davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1961-07-02

signed himself was to COM
fort the wounded in the
twenty more military hos
pitals in the city. He had no
official position, and was a
member of no organization.
Funds for his work of love
came in donations solicited
and unsolicited-two dollars,
four dollars, thirty dollars
and each contribution elic-
tied a response from Whit
man so warm, so manly, so
heartfelt, that seldom have
gifts been repaid with so
high an increase of capital.
The poet supported himself,
meagerly but in good health,
by part-time jobs for the
Army paymaster and by spo-
radio Washington letters to
several New York news
papers.
Twice a day, seven days a
week, Whitman visited the
patients in the improviSed
hospitals. bringing them ap-
pies and ice cream, paper,
envelopes and stamps, hold
ing their heads during sur
gerry. and saturating their
existence with a love that
had no confines and knew no
discrimination. I leave it to
others to name it and pro-
fame it if they want to. Whit
mans love for his fellow man
we can see is devine. We see
it in his letters to his mother
and his brother Thomas
Jefferson, we come to un-
derStand it in the beautiful
letters he always found time
to write to the unknown fam
lilies of the dead, and we see
it reflected then and later by
those on whom it was be-
slowed. Whitman had an
innate and acute sense Of
what was needed. Not always
would he try to amuse and
cheer the boys; sometimes he
knew that to assure them
that he would not leave their
bedsideS and to then remain
silent was best; sometimes a
kiss on the lips and his great
woody" beard entwined in
their hands were what revivi-
fled these naive farm-boys,
mutilated by war they little
understood. He remembered
them all, and after the war
attempted to continue friend
ships which had moved him
so deeply. His letters, how
ever, often seemed to fright
en- the boys, to overwhelm
them; whatever the reason,
not one single association
with the hundreds of soldiers
Whitman knew in the hos
pital continued after the war.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
The 25th Anniversary
OF Spoin's Dictator

though the fine neutrality Of
the American-managed tele-
phone company, which served
both sides impartially, was
not matched by the Texas
Oil Co., which paid fines for
breaking the Embargo Act
in order to supply Franco
steadily.
Thomas is no apologist for
Republican errors; he under
scores them as heavily as he
underscores their attempts to
remedy rather than per-
petuate social evils. But
whereas they struggled to
maintain a democratic gov
ernment, Franco "still rules
according to no theory of
government save his own
brand of compromise, de-
veloped during the civil war,
between Falange, church and
Monarchists."
Spain as a whole today is
prosperous, but freedom of
speech is limited, political
parties are forbidden, and
political differences are
crimes. THE Nationalist
authorities continue to be-
lieve that these measures are
essential if the explosion of
another civil conflict is to be
avoided. In some areas, pov-
erty remains a horror and a
reproach to all who see it.
Spain thus rem a ins in
travail"
ARTHUR COLLINS.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
Gone With the Wind Has Become an Institution

Certainly not the readers
who have kept it alive
through sincere admire+ion
and sentiment and affection.
Why the critics? Their opin-
ions re-read after a quarter
of a century, seem still about
right. j. Donald Adams in
the Times said "in narrative
power, in sheer reliability,
it is surpassed by nothing in
American fiction :. the best
Civil War novel that has yet
been written. In the Satur-
day Review of Literature
Stephen Vincent Benet de-
scribed it as "a good novel
rather than a great one"
Now Macmillan, Is years
later, offers Gone With the
Wind again for review as a
book. 1t should know better.
It's no longer a book. It's an
institution.
EDWIN TREBLE.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
Other Books in Brief
FICTION

