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The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

Jul21

I’ve seen two movies based on books written by Paul Gallico: Mrs ‘Arris Goes to Paris starring Angela Lansbury, Omar Sharif and Diana Rigg and the blockbuster 1972 movie The Poseidon Adventure starring Shelley Winters, Gene Hackman, Red Buttons, Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley, Ernest Borgnine, and Jack Albertson. However, I’ve never read anything by Mr. Gallico until now.

Paul Gallico was a movie critic, then a very successful sports writer, but he wanted to write fiction. He wrote short stories for various magazines, got a $5000 check for one story, and promptly retired from sports-writing to write fiction. His first and most successful novel(?) was The Snow Goose. Not really a novel or even a novella, the book clocks in at 58 small, widely spaced pages, and I would call it a short story. It was first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1940, and The Snow Goose was one of the O. Henry prize winners in 1941.

The story itself is set on the Essex coast of England, beginning in “the late spring of 1930” and ending approximately ten years later. The main action of the story takes place in and around the evacuation of Dunkirk by the British near the beginning of World War II. It’s a romantic, and sad story about an artist, his young friend and protege, and a Canada snow goose that makes its way somehow to the Essex coast and becomes a symbol of hope for survivors of the debacle and rescue that was Dunkirk.

I would think that as a gentle introduction to World War II literature, The Snow Goose would be a winner among high school students. Other books and movies featuring the evacuation of Dunkirk:

Books:
The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord. Nonfiction.

Dunkirk: The Complete Story of the First Step in the Defeat of Hitler by Norman Gelb. More nonfiction.

Dunkirk: The Men They Left Behind by Sean Longden. Times Online review/

On Rough Seas by Nancy L. Hull. Young adult fiction. Fourteen year old Alex lives in Dover, England in 1939, and he is eventually a hero as he participates in the rescue of the British soldiers at Dunkirk.

The Little Ships: the heroic rescue at Dunkirk in World War II by Louise Borden. Picture book. “A young English girl and her father take their sturdy fishing boat and join the scores of other civilian vessels crossing the English Channel in a daring attempt to rescue Allied and British troops trapped by Nazi soldiers at Dunkirk.”

Dunkirk Crescendo by Brock and Bodie Thoene. Rather melodramatic, fast-paced Christian fiction by a pair of prolific writers in the genre of historical fiction. This book is Book #9 of the Zion Covenant series published by Tyndale House.

Atonement by Ian McEwan features Dunkirk in the second half of the story. Semicolon review here.

Movies:
Dunkirk (1958) “Documentary-style film which tells two sides of the evacuation of more than 350,000 troops from Dunkirk beaches in 1940. A British corporal (John Mills) finds himself responsible for getting his men back to Britain from the Dunkirk beaches, after their officer is killed and they are separated from the main allied forces. Meanwhile, a civilian reporter (Bernard Lee) follows the build-up to the eventual evacuation of British and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk.”

Mrs. Miniver (1942) “Mrs. Miniver nobly tends her rose garden while her stalwart husband participates in the evacuation at Dunkirk. She personifies grace under pressure as the Miniver family huddles in their bomb shelter during a Luftwaffe attack, while she is forced to confront a downed Nazi paratrooper in her kitchen, and while she is preparing for her annual flower show despite the exigencies of bombing raids.” I saw Mrs. Miniver about a year ago, and I thought it was delightful. If you like The Snow Goose and its somewhat sentimental picture of a world at war, you’ll enjoy Mrs. Miniver, too.

The Snow Goose itself was made into a 1971 film starring Richard Harris and Jenny Agutter. I’ve not seen the movie; have any of you?

Nicely maintained website for fans of Paul Gallico and his books.

Hymn #63: I’ll Fly Away

Jul11

Lyrics: Albert E. Brumley, 1929.

Music: Albert E. Brumley

Theme: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I Thessalonians 4:16-17

Here’s Allison Krauss singing with scenes from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou.

My brother-in-law loved that movie; I was and am completely unable to share his enthusiasm, except for the music which is worth enduring the tediousness of the movie.

Some bright morning when this life is over
I’ll fly away
To that home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away

Chorus
I’ll fly away oh glory
I’ll fly away (in the morning)
When I die hallelujah by and by
I’ll fly away

When the shadows of this life have gone
I’ll fly away
Like a bird from prison bars has flown
I’ll fly away

Oh how glad and happy when we meet
I’ll fly away
No more cold iron shackles on my feet
I’ll fly away

Just a few more weary days and then
I’ll fly away
To a land where joys will never end
I’ll fly away

Albert E. Brumley, the author and composer of this famous gospel hit, was the son of an Oklahoma share-cropper, and at the age of sixteen he decided to write gospel music.

