Dear book club visitors/readers:
The plan called for us to get together for a real time meeting Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. Plese let me know if anyone is coming. I will bring cokes and cookies. Treats of any kind are appreciated. But I really want to know if anyone is coming. No one has posted a comment. That does not mean you have not read the books. Please email me at kwickham@olemiss.edu by Wednesday.
Thanks a bunch.
kathleen wickham
A few pages later, after Obama talks about his struggles to get government and community leaders interested, he is asked a question:
Why are you here?
He does not answer the question in this section. But he does later.
Why do you think he left his highly paid job in New York for Chicago?
I’ve just started the Obama book. Found out why I like to read these types of books. I kept hearing that Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago. But what did that mean? He provides the details about working in a black neighborhood on economic and medical issues, among other things. His mentor gave him some advice “If you want to organize people, you need to steer away from the peripheral stuff and go toward people’s centers. The stuff that makes them tick. Othewise, you’ll never form the relationships you need to get invovled.” So the discussion question is this: how has he follwed his mentor’s advice in his campaign?
McCain relied a lot on the Military Code of Conduct during his years as a POW. What is the value of a code of conduct? McCain confesses in the book that he succumbed after 10 months of incarceration to the demands of his captors to confess his “crimes.” Which fact, do you think, plays a larger role in his attitude toward others in the prison camps who collaborated more extensively and/or were able to be released because of their role?
McCain by his account resisted authority on all fronts as a child, as a teenager and while at the Naval Academy. To what extent did his personality play a role in his years as a POW–and today as he considers the war in Iraq?
This is to let you know that both the book store on campus and Square Books has copies of the two books. Look for the displays.
Kathleen Wickham
Welcome to “It takes a book to know a candidate.” This is an online book club open to anyone who would like to read and discuss the selected books. You do not have to be a member of SPJ to participate. We selected the autobiographies of the two candidates because they were written before they were in the race for president. Our thought was that we could get to know them before the spin factor went into play. We are starting with John McCain’s book, “Faith of My Fathers” in June, followed by Barack Obama’s book, “Dreams from My Father” in July. August we’ll do a little compare and contrast. So if you don’t join us in June there will still be a place for your participation at any time through the summer. In September we plan to host a reception for all local participants on campus. The date is 7 p.m., Sept. 17. More about that later. For now: reading begins!
Kathleen Wickham
SPJ chapter adviser
