Another Recall--Obama Administration Targets Peeps

This from yesterday's New York Times:

Following a spate of recent food recalls, the Obama administration announced in a surprise news conference that it was now targeting Peeps, the gooey, brightly colored candy-thing that is popular around the Easter holidays. Like fruitcake, the so-called treat is often given, but seldom actually consumed.

In a news conference last week, acting Secretary of Health and Human Services, Charles E. Johnson, announced that Peeps was now a target of an aggressive recall event. Surrounded by officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, Johnson stated that, "The time has come!"

When questioned by reporters, Johnson stated that there had been no complaints by consumers of any potentially health-threatening contaminants in Peeps, or that there were any legal or scientific data showing that Peeps represent a threat to the general public.

"I just think that they're nasty and I want them gone," stated the Secretary.

Further questioning by reporters revealed that Johnson had several bad experiences with Peeps as a child. Apparently, on at least one occasion, several larger children had forced the then younger Johnson to eat several packages of the easily recognizable glowing yellow Peep chicks against his will.

"I got sick as a dog," recalled Secretary Johnson. "And I have made one of the goals of my career to reach a position that would allow me to take the steps that I am taking today."

When reporters asked Johnson what would become of the massive national stockpiles of Peeps (according to the Congressional Technology Office, Peeps have a life-span of approximately 250 years), Johnson was adamant.

"I don't care what happens to the nasty things. As far as I am concerned, we can use them to bomb suspected terrorist targets overseas. Bury them in Yuca Mountain. We can launch them into space, for all I care."

There is some precedent for the Secretary's last comment. A spring 1999 space shuttle mission was nearly scrubbed when astronauts discovered that NASA dietary staff had included Peeps among the items on the in-flight menu. The crew was, however, able to jettison the offending treats, and continue the mission.

The press conference was cut short when one member of the media inquired of Secretary Johnson if, since his earlier negative experiences with Peeps, he had ever tried to eat one. Shuddering noticeably, Secretary Johnson stated that there would be no more questions. He then excused himself from the room, stating that he felt queasy.

Okay. So the above story DID NOT appear in yesterday's New York Times. I made it up. Just wishful thinking on my part. The grocery stores are all ready for Easter, and Peeps are everywhere. And it's making me ill. Just a personal thing.

RMR

J. D. Salinger to Appear at the Georgia Center for the Book

In what can only be considered a major literary coup, the Georgia Center for the Book will present J. D. Salinger tonight on stage in the Decatur Library Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, and begins at 7:15 pm.

Salinger will be joined on stage by Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy and Phillip Roth. What an extraordinary and rare occasion it will be!

Author J. D. Salinger is best known for his iconic coming of age classic, The Catcher in the Rye. He is also--like Pynchon, McCarthy and Roth--known as a somewhat reclusive character in real life.

For more information, visit the Georgia Center for the Book's website at right.

What an incredible opportunity for Georgia's bibliophiles.

RMR

Condolences to an Atlanta Peace Corps Family

Ours is a Peace Corps family, so to speak. My wife and I first met at a gathering of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in Atlanta. We had both been back from our respective tours with the Peace Corps--she in Mali, me in Albania--just a few months. We spent the months of our early courtship comparing stories from our service, and competing in terms of who had acquired the most numerous and more interesting forms of dysentery while abroad. She won.

We both put a lot of stock in what the Peace Corps represents, despite the good and bad cliches about the organization.

In yesterday's Atlanta-Journal Constitution, and again today in the local media, there is a story about a young woman from Cumming, Georgia (an Atlanta suburb) named Kate Puzey. Miss Puzey, aged 24, was serving in the Peace Corps in the West African nation of Benin as a teacher. She gave her life this past week in the service of that nation's children, and while showing the best face of the United States abroad. According to news accounts, she was very proud of her service in the Peace Corps, and felt a great deal of warmth toward the people whom she was serving.

Ms. Puzey kept a blog of her experiences in the Peace Corps. It may be found at http://beinginbenin.blogspot.com.

She sounds like she was a pretty terrific young woman, and our family extends its condolences to her family and friends the world over--and it sounds like she had them, the world over.

Visit the Fallen Peace Corps Volunteers Memorial Project: http://www.fpcv.org/

Recommended:

Power Lines by Jason Carter. This book, by Georgia author, former Peace Corps volunteer, and grandson of Georgia author and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, recounts the younger Carter's experience as a Peace Corp volunteer in South Africa. It goes some way at describing why someone might want to take on the challenge, and what stands to be gained by doing so.

For these stressful times, try a little bookstore balm. Georgia author Philip Lee Williams.

