Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Today in Books and Entertainment History - June 06

On This Day In History in 1998, Sex and the City premiered on HBO.

"Darren Star, was best known at the time for producing the long-running Fox TV series Beverly Hills, 90210, and its spin-off, Melrose Place. For Sex and the City, Star switched coasts, loosely adapting a book by the same name by Candace Bushnell."

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Author of Famous Children's Book on Censorship Dies at 91


PD Headshot Image of Nat Hentoff via Wikipedia
Nat Hentoff was the kind of writer who wanted to make the world a better space. Over the span of his life and career, he managed to develop into a successful writer of music and books, as well as to land space in several periodical publications.

He wrote a children's book entitled The Day They Came to Arrest the Book, about ongoing civil debates on content censorship in the classroom. His story unfolds as a school newspaper editor (Barney Roth) grapples with the effects of a community demanding removal of a popular Mark Twain title, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Hentoff's book was published by Delacorte Press in 1982, has been reprinted several times, and is often used in educational classrooms. First-editions can be found, as well as subsequent prints and other titles by Hentoff largely about some aspect of jazz or blues music as well as issues of civil liberty.

In some of his final writing, Hentoff offered his readers a quote of advice once given to him about making an impact in this world via journalism. Any aspiring writer or investigative type could benefit to remember it. Find this, and more, from James Doubek via NPR: 'Village Voice' Veteran And Jazz Critic Nat Hentoff Dies At 91 : The Two-Way : NPR

Monday, January 2, 2017

Greater Options Can Be Found in Deciding to Do More

Quote:


"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt

From the book The Most Productive People in History
18 Extraordinarily Prolific Inventors, Artists, and Entrepreneurs, From Archimedes to Elon Musk

Written by Michael Rank and published by the CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on April 30, 2015. 

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Books and Social Media: Two Competing Communication Tools in the Battle of Knowledge

There should be no shame in lack of opportunity to expand one's literacy, and none when opportunity to read a book presents itself or can be taken.  Certainly, there's no shame in expressing results. You've heard that "communication is key"? The author of the following tweet gets it:

Image of tweet negatively criticizing readers of booksThere's some truth in that tweet. Reading more books doesn't make one person better than another, no! Yet, benefits may befall oneself, thus society, through greater literacy & understanding. Don't you agree?

It's hard to say who the target was of this mysterious tweet, which seems to have been passively sent to the general reading audience. We're sharing it . . . with the simple intention of resistance! to attempts to diminish the desire (and right) to learn.

We learn about, possibly experience, new worlds and ideas through the further knowledge and refinement of greater literacy. 

Because geography and circumstances matter, we remember those communities and people without opportunity or choice of basic literacy. With that, we may perceive the tweet as a reaction to having been corrected in the midst of a heated argument . . .an inconsequential insult, or the beginning of an end-- the kind of reaction that can develop into a long-term, detrimental perception. So, we work to discourage bad information, like fake news for example. We encourage information sharing in good faith.

Benefits may befall oneself, thus society, through greater literacy & understanding

It's possible that the primary target of the publicized tweet was being anonymously called out in err despite their apparent knowledge via books, or of books. After all, there are levels of effort and comprehension literacy. The mere "reading" of a book does not guarantee a superior understanding of a situation. This is to point out, it's also not okay to diminish the less learned, or to assume any value. Again, there's no shame in lack of opportunity or need to expand one's literacy.

Either way, the tweet communication serves as opportunity to counter, and illustrate the importance of exchange in information-sharing and understanding. Modern technology and social media continue to add dimension to the sharing of experiences and information!

Our natural tendency is to communicate in an effort to avoid assumption or add to a conversation. Telling a story is one of the most effective methods of communication and relay of knowledge. Let's not underestimate the value of books, language and other communication methods, nor our interest in contribution to a discussion.

References & Related Links:

National Assessment of Adult Literacy (U.S.)
  • encompasses 3 basic types of literacy
Media Literacy AwarenessHealth Literacy "
Digital Literacy & Digital Age Literacies
Financial Literacy

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Book Reporter Poll Shows: Why Write

A poll at BookReporter.com indicates that 27% of 131 people read in excess of ten books per month. That's some healthy reading! It'll be an interesting figure to check up on as voting progresses over time.

How many books do you read per month?  Share on Tumblr