Stop at the new bookstore at 34 S. Stolp Avenue in downtown Aurora to be delighted. Owner Karen Nicholas had chosen the “Yellow Bird Books” name because she finds that name to be “inviting, memorable, and reflecting a positive image.” When her son, Will, was a toddler, they would sit...
Can it really be almost 30 years ago that the Aurora area went through the experience of the tragic 1996 flood? Susan Wyeth, a teacher then of second grade at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Aurora, was in South Carolina at the time of the flood July 19, 1996 due...
Chef, author, and artist, Jacques Pepin was born in 1935 and began his formal apprenticeship at age 13 at the Grand Hotel de l’Europe in his hometown of Bourg-en-Bresse, France. For two years he sharpened knives, refreshing the wood or coals, scaling fish. He was finally allowed to approach the...
It was in the village of Birstwith in Yorkshire, England that Emily celebrated the Valentine’s Day of 1980. She had been touring the English countryside during a fortnight vacation and decided to linger in the village. The medieval wool trade thrived here. There was an open park area that was...
Time for this and that. Bits: Northern Illinois University student body includes every state as well as 76 countries. Last enrollment international students numbered 966. Pieces: Some of the endangered species include wild salmon, ferrets, jaguar, whooping cranes, polar bears, Canadian lynx, and the grizzly bear. Bits: Starting 45 centuries...
“There goes God with an army of banners.” —Poet Carl Sandburg comparing the Canyon to a Divinity. The Grand Canyon in Arizona is 277 miles long, a mile deep and as much as 18 miles wide. All of it has been carved out by erosion of the Colorado River. The...
“Silence is the fence around wisdom.” — Elizabeth Rathbone A difficult childhood, a mentally ill mother, an alcoholic and abusive father who was an itinerant bookseller and Methodist preacher led Dorothea Dix to live with her grandmother and subsequently with other relatives so much so that she never felt she...
“For pomp is a tenacious force. And a wily one too. How numbly it bows as the emperor is dragged down the steps and tossed in the street.” A Gentleman in Moscow He was the prince from the moment he was born. The heir. The chosen. The selfish young man...
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” — Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was an American poet and naturalist, who was born in Concord, Mass. in 1817 as the son of a pencil-maker. He studied at Harvard College, taught school, and worked in his father’s pencil factory....
From AD 711 until 1492, Iberia was in Islamic hands. There was a peaceful intermingling of Muslim, Christian, and Jew under the tolerant caliphs. This was the tenth-century Cordoba. Power and wealth created a civilization of affluence. The Alhambra shows the glories of Cordoba when it was Christian ruled. It...
To choose the Top Ten for this year was quite the task. During the Winter months, I would read at least eight books each month. But, here goes. Some of the finest. Bonus: John Grisham’s latest title “The Exchange” and “Mary Churchill’s War” are worthwhile reading....
“And so as Tiny Tim observed, “God bless us every one.” Dickens A Christmas Carol And so it was December again and the city of Florence, Italy looked like an angel food cake dusted with powdered sugar. The first light snowfall had covered everything with an icy white glaze. Maisie...
“Angels, contented with their fame in Heaven seek not the praise of men.” —Paradise Lost, John Milton Winged spirits converged around the long wooden table contemplating all that still needed to be done before Christmas Day. Angels were everywhere. And they were busy. All of the sweet treats needed to...
“Never, never, never give up.” Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British statesman, soldier and prime minister of the United Kingdom who was born November 30,1874 to Lord Randolph and Lady Randolph Churchill of wealthy British aristocratic lineage. He was not a handsome man, with a bulldog...
The tableaux of Bethlehem on that first Christmas night centered on the Christ Child nestled among the straw of a wooden manger. His mother Mary, and Joseph the Carpenter, were seeking shelter among the doves and donkeys and fragrant evergreens. The family of three was to change the beliefs of...
“What with still hours of calm delight thy songs and image blend. I cannot chose but think thou wert an old familiar friend.” —Annabel Abbs The kitchen was a beautiful spacious room with sunlight filtering through the tall windows facing east. So Eliza could see the morning sun as it...
Marie Antoinette was born November 2, 1755 as an Archduchess of Austria and became dauphine of France at age 14 upon her marriage. And on May 16, 1770 she was joined in marriage with the heir to the French throne, the future King Louis XVI in the Royal Chapel at...
When first lady Barbara Bush visited the Aurora campus of Waubonsee Community College, I was on the welcome committee to greet her. Secret Service were all over the building talking into their sleeves. Mrs. Bush came up to me and shook my hand, her piercing, blue, radiant, eyes looked straight...
Julia was leaving Rome on a fast train to visit Saturnia and its thermal spring baths. She had been 10 days in the Eternal City and wished to luxuriate in the water and its healing powers. The temperature was said to be 99.5 F. The Medieval legend has it that...
Imagine being both blind and deaf and still earning a BA from Radcliffe College of Harvard University, being the author of 14 books and being named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century! Ponder travelling to 35 countries around the world advocating for those with...
