SMITHFIELD TRUST COMPANY BOOK REVIEWS

Losing Mum and Pup
By: Christopher Buckley

This book was a fast, fun read. Christopher is a chip off the old block in many ways which enhances his story telling. He survived two bright, socially desirable parents who were so dedicated to each other that he, perhaps, felt out of the loop. A dinner party was only complete when the Buckleys, with their witty conversations, were present. Herein lays the problem. When Mum, as Chris called her, died, (“Pup”) Bill was “at sea” and Christopher filled in as best he could. The book is a hoot and also poignant with the confounded relationship of the two male Buckleys. Four out of five stars.

- Jebby Potter

Empire of the Summer Moon
By: S. C. Gwynne

Gwynne tells the story of the unbeatable Comanches who were the best horsemen in the world…ever. They were fierce and the only tribe who stayed on a horse while in battle. In fact, our cavalries fought on foot and finally began to copy the Comanche. The Comanche rode bare back and in battle would lean to the side of the horse and fire off six to eight arrows through the crook of the horse’s neck. All of these arrows were released into flight and were suspended in air before the first hit its target.

On one of the Comanche raids, they captured a little girl with blonde hair who won the heart of the chief. This was most unusual. Most of the female prisoners were turned over to the squaws who used them as slaves and tortured them. The little white girl, Cynthia Ann Parker, grew up and married the chief. She was a favorite of his four wives. They had a boy named Quanah (Parker) who was strong, brave and very clever. Quanah became advisor to all of the Comanche tribes. The United States could not defeat the Comanche until the invention of…(read the book). Here we were in the middle of the Civil War and still losing to the Comanches in the west.

The book goes on to tell of Cynthia Ann’s unwanted rescue and her attempts to return to the tribe. If you like history and adventure, this book is a must read. It is brave, sad, brutal, admirable and an eye opener. I give it five stars.

I could not put this book down.

- Jebby Potter

The Power of One
By: Bryce Courtenay

Set in South Africa in the 1930s and 40s, The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay, is a very compelling semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about a young man who goes by the spunky nickname “Peekay.”

The book opens with our scrappy undersized five year old protagonist being sent to a boarding school where he is bullied for being English in a land ruled by the Afrikaner Dutch. The novel traces the growth of Peekay from these humble underdog beginnings as he matures into a man. Along the way, we meet many, many memorable characters who influence the course of his life. There is the inspirational Hoppie Groenewald who teaches Peekay about the power of one, and sets the young boy’s trajectory in boxing to become the welterweight champion of the world; Geel Piet, a black South African prisoner who teaches Peekay the boxing technique that will make him a champ; and “Doc,” a professor of music who becomes the father that Peekay needs, but never had.

The author’s voice of history during a very turbulent time for South Africa and the globe is a wonderful introduction into a different part of the world and the intersection of different languages, cultures, nationalities, and interests. If you get a chance to listen to the audio version of the story (I listened to the Audible.com version), you will be entertained by the rhythms and cadences of the different languages and dialects that really help to bring the various colorful characters to life.

At its core, the book is a story of human nature told through the eyes of an intelligent, empathetic, lovable young boy as he encounters a tough but compassionate world of people, ideas and events. The book entertains from the very start, from the introduction (the 55 year old author had always wanted to be a writer but life had gotten in the way; The Power of One was his first attempt at writing fiction, and his manuscript served as the doorstop for his kitchen door until an acquaintance dislodged it, read it, loved it, and took it to a publisher) to the last chapter in which our now-mature hero settles a life-long score with an old enemy from his youth.

This is a book for the ages.

- Alan Veck

The Point of Pittsburgh
By: Charles McCollester

Charlie McCollester, Director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Study of Labor Relations and a professor of Industrial and Labor Relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, has written a labor history of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. Subtitled, “Production and Struggle at the Forks of the Ohio,” his 2008 book has given me a perspective on our history that I’ve rarely found elsewhere. As does James Michener in his big novels, McCollester starts with a pre-historic sketch of the land and waters of the Point. He progresses through a description of native American inhabitants of the region, on to the coming of the French and English, and to the development of the river culture of the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. He then describes the years of the Civil War and the growth of the region’s industrial might (“The City of Iron and Oil”). So far, no surprises and pretty conventional.

But then he turns it on. Aided by graphic drawings by artist Bill Yund, his portrayal of the births and development of our industrial iconic companies is vivid and stark. “The rise of the great industrialist and businessmen like Carnegie, Frick, Mellon and Schwab holds enduring fascination for the American public. With the exception of Westinghouse, and a lesser degree of Heinz, none of the Pittsburgh-bred corporate giants were themselves great inventors of useful products. Rather, they were driven, even ruthless, men who were present at a particularly opportune time of major natural resources and labor power.”

Leading up to his description of the 1889 Johnston Flood, McCollester opines, “As the men of power in Pittsburgh began to cultivate culture and leisure to compliment and embellish their pursuit of fortune, they began to acquire properties where they could escape the smoke and grit of their investments. . .” His anger seemed to grow as his history progressed into the 20th century. Charlie’s animus appeared to me to focus on A.W. Mellon, and when I read, “One mechanism that Andrew used to reduce potentially staggering tax liabilities, as a Democratic majority swept into office with Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, was the donation of his extensive art collection to the National Gallery,” I was tempted to pitch the book aside.

But, I continued instead to stick with it. I had read before of the 1937 lunch at Washington DC’s Mayflower Hotel between US Steel’s Myron Taylor and John L. Lewis, but McCollester’s description of that event was insightful, as was his description (along with a Yund drawing) of the battle at the tunnel later that same year outside of my old employer, Jones & Laughlin’s Aliquippa Works.

However, the book wasn’t all about the anger of the working class and their grievances against the captains of industry. There were good descriptions of the early Pirates (and the role of Barney Dreyfus in building the first Pirate dynasty), and Art Rooney and the Steelers, political figures, and the partnership between David Lawrence and R.K. Mellon. McCollester thought Pittsburgh’s greatest novel was Thomas Bell’s Out of this Furnace. He relates the story of Maxo Vanka and his wonderful paintings covering the inside of Millvale’s St. Nicholas Church. And, then there was the boxer Fritzie Zivic. I had heard that name before, but I never knew his story. Now, I do, and for this and many other tales of Pittsburghers, both real and imagined, I thank Charlie McCollester. If he weren’t just so darn angry. . .

- Tim Merrill

Sewickley (PA) Postcard History
By: Betty G. Y. Shields, Susan C. Holton and Harton S. Semple, Jr.

For those of you with Sewickley ties, or even those of you with a general interest in western Pennsylvania history, this short volume is a nifty introduction to one of Pittsburgh’s most important suburbs from an historical perspective.

Using historic postcards, the authors begin with the presence of a young George Washington in the vicinity of Sewickley during the French and Indian War. The “book” ends with the modern era and captures the essence of Sewickley during various time periods. I was especially impressed by the depth of the historical research reflected in the commentary, which supplements the postcards, by the authors.

This will, I think, be a “fun” read for many of you.

- Bob Kopf