand. The book was published -- to critical acclaim as the best book on the subject yet written -- but the government took no action against Hersh. There would be no banning of the book.
I am thinking of all this especially this week because it is national Banned Books week, something that the American Library Association has publicized to highlight the fact that despite the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech, the American penchant is often to try to silence books and authors we find either offensive or dangerous.
According to BannedBooksWeek.com, 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. Books from Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series -- the adventures of two fourth-grade pranksters -- were the most frequently challenged in 2012.
Most recently a North Carolina school district banned Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man, even though it has been universally acclaimed as an American classic. But some school board members and parents felt its language and sexual content made it inappropriate as a summer reading choice.
No surprise there because when it comes to banning books, sexuality and offensive language -- curse words -- top the list of reasons why even great books, ranging from Margaret Atwood's futuristic Handmaid's Tale to And Tango Makes Three, an illustrated children's book in which penguins perform mating rituals, have come under the censor's guillotine.
A possible threat to national security is perhaps more understandable, although usually the government's sense of a threat is more than likely really just an embarrassment that it is trying to hide. But getting a prior restraint on a book for national security is near impossible; getting a book banned because people cuss or if the content is "ungodly" (look out Harry Potter books!) is a lot easier. School boards seem to think it is their prerogative to make sure young minds are not polluted by talk of drugs or homosexuality.
Of course, school boards are usually just reacting to what they perceive as a mandate from parents to protect children. I embarrassedly learned this lesson in my senior year of high school in 1968. I was asked in an honors English literature class to read Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land. My father, who was very smart but very conservative, read the book with me. He was appalled that my school was making me read a book with curse words in it and explicit sexuality. He was not a prude, but he rarely said much more than damn or hell when he was mad. So he complained about the profanity. The English teacher was called to the woodshed.
It was two years later in college that I discovered John Stuart Mill's essay "On liberty," and first began to understand the utilitarian need in a society for minds to be able to wander all over the intellectual landscape. Instead of protecting young -- and old -- people from foreign ideas and concepts we should be expanding the marketplace of ideas.
To do otherwise, is classic authoritarianism -- whether it comes from a crusty old government official in Washington or a parent in North Carolina.
And then he tackled a book on a subject that had Washington, D.C. in wild speculation -- the 1983 downing of a Korean airliner over the Sea of Japan by a Soviet fighter plane. Was the commercial airplane on a spying mission for the CIA? Had the plane simply drifted off course and was it then shot down, mercilessly, by the Russians? Did America know the plane was off course and did it sit idly by when the plane, with 269 passengers, including a Congressman, was shot down?
Hersh dug in, using his sources up and down the intelligence community chain of command, and developing new sources in the complex world of surveillance and spying. "A secret intelligence world whose operations are known to few outside the Pentagon," Hersh wrote. He was ready to write the most detailed account yet -- with top-secret data and high level anonymous sources. As he neared publication, he received an unprecedented telephone call from 73-year-old William Casey, Ronald Reagan's' gruff CIA Director.
Hersh was a veteran of phone conversations with CIA directors. Back in 1975, William Colby had confirmed for Hersh that the CIA had undertaken large-scale spying on American citizens, a conversation that eventually got Colby fired. They talked constantly even though Colby considered Hersh his toughest press adversary.
But Casey was a growler, not a supplicant, and he demanded to see the manuscript of what would become Hersh's book, The Target Is Destroyed: What really happened to Flight 007. Casey wanted to make sure Hersh did not reveal any secrets that would damage national security. He bluntly told Hersh he faced criminal prosecution if the book contained intelligence secrets. He knew nothing specific about the book's contents; only that Hersh had pierced the veil of the intelligence community, as he had done many times previously. "I'm apprising you that there is this damn law and we have to take it seriously," he declared.
Hersh's attorney warned him the FBI could, with a search warrant, rifle through his Washington house or downtown office. He spent a night going through notes, deleting references to secret sources. "Chilling doesn't begin to describe my feelings," Hersh said.
