Category: Books

  • Six Things to Get Right

    My "think pieces" usually come to me on the road, but this one landed right in my driveway in the WSJ on Tuesday.  A book reviewer named Yuval Levin reviewed a book called Why Government Fails So Often by Peter H. Schuck.  Schuck is an emeritus professor at Yale and the review notes that

    "To be successful, he argues, a public policy has to get six things right:

    • Incentives
    • Instruments
    • Information
    • Adaptability
    • Credibility
    • Management

    He argues the federal government tends to be bad at all these things.  I'll add his example as a comment, but mostly I wanted to post these six things here for reference as we example High-cost Rail, Friends with Benefits and some of the other recurring topics.

  • A sale of historic proportions

    I don't normally post calendar items to this blog, but this one should be fun and it's a fundraiser too!

    On Sunday, April 6th, there will be a sale of historic proportions. The Burlingame Historical Society Rummage Sale will feature items of historical interest as well as household items. Sale items include: vintage Burlingame city directories, mannequin parts, antique adding machines, rare books, sheet music, vintage luggage and much more. You don't want to miss this one!! It all starts at 9am at the Burlingame Ave train station where the museum is located.

    Here are a few sample items, but know that there will be much more. C'mon down.

    Photo 1

    Everyone needs one of these, right?

    Photo 2-1

    Photo 3-1

    Photo 3

    Don't miss it!

  • Library Renewal- the Space, not Books

    There's a nice article about the B'game library renewal that is being planned as we speak in today's Daily Journal.  I've seen some of the preparation first hand as the library has decommissioned some extra copies of cool stuff and donated it to the Historical Society to help it raise funds.  Being a Craigslist kind of guy, the Society asked me to post a test book for sale there.  If you search on "Burlingame City Directory – 1942 edition" you too can own a great bit of B'game history.  The plans for the library include

    an expanded teen room, a café and a used bookstore in the main level.  A technology lab and several new study rooms are also in line to be added in the lower level. The upper level will feature conference rooms for community and business uses.  Each of these levels will also have updated computers and LCD screens to accommodate the community’s needs.

    Everytime I go to the library it's pretty full so these updates give me a sense that the usage will continue.  This is great stuff if we can get from $445K to the $1M that is needed.

    Library3

  • Panther Retiring

    The Daily Journal has a lovely piece about BHS English and journalism teacher Linda McLaughlin retiring at the end of the school year after 27 years.  Linda taught both of my kids so I've met her at a couple of parent-teacher nights and one kid was on the Burlingame B newspaper staff, so I can appreciate her contributions on both fronts.  The piece notes

    She began teaching the journalism class 26 years ago when the last advisor for The Burlingame B retired. At the time, she said she knew nothing about journalism but wanted to pick up an extra class so she could stay at the school.

    The timing is right for her retirement, McLaughlin said. She plans on spending time with her four grandsons and two step-granddaughters, travel, research the history of Burlingame High for a potential book and read.

    I look forward to her end-of-year column for the paper and will try to remember to link to it.  The book sounds like a tremendous idea and I know the Historical Society archives will prove very useful.  Congrats, Linda!

  • Kohl Mansion – Our Latest 100 year Gem

    The Daily Journal has a lovely little piece on the centenary year for Kohl Mansion that notes

    In 1982, the mansion was even entered into the National Register of Historic Places, which lists historically significant sites throughout the United States.

    Other activities to be held at the mansion to celebrate the anniversary include a lecture on the history of the mansion by Michael Svanevik, a professor emeritus at College of San Mateo, on April 29. There will be a 100th birthday party on the green Aug. 10 with music, mansion tours, a classic car show, a slice of birthday cake and proclamations presented by community leaders and public officials.

    This is a nice follow-up to the B'game Centennial celebrations in 2008.  Remember them?

    Here's the main room where the chamber music events are held as well as all sorts of other community events.  Great year to acquaint yourself with Kohl Mansion if you haven't done so.

