A centuries-old mystery has crossed my path again …

I mentioned in a recent article that there was a dispute in many academic quarters regarding the actual Viking deity being honored by the name, ‘Friday.’ The cold, hard fact is that unless someone unearths a runic stone that confirms the issue — and that’s not likely — only a preponderance of circumstantial evidence is going to carry the day in any such debate.

So, while others while away their time contemplating world peace, I’ve returned to the search for Friday’s inspiration.

If you’ll recall, four of the seven days of the week are named after Norse gods:

- Tuesday is for Tyr, the god of truth and war,

- Wednesday is for Odin, the Allfather of Viking gods,

- Thursday is for Thor, the god of thunder,

- Friday, however is cloaked in ambiguity.

I’d always heard the day’s name-origin came from Frigg, Odin’s elder wife — he had more than one — and this is supported by the most scholarly of English references, such as the Oxford dictionary. Others say it was for either Frey or Freja, who were brother and sister in the Vanir clan. Frey was the god of fertility, so it was considered essential to keep him happy; Freja was the goddess of love and beauty, so it didn’t hurt to keep on her good side, either.

Frigg’s duties were to be the goddess of the sky. It was a subtle job, but someone had to do it.

Turning to cyberspace for resolution, I happened on an excellent guide in Norse matters, The Viking Answer Lady. She is so meticulous in her material that I felt the possibility of her bringing light to the issue was quite good. So, I contacted her. To say she did her research is an understatement. Here’s her reply to me:

"Since Western Europe all originally derived from Indo-European tribes, we find that there were a lot of correspondences between the various branches — not exact, one-for-one identity, but concepts are clearly related. So it’s no real surprise to find that the naming and symbolism of the days of the week, and the number of days in a week, might be pretty much the same in all the descendants of the Indo-Europeans.

"You can see the day-name correspondences in other languages that descend from Indo-European:

"Ancient Greek has: hemera selenes (moon day), hemera Areos (Ares’ day), hemera Hermu (Hermes’ day), hemera Dios (Zeus’ day), hemera Aphrodites (Aphrodite’s day), hemera Khronu (Chronos’ day), hemera heliou (sun day)

"Latin: Lunae dies (Moon-day, Monday), Martis dies (Mars-Day, Tuesday), Mercurii dies (Mercury’s day, Wednesday), Jovis dies (Jove’s day, Thursday), Veneris dies (Venus’ day, Friday), Saturni dies (Saturn’s day, Saturday) or alternatively Christian Sabbatum or Sabbati dies (Sabbath day), Solis dies (Sunday)or alternatively Christian Dominicus dies (Lord’s day)

"Unsurprisingly, the Romance languages clearly derive their day names from Latin, except for Portugese, which numbers the days:

"Italian: lunedi, martedi, mercoledi, giovedi, venerdi, sabato, domenica

"Spanish: lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo

"French: lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche

"Romanian: luni, marti, miercuri, joi, vineri, sîmbata, duminica

"Portugese: Segunda-Feira (2nd day, Monday); Terça-Feira (3rd day, Tuesday); Quarta-Feira (4th day, Wednesday); Quinta-Feira (5th day, Thursday); Sexta-Feira (6th day, Friday); Sábado (Sabbath, Saturday); Domingo (Lord’s Day, Sunday)

"The Celtic languages have taken and preserved the Latin names of the days, and also borrowed heavily from Christian concepts:

"Welsh: Dydd Llun (moon/Luna day), Dydd Mawrth (Mars’ day), Dydd Mercher (Mercury’s day), Dydd Iau (Jove’s day), Dydd Gwener (Venus’s day), Dydd Sadwrn (Saturn’s day), Dydd Sul (sun day)

"Gaelic: Di-luain (moon day); Di-máirt (Mars’s day); Di-ciaduinn or Di-ciadaoin (day of the first fast of the week - Friday being the second fast); Diardaoin (the day between the two fasts of Wednesday and Friday); Di-haoine or Dia-aoine (day of the fast) Di-sathuirn (Saturn day); Di-dómhnuich (Lord’s day)

"Irish: Dé Luan (moon/Luna day); Dé Mairt (Mars’ day); Dé Céadaoin (day of the first fast of the week); Déardaoin; Dé h-Aoine (the day between the two fasts of Wednesday and Friday); Dé Sathairn (Saturn’s day); Dé Domhnaigh (Lord’s day)

"The Germanic languages, however, are also related. Ares/Mars was equated with Týr as a warrior god. Zeus/Jupiter was equated with Thórr as the god who hurled lightnings. Mercury was equated with Óðinn, since both had a role as psychompomps, the one who leads the dead to their afterlife. Aphrodite/Venus was equated with Frigga and Freyja.

"German: Montag (moon day), Dienstag (Týr’s day), Mittwoch (Mid-week), Donnerstag (Donner’s/Thórr’s day), Freitag (Freyja/Frigga’s day), Samstag (derived ultimately from Latin Sabbatum), Sonntag (sun day)

"Dutch: maandag (moon day), dinsdag, woensdag (Woden’s/Óðinn’s day), donderda (Donner’s/Thórr’s day), vrijdag (Freyja/Frigga’s day), zaterdag (Saturn day), zondag (sun day)

"Norwegian and Danish: mandag (moon day), tirsdag (Týr’s day), onsdag (Óðinn’s day), torsdag (Thórr’s day), fredag (Freyja’s/Frigga’s day), lørdag (washing day), søndag (sun day)

