The Book Den

Denny at The Book Den Blog frequently posts about Chesterton, and recapped the conference on the blog.

New Button Added

I've added a new button over there on the left for those with the means and the ways to help out our organization. Any amount, each according to the gifts he has been given. Thank you very much. Your help assists us with projects like this blog, like the shows on EWTN, and in getting the word spread around the world about the best author ever.

Chestertonian Businessman

(Used with permission)
Introducing: Brad Shorr
***
From Brad's e-mail:
My name is Brad Shorr and I am a huge Chesterton fan. I enjoy the American
Chesterton Society blog very much.

Thought you might like to look at some posts from one of my blogs, Funny
Business, where I find myself writing a good deal about GKC on
business-related topics. I'm hoping to inspire business people (and others
who might not be familiar with GKC) to explore his work.
***
Brad writes and owns the business cartoons (which he hires an illustrator for) involving, sometimes, Chesterton. Check out his Funny Business Blog here . His post on Chesterton and Business Blogging is of interest, as well as his interesting use of Chesterton's words in the world of business and sales.

I think it is worth noting how people are creatively applying Chesterton to all walks of life.

Happy Anniversary Gilbert and Frances

Dr. Thursday has gracious reminded us that today, June 28, is the day Gilbert and Frances married, 105 years ago today.

He wrote this post last year, and it is wonderful and beautiful to read, so please do. An excerpt:

Lucian Oldershaw drove ahead to the station with the heavy luggage, put it on the train and waited feverishly. That train went off (with the luggage), then another, and at last the happy couple appeared. Gilbert had felt it necessary to stop on the way "in order to drink a glass of milk in one shop and to buy a revolver with cartridges in another." The milk he drank because in childhood his mother used to give him a glass in that shop. The revolver was for the defense of his bride against possible dangers. They followed the luggage by a slow train.
[Ward, Gilbert Keith Chesterton 151]

In addition, I discovered that they married on Frances's birthday! She was born June 28, 1869 (which made her five years Gilbert's senior, which I find an interesting fact) and so it is 137 years since her birth.

Gilbert was 27 and Frances was 32 (that day, her birthday) when they married.

Another interesting thing is that today is my father's birthday, too. Happy 74th Birthday Dad!

A Chestertonian Triolet Contest

From the above linked blog: Here's the plan: each person can write as many triolets as he wants, following the rules above to the best of his ability. (See the blog for the rules) You can email them to me at the address on my sidebar, or leave them in my comment box. Please leave some name attached to the poem, for me to attach your laurels to, if you win any. I will judge the poems on their faithfulness to the form and humor. Depth, where applicable, is a bonus.

Sounds fun. I'm going to try it. I've never composed a triolet in my life thus far that I know of.

Tracking People Who Google Things and Find Our Blog

Way, way down there at the very, very bottom of this blog page, I've put a tracker on (which doesn't have such good ads, sorry, that's often the problem with free stuff: use with caution) which tracks how people find this web site, what they searched under, or what site referred them to us. It isn't private, so you can check it too, if you're interested. It is fun to see all the different countries that people come from who come here.

Today, someone found us by searching on the words "the whole sheebang" which I remember using not so long ago.

I hope, when people find us by doing these types of searches, that they find much more than they ever hoped for, and are interested enough to stay and find out more about the Chesterton Society.

Dawn Eden's Summer Reading Program

The NRO asked its contributors what they were reading for the summer. Dawn Eden, who was interviewed for a recent Gilbert magazine, had this answer, which I thought was also an excellent description of the Collected ILN's (that's Illustrated London News).

Dawn Eden

The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton: The Illustrated London News, 1908-1910, by G. K. Chesterton. The episodic nature of Chesterton’s weekly Illustrated London News columns makes them ideal summer reading; one can easily read this book straight through, or open it at any point and be sucked in. That the great British writer was a prophet is clear in his writings about the fads of his day; he finds aspects of them so timeless that his comments remain incisive. He not only saw the information age coming; he saw right through it: “Everything in journalism smells of the obituary notice. People talk about the haste and headlong precipitancy of journalism, but I have always been struck by the systematic slowness by which journalism contrives to keep behind the times.”