“In 1926 Albert made a life-altering decision. He left the family farm and traveled east toward Hartford, Arkansas, searching for a “Good Samaritan.” His name was Eugene Monroe Bartlett, owner of the Hartford Music Company and director of the Hartford Musical Institute. . . . Throwing back his frail shoulders, Albert found the Institute and soon located Mr. Bartlett in his office. He introduced himself and said, “Mr. Bartlett, I hear that you’ll teach a fella how to sing and how to write music. I’ve come to learn and I understand I don’t have to have any money.”
Mr. Bartlett asked Albert if he at least had money for tuition, which was five dollars. Albert answered, “No, sir.” Bartlett then asked if he had any money for his room and board. Again the answer came, “No sir, Mr. Bartlett, I don’t have any money period.”
Albert never forgot what happened next. The “Good Samaritan” looked the frail young man up and down and said, “Well, in that case you better go over to my house and board.”

Brumley spent the rest of his life writing music,and he eventually bought Eugene Bartlett’s music publishing company after Bartlett’s death.

You can listen to this gospel favorite sung by almost any country or folk or gospel artist you want to hear. They’ve all recorded it: Wynona Judd, Johnny Cash, Jars of Clay, Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Nickel Creek, Hank Williams, Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, Kanye West, WIllie Nelson, Plainsong, Ronnie Milsap, Aretha Franklin, George Jones, Avalon, and Jerry Lee Lewis, just to link and name a few.

Sources:
Biographical Sketch on the Life of Albert E. Brumley.

Hymn #78: Victory in Jesus

Jun24

Lyrics: Eugene M. Bartlett, 1939.
Music: Eugene M. Bartlett, 1939.
Theme: “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:55-57

Eugene Monroe Bartlett Senior was born on Christmas Eve of 1885. He wrote the words to this hymn — his last song — in 1939. Mr. Bartlett was well known as a gospel singer, writer, teacher, editor, and publisher. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1979.

I think of all the renditions of Victory in Jesus that I found on youtube, I liked this one best, because it’s real and honest and full of the victory that’s found in Jesus alone.

Here’s the first part of David Ring’s story.
And here’s Part 2.

It’s an old, old story, but it keeps happening over and over again. God takes the most unlikely people and uses us to glorify His name.

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins;
And won the victory.

Chorus:
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him,
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and brought
To me the victory.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

The summer after I graduated from high school I left West Texas where I had lived all my life and went to the foreign country of Oklahoma (City) to serve as a summer missionary in the Baptist Mission Center in downtown, near the stockyards, OKC. There were several other college age missionaries serving there for the summer, too, and and most of them were from somewhere in Oklahoma. They began to tell me that at the end of the summer we would spend a week at a place called Falls Creek and that Gene Bartlett would be leading the music there.

I looked at them blankly and said something noncommittal. Then, they told me that Mr. Bartlett’s father was the author of the hymn Victory in Jesus. Unfortunately, I had never heard the hymn. I had never heard of Falls Creek nor of Mr. Bartlett. My fellow missionaries were not at all convinced that I had grown up in a Southern Baptist church nor that I even knew the Lord after that. What kind of pagan wouldn’t know about Falls Creek and Gene Bartlett? And not knowing Victory in Jesus? Impossible.

True story. I now know and love E.M. Bartlett’s old hymn of victory.

Sources:
All About God: Victory in Jesus.
Turn Your Radio On by Ace Collins.

Hymn #82: God of Grace and God of Glory

Jun19

Lyrics: Harry Emerson Fosdick, 1930.
Music: CWM RHONDDA by John Hughes, 1907.
Theme: Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Ephesians 6:19-20.

October 5, 1930, saw the celebration of the first service at Riverside Church, New York City. To mark the occasion, Harry wrote the hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory.”

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil ’round us,
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Thy children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control.
Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

Set our feet on lofty places,
Gird our lives that they may be,
Armored with all Christ-like graces,
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee,
That we fail not man nor Thee.

Save us from weak resignation,
To the evils we deplore.
Let the search for Thy salvation,
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee Whom we adore,
Serving Thee Whom we adore.

Fosdick became a central figure in the conflict between fundamentalist and liberal forces within American Protestantism in the 1920s and 1930s. While at First Presbyterian Church, on May 21, 1922, he delivered his famous sermon “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?”, in which he defended the modernist position. In that sermon, he presented the Bible as a record of the unfolding of God’s will, not as the literal Word of God. He saw the history of Christianity as one of development, progress, and gradual change. To the fundamentalists, this was rank apostasy, and the battle lines were drawn.”

