THE STORY SO FAR: PART 123

FORGOTTEN AUTHORS WE SHOULD NOT FORGET—SUCH AS GRAHAM SHELBY—WHO RIGHTLY ARE NOT ENTIRELY FORGOTTEN

As I believe I have commented before, I wish I had kept a journal recording all the books I have read—because then I would be better equipped to express the gratitude I feel to so many of their authors.

They saw me through many difficult times, steered me clear of depression, enriched my life to a degree that I can never express adequately, and steered me towards a craft which is endlessly rewarding.

Eventually, I, too, became an author—my life’s ambition and an extraordinary privilege as far as I was—and am—concerned. I worked hard for that honor. Nonetheless, primarily I owe it to the authors who went before me. Once I could read and write—a gift beyond price in itself—I learned by reading; and since I adored reading, I adored learning. Mind you, it depended on the subject. I cannot, in honesty, say I enjoyed Physics & Chemistry (though I do now) but have long being fascinated by history, and thus by historical novels.

Graham Shelby is a truly fine historical novelist. His list of works is as follows—courtesy of Wikipedia:

• The Knights of Dark Renown (1969), set in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the reigns of Baldwin IV, Baldwin V and Queen Sibylla.
• The Kings of Vain Intent (1970), sequel to the above, dealing with the Third Crusade, depicting Conrad of Montferrat as the villain: the US edition contains an additional chapter.
• The Villains of the Piece (1972) (published in the US as The Oath and the Sword), about the conflict between King Stephen and Queen Matilda.
• The Devil is Loose (1974), a sequel to The Kings of Vain Intent, following the later career of Richard I of England.
• The Wolf at the Door (1975), about John of England.
• The Cannaways (1978), a story of a fictional eighteenth century family.
• The Cannaway Concern (1980), sequel to the above.
• The Edge of the Blade (1986).
• Demand the World (1990), based on the life of Eliza Lynch.

The Knights of Dark Renown and The Kings of Vain Intent were translated into German as Ritter der Finsternis in 1975, and The Devil is Loose and The Wolf at the Door as Der ertrinkende Eberin 1980.

I am currently re-reading THE KNIGHTS OF DARK RENOWN—and enjoying it thoroughly. Here is one of the Amazon reviews:

This book follows the lives and actions of Europeans living and ruling in Palestine after the second crusade. The book centers on the conflict between the Christian leaders and the Saracans led by Saladin. There is much conflict between those who want to continue the peace with the Moslems, notably the leper King Baldwin and his supporters, led by the noble Lord Balian and those who scorn peace and want to wipe out the Moslems, led by the despicable Lord Reynald, known for his cruel acts of violence. Along with political intrigue the book features the romance between Humphrey, the stepson of the dreaded Reynald, and Isabella, the stepdaughter of Balian.

This book offers a clear look into the trials and tribulations of life in Palestine during the Middle ages. It has it all: intrigue, battles, love, romance - and it delivers all of these components in solid fashion. Shelby takes dry historical facts and breathes life into them, filling in the gaps with characteristic insight and detail, resulting in a wonderful story that transports the reader into the time and place of the Crusades. By the time of the fateful final battle with Saladin and his forces, the reader wishes to be transported into the leaders' tents to bash some sense into them. This book is more than a good read: it is an educational experience of a time and place most of us know very little of. This book is hard to find, but it is worth the look.

I completely agree with that conclusion.

Incidentally, the core story covered in Graham Shelby’s book was eventually turned into the movie, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN by director Ridley Scott.

The writer was William Monaghan who also wrote BRAVEHEART.

Was Graham Shelby credited in any way? If he was, he is not listed on IDB. He certainly should have been in my judgment.

His book is a gem.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 122

WHY DON’T WE SEEM TO CONSIDER THE FULL COSTS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF UNEMPLOYMENT—IT DOESN’T EXIST IN ISOLATION. IT’S IMPACT IS FUNDAMENTAL, MASSIVE—AND ENTIRELY NEGATIVE.

I have long been seriously disturbed at the U.S.’s general indifference to the plight of the unemployed, together with the economic impact of having so many people out of work. The powers that be seem to miss the point that unemployment represents waste on a truly prodigious scale, and represents a direct cost to the economy in a whole series of ways.

• Unemployment creates misery on a massive scale which, in turn, undermines consumer confidence.
• It leads to endless social problems—all of which have to be dealt with in some way or another at a cost.
• It adds particularly to health costs.
• It depresses demand.
• It depresses growth.
• It depresses the tax base.

