Publishers with Heart

Just in from Publishers Lunch: Publishers Donate to Haiti

On Friday Random House, Inc. announced a $100,000 corporate contribution to be shared by the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund and Haitian health-care provider Partners in Health (led by Paul Farmer, the subject of Tracy Kidder's MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS). The publisher told employees they will match their donations, dollar for dollar up to $1,000, to any tax-qualifying Haitian earthquake relief organization until June 1.

Parent company Bertelsmann has also announced a 100,000-euro donation to children's relief organization Plan International.

In a different type of relief effort, Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur division is providing free downloads of their Haitian Creole language program, in cooperation with major resellers, through March 31, "in an effort to support volunteers aiding the millions of people affected" by the earthquake.

Bibliotherapy

Main Entry: bib•lio•ther•a•py
Pronunciation: \ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈther-ə-pē, -ˈthe-rə-\
Function: noun
Date: 1919
: the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy; also : the reading materials so used
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

How do you take a child away from a life disrupted by war, civil disorder or natural disaster? Physically, it may be impossible, but you can transport their mind to another destination, another world filled with adventure, drama, security and hope. The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) sends books to such children – their fund promotes the therapeutic use of books and storytelling in the form of bibliotherapy, and the creation or replacement of collections of selected books that are appropriate to the situation. Their hope is that they not only provide immediate support and help, but also make a long term impact in the communities. IBBY’s goal is to give every child the Right to Become a Reader. Hear Hear.

Politechnics

The ancestry of all 44 presidents is limited to the following heritages, or some combination thereof: Dutch, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss, German, and Africian

I had the opportunity to hear Barack Hussein Obama speak last night, while he was in San Francisco. It was a chance to see a man who’s beaten many odds to become President, and it was too good to pass up. President Obama is a lot of firsts - the first African-American President, first from the state of Hawaii, the first with a Muslim middle name, and a Nobel Prize winner to boot. Regardless of his politics, whether you agree or disagree, he is an impressive orator. Plus we got to hear Tracy Chapman, whose soulful voice and lone, throbbing guitar got everyone going.

Although I follow politics pretty closely (hey I have a husband who teaches the subject), I’m pretty much a voyeur and not that politically active (though I did run as my class vice president in high school, and won). Usually, when it comes to voting, I on focus on issues that are important to me and don’t tow a party or representative line - I’ve voted for both republicans and democrats at a national and local level (I voted for one of the Bushes… guess which one?)

I’ve always thought the best leaders, of any party, were those who could empathize with others– politicians who’ve seen their parents use food stamps are more likely to address poverty; those who’ve struggled for an education know its importance for changing a child’s future; those who’ve travelled know that people around the world want the same things for themselves and their children as we do at home.

Although I enjoyed President Obama’s twenty five minute speech, it was his last sentence that struck me the most – like most politicians he stated that he wanted to leave this world a better place for children in America, but where he differed was when he added that he wanted to leave a world a better place for children around the globe. It really struck me how his unique upbringing (having lived in other countries and having a diverse extended family) allows him to expand his vision of America’s place in the global sphere – we are a superpower, and our actions affect not only Main Street and Wall Street but Any Street around the world. Although I may not agree with all of President Obama’s initiatives, as our Commander in Chief, I have the hope he will leave us, and the world, a better place than how he found it.

PS. This is an excerpt from the Nobel Prize Committee as to why he was chosen:

…through his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples ... Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position ... Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts ... Obama [has] captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future.

Indian to Indian

One in every 130 people living in the United States today is Native American.

Last night, my nieces reminded me that today was Columbus Day. I got to thinking about Christopher -- a monumental, yet controversial figure. After five centuries, he has been variously described as one of the greatest maritime navigators, a visionary genius, a mystic, a national hero, a failed administrator, a naive entrepreneur, and a ruthless and greedy imperialist.

