Hachiko Waits

by Kevin Coolidge



"Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends." - Alexander Pope

The faint smell of cherry blossoms floats through the air, as I sit on a wooden bench near the tracks. I'm growing impatient. Where is that train? I glance at my watch. It's almost three o'clock. I look up and see the statue of the faithful dog Hachikō, [and I remember the story of this loyal companion.]

Hachikō, known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō, was an Akita dog owned by Eizaburo Ueno who was a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo in the early 1920s. Every morning, the professor would walk to Shibuya station to catch his train. The loyal Hachikō would accompany him, and every afternoon, Hachikō was at the train station just before three o’clock to greet his beloved master.

The pair continued this daily routine for only one year, until May of 1925, when the professor suffered a fatal stroke at the university. Three o’clock came. The train arrived in the station without the professor, where Hachikō waited.

The professor, of course, never returned and Hachikō was given away after his master’s death, but he would continually escape to return to his former home. Eventually, he came to realize the professor was not living there, so he would return to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before.

Hachikō became a daily fixture at the train station, and he attracted the attention of commuters. Many of the people, including the station master, had seen Hachikō and the professor together each day. They would bring him food to help support him through his wait. This wait continued for ten years with Hachikō appearing only in the afternoon, precisely around the time the train was due at the station. Hachikō’s vigil continued until his death in March of 1935.

A former student of the professor saw the dog at the station and learned the history of Hachikō's life. Soon after, he published a story about Hachikō's unyielding loyalty. The article ran in Tokyo’s largest newspaper, and Hachikō became a national celebrity. This is when Hachi earned the honorific kō. This honorific is sometimes used for pets, and a great Japanese pun is to name a tri-colored cat Cally, which then becomes Cally-kō, that is calico. Hachikō's faithfulness to his master’s memory impressed the people of Japan, and today, a bronze statue of Hachikō sits in his waiting spot outside the Shibuya station in Japan as a permanent reminder of his devotion and love.

Several books have been written about this ever faithful Akita. The 2004 children's book named Hachikō: The True Story of a Loyal Dog, written by Pamela S. Turner and illustrated by Yan Nascimbene for ages 4 to 8. Another children’s book, Hachiko Waits written by Lesléa Newman is a short young adult novel for ages of 9 to 12. The author creates for Hachikō a young human friend named Yasuo, who over the span of ten years helps provide the dog with food and water. He later proposes to his future wife under the bronze statue of his canine friend.

The story of Hachikō teaches us to never give up. His vigil teaches us of loyalty, devotion, and the ability to care about something other than ourselves, but above all the story of Hachikō teaches us the true meaning of friendship…

Canines? Or Felines? Drop me an email at frommyshelf@epix.net Missed a past column? Visit the pound at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com and get your fix. Hobo wants you to know he is the embodiment of Semper Feline. He will always be faithful, especially once he wins that Pulitzer. All Hobo the cat has to do is convince his friend Gypsy to nominate him…

Small Town Monsters & "Nessie" of Wellsboro?

The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff, is everything that makes closet-novelists like me jealous, even while we’re happily lapping up the pages. What is there to Monsters that paints me green? Though several of her short stories have been published in well-known literary magazines, The Monsters of Templeton is Groff’s first novel. Right out of the gate, still in hardcover, Monsters garnered the attention of important headlines in the industry – chosen for the BookSense newsletter of the national independent bookstores’ association; voted as one of the Top 100 Books of 2008 at Amazon; lauded by newspaper columnists from The Denver Post to USA Today; featured as a “Staff Pick” at indie bookstores all across the nation.

Besides all the hoopla, which is certainly nice to receive on a debut novel, what is it about Groff’s book which makes me wish I wrote it? The story itself is not earth-shatteringly original, but Groff’s voice, and the structure of the novel, is clever, unusual, and engaging on many different levels. By turns history, romance, mystery, ghost story, family saga, the plotline makes it possible to shift through different characters’ voices and eras without confusing the reader. In Lauren Groff’s capable hands, and with protagonist Willie Upton’s determined journey into her family’s past, there is a method to the madness.