Hersh, one of the toughest reporters in America, wished he had told Casey to take a walk, but, he later admitted, he was a bit intimidated. The call "shook me up," Hersh said. He had never been threatened in such blunt language by a government official.
Hersh told Casey he would have to talk to his publisher at Random House, which at first blinked, but then declined Casey's demand. The book was published -- to critical acclaim as the best book on the subject yet written -- but the government took no action against Hersh. There would be no banning of the book.
I am thinking of all this especially this week because it is national Banned Books week, something that the American Library Association has publicized to highlight the fact that despite the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech, the American penchant is often to try to silence books and authors we find either offensive or dangerous.
According to BannedBooksWeek.com, 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. Books from Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series -- the adventures of two fourth-grade pranksters -- were the most frequently challenged in 2012.
Most recently a North Carolina school district banned Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man, even though it has been universally acclaimed as an American classic. But some school board members and parents felt its language and sexual content made it inappropriate as a summer reading choice.
No surprise there because when it comes to banning books, sexuality and offensive language -- curse words -- top the list of reasons why even great books, ranging from Margaret Atwood's futuristic Handmaid's Tale to And Tango Makes Three, an illustrated children's book in which penguins perform mating rituals, have come under the censor's guillotine.
A possible threat to national security is perhaps more understandable, although usually the government's sense of a threat is more than likely really just an embarrassment that it is trying to hide. But getting a prior restraint on a book for national security is near impossible; getting a book banned because people cuss or if the content is "ungodly" (look out Harry Potter books!) is a lot easier. School boards seem to think it is their prerogative to make sure young minds are not polluted by talk of drugs or homosexuality.
Of course, school boards are usually just reacting to what they perceive as a mandate from parents to protect children. I embarrassedly learned this lesson in my senior year of high school in 1968. I was asked in an honors English literature class to read Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land. My father, who was very smart but very conservative, read the book with me. He was appalled that my school was making me read a book with curse words in it and explicit sexuality. He was not a prude, but he rarely said much more than damn or hell when he was mad. So he complained about the profanity. The English teacher was called to the woodshed.
It was two years later in college that I discovered John Stuart Mill's essay "On liberty," and first began to understand the utilitarian need in a society for minds to be able to wander all over the intellectual landscape. Instead of protecting young -- and old -- people from foreign ideas and concepts we should be expanding the marketplace of ideas.
To do otherwise, is classic authoritarianism -- whether it comes from a crusty old government official in Washington or a parent in North Carolina.
The post The Book Ban Club Still Lives appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
David Gilmour, Canadian Professor And Author, Isn’t Interested In Teaching Books By Women
You might expect more from someone at an institute of higher learning.
An award-winning author and literature professor at the University of Toronto has ignited controversy by saying he's "not interested in teaching books by women ."
"I say I don't love women writers enough to teach them, if you want women writers go down the hall," professor David Gilmour said in an interview with online magazine Hazlitt, which is run by Random House.
"What I teach is guys. Serious heterosexual guys," Gilmour continued. "F. Scott Fitzgerald, Chekhov, Tolstoy. Real guy-guys."
Gilmour, 63, acknowledges that he teaches a short story by Virginia Woolf, who is "the only writer that interests me as a woman writer." But otherwise, he maintains that he only teaches writers he "truly, truly love[s]" -- and those happen (with the exception of Woolf) to be men.
The backlash to Gilmour's statements was swift. Perhaps predictably, his remarks triggered an outpouring of criticism on Twitter, including comments like these:
The story soon made the rounds on news sites in both Canada and the United States.
Now, the university seems to be distancing itself from Gilmour's comments. In a statement to The Huffington Post, University of Toronto spokeswoman Jennifer Little said, "Neither Victoria College nor the University of Toronto endorses the views attributed to David Gilmour in the article."
Little said that Gilmour "teaches elective seminars on his area of expertise, leaving other areas of literature to be taught by colleagues who can do so most effectively based on their areas of specialization."
While some may find Gilmour's lack of interest in female writers strange, the writer explained to HuffPost over the phone that it doesn't mean he's misogynist -- he just loves male writers, particularly middle-aged ones, because he can relate to them.
