All Politics is Local

We moved to our house in Yardley in 1978. It wasn’t long before I responded to a call in the local newspaper, ”The Yardley News” to help clean up the Delaware Canal. It is an annual April event. One of the people I met was Rick T. who was President of Borough Council, driving a truck picking up canal trash. Near the Yardley train bridge and lock, I pulled an old tire from the canal. It made a good photo for the Bucks County Courier Times (the above photo is not me). My involvement in local politics was in the newspaper. Several other things happened around the same time.

At a family dinner party I resolved to change my party registration from Independent or Democrat to Republican. I wanted to nullify my brother-in-law’s vote for Reagan in the primary. I would vote for John Anderson. I did. After the canal clean-up, I responded to a call for volunteers to serve on various Yardley Borough committees. I don’t think I knew anything about Planning Commissions or Zoning Hearing Boards. But they sounded interesting. My interview at borough council got me appointed to the Cable Television Board. Wow. Not interesting. We listened to residents complaints; certified the cable franchise for the borough. It wasn’t long before I got a call from a local committeeman Fred K. inviting me to a meeting of potential borough council candidates. Fred’s son was a student at Holy Ghost where I worked. I went to the meeting at his home on Whiskey Hill.

The next thing I knew I was a borough council candidate. I had gotten along with Susan T. another candidate, a fiscally conservative Republican but moderate to liberal on social issues. The third candidate was an older typical Republicans; he faded away. I was concerned about running as a Republican (guess I was RHINO). I called someone in the Philadelphia chapter of the Sierra Club. I’d recently organized the Bucks County chapter. Whoever I spoke to said, ”We need environmentalists in the Republican party; go for it.” I did.

Susan T. and I campaigned. We went door to door in Yardley. She was more experienced having served on several local groups like the Yardley Historical Association. We had county lists of voters as we went house to house. I doubt I even knew the boundaries of the borough. I recall being invited into the house of an African American family in the Flats. A delightfully engaging older Black man promised, ”I’ll vote for you.” Outside we looked at our list; he wasn’t registered. But I’m sure the door-to-door helped. Election day as we handed out sample ballots in front of fire station, quite a few voters acknowledged they had met us on the campaign trail. We won.

Susan and I served two terms on borough council. She was President for a term, I was Vice President. As moderate/liberal Republicans we recruited candidates, sometimes Democrats who often changed party identifying locally as Republican. Bucks County at the time had quite a few moderate Republicans. After council, I served as a Yardley committeeman. My interest was to influence who was elected and appointed to positions in Yardley.

In 1989 I took a sabbatical to finish my dissertation. The topic was educational policymaking in Harrisburg. Ed Burns, Republican representative from Bensalem sponsored me. It was a great experience. As I finished my research in Harrisburg in 1990, Ed suggested that I run for the state house in a new district (31st) that had been created. Why not? I was one of about six Republicans interested in the primary. I campaigned among the committee people, meeting with most. I met with Harry Fawkes, the entrenched Chairman of Bucks County Republicans. Harry declined to endorse me stating, ”The public doesn’t vote for teachers.” I spoke before the caucus and was well received but Harry’s endorsed the winner Dave Stiles. I dropped out of the primary and wrote my dissertation. Dave actually was a good choice.

Harry Fawkes Andy Warren

There was a Republican faction in Yardley that wanted to take over Yardley council. I didn’t support them but they gained the favor of Harry Fawkes. From Nantucket I argued with Harry that there were better candidates. He ignored me. I decided it was time to leave the Republican party and I registered Democratic. The faction didn’t last. And Yardley turned Democratic and has pretty much remained so. And so ended my involvement in local politics. Teaching evening college classes took up a lot of my extra time.

My trip down memory lane was sparked by reading ”Notes on Bucks County: reflections on politics in Pennsylvania’s most curious and captivating collar county,” (2021) by Andy Warren and Hal Marcovite. Warren got involved in Bucks County politics in the 1970s. Except for a brief defection to the Democrats, he was/is a Republican. He is best known for serving for 15 years as a county commissioner. There are three commissioners, two from a majority party, one from the minority. For decades Republicans were in the majority. For years Marcovitz was a reporter for the “Doylestown Intelligencer” and other local papers covering county politics.