On the verge of finishing her Ph.D., Wilhemina “Willie” Upton has returned in shame to her hometown of Templeton, NY, (read “Cooperstown”) after having an affair with her dissertation advisor, and finding herself pregnant. She decides she’ll hide out with her hippie-turned-Baptist mother in the one place to which she’d sworn she’d never come back. Though proud of their heritage – being descendants of the founding father and the famous writer hometown son (read “James Fenimore Cooper”) – Vivienne always wanted more for Willie than her own lot. Now, Viv drops a bombshell in a confession of her own: Willie’s father was not some random man at a San Francisco commune, but is a prominent man in Templeton. Vivienne refuses to tell Willie who he is; Willie must figure this out for herself, with only the clue that her biological father was also a descendant of the founding Temple family, albeit through an illegitimate and secret link.

Just who are the “monsters” of Templeton? The day that Willie arrives home, the body of the lake monster who had only been a legend, surfaces on Lake Glimmerglass. The discovery of “Glimmy” thrusts the town into the spotlight, exponentially increasing the number of visitors over the usual baseball museum crowd. Discovering monsters, however, one needs to go below the surface, and not just of the lake. Reading through old journals, letters, novels and documents she finds at the historical museum and in her own family’s attic, Willie unearths murderers, adulterers, Virginia Woolf imitators, and antics galore. And while the reading of these histories amuses us, it touches a nerve, too. These are the secrets of small towns. This is the heart of the monster, and we recognize it. Like Willie, we must decide if we will claim it for our own.

This same story, by a different author, could easily be maudlin, weighty, and overblown. Instead, the narrative is infused with warmth. Ultimately, it is obvious how much Groff loves her characters, these people both historical and fictional, and how much she loves both her hometown of Cooperstown and her fictional village of Templeton.

I’d love to write a novel about Wellsboro, with such lovely prose, such sympathetic characters, who the reader ends up loving in all their glorious, lumpy, imperfect humanity. We need a novel where we dance in and out of our history, of settlers and writers gone before us, of local legends and unquiet ghosts. Lauren Groff found the right recipe for such a concoction. We need a cookbook of our own.

Hobo wants to dance to the music of the Endless Mountains, discover a “Nessie” of his own in Lake Nessmuk, and bring a spotlight to his hometown. Read Hobo’s first story of his home, in “Hobo Finds A Home”, a children’s book set here. Check out other reflections on local discoveries at Hobo’s blog, http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com.

Armageddon

Kevin Coolidge

Day by Day Armageddon

Screw Armageddon, this is Hell.—unknown survivor

September 29th
All Laurel Health System flu clinics have been canceled until further notice. What the? I can’t even turn on the TV without hearing some scary swine flu story. Ok, I get it. Flu shots are good; the flu is bad. But the “must have” accessory of the season, the flu shot, isn’t to be had anywhere. I’m assured that production is being ramped up. There is nothing to worry about…

October 23rd
I get a call from the Don Gill Elementary School. My nephew is running a fever and my sister can’t be reached. I pick him up and I find out that many children have become ill. Yes, this is a little unusual, but there is nothing to worry about…

October 25th
President Obama declares the swine flu outbreak a national emergency. We are assured that this is not a response to new developments. Illness is more prevalent than ever and production delays mount, but there is nothing to worry about…

October 27th
The hospital has canceled the local Halloween festivities. LHS is restricting anyone under the age of 19 from entering facilities. This is for the safety of the patients and employees. There is nothing to worry about…

October 28th
I begin reading Day by Day Armageddon written by J.L Bourne and published by Pocket Books. This apocalyptic, zombie novel is written in first person format as a journal. The narrator is an unnamed US Naval officer who starts the diary as a New Year’s resolution. As the days progress, It appears something is happening in China. News sources report a mysterious disease sweeping the Middle Kingdom.