"That doesn't meant there aren't great women writers," Gilmour said. "[But] the trick in my course is, I want kids to leave my course thinking, 'I want to read more Chekhov, I gotta read more Chekhov.' I can't do that for Alice Munro or Margaret Atwood or any other female writers I admire who are as good as any male writers but who don't speak to me as profoundly."
Gilmour concluded by saying, "I'm a breast-stroke guy. You don't put a breast-stroke guy in the pool and ask him to teach the crawl."
WATCH: David Gilmour and his son discuss a book they wrote together about Gilmour's decision to let his son drop out of high school on the condition he watch three films a week with his father.
An award-winning author and literature professor at the University of Toronto has ignited controversy by saying he's "not interested in teaching books by women ."
"I say I don't love women writers enough to teach them, if you want women writers go down the hall," professor David Gilmour said in an interview with online magazine Hazlitt, which is run by Random House.
"What I teach is guys. Serious heterosexual guys," Gilmour continued. "F. Scott Fitzgerald, Chekhov, Tolstoy. Real guy-guys."
Gilmour, 63, acknowledges that he teaches a short story by Virginia Woolf, who is "the only writer that interests me as a woman writer." But otherwise, he maintains that he only teaches writers he "truly, truly love[s]" -- and those happen (with the exception of Woolf) to be men.
The backlash to Gilmour's statements was swift. Perhaps predictably, his remarks triggered an outpouring of criticism on Twitter, including comments like these:
"I’m not interested in teaching books by women." Funny, we're not interested in buying your books, David Gilmour. http://t.co/nUAZxWB9ah
— Rob Spillman (@robspillman) September 25, 2013
Was wondering why David Gilmour was a top trend. Disappointed and disgusted when I found out why http://t.co/PJFyWhECkZ
— Darryl Dioso (@DarrylRMSG) September 25, 2013
The story soon made the rounds on news sites in both Canada and the United States.
Now, the university seems to be distancing itself from Gilmour's comments. In a statement to The Huffington Post, University of Toronto spokeswoman Jennifer Little said, "Neither Victoria College nor the University of Toronto endorses the views attributed to David Gilmour in the article."
Little said that Gilmour "teaches elective seminars on his area of expertise, leaving other areas of literature to be taught by colleagues who can do so most effectively based on their areas of specialization."
While some may find Gilmour's lack of interest in female writers strange, the writer explained to HuffPost over the phone that it doesn't mean he's misogynist -- he just loves male writers, particularly middle-aged ones, because he can relate to them.
"That doesn't meant there aren't great women writers," Gilmour said. "[But] the trick in my course is, I want kids to leave my course thinking, 'I want to read more Chekhov, I gotta read more Chekhov.' I can't do that for Alice Munro or Margaret Atwood or any other female writers I admire who are as good as any male writers but who don't speak to me as profoundly."
Gilmour concluded by saying, "I'm a breast-stroke guy. You don't put a breast-stroke guy in the pool and ask him to teach the crawl."
WATCH: David Gilmour and his son discuss a book they wrote together about Gilmour's decision to let his son drop out of high school on the condition he watch three films a week with his father.
The post David Gilmour, Canadian Professor And Author, Isn’t Interested In Teaching Books By Women appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
Elmore Leonard House For Sale, Bloomfield Estate Of Late Crime Writer Could Be Yours (PHOTOS)
When famed crime novelist Elmore Leonard passed away in July at the age of 87, readers and moviegoers alike mourned the author of titles like "3:10 To Yuma," "Get Shorty," and "Rum Punch" (later filmed by Quentin Tarantino as "Jackie Brown).
For the ultimate fan (maybe one who read all of our favorite Leonard books), what better way to remember Leonard than by purchasing his $2.399 million dollar estate in Bloomfield, Mich.? A writer could find inspiration sitting in the study where he wrote his novels, and a writer on a budget might find inspiration just by looking at photos of where Leonard lived and worked.
