Talking Politics

The column in Senior News last month was on politic stuff. Something I expect to be doing a lot of in the coming year unless I can get more local (Texas) authors to send me their fiction books. I'm really sick of politics and we still have another year to go. Too bad there does not seem to be another Barbara Jordan in our midst.

Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder
Edited by Max Sherman
University of Texas Press
ISBN # 978-0-292-71637-7



A little over ten years after her death, Editor Max Sherman has collected a number of her pivotal speeches, testimonies before congress, and numerous pictures to showcase Barbara Jordan and her values. At 100 pages with an accompanying DVD that contains some of the same pictures as well as context for each one courtesy of the editor, this is a slim volume and yet reflects her values and beliefs very well. Much like the way she was in life, this book showcases wonderfully in a short capsule just how powerful and moving Barbara Jordan was and the legacy she left behind for others to follow. It is too bad that very few in politics today measure up to her standards and her legacy which was statesmanship and country first and foremost as clearly detailed in this book.


Texas Political Memorabilia: Buttons, Bumper Stickers and Broadsides
By Chuck Bailey with Bill Crawford
University of Texas Press
ISBN# 0-292-71625-7




This work is number 11 in the "Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage Series" and features the memorabilia behind national as well as Texas political campaigns. What began as a hobby for Chuck Bailey according to the foreword written by Paul Burka morphed into an intriguing 218 page book including index. While other kids collected baseball cards, Chuck Bailey collected campaign items. The result is page after colorful page where items are photographed and identified. From Presidential campaigns all the way down the ticket to local races, the book serves to pleasantly chronicle the way campaigns used to be before media sound bites and the internet took over. This book is sure to be a hit for those strongly interested in history and politics.

Kevin R. Tipple (c) 2007