My ball park figure for each person unemployed—in terms of the cost to the taxpayer—is at least $50,000. The real figure is probably a great deal higher because of the multiplier effect. Multiply that by the millions unemployed or underemployed at any one time and the total is stupefying—and all negative to the prosperity of this country.

Yet many regard a relatively high level of unemployment as desirable because it gives management the power to keep wages down. This is madness coupled with ignorance on a truly epic scale.

If people don’t earn—because they are unemployed or underpaid (a growing problem in itself) they don’t buy, or they don’t buy enough—which means the very thing that keeps business going—a market for goods and services—is undermined. Economists call this demand. Without demand, you don’t have much of an economy. With it, we can grow out way out of debt.

The above chart makes the point with singular clarity. The green line (the top one) represents the unemployment rate and the blue line (the bottom one) represents the budget. The period covered is 65 years.

Note how the two lines are virtually in lock-step. The significance is clear. If you want to reduce the deficit, you reduce unemployment.

Does the Republican Party understand this? Clearly not. Does the administration grasp its full significance? That seems unlikely.

Does the average American taxpayer understand? Frankly, I doubt it because the media is doing a lousy job at expressing the issues in this fundamental way—and most Americans think their job keeps them working hard enough so to have to think in the evening represents an unacceptable extra burden.

People really need to start understanding this stuff, or our future is bleak. Obsessing about the deficit while ignoring unemployment is national suicide.

Yes, I know this should really be in my economic column, but every now and then,  I get carried away.

By men in white coats on minimum wage.

 

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 121

EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM BY THE SON OF A FRIEND OF MINE—A SALUTE TO STAFF SERGEANT SEAN KEOUGH WHO WAS AWARDED A WELL DESERVED SILVER STAR

Patrick Keough is a former officer in the 82nd Airborne Division—an outfit I had spent some time with in the Nineties while gathering material for my book, THE DEVIL’S FOOTPRINT.

Colonel—later General—David Petraeus was the brigade commander at the time. The division made quite an impression on me. They jump out of perfectly good airplanes, and do remarkable things when they hit the ground.

Patrick started off as a fan. Then he invited me to stay, again in the Nineties, and, though we had never met, somewhat to my surprise, I accepted—he lived near Quantico at the time and I was visiting the Marines—and soon we became fast friends. And thus I met his son, Sean, who, at the time was a rather obstreperous, but likeable, teenager.  Trouble was written all over him, but dominating that was a great spirit.

Subsequently Sean joined that legendary outfit, the 75th Ranger Regiment, which was an achievement in itself.

The Rangers have a truly remarkable history of doing the impossible, arguably best epitomized by their WW II D-Day attack on suspected German artillery positions. The assault involved climbing a near vertical 100 foot high cliff under enemy fire. The mission looked impossible and must have required unimaginable courage—but they succeeded. Such feats of arms are their tradition. The action, which is well worth seeing, features in that excellent movie, THE LONGEST DAY. It is generally known as the assault on Pointe du Hoc.

On October 7 2011, Staff Sergeant Sean Keough maintained that tradition in a raid on a Taliban leader in Afghanistan. Subsequently I heard an account of the action over dinner in Seattle in 2012 and the story—told somewhat reluctantly by Sean—was so remarkable it was the kind of thing I would have thought twice about before putting in a book. But the events were witnessed by other Rangers in Sean’s unit, and in May 2012, he was awarded the Silver Star for courage under fire.

The citation doesn’t do Sean justice, but specifically, despite being shot in the right arm, he advanced while taking enemy fire, and provided cover so others could come to the aid of two wounded Rangers trapped in an alleyway. The killing was at virtually point blank range.

What makes this action even more extraordinary is that it was only one of thousands. Since October 2001, the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment—Sean’s unit—has conducted more than 2,500 raids and has killed or captured thousands of key Al Qaida and Taliban leaders.

How do these guys keep going? Sean is off for his eighth combat tour shortly. That is a level of operational tempo that is hard to grasp—especially when you appreciate that these guys are in nearly constant action. These are not garrison soldiers. They take the fight to the enemy.

I regard writing as a privilege and an honor—but the fact that I get to meet such people as Patrick, his wife Terri, and Sean is a very considerable bonus. Besides that, they are wonderful friends.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 120

THE ANSWERS ARE OUT THERE—BUT ARE WE LOOKING?

I have often been told that Seattle has a climate “just like Ireland.” I haven’t checked the figures but, based on personal experience, I have to disagree. Certainly, both get a lot of rain and comparatively little snow, but Seattle lacks the damp chill that seems to pervade Ireland, is significantly less windy, and seems to be blessed by more clear blue skies and sunshine.

