Yorkie Doodle Dandy

Love this book soooo much, so in honor of my Button’s birthday on August 17, I present a wonderful non fiction book about a truly remarkable Yorkshire Terrier named Smoky


I love yorkies and know first hand how smart they are, I read about Smoky when I got my first Yorkie, Jip, but didn’t know about the book until many years later. It is a wonderful story during a tense time in our countrys history. In February 1944, a Yorkshire Terrier soon to be named Smoky was found by an American soldier in an abandoned foxhole in the New Guinea jungle. She was already a young adult Yorkie (fully grown). The soldiers initially thought the small dog belonged to the Japanese, but after taking her to a nearby prisoner-of-war camp they realized she did not understand commands in Japanese or English. Another GI then sold Smoky to Corporal William A. Wynne of Cleveland, Ohio, for two Australian pounds (equal to $6.44 at that time)—the price paid to the seller so he could return to his poker game. For the next two years, Smoky back-packed through the rest of the war and accompanied Wynne on combat flights in the Pacific. She faced adverse circumstances, living in the New Guinea jungle and Rock Islands, suffering the primitive conditions of tents in equatorial heat and humidity. Throughout her service, Smoky slept in Wynne's tent on a blanket made from a green felt card table cover; she shared Wynne's C-rations and an occasional can of Spam.

Smoky Served in the South Pacific with the 5th Air Force, 26th Photo Recon Squadron flew 12 air/sea rescue and photo reconnaissance missions. Wynne credited Smoky with saving his life by warning him of incoming shells on an LST (transport ship), calling her an "angel from a foxhole." As the ship deck was booming and vibrating from anti-aircraft gunnery, Smoky guided Wynne to duck the fire that hit 8 men standing next to them.

This is a wonderful read for anyone who loves animals! Ok, I'm a bit prejudiced as I type, my dear Button is snoring by my side!

side notes:

On February 21, 1957, "Corporal" Smoky died unexpectedly at the approximate age of 14.


Wynne and his family buried Smoky in a World War II .30 Caliber Ammo Box in the Cleveland Metroparks, Rocky River Reservation in Lakewood, Ohio.

Nearly 50 years later, on Veterans Day, November 11, 2005, a bronze life-size sculpture of Smoky sitting in a GI helmet, atop a two-ton blue granite base, was unveiled there. It is placed above the very spot that Smoky was laid at her final resting place


 

A Thief of Time

I've been introduced to so many wonderful authors by my mother. Tony Hillerman was an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels. Several of his works have been adapted as big-screen and television movies.


The first one of his books I read was A Thief of Time, The plot involves the Anasazi, a missing archeologist, a stolen backhoe, and people who are termed "pot hunters". The protagonists are Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo tribal police.

This book and his others are worth the read.


The Blessing Way (1970)
Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)
Listening Woman (1978)
People Of Darkness (1980)
The Dark Wind (1982)
The Ghostway (1984)
Skinwalkers (1986)
A Thief of Time (1988)
Talking God (1989)
Coyote Waits (1990)
Sacred Clowns (1993)
The Fallen Man (1996)
The First Eagle (1998)
Hunting Badger (1999)
The Wailing Wind (2002)
The Sinister Pig (2003)
Skeleton Man (2004)
The Shape Shifter (2006)
 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hillerman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Thief_of_Time

Already planning ahead

I don't know about you but I hate when I get an idea and can't rest until I do the research! I've enjoyed blogging on my favorite books and I've only missed a few weeks, so far! I was thinking what could I do next year and it hit me, movies! So, starting with the first Sunday of 2012 I'll blog about my favorite movies!! Right now I'm making lists of the different types of movies I enjoy: Disney, Romance, Musicals, Thriller/Adventure, Comedies, Oldies but Goodies...

This will be so much fun because my first job in television was as the associate producer of an afternoon movie show! Granted those were almost all Oldies but what a good time I had!

Stay tuned...

update 8/5/2011-wow, so many movies and not enough weeks!! I'm thinking I may do types of movies and favorite actor and actresses, one of each per month!

In Memory of my Dad

18 years ago today my father, David Lewis Barron, lost his fight with cancer. To be honest I don't remember him reading a lot, he did own a copy of Eddie Rickenbacker's autobiography, no surprise there, Rickenbacker founded Eastern Airlines, my dad worked for EAL for over 26 years. But the reason I picked the book for today is the his favorite sport was baseball, he could have been a great ball player but when he had his tryout with the Boston Red Sox he was told he was fast but too small, at the time baseball apparently had a height requirment, who knew? Dad was 5'8". In 1946 he led the state of New Hampshire in batting partically thanks to my grandfathers baseball pitching machine. So, for my dad, a book I haven't read but I love the movie and with many thanks to wikipedia.

Shoeless Joe is a magic realist novel by W. P. Kinsella. It became much better known because of its film adaptation, Field of Dreams.


Ray Kinsella lives and farms in Iowa where he grows corn with his wife Annie and their five-year-old daughter Karin. Kinsella is obsessed with the beauty and history of American baseball, specifically the plight of his hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the Black Sox Scandal of the 1919 World Series. When he hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field in the midst of his corn crop in order to give his hero a chance at redemption, he blindly follows instructions. The field becomes a conduit to the spirits of baseball legends. Soon, Kinsella is off on a cross-country trip to ease the pain of another hero, the reclusive writer J. D. Salinger, as part of a journey the Philadelphia Inquirer called "not so much about baseball as it's about dreams, magic, life, and what is quintessentially American."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoeless_Joe_(novel)

The Surgeon

I loveTess Gerritsen’s books, the first one I read was Harvest, then I discovered Detective Rizzoli and the book The Surgeon. This suspense filled book leaves you wanting more. The evil man in this book is so demented you can’t wait to see him get his.

I realize that now there is a tv series based on her books and it's not too bad but the books are so much better!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final of the Harry Potter novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The book was released on 21 July 2007, ending the series that began in 1997 with the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This book chronicles the events directly following Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and leads to the long-awaited final confrontation between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

This seemed like a good time for this book as the final Harry Potter movie is about to be released July 15, 2011.

I admit to loving all of the Harry Potter books and movies, I've loved watching the characters grow and evolve.  I actually read and listened to the books on CD, Jim Dale who played Barnum on Broadway is wonderful! Give all the books a chance, then see the movies!

The Lion's Paw

This is a wonderful book by Robb White. One of my elementary school teachers, Mrs. Hitchner, read this to our class and it quickly became one of my favorites. It was out of print until 2008 when the family acquired the rights to it.


It’s the story of adventure in the waters surrounding southern Florida. Nick gets adopted and his sister Penny is left behind in the Florida orphanage they ran away and hid all night in a sailboat. They met Ben, a very good guy who was having his own troubles trying to keep his uncle from selling the boat. Ben was sure if he could find the Lion's Paw, a rare shell, his father, who had been reported missing would come back from the war, so he took the youngsters on as crew and they headed for Captiva Island in the Gulf of Mexico...