"Swedish: måndag (moon day), tisdag (Týr’s day), onsdag (Óðinn’s day), torsdag (Thrr’s day), fredag (Freyja/Frigga’s day), lördag (wash day), söndag (sun day)

"Old English: mondæg or monandæg (moon day); tiwesdæg (Tiw’s day, Týr’s day); wodnesdæg (Wotan’s/Óðinn’s day); thunresdæg (Thórr’s day); frigedæg (Frigga’s/Freya’s day); sæterdæg or sæternesdæg (Saturn’s day); sunnandæg (sun day)

"Middle English: monday, moneday, or monenday (moon day); tiwesday or tewesday (Tiw’s day, Týr’s day); wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai (Wotan’s/Óðinn’s day); thursday or thuresday (Thórr’s day); fridai (Frigga’s/Freya’s day); saterday (Saturn’s day); soneday, sonenday, sunday, sunnenday (sun day)

"North Frisian: monnendei (moon-day); Tirsdei (Týr’s-day); Winsdei (Wotan’s/Óðinn’s day); Türsdei (Thórr’s day); Fridei (Frigga’s/Freyja’s day); sennin (sun-evening); sennedei (sun day)

"Etymologically, it’s impossible to tell for certain whether the ‘Friday’ words derive from Frigga or Freyja (at least so I am told, I am not a philologist or linguistics expert). We can tell by the cognates that the name is from a goddess equated with Venus and Aphrodite.

"We get into further problems in that ‘Freyja’ is derived from roots meaning simply ‘lady’ while ‘Frigga’ comes from roots related to ‘beloved.’ There have been several scholars who insist that Frigga and Freyja are just different titles for the same goddess.

"None the less, undoubtedly ‘Friday’ comes from the name of one of these two goddeses, and not from the name of the god Freyr."

Now, that’s the sort of studied thoroughness that can achieve Master’s degrees. It’s a preponderance of evidence that can carry the day in a court of law. Even though she only eliminated one of the three contenders to the title of Friday’s Namesake, the Viking Answer Lady has gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide me with the information I requested.

I’m sure glad I didn’t tell her I was just trying to win a bar bet.

J Square Humboldt is the featured columnist at the Longer Life website, which is dedicated to providing information, strategies, analysis and commentary designed to improve the quality of living. His page can be found at http://longerlifegroup.com/cyberiter.html and his observations are published three times per week.

If Ernest Hemingway were alive today and publishing his first novel at the infancy of the 21st century, would anyone care? I’d have to say, probably not. This is of course, unfortunate. Whether you like his work or consider it overly macho and sexist, there is one undeniable fact: Hemingway redefined the way early 20th century American literature was written. In his simple, yet amazingly realistic style, he was able to relate more to the common man, rather than appealing to ultra-elite society as the countless Victorian authors did before him. Not to say he was the first to write about average everyday people, but it was the way he wrote his fiction that made the average everyday people want to read it. By scrapping the pretentious Victorian-style narrative and sticking to the actual guts of the story, his novels became the everyman’s novels, and this is what made him an international superstar in his day.

But today this would not be enough to get old Ernie that kind of attention. In fact, it may not even be enough to get him published. Today it takes a brand-able or franchise-able idea that has the potential to branch out into spin-off products and mega-movie deals to garner that kind of worldwide attention from a novel. Examples include The Da Vinci Code and the Harry Potter series. They have that mega-million dollar potential that drives authors to the top of the bestseller lists for months at a time. But why is it that the bestseller lists are so often dominated by genre novels? What happened to the literary novels that used to rule the book world?

I don’t want to offend anyone here, but I would like to take one moment to explain the difference between “literary” fiction and “genre” fiction (genre meaning Mystery, Sci-Fi, Romance, etc.) Many people actually have no idea that there is a difference. In fact, when someone asked me once what genre I wrote in, I said, “I don’t write in a genre. I write literary fiction.” They laughed and said, “Isn’t all fiction literary?” Well maybe they were confusing the word “literary” with “literature,” but at any rate I will now explain the difference for those of you who don’t know. I do want to say upfront that I am in no way putting down genre fiction, since it too has its merits and value. And many times genre fiction may even take on some aspects of literary, and vice versa. However, the focus here is on whether or not literary fiction has completely fallen off the general public’s proverbial radar screen . . . So, I continue.

The main difference between genre and literary fiction is one thing: conflict. Conflict is that all-important element in fiction, so important that without it you have no story to tell. Conflict is the problem the characters must solve, the obstacle they must overcome, the foe they must defeat, etc. And, there are two types of conflict: External and Internal. External is the type of conflict utilized by genre writers. For example, in a murder mystery the conflict would be the murder that the detective is trying to solve. In science fiction it might be that the alien hoards have just landed in Jersey and the Air Force is faced with destroying them. Whatever it is, in genre, the conflict is always external, i.e. aliens are an external force the Air Force pilots must defeat, the murder is an external problem the detective must solve. So the conflict depends more on these external forces, rather than the characters.

In literary fiction, the conflict is much different, it’s internal, which means it is character driven. It focuses less on the external forces the characters must overcome, and more on the internal forces the characters must face within themselves. For example, it may be a story about a man who has cheated on his wife and his conflict is whether or not he should tell her. Or (and this is where the mixing of genre and literary comes in) the alien hoards have landed in Jersey, once again, and the Air Force pilots must decide if they believe it morally correct to blow them to kingdom come. That’s the beauty of literary fiction, there is a much deeper revealing of the characters in that it explores what we as human beings would do in these situations, rather than what an idealized character may do. Like us all, they are not purely black or white. They are instead gray characters, sharing both good and bad qualities. This is what literary fiction does; it explores the true nature of, well, human nature.