The highly contagious influenza quickly spreads around the globe, and our chronicler is stranded in his home while on leave. He decides to remain barricaded in his home, improving his defenses, buying more ammo and stocking up on MREs (Meals Ready to Eat)while society quickly crumbles around him.

The government’s precautionary measures fail to contain the plague, and politicians and the remnants of the military retreat to hidden bunkers, leaving the civilian population to fend for themselves. Our protagonist teams up with his only surviving neighbor, and they trek the landscape, searching for a zombie-free zone. Along the way, our heroes encounter hordes of undead, rampaging rednecks, and realistic survival situations.

The author, J.L. Bourne, is an active duty naval officer, and his use of military jargon, accurate descriptions of weapons, as well as realistic survival strategies add a keen edge to the tale that many zombie stories ignore. In many ways, this book is as much an insightful look into the psyche of a skilled survivor, as it is a post-apocalyptic thriller. I did see, however, some lack of dramatic tension, as the characters were so well prepared for almost every scenario. I found the journal format a clever storytelling device, but the first person format does make it harder to give depth to the supporting characters. I also appreciated the addition of crossed off words, as well as coffee rings that gave this zombie survival journal verisimilitude and an authentic bite…

October 31st
It’s time to finish up my book review column and turn on the porch light. It’s Halloween night and soon children dressed as ghosts and ghouls will be banging on my door begging for treats. Here comes a group shambling along now. Wow, I swear the costumes get more realistic every year. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was the dead crawling from the grave, but it’s Halloween and there’s nothing to worry about…

Ghosts? Ghouls? Or brain-chomping zombies? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net Miss a past column? Visit the crypt at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com and get your fill. Looking for a story with a happy ending? Check out “Hobo Finds a Home,” a children’s book soon to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. All Hobo had to do was promise to write a sequel…

Eventful request

I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS SAYS "WAPWALLOPEN" BUT IF YOU CLICK ON "DEMAND IT", IT DOES TAKE YOU TO EVENTFUL FOR WELLSBORO!!! :)

View all Wellsboro, PA (16901) events on Eventful

I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS SAYS "WAPWALLOPEN" BUT IF YOU CLICK ON "DEMAND IT", IT DOES TAKE YOU TO EVENTFUL FOR WELLSBORO!!! :)

Everyone Loves A Cake Wreck

Kevin Coolidge

A big, cold glass of milk and a slice of my Grandma’s lemon Bundt cake – nothing says sweet memories like quality baked goods, but not all cakes turn out quite so well. Some cakes are ugly, silly, or unintentionally funny. Now you can have your cake and laugh at it too with Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong by Jen Yates, creator of CakeWrecks.com.

So what is it about a messed-up cake that people find so appealing? I think it’s because everyone has a cake story to tell. Maybe it’s that Little Pony cake that your mom made, but the dog ate, or it’s that day-glow, frosted dragon cake that gave you Technicolor poo for three days. These little slices of flawed confections make us feel more connected to each other, and remind us not to take life too seriously.

So how does the author define a “cake wreck”? Here is Jen’s working definition: “A cake wreck is any professionally-made cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate—you name it. A wreck is not necessarily a poorly made cake; it’s simply one I find funny, for any number of reasons.”

That’s right: it’s Jen’s call, and if you don’t like it, that’s how the cookie crumbles. But some wrecks are a matter of opinion, and not always the fault of the decorator. Though what occasion would call for naked babies with Mohawks riding carrots is beyond even my wild imagination. The baker may have done a sweet sculpture, but it can still be a wreck. So, grab a fork, turn the page and let’s sample.

Cake Wrecks is divided into several slices. There are the literal LOLs (that’s laughing out loud in text talk). Some wrecks make you wonder what exactly the customer ordered. Not these. There’s the famous email forward photo of “Best Wishes Suzanne Under Neat that We will Miss You”. Another favorite is the all too literal “What do you want on your cake?” and the answer, boldly spelled on said cake -- “NOTHING.” If I got anything from this book, other than a belly full of laughter, it’s never to phone in an order and always “neatly” write down your desired inscription.

