Visit Montgomery County’s Crinoids by Janice Clauser

 

 

 

One very special historical display in Montgomery County is the collection of crinoids from the Mississippian Era preserved on the upper level in the Crawfordsville Library, described, labeled and donated by the William Jones family.            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Thavis, recently retired prize-winning chief of the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service, has written (in 2012) “The Vatican Diaries,” a behind-the-scenes look at the power and personalities at the heart of the Catholic Church.  His writing takes readers from the politicking behind the election of a new pope to a dispute over a parking lot excavation that unearthed a stunningly preserved Roman grave site. “Stalin’s Curse” is Robert Gellately’s research of newly released Russian documentation revealing Joseph Stalin’s true motives, and the extent of his enduring commitment to expanding the Soviet empire, during the years in which he seemingly collaborated with Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the capitalist West. Walter Johnson’s “River of Dark Dreams” explains slavery and empire in the cotton kingdom’s era, and he predicts that the next generation of debaters over slavery in the U. S. must wrestle with his startling and profound insights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Masters of the Universe” by Daniel Jones examines the birth of neo-liberal politics after 1945 through a transatlantic network of think tanks, businessmen, politicians, and journalists. Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick offer a practical, non-partisan approach to “Immigration Wars.” “Ethical Chic” holds Fran Hawthorne’s comments about companies we think we love. She analyses six Apple, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, American Apparel, Timberland, and Tom’s of Maine. Tom Allen’s “Dangerous Convictions” asks “What’s really wrong with the U.S. Congress.” “Frankenstein’s Cat” is about cuddling up to biotech’s brave new beasts as our grandest science fiction fantasies are fast becoming reality. And then as a contrast, from 2,000 years ago, there’s “The King of Infinite Space” about Euclid and his elements, written by David Berlinski.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Fair Food” comes from Oran Hesterman’s ideas about growing a healthy food system for all; Alice Waters writes, “’Fair Food’…illuminates a clear path toward a more sustainable, fair, and delicious future.” Melanie Warner’s “Pandora’s Lunchbox” tells how processed food took over the American meal, resulting in the cheapest, most abundant, most addictive, and most nutritionally inferior food in the world now producing 70% of our nation’s calories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Best Hikes Near Indianapolis” by Nick Werner offers good tours including Shades State Park, Pine Hills, Turkey Run State Park, and Raccoon State Recreation Area (pages 225-244.) Farther east is Fodor’s new “travel intelligence” about “New England” featuring historic towns, fall foliage, hiking and skiing.”

“American Rose: the life and times of Gypsy Rose Lee” is an immersive, almost novelistic portrait,” according to USA Today.”   

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

            “The Ellington Century” by David Schiff takes away walls between musical genres usually discussed separately – classical, jazz, and popular - in an integrated view of 20^th century music. It does this by placing Duke Ellington (1899-1974) at the center of the story with his broad ideas of rhythm, melody, and harmony. Best of all, the book shows how composers and performers shared the pursuit of representing the changing conditions of modern life