Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley - Brossura

Schwartz, Richard

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0967820421 ISBN 13: 9780967820422

Casa editrice: R S B Books, 2007

Riassunto

In Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley, author Richard Schwartz seems to have leaned so far over the magic hole of history that he fell in and lived with the people he studied. The intimacy he has developed with men and women of nineteenth and early twentieth century Berkeley blurs the fact that these people and events are of another time. The seventeen stories Schwartz tells here remind us of an often-overlooked reality: that the face of humanity of the past is the same as our own. Although the world these wise and colorful characters inhabit is in so many ways different from ours, their spirit rings true to our modern sensibilities. Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley shows how deeply we share the emotions and motivations of our ancestors ˜ whether she be a Native American girl trapped as a Berkeley domestic, a Civil War veteran gossiping and reminiscing his way down Shattuck Avenue in a horse-drawn wagon, or an African American dairyman whose keen observations bring him riches in a community that embraced him as a town founder. Schwartz brings forth these long-forgotten people from their resting place, and does so with such skill as a storyteller that we can, for a time, straddle two worlds and sense their profound continuity.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Richard Schwartz grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1968 at Central High School he won varsity football's "Team Award" and was the undefeated Pennsylvania State Fencing Champion in 1969. Schwartz graduated from Temple University in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. For two years while at Temple he worked on a Pennsylvania Dutch farm eleven hours a day, three days a week.He came to Berkeley in 1973 and formed the New World Trio, an acoustical jazz trio with Eric Vaughan (Godson of Sarah Vaughan} on piano, Samahdi Aheshma (played with Miles Davis at sixteen years old) on bass, and himself on drums. He also played in Abukar, a Berkeley Latin jazz sextet, and taught drums in a Berkeley after school program.In 1976 Schwartz joined the U.S. Forest Service to fight fires in the Sierra. It was during this time that he came across an ancient sixty-five foot stone circle near Truckee. His curiosity about this configuration led to his first book, "The Circle of Stones," a nonfiction archeological mystery.Schwartz has written articles for the Alameda County Historical Society, the Berkeley Historical Society, the Truckee Historical Society, and the Bay Area Rock Art Research Association on this and other Native American and American historical topics. He has given book readings for The Circle of Stones at bookstores and historical societies.In 1982 Schwartz earned his General Building Contractors license from the State of California, where he is also certified to condemn and examine buildings for the State after an earthquake. He continues through the present to be active in the construction trades and has specialized in earthquake retrofitting and drainage work.In the early 1990s he joined a Brazilian samba school and played in San Francisco and Oakland Carnivals. In 1992 he traveled to Brazil and studied Afro Brazilian drumming with drummer Carlinios Brown. He co-led Orixa Ba Ba of San Francisco on billings that included Ray Charles and Tower of Power. The group also performed on KQED television.In 1996 Schwartz was at the Berkeley Historical Society when a stack of Berkeley newspapers circa 1900 was about to be discarded by the Society and he rescued the newspapers by taking them home. These rescued Berkeley Gazettes became the basis for the book "Berkeley 1900." Richard Schwartz put four years into the research, writing, and production of "Berkeley 1900" and published it himself. "Berkeley 1900" was on the East Bay Best Sellers List in the East Bay Express for ten months. The book was chosen by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of ten Holiday Gift Books in 2000.Schwartz released "Earthquake Exodus, 1906" in November, 2005. It is the only book to focus on the refugees instead of the disaster. Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley has already utilized the research in the book to comment in the San Francisco Chronicle on the response to Katrina. Schwartz presented a Certificate of Honor from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to the citizens of Berkeley for Berkelyeans' role in saving the lives of tens of thousands of refugees from the San Francisco 1906 Earthquake. The book was featured on many local TV and radio stations and even included international recognition in Europe.In July of 2007, Schwartz released the book, "Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley" which documents the lives of seventeen men and women who were famous in their day (1850-1925), but have been all but forgotten in our modern world. It was these colorful pioneers that gave Berkeley its original character and their stories will be well utilized by our current citizens. The reviews and citizen feedback and appreciation of this latest work have been the most significant to date for Schwartz. He continues to give illustrated talks on history as well as continuing his career as a California building contractor.

Dalla seconda/terza di copertina:

All modesty aside, we common sort can be pretty fascinating...If you want proof of this simple truth, all you have to do is pick up Richard Schwartz’s collection of stories on Berkeley...Schwartz touches all of the abstract themes that you will find in grand histories: class struggle, ethnic conflicts, economic greed, and political intrigue. To be sure, you will meet a full cast of outlandish characters that you would expect to find in Berkeley... By the time Richard Schwartz is through with each portrait, we don’t just know the story, we know the person... The past, as Richard Schwartz tells it, is comprised of a lot of people who look, act, and sound a lot like us. For me, at least, that is comforting news.—David Crosson, Executive Director, California historical Society “Combining the research skills of a careful historian with the flair of a yarn-spinner, Richard Schwartz brings early Berkeley alive with such vibrancy and immediacy that you might imagine he had witnessed it first-hand. What an informative, engaging, ultimately thought-provoking exploration of our Berkeley roots! In his many years of plowing the local soil, Schwartz brings forth a rich harvest of stories and memories that nourish a deeper sense of place.” Malcolm Margolin, founder Heyday Books

Su questa edizione

• Editore: R S B Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0967820421
• ISBN 13: 9780967820422
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 244