Today is just such a day though the temperature is below freezing. It’s the kind of weather that seems designed for fast walking, clear thinking, long underwear, and gloves.

In the spirit of clear thinking, let me point you towards what appears to be a fascinating book—albeit its title scarcely gets the heart pounding.

I haven’t read it yet, but I have seen the author, venture capitalist William Janeway, interviewed, and he speaks a great deal of sense. He is also a highly successful venture capitalist who believes government has an essential role in a modern economy, and supports his thesis with facts. This is a pleasant and realistic contrast to the beliefs of many Right Wing ideaologs who believe that “government should be drowned in a bathtub”—if I may quite Grover Norquist a little loosely.

You know it is a strange thing that we don’t think more about the nature of the economic system that has such an extraordinarily strong influence on our lives. You don’t have to be an economist to do so. You just need a reasonable brain, a willingness to accept facts, and the ability to follow the logic of an argument.

Yes, you are absolutely right. It probably is a lot to expect.

The key point to recognize is that capitalism—like ice-cream—comes in many different flavors, and that some are delicious; and others are horrible. War flavored ice-cream is the pits—and is the color of blood. Could it be that the U.S. needs to look for a tastier version? The evidence would suggest that to be the case.

Let me quote some of the reviews from the Amazon site:

"Bill Janeway, a key creator of modern venture capital, tells the amazing story of the intersection of economics and innovation. This book is essential to anyone who wants to understand technology and how its creation will be financed for decades to come." - Marc Andreessen, co-creator of the Internet browser, co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz

"This is a masterful historical and conceptual analysis of the Three Player Game between the state, private entrepreneurial innovation and financial capitalism. The state has a key role in funding scientific research that leads to innovation. Amply funded by financial capitalism, innovation is a source of long term growth. But speculative funding of innovation is also associated with asset and credit bubbles that end up in financial crashes. A Minsky-inspired synthesis of the financial excesses of Schumpeterian creative destruction, this book should be required reading for all." - Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics at New York University and Chairman of Roubini Global Economics

"A revelatory exploration of the complex dynamics underlying the innovation economy and the inherent roles of speculation and waste as experienced by one of the great venture capitalists and political/economic thinkers of our age. This book provides an powerful framework for dealing with the economic challenges we are facing today. It couldn't have come at a better time!" - John Seely Brown, Former Chief Scientist of Xerox Corp and Director of its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)

"Janeway applies keen insights from his experience as a venture capitalist and creates a vision of the interaction between governments, financiers, and firms that shows what institutions society must develop to foster innovation. I believe that Doing Capitalism will help all of us, whether academics, private sector leaders, or government officials, to see beyond shallow political dogma and move to a deeper understanding of challenges of technological advance." - George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 119

CHRISTMAS WEEK LETTER-WRITING—IS IT WORTH THE TIME AND THE EFFORT? ABSOLUTELY!

If I had my way, I’d move Christmas to February—largely because I rarely seem to be quite ready for Christmas (and one tends to need cheering up in the February/March period). True, there is St. Patrick’s Day, but that is only a single day which never quite does it for me.

Christmas Day seems to sort of sneak up before I’m fully organized to do all the good things I want to do. Quite how I can say that given the excessive commercialization of the whole season, I don’t know, but I blame it on my dyslexia and my general problem with dates and time. Somehow I don’t see such things in a conventional way. My sense of time is somewhat strange, I am told—though I find it agreeable enough.

Socializing, gift giving and the religious side apart—not that religion seems to play much of a role these days—my great pleasure in life is writing to people over Christmas . Yes, it is ridiculously time consuming, and hard work, but it is marvelous to hear back from people you value, but might otherwise never see—particularly because they are scattered all over the world. This globalization thing has got out of hand in my opinion. I got a Christmas call from China this year.

Facebook seems to be the gold standard for social communication, but I value the relative privacy of an individual e-mail. And most people reply to them in whole sentences and throw in some news into the bargain. In this age of texting, whole sentences are an endangered species, but I remain rather fond of them.

The above picture is that of Tristan Levie who became the 2012 UK and Ireland wavesailing youth champion this year, aged 16.

He is the son of an old friend, Professor Jonathan Levie, Director of Knowledge Exchange
Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship University of Strathclyde.

Jonathan—a delightful human being—and I go way to the days when I was trying to create jobs in Ireland. In fact, he has used my efforts as a case history ever since. He also used to have me in to University College, Cork to lecture his students on a guest basis. I enjoyed the role greatly and once asked him could I perhaps get a job lecturing at UCC.