"His jeans are all lined up, his shoes are all perfect," Hall & Hunter Realty Listing Agent Lanie Hardy said of the storage space in the sprawling master suite. "I've never seen a closet so organized." The home offers an insight into Leonard's mind, she thinks: fun-loving, yet meticulous and methodical.
But one doesn't have to be literary to be impressed by the house's amenities.
Located at 2192 Yarmouth Rd. and listed through Hall & Hunter Realty of Birmingham, Mich., the home is a French Regency stunner with five bedrooms, four full baths and three half baths. Set on over an acre, the graceful 4,733 square foot mansion is part of a secluded little suburban escape with its own private pool and tennis court.
Speaking of that pool? As the story goes, Aerosmith once came over and swam in it.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all is the interior decorating. Given Leonard's penchant for writing about criminals and their hijinks, we expected something a bit more dark and dangerous than these golden hues and comfortable vintage furnishings.
The listing notes that the "floor plan [was] created for a lifestyle that included live-in help and formal entertaining," if the four-room owner's suite or two-story foyer with an Art Deco banister wasn't a tip-off.
The Leonard family bought the 1940 estate outside of Detroit 22 years ago.
"I like it," Leonard once said of metro Detroit. "Great music ... lot of poverty. I wouldn't move anywhere else."
Click through the slideshow to take a virtual tour of the Elmore Leonard estate and to get a glimpse of the writer's inner life.
For the ultimate fan (maybe one who read all of our favorite Leonard books), what better way to remember Leonard than by purchasing his $2.399 million dollar estate in Bloomfield, Mich.? A writer could find inspiration sitting in the study where he wrote his novels, and a writer on a budget might find inspiration just by looking at photos of where Leonard lived and worked.
"His jeans are all lined up, his shoes are all perfect," Hall & Hunter Realty Listing Agent Lanie Hardy said of the storage space in the sprawling master suite. "I've never seen a closet so organized." The home offers an insight into Leonard's mind, she thinks: fun-loving, yet meticulous and methodical.
But one doesn't have to be literary to be impressed by the house's amenities.
Located at 2192 Yarmouth Rd. and listed through Hall & Hunter Realty of Birmingham, Mich., the home is a French Regency stunner with five bedrooms, four full baths and three half baths. Set on over an acre, the graceful 4,733 square foot mansion is part of a secluded little suburban escape with its own private pool and tennis court.
Speaking of that pool? As the story goes, Aerosmith once came over and swam in it.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all is the interior decorating. Given Leonard's penchant for writing about criminals and their hijinks, we expected something a bit more dark and dangerous than these golden hues and comfortable vintage furnishings.
The listing notes that the "floor plan [was] created for a lifestyle that included live-in help and formal entertaining," if the four-room owner's suite or two-story foyer with an Art Deco banister wasn't a tip-off.
The Leonard family bought the 1940 estate outside of Detroit 22 years ago.
"I like it," Leonard once said of metro Detroit. "Great music ... lot of poverty. I wouldn't move anywhere else."
Click through the slideshow to take a virtual tour of the Elmore Leonard estate and to get a glimpse of the writer's inner life.
The post Elmore Leonard House For Sale, Bloomfield Estate Of Late Crime Writer Could Be Yours (PHOTOS) appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
The Van Helsing Factor
It is hard to believe that a character in a book written over 115 years ago can still carry such significant influence in today's literature, television, and movies. The character's creator, an Irishman, started his writing career as a theatre critic, eventually becoming a novelist. His contemporaries were men such as Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and today his name is nearly as well-known as theirs. After getting married, he lived with his family in Victorian London. There he was the business manager for the Lyceum Theatre, a position he held for 27 years. But of all his accomplishments and famous acquaintances, we know him best for his book published in 1897.
The book, of course, is Dracula, and the author is Bram Stoker.
This famous novel laid the foundation for all future vampire stories, igniting a worldwide interest in this fictional creature. Early in the story, we learn that Dracula is greatly feared in his homeland of Transylvania, for he is a vampire, one of the un-dead. The chapters are brilliantly laid out for the reader as a collection of letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles, a must read for followers of this genre.
