New This Week
April 5, 2010
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Column: At the Library for April 05/10
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Born to a life of privilege, Dorothy Douglas led an adventurous life. She attended UCLA in Berkeley, studied art in Belgium, taught school in the Philippines, and practiced social work in San Francisco. Of course none of this prepared her for her greatest adventure yet: a housewife living in the isolated backwoods of Kootenay Lake. DOROTHY’S STORMY LAKE is 4 volumes of Douglas’ journals, compiled by her daughter. With no electricity and only a boat for transportation, these volumes reveal a colorful and resilient woman who fortunately wrote it all down.
Michael Hall’s MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO is a brightly illustrated picture book aimed at the preschooler. This book is full of shapes to point at, animals to count, and rhymes to learn.
Preschool Story Time this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm, & 6:30 pm, and Toddler Story this Friday at 10:30 am will be all about Rivers!
Gigantic Garage Sale - Here is your chance to de-clutter your home and also help the Friends of the Library help the Library. The Friends are holding a garage sale in the Manual Training School (adjacent to the Library) on Saturday, April 10th, 9 AM to 2 PM. to raise funds for the acquisition of new books for the library. Household item donations to the sale would be gratefully accepted at the Manual Training School on Friday, April 9th, 10 am to 5 PM. Sadly, because of space issues we cannot accept clothing or large furniture. For further info call Marilyn at 250-489-6254. See you there!
The Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library and the College of the Rockies will be showing their latest Travelogue on Monday, April 19th, 2010 in the Lecture Theatre (Room 250) at the College. Australia: A land with amazing diversity. John Przeczek will be presenting Australia for 20 days (Melbourne to Adelaide and the Flinders Ranges) and Northern Tasmania for 10 days. John drove the Great Ocean Road, visited 3 wine regions, caught the edge of the Outback and scrambled to the top of the 5th highest peak in Tasmania (Cradle Mountain). Ecologically he traversed semi-desert to cool temperate rainforest and from sea level to the alpine. Presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. Doors open 6:30 p.m. Admission is by donation, and please remember seating is limited. For more information, please call Sheila at 489-8207.
Don’t forget to come and see Bob Pearce’s Wilderness paintings, currently on display.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Locavore " Sarah Elton (641.300971)
Chile & Easter Island: Insight Guides (918.3)
They’re Your Parents Too " Francine Russo (646.780846)
I.O.U. " John Lanchester (332.042)
The Empathic Civilization " Jeremy Rifkin (901)
Fat Flush for Life " Ann Louise Gittleman (613.25)
Stock Investing For Canadians for Dummies " Andrew Dagys (332.6322)
The Canadian Writer’s Market " Sandra B. Tooze (808.025)
Lonely Planet Maui: Includes Moloka’i and Lana’I (919.692)
Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs " Cindy Hudson (374.22)
Dorothy’s Stormy Lake: Volumes 1 to 4 " Joan Wooliver (bio)
Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show " Frank Delaney (fic)
The Overnight Socialite " Bridie Clark (fic)
A Matter of Class " Mary Balogh (fic)
Eighth Shepherd " Bodie Thoene (fic)
The Kitchen House " Kathleen Grissom (fic)
Eternal on the Water " Joseph Monninger (fic)
The Centurion’s Wife " Davis Bunn (fic)
The Hidden Flame " Davis Bunn (fic)
Death as a Last Resort " Gwendolyn Southin (mys)
Lay Down My Sword and Shield " James Lee Burke (mys)
Wild Penance " Sandi Ault (mys)
The Last Surgeon " Michael Palmer (mys)
The Man From Beijing " Henning Mankell (mys)
Jade Man’s Skin " Daniel Fox (sci fic)
Dragon in Chains " Daniel Fox (sci fic)
Grunts " Mary Gentle (pb)
Sprinkle with Murder " Jenn McKinlay (pb)
Gun Country " Ralph Cotton (pb)
Me and My Shadow " Katie MacAlister (pb)
Black Rain " Graham Brown (pb)
Gentleman Takes a Chance " Sarah A. Hoyt (pb)
Friday Night Lights; Complete 3rd Season (DVD)
The Bells of St. Mary’s (DVD)
Patriot Games (DVD)
Crocodile Dundee (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Beautiful Creatures " Kami Garcia (ya fic)
Dawn " Kevin Brooks (ya fic)
Wish " Alexandra Bullen (ya fic)
They Never Came Back " Caroline B. Cooney (ya fic)
The Shadow Project " Herbie Brennan (ya fic)
The Keys to the Kingdom: Lord Sunday " Garth Nix (ya fic)
Night World: Volumes 2 and 3 " L.J. Smith (ya fic)
The Good Man of Assisi " Mary Joslin (j 271.3)