Some years ago I had the opportunity to work with author and poet Philip Lee Williams in conducting a reading and book signing for his then new book The True and Authentic History of Jenny Dorset. The reading was to take place at the bookstore where I was working at the time.

On the day before the reading was to take place, Phil gave me a call at the store. He wanted to know if--all things considered--we still wanted to go through with the event the next day. "Do you think anybody is going to come?" he asked.

I thought about it for a moment and decided that my guess was as good as his. "Let's go ahead and do it, " I said, "I think people might like a chance for something to take their minds off things." So, the reading went forward.

The next evening at the store, I was pleased, and a little surprised, to see that an audience of some twenty people had gathered to hear Phil read and discuss his book. Always the bookseller, I was also glad to see that most of the people in attendance had at least one copy of his new and other other books in hand for purchase. Still, on that day, even sales didn't seem important.

My being surprised to have an audience that day had nothing to do with Phil and his book. He is well-known and has a loyal following of readers, and deservedly so, in my opinion. That day, however, our little book signing had some pretty serious competition for people's attention.

Some of the people in the audience that day seemed to know each other. Some were obviously acquaintances of the author, either friends from the substantial Athens' literary community, or colleagues and students from the University where Phil teaches. Most of the crowd, however, were clearly strangers to each other.

It was interesting to watch people that day. The best way to describe the mood of the group that had come for the reading was one of quiet--but intense--friendliness. People were somber, for sure. But it wasn't like, say, a funeral. The people in attendance seemed to look around at each other, making a point to give polite--maybe even reassuring--smiles of acknowledgement to these other strangers.

I introduced Phil, who was there to read from his new historical comedy. He welcomed everyone, and thanked them for coming. Then he stated that, before moving on to the book reading and discussion, he'd like first to read several pieces of verse that he had brought along. He thought that, all things considered, they might be fitting for the occasion. I don't recall the poems that Phil read from that day. I wish that I did. I suppose that I wasn't paying enough attention, being too caught up in watching the responses of the audience.

As Phil read, the people in the audience listened politely. People nodded their heads in acknowledgement of the words that he read, and some had smiles on their faces. Two of the ladies in the audience who were smiling also had tears in their eyes. Phil finished reading the verse, and paused for a few moments to let everyone take it in, and if necessary, regain their composure. He then introduced everyone to Jenny Dorset, read, took questions, had people laughing (laughing!), and autographed books.

Even after the signing was officially over, people stuck around for a while. Just chatting with strangers and maybe feeling normal.

That reading and signing took place on the evening of September 13, 2001.

Phil Williams is the author of 13 books, including his 2004 Civil War novel, A Distant Flame, which won the Michael Shaara Award. He teaches creative writing at the University of Georgia.

Phil will be reading from his new book, Elegies for the Water: Poems, at 7 pm on Thursday, March 12 at the Athens, Georgia Barnes & Noble. The book is just out this month from Mercer University Press. Call 706.354.1195 for more information about the reading.

The news these days seldom seems to be good. Recession. War. Dreadful statistics about just about everything. A lot of screaming and yelling, too. And it seems as if we are all ALWAYS in a damned hurry.

Your local bookstore has some help for what ails you. Good luck everybody.

Recommended:

In the Morning: Reflections from First Light by Philip Lee Williams

The Heart of a Distant Forest by Philip Lee Williams

RMR (poetry)

Georgia Spring, Wordsmith's Books & March Events

In my last post, I stated that the weather was turning warmer.

Welcome to springtime in Georgia. It snowed all day yesterday. But the snow clouds had a silver lining--the weather was bad enough to close down my school (where I work) today, but not bad enough to close my children's daycare (they would have been upset to miss today's Dr. Seuss birthday festivities on any count). The weather for the coming weekend is supposed to be in the seventies.

There are not enough bookstores in the world, and I am sorry to say that it appears that Atlanta is losing another. According to their website today, Wordsmith's Books in Decatur is closing its doors after just two years. Good luck, guys. These are tough times. Your customers will no doubt miss you.

These are tough, anxious times. Book people might look for a little relief at one of the following events coming this month:

Monday, March 2
Brad Gooch will discuss Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor
Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta
Reception at 6 pm/program begins at 7 pm
$ for MMH members & $10 for non-members

Tuesday, March 3
Mary Kay Andrews discusses Deep Dish
Barnes & Noble Buckhead, Atlanta
7:30 pm
Call 404.261.7747 for more information.

Tuesday, March 3
Barbara Brown Taylor will discuss "Downtime: The Sacred Art of Stopping" and autograph her book, An Altar in the World.
7:30 pm.
Agnes Scott College in Decatur
Call 404.471.6430

Downtime? I wonder if Ms. Taylor fishes?

