“We do not take a trip a trip takes us.” John Steinbeck
Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley Camper at the Museum
I know it has been a long time since I published my last Litchatte Blog. Several people have asked me if I was planning to keep writing the column, or if I had given up. I will say for now that I have not lessened my love of reading and teaching classic literature. However, my literary and personal activities have given me much less time to write Litchatte, but more time to immerse myself in great books and live experiences. But no, I don’t plan to abandon my Blog, I have just gone down another track for now.
I will attempt to summarize what I have done since my last entries. In late 2017, I taught several F. Scott Fitzgerald-related classes at the Osher Institute of the University of Virginia. I led a session on the music, lifestyles, art, and literature of the 1920s, and also published a few Litchatte blogs on those topics. I followed those up with classes on my favorite short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a critical analysis of The Great Gatsby (So We Read On) by Maureen Corrigan, and then concluded with a class on The Great Gatsby. Those sessions, according to class evaluations) were well received by the students (all age 50 and up).
Besides my Osher classes, I also help to steer and take part in two other book clubs: The First Friday Classic Book Club and the VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) Working Titles Book Club. In First Fridays, I participated in discussions of Howards End by E.M Forster and The Awakening by Kate Chopin and led a study of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I also watched the excellent 2017 film on the making of that Dickens novel, called The Man Who Invented Christmas. I am also looking forward to co-leading a discussion of The Color Purple by Alice Walker in April. I just completed re-reading it and seeing the moving Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg version of it. I am also just getting involved with the rich narratives of my first Joseph Conrad book, Lord Jim. Hopefully, I will have more to say about that also later on. At my VCU Book Club, I participated in discussions of the Short Stories of Vladimir Nabokov, Of Mice and Men, and led another session on Scott Fitzgerald’s Short Stories.
Another big activity for me is my involvement in the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, where I often lead tours. In January, I led a special tour and participated in a short dramatic reading in the character of the famous Poe created Detective, C. Auguste Dupin. I am also a member of the Poe Museum Board and write a monthly column there— a serialized version of my 2015 VCU Master’s Thesis on Poe and Nineteenth-Century Science. Thus far, I am mainly planning to publish my Poe research on the Poe Museum and Litchatte, unless I get an inspiration to put my findings in the form of a book or. You can find those postings and the Poe Museum Blog: www.thepoeblog.org. Several of them were reposted on Litchatte. As I slowly start to catch up on posting here, I will attempt to republish each of my Poe Blogs on this site.
Besides, these activities, I have also been working as the Editor of The MennoNet, my church’s newsletter, an Editor for The International Journal of Correctional Education, and tutoring some school students. In my leisure time, I like to read detective stories. My interest in this genre started with The Sherlock Holmes stories and, of course, his literary influence, the originator of the detective story—Edgar Allan Poe. I regard Michael Connelly as the inheritor of the master intelligent detective writer title. I thoroughly enjoy the way he spins a yarn and draws readers into the stories. Over the years, I believe I have read all of Connelly’s novels. His latest tale, Two Kinds of Truth, involves his most identifiable characters: Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer). I think this book is one of his best and has a very timely plot—how Russian mobsters try to make a profit off of the opioid addictions of senior citizens. The way he has written this book, I believe that both the long-time and the new Connelly reader can equally enjoy it. For good measure, the subscriber of Amazon Prime can catch up to these stories by watching two seasons of Bosch. I believe the third season will soon be issued.
Statue of Steinbeck at his Museum
In the Spring term, I started teaching some Osher classes at the University of Richmond on the Dust Bowl (Using the PBS Ken Burns Video), and on the Music and Lyrics of the 1930s. I will follow them up with some classes on John Steinbeck’s. Of Mice and Men (in March) and The Grapes of Wrath (in April). On a recent (February) trip to visit two of my daughters in Los Angeles, California, I took an 8-hour train diversion to visit the John Steinbeck National Museum in Salinas, California, the town where Steinbeck grew up (see a photo of the statue of Steinbeck at the museum). Salinas and the Central California Coast area also serves as the setting for several of his most notable novels. I regard this landmark as the premier literary museum devoted to a single American author). It is modern, well laid-out, engaging, and highly informative. Each room is dedicated to the major and several lesser-known Steinbeck novels, and shows videos from his notable books made into movies (best known were Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, and East of Eden).
Also featured are posters, and items related to the books, such as the camper that Steinbeck used to traverse the country in Travels with Charley. There is also a biographical video on Steinbeck and other displays on his family origins, his wives, and maps showing the locations (mostly in the Central Coast Region) where many of Steinbeck’s stories were centered. The museum can occupy a Steinbeck enthusiast almost a full day. On my recent visit, I took two friends along. It looked like Larry, who knew the most about U.S. History and Steinbeck and his wife (Sherry) who knew less about either, were equally interested in several of the Steinbeck displays. I am sure that I will be discussing these experiences after my Steinbeck classes.
However, at this point, I am uncertain whether to try to resume my discussion of F. Scott Fitzgerald, to update my Poe Museum Blogs, or to try to jump ahead and focus on my current Steinbeck classes. However, I feel confident that I will try to carve out time to keep the Litchatte blog active. However, I will soon be taking a family fun cruise to the Caribbean with my wife and friends, and soon after that a 10-day trip back to Los Angeles to spend time with my daughter and my soon to be born first grandchild. I will try to post at least one or more Litchatte Blogs in March and then try to update the blog with more dedication, beginning in April. This spring, I am also planning to try to update the look of Litchatte. Perhaps, you might want to make a suggestion for me on any topic at the bottom of this site or send me a personal email at ellisonms2@vcu.edu Thanks for your patience and support!
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