Echoes from the Smithsonian: America's History Brought to Life |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Basketball History > Item 342
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Echoes from the Smithsonian: America's History Brought to Life
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by John C McCollister
Sales Rank: 1190964
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List Price: $19.95
$15.56
At Amazon
on 9-16-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 182 pages
Published by: Spotlight Press November 19, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1582612455
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1582612454
Book Dimensions:
9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
Weighs: 13.6 ounces
Reader Reviews
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is a treasure house displaying enough memorabilia to keep enraptured tourists regaled for days. It is a museum that, as the subtitle of John McCollister's Echoes from the Smithsonian indicates, brings America's history to life. Debunking various myths and legends from America's past, McCollister tells the true stories behind the articles on exhibit in the Smithsonian. Exposing the hyperbole behind our tall tales, his delightful wit elicits from the reader numerous laughs and chuckles. At the Smithsonian one can view such artifacts as the "cursed" Hope Diamond; Archie Bunker's chair; the Lone Ranger's mask; Edgar Bergen's favorite puppet, Charlie McCarthy; Mr. Rogers' sweater; the Wright Brothers' Flyer; the capsule of Mercury 7; Ben Franklin's stove; and also Franklin's armonica, a musical instrument played by rubbing one's fingers against rotating glass (a device used by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). We learn the true story of the Alamo; the surprising secret of Charlie Darkey Parkhurst; the origin of "taps," "hookers," and "the whole nine yards"; the one-day presidency of David Rice Atchison; Vladimir Zworykin, the father of television; and the man who created the assembly-line process of manufacturing (no, it wasn't Henry Ford; it was Eli Whitney). When Gary Cooper was chosen to play Lou Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees, there was one small problem. Gehrig was a left-handed batter; Cooper was a "righty." No problem. Instead of taking the time to teach Cooper how to hit left-handed, the producers simply flipped the film for shooting and reversed it when the scenes were edited. Cooper worse a specially crafted uniform with the Yankee logo and the number four reversed. When "Gehrig" (Cooper) hit the ball, he would run to third base, then to second, then to first, and back to home. One learns that Thomas Jefferson did not accept the deity of Jesus, a basic dogma of Christianity, but cut and pasted excerpts from the Gospels to make his own bowdlerized version of Scripture, and that Jefferson considered St. Paul to be "the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." One could mention other fascinating tidbits of trivia, but this suffices to give an idea of the book's contents. The book has ten chapters: The Shaping of a New Nation, America at War, Politics and the Presidents, Aviation and Space Technology, Business and Industry, Arts and Entertainment, Sports, African American History, Native American History, and Religion. Unfortunately, numerous errors occur in the text. For example, the dates of "America's First Genius," Benjamin Franklin, are given as 1706-1990 (sic); the Civil War battle of Chickamauga Creek in said to have taken place in Tennessee (actually, it occurred in Georgia); "lightning and thunder" are spelled "lightening and thunder"; and a reference to evangelist Billy Sunday, says, "Nobody could ever doubt that he was he was [sic] one of the most colorful characters of American history." More than a museum catalog, Echoes from the Smithsonian amuses while it enlightens. Before visiting the Smithsonian, be sure to read McCollister's book. Roy E. Perry is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville publishing house. He may be reached at rperry1778@aol.com ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John McCollister earned a B.A. degree from Capital University, an M.Div. from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and a Ph.D. in communications from Michigan State University. He is the author of twenty published books, including Tales from the Pirates Dugout and Tales from the Cockpit. He lives at the Spruce Creek Fly-In near Daytona Beach, Florida.
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Echoes from the Smithsonian: America's History Brought to Life
Available from Amazon
Price: $15.56
Updated on 9-16-2008.
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