Posted on November 4, 2008
(from Harcourt Brace, publisher)
Question: In “The Whistling Season,” Paul and his brother decide to keep a secret from their father because doing so will deliver the right outcome. Throughout the book, Paul becomes the guardian of an increasing number of secrets. What are your feelings about individuals who withhold potentially damaging information out of a sense of personal justice? Do you sense this type of behavior was more prevalent a century ago than it is today?
A: Paul indeed starts to feel inundated with secrets, some of them of the slyly funny, schoolyard variety and some vitally serious. He is a very bright thirteen-year-old, who at one point realizes his life is about to change, that he is “less than a man but starting to be something more than a boy.” But in the case of the ultimate secret, he has to draw on instinct and innate decency to reach his decision. So I see Paul’s chosen course as one of compassion, in the name of giving his family a chance to knit itself together and to offer amnesty to someone who has made a misstep in life, but who shows every sign of having retrieved her full worth. To me, and I suppose this is reflected in Paul, there is sometimes not just one justice in a situation but rather a choice, and my hope is that Paul chose wisely.
Paul’s kind of decision possibly was more in line with his time and place—the early twentieth century and a community, rural, but full of nuance toward neighbors and family—than our screen-driven, tell-all era of e-mail, television, movies, and so on. Yet, my belief is that decent behavior is never out-of-date.
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Posted on November 3, 2008
Take a look at some photos from some of this year’s many events.
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Posted on November 3, 2008
Each winter, the public submits suggestions for next year’s book. In January, a panel of community members reviews the suggestions, narrowing that list down to 10 titles, and then chooses two or three books to present for a public vote.
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Posted on November 3, 2008
The public response to the book, the discussions, and the videoconference with author Ivan Doig were exciting for the library and we were gratified to witness so much community engagement.
Posted on September 30, 2008
David Crane lifts up his 5-year-old son, Mason, to see Jupitor through William Woods University’s new high-power telescope during Professor Joe Kyger’s One Read presentation on stargazing, held Friday night at Crane’s Museum in Williamsburg. Fulton Sun caption, Mary Ann Beahon photo.
Posted on September 30, 2008
Local author Betty Cook Rottmann shared stories from her year teaching at a one-room schoolhouse in rural Missouri in 1941. As young woman, Betty moved from her urban life in Kansas City out to the country to teach for a year near the home of her boyfriend Leroy Rottmann. She wanted to test herself and find out what life was like in the country.
An appreciative audience listened while she read them her story, filled with charming anecdotes like the story of how her wedding dress became the whole town’s business. Making her own dress, Betty needed 14 yards of lace and asked the local store to order it in for her. She was startled to discover that her package, coming in from New York City, was extraordinary enough that the whole town knew when it arrived.
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