It’s interesting that I’ve been reading Chaim Potok’s The Chosen this week which presents a fictional picture of the same basic controversy in almost the same time period (1940’s) within Orthodox Judaism.

Whether you agree with his theology or not, it’s a rather good and sticky hymn. (As in, it sticks in my memory.) “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage . . . ”

Sources:
John MacArthur: Harry Emerson Fosdick and the Emerging Theology of Early LIberalism.
Wikipedia: Harry Emerson Fosdick
Christian History: Harry Emerson Fosdick Dedicated Riverside Church

Hymn # 98: Our God Reigns

Jun4

Lyrics: Lenny Smith, 1973.
Music: Lenny Smith, arranged by Thomas E. Fettke.
Theme:

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7

Composer Lenny Smith: “Most people who sing the song only half-believe it. The real message of the song is not just that God reigns over great events, like kingdoms rising and falling. The real message is that He reigns over the details of what we call accidents and coincidences. His permissive will is His perect will, too . . . and it’s all for good.”

1. How lovely on the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
good news; announcing peace,
proclaiming news of happiness:
our God reigns, our God reigns!
Refrain
Our God reigns, our God reigns,
our God reigns, our God reigns!
2. He had no stately form,
he had no majesty that we should be drawn to him.
He was despised
and we took no account of him,
yet now he reigns with the Most High!
3. It was our sin and guilt that bruised and wounded him;
it was our sin that brought him down.
When we like sheep had gone astray,
our shepherd came and on his shoulders bore our shame!
4. Meek as a lamb that’s led out to the slaughterhouse,
still as a sheep before its shearer,
his life ran down upon the ground like pouring rain
that we might be born again!
5. Out of the tomb he came with grace and majesty;
he is alive, he is alive!
God loves us so:
see here his hands, his feet, his side;
yes, we know he is alive!

Text based on Isaiah 52:7. Text and music © 1974, 1978, New Jerusalem Music.
You can listen to an instrumental version of this contemporary hymn here.
And here’s an October, 2008 blog interview with Mr. Smith in which he says: “I would love to see the young musicians study literature and poetry to help them learn how to write inspired lyrics. I would love to see them learn how to write melodies with one finger on the piano and THEN go after the chords, rather than press melodies into chord patterns. I would love to see the young artists go forth… into the coffee houses and bookstores and clubs and get into the action.” Among other things.

And here is where you can download mp3 files of the songs on Mr. Smith’s one album:
Deep Calls to Deep.
FInally, here’s Sufjan Stevens singing a Lenny Smith composition entitled But For You Who Fear My Name. I do like me some Sufjan, thanks to my two eldest who introduced me to Mr. Stevens and his music a few years ago.

Sources:
Our God Reigns by Phil Christensen and Shari Macdonald.
The Blah Blah: Indie Music That Could Change Your Life. Or Not.

Hymn #100: O God Our Help In Ages Past

Jun2

Lyrics: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, 1719.
Music: ST ANNE by WIlliam Croft, 1708.
Theme: Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psalm 90:1-2

Hannah: . . . a beautiful commentary of the frailty of human life, and the omnipotent strength of an immortal God. This is a beautiful cry to God for help in our brief lives, and a remembrance that He is our home in the next one.


O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
Return, ye sons of men:
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in following years.

Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

Like flowery fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower’s hand
Lie withering ere ‘tis night.

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

From The Second World War by Winston Churchill, Vol. 3, p. 345:

On Sunday morning, August 10, (l94l) Mr Roosevelt came aboard H.M.S. PRINCE OF WALES and, with his Staff officers and several hundred representatives of all ranks of the United States Navy and Marines, attended Divine Service on the quarterdeck. This service was felt by all of us to be a deeply moving expression of the unity of faith of our two peoples, and none who took part in it will forget the spectacle presented that sunlit morning on the crowded quarterdeck…… the American and British chaplains sharing in the reading of the prayers.. I chose the hymns myself.

We ended with “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” which Macaulay reminds us the Ironsides had chanted as they bore John Hampden’s body to the grave. Every word seemed to stir the heart. It was a great hour to live. Nearly half those who sang were soon to die.”

This hymn is inextricably linked, in my mind at least, with Churchill and with the heroism of the British people during World War II. In the final scenes of the WWII film Mrs. Miniver, as the people gather in a bomb-damaged church, the preacher exhorts them on remaining steadfast and faithful as the ST ANNE tune to O God Our Help in Ages Past plays in the background. According to Cyber Hymnal, the same hymn was played at Sir WInston Churchill’s funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London in 1965.

