Books

Remembering and missing a friend

Very recently, a dear friend of mine passed away. Dr. J.D. Nall was our family's veterinarian. In the time I knew him, he took care of two dogs and four cats for us (and, once, he even gave me a flu shot). He also was the first real friend I made in Birmingham. He had taken care of my husband’s dogs when he was a boy, so I took our dog to him for a check-up. When I left his clinic that day, some 15 years ago, I knew without any doubt that we were home.

Dr. Nall touched way too many lives to count. Plus, he was the most enthuasitc Auburn fan I've ever met. A few years ago, I wrote an article about Dr. Nall for a local magazine. I'd like to share it with you.   

For more than half a century, Dr. J.D. Nall has practiced veterinary medicine in Homewood. Tuesdays and Thursdays still see him at Nall-Daniels Animal Hospital treating cats and dogs; gerbils and birds; and the occasional monkey, which he doesn’t recommend.

A graduate of Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, he opened Nall Animal Hospital on “the last day of February in 1950.” But he started his career taking care of animals long before that.

“When I was a little, bitty kid in the country, I had an animal hospital,” he says. “People would give me sick or dying things, and I would feed them and nurse them and get them well. And then I would sell them. I started a bank account in a bank down in Greenville, and I’d put the money in there. When I decided to start my practice, I borrowed $5,000 from that same bank. He knew me because of my account when I was a kid.”

The practice today, with Drs. David Daniels and Cathy Rice, sees mostly cats and dogs.

“I see a lot of little pets,” Dr. Nall adds. “Rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, ferrets, birds. I think I inherited a lot of that practice from my time at the zoo. I got a smattering of knowledge about exotic animals. We’ve operated on parakeets. We use little tiny ‘trach’ tubes on hamsters. We can repair fractures, remove tumors. I’ve (put pins in) the legs of parrots. They do very well.”

Dr. Nall spent some 20 years as the consulting veterinarian for The Birmingham Zoo.

“The zoo was just getting started so we grew together,” he says. “I told them that I knew nothing about zoo medicine but was more than willing to learn. At this time, there were only about ten full-time zoo veterinarians in the country, and I looked to them for guidance.

“During the time I was there, I handled everything from elephants to gorillas,” he says. He helped hand-raise Siberian tigers, and he sutured spider monkeys. “There was a time when we had to test all the primates for tuberculosis. We sedated and tested all of them without the loss of any animal.”

Once he brought a male orangutan to his clinic for x-rays. On its way back out through the clinic’s waiting room, it woke from sedation, sat up on the stretcher and started yelling.

“Handling the elephants was very difficult,” Dr. Nall says. “One time we had to move them, and that was a job. We knew if they got loose and out of the fence they would be walking down the middle of Mountain Brook in no time. We moved them 150 yards, and it took six hours. They just ambled here and there. Along the way, they pushed over every little tree they could get to.”

By far, the most unusual animal experience Dr. Nall had was closer to home.

“I raised the first white lion born in captivity in this world that survived. He was born in Canyon Land Park in Fort Payne.”

The folks there knew Dr. Nall because of his zoo work and because he had removed a nail from the foot of one of the park’s zebras. They told him the cub was insured for some 2 million dollars and asked him to raise it.

“He lived with me as a house pet for a little over a year. I got him when he was about 12 hours old and raised him on a bottle.”

King Solomon, Solly for short, was leash- and house-trained (his litter box was a tub).

“I could take him out and walk him on a leash,” Dr. Nall says. “I would also take him with me to the clinic during the day.”

Some 30 young veterinarians have rotated through this clinic and gone on to set up practices here in Birmingham or other places.

Dr. Nall says the practice of veterinary medicine has changed dramatically over the years. 
“Today, we have so much more in the way of facilities and capabilities— x-ray equipment, ultrasound, echocardiogram. Labs in the clinic can run blood work in 20 minutes so you know what you need to know. It has totally changed since I started.”

Pet ownership has changed, too.

“I think it has improved greatly,” he says. “People are so much more responsible for their pets. I think a lot of that goes back to the Humane Society (he served on that board for 27 years) and the education they do.”

Dr. Nall has cared for generations of animals belonging to generations of owners. He says the most rewarding aspect of his years of practice has been the people he’s met.