— Dawn Eden blogs at “The Dawn Patrol” and is author of the forthcoming book, The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On.

Order Your Conference Cds

You can order your conference Cd's on line by clicking on the link above. You can order one, or the whole set, or any amount in between.

A True Chestertonian Moment

Here we are at the banquet, in a true Chestertonian moment: friends whose diversity only brings to mind what we have in common, our humanity. On the left, a PhD Computer Scientist, Peter Floriani, who did his doctoral work on DNA and is now working in the Television Commercial world; the empty seat had, moments before, been occupied by myself, a BSN former-nurse, who took time off to be at home with her children, who now homeschools them and writes on the side; Therese Warmus, the literary editor for Gilbert magazine as well as a contributor, and her husband, Joe, a truck driver; we had a wonderful time together, talking, laughing and sharing stories about Chesterton and other things. Chesterton brought us together as nothing else probably would, except maybe the Church.

Wills or Chesterton? Pick Chesterton

""Garry, Garry, quite contrary; how does your Jesus grow?" If the Jesus of Garry Wills' What Jesus Meant is any indication, the Son of God bears some resemblance to Garry Wills....

...Several times in his writing, Wills cites Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man as an inspiration for this work on looking at Christ from outside the faith.

If you have to choose between the two, Wills or Chesterton, pick Chesterton. The late Christian apologist C.S. Lewis was said to have credited Chesterton's explication on Jesus as one of the reasons he gave up atheism to become a Christian.

Will anyone ever say the same about Wills' book?"

Requiescat in pace

Please pray for the soul of Max Pike, John Peterson's wife's father who died peacefully last Wednesday night at the age of 96.
Thank you.

What is a Schizologue?

Julian Ahlquist performed his famous "Schizologue" for us at the closing banquet at the ChesterCon. This consisted of his playing four different parts in a scene from Star Wars episode IV, in which he plays Darth Vader, General Taggee, Admiral Motti and one other character I haven't identified, all at the same time. Basically, Julian takes four different positions physically, and plays each from that position, moving quickly from place to place, changing his voice to fit the particular character he is playing. It was so funny when it was performed last year, that it was back by popular demand this year.

Carl Olson

Carl speaking here about "Chesterton and The DaVinci Code" and he posted about it (with pictures) here. My post about his talk caused our first "troll" to visit the blog, and try, with a unique argument, I thought, attempting to use Scripture to "prove" DaVinci Code fiction was, indeed, fact. Will wonders never cease?

Please Pray

Please pray for the child of one of the Gilbert magazine people who is very sick.
Thank you.

25th Anniversary of the Chesterton Conference

Here is a picture of the very first Chesterton Conference, 25years ago. 8 people attended. But note this: two of these people were there this past weekend, Frank and Ann Petta. Apparently, Frank has attended every one, and Ann has missed just one.

I think it is particularly amazing to see how big we've grown. There were close to 400 people at the conference this past weekend. And I think the credit for that goes mainly to top management, that is, Dale Ahlquist. His EWTN series and all of the talks he gives around the country have really inspired people to get interested or re-interested in "the big guy"--Gilbert.

New ChesterTeen Blog

Teens interested in Chesterton, cool. Tell your kids, grandkids, cousins and neighbors.

A Meeting of the Blogger Minds

From left to right: Here's John of This Red Rock (who, by the way, entertained us at lunch by telling us of a huge joke he wrote up on an old blog where here he started an incredibly funny spoof called "The Cow Pope" which you've GOT to read and be prepared to spill coffee laughing); next is Sheila of Enchiridion fame; next is Dr. Peter Floriani, famous for his work here and here and often posts anonymously; and Joe, of Chesterton and Friends Blog.

A good time was had by all bloggers.

The Audience

That's Mike and Rob right in front, two young college seniors who travelled all the way from Texas to St. Paul to come to the conference. There were a lot of college students, which was so wonderful for the Chesterton Society.