I didn’t know Marcovitz, The “Bucks County Courier” provided more coverage of Yardley politics and I had regular contact with their reporters. I don’t remember any direct contact with Andy Warren but never had a high opinion of him. Probably the biggest local political story during the 1980s was the Point Pleasant Pumping Station. It is several chapters in ”Notes on Bucks County.” Abbie Hoffman’s arrival made The Pump national news.

Doreen Stratton in the ”Bucks County Herald” 2022 wrote:

“Hal Marcovitz’s Dec. 30 piece in the Herald about the Point Pleasant Pumping Station stirred memories of my involvement with the Central Bucks Clean Energy Collective. Any oldtimers still in Bucks who protested the pump, know the “Collective” was an upstart group of environmentalists opposed to withdrawing up to 95 gallons of water a day from the Delaware River. The water, diverted across Bucks and Montgomery counties through streams and reservoirs, was destined for the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant near Pottstown, for cooling the fuel rods in the reactor.
After the March 28, 1979, accident at Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant near Harrisburg, the anti-nuke protests ramped up in Bucks and many places across America. We never were able to verify a rumor that PECO initially had proposed to build its nuclear plant along the bucolic banks of Point Pleasant. Their consolation prize was the pumping station.
People power escalated. Letters flooded local and area newspapers, citizens showed up at the Wednesday Bucks County commissioners’ meetings – many speaking eloquently and with knowledge, about nuclear power and saving the Delaware. At one special commissioners’ meeting, the anti-nukes outnumbered the other side, composed mostly of construction workers, builders and Realtors. Abby Hoffman, “yippie” social activist, came out of hiding and settled in Bucks County helping with organizing peaceful protests.”

The county was split. Warren supported construction of the pump. Many local, river based Republicans did not. I followed the issue and was opposed for anti-nuclear and other environmental reasons but I never got involved. The only reason I continued with the Republican party was that locally in Yardley and Bucks County, there was a strong moderate arm of the party. Never did i support national Republicans. I disagreed with much Republican policy. As a committeeman, I was proud to be among very few that would not endorse Rick Santorum when he ran for the Senate.

Jim Greenwood Dave Heckler

Ed Howard was a strong moderate Republican state senator. I didn’t know him but I actively supported his friend, moderate Jim Greenwood who served in Harrisburg and Washington. Also at the county and state level was Dave Heckler who served in the state legislature and as District Attorney. Initially Mike Fitzpatrick, from Levittown seemed to fit into this group but I felt he sold out to conservatives. His brother Brian who replaced him tries to claim moderate credentials to win in Bucks County but it’s limited.

There are many names I recognize and there are some good stories in ”Notes on Bucks County.” Some actors were judges, others commissioners, representatives and senators at the state and federal levels. Mllt Berks, Edward Biester, Jim Cawley, Joe Conti, James Coyne, Carl Fonash, Isaac Garb (Pump judge), Peter Kostmayer, Charlie Martin, Patrick Murphy, Dan Rattigan, Alan Rubenstein, Lucille Trench, and Elaine Zettick to name a few. I had contact with a some but knew them primarily from the newspaper. From my relationship with Ed Burns I got to know Gene DiGirolamo and Tommy Tomlinson from Bensalem, Hal Lefcourt was a Levittown gadfly who I met related to local history. Then there was Mark Schweiker, Lt Gov and briefly Governor when Ridge went to Homeland Security. His son went to Holy Ghost Prep. Mark spoke at a graduation one year, it was an awful speech.

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Keith House, Washington’s Headquarters, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020, in Newtown, Pa. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

“Notes on Bucks” also has a bit of Bristol’s Senator Joe Grundy history; and descriptions of Presidential candidates visits to Bucks. In 1960 John Kennedy spoke at the Levittown Shopping Center. Andy Romano and I rode bikes from Bristol to see and hear him. Unforgettable. George H.W. Bush visited. Twenty thousand greeted George W. in a Newtown cornfield. In 2012 Mitt Romney visited the same cornfield. In 1988 Michael Dukakis came to Pennsbury High School; Bill Clinton spoke at a Norristown School in nearby Montgomery county. In 2000 Al Gore had a rally in Bristol Borough. I drove a van full of HGP students to see him. More recently Bucks County hosted Joe Biden at Bucks County College and Donald Trump on an Upper Makefield farm. Democrats and Republicans court Bucks County voters.

