DAVID MCCULLOUGH: PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM RECIPIENT 9.6K
Total Views: 44 The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2015, 320 pages). Book Review by Dennis Moore If I were giving a young man advice as to how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio. Wilbur Wright August 5, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – David McCullough, 2-time Pulitzer Prize winner, for Truman and John Adams, and 2-time National Book Award winner, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback, as well as the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, demonstrates in his #1 New York Times Bestseller; The Wright Brothers, why he is deserving of those honors and accolades. In this thrilling book master historian McCullough draws on the immense riches of the Wright Papers, including personal diaries, notebooks, and more than a thousand letters from private family correspondence to tell the human side of a profoundly American story. This book is more than just about who is considered “First in Flight”, but more about the humanity behind two industrious brothers and their upbringing which enabled them to change history as we know it. This book is also more than about the invention of the airplane, but the pioneering and entrepreneurial acumen and spirit of two young men from Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright. McCullough details how the brothers would start and build on their “Wright Cycle Company”, or bicycle business, as well as their “West Side News” printing business. The author points out that a high school friend of Orville’s, Paul Laurence Dunbar, who had been the class poet and the only black student in the school, became a contributor to the West Side News. At some point, Dunbar is said to have chalked on the shop wall this quatrain tribute, according to McCullough: “Orville Wright is out of sight In the printing business. No other mind is half so bright As his’n is.” It is interesting to note, that in 1893, through the influence of Bishop Wright, Wilbur and Orville’s father, a first collection of Dunbar’s poems was published by the United Brethren Church, for which Dunbar himself paid the cost of $125. In another few years, according to McCullough’s “The Wright Brothers” book, having been discovered by the editor of The Atlantic Monthly, William Dean Howells, Dunbar had become a nationally acclaimed poet. This book is rich with such anecdotes, which is perhaps why McCullough is considered one of America’s preeminent historians. Perhaps giving some insight into Wilbur’s perceived reclusive nature, the author details a particular incident in Wilbur’s childhood that had lasting impact on him, and possibly kept him out of Yale. McCullough tells of when Wilbur was in his teens, and was struck in his face by a hockey stick. For weeks he suffered excruciating pain in his face and jaw, then had to be fitted with false teeth. Serious digestive complications followed, then heart palpitations and spells of depression that seemed only to lengthen. The alleged perpetrator of this unfortunate act on Wilbur, whom Wilbur knew well and lived only a few blocks from, would later be executed in Ohio for the murders of his mother, father, and brother, and was believed to have killed as many as a dozen others besides. Except for Bishop Wright’s brief diary mention, made available to McCullough, nothing on the subject is to be found anywhere in the Wright family correspondence or reminiscences. Nor is there much in the way of detail or firsthand description about the devastating after-effect of the accident on Wilbur. Perhaps most revealing about this book by McCullough, is the foresight demonstrated by Wilbur Wright, in his reaching out to the Smithsonian Institution in a letter dated May 30, 1899, several years before the Wright Brothers famous flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. McCullough describes it as: “Indeed, given all it set in motion, it was one of the most important letters in history.” It set the stage for the controversial to some “Contract (Smithsonian-Wright Agreement of 1948)”, which ostensibly gave the rights to the Wright Brother’s invention of the airplane to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. This letter, quoted by the author in his book states: “I have been interested in the problem of mechanical and human flight ever since as a boy I constructed a number of bats of various sizes after the style of Cayley’s and Penaud’s machines,” he began. (Sir George Cayley, a brilliant English baronet and aeronautical pioneer, had also devised a toy helicopter very much like the one by Alphonse Penaud given to the brothers by Bishop Wright.)” Wilbur Wright’s letter to the Smithsonian further went on to state: “My observations since have only convinced me more firmly that human flight is possible and practicable….I am about to begin a systematic study of the subject in preparation for practical work to which I expect to devote what time I can spare from my regular business. I wish to obtain such papers as the Smithsonian Institution has published on this subject, and if possible a list of other works in print in the English language. I am an enthusiast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine.” From this initial and possibly presumptive overture on the part of Wilbur Wright, a close connection and arrangement was made with Samuel Pierpont Langley, an eminent astronomer and head, or secretary, of the Smithsonian. It would become quite fortuitous of Wilbur Wright to have written that letter to the Smithsonian Institution, prior to he and his brother Orville having built the flying machine or airplane, and before its first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, and now more than 100 years later, that vehicle being housed in the Smithsonian. It is ironic, if not suspicious, that just 9 days prior to the
9.6K viewsTRANSFORMING EARLY LEARNERS INTO SUPERB READERS: PROMOTING LITERACY AT SCHOOL, AT HOME, AND WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, BY ANDREA M. NELSON-ROYES, EdD 17.9K
