Posts filed under ‘WALT’S OPINIONS’
SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE
LET’S COME TOGETHER
AT
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK AND MUSIC COMPANY
This is to remind my readers that I, and a host of other local authors, will be at my favorite bookstore, Chester County Book and Music Company, this Friday night, October 26.
This event is to support the store which will either go out of business or move. We hope it plans a move for it is an important part of our community.
Here is a flyer with more details:
COME JOIN US!
OCTOBER 26, 2012 6 to 9 PM
AUTHORS SAY THANK YOU TO
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK & MUSIC COMPANY
EVENT #1 of 2: Come celebrate, support, and say THANKS to this over 30-years old local independent bookstore that may be closing. Shop and socialize with area authors including Cordelia France Biddle, Jen Bryant, Nero Blanc, Jim Breslin, Jessica Dimuzio, Merry Jones, Susan Beth Lehman, Lisa Loeb, Bruce Mowday, Kathye Fetsko Petrie, Jan Mulligan, Marc Schuster, Kelly Simmons, Gloria Slater, Chris Shaughness, Jerry Spinelli, Eileen Spinelli, Joelle Sterling, Laura Tamakosh, Walt Trizna and Steve Zettler
975 Paoli Pike, West Goshen Center, West Chester, PA 19380 Tel. 610.696.1661
November 23, 2012 6 to 9 PM
AUTHORS SAY THANK YOU TO
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK & MUSIC COMPANY
EVENT #2 of 2: Come celebrate, support, and say THANKS to this over 30-years old local independent bookstore that may be closing. Shop and socialize with area authors including Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban, Stephen Fried, Beth Kephart, Elizabeth Letts, Jonathan McGoran, Karen E. Quinones Miller, Jan Mulligan, Kathye Fetsko Petrie, Chris Shaughness, Lisa Scottoline, Francesca Serritella, Kelly Simmons and K.M. Walton
975 Paoli Pike, West Goshen Center, West Chester, PA 19380 Tel. 610.696.1661
More information at
http://www.locallit.com
http://www.ccbmc.com
http://tinyurl.com/9msjepg
I hope as many of you that can come to celebrate this fantastic bookstore and help keep it alive.
A LOCAL BOOKSTORE NEEDS OUR SUPPORT
The only independent bookstore in our area, Chester County Book and Music Company, will soon close. I found this news to be extremely upsetting for I have shopped there now for more than twenty years. Last year they were also kind enough to let me have a book signing at the store.
A local author, Kathye Fetsko Petrie, has organized fellow local authors to attend two nights, October 26 and November 23, to show their support for the bookstore. I will be there on the October date. I would appreciate any of my readers that live in the area also to attend.
I have included the well-done piece by Petrie describing the situation for the bookstore and lists of authors that will be in attendance. You may be surprised at the local talent in the area, especially if you are familiar with children and mystery writers.
Included is a link to Petrie’s piece so that you may check out the authors’ blogs or websites.
•
• BIOGRAPHY
• PUBLICATIONS
• FLYING JACK / CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK
• KATHYE FETSKO PETRIE BLOG
• TWEETS @LOCALLIT
Soon after it was announced that Chester County Book and Music Company (CCBMC) was on a month-to-month lease and planning to close 60 days after the landlord signed a new tenant, I went to see if anything might be done to keep the store open. I was not alone. Distressed customers have been pouring in to the large independent in West Chester, PA, since the news broke late summer, expressing regrets and offering ideas. As a result Kathy Simoneaux, CCBMC’s owner since 1982 (then with her late husband Bob, who died in 2010), is now considering the possibility of relocating from the store’s present 28,000 square foot selling space—“too big for the current bookselling environment” she told Shelf Awareness—to a smaller space. Customers can fill out a questionnairein person or online at http://www.ccbmc.com to help Simoneaux figure out what that hypothetical bookshop might look like.
