NEXT STEPS

I have not published in this space since June.  Over the summer, I actually got some kind notes from regular readers who asked when the next post was coming. Regular readers of Five Cent Thinking have known about an effort by me to write a book.  When I first retired, I thought about doing a Memoir (or as C.S. Lewis called it something done by people of my age in their "anecdotage").  One of the first things I wanted to do was to figure out more about the person I was named after, Jonathan Archer, who came to California in 1849.   His story caused me to do some research into his experiences of coming around the horn and living in California but also into the larger story of both the family who stayed in New York and the thousands of others who came to California.  The last post had an early version of the chapter.

After the initial burst of enthusiasm inertia intervened and  some good reasons, including procrastination, the book project stalled.  When I wrote my dissertation there was an incentive at the end - A suitable for framing degree (which I never did frame) and a title which I rarely use. Then I got Lymphoma and that encouraged my daughter, Emily, to push me on the project.  Her first prompt was to send me a list of questions which she wanted me to answer.   I worked on that a bit more than a year ago and sent her the results which turned out to be a long response.   But then for last Christmas she gave me something called Storyworth, which is a site which encourages the recipient to answer  questions about their life which, when completed, is compiled into a book.  I started that project in January.  I had two reactions to it.  First, Storyworth is a great idea, poorly implemented; the online version's editor is primitive. I suspect if they were a bit more entreprenurial they might generate a lot more income But second, as Quinlan suggested the project was positive because "it kept me off the streets."   That was especially useful as the pandemic evolved.   During the Spring in SMA I could easily spend a couple of hours a day working on the issues.  That required some research but also to think about what things I wanted to say. 

At the end of the summer I had a kind offer from a former colleague who agreed to edit the draft. My God she has patience.   But I then had two other decisions to complete.   First, I needed a title for this project.  And I came up with Of Course It’s True, except for a Couple of Lies; a Memoir.  And while I thought briefly about including the picture of Indiana on the cover (See Above) I finally decided on another photo taken in SMA a couple of years ago as thinking it more appropriately represented the contents of the book.

I also had the great good fortune of having a couple of friends who have published books, including one novel (Mike Ericksen Pianist in a Bordello) and three very funny memoirs on developing an international business that I had the opportunity to read when they were originally emails to the author's family. (Robert F. Hemphill; Goats Ate our Wires , Stories from the Middle Seat , and Dust Tea, Dingos and Dragons ) I asked them about their experiences.  They gave me some great ideas.  I recommend all four books.  They are inventive, in different ways.

After ten months of work, I am at a place where I am ready to write a conclusion, getting to a couple of more edits and then decide whether to publish on Kindle or Apple Books. I talked to one arm of Simon and Schuster but was not impressed with their potential value added.  But here are my intended next steps.  First, with her permission, I am going to publish on this blog, the responses to Emily, slightly edited, to give you an idea about what you might find in the final manuscript.  Those will  be divided into nine separate posts.  From my perspective, that will either tantalize potential readers or not.  Second, then by the end of the year, I will go forward with both an Ebook and a paperback version.    For those of you who are willing I would appreciate any comments on these pre-publication teasers. 

The book is really three books - a first section, which I have described previously which present some (hopefully) interesting stories about family.  I started with a simple premise.  We all tell family stories which we filter through our experiences.  I first noticed that with my two aunts and my siblings.  Neely, my mother’s youngest sister, had a great talent for remembering and elaborating family stories - which actually were modified over time - not cynically but often with positive effects.

 The second part, which sets out six philosophy chapters that conclude with an explanation of “Why I am not a progressive". Those of you who know me well will understand that the conclusion was not hard to come to for me - BUT I was inspired to write it based on some correspondence I had with a long time progressive friend over the last year but also because one of my favorite economists wrote a similar essay - then called "Why I am not a conservative"  

The final section responds to a series of questions asked by either Emily or Storyworth.  The final chapter, for example, before the Conclusions,  yet to be written explores our trauma on race issues that we lived through this summer., it links White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo and Homer Plessy (the subject of the infamous Plessy v Ferguson decision).  Not surprisingly I reacted to DiAngelo's Critical Race Theory nonsense negatively (actually that is a bit of an understatement) but I still believe one of our challenges for the country is to get closer to MLK's standard being judged on the content of one's character not the color of their skin.  From my view Critical Race Theory is a horrible example of what JPII called “endless meanderings of erudition” (describing the risks facing universities who don’t go after the truth.  But in the case of CRT, there is a lot of psychobabble and almost no erudition.  I have shipped some of the chapters out to friends who are interested in a particular area and have gotten some excellent critical reviews, I am thankful for those comments.

As was offered by the spirit in Dickens A Christmas Carol - expect the first in about a week.