Jimmy Dale Pittman
(April 21, 1954-June 30, 2007)

To Jimmy: Nearly a Year Later

Today is your birthday,
It’s been nearly a year
Since you left us,
I still weep when I think of you.

I always called you on your birthday,
But now I can only call
On your memory with my poems.

Rest now, my brother,
I hope you’ve found peace
And a place where you
Won’t have to work so hard,
A place with green fields and cool breezes,
Like your plot of land in Haslet,
Or an Elysium or Paradise or Valhalla.

Valhalla would so suit your personality
And your Viking blood,
Odin may need wild scrappers like you,
Maybe pretty valkyries greeted you last June,
I imagine them sitting at your table now,
Singing and serving mead as you flirt,
Perhaps they’ll give you this poem,
Or at least tell you that I miss you,
That I promise to stand in the gap
And take care of our parents.
You were loved and will be missed, brother,
Much more than you know.
–2008

TLA Report: I’ll soon post photos and a full report of my Texas Library Association experience in Dallas. You can learn about the conference and the organization here: http://www.txla.org/conference/conf.html

Say It Ain’t So . . .

Just when you think there’s hope for the human race, you read or see something that makes you slap your head. Like these stories for example, as told by a local political pundit.

Obama’s Pastor: I verified this report through a number of sites. Evidently Obama’s pastor is getting a 1.6 million dollar mansion [Ain’t America terrible!] from his church for retirement in a white neighborhood. Think about the irony. Here’s one of many good articles on this: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/27/obamas-former-pastor-builds-a-multimillion-dollar-retirement-home/

He’s lucky he lives in this age because after his speech Lincoln would have gladly sent him to Liberia to retire there. Lincoln, like many abolitionists, wanted an all white America, so they developed what has been called the Liberian Plan. There are many good sites to read about Lincoln’s ideas on black “colonization” but here is a good one to start with: http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n5p-4_Morgan.html

Church of the Big Government Is Hard at Work: I haven’t used tobacco in six months now. Quitting has been good for me. However, I am against organized efforts to force people to quit. For example, take the Kick Butts Day conducted in schools across America where kids walked around painted as dead, marked with “Killed by Tobacco.” There were also some crime scene chalk outlines of bodies marked “Murdered by Big Tobacco.” I wonder about the efficacy of efforts like this in an educational setting. It seems like another government agenda and another sign of intolerance and an effort to weaken the rights of the individual.  What do we really want to teach children in public schools? I’m just thinking out loud here, but does Big Government view public schools as a means of social control?

If you are a writer who uses a POD publisher, according to Booklocker, “here is a developing situation you need to be aware of.

Amazon.com is Telling POD Publishers – Let BookSurge Print Your Books, or Else…

Some Print on Demand (POD) publishers are privately screaming “Monopoly!” while others are seething with rage over startling phone conversations they’re having with Amazon/BookSurge representatives. Why isn’t anybody talking about it openly? Because they’re afraid – very, very afraid…

Read the details here
http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html

Myths of American Slavery by Walter Donald Kennedy: A Review

There’s a saying, “The victors of a war write the history,” and perhaps there’s no clearer example of that than the misinformation and inaccuracies spread regarding the War Between the States.  However, once a student of history delves into real the facts and past the propaganda of those (often in government) with agendas and past the fiction of the saint-makers and mythmakers, one can find many surprising and iconoclastic truths. Sacred cows do not die easily or quietly usually, for their devotees (in this case the winners of America’s Civil War) are usually numerous and powerful. I would like to devote some articles to reviews of books related to or about the War Between the States that are sure to challenge our thinking

Myths of American Slavery by Walter Donald Kennedy is a fine example of how commonly accepted beliefs can be challenged.  Kennedy is the author of The South Was Right! (Pelican Publishing), a book that is in the best-seller category, having sold over 100,000 copies.  The Foreword is written by Bob Harrison, a black Southern writer. The book’s introduction begins with an epigraph of Jefferson Davis that says, “No subject [slavery] has been more generally misunderstood or more persistently misrepresented.”  The text is well-researched and documented with an impressive bibliography and index.

The book is a balanced, but challenging study of the institution of slavery in the 19th century, is full of surprises and is organized in this fashion:

Chapter 1 Slavery: A Worldwide Phenomenon
Chapter 2 Slavery Comes to the New World
Chapter 3 Abolitionism Versus Christianity
Chapter 4 African-Americans, Free Born and Slave
Chapter 5 Slavery Versus Secession
Chapter 6 Lincoln: The Un-Emancipator
Chapter 7 Slavery and the Confederate States of America
Chapter 8 The Flag of Slavery
Chapter 9 On the State of Slavery in Virginia
Chapter 10 On Jordan’s Stormy Banks
Addendum I Abstract: On the State of Slavery in Virginia
Addendum II Early Anti-Slavery Tract
Addendum III Recommended Reading List

Do yourself a favor and visit Walter Kennedy’s website and take a look at this book and some of his other writings. http://www.kennedytwins.com/

