Radio Free Vermont by Bill McKibben

I recently saw Ann Patchett and Daniel Pink making book recommendations on PBS NewsHour and she said, “the number one thing that people come into my bookstore and ask for is a book that is smart and funny and has an uplifting ending.” That immediately made me think of the recently released RADIO FREE VERMONT by Bill McKibben.  The environmental activist’s newest work of fiction is subtitled “a fable of resistance” and relates the story of long-time radio host, Vern Barclay, aged 72. Living in Vermont and valuing the lifestyle there, he inadvertently starts a succession campaign when some sewage is re-routed to flood a new big box store and politicians make him a wanted man.

This book is smart – providing snippets of information like referencing “the U.S. of Lincoln’s day – a population of thirty million, already ten times larger than at the Revolution, but ten times smaller than out total today.” Vern emphasizes the value in small and local; his speeches are heartfelt and well-researched – like when he encourages everyone to go to local town meetings: “… be reminded that democracy isn’t just voting for president every four years and then trusting him to fix things.  Democracy is about getting together with your community to think together about your future.” And it’s funny – there’s a beer heist and a contest for a Vermont National Anthem as well as some great song choices to fill the radio waves. 

This book will make a great holiday gift especially since it advocates for less shouting and more listening, plus “the one thing no one ever says anymore in our public life: 'I think you’re wrong, but you may be right.’” RADIO FREE VERMONT received starred reviews from both Booklist and Library Journal.

Forged in Crisis by Nancy Koehn

FORGED IN CRISIS by Nancy Koehn is subtitled "The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times" and profiles polar explorer Ernest Shackleton; President Abraham Lincoln; legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass; Nazi-resisting clergyman Dietrich Bonhoeffer; and environmental crusader Rachel Carson. 

Koehn, an historian and executive consultant at Harvard Business Schoo,l explains in her book and in the Big Think video below how each of these leaders found that sometimes “doing nothing is the most powerful, the most significant, the most influential thing a leader can do.”

I am excited to recommend this book to readers interested in history, in leadership, and in the events and movements associated with the individuals profiled. I remember studying Rachel Carson and the impact she had – today many students do not even know her name. I also liked Koehn’s emphasis on being mission-driven, focusing on the big picture, and resiliency in overcoming personal crises.
 
FORGED IN CRISIS received starred reviews from both Booklist and Kirkus.  NOTE: Nancy Koehn will be speaking at New Trier High School on Friday, Nov. 3rd at 7:00pm.  

A Midwest Focus …

I thought I would do a post about two new nonfiction books based geographically in the Midwest, but with much larger implications.

The first, GLASS HOUSE by Brian Alexander, tells the story of Lancaster, Ohio, home to Anchor Hocking Glass. And it was a good home – a factory town where workers and executives lived near each other and where a life, including local sports teams and free holiday turkeys, centered around the company.  That, at least, was true in times like 1947 when Forbes devoted an issue to the city as an exemplar of American enterprise. And through the late 1960’s, Anchor Hocking employed 5000 in a town of 29,000 – a staggering proportion. Since then, as the cover aptly conveys, a downward spiral ensued. 

Alexander is an award winning journalist who grew up in Lancaster and who subtitles his book “the 1% economy and the shattering of the All-American town.”  In the past 30 years, Anchor Hocking has gone thru Chapter 11 (twice) and recapitalization, been owned by numerous entities and led by a variety of CEO’s, faced foreign competition and “big box” store pricing pressures, all while undergoing name changes (Global Home Products, EveryWare, and Oneida Group).  As a result, there was a definite retrenchment in its workforce and benefits, the loss of a local identity and increase in drug abuse.  GLASS HOUSE will make an interesting companion read to Hillbilly Elegy for our students with both speaking to these negative trends, their political impact, and changes in life near the Appalachians. GLASS HOUSE received a starred review from Kirkus and was recently profiled by a wide variety of media outlets: NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Slate and The Wall Street Journal. 

The second book is called THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES by Dan Egan.  I started to read the introduction and was immediately struck by these facts: “Of the 3 percent or so [of the world water] that is freshwater, most is locked up in the polar caps or trapped so far underground …. And of the sliver left over that exists as surface freshwater readily available for human use, about 20 percent of that – one out of every five gallons available on the planet – can be found in the Great Lakes.”

As someone who drives by Lake Michigan every day, I was shocked by much of what I read.  Egan was twice a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his reporting on this subject and calls the impression that humans and the lakes have finally learned to get along a “mirage.”  Instead, he contends that his text will “illuminate an ongoing and unparalleled ecological unraveling of what is arguably North America’s most precious natural resource.” Complex and technical at times, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES will shortly be on our shelves after receiving starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal.