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Book Reviews
The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton Review - “Any dreamy or bookish girl who once loved ‘Harriet the Spy’ should immediately take up this lively new biography…the author brings to life Wharton’s joy, consuming energy and ability to turn adversity into fuel and hunger… I like to picture girls lying on the beach reading this appealing book and receiving its secret message: stop i-chatting and posting on people’s walls — it’s time to write your first novel!”
— Katie Roiphe, New York Times Book Review - August 15, 2010
Category Archives: Thank You Very Much Captain Ericsson!
USS Monitor Crewmembers Buried
The year 2012 marked the 150th anniversary of both the launch and the sinking of USS Monitor. The news continues in 2013. On Friday, March 8, 151 years after they went down with the Monitor, two unknown sailors were buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. In case you missed it, you can watch the full ceremony (courtesy
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The Doorway to High Society
In Edith Wharton’s Gilded Age New York, the new-money people were storming the gates of High Society and the Old Guard (people of birth, background, and breeding) were making a vain attempt to keep those gates firmly closed. Today, Society is open to all comers! The only requirement to entry is the desire to become immersed in a particular subject
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Posted in Teachers' Resources, Thank You Very Much Captain Ericsson!, The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton
Tagged Edith Wharton, Edith Wharton Review, JESNY, John Ericsson, John Ericsson Society, Leif Brisfjord
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Ericsson and da Vinci – A Conversation Across Time
A group of Italian artisans (Niccolai Teknoart SNC) has undertaken a marvelous project: using the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci to create models of the very machines da Vinci imagined. When I attended one of their exhibits at the Denver Pavilions (which runs through January 31, 2013) I was struck by how much da Vinci had in common with the
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Posted in Scenes from a Writer's Life, Thank You Very Much Captain Ericsson!
Tagged inventors, John Ericsson, Leonardo da Vinci, military vessels, Niccolai Teknoart SNC, Swedish-born, USS Monitor
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An Encore for Captain Ericsson – Now in Paperback!
When both the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Virgina and the John Ericsson Society let me know they were having trouble finding copies of my out-of-print picture book, Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson!, I decided to spring into action. With permission from Holiday House, the original publisher, and Andrew Glass, the illustrator, I started a company and created a
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Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson – Coming in Paperback & Video!
About the Video Soon to be available on the website: A reading of Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson! (by yours truly!) in its entirety, complete with the original illustrations by Andrew Glass. This should be a great resource for you teachers doing a Civil War unit OR for parents/grandparents of 7-10-year-olds. About the Paperback As stated, a paperback version of Thank
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Just Check the Monitor’s Manifest!
This month marks the 150th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Monitor back in 1862, less than a year after its launch. As the most recent newsletter of the John Ericsson Society New York (JESNY) points out, the Monitor had a short life but left a long legacy, with Monitor class vessels actively deployed as late as World War
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Posted in Thank You Very Much Captain Ericsson!
Tagged 150th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Monitor, Cape Hatteras, Coordinator of Education and Outreach for the Monitor Sanctuary, John Ericsson Society New York, Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, NC, Remains of two sailors from the Monitor, Shannon Ricles
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A Visit to St. Paul’s School
Late on a February Tuesday morning, I packed a pile of books and papers into the back of my car and drove south and then east along some winding Indiana roads that led me further and further into the country. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I arrived at one of the most charming little schools I think I’ve ever
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Posted in Events, Just Fine the Way They Are, Just For Writers, Scenes from a Writer's Life, Thank You Very Much Captain Ericsson!
Tagged Just Fine the Way They Are: From Dirt Roads to Rail Roads to Interstates, School Visits, Speaking, St. Paul Catholic School, Thankyou Very Much Captain Ericsson!
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Tales of the London Book Festival and John Ericsson Events
If you want to find characters for a novel, there’s no better place to look than a writer’s event. Since the January 26 awards dinner for the London Book Festival was an international gathering the “characters” were even more colorful: A former Yugoslavian who spoke very little English, a tall-tale teller from Montana, a charming widow from South Africa, a
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Posted in Scenes from a Writer's Life, Thank You Very Much Captain Ericsson!, The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton
Tagged Civil War ironclad ship, Greenpoint in Brooklyn, Grosvenor House, London Book Festival, Thank You Very Much Captain Ericsson!, Thankyou Very Much Captain Ericsson!, The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton, USS Monitor
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The John Ericsson Society Celebrating The 150th Anniversary Of The Monitor Being Launched!
If you’re a Civil War buff, you’ll remember that, 150 years ago, under the direction of Thomas Fitch Rowland (owner of Continental Works located on the East River in Brooklyn) and John Ericsson (designer of the Union Civil War Ironclad USS Monitor), skilled craftsmen laid the ship’s keel on October 25, 1861 and worked feverishly to complete her within the
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Ship Ahoy!
A good illustrator will go to great lengths to make sure what s/he draws is accurate and matches the words in the text. Andrew Glass, who illustrated Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson! (my picture book about the inventor of the Civil War ironclad ship the Monitor) had a particular problem: the Monitor was at the bottom of the ocean
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