Happy Birthday "Books and Biblios!"

Happy 1st Birthday!

Books and Biblios Turns "One" this weekend! After one year, we're still going strong with some 80 articles or other presentations made in the first year. We hope to continue with guest writers and reporters, but also with some new video presentations. Last year we started with some discoursing on book neologisms and finding books on the street in Hyde Park. Just this week, as I was walking in the newly arrived 85-degree heat and humidity, I stumbled on my first finds of the season: a pile of books around the corner from my house. And yes, yes, I picked up a couple--just two, really! One of them was a book by Mikhail Gorbachev. A nice little historical perspective of Perestroika. But the season is just beginning, and there shall be more tales to tell soon enough! So thanks for sticking with us for the first year, and I promise many more good things to come! Hopefully, then, we can weather the years as well as our good friend Samuel Johnson, pictured above in his famed dictionary. Though, perhaps we'll fare a tad better than his yellowing book!

HAITI: Students of the Quake (A Report)

Welcome everyone! Today we're premiering a great little treat--a short film produced for this blog about students in Haiti, who survived the earthquake and are now helping to rebuild their country. Initially, our reporter Eben Brusco was given the task of asking people about books and reading in Haiti. The trip turned out to be even more rich and hopeful than imagined. In this video, we will see some of the students, who are taking a break from reading Durkheim and Chomsky, in order to help their fellow citizens. It is a side of Haiti that the media doesn't always show. We hope you enjoy.

A Visit to a Printing Museum and Library

The Pope's Latinist: An Interview!

Welcome All! Today I'm venturing into the video realm. Last month I had a chance to sit down with my old friend and Latin teacher, Reginald Foster. We had a grand old time with a little red wine and some circuitous conversations about the Latin language and history. Toward the end of my visit, I asked Foster to do a short interview, which I've recorded...and most of his response is in Latin. He's recovering well from recent health problems, or what he's called "dying twice!"...and avoiding the old cemetery in Wisconsin near Holy Hill, which we touch on briefly at the beginning of the 6-and-some-minute video. This week, Foster will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Notre Dame. As always, he sends his best regards to his students...past, present, and future!