“You’re too controversial,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 118

HARRY CARTLAND IS AN EXTRAORDINARILY TALENTED MAN—WHO DOESN’T KNOW QUITE WHAT TO DO WITH HIS EXPERTISE—AND A FRIEND I HOLD IN HIGH REGARD

I have absolutely no idea why Harry and I are friends. It could be because I have a weakness for dry humor—and Harry’s sense of humor hovers between ulta-dry and manic depressive. He is actually very funny, but you need an electron microscope to see the join. I have stolen his name for my protagonist in SATAN’S SMILE. My character, Harry Fremont, is completely fictional but, I guess, has been somewhat inspired by Harry—and is a scientist. 

He—the real Harry—is also impossibly talented. Let me quote from his very own website—which he coded (naturally). The URL is www.C3Images.biz and it is well worth exploring—great photography. His companion is his wife, Joan.

Harry Cartland has been hiking, backpacking, climbing, skiing, paddling, diving, and generally enjoying the outdoors for 40+ years. He was introduced to the Sierra in 1980 as a Berkeley doctoral student in the College of Chemistry, and has been coming back ever since.

In real life, Harry trained as a scientist and then served as an officer in the Regular Army for seven years, with a number of assignments including the Ballistic Research Laboratory and the Staff and Faculty of the United States Military Academy, where he taught chemistry and physics, as well as mountaineering. After leaving the Army and a short period with the Army Research Office and Duke University, he was a physicist and project leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. More recently Harry served on the professional staff of the House Armed Services Committee, and subsequently as a member of the bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. He is currently involved in several technology ventures.

Harry is frequently joined by his wife Joan, whom he met at Berkeley graduate school. As a physician, she makes a valuable travel partner (gastrointestinal distress on every continent so far - thank science for Cipro), besides which she is a good sport. She even married him despite spending a large part of a night on the floor of that $2 a night room in a small town in the Peruvian Andes, after the Shining Path blew up the power station (and the ensuing automatic weapons fire). Her North American "life list" is closing in on 700. They live in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

How does any of this qualify him as a photographer? It doesn't of course. But taking pictures keeps him out of real trouble. Mostly.

Let's be careful out there.

I met Harry when attending the shoot of Lawrence Livermore’s very own hydrogen powered supergun—a project which Harry ran, along with Doctor John Hunter. Because I was a foreigner (Irish) I wasn’t allowed into the briefing area—but I was allowed to stand in the door and hear and see everything. I featured a supergun in THE DEVIL’S FOOTPRINT.

Only in America.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 117

A SEARCH FOR WORDS…FOR THE NAMES AND MEANING OF THINGS

As a writer, I wish I knew the names of more things. For instance, my friend, Niall Fallon, could identify just about every plant and living creature as we walked—whereas  I come from the generic school. I know the difference between a tree and a shrub—and between a snake and a worm (a matter of scale and lethality) but if you asked me to identify the species, I might well fail.

I would recognize an oak if it hit me—and we had two beautiful chestnut trees in the garden—but you would soon catch me out. I would recognize a weeping willow, because we had one in our front garden which I loved; but after a poplar and a eucalyptus, you might well have drained my base of  arboreal knowledge. For some reason, I do much better with weapons, tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs—a military term). What can I say! I’m a thriller writer brought up on books of high adventure.

My aunts Fanny and Kitty used to speak of their garden as if the Latin names of plants were the vocabulary of normal life—and, of course, for them they were. They loved gardening as much as I love writing—and they excelled at it. Their herbaceous border in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland was a thing of wonder. It looked and smelled gorgeous. It was long and deep and rich—and lined the drive on the left hand side.  In the center, there was a long, vee shaped grassy area and on the right another herbacious border—but much shallower. The totality was awesome and visitors would often pause as they drove down the drive just to look. Drives set the tone as you arrived at a typical Anglo-Irish Big House.

I deeply regret my ignorance. I believe we really should know vastly more about nature and our environment in general—so I regret the fact that many of us have never even seen a live cow; or even been chased by a bull. The latter gets the adrenalin going in a way you have to experience to understand. However, if you really want to have a run-in with an aggressive animal capable of inflicting serious injury, try a sow who is still looking after her piglets. I had such an encounter in Wales on one occasion, and have never forgotten it.

Why am I thinking about all this good stuff? Probably because it is a beautiful day—albeit cold—and I seem unable to described the sky adequately. The sky is bright and blue; and overlaid with cirrus clouds.

Will it remain that way? In your dreams! This is Seattle.

Sometimes life, even when difficult, is pretty damn wonderful.