Trying the pictures

You probably recognize this guy.
UPDATE: A friend with photo software lightened this picture up for us. Thanks, L2LMom!

Whoa! Attention!

While we were spending the weekend Gilbert-izing, someone has completely revised the Gilbert magazine web site! Check it out!

Gilbert

Right now, at this very minute, writers all over the country are preparing a new edition of the famous magazine Gilbert. This edition will be what we call "The Conference" edition.

Conference highlights (and maybe some lowlights ;-) ) and yours truly is preparing a hip and happening review of one of her personal highlights, which I won't tell you what it is so it will be a surprise.

So, now is the time for all good men (and women) to come to the aid of their "Society", and if you don't already have a membership to the ACS (which includes a subscription to the above mentioned world-famous magazine), well, you know what you need to do.

And *YOU* were there

At the closing banquet last night at the Chesterton Conference closing event, I read a statement submitted by a frequent reader and commenter here, Furor.

Furor could not attend this year, and wanted to send greetings to the rest of the conference attendees, and so we did that.

Furor's greeting, in a way, represented all of the people who are Chestertonians and who could not attend the conference for whatever reason.

And we felt, we attendees, that we were a part of something bigger than just ourselves. We know that there are Chestertonians all over the world, and we are all united in our love for the big guy (as Dale Ahlquist would say) and so, in a little way, last night, we were all together.

One of the traditions at the closing banquet is to have three toasts. The first is to Chesterton, who brings us together. The second is to the American Chesterton Society, which brings us together. The third is to Chestertonians world wide, and there, we are indeed, all together.

Cheers. *clink*

Saturday Talks

David Beresford, a Gilbert columnist who is a PhD scientist as well as a farmer in Canada, gave a talk on the "Limitless Possibilities of Limits." It was good.

Carl Olsen gave a very humorous and good talk about what Chesterton would have said about Da Vinci Code. Basically, he said Chesterton would have read it, because he loved reading detective novels; he would have hated it, because it is so poorly written; and he could easily have refuted it, because contain numerous obvious factual errors.

In fact, said Carl, there were some things in the book which were correct. For example, Paris is in France. Leonardo DaVinci did paint.

Tonight: the concluding banquet, in which I will read a message from the blog here. You will be there in spirit, thanks for being here with us at the conference.

Small Group Sessions

Shew.
This is one of those times when I feel like Chesterton, I just can't get enough nothing to do. Unfortunately, there is still plenty to do, so I can't take enough time to process what just happened.

Father Jaki had a small group session on Intelligent Design which I just attended. Out in the courtyard and in the vendor hall, there is a buzz and talk is flying about what just happened in the room.

You know it is good when you feel so challenged when you hear someone speak, that you find your mind reeling, the gears turning, and your knowledge seems inadequate for any response.

I now understand that ID is NOT science, and cannot ever be classified as science. The very word "design" is a philosophical word.

Well, Father is very blunt, and he even told us that the bible can't be so correct, which caused people to walk out of the room, because the bible says in Genesis Chapter one that the plants were created before the sun, which we know can't happen. He also said that we know now that the sun was "born" so many millions of years ago (I believe he said 50) but that the world is estimated at 150 million years, so that some say this is a 3rd generation sun, and that the moon came about after the earth's formation. But it is only when you try to use Genesis Chapter one as a science text that this is a problem. In faith, we can believe Genesis Chapter one happened as it did, there is no problem with it as long as you don't use it as a science text book.

Then he also mentioned how upset he was that a Catholic Cardinal wrote a letter to the NYTimes, defending ID, which he said was most unfortunate. No Catholics seemed upset enough to walk out of the room, though.

He also said some thing about what fundamentalists believe, and another person walked out angrily. There was a lot of tension in the air. It is very hard to have core beliefs challenged, and it is hard not to look at things like science and ID, which people can be very emotional about, logically and rationally.

I can't say what happened in the Inklings, the Dickens, the Catholic Lit or the Planned Giving sessions, I wasn't there.

