Thursday, December 24, 2015

Clementine Churchill: an undersung hero

I just finished reading Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell.

Clementine Churchill lived an amazing life. She was incredibly under appreciated, both in her time, and now. I feel like I know a fair amount about Eleanor Roosevelt who was an incredible advocate. Clementine Churchill may well have done more for Britain (and the free world) than Eleanor, but has received almost no credit.

Born into impoverished nobility, she was about a decade younger than Winston Churchill. This book draws heavily from the copious correspondence between Winston and Clementine. They were generally not model parents, and the book does not sugar coat their shortcomings in this area. Clementine was privy to most of what Winston dealt with (including state secrets). She advised and challenged Winston, and was often the only one who could challenge him. She tempered him in many ways, and often re-wrote speeches and memos.

For a book where you know how it will end (there are no secrets about history), it was a gripping read. I even pushed it ahead of other books on my "to read" pile.

Monday, December 21, 2015

ALA Midwinter 2016

Here is my tentative schedule for ALA Midwinter. Note that it is still tentative!

This year Midwinter is VERY early. I'll be in Boston starting the night of January 6, and leaving on the 12th. (If you are looking in December, you will have to page forward to January to see anything in the calendar view. I have not figured out how to make "Agenda" the default view.") Clicking on any event will show details. And do note the time zone note on the bottom. Here, I am seeing things in the Central Time zone, not sure how true that is for others.

Here is my tentative schedule for ALA Midwinter. Note that it is still tentative!

This year Midwinter is VERY early. I'll be in Boston starting the night of January 6, and leaving on the 12th. (If you are looking in December, you will have to page forward to January to see anything in the calendar view. I have not figured out how to make "Agenda" the default view.") Clicking on any event will show details. And do note the time zone note on the bottom. Here, I am seeing things in the Central Time zone, not sure how true that is for others.