Saturday Morning Round-up
Florida continues to be a highly entertaining place to be
from. The legislature keeps passing ridiculous bills and the Gov signs them.
Meanwhile, the Disney Mouse continues to be a force to be reckoned with. How
long can a leader of a state known for its tourist attractions keep biting the
hand that feeds it? If you’ve ever been detained at the Orlando airport, you’ve
seen the families arriving from all over the globe to go to Disney World. Hang
around the airport long enough, and you can hear Spanish, Chinese, Russian,
Italian, Esperanto. Overseas tourists bring their families and their money and
most could not tell you what the “Never Say Gay Bill” has to do with the Magic
Kingdom.
Thursday’s temps in Cheyenne were in the 50s with lots of
sun and very little wind. Yesterday was all wind. We’re fortunate to not be in
any of the country’s tornado hot spots this week. Some of the photos from Iowa,
Illinois and Arkansas are frightening. Chris, a big “Twister” fan, said that the
videos from yesterday were so ominous that they looked fake. She contends “Twister”
twisters look more real. Thanks for smart phones with great cameras, we get close-ups
of these powerful storms. Thanks to drones, we get close-up shots of the devastation
on the ground. I keep reminding myself that these videos are real. I keep
reminding myself that real people died and were injured in these spectacular
storms. I keep reminding myself how lucky I am.
What is a historical novel? That’s a subject being kicked
around on the Historical Fiction Book Lovers Facebook site. One person said it
was any book that “captured the zeitgeist of a time and place.” I liked that.
Others say it is either 30 or 50 years after the event being written about.
There is some disagreement as to whether old classics written near to the time
it happened should be included. I am an old classic so I realize that some of
my favorite novels may not be historical fiction. “All Quiet on the Western
Front,” for instance, was written by Erich Maria Remarque just a few years
after the Great War he fought in. In the 1920s, it was not historical fiction.
In the 21st century, it is. Vietnam War books and those set in the
turbulent 60s can be historical fiction or maybe not. Tim O’Brien’s “Going After
Cacciato” was published in 1979 barely a decade after his service in Vietnam.
It wasn’t historical fiction then but the American War in Southeast Asia was
declared over in April 1975 and that’s 48 years ago. Any novels set during that
time should be on the HF lists, right? Young people, especially, are reading
Larry Heinemann’s “Paco’s Story” and Stephen Wright’s (the writer not the
comedian) “Meditations in Green” as great books set in the long-ago time of the
1960s, back when their grandparents were young. I am writing historical fiction
novels set in the U.S. after World War I. Two of my grandparents served in that
war. It was old news in the 1950s when my Iowa Grandpa told us how he brought
his horse to the first mechanized war. It seemed like ancient times to kids
listening to their fathers’ WWII and Korean War tales. What are your thoughts
on historical fiction?
Take a break from the raging wind and get over to the
Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. Spring is rough around here but you find tropical
gardens and friendly people there. I volunteer at the Gardens and will be at
the front desk from 2:30-5 p.m. Come on by and say hi.
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