Jen Yates gives further cake lessons: now I see that picking up the cake only thirty minutes before the event is never a good idea, and that brown icing has a dramatically good chance of looking like fecal matter. As Yates points out, maybe it’s the texture, maybe it’s that fancy, swirly little twist that bakers use, but for me, it does make that low carb diet more appealing than ever. I think I’ll skip desert.

We’ve all made mistakes, turned right when it should have been left, wore stripes with plaid, and asked a cake decorator to write the word “birthday” on a cake, with those pesky numbers: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th—they all have different endings. Who can keep track of them all? It’s easier to just slap a “th” on them all.

There are also photos of wedding wrecks that fresh flowers can’t fix, holiday horrors of demented Santas, and the beyond bizarre, those creations that frighten, disturb, or just make you go “huh?” A veiled pony as a birthday cake, really? A cake wreck can remind us that life is still sweet, even if your butterfly cake looks more like an alien autopsy. After all, nothing is ever a total loss if it can make you smile. It’s the icing on the cake. So have a Hafpfy birfay! Got ‘ny milk???

Home made? Or bakery bought? Drop me an email at frommyshelf@epix.net. Miss a past column? Have your cake and eat it too at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. Hobo knows how sweet it is, that’s why he wrote his memoir “Hobo Finds a Home” a children’s book about a cat who found a home. Now available wherever quality baked goods are sold.

A Tasty Memoir

I realize that it’s no longer en vogue to be a Francophile; these days, France is more likely to be the punchline for a joke about military history or about culture snobs than it is to be the focus of an article singing her praises. I, however, will always have a big mushy spot in my heart for the French language, as well as for the food, film, art, poetry, travel…. Okay, I know; you get the point. After the intensity of The Laramie Project, I needed something sweet and light to read. Quelle bonne chance for me, I picked up My Life in France. Published in 2006, this lovely memoir was written near the end of Julia’s life, with the help of her grandnephew Alex Prud’homme (husband Paul’s twin brother was Alex’s grandfather).

Julia Child’s memoir is different from most contemporary memoirs in several ways. First of all, unlike many books published by celebrity personalities, this memoir is truly the reflecting-back-on a long, interesting and celebrated life, in sharp contrast to the narcissistic, voyeuristic “memoirs” of people in their thirties or forties which Hollywood pushes to the bestseller list now. To be honest, I could care less about Jon & Kate or Tori Spelling, and if I really need to know about their lives thus far, magazine articles in People or Entertainment Weekly usually suffice.

That criticism of Hollywood being noted, it is important to recognize it was television that brought Julia Child to America’s attention – first, with the introduction of her cooking show, “The French Chef”, in 1963; and then again, with the film, Julie & Julia, just this past August, 2009. As much as I am often leery of the way a film adaptation may ruin a great book, I’m also grateful to have wonderful books brought to national attention again by the promotion of a film version. Such is the case with Julia Child. I never saw Child on TV; my family, as far as I can remember, did not own a copy of any of her cookbooks, although my dad does have an old copy of Larousse Gastronomique floating around the house, which he occasionally gets down and looks through longingly. The re-introduction of Julia Child to my generation, especially through all the hoopla for this film, was a gift to me, since it encouraged me to pick up a memoir I might otherwise have ignored.

Another tremendous difference between Child’s memoir and so many others which regularly populate bestseller lists and book club choices is Child’s upbeat perspective. Although I really appreciate memoir, a basic fact of the genre – of solid storytelling in general – is that conflict and strife make for interesting reading. Remember that plot structure diagram from English class? Sure, that diagram was mostly to teach us about fiction, but fiction imitates life, and life is certainly full of difficulties. Memoirs don’t need to invent problems for their characters; the problems are part of these people’s true stories.