Discovery: Nevada Chestertonians

I met Jim's Dad last night after the play. His son convinced him to come to the conference, and he was glad he came.

Surprise!

The play was fantastic. Wow. To see something of Chesterton's performed live was a special treat. Plus, the play proves the depth of his mind. Two plays within a play. The actors were really terrific, and all did wonderfully well.

The depth of the meaning of the play was much more evident from watching and hearing it (to me) than from reading it, so I was particularly glad I got a lot more out of the live version.

Not only that, but the pregnant pauses after the particularly funny lines drew tons of laughter. I was wiping my eyes several times. The actors were not shy, shall we say, about putting their *all* into this acting.

And it must have been a real challenge for the actors, because they basically had to perform the same play twice (the first and second act) with changes, but with some very similar similarities, which would have caused confusion in my mind as an actor, had I been one. So, I commend them that there was only one line forgotten, and that was almost Dales, but it turned out to be Kevin's.

Here is the cast:
Spearholder: Dale Ahlquist
Friar: Nathan Allen
Author: Jeremy Stanbary
Princess of Garfagnana: Ashley Ahlquist
Maria Margarita: Catherine Trojack
King of Fonatarabia: Julian Ahlquist
Poet: Kevin O'Brien
Captain of the Guard: Mark Pilon

Dale reported that it was very fun to be in the play with two of his children (who are adults).

Oh yes. The Joseph Pearce talk was very good, and I got to meet him tonight as well.
I forgot to mention that Carl Olsen is much taller than he appears to be on his blog.

Friday Evening

And now I must be off. First, to hear Joseph Pearce talk about Chesterton and Lewis, and then, the performance of The Surpise. I can't wait!

The Bibliographer of Chesterton's Work

You never could believe what a great talk someone could give about doing a bibliography of Chesterton's work. But Geir Hasnes has been working on this project for 21 years. He works like a detective, trying to collect every know piece of writing Chesterton ever wrote, as well as collecting the illustrations, sayings, post cards, pamphlets, speeches, debates, and even the movie that J.M.Barrie convinced Chesterton to act in (the movie, which was only a 10 minute silent film, is lost; but there are still pictures from it).

Hasnes told us that for the 30 years of Chesterton's writing life, from being hired to his death, he published what would be the equivalent of 3 works a week. That's between all of the books, essays, dust jackets, introductions and everything.

If one could estimate the number of words Chesterton wrote, Hasnes said between 20-30 million. And, Hasnes states, Chesterton rarely repeated himself, so everything he wrote is fresh and new.

Hasnes made the point that a Chesterton book is not a material possession like Da Vinci Code that you read once and throw away, but it is something you will read again and again, always finding something new and interesting in it. I liked that idea, naturally!

I found Geir here, he published a "lost" Father Brown mystery, The Mask of Midas here, and after having talked about Chesterton and fascinated his audience, and keeping us in stitches with his jokes told with a thick Norweigen accent, he was surprised by Dale Ahlquist, who presented him with a Chesterton Lifetime Achievement award and statuette. Geir was so touched by this that he broke down in tears (causing me to cry) and could not say much more than a very humble "Thank You." He is a truly dedicated and wonderful person.

Friday Activities

I'm going to give you a few more highlights from today.

Father Jaki's talk on Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin: The Two Who Never Met was really fantastic. Jaki mentioned how the two were contemporaries, but certainly would never have seen eye to eye.

Dickens, Jaki informed us, cannot really be known from his novels. What was very informative to discover was that Dickens was the originator of the (London) Daily News, the very paper for which Chesterton would later get his start and write for regularly. In old copies of the Daily News, if we were priviledged to read them, we would have discovered a different Dickens, a man with opinions and thoughts about everyday life and subjects he could not explore in his novels.

Well, Jaki discovered that Dickens had once written a book review of Darwin's Origin of Species and through his grapevine of friends, was able to obtain a copy of that 3,000 word review. Jaki said that it seemed as though Dickens had read and thoroughly studied the book before he wrote the review, which he joked was a rare thing in book reviewing!

