Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Old Books and a Role Model

Over the summer months I spent time sorting through books to give away, first to a library and then to a social service agency that helps teens by teaching them to run a book business. Inspired by the teens building a better future for themselves, I was curious about the books I'd read in my earliest years, before I reached teenage. I dug deeper into some old boxes, and was surprised at some of the finds.

In my early years, long before high school, I was completely entranced by Conrad Richter's saga of the settling of the wilderness in what we now call the Midwest. In a series of three books, The Trees, The Fields, and The Town, Richter traces the lives of a multi-generational family as they settle and expand. I have yet to meet anyone else who remembers these books but I loved them, and I can see their influence in a new series I'm working on. These books were published in 1940, 1945, and 1950, respectively, and I read them probably in the mid to late 1950s.

Also in the box was the first novel by John Leggett, a writer beloved of people north of Boston because he was one of our own. Wilder Stone launched his career, but his local fan club grew with the publication of his next book, The Gloucester Branch, which was set in my hometown and gave all of us something to talk about on rainy evenings. The first book came out in 1960, and I probably read it that year, and the second novel came out in 1964, and I know I read it within weeks of publication. These books are barely remembered now.

The third book brought back memories that have remained and taken on different shadings depending on the political climate. The Mind Alive by Harry and Bonaro Overstreet came out in 1954. The subtitle is "How to Keep Our Mental and Emotional Level High: How to Live so That Life Has Meaning." These two authors received blurbs for their other books from writers like Rollo May and Clifton Fadiman, which indicate their general rank in the world of books at that time. And yet what I remember best about that book is the inclusion of passages arguing against the Community party. They seemed irrelevant then and sad now.

I was a child during the McCarthy hearings, but I remember bits and pieces from that time. My uncle, a successful actor, went from Eugene O'Neill plays on Broadway to monster movies. When I asked my mother about it, she took a while to answer, but I got the idea. During the McCarthy era, it was very easy for people in the arts to be accused and found guilty without ever knowing what was happening. (Note the omission of a formal or specific accusation, which was common at the time.) My uncle found himself making Grade Z movies for a few years while he tried to undo the damage of a nameless accuser.

There's a story in this for sure. But mostly this foray into old boxes gives me a sense of history and how our thinking changes over time, something I hope to convey in my own stories. Learning to write honestly and without fear is always a challenge in any age, but it is salutary to sometimes look back and think about what our ancestors (or near relatives) had to cope with. I don't remember my uncle ever complaining, and he did recover his career after a while. I suppose the key is that he didn't give up, didn't cave, didn't take his eye off his goal--to have a long and successful career in the theater. 

When I began this piece, I thought I'd end up talking about the influence of these early books on my thinking and writing, but instead I've ended up with a role model. I always loved my uncle, but I didn't think how hard some of his years must have been, and how proud I am to have known him.




12 comments:

  1. I remember being enthralled by the Limberlost books which were written about the same time as your Richter books and I rarely meet anyone who has read them. That's a wonderful story about your uncle!

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  2. Thanks, Kathleen. The 1950s were an unusual time and I'm intrigued by what some artists had to go through in order to keep working.

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  3. I LOVED The Trees, The Fields, and The Town by Conrad Richter and they'll always be on my list of favorite books. Great post.

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  4. Irene, thank you so much for telling me. It's so rare to meet someone else who knows and loves those books. So glad to meet you here.

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  5. I loved your uncle's story. Those McCarthy years were tough ones. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Anne. The McCarthy years sometimes don't seem as far away as they should. I so admire my uncle.

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  6. In my youth I was also a fan of Richter, who was born near my hometown here in Pennsylvania. Later, working as a reporter in Lebanon Pa., Richter was living nearby in a village called Pine Grove. He died before I worked up the nerve to call on him. But I did correspond with his daughter Harvena, and met another writer he'd mentored and they told me wonderful stories about his life. Kudos to your uncle for not giving up.

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    1. Thanks for the story, John. Richter seems to be forgotten now, but from the little I know of his life it was a full one as a writer. Thanks for sharing your story about him.

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  7. Thoughtful piece, Susan, both for your book memories - fascinating - and your memories of your uncle. I remember those McCarthy years - coming home from school to find my mother ironing shirts and listening to the terrifying McCarthy hearings on a small television in the kitchen. My sister-in-law just brought us some old books from her attic - including one from her father's childhood in North Beverly, MA - a 1917 book called Lucky the Young Navyman. Inside the front cover "Here's to America - First - Last - Always". I thought I heard something very similar in a campaign speech the other day.I wish the eras like the one your uncle lived through were gone forever, but perhaps they arrive back in a different form. All the more important to follow your role model and to keep going, sticking to your own principles.

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    1. Those of us old enough to remember the McCarthy hearings seem to have vivid memories and to still get chills when thinking about them. The 1917 book would have been part of the WW1 war propaganda. I always hope we'll learn about the dangers of intolerance and suspicion, but we seem to need to relearn the lesson with every generation. Thanks for sharing your memories.

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  8. McCarthyism in the early 1950's hurt many innocent people particularly in the arts with accusations of being communists. Each book like a piece of music has memory associations. When we moved and downsized the hardest thing I had to do was give away many hundreds of books.

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  9. You're absolutely right about how the McCarthy era accusations hurt people, ruining many lives. As for downsizing, we have no plans to move but I know we have too many books and I'm trying to get rid of as many as I can. We will downsize eventually, and I might as well get ready. Thanks for commenting, Jacquie.

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