I’ve enjoyed my time,” he says. “It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve met a lot of fine people.”

During our conversation for this story, I asked Dr. Nall why some animals tend to look like their owners. He answered:  “I guess it’s just a natural association we have with them. Some dogs remind me of some people. I once knew a man with a mustache and a beard and he had a schnauzer. This man looked like his schnauzer. One day the receptionist said to him, ‘Hello, Mr. Schnauzer.’ ”

That was just one story out of many he told to me in the years I knew him. My life is better for those stories. It's better for having known this fine, fine man.

Books on Fox

Here are the books I talked about last weekend on Fox 6:  You'll see a great bookgroup book; a sandwich cookbook (yes, strictly sandwiches, but they are amazing!) and a couple of scary selections. I love, love, love the witch book for kids (ages 8 and up).

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

My book group recently read this book, and we loved it! Set in Crosby, Maine, it’s a series of connected short stories that all have one person in common:  Olive Kitterridge is a retired schoolteacher and one complex woman. In some of the stories, Olive take a leading role; in others, she’s only mentioned in passing. Rather like real life, one of my book group friends pointed out. At times laugh-out-loud hilarious and at other times terribly sad, this book is perfect for group discussion. Even asking the simpel question: “Did you like or dislike Olive?” will have your group talking for a good half hour.

‘Wichcraft:  Craft a Sandwich into a Meal -- a and a Meal into a Sandwich by Tom Coliccho (head judge on the television show Top Chef)

Who doesn’t love a sandwich ... the ease! The convenience! The ability to eat them in your car! You’ll find scores of inventive sandwich recipes in this new book from the guy behind the national chain of ‘wichcraft sandwich shops. Learn how to create new classics like Roasted Turkey with Avocado, Bacon and Onion Marmalade; Sicilian Tuna with Fennel, Black Olives and Lemon; and Chopped Chickpeas with Roasted Peppers, Black Olives and Lemon Confit. There are breakfast sandwiches here such as Kumquat-Rosemary Marmalade with Goat Cheese as well as the more meal-like Slow Roasted Pork with Red Cabbage, Jalapenos and Mustard. There are even sandwiches sans bread – lettuce holds it all together.

Wee Winnie Witch’s Skinny by Virginia Hamilton

Virginia Hamilton was one of America’s most distinguished storytellers. She received nearly every award in her field including the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the John Newbery Medal and a National Book Award. This hauntingly scary story of bewitchment is an original African American Scare Tale. Ms. Hamilton’s research over the years led to her finding a vast number of witch beliefs in black folklore – including tales of a witch hanging up her skin (as is the case here). A picture book for ages 8 and up, it features fantastic, suitably dark and edgy engravings by National Book Award-winning illustrator Barry Moser.

 Extreme Halloween:  The Ulitmate Guide to Making Halloween Scary Again by Tom Nardone

This fun book is full of exciting (albeit sometimes icky) decorating ideas and party tips. (Author Tom Nardone also wrote the national bestseller Extreme Pumpkins.) The ideas here are very user-friendly. I'm thinking of lining the walkway with flaming pumpkin tiki torches or making a yard serpent out of rebar and pumpkins. One entire section of this fun book is devoted to scary things to do with a coffin. Another tells how to make your own fake blood. Still another offers “demented ways to dress up your baby.” My favorite:  glue dust mops onto the baby’s pajamas and turn his crawling into useful work. From anatomically correct Halloween party invitations to creating a haunted lavatory to a Blob scene made with banana pudding, there’s a lot here to make this a Halloween to remember. I simply cannot wait!

Shop and Give

I always give books of some kind or another to my friends during the holiday season. For the past two years, I thought I gave myself Gourmet magazine since issues started showing up in my mailbox and no one else spoke up about them being there. But then, I couldn't remember actually doing the buying. So I'd go along and cook along and celebrate another fabulous new food around the first of each month. At a dinner party recently the host told me the dish she made came from the current issue of Gourmet. "But you have it," she said. "I've been giving you a subscription for the past two Christmases. I buy one and get one free. Yours is free."  

So it is. 

This kind of intimate gifting—gifting with real thought and feeling— gets even better when there's a deal involved. It's a win-win.  