I know of two alternate tunes to this venerable hymn:

Sovereign Grace has a mp3 version that you can download for free if you like it.
My friend Hannah also has composed a tune setting for the lyrics to O God Our Help in Ages Past, and we sing her tune at my church. I wish you could hear it; she’s quite a talented composer.

I also found at iTunes a ST ANNE rendition by Bing Crosby, and I just had to buy it. I’m rather fond of Mr. Crosby’s crooning.

Sources:
Hymn History: O God Our Help in Ages Past.
Cyber Hymnal: O God Our Help in Ages Past.
W. G. Parker: An Historical Link With 1941 World War II.

The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips

May30

The Well and the Mine is Alabama author Gin Phillips’s first novel, and I’m impressed. The plot is simple: Nine year old Tess witnesses a tragedy on her own back porch, and she and her older sister, Virgie, try to figure out why a Mystery Woman threw a baby in their well. It’s very much a bildungsroman, a coming of age story, reminiscent of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. (OK, I’m not saying it’s as good as To Kill a Mockingbird, but the setting and themes are similar. And it is good.)

The well part of the title is indicative of the plot; the mine points to the setting. The story of Tess and VIrgie and their family takes place in the fictional mining town of Carbon Hill, Alabama, somewhere not too far from Birmingham. Tess’s daddy is a coal miner; her mother is a homemaker who works from dawn to late at night to put food on the table and make a life for herself, her husband, and her three children. Tess and Virgie have a little brother, Jack. They’re all good folks.

Each member of the family takes turns telling the story in first person from his or her point of view, sometimes for a few paragraphs and sometimes for several pages. This rotating narration was annoying at first. I had to keep looking back to the beginning of the section to the name in italics to see who was talking, who “I” was this time. But you get used to it, and this style of story-telling has the advantage of giving the reader a fuller view of what’s going on in the family, of family dynamics, of how different people see things. Each of the five narrators became a real person for me. I felt I knew them, and I was glad that Ms. Phillips saw fit to tell us over the course of the story, which mainly focuses on one summer in 1931, what happened to each family member in later life.

I’m glad I got to read this novel about life during the Great Depression in a coal-mining town in northern Alabama. I didn’t even know they had coal mines in Alabama. I associate coal mining with Kentucky and West Virginia. At any rate, if you’re a fan of the Southern novel, the summer-of-growing-up family slice of life novel, or the gentle, rambling, character-driven story of an historical era, The Well and the Mine will fit the bill. Recommended.

John Adams’ Advice to His Children

May19

When I read David McCullough’s biography of John Adams back in February and watched the PBS miniseries based on the book, I copied several passages into my commonplace book for future reference. These are some quotations from Adams’ letters or other writings that reflect his advice to his children.

John adn Abigail had four children who lived to adulthood: one, John Quincy, became president of the United States. The other three lived to experience varying degrees of tragedy in their lives. Abigail, the eldest, nicknamed Nabby, married Colonel William Smith who turned out to be a profligate husband who practically deserted her and their children for long periods of time throughout their marriage. Nabby died of breast cancer at age forty-nine.

Charles Adams was by all accounts a charming and talented young man, but he drank excessively and eventually died an alcoholic. He was married to Col. Smith’s sister, Sally, and the couple had two daughters. He also deserted his family and died at the age of thirty, alone, in New York City.

Thomas Adams, the youngest of the Adams children, became a lawyer, but not a very successful one. Thomas married and had seven children, but he, too, was prone to alcohol abuse. He and his family lived with his father John Adams in John’s old age, and Thomas outlived his father in spite of his alcoholism.

Perhaps John Adams’ children, in light of their sometimes poor decisions in adult life, should have taken his advice more to heart. At any rate, here is some of what Mr. Adams wrote to his children, in case you want to take advantage.

“Daughter! Get you an honest man for a husband, and keep him honest. No matter whether he is rich, provided he be independent. Regard the honor and moral character more than all other circumstances. Think of no other greatness but that of the soul, no other riches but those of the heart. An honest, sensible humane man, above all the littleness of vanity and extravagances of imagination, laboring to do good rather than be rich, to be useful rather than make a show, living in modest simplicity clearly within his means and free from debts and obligations, is really the most respectable man in society, makes himself and all about him most happy.” (John Adams, p. 289)

“Public business, my son, must always be done by somebody. It will be done by somebody or other. If wise men decline it, others will not; if honest men refuse it, others will not. A young man should weigh well his plans. Integrity should be preserved in all events, as essential to his happiness, through every stage of his existence. His first maxim then should be to place his honor out of reach of all men.” (John Adams, p. 415)