Wow  . . . I’ve been incredibly busy. I’ve met so many people and have so many people, programs, sites, and books to recommend in future posts. For today’s post, I wanted to leave you with some favorite writing quotes of mine:

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” (Richard Bach)

“Hype springs eternal in every publisher’s breast.” (Colin Haycroft)

When asked by Esquire what he would have done if it hadn’t been for writing, novelist Richard Ford replied, “Make more money.” (Source Jay Conrad Levinson)

I’ve just returned to my lodging from the first two days of the Texas Librarians Association meeting in Dallas. Wow . . . My head is spinning from sensory overload. I’ve met so many cool people, some wonderful writers and many fantastic librarians. I’m sure many of them will use me for programs this next year. Though most of my time was spent signing books at the Pelican Booth, I did spend a great deal of time playing music for one of my sponsors, The World and I. I’ll talk more about Mr. Kim the publisher and this stimulating online program in future posts. Go to this site for a quick look at his wonderful product, an interactive and online encyclopedia (http://www.worldandischool.com/). One vendor took me to dinner at Dakota Steakhouse and another (Mr. Kim) to an authentic Korean restaurant. Here is Mr. Kim, his beautiful worker, Elizabeth, and myself.

Tomorrow, I’ll be at the Grapevine Books-A-Million for a signing. Of all the BAM’s I’ve done, I expect this one to be the best. More later. It’s raining and hailing here in Dallas, so I better post while I can.

Tonight, I’m in my lodging in Lafayette. In an earlier post, I had made mention to Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. As good as that read was, I enjoyed the Kite Runner far more. I finished it tonight. As Isabel Allende said of Kite Runner, this is “one of those unforgettable stories that stays with you for years.” The novel will teach you the beauty and uniqueness of the Afghan culture. The novel’s themes that relate to guilt, friendship, betrayal, the ghosts and power of memory, family, and history will stir, perhaps even break your heart. If you’ve ever lived with a secret sin, with a tortured conscience, you will weep. If you’ve ever wondered how bad life is under the Taliban and how right we in the West are to resist them, this novel will answer those asked and unasked questions in a bone and soul-jarring manner.

Here are some lines that stood out to me:

“[I]t’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out” (1).

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, some even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime . . .” (142).

“I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night” (359).

The narrator says that Sohrab’s silence was “the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place . . . He walked like he was afraid to leave behind footprints. He moved as if not to stir the air around him” (361).

The novel Kite Runner is a New York Times Bestseller and my edition (Riverhead Books) comes with study questions. I’d have to say this is one of the better reads of my life.

My new Scottish Alphabet book is now being sold on Amazon! Here is the initial information! It will retail for $15.95, though you can purchase it cheaper online. That Amazon link is http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Alphabet-Rickey-E-Pittman/dp/1589805968/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208185455&sr=1-1I can’t wait for it to come out. I’ve already started pre-selling the book. See details of the pre-sale offer below:

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company (September 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1589805968
ISBN-13: 978-1589805965

PRE-SALE INFORMATION OF THE SCOTTISH ALPHABET by Rickey E. Pittman

*Order now and a signed copy will be sent to you as soon as the book comes out (in August or September). The book is a collection of poems, each poem based on a letter of the alphabet, and the price is $16.00. You can also pay my email address, rickeyp@bayou.com via PayPal. (Shipping is paid by me!) Contact me at rickeyp@bayou.com if you need more details. Order directly from me at the below address. I’ll send you a printed or email receipt for your order immediately:

Rickey E. Pittman

1105 N. 8th Street

Monroe, LA 71201

Many people collect alphabet books. Librarians and teachers love them because they are an effective way to teach children culture, facts, history, and the rhythym of language. I dedicate the Scottish Alphabet children’s picture book in this way: “To the children of Scotland, wherever God has placed you.”

My artist is Connie McLennan, a freelance illustrator. She is a member of the San Francisco Society of Illustrators, the Northwest Air Force Artists, and the Picture Book Artists Association. She has won awards from both the San Francisco Society of Illustrators and the Sacramento Ad Club. She is also a founding member of OASES, a parent advocacy group for children with special needs. McLennan creates and sells “daily paintings” via her painting blog and through eBay.Here is another sample of her artwork in this book:

 Ah, so this is what the life of a writer is, at least one with limited resources who is trying to establish himself.  It is very busy and tiring. I spent the night Thursday with friends in Alexandria, Louisiana, then up at 4:00 a.m. to drive on to Lake Charles. I was at Le Bleau Elementary all day Friday, and I must say that this program and presentation was a wonderful experience for me.  The students were absolutely wonderful, the teachers far above average, and Adrienne Oakley, the librarian in the photo with me below, a fantastic lady.  I do hope I can come back to this school, as I loved these kids and beautiful teachers so much.