OLD HOUSE OF FEAR. BY
Russell Kirk. (Fleet; $685.
Intrigue, the supernatural
and an Irish terrorist are
the components of this
story set in the Hebrides.
GENERAL
CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY
WITH YOUR CAMERA.
BY Harold Martin; and Of
FICIAL MIRANDA MAN
UAL. BY Amphoto Editorial
Board. (Amphoto; $2.500
For amateur and profess
sional photographers.
CREATIVE UNIVERSITIES.
By Frederick Mayer. (Col-
lege and University Press
Services; $500 A redefini-
ton of the goals of higher
education.
EUROPE AT SKIES AND
SEVENS. BY Emile Benoit.
columbia; So American
relations with Europe's
rival trade blocs.
IN DEFENSE OF PUBLIC
ORDER. By Richard Arens
and Harold D. Lasswell.
columbia; $7.500 An ex-
animation of sanction law
and the inconsistencies be-
tween the goals and
achievements of legal order.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
Major Illustrators

One Of the most distin.
guished recent picture books,
THE BLIND MEN AND THE
ELEPHANT (Scribners. $2.95)
is the collaboration of two
Washingtonians, Lillian
Quigley and Janice Holland.
Selected by the Institute of
Graphic Arts as one Of so
best books Of the year, it has
Just been reprinted for the
third time.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
MR.. KHRUSHCHEV AT HIS WORD

CONQUEST WITHOUT
WAR. Edited by N. H.
Mayer and Jacques Katel.
(Simon & Schuster; $7.500
It often has been said that
if communism ultimately tri-
umphs, it will not be because
the West has not been warned
sufficiently. Ever since he
became Premier, Nikita S.
KhruShchev has been ex-
pounding his views on almost
every conceivable subject,
ranging from Berlin to litera-
ture, from hybrid corn to the
Second World War. The West
continues to doubt his words,
however, passing him off as
Evening star., 1961-07-02

a oe-stomping wild man, a
tipsy diplomat, or an in
corrigible braggart.
Messrs. Mayer and Katel,
however, have taken Mr..
Khrushchev at his word, and
have compiled an interesting
anthology of his statements
on topics such as Berlin,
nuclear warfare, coexistence,
and the United Nations. They
have interlaced his remarks
with commentaries of their
own which add background to
Mr.. Khrushchev's words. This
is a valuable book for any
one wanting a ready Khru-
Shchev reference book.
BERNARD GWERTZMAN.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
GONE WITH II

GONE WITH THE WIND.
BY Margaret Mitchell. An
niversary edition with
illustrations by Ben Stahl.
(The Macmillan Co.; $100
Gone With the Wind was
published Is years ago last
Friday. 1t has become the
most famous book of its
time. The stories which have
grown up around it would
make another book almost
as long. To commemorate the
historic publishing event,
Macmillan has had the book
entirely reset, illustrated by
Ben Stahl and issued in
handsome boxed style, a pro-
duction entirely worthy of it.
With the new edition go
a handful of statistics: About
10 million copies have been
sold, translations have been
made into Is Languages in
Evening star., 1961-07-02
An Effective Writer
On the Negro Question

Americans at last are being
forced to deal with the NE
gro question"
AS Mr.. Baldwin says, "The
question of color takes up
much space in these pages,
but the question of color,
especially in this country, op-
crates to hide the graver
questions of the self.
This is precisely why what
we like to call the Negro
problem is so tenacious in
American life and so dan
gerouS."
Mr.. Baldwin is most ef-
fective when he is writing
about this question. He has
something to say, and he says
it with force, honesty and
dignity. To this reviewer, his
chapters on Harlem and the
South are eloquent and per-
ceptive. Except for his bril-
liant and sensitive analysis
of Andre Glide, the same can
not be said of the rest of
the book.
He writes, always interest,"
ingly, Of Richard Wright,
Norman Mailer, and Ingmar
Bergman. But these, although
revealing of Mr.. Baldwin's
own growth as an artist, are
secondary.
Now Mr.. Baldwin has
taken another pledge. 1t is
worth repeating. AS a writer,
he believes in a point Of view
that is not fashionable these
days.
II think we do have a re-
sponSibility." he says, mot
only to ourselves, but to those
who are coming after U.S."
HAYNES JOHNSON.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
Mr.. Lederer's New Book
Is q Vital Worninu

