I picked up a book at the library the other day. It reminded me of other books I have read. "The Caine Mutiny,” remember that one? And another book I was reminded of and have read, “Marjorie Morningstar,” another best seller. And another, “Don’t Stop The Carnival?” These were all good books but there were more to come. One of the best books I have read, ever, “The Winds of War.” What an outstanding story. I remembered that story years after I read the book. I wondered what happened to Natalie. Then “War and Remembrance” came out. It was a good book, a continuation but did not have the impact as “The Winds of War” had, at least on me. What did all these books have in common? They were all written by Herman Wonk. I thought Wonk had died a long time ago. I thought that because in my aging mind, somewhere along the way, I mixed up two authors. I’ve had them mixed up for years. The other author is Robert Roark. He wrote the Honey Badger. I think it is the first book I recall reading whose chapters were about different characters in the book and if I recall correctly, some of these chapters have different points of view. The story itself was a whopping good tale. It is one of the first books I read that made me want to write, write a story the way the Honey Badger was written. Of course we can dream in grandiose fashion, while in reality we lead small, unimaginative lives of little account. But the book spiked my imagination mightily. Without checking, I think Robert Roark was killed while in Africa or he wrote another story about Africa and died there. I'm still fuzzy on Roark but truth of the matter is I got the two authors mixed up and thought, for whatever reason, they were both dead. While at the library the other day I stumbled on to the book that reminded me of the books mentioned above and of the author who wrote them. Here in my hands I held a copy of a new book, “The Lawgiver” by Herman Wonk. Seeing his name on a new book really surprised me. As I’m holding the book, I’m thinking, I thought this guy was dead. What a surprise to discover he is not. I took the book and sat down and turned to the title page. I turned it over. It was copyrighted in 2002 when Wonk was ninety-seven years old. It’s not a new book, only new to me. I checked-out the book along with six others and when I got home, I turned on my computer and looked up Herman Wonk. There he was, his picture staring back at me. He was born May 27, 1915, and three or four days ago he turned one hundred years old. And I thought he was dead. I’m going to read the book. I don’t expect it to be a blockbuster like most of his others have been. But a man that can turn out a book at age ninety-seven deserves to be read, and I’m going to read every word of "The Lawgiver." I think it is a story of Moses. My, my, the things you can learn at the library, so full of little surprises.
I have heard the name Herman Wonk and probably have read a some of his writings back when I did more reading. It is amazing how some people can still be very productive at an advanced age and some people have complete deteriated by the age of 80.
This may be off topic but this thread reminds me of my husband's grandfather who celebrated his 102nd birthday last June 13. It was just unfortunate not to be able to attend because we were on a scheduled vacation in the province. We call him Lolo Tonio to mean Grandpa Tony. His main occupation is listening to the radio and chatting with people. Except for his weak hearing, although he uses a hearing aid, his eyes are still okay and his physique looks good. He is independent - eats by himself, moves alone, eats anything. What's the most unique thing that I see is his smoking. He is a chain smoker until now and we really think that it was the nicotine that is giving him a long life.
Interesting, Corie, how some use tobacco and it nails them with either lung cancer or copd while others are seemingly unaffected.