The Secret of You " David Bouchard (j 819.16)
Otis " Loren Long (j pic)
My Heart Is Like A Zoo " Michael Hall (j pic)
Do You Love Me " Joast Elffers (j pic)
Machines at Work " Byron Barton (J pic)
Les Romains " Fiona MacDonald (j french)
Triple H " Brian Shields (j easy)
Spiderman Versus The Lizard " Susan Hill (j easy)
God Made Outer Space " Heno Head (j easy)
Good Morning Farm " Catherin Nichols (j easy)
The Smurfs World of Wonders (DVD)
Whisper of the Heart (DVD)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
In the winter of 1988, a small book of poems titled WILDERNESS appeared, and became an instant New York Times Bestseller. This was the first"and last"time a book of poetry would reach such heights. The poetry was written by James Douglas Morrison, who wanted nothing more in life than be taken seriously as a poet. Regrettably, Morrison faced two immense"almost insurmountable"facts which conspired to prevent his dream. One being his early death. The other obstacle was that Jim Morrison was one of the greatest and most admired rock singers of all time.
Born in 1943, Morrison spent his formative years in Alexandria, Virginia. He loved to read, he loved all types of books and literature, and was rarely seen without a book in his hand. In high school he was better read than most of his teachers. He is remembered for discussing James Joyce with his grade 12 English teacher, while the rest of the class had no idea what either of the two were talking about. Morrison liked to quote the French poet Rimbaud, and was forever scribbling notes, stories, scraps of dialogue, and poetry in spiral notebooks.
Believing he could translate his own poetry via cinema, Morrison attended UCLA’s film school, earning his undergraduate degree in 1965. It was here he met a group of like minded students, who were so amazed by the lyrical nature of his poems they insisted on forming a band, with Morrison as the lead singer. Even though he had never sung in his entire life, he agreed. They named their group The Doors, taken from the title of one of Morrison’s favorite books, Aldus Huxley’s THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION.
Between 1966 and 1971, The Doors played over two thousand concerts, and recorded seven platinum albums. It was the first rock band with a poet as a lead singer. Audiences had never seen anything like it: Clad in leather pants and snakeskin boots, The Doors concerts were more like theatre pieces, with Morrison’s poetic energy directly challenging and engaging the audiences. They were mesmerized, and soon Morrison became a living myth; a rock god; a reincarnated shaman; a lizard king. Morrison had set the night on fire, and rode the storm of 60s rebellion as no one else did; as no one else even could.
It was during this time that Morrison began to abuse substances. The beat-poets he was fond of all promoted the use of psychedelic drugs to enhance one’s creativity. The professors he admired were all heavy drinkers, encouraging their students to follow suit. Even Huxley and Rimbaud advocated a “derangement of the senses” to reach artistic truth. Being the late 1960s"not to mention the leader of a rock group"Morrison really didn’t have a chance. By the time he realized how absolutely wrong his role models were, it was far too late. The drugs changed the structure of his brain, his behavior, and his ability to write. The deeply moving, fiercely compassionate poet became a drug addicted alcohol soaked jerk.
Sadly, Morrison was unable to “fake it”. The more his legend grew, the more celebrity he achieved, the more he hated it. In 1971 Morrison quit the band, swore off drugs, and moved to Paris. Here he could escape the legend, and hopefully be seen as a serious and meaningful poet. He grew a beard, put on weight, and began to concentrate on his true calling. Regrettably, his body did not forgive him for the drug and alcohol abuse he had put it through. On July 3rd, 1971, Morrison died of heart failure. He was 27.
Danny Sugerman, Jim Morrison’s friend and biographer, wrote “Jim’s dying wish was to be taken seriously as a poet.” Morrison wrote hundreds of songs, published 4 editions of his poems, recorded hours tape reading his work, filled thousands of notebooks, and is buried in Poet’s Corner, at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in France. His work is now taught at various Universities, but not with the beat-poets, or as a voice of the 60s generation. His work is taught beside Rimbaud, McLure, and William Blake; serious poets indeed. One of the last things Morrison wrote was “If my poetry aims to achieve anything, it’s to deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel.” I think the generations would agree.