What continued to strike me as I read My Life in France is the uplifting tone: it’s not as if she and Paul didn’t have problems or stress or sadness, because they did. During their early time in France, especially, they had very little money (a middle-level diplomatic position in France in the late 1940s did NOT pay much). Their apartment had no hot water in the kitchen, no central heating, and bad wiring. Paul Child’s job was full of stressors, as he tried to organize, staff and work out of an office that had few resources, in a France trying to recover from the ravages of World War II. Nevertheless, Julia and Paul were happy, believing that “marriage and advancing age agreed” with them, affirming that they were “giddy about Paris.” Paul Child continued to credit his wife for “his new outlook on life. ‘I am less sour now than I used to be,’ he admitted. ‘It’s because of you, Julie.’” Even in her nineties, as she recalled her life to Alex Prud’homme, it is obvious that the phrase joie de vivre was invented to describe Julia Child. It is marvelous to read the thoughts of someone who loved life so much, when many memoirs are either heartbreaking or insipid.

In the land of the 5-minute lunch instead of the five-course dinner, in the time of the Blackberry instead of blackberry wine sauce, can we still enjoy “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”? Well, I haven’t had had a used copy at the bookstore, of either volume, for months, and ordering a used copy online costs just as much as a new one – if not a great deal more, especially if you want an older edition. I guess I know what to get my dad for Christmas, though; Julia Child embarked on her cookbook in order to bring French food to those who moon over Larousse Gastronomique. “Bon appétit”, America.

Pommes frites or French fries? Hobo doesn’t eat frogs, but he does appreciate his gourmet food as much as the next fat cat. He’ll have you know his book has traveled to France at least twice now! He’s not a culture snob, though; he’s just a wandering Hobo who found a home. Follow Hobo’s home and kitchen tips at his weekly blog at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com or share yours with him at frommyshelf@epix.net.

How Low Can You Go?

How Low Can You Go?
By Sam Droke-Dickinson, of Aaron’s Books, in Lititz, PA
Modified with permission by Kasey Cox, of From My Shelf, in Wellsboro


By now, you've probably heard of the book price war that is happening online... it's now a three-way battle to the bottom, with Target joining the fray today.

The truth is, the price war is really over a very small number of hardback books. These mega-conglomorates are hoping you'll visit their site for a discounted hardback novel & stay to buy a bunch of Chinese-made junk. (No offense to the Chinese.) They aren't including the trade paperbacks that our book clubs love, the Golden Books we all remember, the histories, mysteries, or spiritual living books that we stock just for you.

So why shop with us, knowing you can get a few books for so much less somewhere else (less than we can even buy the book wholesale from the publisher)?

Here's my top 10 of why NOT to fall for the "go low" trick ....

1) When you buy from us, we've actually read many of the books on our shelves, and for the ones we really like, you've seen them on our blog or reviewed in the Wellsboro Gazette.

2) We know that JD Robb is really Nora Roberts, who herself owns a B&B and indie bookstore.

3) We can pronounce Jodi Picoult's name.

4) If you want something to go along with your ultra cheap bestseller, we can make a recommendation suited to you, and not what some computer "bot" thinks you may like based on your previous keyword search.

5) You don't have to walk (physically or virturtally) through the tire and diaper sections to see our books.

6) You can actually pick up the book, and read a few pages to test it out before buying. And you can browse books in all the other sections that interest you.

7) Will they greet your children by name and remember they like Geronimo Stilton or have read all the Junie B's? We will!

8) We don't require you to search by author or title... you can browse any section and find that unexpected book that makes you smile, cry, or laugh out loud.

9) Our customer service is easy to reach... you just call out "Kasey" or "Kevin" from any section of the store and we're there to help you.

10) When you "buy local", your money stays local. How does your community benefit when you buy from Amazon? How much support do they provide your local library? Do they buy car insurance from a local firm? Do they order their materials from a local printer? Do they offer meeting space for local groups or a train table for your kids in the play room? NOPE, NADA, NOTHING... not one dime or one second of time goes back to the community when you shop the mega-marts online!

So yes, you can save $10 today playing the "how low can you go" game, but did you really save enough to balance out all that your local independent bookstore does for your town/city/county? It comes down to choices, and sometimes making the choice to spend a few more dollars just feels right! And if you do buy the discount book, don't buy anything else. They are doing this to get you to fill your cart; don't fall for the trap. Get a bag of books you really want at your indie bookstore.

