Tim-berrrrr
Born in Idaho in 1976, the son of neuroscientists, Josh Ritter began as a songwriter and branched off into writing novels. I just finished his second, most recent, The Great Glorious Goddamn of It All, published in 2021. It’s the story of a 99-year-old man hospitalized after a life and death struggle with a thief. He took a bullet in the hip and another grazed his head. It’s a first person account in the language of someone without schooling, each chapter beginning in the present and seguing to his life in his 13th year when he decides to join the logging crew working a piece of land owned by his father, recently killed on the job. Not only is the work highly dangerous, there is a legendary logger present, a huge demonic figure who drinks all day, who wants the land and profits for himself and would not hesitate to kill for them. His ruthless tactics are already responsible for several deaths. 296 pages minus the blanks between many of the chapters, the prose and dialogue are rough, not an easy read, the F-word prevalent. As one would expect, the secondary characters are interesting. Although I occasionally found the going tedious, the author must be given credit for the uniqueness of the work, a breath of fresh air sans political correctness. Here are a couple of excerpts: “the crickets and frogs turned their attention from the sheet music of creation…” And: “… Time and God, those useless, lazy…” 426 users at Amazon, where the book is selling modestly, have rated The Great Glorious…, forging to a consensus of 4.3 on a scale of five. I’ll go with 3.5. The title refers to the steep, beautiful but inhospitable tract of land, the “Lost Lot.” Musically, Ritter leads The Royal City Band. They have released eleven albums, six cracking the Top 100, one as high as #22. Four singles have made it into the Top 40, one as high as #9. I’m not familiar with any of the songs. Through a friendship with Glen Hansard of Once fame, Ritter has become wildly popular in Ireland. Married twice, he’s a dad of two. Facts from Wiki, photo from Google Images:
RIP NFL mainstay Maxie Baughan, 85. Born in Alabama, he was an All-American at Georgia Tech, doubling as a Center and Linebacker, MVP of the 1950 Gator Bowl. That year he was selected in the second round of the draft, the 20th overall pick, by the Eagles, for whom he played until 1965. He was a Ram until ’70, then closed out his playing career by coming out of retirement in ’74 with the Redskins. He ended with 18 interceptions. He served as defensive coordinator at his alma mater in ’72 & ’73. He did the same with the Colts and Lions from ‘75-’82, and with the Vikings, Buccaneers and Ravens from ‘90-’98. In between he was head coach of Cornell University, ‘83-’88, winning an Ivy League co-championship in his final year, overall record 28–29–2. He was a member of 1960 Eagles NFL champions. He was first team All-Pro twice, second team five times. He was named to nine Pro Bowls. He is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Eagles, Georgia Tech, College Football, Georgia Sports, Alabama Sports and the Gator Bowl. Survived by his wife of 62 years, he was the father of three sons, grandad of eight. Awesome, Sir. Facts from Wiki, photo from GI:
Headline from foxnews.com: “More than dozen women used firearms to protect against violent exes, criminals over 2-week stretch.” Do feminists approve of this type of women’s lib?
This Texan is 114 years old. Kudos, Madam. Photo from GI:
Very humid conditions for the floating book shop on an active business day. My thanks to the folks who donated a bunch of marketable books of broad variety, and to the young man who bought The Green Lantern (2011) and Faster (2010) on DVD; and to the two ladies who purchased five titles in Russian, including two translations of Sidney Sheldon; and to the young cutie who took home The Norton Anthology of English Literature by Stephen Greenblatt… About halfway through the session I heard a thunk and stepped into the street to investigate, thinking someone had ruined a tire. There was a guy laying supine on the asphalt, moaning, his mechanized scooter lying flat beside him. As I ran to help, a young woman was running toward her car. She hopped in and drove off, perhaps suffering panic for having struck the victim. Fortunately, it seemed the injuries were no worse than a possible leg fracture. Traffic was of course tied up. Some drivers were telling me to drag the guy to the side of the road. Not knowing the extent of internal damage, I decided it was best to wait for the pros to arrive. They did within ten minutes.
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