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Real Books/Real Life
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2013 5:08 PM
WATCH LIVE: Forum on keeping children safe from gun violence in schools at 7 pm |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Monday, January 21, 2013 5:37 PM
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 11:31 PM
 EAST LINE BOOKS WILL HOLD A FREE "WRITING TO HEAL" CLASS OPEN TO ALL ADULTS WHO WISH TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES VERBALLY OR IN WRITING ABOUT RECENT TRAGIC EVENTS. DATE: THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21ST FROM 9 AM TO 11 AM. TEACHER: ROBYN RINGLER. PLEASE BRING A NOTEBOOK AND SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH AND COOKIES! I WILL SUPPLY PLENTY OF COFFEE AND TEA. LET'S SUPPORT EACH OTHER THROUGH TALKING AND GUIDED WRITING. CALL ROBYN RINGLER AT 371-4151 WITH ANY QUESTIONS. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Monday, November 19, 2012 6:29 AM
 Saturday was bliss. A 2-hour car ride on a beautiful blue and bright morning with my two favorite people--my husband and daughter--to Amherst, Massachusetts. First stop--the Emily Dickinson Museum where our first sight was Emily's big yellow house where she wrote almost 2000 poems. What an honor and joy to walk through her home and imagine her living there--and to think of her playfully and humbly writing:
My favorite part was her bedroom where her window overlooked who was coming and going from the front door; with her little--tiny, really--desk; and her simple bed and dresser and nightstand with the porcelain basin.
I also loved going next door to her brother Austin's house where her best friend, her sister-in-law Susan, would throw parties for the Amherst high society. Of course, Emily would never attend them, but she would send Susan loving notes on a silver tray to wish her a fine time.
 Next stop--lunch at the Lone Wolf Restaurant for a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and blueberry pancakes--and loads of delicious coffee. What a great place with wonderful people!
Last stop--the Eric Carle Museumwhere we strolled around for a couple of hours entranced by the artwork of children's book illustrator, Eric Carle, and others including: Allen Say, Chris Van Allsburg, Simms Taback, William Steig, Jules Feiffer, Quentin Blake, Petra Mathers, Arnold Lobel, Leo Leonni, Antonio Frasconi, Tony DiTerlizzi, and others.
 What a delight for a bunch of Ringler booklovers!!! I just wanted to pack up all the books in the gift shop and bring them all home. Then I remembered that I already have many of them in my own bookstore, East Line Books. And the ones I don't have, I went home and ordered! :)
There is nothing like a beautifully illustrated children's book--no better treasure.
A wonderful weekend was had by all!
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 8:14 AM
I have to agree with many women who live and work in the Saratoga Springs area and who have expressed outrage at the police department's unwillingness to release information at the time of a September 1st rape on a city street. The police felt they didn't have enough information and that the lack of an exact location of the rape, the lack of a really detailed description of the assailant, etc. meant that actually telling people about the rape would create chaos and confusion. I believe the police had enough information. A woman had been raped on a Saratoga city street in the early morning hours on September 1st. This is all I would need to know to take additional precautions to prevent this from happening to me or someone I love. Ya think? One of the police officials was quoted in the Saratogian yesterday as saying that women should not walk alone at night. Yes, please, blame the victim. We know there is an added risk in walking alone at night. But there are times in all of our female lives when we do walk alone. Circumstances arise. We have no one at the time. We need to get from Point A to Point B. So, we walk. But it does help if I know a rape has just occured in my town. I will become more aware, more cautious and, where I might not have called a cab to drive me home before, under this circumstance, I would make the call and pay the money to get a ride. When will the police learn not to be afraid of information? Not to be afraid of the STEREOTYPICAL woman--not the REAL woman--who they fear will become panicked? It's insulting. Women are no different than men in regard to taking in information, analyzing it, and coming up with their own plan to protect themselves. I say, in the future, the police should make a statement. So what if they don't have all the facts. The simple fact of the occurence of rape in a local town might save someone else from suffering the same fate. . |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 9:11 AM
 The following is an excerpt of The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac, with illustrations by the beloved Quentin Blake. The book is charming and was reprinted in 2006, after first being published in 1992. The book is a "passionate defense of reading for pleasure" and is one of my favorite books.