This is a companion to
"The Ugly American" which
Mr.. Lederer co-authored.
That book was fiction meant
to be taken as fact, and it
did become the accepted pic
ture of bumbling American
diplomacy in Southeast Asia.
This book is non-fiction. 1t
broadens the picture to in
clude most Americans in Asia
and you and me at home.
We are nulnbling, too.
Although Mr.. Lederer over
states his case in what ap-
pears to be a hastily written
book, no one who has made
one trip to Asia or who reads
foreign news or who helps
write it can deny that he is
fundamentally right. We
are a poorly informed peo-
pie. We do make mistakes
rising out of ignorance. We
don't have to be that ig-
norant.
AS he points out, we were
conned in Laos by corrupt
officials and by American
diplomats who said neutral
ism was not good enough,
that we should create a Lao
tian government in our own
image. We have been kidded
about the Chang regime in
Formosa. We let the Rhee
government whipsaw us in
Korea. We have fought
against youthful revolutions
all over the world which
could contribute to our own
security. And most of this
we have done out of ignor-
ance.
His indictments Of the
press are also largely justi-
fled. There aren't more than
a handful of truly knowl-
edgeable reporters in Asia.
Even the three Washington
papers do not have their own
full-time reporters there Cor
in Africa or Latin America
or the Middle East). And
every American newspaper
but the New York Times
does devote more space to
comics than foreign news.
What should we do? In ef-
feet, he says the American
people should demand to
know more about the world
that is deciding our fate.
We should convince editors
that good foreign news will
be read. We should prod our
Congressman to get more in
formation about our activi-
ties abroad. Our families
should invite foreign stu
dents to our homes. The
State Department should
learn to reward accurate in
formation gatherers and
analysts.
Mr.. Lederer has written
an irritating book, not al
ways a judiciouS one. But he
is doing a favor for us sheep.
RICHARD FRYKLUND.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
MY FATHER SITS IN THE

MY FATHER SITS IN THE
DARK, and other selected
stories. BY Jerome Weld
man. (Random House;
$3.50
Jerome Weidman likes
short declarative sentences.
Plodding, inevitable, they
seem to him we'll suited to
the account of the lives of
the ordinary people he chron-
icles. Perhaps they are ap-
propriate to a narrative
style that abjures light and
shadow, a quickening of pace,
a sense of climax, an inter-
est in the curiosities Of hu-
man beings. The reader who
finds Weidman's stories banal
and trivial will also undoubt-
edly be oppressed by the
literary style in which they
are recounted.
For example, in 1.-THE Bot
tom of the Mountain, an
intelligence agent in war
time London, suspicious of
an expatriate American who
has become an orchestra
leader, takes the better part
of 20 pages to dissect the
man and his background,
yet delays the resolution of
the story by another attempt
at analysis. 1t is all very low
key and very unexciting. In
"Briefing PERIOD, an Ore
gon business man, during a
three months wait In a
hotel near Union Station in
Washington, re-establishes
the habits Of his home-life.
The meticulous arrangement
of his room, the seven pair
Of polished shoes under his
bed, the search for a radio
phonograph, and a dozen
Evening star., 1961-07-02
Twenty Titles

The exhibit numbered
about 20 titles, but there
should have been more, for
these Washington authors
and artists are both creative
and modest. Those who
missed publication this year
had good reasons. Typical is
Marion Holland: = research
on a race horse, the main
character in her next book,
has had to be sandwiched in
with building a house on the
Blue Ridge. (She threatens
to call it Random House be-
cause royalties on a Ran
dom House beginner-boo
have helped pay for bull
dozer and cinder blocks0 In
spite of such omissions, the
Washington exhibit included
many "best books"
Evening star., 1961-07-02

