Browsed by
Tag: books

Harold Vayo ocean painting
The gift of our grandfather

The gift of our grandfather

Comments 0 Comment

On this day in the year 1993, our paternal grandfather, Harold E. Vayo Sr., was laid to rest in Saint Mary Cemetery in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Grandpa had lived to be 94 years old. With her permission, here’s the Memorial Tribute my cousin Jean Marie (known to friends and family as “Muff”) presented during Grandpa’s funeral Mass at St. Joseph’s Lithuanian Roman Catholic Church on Rogers Street in Lowell: As we prepared for Christmas this year, God was busy preparing a…

Read More Read More

1951 Dad at Providence College
My father’s voice

My father’s voice

Comments 0 Comment

Back in his college days, Dad was an editor of The Alembic student literary magazine at Providence College. In his senior year, as editor-in-chief, he wrote the occasional opinion piece. It’s been so interesting to read what he and the other editors thought about back then, 70 years ago. The following is from January 1951, a big year for the fledgling television industry. Along with advances in technology, shows such as the Hallmark Hall of Fame, Dragnet, and I Love…

Read More Read More

Maya Angelou
A boat, a cage, a murder, an affair

A boat, a cage, a murder, an affair

Comments 0 Comment

November’s books take us on a river, to the Old West, to a deserted island, to London, and more. Week 1: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome This delightfully humorous book seems surprisingly modern, considering it was published in 1889. As the title indicates, three young men decide a two-week boat trip up the Thames River is just what they need to get rid of their aches and pains. They pilot their own boat, they camp, they…

Read More Read More

Dickens LEGO set by Folio books
LEGO my legs!

LEGO my legs!

Comments 0 Comment

Is there a term for a grandma who buys her LEGO-crazed grandson a set that she fully intends to keep, once built? (He will, of course, be welcome to visit it any time he likes.) I sprung the challenge on Cameron during our Thanksgiving get-together on Saturday. His response was almost poetic: Goose! If you buy it, I’ll build it! Within minutes, our Master Builder was hard at work, with his trusty sidekick, Papaw, at the ready. (Farmer Gary has…

Read More Read More

1953 Joan Cassidy Vayo
The lyric poet

The lyric poet

Comments 0 Comment

The year 1953 was a tough one for Mom. She was a newlywed, but her dear Hap was overseas, serving in the Army during the Korean Conflict. In one of her daily letters to Dad, she proclaimed, “After you get home, I don’t ever want to see a stamp again!” Of course, anyone who knew her is chuckling right now; Mom was a true and faithful letter-writer. She stayed in touch. So imagine her heartbreak when one of her favorite…

Read More Read More

Agatha Christie "Five Little Pigs"
Booktober

Booktober

Comments 0 Comment

From the fictionalized horror of Ray Bradbury to an Agatha Christie crime novel, to the unforgettable history of a Holocaust survivor, this was a month full of unsettling stories. Week 1: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton One word: Bleak. This classic New England tale details a life in which hope is just a waste of time. Revisiting Ethan Frome turned into a match of memories, as both Gary and I read it as high-school class assignments long ago. I remembered…

Read More Read More

dictionary by Daniel Webster
The dictionary

The dictionary

Comments 0 Comment

Does anyone really use a dictionary anymore? I mean a real dictionary. Hard-covered and hefty. With hundreds and hundreds of tissue-paper pages. Tiny type. Here’s Mom‘s copy, now in our home: I weighed it. Thirteen pounds. Measured it, too: 11.5″ x 9.5″ x 5″. Thousands of pages … … starting with Mr. Webster: Researching Mr. Webster a bit, my favorite quote is that he was instrumental in giving American English a dignity and vitality of its own. He served in…

Read More Read More

Jane Austen
Sept in September

Sept in September

Comments 0 Comment

Upon retirement 27 months ago, I committed to read at least four books per month. That evens out to about one book per week. Sometimes I get behind and other times, ahead. As this month came to a close, it looked like I could squeeze in an extra book (or three). Sept is the French word for the number seven. Septem is the Latin word for the same. Do they still teach about the old Roman calendar in school? Anyway,…

Read More Read More

Mockingbird cover
Listen to the mockingbird

Listen to the mockingbird

Comments 0 Comment

As August’s reading comes to an end, I managed to squeeze in a fifth book. Kinda wish I hadn’t, though. Week 1: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene If memory serves, this title provided my introduction to Graham Greene back in high school. It was summer and Mom handed me a book from her vast collection. High school was a very long time ago, so this re-read was a comfortable one. I didn’t remember a thing, other than…

Read More Read More

Dream Street is a great book to read during the dog days of summer
Dog days of reading

Dog days of reading

Comments 0 Comment

Most of July and a third of August are considered the “dog days” of summer. Although none of this month’s books could be called dogs, Betrayal has an unforgettable bite, while Cranford gets those Victorians’ tongues to wagging. Week 1: Betrayal by the Investigative Team of The Boston Globe This is an easy book to put off reading. But that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? After watching the movie Spotlight several times, I knew it was important to read…

Read More Read More