    Kohl Mansion main
     

  • A Brush With Fame

    "A brush with fame" was how my Voice colleague Russ Cohen introduced Lee Mendelson at last night's Historical Society meeting.  As a San Mateo High School graduate, USAF veteran ("worst navigator ever") and television producer for more than 50 years, Lee is perhaps best known for the Charlie Brown shows that are still hugely popular today.  He admitted to being nervous in front of the crowd because his family, neighbors, classmates and his first attorney were all in the audience.  I can't relay all of the funny and impressive stories Lee told but here are three:

    His first brush with real fame came when he convinced Willie Mays to allow him to follow The Say Hey Kid around with a camera and produce a documentary.  Willie would only do it if Henry Fonda would narrate.  When Lee expressed some doubt about being able to get Fonda, Willie picked up the phone, called Fonda and sealed the deal in a minute.

    Mendelson got the idea to do a Charlie Brown show while reading the cartoon strip in Towle's (now The Melt on the Avenue).  He called Charles Schultz up and while trying to convince him to do it, he mentioned the Willie Mays piece.  Schultz said, "If Will Mays can trust you with his life, I guess I can too."  He sold the idea to Coca-Cola (as a sponsor) before it was even written and when Schultz asked how they would do it, he replied "It's something you are gonna write tomorrow".  Schultz said yes as long as Linus got to read from the Bible in the script.

    Another idea was to do something with John Steinbeck, but Lee was afraid to call him until his son, local guy Glenn Mendelson, said "you weren't afraid to call Willie Mays or Charles Schultz, why are you afraid to call John Steinbeck?"  That got the phone into Lee's hand.

    There's more, lot's more and the Historical Society filmed the talk, but these were some of the highlights for me.  Here's Lee and the crowd last night in the Lane Room.

    Lee Mendelson1

    Mendelson crowd

    Lee is hard at work on the 50th anniversary show of Charlie Brown's Christmas, so we all have something to look forward to. 

  • Remembering Geo. Howard

    Our very own Joanne Garrison, author of the Burlingame Centennial book, has a retrospective piece in the Daily Journal about local architectural legend George Howard.  In it she notes

    Most of George’s architectural projects were either Neoclassical or English Tudor in design, reflecting the Gilded Age preference for all things European. The one major exception was the project for which he is best known, the Burlingame train station. In 1893, the newly formed Burlingame Country Club sought its own train station to welcome guests in style from San Francisco. George and his architect partner Joachim Mathisen chose a quintessentially California design for the station—that of a California mission. The train station, completed in 1894, is now designated as a California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places due primarily to its architectural significance as the earliest permanent example of California Mission Revival architecture.

    If you would care to learn more and perhaps add a bit of info (for you old timers), the Historical Society has a place for that too.  Here's the aforementioned book which is available at Books, Inc. and makes a great present during the holidays.

    Burlingame book

  • Pit Bull Kerfuffle

    B'game got some unwelcome national attention this past week after being called out in the Sunday magazine for banning pit bulls at our Paws for Tales program at the library.

    Last summer, Patricia Harding, a librarian in Burlingame, Calif., banned pit bulls from the Paws for Tales program in her facility.

    A guy named Cris Cohen who helped rehabilitate one of Michael Vick's dogs objected

    In January, Cohen and Jonny resigned from Paws for Tales in protest. He teamed with lawyers associated with BAD RAP and checked the state’s laws. According to California’s Food and Agricultural Code (Section 31681-31683), it is illegal to act against any animal based on breed except in the case of instituting mandatory spay and neuter programs. Cohen wrote a letter pointing this out to the librarian and Burlingame city leaders, including the mayor Terry Nagel, vice mayor Jerry Deal, and Jim Nantell, the city manager.

    Two weeks ago, he finally heard back. City attorney Gus Guinan acknowledged that in accordance with the code, the ban would be lifted. Good news, right? Well, not quite. The letter also noted that the library decided to withdraw from the Paws for Tales program completely.

    E-mails have been flowing into the City from all over the continent objecting to the pit bull ban–it's always something!

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