SEARCHING FOR THE PAST
PAUL BIRKHEAD – JUNE 14, 2009

“What’s past is prologue” is a famous quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest that has been prominently carved into the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. The quote means the past repeats itself and continually influences the present. If history interests you as much as it does me, there are many books in Rowan Public Library’s collection you might enjoy. Here are three recent arrivals.

Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure chronicles a cross-country road trip that took place in 1953. Road trips as a whole are not unusual, back then or today. However, the man who drove a big, black Chrysler down the highway that year was no ordinary American. He was none other than Harry S. Truman who, a few months prior, had been President of the United States. The book’s author, Matthew Algeo, tells the story of Harry and Bess Truman’s attempt to travel incognito from Independence, Missouri to Washington, D.C. and back. As Algeo recreates the trip in modern times, he delights the reader with anecdotes about people and places Harry and Bess encountered along the way.

Miracle Ball: My Hunt for the Shot Heard ‘Round the World by Brian Biegel is a fascinating story about baseball that also touches on the subjects of self renewal and father/son relationships. Biegel recounts his quest to determine the fate of what has been called the “Holy Grail” of baseball collectibles. On October 3, 1951, New York Giants player Bobby Thompson hit a home run that clinched the pennant title from the Giants’ crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. After clearing the left field fence, the ball seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. In his journey to find the ‘miracle ball,’ the author scours records, interviews eyewitnesses, and even gets a crucial tip from a retired NYPD detective. If you want to know whether Biegel solves the mystery or if the dusty ball sitting on top of his father’s armoire played any role in it, you’ll have to read the book.

In 1984, Peter Feldstein had an ambitious goal – to photograph every single person in his hometown. Now, granted, this was Oxford, Iowa (population: 676), but it was still quite a chore to get it done. Twenty years passed and Feldstein decided to photograph the town’s residents again. The Oxford Project is the collaborative effort of photographer Feldstein and writer Stephen Bloom to document what happened to the Oxford citizens over two decades. The black and white photographs in this oversized book are stunning and even though the before and after photos are sure to grab your attention, it’s the life stories attached to them that will keep you turning pages.

If you’re interested in the past, take some advice from the present and go check out what all Rowan Public Library has to offer.