The following six-part series is excerpted and adapted from The God and the Ghost: Two Grandfathers, a work in progress.*** The author's grandfather, Edward M. Gertz, c. 1949.My father dreams about his father. Dad’s ninety. Poppy’s been dead for thirty-four years.In these dreams, Dad and Poppy, both adults, have a great, feel-good father-son relationship, man to man, as equals. Things were not, in reality, quite that way. Poppy’s shadow fell over my father like a sheet of lead. A long sheet, too: I’ve spent most of my life wearing it as a suit that felt great to have on but when...
The Man Who Taught da Vinci How to Play Darts (and Trumped Galileo)
Titlepage to De unius legis veritate et sectarum falsitate opus utilissimum y perspicacissimum. “Monti! Monti! Monti!”The awkward, manic indecision of of a Let’s Make A Deal contestant as channeled by George Carlin?No, just a simple exclamation asserting who wrote about the relative velocity of falling objects first, Galileo or Pietro Monti?Monti Hall Who?Warrior, scholar, theologian, and noble, Petrus Montius aka Pietro Monti (c.1457-1530) was a Spanish master at arms living and studying in Northern Italy who wrote volumes on military theory, martial arts, and science and nature, all of which are obscure, quite rare, and have only recently come to light....
Curious George Escapes The Nazis
Original Artwork Of "Fifi" AKA "Curious George," by H.A. Rey, Circa 1939.(All images courtesy of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection.)He's the world's most notorious mischievous monkey. A scapegrace simian forever in hot water, desperate for yet another bail-out from his nameless pal, The Man In the Yellow Hat. (Wasn't that guy the hero in a bunch of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns?) But even rabid readers who have held their breath as Curious George is saved by the skin of his banana in adventure after adventure, remain in the dark when it comes to his greatest escape. Back in 1940,...
A Tour of One: Author Holds Book Signing Over 300 Times at Same Bookstore
Since his first reading at the Udvar-Hazy bookstore in 2008 Robert F. Dorr has returned to sign books 330 more times!Over that time period the the bookstore has sold over 13,000 copies, half of all copies sold.What's the catch? Is Dorr aiming for the Guinness Book of World Records? No, Dorr has simply taken aim at his target audience. The book is Hell Hawks! The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht and the bookstore is affiliated with the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum.A bulls-eye.PW article, Bookstore Sells Half of All Copies of WWII Book.
Book This Room at the Michelberger Hotel
It's called The Clever Room and it's one of the rooms in Berlin's recently opened boutique hotel, The Michelberger.They describe it this way:"Boost your IQ in Till & Werner's private library. A big screen TV, an extra-large double bed, bathtub by the window, and loads to read"Imagine being a book designer and staying here. Paradise or Purgatory? And there's more.The hotel bar is also awash in books including some pretty nifty handmade book lighting.Being in Berlin surrounded by books for about $100 a night seems hard to beat. Thanks to Design Crisis for the lead