Meet Meg

Kevin Coolidge

There is one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath.—Herman Melville

Call me Ishmael. Call me bored. Moby Dick may be considered one of the greatest novels in the English language, but do you know anyone who has actually read it? Don’t lie. Maybe you got as far as rendering blubber, maybe you actually got through the dense, muscular prose, but did you get anything out of it? It’s definitely a book that takes a solid education to appreciate all the symbolism, imagery and metaphor, and even then you’ll probably miss something. If you’re just eager for the story, read the first page and the last hundred and you’ll get a fine tale.

Would Melville even be able to find a publisher today? "Hmm, it's a good manuscript, better in many of its parts than as an integrated work. Lose the nautical terms, streamline the story, ramp up the violence and spin off those asides on whaling into a nonfiction work on the whaleship Essex – after all, the book by Owen Chase is out of print. Who's going to know?" While Herman was working on the rewrite, the editor would have published Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten.

Meg stands for Carcharodon megalodon, a giant shark that lived during prehistoric times. It was the apex predator of its time and at an estimated sixty feet and thirty tons, is the largest carnivorous fish ever known to exist. The plot is straight up pulp-fiction action, ready for the B-movie rights. Jonas Taylor is a deep sea diver working for the United States Navy on a top-secret dive seven miles down into the Mariana Trench. He comes face-to-snout with the most fearsome predator that everyone else believes to be extinct.

Rushing topside, he barely escapes with his life, while two others in the deep sea submersible aren't so lucky. Diagnosed with "aberrations of the deep" Jonas is discharged from the navy, and is determined to prove to the world that the goliath predator exists. He becomes a paleontologist and tries to prove that the megalodon is real, but is still considered a crackpot. When an opportunity to return to the trench presents itself, he takes it. But man's presence in this unexplored domain releases the demon fish from its purgatory, and now Jonas is the only one who can stop it…

Meg is no Moby Dick, but it is an adrenaline-pumping thriller that hooked me from the start with its nonstop action and graphic cover, a Tyrannosaurus Rex being torn apart. Can you scream “Jurassic Shark?” The book also grabs the attentions of students who are often reluctant to read.

The book and its sequels have become the cornerstone of the Adopt-An-Author program, a non-profit organization that encourages teens to read. Young children receive an abundance of encouragement to read, but once a student reaches high school, reading is often replaced by television, video games and a peer group that no longer thinks reading is “cool.”

The program offers fast-paced thrillers with scientific facts and research, and interaction with best-selling authors. Teachers interested can register online through www.AdoptAnAuthor.com. Registration is free. The website offers links to all the participating author's works, free curriculum materials, and interactive websites. Upon registering, each teacher will receive a free classroom poster and additional materials about the program. Students who are excited about reading, get excited about learning, and might just read a classic on their own. From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee. “Hmmm, did Melville write a sequel???”

A great, white whale? A whale of a great white? Or do you choose to stay close to shore? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net. Miss a past column? You can go once more into the breach at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. Can’t get enough Hobo the Cat? Be sure to look for Hobo’s new calendar, now in glossy format. All Hobo, all the time, with full color photos by…who cares? It’s Hobo!!!

Reefer Madness?

Kevin Coolidge

"If this book be false in its facts, disprove them; if false in its reasoning, refute it. But, for God's sake, let us freely hear both sides, if we choose."
Thomas Jefferson


If you are like most people reading this column, there's a good chance you have been under the influence of either alcohol or marijuana at some time in your life. Don't worry; I'm not going to tell anyone. Inhaling is the point, isn’t it? In fact, many experts believe it is an inherent, biological drive to alter one’s consciousness through the use of intoxicants. Drug use is universal. Every culture in history has used at least one psychoactive drug. Yes, drug-taking is so common that it appears to be a basic human activity.