So, is literary fiction falling through the cracks of mainstream society? If so it’s not because it isn’t being written. On the contrary, there are plenty of contemporary literary writers in America today who are all worth the accolades and awards they have received. But have you ever heard of Marilynne Robinson or Jeffrey Eugenides, two fairly recent and award winning literary novelists? You may have, but how about Richard Bausch? He was once called “one of our greatest short story writers” whose literary stories “deserve inclusion among the best American stories of the past 20 years.” It could be said that Bausch is near the top of the modern literary strata as far as talent goes, but have you ever heard of him? Is his name as recognizable as Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling? Indeed, not. So why is that? In 2004, genre fiction made up about 75% of all fiction sold, while “general fiction” made up about 25% (this is according to Romance Writers of America, Inc., who of course noted that the genre of Romance had the largest share at over 33%).

In general, sales for all books have been declining in recent years. This may be attributed to many factors, one in particular I like to call, the MTV factor. I mean, why waste your time reading a book about twenty-year-olds having sex in a hot tub when you can watch it on cable television, right? MTV, however, is not the cause of this problem, but just another symptom of what has been coined by the talking head as, “the dumbing down of America.” If this phenomenon exists it is something we must all live with, but is it the reason less literary novels are being read today? After all, it doesn’t take a genius to enjoy literary fiction. I enjoy literary fiction, and I am certainly no genius. So could it be the publishers? Are they to blame for the slow demise of this once sought-after art form? Well, they certainly contribute to it, since a book about a teenage wizard does mean a bigger profit margin than say, a novel about a dieing preacher writing an account of his life for his seven-year-old son (Gilead, Marilynne Robinson). But whether or not the mega-conglomerate publishers bare the bulk of the responsibility for the impending death of literary fiction is unclear. What does seem to be painfully clear is, whatever the reason, literary fiction is no longer craved and devoured by the masses as it once was. In fact, most Americans will only read literary fiction in grade school. But what turns out to be an even scarier statistic is that after high school, the majority of them will never pick up a book, of any kind, for the rest of their natural lives; a sad sign that we are doomed as a literary society. So I suppose in the end, we should be happy that those that do read are reading at all, no matter what kind of fiction it is.

© 2005 by David Tucholski
This article comes with reprint rights providing no changes are made and the resource box below accompanies it.

David Tucholski is the author of the novel, The Good I Stand On (an iUniverse Editor’s Choice pick), available at Amazon, as well as several other works that can be found on his website: http://www.davidtucholski.com

Visit http://www.thegoodistandon.com for more about his debut novel.

“Above the Turon River in the Great Dividing Range, Australia, a lonely Chinese grave looks down on long abandoned gold diggings. Locals in the Sofala pub will tell you the old market gardener used to wash and clean the bones of fellow diggers who had died, fill them with gold and send them back. When his time came, there was nobody to send him home.” Quote from: ‘Damien Murphy’.

Did anyone see the TV program on the worlds first trans continental railway built in the US in the 1860’s? Just as well boatloads of Chinese, fleeing from persecution, turned up on the West coast at the right time, or the one foot per day progress across some of the highest mountains in America, would never have been achieved.

Australia has its own stories of those amazing Chinese. Historian Janis Wilton commented that the Sofala grave illustrates the loneliness of the Chinese living in an adopted culture that never really recognized them as Australian sons. "On one hand the Chinese were seen as a menacing threat, on the other, they were an exotic presence, often forced to live a secret existence, the silence of which continues to reverberate down the generations to their present-day descendants," she says

"But these people today have the stories of those men and women who came to Australia for the first gold and tin rushes. They were handed down by word-of-mouth, and remind the rest of us of the contribution they made to our society”

Dennis Sue-Fong’s grandfather, George, (his new Australian name) at the age of thirteen came ashore at Cooktown in the late 1870s.

Those early Chinese adventurers were tough people. George, along with many other Chinese immigrants, eagerly trekked on foot to the Palmer River gold fields to find his fortune but like so many unlucky ones this was not to be and so disappointed but not without hope he again traveled on foot all the way south to Sydney where he labored a while for just keep, before returning north some years later to the small tin mining town of Emmerville.

His traveling was no mean feat when you consider that the place was full of snakes and man-eating crocodiles along with a lot of narrow minded Englishmen who pulled his pig tale and called him names. A lot of the old Chinese used to hire themselves out as cooks in the sheering camps. Some of them married the locals and the resulting combination of Chinese and Aboriginal blood, called ‘yella fellas’ produced some of the best horsemen of the northern territory.

Dennis’ ancestors eventually shifted to a place called Inverell on the north western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales. It was here that Dennis’ other grandfather started a variety store called Hong Yuen & Co which eventually became so viable that it was one of the largest in town. As a large general store it could practically supply anything you desired. As a credit to the family’s business acumen, in 2006 the store is still operational; Dennis’ mother had been a shareholder while his father shared in management.

His father, Ernest, also operated a large sapphire mine from where Dennis learnt about sapphires. Occasionally working with his Uncle who had started a wholesale Jewellery business he became quite familiar with the industry. It was at this point that I came in contact with him and introduced him to the opal industry. We are both still involved in that industry today. www.opalmine.com is a site that features the stones we deal in.

Dennis was dealing in sapphires and sapphire Jewellery when I first met him. He had established his own wholesale business but was struggling with falling sapphire demand. I suggested that opals were a much more appealing proposition to get into because of the increasing tourist trade with Japan and the USA. That was back in the late 80’s. We have been associated in the opal business ever since. In the mid 1990s I personally saw the great potential of the internet and quickly established the internationally known http://www.opalmine.com with its encyclopedia of opal and a chat forum with contributions from all over the worl

In early 2005 Dennis was about to embark on another of our opal selling trips around Australia when his dear wife Debbie became seriously ill with cancer. We are all hoping she will get well soon. - Peter Brusaschi

Peter Brusaschi is a 4th generation Australian of Italian, Irish, Swedish, English ancestry. His Italian great grandfather Giovanni came from Italy in 1858 and settled in the gold mining fields of Victoria. Peter has been in the opal gemstone business for 30 years and has written a CD on the subject. He is the owner of the very successful http://www.opalmine.com with its internationally popular opal chat forum.

Last night I watched an artisan in the moment of the first showing of his creation to others. It reminded me of a young man taking his first risk of rejection with a young woman. He tentatively exposes himself to the risk of rejection while offering himself up in hopes of acceptance. We all go through this every day in our interactions with others. We take measured risks in seeking acceptance from others. Some of us, having faced repeated or particularly difficult rejections, give up and withdraw into ourselves refusing further risk. Others work to find ways to manipulate people into accepting them all the while knowing that recognition received in this way never has any real value. Most of us have become careful in how and when (and with whom) we take these risks.

Artisans, I have noticed, are forced to take these risks every time they create something. Even the celebrated craftsman offers his newest creation with a measure of fear and trembling. But they take the risk nonetheless. There must be something within that drives them to bring their creations to life and to share those creations with us. This, of course, is true of all artists: they must share; they must take the risk of rejection. This truth became experience for me last night as I watched the artisan bring in his new creation.

We all turned from what we were doing as he hand carried the chair into the house. A sort of expectant silence filled the room until we could all sense the palpable effect of his emotions in exposing this bit of his essence for our review. There was now no turning back: his self worth was on the line. He set the chair down and turned to us, unable to escape the vulnerable place in which he now found himself.

It’s interesting how most of us, when faced with a person who has just offered a part of their personhood to us for us to accept or reject, miss entirely the significance of the moment. We offer our opinions with little thought for the impact they may have. But last night we got it. We joined him in the moment and shared in rejoicing over one more tiny place where crass commercialism could not intrude.

Last night we witnessed something important; something you will never see at Wal-mart. We shared in the introduction of something that will likely be here in one hundred years or more. Long after we’re gone that chair will live on doing what it was made to do. Last night some pieces of wood became something that will provide enjoyment for generations of people.

Akylina Lee is mother to three adult children and an observer of life.

http://www.whybuyplastic.com

The term “Jazzoetry” was coined by the Last Poets, who used it as the name of one of their albums. The term was applied to the revolutionary style of poetry with a jazz background that they had popularized during their 70s heyday. While the term may not have applied so much to the written word, particularly that before it, there were black poets who wrote with an afrocentric flow and fervor that was inspiration and insightful.

Amiri Baraka is one such poet and is considered the founding father of the Black Arts Movement. He was born Everett LeRoi Jones, in Newark, New Jersey, October 7, 1934.

Baraka (still writing under his given name of LeRoi Jones) found success early, winning the Obie In 1964 for his racially-charged play, “The Dutchman,” which focused on the brief, but volatile rapport between a young black man and a blonde temptress. He later opened a school that emphasized blackness in an artistic, musical, poetic and dramatic context.

He later divorced his (white) wife and adopted a more nationalist perspective and changed his name to Imamu Amiri Baraka. He remarried, to Sylvia Robinson, who adopted the name Amina Baraka.

In 1961 Baraka had his work, “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” published. Two years later came, “Blues People.” But his real notoriety came when his poetry took on a stance similar to that of the Black Muslim Movement and took on what many labeled an “Anti-Semitic” tenor. Since then he has published 17 other books, including “Four Black Revolutionary Plays” (1969), “Raise Race Rays Raize: Essays Since 1965, 1971,” “The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka” (1984), and “Somebody Blew Up America” (2001).

In 2002 Baraka was named Poet Laureate of New Jersey. One of his detractors is negro lickspittle and anti-affirmative Action crusader,. Ward Connerly. He described Baraka as, “One of America’s premier haters and anti-Semites,” in reference to the poem, "Somebody Blew Up America." That particular work accused Israel of having prior knowledge of the 911 attacks and did nothing to alert Americans. Because of the ensuing controversy, Baraka resigned his post in 2003.

Connerly elaborated: “the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts formed a panel that appointed this "artist" as poet laureate. That’s right. They appointed him to this prestigious paid position ($10,000 for a two-year term, no less) in spite of the fact that he had published dozens of anti-Jewish, anti-white, pro-Black Panther screeds during the last 25 years…Did they really think his hate-infused, Jew-bashing, hip-hop-like lyrics were truly poetic?…Now I’m starting to wonder if there aren’t more Amiri Barakas out there, dishing out filth and hate under the guise of a poet laureate of another state. It wouldn’t hurt any of us to check this out.”

Technically different, Countee Cullen was born in Louisville, Kentucky, March 30, 1903, (though for most of his life he claimed New York City as his birthplace. Along with Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Phillis Wheatley and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Among others, Cullen was one of the stars of the Harlem Renaissance. During this time He published several books of poetry, “Color” (1925), “Copper Sun” (1927) and “The Ballad of the Brown Girl” (1927)..

While his themes were black, many believed he “wrote white.” Cullen experimented with sonnets, quatrains, and other poetic forms and was influenced by John Keats. However, his work often dealt with racial issues.”

One such poem is “Simon the Cyrenian Speaks”:

He never spoke a word to me / And yet He called my name / He never gave a sign to me / And yet I knew and came.

At first I said, "I will not bear / His cross upon my back / He only seeks to place it there / Because my skin is black.

But He was dying for a dream / And He was very meek, And in His eyes there shone a gleam / Men journey far to seek.

It was Himself my pity bought / I did for Christ alone What all of Rome could not have wrought / With bruise of lash or stone.

There is a symmetry and flow to his words. It is simple yet powerful in its expression of suffering. Cullen died in 1946, falling victim to high blood pressure.

Haki R. Madhubuti is a poet who has risen to literary prominence in the Black Arts Movement. He gained his first successes writing poetry during the 60’s and early 70’s writing under his given name, Don L. Lee (He changed his name in 1973). He is also an essayist and is founder of and editor at Third World Press, the oldest Black publishing company in the Unites States. He is also a noted lecturer and educator, serving as the director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program at Chicago State University.

Madhubuti was born in Little Rock, Arkansas February 23, 1942, but was raised in Detroit. He started his literary career in 1967 with the publication of a collection of essays titled, “Think Black.” Some of his other poetic offerings include the collections, “We Walk the Way of the World,” and “Don’t Cry, Scream.” He has published 18 other books including, “Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous,” “The African American Family in Transition,” and “Claiming Earth: Race, Rage, Rape, Redemption.”

His perspective is decidedly pro-black, seeking to raise issues for discussion and dissemination. One of his conscious-raising works is “Change Up,” which says:

change-up/ change-up,/ let’s go for ourselves/ both cheeks are broken now./ change-up,/ move past the corner bar,/ let yr/split lift u above that quick high./ change-up…/

He again takes a point-blank approach in “My Brothers, My Brothers”:

my brothers/ my brothers i will not tell you/ who to love or not love/ i will only say to you/ that/ Black women have not been/ loved enough./ i will say to you/ that/ we are at war & that/ Black men in america are/ being removed from the/ earth/

Madhubuti states, “We are only equipped to survive, but survival is not enough. We go to malls and stores to buy products from people who don’t even like us…We are buying stuff and we worship ownership. But first we must take ownership of ourselves–when you don’t know yourself, you have no ownership of yourself. If all Black children were made aware of their culture and history beyond the context of slavery, they would rise above the limited frustrations of others and themselves.”

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He died May 22, 1967 of cancer. During that 65-year span he created a vast body of work that includes more than 25 books (16 were poetry books), twenty plays, several autobiographical works and radio and television scripts. Some of his most notable works are “The Big Sea,” “I Wonder As I Wander," “Shakespeare In Harlem” and “The Best of Simple.”

At age 17 he went to Mexico for a year, and despite being with his father found it not to his liking. He also served a hitch in the army and traveled the world, including several trips to Russia and to Africa. The latter influenced his writing, especially in the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”

Langston began writing poetry in the eighth grade. Years later and against his father’s wishes, he dropped out of Columbia University. Shortly thereafter his first poem (“The Negro Speaks of Rivers”) was published. Known primarily as a poet, Hughes earned distinction by penning plays, essays and novels as well. He created a series of books on a dim-witted character he called, Jess B. Simple.

But his most well-known work is the poem, “A Dream Deferred”:

What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore– / And then run? / Does it stink like rotten meat? / Or crust and sugar over– like a syrupy sweet? / Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load./ Or does it explode?

Hughes asserted, “We younger Negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren’t, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too… If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."

Hughes heyday was in the 20’s. After a trip to Africa in 1923, he returned and flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. He took a job working under Carter G. Woodson, editor of the Journal of, but returned to Harlem in 1926. He also returned to school (University of Pennsylvania), earning his B.A. degree three years later.

The influence of these four men is alive and well, their works srving as an impetus for today’s new cadre of black poets.

Paul P. Reuben, “Amiri Baraka / LeRoi Jones,” Perspectives in American Literature, chapter 10

Ward Connerly, “Amiri Baraka Hits a New Low,” The Washington Times, October 11, 2002

Amiri Baraka profile, Wikipedia

Biography of Langston Hughes, Wikipedia

Andrew P. Jackson (Sekou Molefi Baako), “Langston Hughes” No additional information available

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is a poet and novelist residing in Northern California. He has authored two books, "Tempest In The Stone" and "The Malice of Cain." He is a frequent contributor to several e-zines.

Probably the most famous psychic today is John Edward who is the star of the amazingly popular show seen on the Sci Fi channel, "Crossing Over With John Edward."

The show premiered in July of 2000. It’s a half hour program that has Edward appearing in a dark theater surrounded by risers that are packed with audience members, all of which would pay enormous amounts of money just to be in the same room with this man. The typical show features Edward walking around the risers making comments like, "I am getting very strong vibrations about a guy named Dave over here. I don’t know what it means. Maybe Dave is someone who has recently left this world…" And the spiel goes on and on. Ultimately there will be someone in the audience who nods in response to these statements, possibly signifying that Edward is right on the mark about something. Sometimes they will even shout or break down in tears. It’s great television but many sceptics feel that’s all it is.

The truth is, Edward’s show is nothing new. He is just one in a long line of many who have done this sort of thing, from the Fox sisters in the 1800’s to current celebrates like Rosemary Altea, Sylvia Browne, and James Van Praagh. What is unique about Edward however is that he seems to be the right kind of psychic, who just happens to be in the right place at the right time.

Part of his success probably has a lot to do with the public’s fascination with the occult. A recent Gallop pole indicates that 20% of Americans believe in one form of the occult or another, many believing that you can communicate with the dead, which just happens to be John Edward’s specialty. Oddly, 24% of women believe in communicating with the dead while only 16% of men believe this can be done. This may or may not be a comment on the gullibility of women and men. As for religions, 27% of Catholics believe in talking to the dead as opposed to only 16% of Protestants and 9% of Jews.

Whatever the reasons are for these numbers, Edward has cashed in on them. His show is on 5 days a week and the money that he makes from this can only be guessed at. His show is said to be responsible for a 33% increase in the Sci Fi channel’s ratings to a daily average of about 533,000 households. More importantly, the program is attracting more female viewers to a station that previously was male dominated viewing. The audience for Crossing Over is over 60% female.

Between his TV show and national exposure from appearances on The Today Show, This Morning, and Dateline, this has made his book "One Last Time" a national best seller.

And of course with all of this the question most asked is, "Is he the real thing?" Critics who have charted his predictions have estimated that his accuracy is only about 10 to 20%. Of course they also noted that the volume of his predictions far exceeds any modern day psychic. Whether John Edward is legit or just another great entertainer there is no denying that he has become one of the most popular psychics of all time.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Psychics

In this article we’re going to visit with a psychic who is still alive and predicting today. Her name is Elizabeth Baron.

Elizabeth Baron was born in Tennessee. She was an orphan as her father shot himself right in front of her when she was just 5 years old. During that same period she successfully won her fight with cancer, a tumor under her tongue, by laying her hands on local ministers in her neighborhood. At least that’s how legend has it. Supposedly, it was during this time that she got her gift of being able to look into the future.

Her mother died when she was a very young child and after than Baron was bounced around between 15 different foster homes as she was growing up. She has said many times that all the pain she suffered during those years was God’s gift to her in that it made her have compassion and empathy for others and prepared her to become the medium that she has become today. It is said that she can lay down on a couch, go into a deep sleep and give messages to up to 150 people at one time in her sleep.

After she graduated Crandall Business College with honors, her first job was working for the director of military personnel at the 14th air force. After that she worked for the Deputy Base Commander at Robbins Air Force Base as a secretary. While she was there she worked with prisoners of war from Germany. She also did schematics for the Jupiter space program that sent the first missile into orbit.

She moved to Chicago, Illinois at a very young age and took a job where she eventually became Assistant Advertising Manager for a private brand hosiery manufacturer. While she was there she met with executives from many magazines such as Vogue and Town and Country to try to get advertising for her company’s products. Eventually, with her husband who was a war hero, she opened up her own search firm and became President and CEO of two firms for 14 years where she oversaw 35 employees, most of which had masters degrees.

However, it wasn’t until a bitter divorce and being beaten half to death in a gang rape that her life really changed. While she was hospitalized after the attack, a spirit in white, who she believed to be God, came to her and said, "Come upon the mountain with me. It is time to do your mission. Remember, you gave your life to me when you were 13 years old." It turns out that when she was 13 years old she gave her life to God, asking him if she could be one of his missionaries for life. At first she told the spirit that she wasn’t worthy but the spirit told her to let him decide if she was worthy or not.

The rest, as they say, is history. From that point she began teaching and counseling people all over the world. Today she works with people from TV executives to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and is one of the most respected psychics in the world.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Psychics

Barbara Willis was born in Bakersfield, California on June 29, 1917. She began her art career by studying with potter Laura Andreson and trained with the master, Glen Lukens at UCLA in the late 1930’s. In 1942, Barbara opened her first studio pottery. With the shortage of domestic products due to World War II, Barbara then went from studio to production potter. Barbara’s unique glazing technique, vibrant colors and imitation wood designs were sought after by the large store chains such as Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor of New York, Gump’s, & Macy’s to name a few….including the White House. The popularity of her work lasted until the mid 1950’s when art pottery interest declined due to the increase in imports after the war. Barbara closed her pottery and moved on to her next business venture.

In 1994, Barbara Willis found a piece of her vintage pottery at a flea market. During a conversation with the seller, she passed on her phone number. A few weeks later, an avid collector of her vintage works called her to explain that she is a California Art Pottery legend! Barbara was encouraged to begin a new line of pottery and, this Barbara Willis, Terrene Pottery was reborn! Barbara utilizes a different approach in the making of her contemporary line. She hand presses each piece, using one of three types of clay. Barbara uses a unique one-fire glazing process. Each piece is definitely one of a kind!

What a gracious woman! I had the opportunity to meet Barbara Willis, in person, at the Los Angeles Pottery Show on January 29, 2005. In anticipation of meeting and talking with her, I took along my book "Barbara Willis - Classic California Modernism, by Jack Chipman" and asked her if she would be kind enough to sign it for me. She signed it "To Alice, Warm Regards - Barbara Willis - 1/29/04." I later noticed that she had inadvertently dated it 2004 instead of 2005. Like most of us, we write the previous year’s date until we are used to the new year. I certainly did not mind the incorrect date. I was overjoyed that I was conversing with her and expressing my admiration for her work directly in person.

I speak of Barbara Willis with much enthusiasm because of many reasons. First and foremost, I love her pottery - not only her vintage work, but her contemporary work as well. Here’s a woman, in her late 80’s, who currently has her "creative juices" in motion, working right out of her home in Malibu Beach letting herself be known again to the pottery world after a thirty-seven year absence to clay. I, like many others, am very appreciative of her work and share in the joy of her return as she quickly is being recognized as an important American ceramist!

You will find pieces of her vintage and contemporary works in the shopping gallery at AccessoryHut.com as well as some hand made pottery gift items such as necklaces, paperweights, and ring holders. I am also proud to announce that Barbara Willis is the "Featured Artist" for the Grand Opening of the gallery.

If you would like to learn more about the life and works of Barbara Willis, the above mentioned book is a great read! The author, Jack Chipman, had the opportunity to interview her for his book and during the process they became good friends and he is now a student of hers. A lucky man!

Alice Krueser is the owner of http://www.AccessoryHut.com, an online art gallery that promotes the arts and its "Directory of Artists" to the design industry as well as the general public. The gallery’s slogan: "Home Decor with Yesterday’s & Today’s Artists in Mind"

Literature as common understanding suggests is a representative body of texts admired and appreciated for its formal properties as well as its thematic concerns, which most would term vaguely as artistic or even aesthetic. If asked on the relevance of literature the response would be that the study of literature is akin to appreciating the arts.

However, in the past few decades the notion of literature has itself been called into question by progressive theoretical debates, which if anything have made it impossible to decide what literature is and should be. The point that relegates literature to a subordinate position as opposed to the other humanities like history, is the problematic term of fiction. Today after the collapse of idealism, what we have in a strange twist of events is the return of the importance of language. Perennial questions like what is truth and reality are once again thrown up, this time in the study of literature. Where philosophy and later science, its successor have dominated this field of inquiry, literature seems to be this new platform for these very old questions.

Literature in the mid 20th century moved against its detractors in calling into question all forms of knowledge, because all discourses utilize language inevitably as the main vehicle of communication. As a result, all writings from political theories to psychology are regarded simply as different species of writing and hence, come under the purview of literature. Since literary studies involves analysing writing itself, the field has widened to include other forms of writing instead of what is simply deemed as fiction. Although, the core texts of literary studies have remained traditional i.e. ‘fictional’ works, the methods and devices used are applied to non-fictional texts e.g. biography, journalistic writing etc.

Another point must be added in literature’s recent response to sceptics and that is, since all writing must pertain to a recognisable form of expression, the question remains then, how valid is the truth content of so called non-fictional texts, when it is governed by pre-existing rules of expression? This discussion is an apt example of the fertile ground of modern literary theory, in particular, the relationship between language and experience. Instead on dwelling on these modern issues of how a discourse like literary theory evolved out of the confusion of other disciplines, perhaps a historical look at literary studies must be revived; not in a nostalgic sense, but one that provides a definable shape where the future relevance of literature can be sought.

The study of literature is the study of modes of communication. The texts that are analysed and discussed are literary texts. It can include any writing of stylistic merit and works that contribute to the body of human knowledge. The aim of which is to use this method of inquiry in other fields. I have just outlined a position of literary studies that seems novel but in truth, it is an older attitude.

The study of literature did not exist in the way we know it today. In some ways, it is a very modern discipline, but it can also be said to be one of the oldest disciplines. If we allow ourselves to include the oral tradition of the ancient world, where poets studied the methods of narrating ‘stories’, we understand there is a formal method to those ancient works. These poets had ‘formalised’ techniques in the form of rhythms and refrains, which were learnt and subsequently, performed. The fact that the earliest poets understood devices and techniques is evidence of literary methods. A modern may still make this association that the study of literature is connected to the act of performance in all its manifestations. Indeed, a craftsman must learn the tools of the trade to understand and preserve a tradition, which scholars, in the case of ancient Greece have attributed to Homer, but in the modern day context the study of literature has lost that affinity for creating artistic products. Studying literature does not necessarily result in the production of great literature (whatever that may be).

Literature in the ancient world was inextricably bounded up with social life. We know for instance that poetry was part of religious ritual, rites and collective history. In other words, literature had a social function in the ancient world whose dominant form was poetry, which communicated to the community various aspects of its tradition and history. But what purpose does it serve to our present age, when we can read history from books and learn about the world around us through the media? The answer to this question lies in the way we should receive and look at writings. To explain this I will touch on the academic heritage of literature.

The study of literature was embedded in another related discipline called rhetoric, which in its scope covered a range of topics that to the modern may be shocking. These include philosophy, grammar, history and literary writing. Although in the contemporary context it has acquired a derisive status as being ‘empty’ and persuasive rather than sincere, the ancient and medieval world regarded it as a discipline that encompasses a range of issues.

Central to rhetoric is the study of language akin to our modern day literary studies. If we move ahead to the Renaissance era rhetorical studies expanded into the area of studying the styles and forms of classical authors, including the ideas from Plato to Aristotle in the original Greek. This pivotal moment in Western history is what we define as the Renaissance and the approach is what is called humanism. In the curriculum of universities in Europe in the 14th and 15 the centuries, we have what is called studia humanitatis, the study of grammar, poetry, moral philosophy and history. Interestingly, professional rhetoricians considered these areas under the compass of rhetoric. Rhetoricians who specialised in the study of language whether for its use in political speeches or philosophy saw the importance of the mastery of style. Herein lies a very important point, the rhetoricians saw in language the capacity and potential of knowledge. In other words, knowledge and language are inextricably bounded up together. The world becomes the very words we use to describe it. This may sound very postmodern but its roots are arguably founded on an earlier tradition. Though those scholars believed they were discovering new things out there, they were in fact discovering newer forms of writing.

The key point here is that literary studies is embedded in areas which one may not associate it with. Rhetoric was not the study of highly ornate speech, something similar to the charge against literature. Instead, it covered a broad spectrum of interests. Of course rhetoric and literature are different but the resemblance is striking. The common denominator between both fields is the analysis of language. This does not involve cataloguing types of writing but it goes further into developing ideas from them. The impact of such an endeavour can be seen in the Renaissance period of the Western world. Language and the world of ideas are interdependent components and not mutually exclusive. When we say ideas, we mean all forms of knowledge, from politics to psychology. In the ancient world, the stoics for instance understood logic from language. Language thus is the basis of knowing and the study of which becomes of paramount importance for the development of thought in the respective fields of knowledge.

A separate branch then evolved from rhetoric, philology. This branch is involved in the study of the use of language and the root derivations of meanings from words. An important fact here again like rhetoric, it is the study of writings from politics, philosophy, scientific treatises etc. The eclectic selection of texts included in the study of philology produced sometimes astonishing individuals like, Friedrich Nietzsche, arguably the most influential philosopher on the 20th century who was a trained philologist. This shows the relationship between the analysis of language and ideas. I am not suggesting that literature is philosophy or politics, but on the contrary I am suggesting that literature informs other disciplines.

Today, in the study of English Literature, the analysis of language is what is studied, applied and researched. This is something that contemporary philosophy and theoretical perspectives are engaged with. Literature then is the study of human experiences as much as intellectual ideas of a period, civilization and culture. It then becomes apparent, that literature is derived from older academic disciplines of rhetoric and philology whose traditions are embodied in Literature. It is also pivotal for those studying other disciplines to understand a literary approach, which entails the analysis of language itself. When we compare this with the prevalent modern day stereotype of literature as a noble and elegant way to use up one’s time, we find a disparity between what the discipline offers and how it is regarded. For those still grappling with the significance of literature, it can best be understood as a meta-discipline whose application in other fields I believe is indispensable to the progress of human thought and development.

If we sum up the perspectives offered here in this modest piece, we find that literature includes any form of writing in its purview and it is studied for the purpose of evaluating stylistic innovations and accumulating a body of knowledge from writings. There is a third coordinate that I have failed to mention and that is the manner of reading the text. A text is never literary but is made literary by a reader. The study of literature is not a simple accumulation of devices and facts but it shapes our way of interpreting the world. Literary methods provide a fresh and creative way of looking at the world which is at once imaginative and disciplined. It is this strange marriage of the rational and irrational that proves to be challenging to those who embark on this journey. Moreover, what better approach can we be armed with in facing the realities of this world than with a paradoxical attitude.

Mohamed Jeeshan G.R http://www.idle-eye.com

Maud Fontenay

As my exploits in the field may be viewed as inertia personified, I always greet tales of extraordinary physical endurance with a mixture of awe and wonder. The awe is simple enough – and in the case of the youthful Maud, quite understandable – but the wonder is how bonkers some people are. There are innumerable cases of individuals fulfilling long held ambitions by testing their limits and Maud Fontenay demonstrates this point in spades.

Maud Fontenay is a slight, slender woman of 27 who sought to show that size and strength alone mean little without mental toughness and resourcefulness. Her achievement? Rowing 7,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean on her own in 73 days while variously contending with a broken seawater filtration system and diving into shark infested waters to fix her boat. Spending the first fifteen years of her life at sea was certainly a helpful start but, nonetheless, it’s a pretty staggering feat. As for my feet, you can be assured they remain rooted to the spot.

Jeff Porter

Thank God, I have never borne personal witness to a terrorist outrage or other catastrophe. Yet, if I was and I was also compus mentus, what would I do? Run for the proverbial exits? Sit in shock? Or, indeed, take some responsibility? That all assumes, of course, that I only had myself to worry about and not the scenario that confronted Jeff Porter.

Porter is a driver on the London Underground who saw a train on an adjacent track blown up as part of the orchestrated campaign last July by supporters of al Qaeda. His presence of mind as he approached Edgware Road station ensured the death toll was minimised. He decamped from his train, in the wake of this ferocious explosion, and groped his way through the dust, smoke and trapped bodies to raise the alarm in the main body of the station. He subsequently assisted in the orderly evacuation of around 1,000 passengers from his train in small groups. We often marvel at the heroic achievements of trained emergency services so Jeff Porter, a modest, self effacing train driver, deserves our great admiration all the more.

Lars G. Josefsson

I attended a seminar recently which, among other things, showed the result of a vox pop that asked members of the public whether they were both environmentally friendly and aware. The bemusement, embarrassment and mild irritation that unfolded on screen was highly instructive and was almost a mirror image of the attitude and stance of business leaders and politicians. Climate change is the most serious long term threat to the planet, far more than the threat of race wars or mutant viruses, and Lars G. Josefsson is among the most serious champions of this issue.

His influence reflects his position as CEO of Vattenfall, the Swedish state controlled electricity company, and he has used it to exert pressure on G8, the United Nations and the international business community to impose a worldwide system to limit carbon dioxide emissions over the next century. This will permit a market in which quotas may be traded and indicates that energy providers are starting to regulate their industry before governments demand it. The brand of enlightened radicalism displayed by Josefsson has been an infrequent guest in boardrooms hitherto but is, I suspect, something we’ll be seeing rather more of in the future.

Howard Lewis,
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies.
http://www.invaluable.com

Only Invaluable gives you unrivalled access to pre-sale and post-sale information for auction houses and salerooms across the globe.

Find art, antiques and collectables. Try our Keyword search, register at http://www.invaluable.com for a free 14 day trial.