Stoker details Dracula's departure from Transylvania and his move to England, where he begins a new reign of terror over a coastal town. The problem is that the protagonists have no idea what they are up against, and therefore do not know how to protect themselves or their loved ones. Finally, in desperation, Dr. John Seward reaches out to one of his old professors, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. Van Helsing leaves Holland and gets to England as quickly as he can. From the evidence laid before him, he immediately recognizes the creature they are fighting. Fortunately, from past experience, he knows what vampires are and how to deal with them. It is his guidance that ultimately saves them, enabling our heroes to defeat the seemingly undefeatable Dracula.
Although Van Helsing was truly Dracula's primary nemesis, he was only one man in a collection of characters battling the vampire. So how is it that his individual role has turned out to be so influential? What was so special about this him? It is simple, really: He contributed knowledge that nobody else had. Ever since then his character, in various forms, has shown up again and again in literature, across many genres, including horror, science fiction and mysteries of all kinds. And it is such a crucial role that without it, in many cases, our heroes would not be successful.
To truly understand this phenomenon, we must take a closer look at what Van Helsing contributed. The threat of a vampire type creature was utterly unknown to our protagonists. Despite the broad range of experiences and talents the heroes brought to the table, they could not even hazard a guess as to the nature of what they were fighting. Van Helsing's role was absolutely critical in not only identifying the danger, but in providing the information they needed in order to fight back.
Let's look at some examples. Like so many of us, I too am a Star Trek fan. In my mind it was a series well ahead of its time. However, the idea of a character out of Dracula being a part of Star Trek didn't even cross my mind until I got to college. For it was in college that I first read Dracula. Only then did I begin to notice how often the Van Helsing character appeared in different stories. As Kirk and his crew crossed the universe, they were continually confronted by challenges completely unfamiliar to them. For the most part it was Spock who filled the role of Van Helsing, with Bones occasionally filling in the gaps. By bringing the disciplines of logic and science together, they often defined the challenge facing the crew of the Enterprise. This, of course, then led to a workable solution that would save them all.
So does this make the Van Helsing character the actual hero? Not by any means. Staying with Star Trek as our example, Kirk, our hero, took full advantage of the insights offered by Spock and Bones, and used this knowledge to fight on. It was his daring and never say die attitude that would inevitably lead his crew to safety. In short, the hero remains the hero. Heroes are not simply one dimensional characters, but bring several singular talents in to play. But it is the Van Helsing character that quite often lends a very important hand.
Moving away from science fiction, and into the world of crime dramas, one of the most successful series to date is NCIS , a personal favorite. Once again we find a diverse cast of characters led by a dynamic leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. As part of the U.S. Navy, they work to solve crimes and stop criminal acts related to the military, here at home and even abroad. A significant part of their efforts center around crime scene investigation, looking for leads left in the forensic evidence. In this series the Van Helsing character is almost equally shared by Dr. Mallard, better known as Ducky, and Abby, a top notch forensic analyst. Using the best technology available, it is quite often the clues they find that leads Gibbs to the right solution.
Then there are the books that I write. My hero is James MacBridan. He is the lead investigator for the Hawthorne Group, a law firm that supports a rather elite client list. While he most certainly is a down to earth, level headed sort of guy, the cases that he is assigned to continually make him question his sanity, while at the same time severely putting his nerve to the test. Without going into a great deal of detail, let's just say that he often comes face to face with things that go bump in the night. It is his colleague Cori Hopkins, also an investigator, and a priest, Father Collin Sherry, who take on the role of Van Helsing in these novels. Although diverse in the jobs they perform, together they give MacBridan the information he needs to meet the enemy head on.
Let's face it, even James Bond has Q.
So now you know. And from this day forward, no matter what kind of book you read, or movie or television show you watch, be alert for the Van Helsing character. Usually the unsung hero, it's an important role and it adds so much to the story being told.
The book, of course, is Dracula, and the author is Bram Stoker.
This famous novel laid the foundation for all future vampire stories, igniting a worldwide interest in this fictional creature. Early in the story, we learn that Dracula is greatly feared in his homeland of Transylvania, for he is a vampire, one of the un-dead. The chapters are brilliantly laid out for the reader as a collection of letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles, a must read for followers of this genre.
