Rough Stone Rolling

All right, I know it’s been a ‘coon’s age since I last dropped by. Too many distractions have kept me away and when night comes my brain’s just been too fried to compose (resulting in five unfinished entries in the queue). But since we’re going away for a week on a camping trip, I thought I’d sneak one in.

History has always been my favorite subject and History Detectives on PBS is one of my few absolutely-can’t-miss shows. Every week a team of historians pick three mysteries to solve with just one or a couple of meager clues to get them started. This week’s episode was a particular treat– A woman had a first edition 1856 copy of an anti-Mormon book entitled “Female Life Among the Mormons” and her questions were, who is the woman who wrote the book and was it really a factual account. The assigned historian Tukufu Zuberi, as is usually the case, met with subject authorities, this time being Terryl Givens and Sarah Barringer Gordon (who, for me, beats out Jessica Biel and, yes, even Eva Mendes as Whom I’d Most Like to be Stuck on a Desert Island With– although I’m sure she’d take issue with the honor since it ends with a preposition). Anyway, I won’t ruin the outcome for you. Check your local listing to see if it’s airing in your area, or download the transcript from the page I linked to. The segment offers a pretty good backdrop of the political climate, etc., that contributed to the book’s popularity.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the beach for a week of boogie-boarding, roasting marshmallows and singing ”I Would Walk 500 Miles” over and over again around the fire.