facade presented by Lloyd
George was all a sham, he
seems also to have been inn
PEELED by the desire to pay
tribute to his mother, a wom-
an of endless patience and
long suffering, without
whom, her son feels, Lloyd
George, Stepson of a Welsh
cobbler, would never have
risen to take his place in
world councils.
Mrs. Lloyd George, who
was also Welsh, and her hus-
bands intellectual equal, for
gave her wandering mate a
hundred times over. Once,
when his brilliant career was
imperiled by his being named
in a divorce suit, she saved
him by appearing at his side
in court. For 80 years, ac-
cording to her indignant son,
she bore the humiliation of
seeing her husband chase
after almost every woman
who crossed his path. She
gave up when he entered a
liaison with the governeSs of
one of their daughters.
If one can leave aside the
questionable taste of a son
informing on his fathers
lecherous be havior, this
memoir is an extremely read
able, intim a tie, anecdotal
portrait of a marvelously
zestful statesman, who had
an appetite for detail and a
vision Of grandeur, who was
the friend of the working
man and the friend of the
Evening star., 1961-07-02
BOOKS IN REVIEW
WhitmonLe
In New Edition
BY DAY THORPE
Star Book Critic

THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF WALT WHITMAN: Corre-
spondence 18421875. Edited by Edwin Haviland Miller
Volumes & II New York University Press; $40 each)
The first four volumes of defintve fourteen-volume
edition of the works of Walt Whitman devoted to the
writer's letters OF these the first two Just appeared
embshed with full panoply of calculations of the situa-
tons in which they written and interesting inorma-
ton about the people involved Although the volumes are
called correpondence only in instances letters
Evening star., 1961-07-02
, =.
An Impious View
Of Lloyd George
By MARY McGRORY
Star staff Writer
MY FATHER, LLOYD
Grown; $4.)

MY FATHER, LLOYD GEORGE. BY Richard Lloyd George
Grown; $4)
Richard Lloyd Georges book about his father must surely
be the years most astonishing entry in the biographical lists
Its main purpose to be to tell the world that Lloyd
George the great Welsh leader all his life redoubtable
womaniser."
The book is at act of fia pety and of flial
impiety. For while the author wishes make it plain
sometimes detail worthy of Condentia-that the pious
Evening star., 1961-07-02
In Suspense

FOURTEEN MYSTERIES
just published by Dolphin in
paperback for csc each are
a fine buy. Attractively pack
aged, they range from Wilkie
Collins "The Woman in
White" and Charles Dickens
"The Mystery Of Edwin
brood" to Francis Steegmul-
ler's delightful Blue Harpsi-
chord" and books by Andre
Carve, Michael Gilbert, Man
ming Coles, Jocelyn Davey,
Julian Symons Michael In
mes and Nicholas Blake.
B. M.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
NOBODY KNOWS MY
NAME. BY James Baldwin.
(The Dial Press; $4.500

NOBODY KNOWS MY
NAME. BY James Baldwin.
(The Dial Press; $4.500
Years ago James Baldwin
vowed to become a writer,
God, Satan and Mississippi
Notwithstanding.
AS those who have read
"Notes of a Native Son" and
"Giovanni's Room" can attest,
Mr.. Baldwin's ambition came
true. He Is a writer, and a
very good one.
His successes, however,
brought problems familiar to
American writer's of this CEN
tury. Mr.. Baldwin fled to
Europe, seeking freedom he
could not find here. He be-
came an expatriate, vintage
late 40s.
After wandering through
Paris, Spain, Corsica and
Scandinavia, Mr.. Baldwin,
still following the great pat
tern, finally awoke to a real
ization that his years on the
continent had been rather
sad and aimless." He returned
home, facing a new and more
important struggle.
Here I was" he writes,
cleft with only myself to deal
with. It was entirely up to
me-"
In this book, a collection
of essays written over the
past six years, Mr.. Baldwin
tells of his search for an
identity. Now that hardly
distinguishes him from any
other serious writer. What
gives his struggle more mean
ing today is the fact that Mr..
Baldwin is a Negro, writing
with talent at a time when
Evening star., 1961-07-02
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
Washington Fuvors
ChiIdren's s Authors
BY BARBARA NOLEN
Contributing Writer

