Dry River (essay)

The Gila river runs from east to west, just south of Phoenix. At one time in history the river ran water into the Colorado river, on its way to the Sea of Cortez. However, it was mostly seasonal, and rarely has water in the river for the past 100 years. During WW2 in the early 1940s there was a large POW camp just south of Phoenix. There were several thousand German and Italian prisoners being kept at this camp. A few of the prisoners got their hands on a map of Arizona, and saw that just south of them was something called the Gila River. The assumed where there is a river there are boats, so they came up with a scheme to escape the camp, make it to the river and steal a boat where they could go west on the Gila River and meet up with the Colorado and navigate to the Sea of Cortez. About 6 of them escaped and they made it to the river, of course only to find that they were at a dry sandy ditch. The prisoners were rather quickly apprehended and returned to the camp.

Each year all Fulbright scholars who are coming to the US come to the Univ. of AZ in August for an orientation. This is run by the Center for English as a Second Lanuage. They aks for volunteers to help out with social events for the scholars, so that on weekends they can have some non academic experiences. These scholars are from all over the world, south america, europe, asia. One year on a Sunday I volunteered to go with the group to the farmer's market at St. Phillips which is right on the Rillito river. This was right at a time when we were having a big monsoon season, the Rillito was running bank to bank with water. Those of us who live in Tucson were freaking out at how much water was in the river. The scholars from all over the world thought we were nuts, they couldn't understand why it was a big deal to have water in a river.

Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears

Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Micahel Schulman. As the title says, a history of the Oscars. Interesting enough when the Academy of Motion pictures began it was more of a guild, and the Oscars were a very minor part of the organization. This was all overshadowed by SAG and the Writers Guild as time went on, and the Oscars became a force of its own. Any fan of movies will find something interesting in this book. Many stories of the films that everyone thought should have won best picture but didn't, and the many personalities that were of course involved.

All Hands On Deck

All Hands on Deck: A Modern-Day High Seas Adventure to the Far Side of the World by Will Sofrin. To transport the sailing ship the Rose from Newport to Californian to be used in the filming of the Master and Commander films, the shipped sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific, transfersing the Panama Canal. This is the story of the voyage by Will when he was a young man, along with the crew who made it happen. Quite a lot of adventure at sea occured trying to transport this historic ship across the globe. Really a coming of age story but a sea story about a technology that was outdated but still servicable.

The Wager

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann, the amazing story of a shipwreck off the coast of Patagonia in 1741. Chronicles the survivers and how they persavered on a deserted island and how many made there way back to England. Remarkable story and really remarkable that so much of the original accounts survive by the people involved.

Third Girl from the Left: A Memoir

Third Girl from the Left: A Memoir by Christine Barker. Interesting memoir of a person who would become a broadway dancer, and was in the original production of Chorus Line in the 1980s. While this is about her professional career, it is also about New York at a time when AIDS was just taking hold and of course devastating the Broadway world. There is also an interesting connection in that her brother was the lover of Perry Ellis, and Ellis' attourney, both of whom died of AIDS.

Lincoln on the Verge

Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Edward Widmer. After Lincoln's election as president, he had to travel from Springfield, IL to Washington DC to take office. This is the chronicle of the train journey that took him across the northern part of the country to. He travelled through the north to avoid any assassination attempts that were assumed would take place if he traveled a more direct route, which would take him through southern states just as they were beginning to succeed from the Union. Along the route of this trip he used the opportunity to have as many people see him as possible, at a time when newspapers were the only mass communication. Highlighted in this telling is the presence of the telegraph, which had come into its own and would play a part in the civil war. The author can tend to be a bit too 'wordy' and goes off on tangents, which may be necessary when the story is of a train trip. As Lincoln gave speeches during this trip the authors highlights how he was perfecting his style and approach that would mark the 4 years of his presidency.

Valley Forge

Valley Forge by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. An account of the winter of 1777 and 1778 when Washington held his troops at Valley Forge in during the horrible and brutal winter. Made worse by the lack of supplies of every kind, food and clothing. Like many things I read about the american revolution, it really is amazing that we won the war with the British. Two interesting things I learned from this book, one about a brutal bayonet battle that the British waged with the Americans that must have been terrifying. The second that George the third in the Spring of 1778 made a peace offering to the contenentals, that if they ceased hostilities he would end taxing the Americans, remove British troops from the colonies, recognize congress as an official body and provide representation in Parliament to the Colonies. In hindsight not a bad offer, and can't help but wonder what would happened if it had been accepted. Would slavery have ended sooner in North America? In some places a dense read but well researched and well written.