A little over fourteen years ago I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I never cried over fear of dying. Instead, I cried because I missed my childhood poodle, Jennie. A couple of days after I completed my final chemotherapy session, I set out to buy myself a gift. It took a few weeks to find him, but I eventually came home with Frisco, a ten-week-old, three pound grey poodle. He was a fiery sort. The veterinarian told me at our first appointment that if he were a Rottweiler she would suggest I put him down. Bah-humbug!  Like Jennie when I was growing up, Frisco was my service dog and I was his service person. We comforted each other, traveled together, fought at times, and cuddled. He was a perfect blend of monster and angel.  2019 began with Frisco acting unusually aggressive – even for him. I took him to several vets and was mostly told it was behavioral issues. I knew this to be false. I finally found a specialist that listened to me and confirmed what I feared. He......

Read More of RIP: Frisco Lewis...

[Read More...]

Ona Judge was enslaved by the Washingtons. When she was to be given to Martha's very difficult daugther, Ona escaped. Despite the Washingtons' efforts, she was never recapatured. "Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge" by Erica Armstrong Dunbar tells the story of this amazing woman. My friend told me about Ona Judge and I knew learning about her was a necessary detour from my presidents project. As you know if you have been following my blogposts, I have been very disturbed by our founding fathers' claims to want to end slavery while owning slaves. This book presented George and Martha as ruthless slave owners. I knew this was so although other biographers stopped short of calling the Washingtons to task on this. While speaking to a friend of mine about this, he said--as have many others--we should not look at the circumstances of the past with today's eyes. In other words, how can we judge the acts of persons in the 18th and 19th centurie......

Read More of Detour: Ona Judge and George Washington, American History, President x President...

[Read More...]

"Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power" by Jon Meacham was the 4th book I have read in my quest to read a biography on each president in order, with some detours. Having read and blogged about Chernow's book on Washington, McCullough's book on Adams and Isaacson's bio of Benjamin Franklin, I was not looking forward to reading about Jefferson since the predecessor books did not always paint him in a favorable light. I was pleased, however, to find Meacham's book to be thorough, thought-provoking and, of course, educational. As a friend of mine once said, it's best not to see everyone naked. Nonetheless, I did not look away while Meacham presented a 500-page stripped down Jefferson, as a biographer ought to do.  We all know about TJ being a slave owner and the accounts of him and Sally Hemmings (who was not only his slave but his deceased wife's half-sister). Rightfully so, such well known and unconfirmed information was not given a lot of ink by Meacham. It feels gossipy and, ......

Read More of #3 Thomas Jefferson: American History, President x President...

[Read More...]