The Writer'S Institute held in md-June at George Wash
ington University another milestone for readers and
writers of chldrens books in this 1t called attention
to the fact that the number Of chdrens books in United
States has triped World War IL Booksellers meeting
in Washington last month"; also pointed out that last year
200 million chldrens books sold in this country
and approximately the number in the USSR In fact
all around the world chdrens books being recognized
Evening star., 1961-07-02
Literary Climate

People come to Washington
from the grass roots of the
United States and from all
parts of the world. They
bring with them specia !
knowledge and special skills.
Here in Washington, they
find unusual opportunities
for research in the many Ii
braries, the museums, and
scientific centers. Most i'm
portant, Washington offers a
constant ebb and flow of
ideas about children and
books.
This ebb and flow of ideas
has been channeled by mem
bers of the Washington Chill
dren's Book Guild into many
community activities: most
recently into collaboration
with George Washington Uni
versity in the first Writers
Institute devoted entirely to
writing for children and
young people.
The group Of % expectant
writers who enrolled in
cluded one expectant moth
er, 2 librarians, 4 artists,
several teachers, a few
grandmothers. an educator
from Nepal. and two editors
Of specialized material from
New York. The final session
of the 7-day Institute was a
luncheon, featuring an ex-
hibit of recent books by
Washington authors and
illustrators,
Evening star., 1961-07-02

mighty. Lloyd George was
an enormously witty man, a
superb strategist and, ac-
cording even to his critical
son, more concerned with his
country's welfare than his
own.
Gradually his unceasing
wenching took too much of
his time and clouded his
judgment, says the son, who
agreed with his father that
he was a genius, but an
abominable husband.
Mr.. Lloyd Georges reasons
for writing the book remain
his own.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR.

11E SfANASd CIVIL WAX.
BY Hugh Thomas. (Harper;
$500
Since 1857, Hugh Thomas,
born in England the year
that the Second Republic
was born in Spain, has been
digesting the hundreds of
books by participants and
sympathizers on both sides
of the Spanish Civil War.
His long, richly documented
history of the conflict may
not please as many read
erS as Shirer's Rise and Fall
Of the Third Reich"-for
Franco still has apologists
and supporters who can only
see Red-but it is surely the
essential history of the fight
for Spain until additional
documents become available.
Past Politics
Though he plVnges readers
into the thick of events in
June, 1886. Thomas back
tracks to sketch the past of
Spanish politics: The Carlist
Wars, the spread of social
ism and anarchism, the anti
clericalism which the
church's wealth and position
had fostered. Moving for
ward again, he begins with
the abdication of Alfonso
XIII in 1881 and the estab-
lishment of the Second Re-
public.
Writing a straight narra-
tive of military history poses
few problems. Mr.. Thomas
undertakes a great deal
more. He gives an under
standing Of Spanish politics
throughout the period,
sketching the leaders, their
programs, and their support
ers. He traces the elaborate
diplomatic minuets in the
capitals Of Europe, Russia,
and America. His success in
maintaining a narrative pace
demonstrates unusual skill.
Several annoying but really
trivial typographical errors
cannot mar his accomplish
ment.
Popular Front
For lack of support by
powerful groups from both
left and right, the Spanish
Republic failed. The Popular
Front, a left-of-center coali-
ton, indisputably won the
elections of 1886. Their VIC
tory united the right and
center parties in opposition.
Monarchists, Fascists, and
the army-which since the
Napoleonic wars had used its
force to direct Spanish poll
tics-joined in a plot tn seize
the government in July.
Meanwhile the Popular Front
found it difficult to hold to-
gether. Republicans, So
cialists, Anarchists, and Sep
aratists, quarreled steadily
among themselves even be-
fore the Communists tried
to steer events.
Francois rise from a nom
political general to head Of
state cost 100000 violent
deaths "a downward revision
by Thomas from the Nation
alist claim of / million);
malnutrition and disease
claimed 100000 others.
Britain and France pre-
tended not to know that Hit
ler and Mussolini were sup
plying the Nationalists.
America, too, stood aside,
Evening star., 1961-07-02
PAPERBACK