According to a 2008 World Health Organization study, more than 90 percent of Americans have consumed alcohol during their lives, and almost 45 percent have used marijuana. Although both drugs are woven into the fabric of popular culture, booze and pot are portrayed in different ways. Alcohol is openly celebrated, often glamorized, aggressively marketed, and legal. Marijuana is commonly portrayed as highly addictive, causing permanent mental illness, being a dangerous “gateway” drug, and is illegal.

One book that encourages reassessing the way you think about these two drugs is Marijuana is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink?, written by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert. When I picked up this book, I was surprised to read a foreword written by a former chief of police. After all, regardless of how you view current marijuana laws, it is still illegal. Norm Stamper, former Chief of the Seattle Police Department, has decades of law enforcement experience, and he agrees that it’s very rare to have a night go by without an alcohol-related incident, usually several.

Stamper’s answer isn’t unique. Ask any police officer the last time he had to fight someone under the influence of marijuana alone – usually he will pause to think, and respond, “never.” Ask the same question regarding alcohol, and he will look at his watch to see how many hours ago he wrestled with “beer muscles”. Alcohol can fuel violent behavior where marijuana does not. Alcohol is a major contributing factor in crimes like homicide (not to mention vehicular manslaughter), sexual assault, and domestic violence.

The fact that marijuana does little social harm is the reason that most law reformers give as the primary reason to legalize marijuana; however, as the authors of this book demonstrate, by prohibiting marijuana, we are driving people toward a drug that far too many people abuse already, alcohol. But can marijuana be abused?

Of course, but if everything you learned about “Mary Jane” was in a high school health class or a government-sponsored pamphlet, then this book is required reading. There is ample scientific evidence contradicting many of the government’s most popular marijuana myths – such as the new "super potent" pot, and the use of cannabis leading to harder drugs.

If marijuana poses so little legitimate harm, then why does federal government spend tens of millions on campaigns designed to maintain the criminal prohibition of cannabis? Is it a moral crusade? Part of a larger cultural battle? Or does protection of corporate profits come into play? Marijuana has only been illegal since 1937. It's not a recently discovered plant. Its known use dates back to 7,000 B.C., and can be used for textiles, rope, paper and much more. In fact, you could have been jailed for not growing hemp between 1763 and 1767 in the United States, and you could even pay your taxes with hemp. I wouldn't advise trying that today.

Why marijuana is illegal is beyond the scope of Marijuana is Safer, but I delved deeper into the events that led to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Hemp fiber threatened DuPont’s monopoly on the necessary chemicals for paper from trees, and patented Nylon, a synthetic fiber, the same year hemp was made illegal. Andrew Mellon, the primary financial backer of DuPont, was also the Secretary of the Treasury. He appointed Harry Anslinger, his nephew-in-law, to director of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the predecessor of the Drug Enforcement Agency of today.

Anslinger was an ambitious man. He realized that cocaine and opiates wouldn’t be enough to build the agency. He was determined to make marijuana illegal at the federal level. He drew upon themes of violence and racism to draw national attention. Marijuana at the time was mostly used by Mexicans, and black Jazz musicians. He received additional help from William Randolph Hearst.

Hearst was the owner of a huge chain of newspapers, and had several reasons of his own to help. He was heavily invested in the timber industry to support his newspaper empire, and didn’t want to see the development of hemp paper. One acre of hemp can produce the equivalent of three acres of timber. Hearst used yellow journalism, and his known hatred of Mexicans, to spread lies about “loco weed”. Anslinger then brought his plan to Congress, even with the opposition of the American Medical Association. Do your history homework and draw your own conclusions.

Does punishing adults who make the decision to consume a less harmful substance than alcohol make legal sense? By legalizing marijuana, the authors conclude that we would not be adding another vice, but rather offering adults a safer alternative for relaxation and recreation. I personally believe it's about freedom of choice. You ask, "Why marijuana should be legalized?". I ask, "Why should marijuana be illegal?"

Beer? Bud? Or Both? You know you want to email me at frommyshelf@epix.net Miss a past column? Get your fix at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com Looking for something less controversial? Check out Hobo’s book “Hobo Finds A Home” a children’s book about a stray cat who found a home. A portion of the proceeds goes to Second Chance Animal Sanctuary here in Tioga County.