Today here’s a deal for you that puts quality books into the hands of smart, little children who have none now. My friend Elisabeth Lyman told me about a FUN Fundraiser called Shop, Save & Share.  It’s fun because it combines shopping with giving.  

For $40, shoppers buy a card that comes with a directory of stores that have agreed to give shoppers some great discounts. In fact, more than 500 retail shops and restaurants will participate with a 20 percent discount during 11 days—from Oct 22^nd to Nov 1^st.  Cards may be purchased online at www.shopsaveshare.net.  Some 130 of the participating retailers will be selling the cards during the week of the sale. 

You should know that 100 percent of the proceeds raised will directly sustain the 32 Birmingham Community projects that the Jr. League of Birmingham supports.  

Those projects focus on four impact areas—Health, Education, Financial Stability, and Safety and Crisis Intervention. 

Here’s where the book part of all this comes in:  Say a project is under the “education umbrella.” For instance, let’s look at the All Aboard Read with Me Imagination Library. Do you know the No. 1 reason why some parents don't read to their children at home?  It is because they don't own any children's books. The Junior League of Birmingham, through the Imagination Library, is trying to change that—one child at a time.  Children enrolled in the program receive one hardback book in the mail every month from birth to age 5. The first book that the children receive is The Little Engine that Could. (Think how many of us have fond memories of that one!) The program ends with the delightful Mrs. Bindergarten is Getting Ready for Kindergarten. (Thanks to this program, many of the young readers will be ready, too.)

I hope you’ll join me and get one of those shopping cards. I can’t think of an easier way to help get dozens of quality reading books into the hands of hundreds of children who want to learn.

Poetry and Stars

Poetry under the stars, actually. My friend Irene Latham invited me (and all of you!) to join her and her fellow Big Table Poets Jerri Beck, Robert Boliek, Suzanne Coker and Barry Marks for a poetry reading at the Christenberry Planetarium at Samford University on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

They’re calling it Vox Equinox II and it’s a fun way to celebrate the first day of fall.

The poets will read selections from Einstein at the Odeon Cafe. For other Big Table news, reviews, videos and more, see the Churn Dash Press website www.churndashpress.com. 

Who? The Big Table Poets

What? Reading poetry under the stars

Where? Christenberry Planetarium at Samford University

When? Tuesday, Sept. 22 @ 7 p.m.

Why? Fall is finally here! 

Tom Sawyer is On a Different Kind of Bookmobile

Alabama’s first-ever statewide Big Read project moves into high gear today with Tom Sawyer on the Big Read Bus.

Big Read regional coordinators and NewSouth Books have arranged for delivery of nearly 12,000 copies of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (http://www.newsouthbooks.com/tomsawyer) to librarians all across the state. The Alabama Big Read Bus is the delivery vehicle of choice.

The Big Read Bus will travel the state today and tomorrow distributing copies of a special edition of the Mark Twain classic created especially for Alabama readers by NewSouth Books. On its two-day mission, the bus will stop at the main branches of library systems in 14 cities; local librarians will then send copies to area branches. A big banner announces the vehicle’s purpose, and plans are being made from library to library to celebrate its arrival.

According to Big Read regional coordinator Patty Pilkerton, “This is the very first time a state has published a unique edition of its Big Read book for its own audiences, so once again, Alabama is leading the way in innovative and creative programming. We are combining delivery and programming, allowing the receiving libraries to enjoy media attention. Soon readers across the entire state of Alabama will be joining together in the excitement of discovering and rediscovering The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

Libraries scheduled to receive a visit by the Big Read Bus include: Marion-Perry County Library, Marion, AL; Anniston-Calhoun Library, Anniston, AL; Ashland City Public Library, Ashland, AL; B. B. Comer Memorial Library, Sylacauga, AL; Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, AL; Columbiana Public Library, Columbia, AL; Harrison Regional Library, Columbiana, AL; Chambers County Library, Valley, AL; Autauga Prattville Public Library, Prattville, AL; Horseshoe Bend Regional Library, Dadeville, AL; Gulf Shores Public Library, Gulf Shores, AL; Choctaw County Public Library, Butler, AL; Washington County Public Library, Chatom, AL; Juliette Hampton Morgan Library, Montgomery, AL; and Daleville Public Library, Daleville, AL.