"To be fair, we parents didn't set out to turn reading into a chore. All we thought about, in the beginning, was our children's enjoyment. We were in a state of grace during those early years. Our total sense of wonder in the face of a new life transformed us into geniuses. For them, we became storytellers. As soon as they emerged, blinking, into the world of language, we told them stories. It was a talent we didn't know we had. Their enjoyment inspired us. Their happiness gave us voice. We created character after character, adventure after adventure, ratcheting up the plots. We invented a whole world for them, much as the aging Tolkien did for his grandchildren. On the border of day and night, we became their novelist.
Not that it would have mattered if we'd had no talent for storytelling. If we'd told them other people's stories--badly, groping for words, mispronouncing names, mixing up adventures, muddling the beginning of one with the ending of another...Even if we hadn't made up stories at all, if we'd just read aloud, we'd still have been their personal novelists, their special storytellers helping them slip into their dreamy pajamas every evening before dissolving under the sheets of night. More than that, we were the book.
Remember that intimacy. There's nothing like it.
How we loved scaring just for the thrill of consoling! And how desperately they wanted to be scared! They weren't fooled, even then, but they trembled all the same. They were real readers, in other words. What a playful partnership we formed: they the cunning readers, we the book!" |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Saturday, November 10, 2012 4:02 PM
 The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that 79-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Philip Roth is retiring from writing. "To tell you the truth, I'm done," he said to a reporter, according to an online post on November 9th at 2:50 p.m. Roth said his decision meant that his most recent book, Nemesis, published in 2010, would be his last book. Lori Glazer, Houghton Mifflin's vice president and executive director of publicity confirmed Roth's decision. Philip Roth is the author of the 1959 National Book Award-winning novella Goodbye Columbus; Portnoy's Complaint, the hilarious and sexually explicit running monologue of a Jewish bachelor, which broke language and cultural barriers; the popular Nathan Zuckerman novels, particularly American Pastoral, which won the Pulitizer in 1997. He has been a prolific writer of works known for their melding of his Jewish and American heritages. In 1991, Roth published Patrimony, a moving portrait of himself and his father as they shared his father's aging process and the deterioration of his health. At the time, it was one of few memoirs written about the topic by a son about a father. During his career, Roth became close friends with Italian author Primo Levi and Levi visited him in the United States. Roth interviewed Levi about Levi's writing of renowned books about the Holocaust and together they explored themes of guilt, shame, and the attempted demise of the Jews and others. The discussion seemed to indicate that this was a meaningful project in Roth's life. Philip Roth is from Newark, NJ--roots that have often inspired his writing. His writing will be unimaginably missed, particularly by the writer of this blog. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2012 3:31 AM
" Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy. That won’t change after tonight. And it shouldn’t. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty, and we can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter -- the chance to cast their ballots like we did today."-- President Barack Obama in speech just after re-election.
For the past year, I have expressed my political views on Facebook, a forum that makes it easy to say: I believe everyone should have affordable health care, access to an equal and excellent education, freedom of speech and religion, the right to marry a same-sex spouse.
Facebook and blogging allow me to express my deepest beliefs in a creative solitary environment doing the thing I like most--writing. Sometimes I feel like I am writing out into the void. Other times, people let me know they are listening/reading. It feels great when they agree. But it also feels great when they disagree.
Once a Facebook Friend wrote: You must not think before you speak because what you're saying is a lot of crap. Or something to that effect.
I wasn't fazed.
I wrote back and said, I do think long and hard before I express myself and I'm so glad you wrote back to tell me how you feel. Isn't it just wonderful that we are having this open conversation? Let's talk about the details...
President Obama's speech tonight hit the perfect mark. He has inspired me to know that it's okay to continue to speak out about what I believe in. But it's okay, too, when others disagree. "These arguments," he said, "are a mark of our liberty."
I'm so glad he reminded us to continue to talk out our views, examine the different sides of an issue, express our opinions, and argue if we have to. It's the way to not only examine our differences, but to discover our commonalities, which will be many. What we want as human beings is often just the same thing, though we may come at it in different ways.