Stoker details Dracula's departure from Transylvania and his move to England, where he begins a new reign of terror over a coastal town. The problem is that the protagonists have no idea what they are up against, and therefore do not know how to protect themselves or their loved ones. Finally, in desperation, Dr. John Seward reaches out to one of his old professors, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. Van Helsing leaves Holland and gets to England as quickly as he can. From the evidence laid before him, he immediately recognizes the creature they are fighting. Fortunately, from past experience, he knows what vampires are and how to deal with them. It is his guidance that ultimately saves them, enabling our heroes to defeat the seemingly undefeatable Dracula.
Although Van Helsing was truly Dracula's primary nemesis, he was only one man in a collection of characters battling the vampire. So how is it that his individual role has turned out to be so influential? What was so special about this him? It is simple, really: He contributed knowledge that nobody else had. Ever since then his character, in various forms, has shown up again and again in literature, across many genres, including horror, science fiction and mysteries of all kinds. And it is such a crucial role that without it, in many cases, our heroes would not be successful.
To truly understand this phenomenon, we must take a closer look at what Van Helsing contributed. The threat of a vampire type creature was utterly unknown to our protagonists. Despite the broad range of experiences and talents the heroes brought to the table, they could not even hazard a guess as to the nature of what they were fighting. Van Helsing's role was absolutely critical in not only identifying the danger, but in providing the information they needed in order to fight back.
Let's look at some examples. Like so many of us, I too am a Star Trek fan. In my mind it was a series well ahead of its time. However, the idea of a character out of Dracula being a part of Star Trek didn't even cross my mind until I got to college. For it was in college that I first read Dracula. Only then did I begin to notice how often the Van Helsing character appeared in different stories. As Kirk and his crew crossed the universe, they were continually confronted by challenges completely unfamiliar to them. For the most part it was Spock who filled the role of Van Helsing, with Bones occasionally filling in the gaps. By bringing the disciplines of logic and science together, they often defined the challenge facing the crew of the Enterprise. This, of course, then led to a workable solution that would save them all.
So does this make the Van Helsing character the actual hero? Not by any means. Staying with Star Trek as our example, Kirk, our hero, took full advantage of the insights offered by Spock and Bones, and used this knowledge to fight on. It was his daring and never say die attitude that would inevitably lead his crew to safety. In short, the hero remains the hero. Heroes are not simply one dimensional characters, but bring several singular talents in to play. But it is the Van Helsing character that quite often lends a very important hand.
Moving away from science fiction, and into the world of crime dramas, one of the most successful series to date is NCIS , a personal favorite. Once again we find a diverse cast of characters led by a dynamic leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. As part of the U.S. Navy, they work to solve crimes and stop criminal acts related to the military, here at home and even abroad. A significant part of their efforts center around crime scene investigation, looking for leads left in the forensic evidence. In this series the Van Helsing character is almost equally shared by Dr. Mallard, better known as Ducky, and Abby, a top notch forensic analyst. Using the best technology available, it is quite often the clues they find that leads Gibbs to the right solution.
Then there are the books that I write. My hero is James MacBridan. He is the lead investigator for the Hawthorne Group, a law firm that supports a rather elite client list. While he most certainly is a down to earth, level headed sort of guy, the cases that he is assigned to continually make him question his sanity, while at the same time severely putting his nerve to the test. Without going into a great deal of detail, let's just say that he often comes face to face with things that go bump in the night. It is his colleague Cori Hopkins, also an investigator, and a priest, Father Collin Sherry, who take on the role of Van Helsing in these novels. Although diverse in the jobs they perform, together they give MacBridan the information he needs to meet the enemy head on.
Let's face it, even James Bond has Q.
So now you know. And from this day forward, no matter what kind of book you read, or movie or television show you watch, be alert for the Van Helsing character. Usually the unsung hero, it's an important role and it adds so much to the story being told.
The post The Van Helsing Factor appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
Reader recommendation: Flood of Lies
Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.