Dickens tore apart the Darwin book piece by piece. I wish I could remember it all or find it for you, I'll have to ask Jaki for a copy of that.

The main difference between Dickens and Darwin was that Dickens lived by a religious morality, and Darwin did not. Jaki pointed out the Dickens, in his last will, stated that he left himself in God's hands, though the saving power of Jesus Christ, certainly indicating he had faith. Jaki said Dickens faith seemed to be a broadchurch Anglican type.

Darwin, on the olther hand, had started out life enjoying poetry, prose, artwork, and music. Later, as he developed his theory of evolution, he despised poetry and hated to read Shakespeare, saying "it made him feel nauseous." Jaki used this example to show that when you focus in on something false like his "theory of everything" as Darwin believed, you really become more narrow, which I thought was a great point.

I purchased Jaki's Chesterton: A Seer of Science which Dr. Thursday highly recommended to me. The book is available through the Chesterton Society.

Marian Typology in Dicken's Dombey and Son

Wow. Jill Kriegel just gave a great talk about her master's thesis, which was about Dickens, and after providentially meeting Dale and Joseph Pearce 1 1/2 years ago at a Chesterton thing at Ave Maria (she lives in Florida) she was introduced to a Chestertonian view of Dickens. She won some top award for her thesis, and is going on for her PhD. She gave a great talk about Florence Dombey as a typological Mary figure and it was very good, and enjoyable to hear.

Mealtimes

One of the most fun times here at the conference is meal times.

This morning, I had a high need for caffeine, so I went to the cafeteria early to fuel up.
I met Geir Hasnes there, talking to Rob. Geir is giving a talk later today about his work as a bibliographer of Chesterton. We started talking about Chesterton and life, and whether our kids were Chestertonians or not, and about strict uber-Lutheran northern Norweigans, and then Father Jaki sat down with us and we continued to talk, quickly moving to the subject of Kristin Lavransdatter. Geir is Norweigan and Father Jaki is Danish, so that was interesting. They both appeared to be experts on the subject of Kristin Lavransdatter (I didn't know, for example, that she was an avid Chestertonian.) Then Kyro sat down, and while the Dane and the Norsk were talking across the table, we talked. Kyro asked if I'd heard of the Runestone found in Alexandria, MN (he happens to live near there) and we discussed that (I had discovered about it a few years ago and became fascinated by it and had formed an opinion that it must be real) and then moved on to the Shroud of Turin.

I think there were several other conversations in there, as well. Geir told us a funny story about how he impressed the British Library by informing them of how many signed First Editions of Chesterton's they were missing (over 50 at the time he visited) to which they are apparently working on remedying, or have.

I just get to meals early every time so that we have time for these wonderful conversations!

UPDATES?CORRECTIONS:
Father Jaki is Hungarian, not Danish.
Geir informed me that the British Library was not missing SIGNED First Editions, just First Editions. The reason the number was so high was because they hadn't been very aware of the Collected Works and some of the US compilations, and then some special items that Geir had discovered through working with Aidan Mackey, which Aidan had discovered.

Chesterton and Marshall McLuhan

John Peterson (whom incidentally, I noted Dale Ahlquist dedicated his newest book, Common Sense 101 to) gave the second talk last night. I didn't know a thing about Marshall McLuhan, didn't even recognize his name (now my ignorance is showing). And he did not recommend that we actually read McLuhan, he only showed how his work was/is influential in our culture. It was a very good talk.

Conference CDs

I wanted to mention that the conference is being recorded and put on CDs. Think how much fun it would be on a long car trip to listen to this, wow!
They are $75, and well worth it. You will be able to order them after the conference through the web site.

Abandon Hopelessness

Dale Ahlquist's excellent opening speech was about HOPE and how we need a lot more of it in this world. Hand in hand with that, we need joy. But his speech mainly was about hope, and that hope was what Chesterton found in Dickens, and Dickens, after all, is what the conference is mainly about.