I follow less local politics today than I did ten, twenty, thirty years ago. The “Philadelphia Inquirer” is my only local paper and Bucks coverage is limited. Do I need to find a source if ”all politics is local.”

Spring 2022

Two years of Covid. Although restrictions are loosened; yesterday shopping at NonSuch Market I still wore a mask. Covid fatigue; Winter fatigue; I’m ready for Spring. March 24, cloudy, bit of rain, 45 degrees. Too many of these cloudy days with a 60 or 70 degree, sunny day in between. I wasn’t drawn outside except for a short Nala walk. I’m pinch hitting since Diane’s knee is out. Then I settled down with “River Towns” magazine Spring issue.

I read about things to do. Lambertville Shad festival, Frenchtown Artyard Hatch, Phillips Mill Photography show, Hunterdon County Covered Bridge open studio tour, Hunterdon Craft Brewery tour, Prawlsville Mill Art and Craft Show, New Hope Gay Parade. Theaters and Museums are opening. We’ve been to the Mitchener once in the past two years. We discovered Robert Beck who sells through a gallery in Hopewell. High on our to-do list. We should get a new “Bucks County” magazine soon. There will be many more events listed. And ”Yankee” magazine beckons us to plan a New England trip.

We are definitely ready for some outside dining. Indoor if it seems safe. We actually had brunch last Sunday at Charcoal Steak and Things in Yardley. Otherwise we’ve been doing take out. We have many regular places but I keep a list of new places to try. I don’t think we’ve eaten in Philadelphia in two years.

Spring, awakening, renewal, rebirth, growth, flowers, green, warm . . . not my favorite season but maybe second following Autumn. I bought bags of compost for the raised beds; seeds from Territorial Seed in Oregon. In a week I should have completed the first planting. Fall planting of garlic, spinach and kale will be ready soon. Although we buy year round from farm stores; outdoor markets will be opening. We usually make some nursery stops, in Bucks, NJ and Terrain in Chester County. Flowers, hanging baskets and some have good selection of vegetable plants (Carousel Gardens in Buckingham, Dragon Fly in Hamilton).

We have already booked Cape Cod for our two weeks in August. Maybe we can do some additional trips. We haven’t been to the Jersey shore, stayed in a B. and B. for a weekend get-away since Covid. Will it be safe later this Spring. Just day trips. I’ve been editing photographs on my computer, amazing the number of trips and the number of photographs. I plan on keep working on photos (and slides) but real trips would be welcomed.

I’m ready for Spring.

Saint Patrick’s Day

I’ve often told the story that I recognized or appreciated my Irish heritage after reading Leon Uris’s ”Trinity.” What a story, the Great Famine and the Irish struggle for freedom from England. Might be an interesting reread. I think I still have a copy.

Saint Patrick’s Day, I wanted to read something with an Irish theme and decided on ”Little Chapel on the River: a pub, a town and the search for what matters most,”(2005) by Gwendolyn Bounds. I purchased a signed copy from a little bookstore in Pawling, NY probably around the date of publication. I remembered it as a compelling story, a good St. Patrick’s read. Gwendolyn or Wendy Bounds and her partner Kathryn worked for the Wall Street Journal and lived near their offices in Lower Manhattan. They witnessed 9-11 and were put out of office and apartment and decided to temporarily escape the city. Someone recommended Garrison N.Y. along the Hudson River across from West Point, with train service to NYC.

We’ve done many day trips and several B and B vacations to in the Hudson River area — Cold Spring and Rhinebeck — both north of Garrison. The downtown in Garrison is called The Landing and was the set for “Hello Dolly” (1969). Wendy and Kathryn rented a house and commuted to temporary offices several days a week. Not far from their rental they discovered Guinan’s, a deli, paper store and small bar. It was classic Irish; a morning and evening stop for commuters, a hangout for locals.