Across the country, people are brainstorming ways brick-and-mortar bookstores can survive in the digital future, and readers are lamenting what will be lost if they don’t. The words coziness, community, handselling, occur often. All true. But these are generic words. As I wandered CCBMC during several recent visits, I was reminded of what I love most about it, and reminded of what specifically will be lost if and when we lose this specificbookstore:
ALL THESE MAGAZINES: An entire disappearing wall of them–a glorious selection of titles not often carried elsewhere locally.
TRUE SUPPORT OF LOCAL AUTHORS, whether it be via the always-full “Local Talent” bookcase; or by the individual displays highlighting works by local authors; or by being an always willing and enthusiastic host for launch parties and signings by local authors. CCBMC has also always been able to attract and be A VENUE FOR HIGH-PROFILE AUTHORS who otherwise rarely visit the ‘burbs, but rather confine their appearances to cities.
CCBMC is also…
A PLACE FOR SURPRISES: When was the last time you came around a corner of bookstore and saw a full display of books from small publishers such as these brightly colored “Art of the Novella” titles by Melville House—or any display novellas in a bookstore, for that matter? Translated books, books from academic presses, books grouped by category such as “Great Books, Bad Movies,” and other intriguing displays. can be found throughout the store.
In addition you will find…
BOOKISH GIFTS THAT ARE JUST RIGHT, such as the “Sweet How You Are Still Reading Books” magnetic bookmark and the IN MY BOOK® greeting cards that turn into bookmarks and carry sentiments such as In My Book…You’re Novel.
Additionally, CCBMC has…
EMPLOYEES WHO KNOW YOU LOVE TO “EAT SLEEP READ”because they do also. This truth is in evidence everywhere, particularly via a multitude of handpicked STAFF PICKS. Yes, I know you have seen staff picks in other stores before, but probably never so many—and never so many worth your while.
What I always enjoyed at CCBMC for years and what I am especially touched to see every time I go to CCBMC now is something no other store has, namely…
JOE PICKS. These are the selections of the late Joe Drabyak, bookseller-extraordinaire at CCBMC for many years until his death two years ago this past August 27. Drabyak was so brilliant and beloved that his words and selections still live among the shelves, interspersed among the other staff selections.
So what can be done to save CCBM? Possibly nothing, though we all hope something. A show of ongoing interest via people continuing to shop is certainly an excellent action, though no guarantee. Ultimately, the fate of CCBMC will be the hard decision of owner Kathy Simoneaux, who has difficult economic and no doubt personal factors to consider.
In the meantime, I’m thinking a show of gratitude would be just the thing. Those who love the store can go there now, buy books, fill out the questionnaire, perhaps leaving a note saying how much the store has meant to your life—not to sway the outcome, which is out of your hands, but to merely say “thanks you for being here for me all these years,” and “I love you.” Much as you would say to those you love today and every day, while they are alive and healthy and still here.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Plans are underway for two special“AUTHORS SAY THANK YOU TO CCBMC” nights at Chester County Book & Music Company this fall onOctober 26 andNovember 23, from6 to 9 PM. On these dates, area authors will gather to shop, talk, eat at the Magnolia Cafe and mingle with each other and customers to celebrate, say thank you and support this wonderful independent bookstore that has supported local authors and readers for over 30 years. Won’t you join us?
PARTICIPATING AUTHORS as of 10/1/2012
Authors are confirming daily so please check back.
10/26/12
Cordelia France Biddle
Jen Bryant
Nero Blanc
Jim Breslin
Jessica Dimuzio
Merry Jones
Susan Beth Lehman
Lisa Loeb
Susan Marie Kelley
Bruce Mowday
Kathye Fetsko Petrie
Jan Mulligan
Marc Schuster
Kelly Simmons
Gloria Slater
Chris Shaughness
Jerry Spinelli
Eileen Spinelli
Joelle Sterling
Laura Tamakosh
Walt Trizna
Steve Zettler
11/23/12
Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
Beth Kephart
Stephen Fried
Jonathan McGoran
Karen E. Quinones Miller
Jan Mulligan
Kathye Fetsko Petrie
Chris Shaughness
Lisa Scottoline
Francesca Serritella
Kelly Simmons
K.M. Walton
Here is the link so you can appreciate the full article and checkout the authors.