From Lake Charles, I drove to Baton Rouge on Friday, where I was to meet my fellow musician, Tom McCandlish. We were guests of the Scottish Society there, and had a late night at the society’s house on Airline.  Thanks to Mark and Tasha Ferguson for their hospitality this past weekend.  They are generous, and they love things and people Scottish with all their heart.  Below is my friend Tom, and though he is very Scottish, he is reminding us of how multicultural he can be!  I’ve forgotten when and where I took this photo this weekend! Ahem . . .

Saturday morning, Tom woke me up much earlier than I wanted, and we went to the Swamp Celts Festival in Gonzalez, Louisiana.  We had a great day and I certainly will post more photos of this event in the near future.  I made two story-telling presentations for the festival, and I also had a booth where I signed and sold my books.  The festival staff was fantastic and with their help I was able to have a very successful day of signing and selling books.  I am indebted to all the festival staff there, and with all my heart I thank them for allowing me to read some of my writing and have  a table there. Below is a photo of Shannon, one of the festival workers I met last year and am in debt to. We decided that our picture together at this event would be an annual tradition, so here is our second photo together.

I’ll certainly have more to say of this weekend in the future. Mark this link and check it in the near future for more photos of this wonderful festival.  http://swampcelts.com/ 

This week, I’m going to the Texas Library Association conference in Dallas. This too will be a long week, but I’ll make as many posts as I can.

I’ve been remiss in my blog duties, but I’ve been buried in book editing for days. I’ll be in Lake Charles at a school Friday, and performing and signing books at the Swamp Celts Festival in Baton Rouge on Saturday. In other words, I’ll be swamped with work.

Here is something I put together for TGIF about some little known Texans during the War Between the States.

Some Texans Worth Remembering . . .

In More Generals in Gray by Bruce Allardice, printed by LSU Press, I found the names of several Texans who served the Confederacy during the War Between the States. Here are a few of the men mentioned in the appendix of this book and a short description of each man:

Frederic Samuel Bass, (1829-1897) was a prewar teacher in Marshall Texas. As a colonel, the notes said he commanded Hood’s Texas Brigade near the end of the war.

August Buchel (1811-1864) was a colonel of the 1st Texas Cavalry, a native of Germany, and a soldier of fortune. He was promoted to Brigadier General just before he was killed at the battle of Mansfield.

Thomas Jefferson Chambers was a colonel of the 14th Texas and was briefly governor of Texas in 1861 and promoted to general late in the war. He too resided in Marshall, Texas.

George M. Flournoy (1832-1889) was a colonel of the 16th Texas Infantry and prewar attorney general of Texas.

William Harrison Hamman (1830-1918) was a Virginia-born Texas lawyer of Robertson Texas.  He was appointed brigadier general of Texas state troops in December, 1864.

David Bell Martin (1830-1892) was a brigadier general of the 10th Brigade of the Texas Militia and later commandant of conscripts in Texas. Before the war he worked as a merchant in Cherokee County.

Hugh McLeod (1814-1862) was a West Point graduate and colonel of the 1st Texas Infantry. A New York-born Galveston resident, McLeod had been Texas’ secretary of war.

The more I study Texas history, the more fascinated I am.  If you’ve heard of these men or are related to them, drop me a note at rickeyp@bayou.com

Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate: A Review

I said before on this blog that Lisa Wingate is a Texas version of Carson McCullers.  I just completed her novel, and I now believe that statement even more. Having been raised in Texas, with grandparents in Rochester, a town in West Texas, I was surprised to find another author who loved that part of the country as much as I did. In Talk of the Town, author Lisa Wingate has created a story that is so true-to-life and so depictive of the people in West Texas that it rattled me. More witty than the Don Johnson movie Hotspot, the story not only revealed the culture and people of a small Texas town, but it reminded me of the many reasons why I love West Texas and the people who live there.

The plot is more complex than one might think at first glance, leading the reader on to discoveries about the characters and the town of Daily, Texas.  And in the process, the reader learns much about him or herself, discovering that fame is highly underrated, compared to the joy of finding true love.

The story is told in alternating chapters, using the voices and point-of-views of the young Mandalay Florentino and the older Imagene Doll.  At first, I was not interested in Imagene’s POV, but as I read on, I realized how important she was to the story.  Mandalay caught my attention from the first, perhaps because I had met the author and identified that voice with her.

The author is an expert of the similes and metaphors contained in the language of Texas residents. One could almost create a lexicon of West Texas idioms from this novel. The novel is also an expose of the “reality” shows, revealing gimmicks and reminding the reader to not believe that what we see on TV is always the “real” thing. However, with the depiction of Amber, one is led to think that maybe, just maybe, there are some people who have not sold out to Hollywood (or other places) and that if there were more people like Mandalay, our entertainment would be of better quality.

Here are two of my favorite lines:

“Those dreams, the ones that are dreamed for us, not by us, are the truest of all” (242).

“It made me wonder what else I might of missed, just because I was afraid” (122).

If you want to learn more of Lisa Wingate and her writing, go to http://www.lisawingate.com/