Wendy is drawn to Guinan’s, it’s simplicity, small town flavor, quaint traditions, and Irish proprietor, Jim Guinan. His wife and family members help him out. He’s aging, with medical issues, diabetic, and his health worsens in the time Wendy lives in Garrison. She is also drawn to the regulars, mostly male, some stop for coffee, donut and newspaper in the morning; beers in the afternoon. No draft, bottles and cans, Schafer, Rolling Rock, Harp, Bud Lite, chilled in a red Coca Cola ice chest. Other regulars include locals, some retired older men who hangout and drink beer for hours, at a bar ”where everyone knows your name.”

Jim opens before 5 so he can serve the 5:09 commuters. Names are printed on reserved newspapers for regulars. Dollars and change is left out near the cash register so customers can make payment themselves. Jim lives upstairs; they rent the building, opened the store in 1959. Wendy becomes not just a regular but like family jumps in when help is needed, serving customers, even opening up when Jim is hospitalized. His children take over for a while but Jim is stubborn and has his ways; family members argue.

Jim hosts a celebration on Saint Patrick’s Day. Music, dancing, singing and of course drinking. Everyone shuts up when Jim sings ”Danny Boy” and other Irish tunes. Tipsy, drunk patrons are not unusual but cussing, nastiness and fights are not allowed, Peg, Jim’s wife who died in ’89 wouldn’t tolerate it. Wendy will eventually return to NYC, sometimes visiting Guinan’s. Jim’s kids and neighbors struggle to keep it open but it closes in 2008. Jim dies the following year. The building was renovated and enlarged into a more upscale restaurant, ”Dolly’s.” One year we visited Garrison but it was between Guinan’s closing and the opening of Dolly’s. Maybe it’s time to go back.

My Saint Patrick Day Irish reading lead me to another re-read. ”All Souls: a family story from Southie,” by Michael Patrick MacDonald. The author grew up in a large Irish family in the Old Colony projects of South Boston. His father drank and was abusive; his tough mother leaves him and raises the family alone. Time period is 1970s, 85% of the neighborhood is on welfare and has the highest concentration of poor Whites in the country. Alcohol, drugs, crime, gangs, death claim the streets but Ma and others look past that and see South Boston as ”the best place in the world.”

Although Michael escapes and moves to central Boston gets involved in a gun by-back program and is the founder of the Boston Vigil Group. His siblings don’t all make it, crime, drugs and death. I remember the tragedy and hope Michael writes similarly described by Frank McCourt in ”Angela’s Ashes.” Residents loyalty to the neighborhood and family sharply contrasts with the poverty and Irish-Black tension, animosity and violence following the integration of schools in the 1960s. “Southie” and the poor Irish that lived there were labeled racist. That certainly was my view when I went to Boston College in the 1960s. I’ll continue reading.

We did get an Irish dinner. Corned beef with culcannon and soda bread. Unfortunately No Guinness.

World News and Foreign Affairs

I’ve never been an avid follower of world news or a foreign affairs pundit. I read and watch some national news. But based on my dissertation and involvement in local government I have tended to pay more attention to state and local news. What did Tip O’Neill say, ”All politics is local.” Many things international don’t register much on my radar.

Typically in the past we turned on some network news at dinner time and I sometimes listened to a Fox personality making dinner after teaching a college course. It was entertainment and kept me informed about conservative talking points. I was only drawn to CNN nightly because of the Trump presidency. “What did Trump do today?” Recently I have tried to limit CNN. For decades I’ve read the “Inquirer” and the “Bucks County Courier;” the Sunday “New York Times.” Today it’s just the “Inquirer” on my i-pad. I have always read “Time” and sometimes other news magazines. The Internet and, yes, Facebook provide some of my news today. And NPR is my morning radio.

Ukrainians attend a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, during a protest against the potential escalation of the tension between Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are to hold a high-stakes telephone call on Saturday as tensions over a possibility imminent invasion of Ukraine escalated sharply and the U.S. announced plans to evacuate its embassy in the Ukrainian capital. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In the past few weeks I’ve been drawn to the Invasion of Ukraine story. More so than other international conflicts during my lifetime. I’m wondering why? First it’s hard to avoid given my exposure to ”news.” Russia’s influence in American politics, media, the presidency has been front and center during the Trump years. Trump’s relationship, sometimes friendship, with foreign autocrats has raised concerns about autocracy in the U.S. Now Putin has Russian forces invade Ukraine in an attempt to restore some of the former Soviet Union. Putin = Megalomania — if you need a definition, here are some synonyms — lust for power, compulsion, egotism, misanthropy, instability, obsession, childishness, mental-disorder, neurosis, insanity and self-delusion. Putin? Trump?

