Review of Scott Berg's WILSON: A Man Who Put Country First

You cannot help but be moved by Scott Bergs 743 page biography of Woodrow Wilson. His fight for what was right is almost unbelievable by today's standards. The man never did one thing for himself that did not put the country first. Even when he was out of office when most people cash in on their position Wilson walked from millions of dollars because they smacked of using his office for personal benefit. And Woodrow Wilson was not a rich man during a time when there was no Presidential pension. In fact he considered going back to work because he needed the money.

But the heroism of Wilson will break your heart as he led the nation to victory in World War I then watched his dream of The League of Nations be destroyed by a recalcitrant congress led by Henry Cabot Lodge. Imagine going over to France for six months to hack out the Treaty of Versailles to end World War I and fighting for a A League of Nations so a war like this would never occur again and then coming home to have your own government refuse to sign the treaty and worse to make it their mission to destroy the League of Nations. Sadly, we can relate.

And this did kill Wilson in the end. He was literally fighting for the League of Nations when he had the stroke on a whistle stop tour that made him into a semi-invalid in the White House. And yet he never gave up. He never compromised. He stayed true to his vision of peace and justice for the war ravaged world. He knew the danger of another World War and it broke his heart when he saw his treaty destroyed because of partisan politics. Again. We know the feeling.

And in the end Wilson was vindicated sadly. The Treaty had no vehicle to stop German aggression and of course war did come. But looking back on this man of ideals through over very jaded prism of 2014 we can only sigh and hope that this type of man has not vanished with his time. This is a biography well worth your time

www.williamhazelgrove.com
The Pitcher...sometimes a dream is all you have


 

Review of The Singular Mark Twain

You would think a man who was one of the bestselling authors of his time would not have financial difficulties. Just finished biography The Singular Mark Twain and I was amazed that apart from marrying well and making very good money from his books and lecturing--he had to file bankruptcy and died with very little money that was squandered by his daughters. When reading Twain's biography you are struck at how much money he made and how much he lost. He had a penchant for making terrible investments, getting caught up in get rich quick schemes and basically being bad with his money. Sounds like a writer to me.


We assume that as writers there are those out there with the mythical pot of gold. Well, there are. People do make millions from their books but they also lose millions. Mark Twain even had his own publishing company, his wife was wealthy, he made a bundle from lecturing around the country, his books sold well, yet he spent the latter years of his life in debt. He did what most people do when they get money, he increased his lifestyle and traveled.

He also really believed he had the key to riches with several inventions. What is interesting about the Twain character is that he knew a lot of times what he was doing was not in his best interests. But he could not help himself. He ended up having to lecture for years to pay his debts from a bankruptcy and basically living abroad because he could not afford to live in the United States. Amazing that one of our premiere authors could not afford to stay in his own house. He coudlnt' sell it either and ended up practically giving it away. The crash of 1890 pretty much wiped him out. I guess there is nothing new under the son. Hard times are hard times. Even for those at the top of the literary mountain.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com/
Rocket Man will be out in January