Thoughts and Insights from Box 150

Description

(B&W, premium paper, paperback glossy) Using stories that are both uniquely personal yet poignantly universal, Beverley Whitaker Rodgers calls upon contemporary literature and personal experience to eloquently coalesce culture that is Americana, with historical events that dramatically shaped the United States in the early decades of the twentieth century. The writerÕs account chronicles milestones of any average childhood: illnesses and emergency room visits, seemingly endless road trips to spend holidays with family, sibling rivalry, forming life-long friendships, tending to farm animals, learning to read, sew and pray, arguing with Mother over fashion trends, and adoring her Father. BeverleyÕs descriptive writing style lends itself to recount the instant camouflaging of defense plants in San Diego in anticipation for war with Japan, the transformation of the area south of Torrey Pines when Camp Callan suddenly materialized, and the swift disappearance of Japanese neighbors after the attack on Pearl Harbor that sparked the United States entering World War II. She aptly weaves tales of ÒSettling the WestÓ on her horse Navajo, illustrates the development of vegetation, housing and highways in Southern California that influenced the stateÕs economy, and recounts adjusting to life in two new cities as an awkward 12- year old during her fatherÕs studies as a Guggenheim Fellow, dividing a year of his time between the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis and at University of California at Davis, before returning with his family to Southern California. Blending humor, drama, and wit to share with readers her less-than-mundane childhood, Beverley borders on the persuasive with first-person narratives differentiating this book from the wave of memoirs that crashed onto the shores of bookstore shelves in the 1990s biography boom that continues today. Through the mining of family history papers and in-depth historical research, Beverley unveils an upbringing that describes an era of innocence to offer readers a reminiscent glimpse of the influences that formed a foundation of morals and manners by which she lived. Her strong family life gave her a deep appreciation of her rich heritage that includes her maternal grandfather, Henry Clay Somerville, a surgeon (as a civilian) in the Civil War and her paternal great- grandparents, Jer—nimo and Catalina L—pez, two of the original founders (ÒPobladoresÓ) of the City of Los Angeles.

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