The best quote of the speech, and this is not a direct quote for my memory isn't that good, was something like this:
On the day of Chesterton's acceptance into the Catholic Church, he sat somewhere and was reading the catechism. He got to a part where it said, "The two sins against hope are despair and presumption." and he realized in that moment, that that was what he'd been writing against all his career. He felt that the pessimists were those who despaired, and the optimists were those who presumed. The opposite of both these things is hope.

Arrival

OK, I've only just arrived, and I've already made a fool of myself twice.

But first, I should tell you that arriving this afternoon, my third year, was so fun, because I knew where I was going and what I was doing.

Second, because I finished my speech, and it turned out pretty good.

Third, I got a warm welcome already from Dale Alhquist "Mr. Chesterton" himself, and an even warmer welcome from Dr. Peter Floriani, a frequent poster on this blog, who finally got to meet my family. He looks great, and has a robust laughter that is just so contagious!

Also said Hi to Sean Dailey, our "Chestertonian" on the blog, and editor of Gilbert, he met the family, too.

So, my first embarrassment was that I couldn't get my room key to work. I finally humbled myself to ask for help, and a young person comes and instantly opens the door. I felt old and silly.

Then I got in my room, and pretty much first thing I turned on my computer, and.....YES!....there is wireless in this dorm room! Yeah for small pleasures. So, I get on my browser, and St. Thomas comes up and they want a user name and password. I call IT support, and while they have me on hold looking for guest log in passwords, I see a tiny button at the bottom of the screen which says "guests sign in here" so I do and before the guy can get me off "HOLD" here I am. I had to apologize to him, too.

My girls want to come back tomorrow night and see the play "The Surprise" (I see a number of you were searching for the text of that play in the last few days...could it be the conference made you wonder about it? Yes!) and even though it is late, I think they should. That would be such fun. My younger one said she was going to memorize The Ballad of the White Horse so she could come to the conference, but I told her that since another girl has that one, why shouldn't she take Lepanto? So, she started saying....Dim drums throbbing on the hills half heard....

OH! There are books, books, books! There are several vendors in the vendor hall all set up, and I've already seen several books on my wish list, so my next thing is to go buy some things that I have to have. One of the vendors is Sean's mom and dad who run St. John Fisher Forum Catholic Bookstore, which received an "Excellent" score at the Catholic Culture site review.

OK, I've got to go say HI to more friends old and new, and check out the books. Every year, I end up with a much heavier suitcase than when I came here.

UPDATE: We just had a meeting of the bloggers. Dr. Thursday, Sheila, and John are here! I'll try to get a picture.

The Annual Pilgrimage Begins

All across the country, and in some cases the world, people are now beginning to make their way to Minnesota. Not the natural place that first comes to mind when thinking about Gilbert (that would be England, but who can afford that? And after all, we are the American Chesterton Society {even though we do have some Canadians amongst us, but I suppose they are already, at this very moment, plotting and conniving to create their very own CCS...})

What's so special about Minnesota to American Chestertons? Gee, I really don't know my history. I know that at one time, there was a Midwest Chesterton Society, and that a lot of the people whom I've met at the annual conference were a part of that. The Pettas, John Petersen, The Bowens, and many more. Then Dale started coming to the meetings, and next thing you know, the whole sheebang got moved to his hometown. I don't know, but that sounds like empirialism to me. I'm sure there are parts I'm missing. I'll try to flesh out a better history while I'm there, and give you the details as I am able.

Another thing I want to check up on is what I call "Chestertonian Romances." People who met because of Chesterton. I know actually for a fact that that is how the Pettas for together, and I'm going to try and get their story if I can this trip. I hope to find a couple of others. Last year I noted something blossoming amongst a couple of our younger conferees, (see, you can find love and romance at even such a thing as a Chesterton Conference!) so I'll have to see what's going on with that this year.

Meanwhile, I know for sure that Dr. Thursday has already left and is at this moment driving across the country. We leave tomorrow am, and I know that another family leaves in the morning as well. May God grant us all safe journeys and a fruitful time at ChesterCon.