NewSouth’s edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (http://www.newsouthbooks.com/tomsawyer) is unabridged and annotated, carries a foreword by local Twain scholar Alan Gribben and includes the NEA Reader’s Guide. The book is available for purchase in trade cloth and paperback.

For more information about the Alabama Big Read Bus and its delivery schedule, please contact Lisa Harrison at NewSouth Books at 334-834-3556 or via email at harrison@newsouthbooks.com.

Creepy ... and Compelling

Unbridled Books is a few weeks away from releasing CRANIOKLEPTY: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius, and you might want an early peek at author Colin Dickey’s Web site – especially since you might win a copy of the book, which goes on sale September 29. 

My friend Steven Wallace at Unbridled says, “This work of history is so unusual and fascinating that once you start reading about this book you can’t put it down.” 

Here’s the official description: “Beginning dramatically with the opening of Haydn’s grave in October 1820, CRANIOKLEPTY: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius takes us on an extraordinary history of a peculiar kind of obsession. The desire to own the skulls of the famous, for study, for sale, for public (and private) display, seems to be instinctual and irresistible in some people. The rise of phrenology at the beginning of the 19th century only fed that fascination with the belief that genius leaves its mark on the very shape of the head. Fully illustrated with some surprising images, this is a fascinating and authoritative history of ideas carried along on the guilty pleasures of real-after-life gothic tales.”

 The quote below comes from my friends at the LibraryThing blog:

 “CRANIOKLEPTY by Colin Dickey is a gruesome yet sexy work of historical non-fiction. What makes it sexy? The book follows the mysterious after-death journeys of the skulls of some very famous celebrities, in particular, the skulls of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethovan. Odd details on the post-death mystery surrounding the skull of Spanish artist, Goya, add dark appeal to this tale.” 

See for yourself at http://cranioklepty.com/.  

And while you’re there, pick a skull, any skull.

While absolutely not endorsing the actual stealing of skulls, Dickey is offering a book to those of you who dare to imagine it. Tell him whose skull you would steal – and why – and the person with the best story will get a fee copy of Cranioklepty.

Send your choice—via email (cranioklepty@gmail.com), twitter (hashtag #cranio)—between September 9 and October 21, 2009. He will be posting the most lively ones (no pun intended) and as a thank you, he will be sending a copy of CRANIOKLEPTY to the folks whose selections most intrigued him. Winners will be announced on October 31, 2009 (yes, on Halloween).

Halloween Countdown

OMG ... does anyone know where I can borrow an IV pole? You know, like in a hospital. I want to serve drinks in a slightly different way this Halloween, which according to my date book is not too far off. OK, well it is sort of far off, but I am anticipating a blowout this year. (It is on a Saturday!) And part of that big party involves a cosmo-like drink served in an IV bag. It’s on page 72 of a new book I just got in the mail (clearly I’m not the only one making early Halloween plans).

Extreme Halloween:  The Ultimate Guide to Making Halloween Scary Again is just full of exciting decorating ideas and party tips. Author Tom Nardone also wrote the national bestseller Extreme Pumpkins—some of which were even too gross for me (and I’m actually thinking of carving a pumpkin that vomits guacamole (on page. 75)). This new book seems much more user friendly—and a little less icky ... even with that sick pumpkin.

I'm thinking of lining the walkway with flaming pumpkin tiki torches or making a yard serpent out of rebar and pumpkins. One entire section of this fun book is devoted to scary things to do with a coffin. Another tells how to make your own fake blood. Still another offers “demented ways to dress up your baby.” My favorite:  glue dust mops onto the baby’s pajamas and turn his crawling into useful work. 

From anatomically correct Halloween party invitations to creating a haunted lavatory to a Blob scene made with banana pudding, there’s a lot here to make this a Halloween to remember. I simply cannot wait!

Twofer on Thursday

It just occurred to me that I first heard about Chip Brantley’s new book, The Perfect Fruit, on January 8, 2008. My friend Dorothy sent me an email (subject line:  Food. What else?!!) that read: “How would you feel about my sending your email address to my best friend’s (since the 4^th grade) son? He is into writing about food...has a book about to be published about pluots. Have you tasted pluots? Very cool I think.”