Then there has been the Ukrainian response. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former actor and comedian with no prior political experience is the president of Ukraine. He has courageously lead an unexpected resistance by the Ukrainian military and civilian population. Russia has been stalled but has also increased attacks on civilians in an attempt to force submission to Russian rule. Although the U.S. and other Western nations have condemned Russia, imposed economic sanctions, supplied Ukraine with armament, they have, so far, ruled out direct military engagement. Ukraine isn’t a NATO country. I understand the reluctance to provoke a World War III. Putin has already discussed nuclear weapons. But I wonder if we are writing another Munich agreement as European countries did with Hitler in the 1930s? “Remember the Sudetenland; remember Hungary.”

Zelenskyy’s leadership has been compared to Churchill during World War II. Maybe and we might need another FDR. Poland had suggested the U.S. move Polish planes to the Ukraine. So far, we have declines, not wanting to fly in Ukraine’s air space. Someone suggested getting Ukrainian pilots to Poland to fly the planes home. I need to read more about ”lend lease” prior to American entry into WW II. The U.S. is considering a major aid package, some humanitarian; some military. For the first time I can think of (except for Nicaragua) I’ve been moved to contribute to an “international” aid effort. I can also deal with higher gas prices but I realize it will hurt many Americans on constricted incomes.

February 27, 2022 – Washington, DC, United States: Young girl holding a sign saying “We stand with Ukraine” at a “Stand With Ukraine” rally.

American media have applauded the courage of the Ukrainian people. Many, 2 million, mostly women and children have fled to Poland and other nearby countries. Most men we are told have remained home, joining the resistance. And a trickle of Ukrainians living abroad and other foreigners have traveled to Ukraine to fight. More is needed!

The only silver lining in this tragedy is it may provide some political unity in the United States. Some Republicans, Fox personalities like Tucker Carlson, Trump followers initially joined the former president who called Putin a “genius” for his invasion strategy. Many have backed away, now blaming the invasion on Biden. But there does seem a bit more national unity. Fingers crossed. Another part of this is Trump’s role in national policy. He has Putin-like, autocratic, lying, self serving tendencies. He cannot be allowed to run in 2024; he must be banished from our politics and policy.

I will stay tuned to this story. I will pray in my way. I will support Ukraine as best i can. I’m curious what you think? Feel free to comment.

World Travel

When we retired in 2014, I thought a lot of ”world travel” would fill our coming years. I thought about China or India, Costa Rica, an African safari, more European countries. I’d never been to Paris or Spain. During the first year we made several trips in the U.S. and in May, 2015 I went with cousin Joey to Italy. We were off to a great start. Unfortunately by summer I was consulting with surgeons at Pennsylvania Hospital about major surgery. It seems I was part of the 1%. My proton radiation for prostrate cancer had soured after three years. I had developed a fistula. My doctors allowed Cape Cod in August but scheduled surgery for the Fall. It failed. I ended up with a fistula and two pouches. While in the hospital I also had a triple bypass. Two of those failed within months. So much for ”world travel.”

In the next few years, we did go to Washington State for several weeks, Washington D.C., Maine, and Cape Cod. Then Covid took it’s toll on even domestic travel. In the past two years we’ve been to Cape Cod for two weeks in August 2021. That’s it. I am hoping that as Covid eases we are comfortable with at least domestic travel. Although I still daydream about international trips.