HENRY ESMOND. BY VIII
liam Makepeace Thackery.
(Bantam; so cents.) The
10Th century authors fiery
novel of Queen Anne's
England.
NATURE AND MANS FATE,
BY Garrett Hardin. Men
tor; rs cents0 A study of
evolution, heredity and the
future of man.
ISOLATION BOOTH. BY Bob
Kaufman and Lou Nor
helm. Gold Medal; IS
cents.) A novel with an in
side line to the not-so-
isolated booth that blew up
the quiz shows.
SKYPORT. BY Curt Siod-
max. (Signet: 35 cents.)
Robber barons Of the space
age people this science fic-
tion novel.
Evening star., 1961-07-02
A NATION OF SHEEP. BY
William j. Lederer. (W.
w. Norton: S3.75)

w. Norton; $500
A few weeks after publica-
ton this book has sold more
than 10000 copies and
climbed to the top Of the
best-seller lists. Somewhat
to his own surprise, Mr..
Lederer has a message about
America and her foreign af-
fairs that Americans will
pay to hear.
His message is that we are
sheep, herded by blind, not
too-bright and possibly sim
lister shepherds. Our infor-
nation about the world we
protect is scant and often
wrong. We are marching
over numerous cliffs we
should be able to see before
us. But we can save our
selves if we will only learn
to pay attention.
Evening star., 1961-07-02


to Whitman included. About
sixty per cent of Whitman's
surviving letters are here
published for the first time.
Taken as a whole Whit
mans letters are a literary
achievement that does no dis
service to the reputation Of
one of our four greatest
writer's. That they are indeed
calculated works rather than
casual and occasional pieces
is shown by the fact that pos
terity is indebted for half Of
them to copies Whitman him
self made for posterity's bene-
fit, and by a few rough drafts
that bellies Whitman'S pro-
testation of improvisation.
The letters are in the class of
those the reader values for
their intrinsic interest, such
as those of Mozart or Sterne,
for example, rather than eX-
clusively for insight into a
writer important in other
fields, such as those of Bee
thoven.
But though the letters are
worthy of the author of
Leaves of Grass, they are
in essence totally different.
Only once or twice do we
find in them the self-con-
scious posturing, the neolo-
gisms. the iconoclastic shout,
so typical of the poems.
Whitman the man, though
we are always aware Of his
presence, is never a literary
creation, an actor in the
events the letters describe.
When Whitman writes to
Emerson or Tennyson, he
writes as an equal, but when
he writes to ordinary people
(and most of the recipients
were simple folk of various
degrees of sophisticationl his
letters show a never-failing
sense of sympathy, a deep
instinct Of how they will ring
in the ear of the reader. Few
of the addresses in these vol
umes could have had much
concern for Whitman the lit
erary man, and therefore to-
days reader will find almost
no discussion of what was
seething in the writer's mind
during the genesis Of the
early versions of Leaves of
Grass or Drum Taps"
\ 4 = 4
Late in 1862 Whitman
went to Fredericksburg from
Broo klyn, to locate his
brother, George Washing
ton, who had been wounded
in action-not seriously. On
the way back he stopped in
the Capital, where he was to
live for the next eight years.
The mission to which he as
Evening star., 1961-07-02

as a potent educational force
One sidelight is especially
interesting to people who live
in the Washington area. The
climate along the Potomac,
which receives so much criti-
cism for its foggy, Soggy
character, seems to be right
for writer's of books for chill
dren and young people, if we
use the word Climate" in its
literary rather than its literal
sense.