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In other words, you agree that Hearst was a loathsome, sociopathic ghoul.

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I just read the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman.

It has Sex, Spirituality, Jingoism. Great Poetry.

Don't mind my editing of your post, Sandy, I learned it from Hearst.

Hey, wasn't it Hearst who thought up "Reefer Madness", and did a massive propaganda campaign using his media empire, as a ploy to eliminate hemp as a fiber competitor so that his vast timber holdings would be more valuable? Guess he started more than one "war".

No matter, he used his wealth to buy paintings in Europe for the betterment of all mankind.

Gotta luv dat free market Capitalism!!

If William Randolph Hearst is the worst American you can write about you haven't gone far enough in your history of his legacy. Sure I've read all about how he raped and pillaged Europe for their art. The truth was that they begged him for money to win their wars. When he finished the Castle, he put the art that was not used in a massive stockile in New York and the art was offered back to Europe. The only list of his activities that were for the betterment of mankind were the health facilities that he built all over America. If you read or watch any of the science programs you will note that they were financed by the Hearst group of charities. One of my classmates in high school was the daughter of one of his sons. Mother dated Randolph all through high school and we all used Marion's home in Santa Monica. I read just about every book written on the family and was able to have book signings for Mr. Will's wife Austine Hearst. When they dedicated the new visitor's center, I was asked to be a hostess and greeter for many of their Hollywood guests. When my store closed, I was hired to work the Information booth because of my knowledge of the castle and the family.

I was never jealous of their wealth because I have always had as great respect for wealth. His wealth came from the silver mines owned by his father George who even managed to get elected to the U.S. Senate. His mother took him to Europe to understand the power of good art. They bought W.R. a small newspaper in New York and he fell in love with the business. The rest is history.

There is always a level of humanity who automatically despise anyone who has wealth. Many of us in California were victims of small newspapers who went after anyone for any reason. Confidential Magazine took on what they called the "beautiful and wealthy people" and wrote volumes of lies that got into the hands of these jealous wealth haters. You survive on tearing down wealthy people. It must make you feel important to slander anyone based on papers like "The Enquirer" and "Confidential."

You have it all and you believe it. I researched the family and know the good stuff their wealth brought to others. I grew up with the generation of his grandkids and worked with and for his last daughter in law. She ran the Hearst Ranch and kept the horses in perfect condition. When she died the entire area of the Central Coast mourned the great lady's death. Her elderly husband "Mr. Will" as we called him followed her death with great sorrow. You will never see the ranch people who kept the State of California contained off their 200,000 acres by giving the state the Castle but not the road that leads to it. It is the only state park that pays its own way in California.

The family donated the property along the ocean side of the Highway One to allow development to help pick up the commerce of the whole areas. They donated it!

Now what horrors would you like to discuss with the Getty family? I dated the youngest son for years. He is the one who composes music; why else would I be interested?

Just read this in a Entertainment Weekly (given an A- ) book review of "Hope: A Tragedy" by Shalom Alexander.

The "poisonously funny debut novel" sounds interesting. It's about the protagonist's "nagging fears, morbid digressions, and firmly rooted paranoia".

Added to this is the fact that Anne Frank, yes, that Anne Frank "has actually been sequestered in suburban American attics as she pens her follow-up book".

What caught my eye though was the Woody Allen quote from the start of "Annie Hall" by reviewer Keith Staskiewicz. Human existence is defined as


Read the first few chapters. The first line is powerful.

Finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy of books by Suzanne Collins. Reading the first book, I thought it seemed easily adaptable to the big screen. Then what do I begin to see? Movie trailers.

Well, it should be an OK movie. Not so great books, but not bad enough to walk away from.

Occasionally I run into an author whose sentences are so perfectly tailored that they distract me from the larger story. The one quoted is one of a very many in This is Happiness by Niall Williams. His sentences are tiny little crystalline miniature novels within the larger text.

Hi, Martha.

Well I just found this link Mellow. I answered my own dilemma.

Heard an author interview this morning on NPR and just got on the list for a library copy. The book is Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo. It’s by Mansoor Adafi, who was detained at Guantanamo for 14 years before being released to Syria.

Good reviews so far; I’m looking forward to reading it. I think the detentions, for over a decade, of prisoners at Guantanamo , without charge, was shameful, and in direct conflict with US law.

The interview was on the program “1A,” and should be available online.