Recently I’ve substituted reading and movies for my international travel desires. I found a copy of Frances Mayes, ”A Year in the World, journeys of a passionate traveler.” (2006). Frances travels mainly in Europe with her husband, Ed. Spain, Portugal, Italy, including Naples, Morocco, France, the British Isles, Scotland, Greece, Turkey, and Capri. Not bad. Food is big part of Mayes travel as it would be for me. They frequently rent a house for several weeks, get to know locals, shop and cook, explore. She is also fond of gardens which they often visit. Mayes also focuses on literature more than history. She always packs travel guides but also books, including novels, written about the places she visits. This was something I’ve done, since reading the Journals of Lewis and Clark while on the trail in 1969. I always read Cape Cod books on the Cape. Mayes is part of a group of current American writers who buy a house, frequently in Italy but Ireland, France, Spain and Mexico are other repeat options. Then rhey write books about the experience.

Roccavivara

My first European trip was in 1976 to England and Scotland. A few years later I co-sponsored a HGP group to Germany. Diane met me there and we traveled to Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy. Subsequent trips were to Ireland, Scandinavia, back to Italy. All our trips were for about 5 weeks. For three years with German teacher Sandy Courtney, I took students for a three week German exchange. For ten years with Robert Buscaglia I sponsored a service learning trip to Nicaragua (wrote several blogs about this). I made two more trips to Italy without Diane. The first was a trip with my father and the most recent (2014) was with my cousin Joey. The focus of both trips was my grandfather’s mountaintop hometown of Roccavivara in Molise. My cousin Nick and his wife Maria hosted us in their house. My hopes were to return and rent a house for several months.

At the time I was reading Mayes, I rewatched the movie based on her book, ”Under the Tuscan Sun.” Mayes recovering from a bad marriage traveled to Italy and impulsively bought a house near Cortona in Tuscany. The memoir describes her renovating the house with the aid of three Polish mechanics, getting to know her neighbors, fitting into the community, gardening, and cooking? On one of our Italian trips, Diane and I went to Cortona. In an outdoor cafe, Diane recognized a coworker. The first thing they said simultaneously was ”Frances Mayes brought us here.” Frances was part of a long tradition of writers looking for a simpler life, moving and living outside the United States. In the 1970s, Peter Mayle put Provence on the map for American readers. In 1985 Niall Williams and Christine Breen moved to Ireland. They wrote “O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in County Clare” and ”The Pipes are Calling.” I seem to remember that at least one of them had a Boston College connection.

Shopping in the Frenchtown, NJ bookstore last month I purchased ”In the Weeds: around the world and behind the scenes with Anthong Bourdain,” (2021) by Tom Vitale. When it was first published, I read Bourdain’s ” Kitchen Confidential: adventures in the culinary underbelly” (2000). According to ”In the Weeds” Bourdain although a successful chef, writer and media personality spent some of his time in the ”underbelly” until his 2018 suicide in France where he was filming an episode for his Emmy-winning CNN series, ”Part’s Unknown.” CNN will be airing a Bourdain documentary, ”Roadrunner” soon.

For years Vitale was an important facilitator on Bourdain’s team traveling around the world shooting footage for several mini series. Much of ” In the Weeds” is Vitale’s struggle to come to grips with life without Anthony. This despite the fact that life with Anthony was difficult, a constant high, alcohol, drugs, and danger. Although many of his shows were shot in the U.S., France, Italy, i.e. standard locations, he also shot in Iran during a sandstorm and Libya after the fall of Gaddafi when the country was in turmoil. For Bourdain the show must go on. I was amazed at the amount of footage shot for each episode, the amount of equipment transported, even down the Congo with visions of Conrad’s ”Heart of Darkness” and Kurtz in ”Apocalypse Now.” Bourdain always had local guides, guards, and engaged with farmers, chefs, street people and family cooks. He was fearless, eating and drinking some pretty strange local delights. Drinking was usually heavy.

Anthony Bourdain; from Roadrunner: A film about Anthony Bourdain, 2021

Bourdain could be a close friend but he had a temper, went crazy if things did not go his way, attacked those that worked for him. It was fascinating to have Vitale describe the planning, prep, and actual shooting. Some of the shots were before or after Bourdain’s scenes were completed. I’ve been watching some episodes of ”Cook’s Tour” (available free) and the fast paced montage quality put together in the cutting room is quite evident. Although some of ”In the Weeds” is about Vitale, there is plenty of behind the scenes, the local market shopping, cooking and eating as well a bit of local history and plenty of local color. There are quite a few photographs in the book. I’d like to see the Vietnam segment with Barack Obama but its on ”Parts Unknown” and its not free; neither are ”No Reservations” shows. I’ll continue to watch ”Cook’s Tour” for now.

