This newsletter was sent to all of the subscribers on Jim’s list (2,962) on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. The Christmas holiday season, Hannukah, the winter solstice, the beginning of the college football bowl season — they all collide for the next couple of weeks, provoking an increase in shopping, singing, television watching, and • Read More »
Archives: libraries
The father of modern caricature, bitterness among literary lights, and a view of personal technology: newsletter, Nov. 30, 2018
December 3, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: newsletter.
This newsletter was sent to all of the subscribers on Jim’s list (2,984) on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. The theme of writing — good writing, I hope — permeates all of my newsletters, but this week you may notice another: caricature. I have tried this art form from time to time with varying degrees • Read More »
The donkey libraries of rural Colombia: a story from the BBC
September 22, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, journalism.
Colombia is not all drugs and drug lords and gangs and violence. There are people like Luis Soriano, a Spanish teacher in rural La Gloria Colombia, who loves books, understands their value, and wants the young people of his region to have access to them. Soriano put his dream on the back of two donkeys, Alfa • Read More »
A picture essay book on the necessity of libraries from The Guardian
September 19, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, journalism.What are libraries about? Neil Gaiman and Chris Ridell have put together this pretty neat picture book that solidly answers that question. Sit back and take a look. You will enjoy this. Source: Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell on why we need libraries – an essay in pictures | Books | The Guardian
The man who wanted every book; the quintessential English detective; and the first American crime novel; and morenewsletter May 18, 2018
May 21, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: newsletter.This newsletter was emailed to everyone on Jim’s email list (2,644) on May 18, 2018 A summer head cold attacked me this week, making life miserable for a few days, but I tried not to let it slow me down too much. The major woodworking project that I mentioned last week was completed and • Read More »
Hernando Colón: The man who tried to read everything
May 16, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: journalism.
Hernando Colón (1488-1539), the illegitimate son of Christopher Columbus, spent much of his life traveling around Europe — and later America — amassing what was then the largest private library in the world. His goal was to collect all of the knowledge of the world into one place (Seville, Spain, as it turned out) because • Read More »
Martin Luther, Isaac Asimov, and the value of libraries; 50-plus true-crime books; and more; newsletter, April 27, 2018
April 30, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: newsletter.
This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (4,067) on Friday, April 20, 2018. Finally, the crimson clover has started to bloom (about a month late, due mostly to cold weather). Agriculturally, that’s the big event in our lives this week. The bees have started to work the clover, and now, maybe, the • Read More »