NEIL ARMSTRONG
NEIL ARMSTRONG
I am tardy in acknowledging the passing of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.
Most of us can recall where we were and what we were doing when truly historical events occurred. Unfortunately, most of the events that come under this category are tragic in nature. For example, those of us that are old enough remember the day Kennedy was assassinated. I’ve written about my own memories of that day (see memoir section). The day of the Challenger disaster carries for me another vivid memory. And of course 9/11 leaves a scar in all our memories.
The first time man walked on the moon, however, is a totally different type of memory. It is one of achievement and national pride. To see the first man set foot on the moon created a wonderful global moment.
My personal remembrance of this event is quite vivid. I was in pilot training stationed at Craig AFB in Selma, Alabama. The night of the first moonwalk I went to the base theater to see 2001, A Space Odyssey, one of my favorite movies. After the movie I went to the officers’ quarters and there on the television was Neil Armstrong taking the first steps on the lunar surface. It was a combination of fiction and reality that I will never forget.
A few months later I washed out of pilot training. The little jet we were fly was just too much for me to handle. I was then allowed to choose my next assignment and chose to be a Titan II crew member. It was while I was on a missile crew that I had a chance to see the Apollo program up close.
As a junior office I visited Cape Kennedy, as it was called at that time, and had an extensive tour of the complex. We went inside the vertical assembly building, the building where the Saturn rockets going to the moon were assembled. I found one of the facts about this enormous structure was that it was so large and tall that, if the temperature wasn’t carefully controlled, it could rain inside the building.
Sometime later I had another opportunity to visit the area. I was now a crew commander and my crew did well on an inspection so we, along with other crews, flown to Cape Kennedy to witness the Apollo 17 launch. The launch was scheduled to be at night. My crew arrived at a beach some miles distant from the launch pad. We kept the radio in the rental car on for updates. There were a series of short delays which gave the sand fleas a chance to have their feast. Finally Apollo 17 was launched into space.
The night was illuminated by the mighty rocket as it set off on its journey. We could easily see the rocket stage and followed its course until it was a speck in the night sky. This was to be the last of the Apollo launches and I felt privileged to have a chance to witness the event.
Next stop for the crew, Disney World.
THE CURIOSITY MARS ROVER
THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP
GO CURIOSITY
If you are interested in space science at all you are definitely aware of the landing of Curiosity on Mars. For the landing of this rover the artist’s concept appeared like something that might be the cover of a pulp science fiction publication.
AND IT WORKED.
With the platform, with thrusters firing, hovered over the Martian landscape and lowered Curiosity to a soft landing. Imagine that happening in your back yard, a craft coming from another planet.
As I assume you know by now, I write science fiction. My mind immediately engaged in the ‘what if mode.’ As a writer, it is your obligation to also be a reader. I am currently reading a novel, accelerando, by Charles Stross. It is a fantastic read and I encourage all science fiction readers to read it. The author deals with the advancement of post humans and The Singularity. The concepts in this novel are fantastic and I will talk about them in the future.
I also have another book, The Singularity Is Near, by Ray Kurzweil. This is a work of nonfiction and deals with the mating of computer technology and mankind. This is another book which I will discuss in the future.
But now to my ‘what if’ moment. I can imagine Mars covered with cells below the surface, ether one cell deep or millions deep, it doesn’t matter. What if Mars is one massive intelligence? If you read the books I have mentioned, you will gain a concept of post humans and The Singularity. There is the theory of post humans, what if post martians exist?
My mind wanders, to a story, where the entire planet is an intelligence and is waiting for communication.
My readers, I hope this opens an appreciation of science and a desire to read science fiction.