I’d like to think that reading and watching films from around the world won’t be enough and that I get on a plane, soon. My trip won’t mirror directly Frances Mayes or Anthony Bourdain but maybe i will channel them a bit. One can hope.

“The Paris Bookseller”

I’m always drawn to books about books, bookshops, booksellers and readers. I’ve written about my fixation before, an English (read Literature) Major, experience working in the Harcourt Bindery in Boston, teaching, constantly reading and dare I say collecting books. Several weeks ago we drove to the Frenchtown, NJ bookstore. We were going to buy a pie from a pop up Pie Bird tent in front of the shop. We bought a citrus pie but then stepped into the delightful book shop. We both bought books, paying full price to support independent bookstores. Something I don’t do that enough. In Yardley we have Commonplace Reader and of course Farley’s in New Hope.

My purchases included ”In the Weeds: around the world and behind the scenes with Anthony Bourdain”by Tom Vitale. I’ll be writing about it in another blog. The other work I had chosen was ”The Paris Bookseller” by Kerri Maher. Ironically before I took it to checkout Diane said “let me show you an interesting book.” The same book had caught our attention.

The “bookseller” here is Sylvia Beach, famous for operating an English language bookstore in Paris named Shakespeare and Company. Anyone interested in American expat writers of the 1920s is familiar with Sylvia and her landmark bookstore. She had lived in Paris with her family as a child and was excited to return to ”the city that captured her soul” after World War I. She discovered A Monnier, bookseller at 7 rue de l’Odeon. Sylvia immediately became infatuated with Adrienne Monnier. They would eventually become close friends, then lovers.

Sylvia considers returning to New York and opening a bookstore but decided to stay in Paris and open an english language bookstore; in 1919 Shakespeare and Company was born. I totally enjoy the Paris setting (I’ve never visited) with many familiar streets and landmarks. Sylvia’s love of literature and books is also fascinating. She soon purchased two Blake drawings and manuscript pages from Walt Whitman to treasure and display. Through Adrienne she met several French writers and once stocked and opened Shakespeare and Company would draw artists and writers escaping the war years in Paris in the 1920s. Sylvia meets Gertrude Stein whose Left Bank salon had become a hangout for what she labeled ”the lost generation” of artists and writers. Gertrude and her partner, Alice Toklas, never became friendly toward Sylvia. Jealousy?

Ezra Pound became a Shakespeare and Company regular. Ernest Hemingway became a friend and follower. I first learned of Sylvia due to my fixation on Hemingway. Sylvia also knew D.H. Lawrence, F Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, Bernice Abbot, Man Ray and many others. The most significant patron was James Joyce. Sylvia read, stocked and sold books by all the new writers. But she would go further with Joyce. When he hit a wall of censorship related to “Ulysses” Sylvia jumped in and decided to become a publisher. She found a printer and worked with Joyce as he struggled to finish the monumental task of writing opus. According to Maher, as the project progressed, Joyce became increasingly emotionally and financially dependent on Sylvia. Their relationship continued to develop and change as Ulysses was published, printed, sold in Shakespeare and Company, and arrangements were made to smuggle copies into the United States. Sylvia became devoted to the book’s success and her store became a landmark for average tourists as well as the bohemian community. After much debate she sold the publishing rights giving an American publisher the opportunity to fight a court battle and market an American edition.

Sylvia and Adrienne broke up in the late 1930s. The Nazis forced the closure of Shakespeare and Company after Sylvia refused to sell a copy of ”Finnegan’s Wake” to a German officer. Sylvia was sent to a camp for Americans who refused to return home. After the war she remained in Paris where she died in 1962.

In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway wrote of Beach: “Sylvia had a lively, sharply sculptured face, brown eyes that were as alive as a small animal’s and as gay as a young girl’s . . . She was kind, cheerful and interested, and loved to make jokes and gossip. No one that I ever knew was nicer to me.” 

Bookstores can be amazing places. What bookstores have you visited?