OED Adventure

What a treat it has been to read of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Yep...you got it...I'm certifiable, I guess. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester (Harper Press 1998) is the story of the making of the Dictionary with special emphasis on the extrordinary lives of two of the most notable contributors to its successful completion. It is subtitles "A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary". It is one of the few books that I have had to read non-stop for the sheer obsession that it engenders. Having an English B.S. and also having been out of academia since that degree was generously bestowed upon me, I found the experience very envigorating...intellectually. I was surprised to find that I cheered on the contributions of the Madman with much the same enthusiasm as would a baseball fan the scoring of runs...a bit geeky (a word?), I suppose.

Anyway, if you love scolarly adventure (narrow genre, to be sure) you would sure appreciate this literary success.

Daddy's little girl grows up!

I just have to tell you about my first child. I'm so proud of her. She was born Tera Charisse Oland on October 4th, 1970. She and her mother, Cheryl (Priess), split with me in 1974. I wasn't exactly the guy Cheryl wanted to spend the rest of her life with and that started Tera on a difficult journey over the next years.

She has re-entered academia and is on her way to achieving her goal of becoming a nurse. It's hard to express the joy of being a father and seeing such a turn-around. She is such a beautiful person...both inside and out.

Tera lives in the LA area (near her mother) and I'm going there for a Viet Nam Veterans' Reunion the 8th of November and I am going to try to spend a lot of time with her. She and I are both quite excited about it. We've got to sweep some floors, clear some cobwebs and chase out some vermin and then we'll try to be father and daughter for real. We're both cautiously optimistic about our reunion.

I hope I have a good report for you when I get back!