Ramblin' with Roger

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

“Picture books are an introduction to literature for the very young reader.”

It’s ridiculous. Every time my wife and I went to Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and came in through the main entrance, we passed by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Yet, my wife and I never actually went into the place until Saturday, April 11, after we helped the Daughter take down her art show. Of course, I knew who the illustrator was. I’ve read aloud Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967), written by Bill Martin, and, of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969).

I didn’t know anything about his personal bio, the early part of which was chilling. “Eric was born on June 25, 1929, in Syracuse, NY, the son of Johanna (née Oelschlaeger) and Erich W. Carle, a civil servant.”As the panel below notes, his mother, homesick for Germany, led the family back to Stuttgart. Eric graduated from the local art school, the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart.

Unfortunately, “his father was drafted into the German Army at the beginning of World War II (1939) and was taken prisoner by the Soviet forces when Germany capitulated in May 1945. He returned home in late 1947, weighing 85 pounds (39 kg; 6.1 st). Carle told The Guardian years later that his father was a broken man when he returned after his military service, recalling that Erich was a ‘sick man. Psychologically, physically devastated.'”

The first thing we did was go to the theater and see a segment of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood – this piece – where Eric shows Fred how to do art. It’s nicer on the bigger screen.

Since 2002

The website notes from Eric Carle: “In 2002, [the museum] opened in Amherst, MA. My wife, Bobbie, loved art and children – she worked in special education. She was a tremendous guiding force as we embarked on this project, created a Board of Directors, and hired staff in the early years of the Museum’s life.

“It has been said that picture books are an introduction to literature for the very young reader. Bobbie and I wanted to build a museum that would be for the first-time museum visitor: an introduction to the experience of looking at art.” I totally relate to this. We introduced our daughter to museums. For a while, in her teens, she seemed to eschew them, but now embraces the facilities.

“And we wanted to show the highest examples of that art to demonstrate the beauty, the seriousness, and the fun of it. We wanted to create a museum that exhibits the work of national and international picture book artists.” In the three gallery rooms, there is a variety of whimsical art, covering more than a century, some familiar – a library poster about reading and the dogs of William Wegman, for example.

“In 2015, sadly, Bobbie passed away. But our shared dream of a place where picture book art is enjoyed and honored continues. Bobbie’s Meadow, an outdoor space at the Museum, is a beautiful wildflower meadow and outdoor space created in memory of my dearest Bobbie.” It reminded my wife and me of an outdoor space at the Clark Art Museum.

Cooking

I think kids would like the museum a lot. Carle has created over 40 books. I was more interested in discovering more about Carle himself. If you go before September 26, 2026, check out the exhibit Cooking With Eric Carle in the West Gallery. His “career in book publishing began with commissions for Red Flannel Hash and Shoo-Fly Pie (published in 1965), a compilation of folk recipes from across the United States.”

The Eric Carle Museum, and for that matter, the Yiddish Book Center, will survive the closing of Hampshire College, even though both reside on the campus.

Mother’s Day on CBS Sunday Morning

CBS Radio

Since practically the beginning of its run in 1979, I’ve been a massive fan of CBS Sunday Morning. It is the network’s weekly magazine on the air.

Several of the segments on this past Mother’s Day made me a bit melancholy. They weren’t all sad, but many were reflective. Motherless daughters: Coming together involves “a global support network for women” who, like author Hope Edelman, were “young when their mothers died.” The women also experienced “laughter, sisterhood, and affirmation.” What caught me unawares was that the reporter, Faith Salie, was one of those women.

Every story I saw about the SCOTUS ruling ushering in a new era of gerrymandering made me heartsick.

CBS correspondent “Jonathan Vigliotti, who wrote about L.A.’s reconstruction efforts in his book ‘Torched,’ discusses how rebuilding after a disaster should include steps to prevent future catastrophes.” One fears that speed will win out over safety and strength.

Martin Short: Facing tragedy with joy is a heavy-duty piece in anticipation of Lawrence Kasdan‘s Marty, Life Is Short, a 101-minute tribute to the comic. It’s amazing and touching, given his sometimes difficult experiences – a brother and both parents died within an eight-year period in his youth, his wife of 30 years died in 2010, his daughter died earlier this year by suicide — how well put together he appears to be. Here’s an extended interview.

News

Remembering Ted Turner, an American original, reminded me of what we’ve lost since we had a reasonably straightforward, even boring, 24-hour news. I wonder if he knew whether FOTUS was limiting access to the bison on lands in Montana. (Here’s the CNN take on its founder’s passing at the age of 87.)

But I was most melancholy about the story of CBS News Radio, a beacon of broadcast journalism, as it signs off. “Founded nearly a century ago, [it] set the standard for radio news coverage, featuring legends such as Edward R. Murrow, Robert Trout, and Charles Osgood, and created the template for broadcast journalists. But on May 22, CBS will end its heralded radio service. Mo Rocca celebrates the long history of CBS News Radio, and talks with current and former staffers, including ‘Sunday Morning’ correspondent Martha Teichner (who reported on radio for decades), and Dan Rather (here’s an extended interview), a veteran radio correspondent and former anchor of the “CBS Evening News.”