WHEN DID MAN OBTAIN A SOUL?
Not much writing news to report. I’ve got two short stories making the rounds and a novel, The Beast Awaits, which I’m trying to publish. So until something positive happens I’ll share some of my musings. Here’s a light subject for you.
WHEN DID MAN FIRST OBTAIN A SOUL?
I have been thinking of this topic for some time now. At what stage in his evolution did man first possess a soul?
If you do not give the existence of evolution any credence, you can stop reading now. As a scientist I find the evidence in favor of evolution undisputable. So as what was to become modern man journeyed along his evolutionary ladder, when was he given a soul.
To possess a soul should require some higher form of mental activity. To be aware of self, to be able to reason, to be involved in functions that go beyond the rudimentary activities of existence, to be aware of a greater being – all theses factors would seem to be necessary. I am, of course, not a philosopher and would welcome the opinions of others on this topic.
As anyone reading this blog knows, I am now a science fiction writer. Years ago I decided to write a story about Neanderthals. The title was The Superior Species and was published by Aphelion in 2007. I plan to share this story with you on my blog in a day or two. During the course of writing that story I did a great deal of research on their abilities and intelligence. Do you know that the size of their brain was twice that of modern man? They created artwork and probably able to speak, or at least make sounds.
Neanderthals have fascinated me ever since writing that story. I recently learned that they cooked plant food along with their assumed diet of meat. They were also aware of the medicinal properties of the plants they used. It also appears that they cared for their sick and buried their dead.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120718131348.htm
Neanderthals could obviously think. Did they have a soul? They were a dead-end branch in the development of Homo sapiens and we picture them as brutish mimics of ourselves.
But how much did they share with us.
OBSERVATIONS AND OPINIONS
THE INFINITY OF LIFE
To enter the structure of an organ is to enter a world of vasculature and cell types striving to fulfill a function to keep their host alive.
But to enter on of its cells is to enter the journey of the infinite, the soup of life ever at work. Processes occurring at lightning speed not all fully understood.
The end result can be life-giving or fatal.
Such is work of the cell.
Such is the thin thread of our life.
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
I’ve decided to combine two of my categories because of was wrong in giving them a separated existence, happens. How can you have an opinion unless you first observe a subject? How can you observe something and your mind remain empty? Here’s the first installment under the new heading.
NEWS
I have always been a news junkie, but for sometime now I have been aware of a growing lack of news reported while the lengths of the broadcasts continue to lengthen. I won’t even get into the constant errors the talking heads of our local new here in Philadelphia make. They sail right along without blinking an eye while I cringe in dismay.
The local stations now manage to pack maybe fifteen minutes worth of new in one hour. The rest of the time is taken up with what the latest celebrities are up to. What the station will be showing for the rest of the night. This exposure reinforces my reasons for not watching television programming. They also must give the weather three times until they finally give a forecast.
As readers of my blog know, I’ve had some medical problems recently. During this experience I had little opportunity to watch the news. I’ve grow distant from the mind-numbing hours I once spent before listening to drivel. If I do watch news it is only the national news.
There are times when I think back to my youth and the news was really the news. I suppose it was back in the fifties when the local news began at 6:30 at night and ran until 6:45, and then the national news took over from 6:45 until 7:00.
While I have, for the most part, abandoned news of TV I still stay in touch with newspapers and news magazines. I still want to know what’s going on but I’m trying to be a bit more selective.
With my ever growing new attitude toward the new, I’m reminded of a song from Simon and Garfunkel’s album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, one of my all-time favorite albums.
The song’s title, ‘The Only Living Boy in New York’. The line from the song that I find most appropriate for my new state of mind is, ‘I can gather all the news from the weather report’. I think that says it all.
WALT’S OPINION
WALT’S OPINION
ON
THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS
BY
REBECCA SKLOOT
The cover of this book displays the picture of an attractive young black woman, full of life and will soon die.
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks would lose her battle with cancer. During that battle, cells were taken from her body that would change science forever.