I hope in the next four years, all participants involved in the political process will keep talking and arguing, but then, take the next step and find solutions through compromise. Bipartisanship is the only way to stay afloat, to move forward, to keep peace. And we can start by "self-governing" as President Obama said. Bipartisan participation and cooperation should start at home and we should teach it to our kids. Maybe then it will become a mainstream part of the political system and we, as individuals, can finally come together as a nation. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Monday, November 05, 2012 8:39 AM
I am here in Saratoga County, New York. My elderly parents are there, in Central New Jersey. Two weeks ago, Mom spent a week in ICU for a gastrointestinal bleed. Dad is 87. Mom is 77, but has lung disease in addition to the acute health issues she suffered recently. Central NJ has no power, no gasoline, almost no phone service. I am here. They are there. So many times since Superstorm Sandy, I have had one foot in the car and one foot on the ground, willing myself to go there to help. But then, the foot on the ground pulls my body back and I head into my own dry, warm home in upstate NY and give up, defeated. How can I drive into what seems like a war zone? How can I drive four hours to a place where I might not be able to buy gas to get back home again? On the other hand, how can I leave my parents in Central NJ? The answer--Pete. Pete, the Good Neighbor, my parents' neighbor, the one in the house on the right as you look at their homes face on. Pete, whose 50-foot tree in the backyard fell on his house during the storm. Pete, who managed somehow to ignore his own problems and help Larry and Honey, my parents, the elderly couple next door. Pete hooked my parents into his generator so even since the day of the Superstorm, they have had a working refrigerator and, therefore, food. Pete, who, once the temperatures dropped at night, somehow secured a propane heater for his neighbors, Larry and Honey. Pete, who, last I heard, was driving on fumes to find more fuel for himself and his neighbors. I have heard from my parents twice since the storm--by cell phone and only for short minutes until we were cut off. I have called them probably hundreds of times, have listened to that computer voice--ALL CIRCUITS ARE BUSY--a phrase that inspires nausea and despair. But the one time my mom was able to call and get through, she told me all about Pete. Then, just yesterday, after I called and called and called, my husband who was in another part of NY helping his own parents, got through to mine. What do you need? he asked my mother, knowing it had to be a business call, knowing the miraculous cell service that kicked in momentarily could be lost in a second. Understanding, my mother listed what they had, all because of Pete: food, water, and heat. Do you want us to come get you? No, she said, we will not leave our home. I had heard this before. When my husband called and said he got through to my mother, I cried. Contact is the ultimate gift in a crisis. Without it, the worst you can imagine floats through your mind over and over. Pete. Pete. Pete. I give thanks to you and to all the other Good Neighbors out there who think of more than just themselves in a crisis. I promise, when the need arises, to pay it forward. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2012 11:13 AM
I love books. I collect them. I give them away. I share them with others. I sell them. It's the selling that makes my book life interesting--especially the selling online. When you sell online, your customer base is made up of readers from every state in America and sometimes from booklovers in other countries. That's why an online seller must maintain a selection of books that some of us would find harder to sell in a brick-and-mortar bookstore. Some might be called obscure. Others are just expensive because they are so rare. And still others are multicultural books that I've tried in the bookstore but they haven't moved. Here's a look at three books randomly chosen from my online bookstore, which I keep at my house. The Tiger Hunters by Anatoly Builov, translated from Russian, is one of my favorites. The cover shows three beautifully illustrated lions just lolling around in the snow-covered woods. There is something so charming about the scene. I see that someone has recently brought this title back as a print-on-demand. I feel proud to have a hard copy. The new printer's summary is: COMPELLING HISTORY OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN SUPPORT OF US EIGHT ARMY'S CRITICAL STRUGGLE OF SURVIVAL DURING THE KOREAN WAR. HISTORY IN ITS FINEST HOUR. Here is an excerpt randomly chosen from page 93: "Throw off your pack!" almost shouted Pavel with authority. The bear pushed his forehead and ears out of the hole. Nikolai obediently threw off his pack. "Shove a round in the breech," ordered Pavel softly. He slowly raised his carbine to his shoulder and waited for the bear to put his whole head out... Nikolai stood with the carbine at his shoulder , taking aim at the bear. Pavel distinctly remembered that there were only four rounds in the magazine of Nikolai's carbine. "Shove a round in the breech, damn you!" he insisted furiously. "You go to hell!" snarled Nikolai. ***** Doesn't it make you want to read more? And find out what happens? I actually do know. In the next instant, the bear charges. That's all I'm going to say. ***** Here is an excerpt from Together with the AINU, A Vanishing People by M. Inez Hilder, randomly chosen from page 49: A deceased Ainu is dressed in his ordinary clothes, including his underwear and socks. Socks are reversed on the feet with heels resting on the top of the feet. Women relatives prepare a woman's body; the wife or mother or a close woman relative, a man's body. A man's loincloth, however, is changed by a close male