So, CBS News did a credible job of explaining how it continues to decline.

Baby sister: biker babe

“farmer Green”

I always wondered how my baby sister, Marcia, became a biker babe in her 20s. She has forgotten more about motorcycles than I ever knew. Oddly, it seemed to have been instigated by our grandfather, McKinley Green.

He was the one who taught her about cars, including, and I only recently learned this, that he took her for driving lessons out on Airport Road near Binghamton, NY. She may or may not have had a driver’s permit, and she mightn’t have even been old enough for one. Almost certainly, my parents had no idea.

In retrospect, my two sisters and I all thought we each had a special relationship with Pop. And we all probably did. Even though he lived only a dozen and a half steps away, Pop’s apartment was an oasis from our dwelling, and he was fun.

For instance, Marcia spent more time planting items in the garden. He dubbed her “farmer Green,” I guess because she was wearing overalls. (Why don’t I remember this?)

My time with him involved watching boxing and other sports on his television and playing cards, mostly gin rummy. We all remember seeing Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and smelling his vile Fatima cigarettes.

By comparison, my mom’s mom, Gert Williams, was the antithesis of fun, always trying to fill our heads with fear. But as the youngest, she saw through her nonsense.

One of these days, I’ll have to have a face-to-face with Marcia, not just the weekly Zoom chats. Happy birthday, baby sister.

Sunday Stealing Makes You Choose

tea and geography

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week, our inspiration is Life of a Fool. This blogger maintains that this meme has “been seen everywhere.” The questions only require a simple, definitive answer, but if you’d like to elaborate, we’d like to hear what you have to say.

Which one? Sunday Stealing Makes You Choose

1. Pepsi or Coke?

Diet Cherry Pepsi. That full-sugar glass bottle of Coke that one used to only get near Mexico

2. Cappuccino or coffee?

I don’t drink coffee, and never did. There is something vaguely uncivilized about not drinking it; some people have tried to make me feel that. Someone makes a pot of coffee, and you don’t share. I probably mentioned my absolute refusal to make it. It was an office task; I made it once, it sucked, and I was off the hook.

Here’s a useless piece of information about cappuccino: “The name comes from the Capuchin friars, referring to the color of their habits, and in this context, referring to the color of the beverage when milk is added in a small portion to dark, brewed coffee (today mostly espresso).

Ice cream?

3. Chocolate or vanilla?

I’m assuming the question refers to ice cream, though it isn’t explicitly stated. I find that vanilla ice cream, as an accompaniment, is about perfect. It goes with chocolate cake, fruit pies, hot chocolate, and much more. A good chocolate ice cream needs to stand on its own, and some do.

I shared this before – it’s about racism and vanilla ice cream.

4. Hot tea or iced tea?

One of the first things I learned when I visited my parents and baby sister after they moved to the Southeast US was that there is tea and hot tea. Whereas, in the North, there’s iced tea and tea. What was the question again? Either one; it’s weather-dependent.

5. Dinner for two or a party?

It must be dinner for two, because I do it far more often. I like other people’s parties, though; I only throw one per year because it’s work.

#1 rhythm and blues hits for 1946

“jump music”

(Virtually the same intro as last week!)

These are the #1 rhythm and blues hits of 1946. Unlike the pop charts, which had 20 songs covering 96 weeks, there is only a handful here. That’s the function of the fact that in 1946, there was only one chart showing the most popular R&B songs.

When it was established in 1942, the chart was called the Harlem Hit Parade. In February 1945, it changed to Most Played Juke Box Race Records. It wasn’t until 1948 that Billboard tracked best-selling records, and not until 1955 that they followed the disc jockey’s most-played records. So, in the late 50s, you may see a lot more records, unless jukebox, sales, and radio play agree.

That is, until 13 October 1958, when they consolidated all the charts into what became Hot R&B Sides.

Choo Choo Ch’Boogie – Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five (Decca), 18 weeks at #1. “Far and away the most popular rhythm ‘n blues recording artist of the decade.”

Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop – Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra (Decca), 16 weeks at #1, co-written by Hampton. I always loved how the last chorus is off the beat. Half a dozen of his albums are in my collection.

Buzz Me -Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 9 weeks at #1. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influencer in 1987. His page notes, “The supreme ruler of Forties R&B. Louis Jordan topped the R&B charts for a total of one hundred thirteen weeks, an unheard of accomplishment.” I have one Jordan compilation CD.

Justifiable homicide?

Stone Cold Dead In The Market (He Had It Coming) -Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five, 5 weeks at #1

The Gypsy – Ink Spots (Decca), 3 weeks at #1. The only song on the list that crossed over to the pop charts that year

Ain’t That Just Like A Woman (They’ll Do It Every Time)-Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 2 weeks at #1. I love the guitar intro, which sounds REALLY familiar.

Don’t Worry About That Mule – Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, 1 week at #1. An NPR bio from 2008.