Let me interject that I was a scientist for 34 years, the last nearly ten years using tissue culture in the projects I was assigned. Today I’m sure many young scientist use tissue culture to answer life’s mysteries, a powerful tool for studying disease. To this day, Henrietta Lacks’ contributes to this work. For the cells taken from her body had a unique property sought but not yet discovered. They had the ability to grow and continue to grow to this day, somehow gaining the property of ‘immortality’.
Let me take a moment to explain the importance of this property. Today scientists take the use of immortal cells for granted in their work. What constitutes an immortal cell line? Immortal cells are cells that can be passaged forever. Passaging involves taking containers of cells, harvesting them by releasing them from the container and transferring those cells to multiple containers where they will multiply and fill the container. The process can be repeated over and over again with the same results.
The reason I write this piece is that any scientist who works with tissue culture owes a debt of gratitude to Henrietta Lacks for making the initiation of this branch of science possible. I have worked with her cells, and before I read this book, had no idea of their source other than cells taken from a tumor. I feel that any scientist involved in cell culture, and especially if they use a certain cell type, have an obligation to read this book. Those cells taken from Henrietta were named using the first two letters of her first and last name. They were called HeLa cells. Now you scientists know the importance of this book. I’m sure her cells are the most studied cells used in tissue culture in the world. Her cells are responsible for major scientific advances. Please read this book and learn the life of the woman that made those achievements possible.
There is a dark side to this story. Some members of Henrietta’s are unable to get health insurance. Unfortunately, this is all too important in this country. Also, until the author of this book began looking into her life, the family had no idea that her cells were harvested and the importance of her contribution to science.
I hope both scientist and nonscientist read this book. It was on the N.Y. Times nonfiction bestsellers list for some time. It’s an awesome read.
WALT’S OPINIONS
WALT’S OPINION
ON
REALITY STARS VS REALITY
Consider this the rant of someone not attuned to today’s values i.e. an old fart.
I have never watched a reality show. I choose to live my reality. But I have seen advertisements of reality shows, and from this short glimpse of that world, I do not understand the interest. I have also learned of the life of the ‘stars’ from the news which is something I do not understand. I will devote a future article about what the ‘news’ has become.
From this input, I see shallow individuals playing the clowns that I hope is not their authentic reality. I assume viewers watch these show for entertainment. I also recall that a few years ago writers for reality show went on strike, causing some shows to be postponed. What does that tell you?
Do not get me wrong, there are reality stars. If we choose to look closely, we will see that they live among us.
Reality stars are the people that live in this damaged economy and do not give up. They are the ones that provide for their families. They take multiple jobs to make end meet. Reality stars are those bravely facing disease, the diagnosis of a terminal illness that will not take away the individual that they are. The list is endless of those that deal with life as bravely as they can. These are the reality stars, not the freaks we watch for entertainment.
WALT’S OPINIONS
WALT’S OPINION
ON
MICHAEL DIRDA
If you love to read as much as I do, and have missed books that ‘you should have read’ there is still hope. By any means possible, purchase the book, Bound to Please, by a phenomenal author and critic, Michael Dirda.
Dirda reviews books for the Washington Post, and every review not only profiles the book, but borrows from his extensive readings. When it comes to literature, he is more like a machine remembering apparently everything he has read. Just as an aside, his other books are most enjoyable giving a glimpse of the life of a true reader.
Bound to Please begins with is a review of books written about great books, beginning with Herodotus: The Histories, on to Writers of the Times. I cannot begin to mention all the information contained in this work. The book also delves into science fiction and horror, my favorite genres.
The book, at first, can appear to be an intimidating read, but if you enjoy literature and want it fill in the holes in your reading, once started, you will be unable to put it aside. At first, I intended to read a page or two but found myself devouring the work, taking notes and marking pages.
If you want to read a comprehensive survey of world literature, please treat yourself to this book. It is a work you will keep for the rest of your life and reference often.
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