To Charles on exercise: “Move or die is the language of our Maker in the constitution of our bodies. When you cannot walk abroad, walk in your room . . . Rise up and then open your windows and walk about your room a few times, then sit down to your books or your pen.” (John Adams, p. 452)

“More depends on little things than is commonly imagined. An Erect figure, a steady countenance, a neat dress, a genteel air, an oratorical period, a resolute, determined spirit, often do more than deep erudition or indefatigable application.” (John Adams, p. 453)

To John Quincy: “Rejoice always in all events, be thankful always for all things is a hard precept for human nature, though in my philosophy and in my religion a perfect duty.”

Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachman

May11

I must say upfront that the political agenda in this YA novel made me uncomfortable. Maybe that’s a good thing; we all need to have our assumptions challenged at times, especially political assumptions. However, I don’t know enough about the historical and geographical setting of the book, late twentieth century Chile, to know whether the author was portraying events and government actions accurately and fully or not.

That said, the book is set in Chile—Pinochet’s Chile. The CIA is the villainous corporation in the background, and protagonist Daniel’s Communist father, Marcelo, is the good guy. In 1980 when Daniel was only twelve years old the police arrested Marcelo because he was the publisher and primary journalist for an underground newspaper written in opposition to Chile’s military regime.

After his father’s arrest, Daniel, his mother, and his younger sister Tina flee to Wisconsin while his father remains imprisoned in Chile. Although the small family tries to influence the Chilean government to release Marcelo and other prisoners of conscience, they are also making a new life for themselves in Wisconsin and becoming part of “Gringolandia”, a land their father hates because of its support for Pinochet and his thugs.

When Marcelo is released from prison and rejoins his family in the U.S., there are problems that seem to keep multiplying. How can Marcelo recover menatlly and physically from the years of imprisonment and torture? What is he to do with his life now that he is free? Is Daniel Chilean or American, chileno or gringo? What about Daniel’s gringa girlfriend? Will she ever be able to understand what it means to fight against a repressive and dictatorial government? Can Daniel and his father restore the father/son relationship that was interrupted by his father’s arrest? Can Daniel’s mother return to a traditional marriage relationship after six years of independence in the U.S.?

The story edges into a kind of racism or xenophobia that implies that someone from another culture or country can never understand or relate to a native of, for instance, Chile. This premise is never stated, but it is there under the surface. Also, the ideas that Salvador Allende was a hero, the socialist saviour of Chile (questionable) and that Pinochet was a power-hungry and thuggish dictator (probably quite true) are basic to the story, and again, I’m not really prepared to evaluate the evidence for and against those characterizations. I have heard of the “desaparecidos” during Pinochet’s rule, from 1973-1990, and I’m sure that the imprisonment and torture described in the book were tragically common and standard practice in Chile at the time.

Altogether, Gringolandia was a good story, a useful look at one family’s immigrant experience, and an education in the politics, history, and culture of Chile. I didn’t like the ending of the story very much, but I felt it was realistic and probable for the characters as I’d gotten to know them over the course of the book.

On the Character of John Adams

Apr21

During my Lenten blog break and during the month of February for my Semicolon Book Club, I read the biography of John Adams written by David McCullough. I also watched the mini-series based on McCullough’s book. Both book and video series were excellent. I learned a lot about our second president and came to admire him sometimes in spite of his faults, which he would be the first to admit were many.

Here’s what a few other people said about Mr. Adams:

Benjamin Franklin: “He means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes and in some things, absolutely out of his senses.”

Thomas Jefferson: “His vanity is a lineament in his character which had entirely escaped me. His want of taste I had observed. Notwithstanding all this he has a sound head on substantial points, and I think he has integrity.”

Jonathan Sewall: “Adams has a heart formed for friendship and susceptible to its finest feelings. He is humane, generous, and open, warm in his friendly attachments, though perhaps rather implacable to those he thinks his enemies.”

Thomas Jefferson, again: “Mr. Adams is vain, irritable, stubborn, endowed with excessive self-love and still suffering pique at the preference accorded Franklin over him in Paris.”

John Adams himself to James Warren:
“Popularity was never my mistress, nor was I ever, or shall I ever be, a popular man. But one thing I know, a man must be sensible of the errors of the people, and upon his guard against them, and must run the risk of their displeasure sometimes, or he will never do them any good in the long run.”

The real John Adams? Perhaps all of the above. We are all mixtures of vanity and generosity and common sense and sometimes absolutely out of our senses.