A Chestertonian Pill to Swallow

From the Collected Works, Volume Four, What's Wrong With the World? we have an interesting discussion about how to deal with the problems of society. I think this quote particularly apt, from Gilbert founder John Petersen.
"Chesterton insisted that we stop this initial focus on the remedy as if the body politic were a diseased patient in a hospital. He insisted that we begin instead by settling the question of what it is we want. We have to know what we are aiming for, what our goal is, or (to use Chesteron's word) what our ideals are. Unless we agree on the kind of society we think will be good, we have no chance of agreeing on the best policies to get us there."

Now this is, I believe, why our political discussions never get too far, and why our country is divided. We can't decide what it is that will be good for our society. We have a lot of ideas about how to fix various problems, but as Chesterton points out to us, we can't fix it until it's diagnosed.

Lepanto

I see that someone was searching for Lepanto commentary and found this site. I hope the person searching knows that this book, which includes the complete poem Lepanto as well as notes and commentaries that really help one to understand the poem and the times, is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.

Good luck in your studies!

Favorite Part of Gilbert

What's your favorite column or section of Gilbert magazine?

I love the personal glimpses section, because it is like the Clemens book, people who knew GKC when he was alive and have memories of him.

I also always read the News with Views first, they are usually so funny (and frustrating, too, but still funny).

I also enjoy Chesterton's Mailbag, but now I've told you three things.

Favorite Book on Chesterton

Tom's idea (thanks) from the combox.
What is your favorite book on Chesterton?

Chesterton as Seen by His Contemporaries by C. Clemens is my personal favorite. I love all the anecdotal stories in there.

Favorite One Line

Now that you've told me your favorite book, do you have a farovite one line? Maybe one that isn't so frequently quoted?

What is Chesterton's best one line? Or, what one line jumped out at you as Chesterton's most profound?

What's Your Favorite Chesterton work?

Just an informal survey, but what is your favorite Chesterton work? If you want to say why, that would be great, too.

My personal favorite is Lepanto. Because I love it. I love the rhyme, the rhythm, the musicality of it, I love the story, and the triumph of faith.

Chesterton on immigration

I was listening to a radio debate today on the immigration so-called "crisis" and naturally, I knew that if Chesterton had a point of view on the subject, it would have really helped the radio show.

Does anyone know if Chesterton wrote something good about the immigration issue, and in what way it could help right now with this issue?

I Had a Dream....

Yes, I had a dream last night about the conference. It was awesome.

I'm sure this is a dream that will come true.

Right now, I'm trying to get some melodies down on paper. There is a song that I hope will be sung (and played on guitar, if there is one to borrow, or on the hammer dulcimer if Mark Pilon can do it). Dale Ahlquist wrote the words and it has something humorous to do with GKC. I always get the chorus the same, but I tend to play around with the notes of the verses. I need to pin it down if I expect people to sing along. It should be done by ChesterCon.

Dad29 Reads Gilbert and comments

Olson Updates Ignatius Chesterton page

Argent liked Gilbert's cover story

Dale Ahlquist's article on the visit to the monestary is mentioned in the linked article above.

Anagrams for Chesterton

My favorites:
Etches Torn
Center Shot
Recent Shot
Cost her ten
Torch Teens (but not really)
Notch reset
Cotter Hens
Crest the No


I can almost hear,
"Tally Ho! Crest the No!"

An Interview with Dale Ahlquist

Go to the link above, click on Vital Signs radio interview, and you can hear a 10 minute interview with Dale.

You will need Real1 player (which you can download free off the web).

The Story of the Father Brown Mystery Adaptations

From the com box, Chris asks what I mean by the Father Brown Mystery Adaptations.

Right from the start of my love for Chesterton, was a serious interest in sharing his writing with my children. However, they were too young really. I tried to get my daughter to read The Innocence of Father Brown, which I loved and thought would be a great introduction to his writing. Although she was an avid reader, she could not get into the Father Brown.

"OK," I said, "come on, I'll read it out loud to you."

