Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson by William Hazelgrove

This review first appeared in the Canon City Daily Record.


Social media and technology have made the private and secret choices of our nation's leaders hard to dispute or ignore. Yet following World War I, something unheard of happened in the White House: a woman became President of the United States. In Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson, William Hazelgrove describes how for five months Woodrow Wilson lay incapacitated and his second wife, Edith Galt Wilson, acted as leader and chief.

In the fall of 1919, while campaigning for the League of Nations across the country, President Wilson suffered a stroke that left him victim to paralysis, paranoia, unpredictable mood swings and cognitive loss. In her devotion to the man who courted and married her during his incumbency, Edith built a fortress of protection around her deathly ill husband. She governed "by assigning importance, and nothing was more important that the president's health." In short, quick moving chapters, Hazelgrove tells us how without much push back from Vice President Thomas Marshall - he didn't want the job of commander in chief - Mrs. Wilson was able to man and run a petticoat government with the minutest of help. This was unprecedented.

The last time a president was unable to perform the duties of his office was after the assassination attempt of President Garfield. Now, a self-taught woman would lead the country in the days after devastating war and destruction had rocked the world. 
 

With dramatic storytelling in this easy to follow narrative, Hazelgrove has introduced us to an ardent love story - full of romance and courtship - of a US President, a story of political intrigue and the tensions of war and government. Because it was a different time - a different era - this puppet presidency became a possibility, and a reality. Warfare tactics had changed; women were demonstrating for the right to vote; politics became an even more world-wide endeavor and the draft had become a nightmarish reality.

This is the true tale of the folly of love and medical ignorance. The morality of the life of a man or the term of a president is examined in a very human and logical way. With good solid and inclusive information, we are invited to see how exhaustion, stress, temperament, limited education and insular world views influenced weighty political decisions made with the signature of Edith Wilson. There were many who were incensed, and yet powerless to do anything about it.

In a romantic sort of irony, Mrs. Wilson died on Woodrow Wilson's birthday, in 1961. It was then that she was finally recognized, in European and American papers, as the "First Woman President."

Photo credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41PuMuxrdrL.jpg

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Under the Stars: How America Fell in Love with Camping by Dan White

This review can also be found in the Canon City Daily Record.

July and August are peak camping months in Colorado's mountains-  what a perfect opportunity to dive into the history of camping. Now, don't panic! I said history, but I didn't mean dry, humorless and impersonal. Far from it! Dan White considers himself a "history minded camping fanatic." He's already written a book about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. But now, this enthusiastic writer has provided audiences with another work: "Under the Stars: How America Fell in Love with Camping," an "irreverent history of American camping," in which White attempts to imitate each epoch of camping himself. While amusing and personable - unexpected and fascinating - it is also well-researched and documented.

Without being sentimental or whimsical, Dan White explores the movement from necessary outdoor sleeping and traveling to recreation and planned vacations. Beginning with Thoreau and the idea of man "finding himself" in the woods, we are invited to journey through the Golden Age of camping (1880s - 1930s) to the beginnings of the Boy Scouts of America. Then we visit women and their role in camping and participate in the creation of national parks. Finally, he takes us into more recent times with car camping, the Wilderness Act, "Leave No Trace," glamping and RV/trailer camping.

"Under the Stars" is historically accurate, with beautiful descriptions of flora and fauna. But what sells this book is the personal narrative, allowing history to become a lively backdrop. Dan White writes with a humble, self-deprecating, and conversational wit. He strives to make each of his singular forays into the past precise. Though quite experienced in camping and backpacking, the author does not pretend to be an expert. Instead, we absorb his passion for camping in all of its forms - past and present - in its best and worst facets. Sparing no details, he writes about the beauties and the foibles that come from an activity that was not meant to be fun in the first place. We are educated and entertained.

Dan White travels across the United States to discover what American camping really is and why we are drawn to this sport. His adventures are varied and fascinating - he camps in the nude in known cougar territory, tags along on an inner-city girls-only trip into the Everglades, carries waste out of the woods in a device he invented, and rents his very first RV to find out what all the excitement is about.

With his joyful daughter, and sometimes reluctant wife at his side, White encourages us to camp, to think about what camping means to us as Americans, and to consider all aspects of law and science in our native wilderness.

Photo Credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/518mX7lovGL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff

This review can also be found at the Canon City Daily Record.


Yard sale season is in full swing and you can find numerous treasures and delights. Tupperware canisters just like your grandmother had, the exact right size light fixture for the bathroom, and the perfect pitchfork for - well, you know... But there are also books - lots of books.

"Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through His Son's Addiction" is one I found this summer. Published in 2008, David Sheff's book became an instant bestseller and Entertainment Weekly's Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. It is the raw and vulnerable memoir of a father's unconditional love, receiving high praise from Anne Lammott and Mary Pipher.

