Nancy Sundstrom

Features Nancy Sundstrom Take a father, a son, and a stepmother. Add in a brother and sister from a different clan, and another young man, for good measure.
In the case of the Low family and the three young charges they‘re mentoring as part of Northwest Michigan‘s Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, these are the key ingredients in the recipe for a family within a family.
The Lows are something quite unique, as well as a remarkable testament to the effectiveness of the program, which matches up disadvantaged youth with a man or woman who makes a commitment to spend time with them.
Patriarch Peter, V.P. of Operations for Salomon Smith Barney in Traverse City, was the first to come on board, deciding to become a Big Brother in August 2000 and getting matched up with Dominick.
Peter‘s son Andy, a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch who is married to a school teacher in Petoskey, independently but simultaneously also became a Big Brother one month later, to Jesse, something that greatly surprised and delighted the two men when they made the discovery shortly thereafter.
Peter‘s wife Carol, an employee at Corbin Design in downtown Traverse City, officially became a Big Sister early this winter after having been introduced to and spending some time with Cassey, Dominick‘s real-life sister.

Books Nancy Sundstrom It didn’t seem likely that lightening would strike so quickly again, but it has - in two different regards.
For one, Ian McEwan’s Booker Prize-nominated “Atonement” is his first novel since his marvelous “Amsterdam” took home the prize in 1998. For another, this is the second book of the new millennium, following “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen to truly deserve the label “masterpiece.”
One can only speculate as to why this elegant and engrossing novel, which will no doubt be referred to in years to come as one that played a key role in carrying on the rich tradition of British literature, was snubbed for the Booker Prize this year, but suffice it to say, that was a serious oversight.

Books Nancy Sundstrom Writing recently about the literary broohahas that developed in response to two quite wonderful books, “Stupid White Men“ by Michael Moore and “The Corrections“ by Jonathan Franzen, reminded me that any successful book usually has some downright juicy scoop attached to it.
In that spirit, this column, usually dedicated to book reviews, is going between the lines, if you will, on some of the more interesting doings in the wonderful world of print.

Loudmouths
A few weeks back, I gave a thumbs-down to the obnoxious and boring saga spun by Gene Simmons in “Kiss and Make Up,“ and was eagerly beginning the latest tome from Caleb Carr, “The Lessons of Terror.“ Simultaneously, both authors got into some verbal slugfests with interviewers, with neither one gracefully acquitting themselves. In Simmons‘ case, comments like “If you want to welcome me with open arms, I‘m afraid you‘re also going to have to welcome me with open legs“ did little to curry the favor of the usually unflappable Terry Gross, host of NPR‘s “Fresh Air.“ Gross all but gave Simmons the hook, and since, the two have been giving each other a public dissing, though sentiment has clearly been with Gross.

Books Nancy Sundstrom Dazzling. Spellbinding. Exhilarating. Brilliant. Masterpiece.
These adjectives were typical of the sort used last year to describe
Jonathan Franzen‘s “The Corrections,“ a book that has long been on my
reading list and proved to be more than well worth the wait. This is the
type of novel one can actually let age a bit past the initial furor of
its release, and then completely savor because it deserves, if not
surpasses, all of its hype.
In this case, it wasn‘t just that Franzen, the New Yorker and Harper‘s
columnist whose previous two novels were “The Twenty-Seventh City“ and
“Strong Motion,“ had acquitted himself as a Dickens for the new
millennium, he was also at the eye of the storm of the biggest literary
broohaha of 2001.

Books Nancy Sundstrom That irascible, cranky, working class champion from Flint is back at it again, and just in time. And he‘s coming to Northwestern Michigan College this Monday, April 1, to promote his new book.
You have to love Michael Moore, the bestselling author of “Downsize This!“, director of the groundbreaking documentary “Roger and Me,“ and creator and host of the Emmy Award winning series “Tv Nation“ and “The Awful Truth.“ And if you don‘t love, you at least have to appreciate what he does. Just when we‘re all getting a little too comfortable with issues we should be downright uneasy about, he‘ll come along and stir up some much-needed self-righteous indignation, all in the form of common sense questions.
This time it‘s through his latest book, “Stupid White Men... And Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation.“ “Mike Strikes Back!“ proclaims the book jacket, and I, for one, take great comfort in that. In true Moore fashion, he fires all cylinders at the “big, ugly special interest group that‘s laying to waste the world as we know it.“ That group is stupid, white men, and they‘re headed up by a cast of the usual suspects, most notably “President“ (as he likes to call him) George W. Bush, his “Co-President“ Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, The Idiot Nation (to which we all belong), and Corporate America.