Well, I had to keep stopping and explaining either a) an archaic way of speaking or b) a slang word in British English or c) just a British/American English difference. After attempting to read The Blue Cross out loud, I realized why my 10 year old couldn't get into it. I was frustrated, but not ready to give up.

Then I was in the library, and discovered a book in the children's section called "Step into Classics" Sherlock Holmes, now called Stepping Stone books. These are in essence, the same stories as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, but adapted so that younger readers can read them. I thought that I could do the same thing with Chesterton's work.

The idea is to excite the younger generation about a certain author, in my case, G.K. Chesterton, so that the name is familiar, and that down the line, say, in their teens, they will want to read the direct story, and then come to know and love Chesterton.

It was my idea to capture the imaginations of the younger children, so that they would read Chesterton readily when they are older. His name would be familiar to them and associated with something wonderful: a good mystery.

So, I began with The Blue Cross and eventually wrote that, The Strange Feet (Changed from "queer" due to the modern day interpretation of that word), The Flying Stars, and The Absence of Mr. Glass. After I'd finished the first four, I decided to try and find a publisher and an audience before I did any more.

Now, Hillside Education is planning to publish the first four books in a collection. The essential story is all still there. The difficult words are made easy, the British slang replaced with words an 8 year old will understand. The reading age range is 8-12. By 13 or 14, most teens can read directly from Chesterton's own words. But younger than that, the adaptation will be very useful.

In some ways, I hope also to evangelize the parents who right now consider Chesterton "too hard" or "too deep" as well. If they read the adaptations and see how great the stories are, they may be enticed to look for Chesterton's work in the library, or next time they're at the local book store.

So, that's my idea. Hillside has Ted Schluenderfritz on board as the illustrator, most people know that he is the artistic director for Gilbert magazine, as well, and quite familiar with illustrating Chestertonian works. I am thrilled to have him involved in the project.

This is something I've been working on for many years, and the thought of it finally becoming a reality is quite exciting. I really think this is going to open up the door for many, many more people to come to know and love Chesterton.

Help Support a Worthy Cause

Full Disclosure: I have a vested interest in Hillside Education; they are the publishers of the Blue Cross study guide, and the upcoming St. Francis Study Guide, as well as the project my heart is fully enamored with, The Father Brown Mystery Adaptations.

Even if you personally cannot help, if you know of anyone who can, pass this along. This is an opportunity for someone to help young people get acquainted with G.K. Chesterton. This is important. Please e-mail me for more details.

Behind

"I saw an old man like a child,
His blue eyes bright, his white hair wild,
Who turned for ever, and might not stop,
Round and round like an urchin's top.

"Fool," I cried, "while you spin around,
"Others grow wise, are praised, are crowned,"
Ever the same round road he trod,
"This is better: I seek for God,"

"We see the whole world, left and right,
"Yet at the blind back hides from sight
"The unseen Master that drives us forth
"To East and West, to South and North.

"Over my shoulder for eighty years
I have looked for the gleam of the sphere of spheres,"
"In all your turning, what have you found?"
"At least, I know why the world goes round."

(GKC late 1890's)

Many's the time I've felt as this old man, washing dishes or folding laundry over and over again, not able to see for a moment that it is my path to heaven. Over and over again, I correct the grammar, take out the garbage, weed the garden. And so too, over and over again, I kiss my spouse and children, make meals that satisfy, read out loud from a Nancy Drew.

What is the "gleam of the sphere of spheres"?

I need a good swig of Lepanto

It settles my thoughts to read Lepanto. Here goes:

St. Michael's on his Mountain in the sea-roads of the north
(Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone;
The noise is going through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room,
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth ha!
Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.

Two questions for you Lepanto experts out there.

What is the eclipse?

And what does "dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise" mean?
The word "surprise" caught my attention this reading for the first time, since I have "surprise" on my mind with the conference coming up, and you know how you've read something many times, but suddenly one line just sticks out and looks new? That was this line this time. Now I'm wondering just what does it mean? Ideas?