relative. Another excerpt, this one from John Deere, Blacksmith Boy, page 152: But in spite of John's fine workmanship and his growing business, hard times were just ahead for the Deere family. One cold winter night when the wind was blowing hard, John and Demarius heard a pounding on the door. It was Lemual Derby. "Hurry, John!" he shouted. "Your shop's ablaze!" John pulled on his trousers over his night shirt and ran toward the smithy. He got there just in time to see the flaming roof cave in. No one could even get close to the roaring fire. ***** How much do books like these go for on the Internet? The Tiger Hunters is $29.95; Together with the AINU goes for $12.95; and John Deere, Blacksmith Boy (a 1964 hardcover in excellent condition) costs $24.95. And you need to add $3.99 shipping for each. So, online selling is a way to find treasures--not only as the buyer, but also, as the seller. Because I am catering to a wide and diverse online population, I acquire and read books I never would have picked up. And I am grateful for that. : |
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Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2012 2:57 AM
This is Neil Gaiman's library. Mine looks just like it. :) *********** 2:47 AM. I sit straight up in bed, my head hunched forward over my laptop so it doesn't touch the wall behind me. Why? Because I am dyeing my hair. Yup. Loreal from Paris, Natural Medium Brown is dribbling down my scalp and reeking through my bedroom. But I don't mind. Because, for once, a rare opportunity arises. A 45-minute respite from life in which I am forced to sit on my bed watching time pass on my alarm clock. And I'd rather do anything than watch time pass. So I turn to the stack of books at my bedside and remind myself what I've been collecting close by me at night, so close that I can ease my itty-bitty-book-light out of the night stand and sneak in more reading once my husband falls asleep. Early November and I can tell where my life interersts lie because of what I'm reading: The Art of Making Magazines: On Being an Editor and Other Views from the Industry, an outstanding book, edited by Victor S. Navasky and Evan Corning. I discovered this book at the CP/Halfmoon Public Library in a wonderful nonfiction display, read a few paragraphs and sprinted to make it mine through East Line Book's main supplier, Baker & Taylor. I love John Gregory Dunne's (Joan Didion's late husband) essay about how a seasoned writer brings "professional DNA to a story". Next, A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literature by Roger Sutton & Martha V. Parravano--what the Boston Globe calls "A godsend for adults who want to instill a passion for reading in the next generation." With that comment on the front cover, how could I pass it up? And, I have to say, the books the authors suggest for kids are OUTSTANDING. I have just ordered almost all of them for East Line Books. The only reason I didn't order ALL of them was because some are out of print (I did order used copies when I could find them reasonably priced) and because I didn't want to go broke. But you can bet that whole bibliography will end up on our shelves at East Line! Okay, the rest of the list: Women of Words: A Personal Introduction to Thirty-Five Important Writers; Out of the Mold: Independent Voices Breaking Out of the Mold, Published in Celebration of Independent Bookselling (HOORAY!!); The Best of The Sun, Volume 2 (I already own Volume 1); Curiosities of Literature; A Pocketful of Prose; Reading Group Choices--2013; and How to Read Literature Like a Professor. And now you know why, when you ask me if I've read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (a riveting book I am told) or Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (which I hear is great), I say, NOT YET. I will get to it, believe me, because I LOVE novels. And I LOVE books about writing. And I LOVE biographies and memoirs. And I LOVE classics. And I LOVE poetry. And I LOVE children's and young adult books. And I LOVE cookbooks. And I LOVE nonfiction in general. And I LOVE....Well, you get the idea. P.S. And this is why I shouldn't dye my own hair. I inevitably get lost in the books at my bedside which is why my hair now looks combustible black. But, you know what? It was worth it. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Monday, August 13, 2012 12:25 PM
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Monday, August 06, 2012 10:39 AM
 Bob's Aunt Annette's 90th birthday party hosted by her children at Louie's Oyster Bar and Grill in Port Washington, Long Island on Saturday was so much fun!! We surprised Aunt Annette by bringing Mom & Dad Ringler down. Mom had written poems inspired by Jenny Joseph's "When I Get Old I Will Wear Purple" so all our presents to Aunt Annette were--PURPLE! Here is the poem: Warning When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Saturday, August 04, 2012 9:03 AM
 Sometimes it's hard to find your voice. Whether you are writing or speaking, honesty does not always come freely. We wonder what people will think of our opinions and passion. Whether we're writing a short story or an editorial about a political issue, expressing ourselves invites criticism. For the past four years, I have had trouble writing. Four years ago, I started East Line Books, an independent bookshop in Clifton Park. All of my focus and energy went into making the bookstore work, paying the bills, becoming a businesswoman, planning and executing a plan to make East Line Books a vital community gathering place that had meaning for book lovers, writers, and anyone interested in having a deep conversation. That's when I stopped writing. For ten years before that, I had been a freelancer with a regular gig at Nursing Spectrum Magazine, which paid some bills. I published personal essays, editorials, short stories in a variety of anthologies, newspapers, and journals. But