Tuesday, March 3
Writers on Writing Program--The Sophomore Slump: Writing the Second Book
Panel featuring authors Jack Riggs (The Fireman's Wife), Renee Dodd (A Cabinet of Wonders) and Tom Mullen (The Last Town on Earth)
7:15 pm at the Georgia Center for the Book/Decatur Library
Free

Wednesday, March 4
A Cappella Books & The Opal Gallery
Rodes Fishburne discusses Going to See the Elephant
7 pm

Thursday, March 5
Women's Poetry Night featuring Andrea Cohen (Long Division) and Lynn Pederson (Theories of Rain)
A Cappella Books
7:15 at the Decatur Library
Free

Sunday, March 8
Debra Conner, An Afternoon with Peggy Mitchell
The Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta
Program begins at 4 pm
$5 members/$10 non-members

That's just a week's worth, and no where complete. Check the links on this website for other literary events coming to Georgia.

Good luck, everybody. Watch the ice.

Recommended:

George, Being George--George Plimpton's Life edited by Nelson Aldrich. They just don't make them like Mr. Plimpton anymore.

Double Whammy by Carl Hiassen (Bass fishing. Murder.)

RMR

Public Service Announcement--Get Your Flu Shot

It is official, my family has been designated the 2009 Why You Should Get Your Flu Shot When You are Supposed to Family of the Year.

We have always made a point of getting our shots each year. This year, however, we decided that due to a mild winter, and everyone being pretty healthy, that we would postpone (forgo) shots. That proved to be a pretty bad idea. With the exception of perhaps five or six days, at least one person in our family has been sick enough to stay home from school or work every single day for the past, almost six weeks.

My wife became so ill that she developed a spot of pneumonia. If that were not bad enough, one of the medications prescribed to her by our physician contained steroids. Subsequently, the children and I had to ban her from playing Wii baseball with the rest of the family. It seemed the only fair thing to do.

This run of illness, combined with the constant drum of bad news about the economy--plus the weather--has really had our house in the doldrums of late.

Regretfully, too, there was no time to take advantage of all the literary events taking place in Georgia in January and February. Or even blog about them, for that matter. My wife did read Atlanta author Susan Rebecca White's new book, Bound South. My wife was so taken with the book she stated that she could sit up all night reading it. Even the flu didn't keep her from it (must have been the steroids).

But everyone seems to be on the mend, now. The weather seems to be turning warmer. And there are so many terrific literary events coming up in Georgia during the next few months (many, if not most, being free). In fact, a number of author acquaintances have been in touch recently about their upcoming projects. Fishing season is just around the corner, and a recent and much unexpected romance is all the news at our house.

Good news. Good health. Good people (like understanding employers). Good books. The rest will fall into place.

Strongly recommended:

Bound South by Susan Rebecca White

The American Academy of Pediatrics Complete and Authoritative Guide to Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, edited by Dr. Steven Shelov. I don't know if Dr. Shelov is from Georgia, but this book is a tremendous and handy guide to the more that 4,000 different reasons that children get nauseous, and to the more than one million and seven reasons that they might run a fever.

RMR (and get their flu shots)

Susan Rebecca White--Georgia Author

On Monday, February 9, beginning at 7 pm (reception at 6 pm), debut Atlanta author Susan Rebecca White will present her new novel, Bound South, at the Margaret Mitchell House and Literary Center in Atlanta. The event is free for Margaret Mitchell House members, $5 for Atlanta History Center members, and $10 for non-members.

Ms. White is a native Atlantan. Her new book, Bound South, tells the story of three contemporary Atlanta women and their interwoven lives.

With all due respect to other cultures around the world, as well as to other regions of the United States, there cannot possibly be anywhere else on the planet where the word “Mother” carries so much weight as it does in the American South. God bless mothers everywhere. But where else can a fifty-year-old professional man still refer to his mother as “Mama” and have that be perfectly acceptable?

Bound South is a solid and enjoyable read (think, The Joy Luck Club meets Driving Miss Daisy). Ms. White clearly knows her subjects and settings. The book has much “old south” in it, but there’s no mistaking that it is a modern story. Mother-daughter relationships, dark humor, and quirky relatives are big selling points for this book. Mostly, though, it is a good story and well written.

Bound South ought to cause a stir in Atlanta. For that matter, it won’t be a surprise if the book becomes a big hit nationally.

Again, Ms. White will be reading and signing at the Margaret Mitchell House on February 9th. For more information about her, Bound South, or author appearances, see her website at right.

Recommended:

Eating the Cheshire Cat by Helen Ellis
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

RMR.