Very cool indeed.

So is the literary equivalent of a pub crawl, which is what booklovers here have to look forward to on Thursday, Aug. 13 in Homewood.

Jim Noles will be signing his new book, Mighty By Sacrifice, at Little Professor (see the Aug. 6 blog entry directly below), and Chip will have his inaugural signing at The Alabama Booksmith just down the street also at 6 p.m. How’s that for a twofer?

Chip is a Birmingham native and has just returned home. I understand that The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot is quite engaging. 

The Booksmith gang says this: “After a conversion experience at the Los Angeles farmers' market where he first tasted the sweet, succulent plum-apricot hybrid known as a pluot, freelance food writer Brantley embarked on this tasty exploration of the stone-fruit industry. In his telling, it is that rare acre of American agriculture that still has room for independents, like legendary fruit breeder Fred Zaiger, whose epic labors—he waits years to learn whether a new hybrid will be edible or growable—sparked an industry shift toward fruit that actually tastes good. ... Brantley's engaging mixture of agronomy and reportage goes down easy.” 

Someone else told me that after reading it, you’ll never again take the contents of the produce section of your local grocery store for granted.

Making History

James Noles, Jr., is a respected historian and an all round fantastic guy. His book on state quarters, Pocketful of History, delighted my children and has had us scrambling for both the “P” and “D” versions of each state quarter ever since. (A shout out to the Regions Bank folks in Crestline who are exceedingly kind and patient when my children come in to trade dollars for quarters they are missing in their books; yes, those are my kids—sorry and thank you!)

In a more serious approach to history, Jim has teamed with his father, General James Noles, Sr., to write about a bomber group in World War II, that was completely wiped out. Every single man was either killed or captured. Mighty By Sacrifice is one powerful story.

Both Jim and his father will be at Little Professor in Homewood on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. to sign copies of the book. 

For more information, contact Little Professor at 870-7461 or at lphomewood@att.net

Books on Fox

These are the books I talked about on the Aug. 1 Fox 6 morning program. They are  smart reads to get everyone—young and old—in a back-to-school frame of mind. These are books pertaining to reading, writing, science and, even, Home Ec.

Peeled by Joan Bauer

This novel for middle-school readers was required reading for my son going into 7^th grade. Hildy Biddle is a high school reporter just waiting for a chance to prove herself and yearning for the big story. But her town’s biggest story stars a ghost—not an easy interview. Hildy must separate the truth from the buzz. She does so with a great sense of humor and lots of inner strength.

The Essential Rumi translations by Coleman Barks

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Words from the 13th-century Sufi poet Rumi have enchanted readers for ages. His poems, beautifully translated here, transcend national and ethic borders. Rumi’s work has been translated into many of the world's languages, including Russian, German, Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, French, Italian, and Spanish, and is being presented in a growing number of formats, including concerts, workshops, readings and dance performances. Coleman Barks’s translations have sold more than half a million copies worldwide, and Rumi is one of the most widely read poets in the United States.

So You Think You Can Spell? by David Grambs and Ellen Levine

Many, many people actually are good spellers, but a good many more only think they are. This entertaining (and educational) book has some 1,500 words and more than 200 tests and quizzes so you can go one-on-one, pencil to paper, against hard, harder and heartless words. Forget word lists, pronouncers, classrooms, auditoriums and judges! This is just you and the letters. The book also includes a brief history of the English language and an explanation of why it is so difficult. There’s also a short biography of Noah Webster, the acknowledged father of American lexicography. This book is due out October 6.

Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart

If only every biology class were this interesting—and unusual. Amy Stewart has taken more than 200 of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations in an A to Z roundup of plants that kill, maim, sicken, irritate and intoxicate. Some of these evildoers might be lurking in your own backyard (morning glory and English ivy). This book draws on history, medicine, science and legend to entertain and even alarm gardeners and nature lovers. It’s great fun!

The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman

Do schools even have Home Ec anymore? This book certainly would give the class more global flavor. New York Times columnist Mark Bittman has traveled the world to find and bring back the best recipes of home cooks from 44 countries. Many of these easy recipes are ready in 35 minutes or less—perfect for busy school nights. Also, the book is a fantastic encyclopedia of food and food knowledge.