Books Nancy Sundstrom Throughout the course of the most amazing and trying times in our country‘s history, particularly over the past 100 years, photographs have been used to help us understand what has happened around or to us. With its ability to provide a thousand words through an image, these pictures have provided a silent form of communication and sometimes healing to those who use them to put a human face on events the mind can‘t quite seem to comprehend.
Since we have just passed the six month anniversary of September 11, we seem, as a collective nation and individually, more ready to deal with the realities of that grim tragedy by seeking to understand it through pictures - be they in the recent documentary aired by CBS, or in two new coffee table books that emerge as a testament to those who lost their lives, those who fought to save them, and those who are attempting to rebuild from the ashes.

Books Nancy Sundstrom You cannot choose your battlefield, God does that for you; But you can plant a standard Where a standard never flew. -- Stephen Crane, “The Colors“

As it does every few years, or as often as we need to try to grapple again with our unresolved national conflicts on the subject, the Vietnam War has become a hot topic and big business, both in the film and fiction worlds.
The release of the latest Mel Gibson film, “We Were Soldiers“ has prompted the paperback release of Colonel Harold Moore‘s autobiographical tale of the same name about the first major battle in Vietnam. And an excellent and moving novel, “An American Sin,“ unique in that it is written from the perspective of an Asian American who needed to prove he was American by fighting in Vietnam, was published in late 2001 to critical acclaim.
Each has a candor, eye for detail, and a poignancy not often found in books about war, and if there is a common theme between them, it is that in war, more than perhaps any other theater of life, the issues of right and wrong are great, usually fairly obvious, and long-lasting.

Books Nancy Sundstrom A new book from David Halberstam is usually more of an event, and one of the reasons why is that the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 17 other works has an uncanny ability to not only reflect the mindset of the American public, but usually be at least a few steps ahead of it.
“War in a Time of Peace“ is Halberstam‘s most recent foray into bringing history to life, and it is a most worthy sequel to his classic, “The Best and the Brightest,“ which examined the decisions made during the Vietnam era and the men who made them. Here, he looks at how many of the lessons learned have come to influence American foreign policy in the past two presidential administrations and since the Gulf War.
Lest that sound like a tonic for insomniacs, be assured that it is anything but. Halberstam is a master at creating finely etched character portraits, finding just the right behind-the-scenes anecdote to illustrate a point, and skillfully weaving in pop culture perspectives to keep serious subjects from becoming overwhelming. The result is another journalistic tour-de-force, one guaranteed to make the same kind of long-lasting impact that “The Best and the Brightest“ was destined for 30 years ago.
His primary point in this highly-anticipated follow-up is that the long shadow of the Cold War still looms over American foreign policy, even as shifts in our domestic politics, policies, and players have changed our identity as a nation and as a world power. The dynamics are even more complex than ever reasons Halberstam in a well-presented case that leaves no stone unturned, from egos to the environment.
In the opening chapter, the author sets the stage as the balance of power is about to be passed on to a new administration, one that will place domestic policy ahead of foreign for the first time in nearly five decades. He writes:

Books Nancy Sundstrom If you love the written word, then it‘s a fair assumption that you‘re likely to be a fan of authors, as well. That being said, there are several stunning new works on available on three important contributors to American literature, and all are highly recommended.
Richard Wright: The Life and Times by Hazel Rowley, “Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers“ by Jo Hammett, Richard Layman, and Julie M. Rivett, and “Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography“ by Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan, and Ken Burns all serve up their subjects on a platter rich with scope, detail, elegant writing, and plenty of surprises. Rowley‘s book on Wright, in particular, virtually defines what a biography should be, but across the board, each celebrates the business of words and ideas, while providing valuable insights into three extraordinarily fertile minds.

Richard Wright: The Life and Times by Hazel Rowley
“How in hell did you happen?“ a Chicago sociologist once inquired of Richard Wright, the novelist who posed, through his work, some of the most profound questions ever raised in America about the volatile nature of race relations. Well, the answer is found in exquisite and painstaking detail in Rowley‘s engrossing biography, which emerges as dramatic and impressive as Wright was.