Harry

"Well, I wouldn't say that I was in the great class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great."

"The President is always abused. If he isn't, he isn't doing anything."

"I remember when I first came to Washington. For the first six months you wonder how the hell you ever got here. For the next six months you wonder how the hell the rest of them ever got here." 

"I never did give anybody hell.  I just told the truth and they thought it was hell." 

Harry S. Truman, 

U.S. President No. 33, 

who joined the ranks of the dear 
departed 40 years ago today.

          Wasn't Harry a pistol?  I was sitting at my folks' dining room table when we heard the news that he'd died. For years, Harry Truman lived just a few blocks from us. In fact, years later, I'd write Mr. Truman into Just For You to Know, my historical novel, set here in Independence. 
        And now Harry was gone, at age 88. The age that Geo. H.W. Bush is now, in intensive care, in a Houston, TX hospital. One foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, poor soul.  A good and decent public servant all in all and when he goes, as will we all, it'll be the end of a rich chapter in the history of our country. As it surely was when Harry died, that genuine, true-blue husband and citizen. Farmer. Piano-player. Valiant soldier. Overcomer. Politician. Dapper dresser. Lover of history. By golly, those of you  who chance to come across this, do give yourself the pleasure of reading David McCullough's HST bio,  a swift-going, juicy doorstop of a book.  

         And too, poor old heartsick, wonderful/horrible Lyndon B. Johnson, died just a few weeks later, on the 22nd of January. There's another story and a long one, too. More about LBJ later - and baybee - do check out Robt. Caro's books about that ol' powermonger. 
          For now, look back over your shoulder four decades and give a thought to the life of sturdy, thoughtful Harry Truman. 

Vaudeville

So. Okay: Three presentations today. Three presentations yesterday, to groups of varying size of school children, grades 4, 5, 6. Their teachers, too, plus a small assortment of congenial grownups, all having in common their love of BOOKS. Where were we? At the 44th Annual University of Central Missouri Children's Literature Festival, at Warrensburg, MO, where I went to college some 40 years ago -eek. Dozens of authors & illustrators + thousands of children been a part of this glorious festival for all these years. Me? About a dozen years now.

I head out east on old 24 Highway towards Lexington, MO, then south on 13, a road I've traveled, gosh, so many, many times. Dad used to take us all on drives down to Osceola when we were kids. Sixty miles down to Warrensburg, not far from where my great-great-grandparents, Alden & Sarah Harness, lie buried. Where I was a nervous, validation-starved college student. where today I walked across campus, wearing a nametag labeled AUTHOR - how cool is that? - past yellow busses, spilling out heedless, backpacked kids.

Each would get to hear four different authors &/or illustrators:

C. S. Adler, ..........my buddy, William Anderson, who's written so much & so well about my old favorite, Laura Ingalls Wilder,....... Marlene Brill, ...........Elizabeth Bunce, .........Elisa Carbone..........my new friend, beautiful Janet Carey,........... lovely Mary Casanova, ............funny & charming Henry Cole, ............savvy baritone author/scientist/publisher, Sneed B. Collard.........Jan Greenberg. sophisticate..............gentleman poet from Springfield, MO, David Harrison...... smartypants beautybabe, Patricia Hermes .......Ard Hoyt, ......... lovely Jeanette Ingold of Montana.........my dear good Joplin friend & unofficial therapist [author of Joe's Ghost - check it out], Veda Boyd Jones ................. Brian Katcher .......brilliant gentlewoman, Claudia Mills ...... Pearl Harbor Child, Dorinda Nicholson ......... swellegant lady, Lois Ruby...... and oh my gosh, Ruth Sanderson, whose artwork I've long admired - got to meet her: big deal for me/clearly nothing special for her................lovely Marie Smith & her husband, Roland, ........... wonderful artist and book buddy - gosh, he draws so beautifully - Brad Sneed...........Mike Spradlin.............Stephanie Tolan...............Roderick Townl [what a sweet man]........sharp, funny Terry Trueman ............. gracious & creative Vivian Vande Velde ............ June Raye Wood............. wonderful Leslie Wyatt [and her handsome sons].............Judy Young ............me......got to see old friends: that's the best part: the picture here is of Professor Naomi Williamson [& me], longtime director of this terrific festival, the largest such in all the land.

Kids are herded into classrooms, recently vacated by college students on break. Don't know so much about the others. Can't speak for them so much, but I can tell you what I did today.

Played my harmonica. Drew pictures of President Lincoln. Talked hard & fast, trying to be as funny & informative as I can - about what? the making of books. the writing & illustrating process. the knowing of history. Really, it's show business and the kids - the kids - are so great. It's serious fun. How'd I get so lucky?