Our Town, Laramie, and Wellsboro.... the history of small towns...

Kasey Cox

This past week marked eight years since the terrorist attacks our nation woke up to on September 11, 2001. Once again, I hear the words of a Tony Hoagland poem in my mind. This amazing poem, "The Change", is in Hoagland’s latest collection entitled, What Narcissism Means to Me. In it, Hoagland, as an aging white man, deals with the discomfort “his world” feels at watching a powerful, loud, darkly black-skinned young woman trounce her small, white-skinned opponent at the U.S. Open, which he openly confesses to making an analogy of a new era bumping up against the old. When our old ideas, our old stereotypes, our old comfortable categories, melt and crack before our eyes, it is difficult for us, no matter how “accepting” we believe we are. My favorite lines, the ones that give me shivers every time I read them: "There are moments when history/passes you so close/you can smell its breath,/You can reach your hand out/and touch it on its flank...."

Who among us, especially those who lived through Sept. 11th, doesn’t know what that moment feels like? I feel the same breath of history running through the pages of the play The Laramie Project. This play was a collaborative work between Moises Kaufman, the Tectonic Theater Project, and hundreds of people in Laramie, Wyoming, who agreed to be interviewed in the wake of the brutal beating and subsequent death of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, in October 1998.

Indeed, in his introduction to the play, Kaufman explains:

"There are moments in history when a particular event brings the various ideologies and beliefs prevailing in a culture into sharp focus. At these junctures, the event becomes a lightning rod of sorts, attracting and distilling the essence of these philosophies and convictions. By paying careful attention in moments like this to people’s words, one is able to hear the way these prevailing ideas affect not only individual lives but the culture at large.... The brutal murder of Matthew Shepard was ... [an] event of this kind. In its immediate aftermath, the nation launched into a dialogue that brought to the surface how we think and talk about homosexuality, sexual politics, education, class, violence, privileges and rights, and the difference between tolerance and acceptance.....”

The work of the Tectonic Theater Project, in conducting over 200 interviews in Laramie, was just as much anthropology as it was theater. I think of Temple Grandin, amazing woman, internationally-known writer, designer of cattle-handling machinery used all around the world, who is an extremely high-functioning person with Aspergers'. Her work has helped many understand better the way people with autism spectrum see the world. Grandin explains her perspective, living among people with “normal” brains, as feeling like an anthropologist from Mars. She feels she is an alien, a foreigner, and that she is constantly studying human beings to see how they act and why, so she might better blend in.

In many ways, as I work through The Laramie Project with my fellow amateur actors and anthropologists, I believe this play allows us to step outside our own era, our own culture, in this same way, for a little while, to observe ourselves. What do we believe? Why? How do we act toward one another? How do we decide on those actions? And then, once we have observed ourselves, as an anthropologist from Mars, then maybe we can step inside to examine ourselves, to see that we relate to the people in this story, as we see ourselves there. As one young woman from Laramie said at the time of the vigils held for Matthew Shepard, “And we have to mourn that... we live in a town, a state, a country where ... this happens.... people [are] trying to distance themselves from this crime. And we need to own this crime, I feel. Everyone needs to own this. We are like this. We ARE like this. WE are LIKE this.”

Plays such as The Laramie Project or Our Town or The Crucible can be, and often are, read in English class. Ultimately, though, theater is meant to be experienced, watched, and participated in. I invite everyone to read this work, and then come experience it with us as Hamilton-Gibson gives all of us a chance to “reach out our hands and touch history on its flanks”, and meditate on our lives in this small town, in this era.


Hobo knows every day life is always full of drama. If this article seemed like shameless promotion of an event in town, that’s because it is. Hobo has no problem with shameless self-promotion, obviously. If you’ve got something good, then tell people about it! He does it every week in his blog, at http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com. If you’ve got things to promote, email Hobo at frommyshelf@epix.net to ask for his help.