The post Reader recommendation: Flood of Lies appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
Travels With Chris Van Allsburg
I fell in love with Chris Van Allsburg's books about a dozen years ago when one of my boys brought home a copy of The Polar Express from the library. I fell in love with his mind too, because, really, how can you read his books without contemplating the foreign country that is Chris Van Allsburg's imagination? I even know the exact moment when it happened for me, several spreads into the book.
Two wolves, standing silent in snow beneath the dark trees, watch the train take the boy away. A third wolf trots out of view, its head low, its gaze intent. The scene is like a still taken from a dream you never knew you'd had. There's the contrast of the night forest and the warm lights of the train. Then there are the beautiful wolves, but do they portend danger?
It was one of those touchstone moments for my family, discovering a book that could render a world without boundaries. The Polar Express was transporting, so spellbinding, in fact, that I can still recall the illustration in all its detail without ever cracking the book.
We went on to read many of Van Allsburg's books, with all their twists and turns, their unexplained endings, their bad ants and the games that come to life, their flying sailboats and the white dog that turns into a duck.
Or did he? Life is full of mysteries, we tell our children, but they already know.
Tomorrow in Manhattan, 300 people will come together to thank the people who have created the children's books that have sustained generations of parents and children. The Carle Honors, hosted annually by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, celebrates artists, writers, publishers, philanthropists, and advocates for arts and literacy. This year's honorees are Chris Van Allsburg; Lynda Johnson Robb and Carol Rasco of Reading Is Fundamental; Barbara Bader, author of the seminal book American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to The Beast Within; and editor and publisher Phyllis Fogelman Baker. Eric and Barbara Carle, the museum's co-founders, will be there to welcome the honorees and Tony and Angela DiTerlizzi will be co-chairs.
There is always a joyful air at The Carle Honors -- a roomful of people who have a calling, and are grateful to be reminded of that. With Van Allsburg there, I half expect all our seats will levitate in his presence, like the nun's in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. For me, the museum's director, it will also be a small milestone as a parent -- a chance for me to thank Chris Van Allsburg for taking my family along on his interior journeys, for creating so many memories for my boys.
To learn more about The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, visit www.carlemuseum.org.
Two wolves, standing silent in snow beneath the dark trees, watch the train take the boy away. A third wolf trots out of view, its head low, its gaze intent. The scene is like a still taken from a dream you never knew you'd had. There's the contrast of the night forest and the warm lights of the train. Then there are the beautiful wolves, but do they portend danger?
It was one of those touchstone moments for my family, discovering a book that could render a world without boundaries. The Polar Express was transporting, so spellbinding, in fact, that I can still recall the illustration in all its detail without ever cracking the book.
We went on to read many of Van Allsburg's books, with all their twists and turns, their unexplained endings, their bad ants and the games that come to life, their flying sailboats and the white dog that turns into a duck.
Or did he? Life is full of mysteries, we tell our children, but they already know.
Tomorrow in Manhattan, 300 people will come together to thank the people who have created the children's books that have sustained generations of parents and children. The Carle Honors, hosted annually by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, celebrates artists, writers, publishers, philanthropists, and advocates for arts and literacy. This year's honorees are Chris Van Allsburg; Lynda Johnson Robb and Carol Rasco of Reading Is Fundamental; Barbara Bader, author of the seminal book American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to The Beast Within; and editor and publisher Phyllis Fogelman Baker. Eric and Barbara Carle, the museum's co-founders, will be there to welcome the honorees and Tony and Angela DiTerlizzi will be co-chairs.
There is always a joyful air at The Carle Honors -- a roomful of people who have a calling, and are grateful to be reminded of that. With Van Allsburg there, I half expect all our seats will levitate in his presence, like the nun's in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. For me, the museum's director, it will also be a small milestone as a parent -- a chance for me to thank Chris Van Allsburg for taking my family along on his interior journeys, for creating so many memories for my boys.
To learn more about The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, visit www.carlemuseum.org.
The post Travels With Chris Van Allsburg appeared first on Welcome To The Official Website of Thomas L. Scott.
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