What causes a child to try drugs? Divorce? Remarriage? Illness? Parents' experimentation in their youth? Finances? Opportunity?

What causes a child to become addicted to drugs? To steal, lie, and hide? Who does your child become when they are addicted to meth? Can they ever escape? And what does a parent do when "everything in their power" doesn't seem enough?

David Sheff opens his heartbreak to us - sharing with humility and candor the long road of loving a child in, and through, his addiction. He tells us with intimate detail his own private experience, welcoming us into his home, family, and his own sense of frailty and inadequacy. Sheff writes about his son's light and humor and brilliance before meth commandeered him. Weaving through this tale are threads of the red flags - hot spots - he wished he had attended to earlier, especially since they might have led to his son's decision to experiment and, ultimately, fall victim to addiction. Sheff examines his own past drug experimentation, his divorce from Nic's mother, and the science behind addiction and recovery.

Sheff's love for his oldest, his desire to rescue him from desperation, and his analytical mind seek for answers while also searching for healing. How to help his son becomes an obsession that does not allow him to rest or relax for years at a time. Al-Anon, therapy, and addressing codependency are all helps, leaving him with the feeling that, though this excruciating pain is hard to describe and convey, it needs to be shared. There is comfort in sharing and in hearing the stories of others who have walked the same road. There are tears, yet there are also smiles and answered prayers.

I was surprised by the depth and sheer humanity of this riveting memoir. I could not put it down...

Out there, this summer, is a book in a yard sale box or on a book sale table waiting for you to come and be pleasantly surprised as well.

Photo Credit:  https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/418ZByk-NEL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

The Lost Hero of Cape Cod by Vincent Miles

There are times in every book reviewer's life where one does not meet a book on the terms needed for intimacy and fidelity.

The Lost Hero of Cape Cod: Captain Asa Eldridge and the Maritime Trade that Shaped America is perfect for fans of maritime history and those that love well researched and well-documented local history.  Inset illustrations and photographs pepper the work, keeping the pace lively and entertaining. 

And while there are some clumsy moments trying to keeping the family trees of the Eldridges and Halletts straight, Vincent Miles shows his passion and interest in the Captain, his achievements, and their affects of trade over the seas.  Published by the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth, it is the tale of a local hero.

I grew up on Cape Cod.  The streets and coasts journeyed by Captain Asa Eldridge were familiar to me.  The lack of connection for me as a reader was the emphasis on the economic and political moments in history - I had hoped for a deeper narrative.  No fault on the part of the writer, merely my misunderstanding as a reader.

Otherwise, I can recommend this book for those looking to venture further into maritime history.  

Photo credit: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EZf9h08EL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

This review was published in the March 26, 2016 issue of The Canon City Daily Record.

“Only a Nantucketer in November 1820 possessed the necessary combination of arrogance, ignorance, and xenophobia to shun a beckoning (albeit unknown) island and choose instead an open-sea voyage of several thousand miles.” This editorial quote from Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, sets the stage for a tale of impending disaster.

           

After the American Revolution and the War of 1812, the world economy looked to Nantucket Island, 30 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for the profits of her whaleships.

          

Twenty-one men, black and white, young and old, set sail to find the lucrative sperm whale, known for its bright and clean burning oil. There were signs that could be heeded: a comet, swarms of locusts. But the hunt called to the sailors dreaming of a wealth found only on the open sea. And when their ship, the Essex, was violently attacked by a giant whale, not once but twice, the men escaped the sinking boat by splitting into three whaleboats, with only the slimmest of provisions to guarantee survival. Instead of following their captain’s instinct, the men headed in the opposite direction – they’d rather face the unknown in small boats for months on end than land on an island possibly inhabited by cannibals. Languishing in a dead zone of the Pacific Ocean with little sea life and little wind, the crew faced dire starvation, extreme thirst and, ironically, cannibalism on their own small boats.

The cataclysms befalling the men of the Essex inspired Herman Melville to write his novel Moby Dick. The effects of fear on decision making has been examined by novelist Katherine Thompson Walker in a Ted talk. And the story of the disasters faced by Captain Pollard and his crew hit the big screen this winter in a movie directed by Ron Howard, starring Chris Hemsworth.

           

We are reminded that “the Essex disaster is not a tale of adventure. It is a tragedy that happens to be one of the greatest stories ever told.” This is a tale of misfortune, catastrophe, and struggle. Yet the tragedy is approached with honesty and compassion, clear writing, and intriguing information about the time and people. Step by step, Nathaniel Philbrick escorts us through the circumstances that led to, and at times created, disaster - an island community, a Quaker faith, racism, greed, and the lusting hunt of a leviathan beast. Pertinent pictures and maps complete this engrossing book. In the Heart of the Sea one finds the hearts of human men, daring to dominate the world of the mighty sperm whale.

Photo credit: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yIFRRN4TL._SX330_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg