2011 Reading #66: James J. Hill by Michael Malone
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
61. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.
62. Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky.
63. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin.
64. Redemption In Indigo by Karen Lord.
65. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
66. James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone. It's been about two years since I read Albro Martin's biography of my neighbor (the Hill mansion is less than three blocks from my apartment), and I wanted to refresh myself on the man, since he's going to show up in the next book of the trilogy I'm working on. Malone's bio is significantly shorter and doesn't go into as much obsessive detail on the financial dealings that allowed Hill and his compatriots to built the Great Northern and its subsidiaries; it does, however, spend only a slightly larger percentage of time on the man himself rather than on his businesses. Reading about the railroads does, once again, drive home the way in which not just St. Paul but much of the West owes its shape and history to them; it's something that is easy to forget because it's so bizarrely pervasive. In closing, please enjoy this goofy Swedish-dialect poem about Hill.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
61. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.
62. Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky.
63. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin.
64. Redemption In Indigo by Karen Lord.
65. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
66. James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest by Michael P. Malone. It's been about two years since I read Albro Martin's biography of my neighbor (the Hill mansion is less than three blocks from my apartment), and I wanted to refresh myself on the man, since he's going to show up in the next book of the trilogy I'm working on. Malone's bio is significantly shorter and doesn't go into as much obsessive detail on the financial dealings that allowed Hill and his compatriots to built the Great Northern and its subsidiaries; it does, however, spend only a slightly larger percentage of time on the man himself rather than on his businesses. Reading about the railroads does, once again, drive home the way in which not just St. Paul but much of the West owes its shape and history to them; it's something that is easy to forget because it's so bizarrely pervasive. In closing, please enjoy this goofy Swedish-dialect poem about Hill.