Total Views: 48 Book Review by Dennis Moore Andrea Nelson-Royes, EdD, an educator, researcher, author, and parent who has a passionate interest in how children learn to read and how to keep them reading, has authored a book that demonstrates all that she has experienced and believes in; Transforming Early Learners into Superb Readers: Promoting Literacy at School, at Home, and within the Community. It starts for her at home with her own children, endeavoring to give them the opportunity at the best possible education that they can get. Being a mother of four children gives her ample time and opportunity to test her passion for the education of other parent’s children. Transforming Early Learners into Superb Readers is a scholarly book and approach to education from someone who has made a lifetime of educating children and instilling in them the fundamentals of early childhood development. The author succinctly states and demonstrates in her book: “Children want to learn to read, can learn to read, yet reading underachievement plagues children across the nation. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveals that more than one-third of fourth graders fail to attain basic levels of reading achievement. Essentially, reading is about deciphering shapes on a sheet or screen to reveal subtle meanings. Learning to read in early years is crucial to every child’s success.” These would be empty words if the author did not offer solutions, which she does throughout this well written and researched book. Parallels exist between Transforming Early Learners into Superb Readers and the author’s earlier written Success in School and Career: Common Core Standards in Language Arts K-5, in which she states: “Every Child in America deserves a world-class education. The author writes of “Technology and Early Learners’ Motivation” by stating: “Technology has a profound effect on children’s motivation to learn to read. Technological hardware and software promote early learners’ engagement, motivation, and learning proficiencies. The National Reading Panel noted that although the cognitive aspects of reading, such as comprehension and decoding, are commonly recognized as vital components within the overall process of learning to read, motivation also is a critical factor in a child’s reading success. Graphics, animation, and sound effects are constant eye-openers or ear catchers for early learners.” This book by Nelson-Royes comes at a crucial time, with the raging debate of the public school tenure system across our country, particularly here in California. Just recently, Los Angeles County Superior Judge Rolf M. Treu decreed California’s tenure laws unconstitutional because they compromise students’ rights to a quality education by protecting incompetent teachers. The author clearly defines in her book the roles of teachers and their interactions with students and a partnership with parents in transforming early learners into superb readers, by stating; “Educators must use some of the following activities to help struggling readers in their classroom:” Familiarize themselves with the children and their parents and caregivers. Encourage continued assistance at home. Make use of specialists’ resources within the school. Search for professional development tools that help children incorporate the five components – phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, and reading comprehension – into their daily instruction. Provide the parents and caregivers of children with school-based and outside resources for any available in-school tutoring programs or private tutoring. Stay well versed in current information in the field of reading. This sounds like an educator that is truly engaged! The author further states in this scholarly and well-written book: “Struggling readers benefit from effective collaborations connecting home and school. Educators must offer guidance to parents and caregivers to assist their children at home. Conversely, parents and caregivers must offer guidance to educators to help educators stimulate children at school.” With this type of interaction there would seem to be less of an issue of tenure and seniority. The author sums up her brilliant analysis of promoting literacy at school, at home, and within the community, in chapter 5, titled ENCOURAGING CHILDREN TO LOVE WHAT THEY READ, by stating: “Teaching children to read continues to be a highly investigated area of education, and it is consistently a focus of our nation’s initiatives. The NCLB Act requires schools to take steps to make certain that all children are reading at grade level by end of the third grade. As a result, schools across our nation continually search for ways to achieve this standard.” In a recent phone conversation with Nijaah Howard, Founder & CEO of Young Men Strong (YSM), LLC, she emphasized to me the need for her core constituency, young men of color, to be proficient in reading a book. Obviously, Dr. Nelson-Royes’ message has resonated with this parent and national leader. Desmond Amuh, a Homewood Flossmoor High School African-American teen from my hometown area of Chicago, has been accepted into 13 prestigious colleges, but ultimately accepted Yale. This is obviously the best example of parents and educators collaborating in transforming early learners into superb readers. See story on WLS – Chicago. Perhaps the best testament of the author’s findings and the quality of this book, comes from someone who for 15 years was a secondary-level (grades six through twelve) English educator who also taught math, Byung-In Seo, PhD, associate professor, Chicago State University, and managing editor, Illinois Schools Journal. Dr. Byung-In Seo, who wrote the foreword to this excellent book states: “This book takes literacy theory and research and puts it in practical, usable pieces of information. It has the same readability as a newspaper and most trade magazines, so parents and caregivers will be able to understand and apply the information.” That says it all! Dr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr., MD, professor and director of pediatric neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, states: “In Transforming Early Learners into Superb Readers, Dr. Andrea M. Nelson-Royes has done a terrific job of showing our society how to take advantage of all the resources at our disposal in order to accomplish the vital task of creating widespread literacy competency. The material is
17.9K views