my creativity dried up when I opened the bookshop. I began to teach creative writing and was effective and successful at bringing out other writers' voices, supporting them, teaching them skills, and was amazed at the essays, stories and articles that flowed in my classroom at East Line Books. But I, myself, was afraid to write. Everytime I sat down at the computer, a voice in my head said my students wouldn't think my writing was all that great. How can she teach, they would think, if she can't even write? I brought old essays to readings at East Line Books, but rarely wrote anything new. The voice in my head also told me that my customers would not like my opinions, which were often political and passionate. I couldn't write because I would alienate anyone who disagreed with me. If I alienated people, they wouldn't buy books, and then the bookstore, which has always been so financially precarious, would go under. I signed up for online writing classes at the Gotham Writers Workshop and tried to force myself to write. Every week we had homework. Occasionally, I wrote something new, but more often, I recycled pieces I had written previously. I continued to take the online classes anyway because each weekly lecture fed my passion for the writing process, the skills and creativity involved in writing, and the online conversations we had in class connected me with other writers. Though I have studied advanced fiction and nonfiction writing with famous authors and incredibly talented authors who are not yet known, this summer I chose an online class called "Creative Writing 101." Chip Livingston, author and poet, was the teacher and he was just great. He helped me understand why I had what many call "writer's block" and helped me open myself up to the joy of writing again. I think my four years of relative quiet have come to an end--as many of you who follow me on Facebook may have noticed. I have found my voice again and it feels so good. To my writing students: I hope your books all end up on the New York Times bestseller lists! You will always have my unending support, as I'm sure you know. But, if you don't publish, who cares? I hope you will continue writing anyway. As I have discovered, there is a joy in simply getting your thoughts down on paper. There is a joy in simply expressing yourself. Don't ever worry that you are not good enough. Good enough for what? For who? Just write for yourself and your words will flow. As far as my political opinions, I hope all of my East Line Books customers know that I love them. And I hope they understand that even if we differ in our political views, I will still love them. They are the lifeblood of the bookshop. They are people who think deeply and have their own opinions. East Line Books will always be a place that supports the free exchange of ideas. So, based on that, I am going to now feel free to express my own ideas. You may agree or not, but at least you will know that at East Line Books a rousing discussion of any issue will be embraced. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 3:32 PM
    As President Obama approached the Portland, OR Convention Center where he was to
speak today at a fundraiser, I had the honor of standing with members of
Ceasefire Oregon, picketing and protesting the lack of action by our government
in response to the mass shooting in Aurora, Colo. It was an honor to share
Ceasefire's picket signs demanding a ban on assault weapons and other action to
end the terrorism caused by gun violence in America. In fact, it felt like a
relief to be with like-minded people, some who had lost loved ones to gun
violence, others like activist Heidi Yewman, an author and graduate of Columbine
High School, who I was so happy to run into, as she had done a book reading at
my bookshop, East Line Books in Clifton Park, NY a couple of years ago. A truly
satisfying day uniting the activism of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (of which I am a member) with
that of Ceasefire, Oregon. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Sunday, July 15, 2012 5:28 PM
There are those who say that Joe Paterno's coaching legacy is being tarnished unfairly. But I believe that his lack of action, when he KNEW that children were being abused by Sandusky, was totally reprehensible. It would be like being the president of a company and knowing the VP was raping children but not doing anything because the bad press might affect the company. His inaction shows a complete lack of integrity and a cold-hearted dismissal of the rights of children to not be molested.
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 6:34 PM
 PARENTING GIRLS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM Book Signing at East Line Books Thursday May 24 4 - 6 PM Author Eileen Riley-Hall will be at East Line Books to sign copies of her new book. This positive, upbeat book is guaranteed to offer support to family members, as well as providing educators and anyone else working in a supporting role with an insight into what life is like for girls on the spectrum and their parents. Riley-Hall is the mother of two teenage girls, one with Asperger Syndrome and the other with Autism. She is a high school English teacher and has worked with special needs students from preschool through to high school, in various settings, for over 25 years. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2012 9:23 AM
 I just got word that beloved children's author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak, died this morning from complications of a stroke. I cannot stop crying. When I say "beloved" author, I am really referring to my own feelings. Maurice Sendak was, I'm sure, loved by many. But all I know is how I felt about him. And I loved him deeply, even though I never met the guy. That thought in itself is cause for hesitation. How, I ask myself, can I feel so grief stricken about a man I never met?