Soon it triggered a memory of when I was a twelve. While visiting my sister, who was a college student, we hopped on a bus and headed across Oakland towards UC Berkeley. One of the regulars on the bus, a dapper old lady – a social butterfly and self proclaimed bus monitor, looked at us and asked where we were from. We said we were Indian. She paused a moment, analyzed our appearance and asked, “From which tribe?” My sister and I looked at each other and it dawned on us that she thought we were Native American. “No,” replied my sister. “We’re not that kind of Indian,” we’re from India. “Oh,” she said, and wandered off.

Photo 1: White Shield, an Indian Chief, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis. Photo 2: Maharaja of Patiala’, Bhupinder Singh, source unknown.

So, I’m the kind of Indian Columbus was actually looking for when he set sail from Spain, hoping to hit the Indies. His charter was to establish a foothold for Spain in the lucrative spice trade, which at the time was controlled by the Arabs and the Italians. And he would have found us if he’d followed common convention and gone east, over land, instead of west, across the sea. But instead, he had the idea that crossing the Atlantic was faster – he believed that earth's circumference was smaller than commonly agreed upon, thus the route would be quicker. I wonder what would have happened if he’d found us, instead of the Americas, and not set forth the domino effect of exploration, imperialism, colonization, exploitation and the eradication of native peoples.

I just reread Sherman Alexie’s THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. When I read it, years ago, they were simply words on a page – powerful and impactful for sure, but it wasn’t’ till I saw him speak at SCBWI LA, that the words transformed into a living reality of what the repercussions of Columbus travel plans were – so here was the other Indian that Columbus had mistakenly found. The reality sank into my bones and hit me viscerally. So we are connected, the two Indians, in an odd tenuous way -- and for what is worth, I’m very, truly sorry Columbus didn’t go east instead of west.

Geographically Challenged

Antarctica is actually a desert, receiving the same amount of rain as the Sahara Desert

My husband teaches political science and one of his classes covers the politics of a particular region of the world. So, on the first day of class he hands out a map to his class – a group of accomplished college coeds. For the most part, they are a smart bunch, having worked hard to get into this esteemed institution. The map is blank, besides the outlines of a series of countries, and the students have fifteen minutes to fill out the country names. At the end he collects them, and that night we sit at home, having tea, looking them over. 

Approximately 10% of the kids do pretty well, the remainder either sends us into gales of laughter (no, Spain is not in South America…) or into horrified silence. It reinforces the fact that we Americans are woefully geographically challenged – it’s a sad fact that Jay Leno got away with doing a hilarious segment where he asked people on the street answer simple geography questions, and lord I was embarrassed for the contestants. Most didn’t know which states bordered their own. But it’s not JUST embarrassing – it’s a national crisis – kids are unprepared for an increasingly global future. Fewer than 3 in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries that appear in the news, and just 14% believe speaking another language is a necessary skill. The National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs Geographic Literacy Study, done a few years ago, paints a dismal picture of the geographic knowledge of the most recent graduates of the U.S. education system.

-- Even through Hurricane Katrina had recently swept through the south, causing death and destruction, 33% of respondents couldn't pinpoint Louisiana on a map.

-- Two-thirds didn't know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.

-- 6 in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East – and HOW long have we been at war there?

-- 47% could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia (It’s the most prominent bit, sticking out)

-- 75% were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East. (Okay, granted it’s pretty tiny, while flying over it George W. Bush stated that his driveway in Texas was bigger…)

Do we not care because most of the world lies at the end of two huge oceans – the Atlantic and the Pacific? Maybe the rest of the world doesn’t seem that relevant - the nightly news no longer covers the rest of the world since Brittany’s latest meltdown and Farmer Buford's ginormous pumpkin are far more important. But, how are we to understand, work and play with others if we don’t know where they are and what language they speak? It really is something to ponder… As the world shrinks before us, how will we continue to grow and prosper when we lack even the most basic skills for navigating the international economy or understanding the relationships among people and places that provide critical context for world events? Time to open an atlas...