The only answer I can come up with is that I didn't have to know Maurice Sendak personally to love him. I loved him because of the impact he had on the lives of my daughter, my husband and me.
The images are coming full force: Lily and I on our favorite easy chair, snuggled in close, reading Where the Wild Things Are. Bob and Lily laughing as he reads her a bedtime story, In the Night Kitchen. The images remind me that we read Maurice Sendak's books to Lily when she was very young, but also, continued to read them for many years. They had a sort of ageless quality and they made a lasting impact.
The power of reading. The joy of reading. The delight in rebelliousness--on the page. The beauty of illustrations, even illustrations of hairy, curmudgeonly monsters. The simplicity of a story about a boy and wild things or a kid named Mickey and what happens in the "night kitchen."
 My husband and I not only read Maurice Sendak's books to our daughter, but we also talked about them. We told her Sendak based his illustrations of the wild things on some of his old relatives who seemed scary when he was a kid. Laughing, we thought of our own "scary" relatives and understood exactly where Sendak was coming from. We talked about the controversy of Sendak's illustrations of Mickey, swirling into a bottle of milk, a glimpse of his little boy penis showing--and how that particular illustration caused a ban of In the Night Kitchen in many places.
I can picture Lily and I singing Chicken Soup with Rice, Then Came Johnny and all the songs Carly Simon sang based on the books, which we poured over while we sang, basking in the illustrations.
Reading about his life, we tried to understand Maurice Sendak's pain (he lost relatives in the Holocaust and spent many of his childhood years in a sick bed.) And we related his pain, but also his unique sense of humor and individuality, to his art. And we loved him for his humanity.
I feel pain trying to comprehend that Maurice Sendak is gone. But, the truth is, he will always be close. Particularly in my book store. I have the joy of knowing that his books are where they ought to be--in the children's room in East Line Books where I work everyday. All I have to do is pick one up and open it. |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Monday, March 26, 2012 12:38 PM
 As I drove out of The Crossings parking lot in Clifton Park on Saturday and stopped at a traffic light, a black teenage boy wearing a hoodie and carrying a half eaten chocolate bar, the wrapping peeled back giving him access to the next bite, crossed the street in front of my car. I sat, watching him, wondering about his life and whether he would ever be faced with an unjust death because of the color of his skin. I don't know if I can ever look at another young black man without wondering this. Trayvon Martin is with me, in my mind, in my heart. I grieve for him because I am a mother and I cannot imagine losing my child to a murder inspired by hate, a hate so pervasive and institutionalized that nobody did anything about the murder for the longest time. In fact, the murderer, who killed Trayvon in Sanford, Florida, still hasn't been arrested. I follow the news everyday, searching for stories about Trayvon and what is being done to exact justice. I hear the eloquent words of President Obama who says that every parent must understand why we have to find out exactly what happened, who says that if he had a son, the son would look like Trayvon. Then I hear the words of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum who say that Obama should not have acknowledged that this happened to a black kid who would have looked like a son he might have had. Obama, they say, should have said it would have been a tragedy whether the kid was white or black. As I listen to the words of Gingrich and Santorum, I strain to hear them again because I don't understand. This would not have happened to a white kid--it happened BECAUSE TRAYVON MARTIN'S SKIN WAS BLACK. Are Gingrich and Santorum so out of touch that they don't understand a hate crime when they see one? Are they so insensitive as to deny that this was a hate crime? We can all draw our own conclusions. All I know is that everytime I think of Obama's eloquence and measured, thoughtful words and compare them to the flippant insensitive remarks of Gingrich and Santorum, I don't feel like Gingrich and Santorum belong in a place of power in this country. They not only don't "get it", their words make things worse. Could two men be more insensitive? |
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Robyn Ringler: Posted on Wednesday, February 01, 2012 3:29 PM
 NEWS: I am thrilled to hear that filming will begin in March of the movie version of the beloved book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Random House, 2008). Kate Winslet will star as WWII magazine columnist Juliet Ashton. Kenneth Branagh will direct (and, some speculate, star as Dawsey Adams). If your book club hasn't already read this book, it is a GREAT book club pick and will be especially meaningful--you can all go see the movie together! |
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