Rufus Jones in the Malcolm Venville documentary ‘Theodore Roosevelt’

Theodore Roosevelt of New York City, New York was the 26th president of the United States of America, serving from 1901 through 1909. A survey of his life was offered through the History Channel documentary Theodore Roosevelt (2022), airing in televised episodes originally airing, respectively, on May 30th and May 31st. Malcolm Venville directed the documentary.

(Rufus Jones as Theodore Roosevelt in the Malcolm Venville documentary Theodore Roosevelt).

The opening episode of the documentary, titled The Great Adventure, starts with an introduction of Roosevelt in his childhood as a sickly youngster struggling to fight his way through illness. We literally get a sense of the man taking comfort in physical activity based in affluence and an education that gave the man an appreciation the belied his station; that is, Roosevelt would take an appreciation of the disadvantaged into his sense of the world. Interestingly, the documentary shared an image of Roosevelt and his brother overlooking Abraham Lincoln‘s funeral train from Washington DC to Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, had been assassinated in 1865.

(The historical Theodore Roosevelt, as pictured here, was the subject of the Malcolm Venville documentary Theodore Roosevelt).

The episode introduced us to much heartache for Roosevelt early in his life, including the deaths of his mother and wife, only hours apart on February 14, 1884. The young state legislator of New York had been in Albany, New York when summoned to New York City with the possibility of this news. Having also been away at school when his father died, Theodore Roosevelt as a younger man at the time, the spirit of a fighter through physical activity really summoned itself in this time. The reformer spirit of Roosevelt as the legislator, later as the New York City police commissioner, and an ability to rally public support with a streak of independence against the party ideals that he ran with, the notion of being Vice President of the United States had been a way for the party to quell this spirit led to the conclusion of the Roosevelt story, as told in The Great Adventure).

(The historical William McKinley, the predecessor to Theodore Roosevelt as president of the United States, gave way to his successor after being assassinated in September 1901).

The Man in the Arena picks up from the point of William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, having been shot to death at the 1901 World’s Fair (aka Pan-American Exposition) of Buffalo, New York. Roosevelt would assume the presidency with a philosophy of having those in power play by the rules. The education of Roosevelt in how to conduct this business of trust busting, extending the imperial ambitions of the United States with the Panama Canal, and negotiating his own assertion of power all were points of import for the story documented. The introduction of Roosevelt’s relationship with race was discussed through both episodes of the documentary, including specific interactions with notable leader on race, Booker T. Washington.

(The historical William Howard Taft, the Roosevelt selected successor to Theodore Roosevelt became the 27th president of the United States).

Theodore Roosevelt‘s service as president of the United States ended with the man being less than 50-years old. In addition to having renamed the executive mansion of the United States to the White House, the man found himself restless after ending his presidency. When presidential successor William Howard Taft took his single term in a direction not to Roosevelt‘s liking, the former president ran under the banner of a third party of Roosevelt‘s making in 1912. Roosevelt, notably giving a speech after having been shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, would place ahead of Taft in that election. That election, however, would be won by 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson.

(The historical Booker T. Washington).

Many significant points of history for Theodore Roosevelt, the man, were introduced within this documentary. The measure of the man himself was addressed for being something that measured the appetite for reform with perceived pragmatics in having the basis for being able to apply it. That the man wasn’t perfect, while moving the dial forward in meaningful ways, feels like the larger message of this experience. I grant Theodore Roosevelt as directed by Malcolm Venville at 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, June 11, 2022

The Year 2020 in Books

Matt Lynn Digital had respectable year reading in 2020. Today we walk down memory lane for the 40 book reviews made in 2020. We’ll refresh your memory of the books we felt were the biggest successes first. Look for repeat efforts in this listing from Vince Flynn, Stephen King and Ernest Hemingway.  Charles Dickens and Erik Larson, while having a single book in the 40 this year, have been reviewed here in the past.

(The books Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler and Ron McMillan earned the top rating of 4.5-stars by Matt Lynn Digital for books reviewed in 2020).

We offered two books rated at 4.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five in 2020. Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler and Ron McMillan combined to write Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. The book shares specific skills to improve listening, facilitation, and safe feelings when having productive, meaningful conversations. Charles Dickens offered a satiric “Dark” novel in the form of Hard Times. Hard Times comments on the harsh realities for families with business and governmental policies designed to fight against them.

(The Dale Carnegie book How to Win Friends and Influence People leads a group of seven nonfiction books that earned a rating of 4.25-stars by Matt Lynn Digital in 2020).

We rated seven nonfiction works at 4.25-stars in 2020, with the book Mafia Cop Killers in Akron: The Gang War Before Prohibition by Mark J. Price leading the listing. Fans of true crime would appreciate the journalistic tendencies of the writer for this piece. The Pulitzer Prize winning book  Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond takes a serious look into extreme poverty, affordable housing and economic exploitation. Richard Rothstein takes a different look at a similar subject with the book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie rates well as a book offering training on public speaking and leadership development. The book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein turns the notion of specialization in life or the workplace on its head in an interesting way. Carmine Gallo offers practical advice through a series of relatable stories in the book The Storyteller’s Secret: From TED Speakers to Business Legends, Why Some Ideas Catch On and Others Don’t. Erik Larson looks into the early 20th century with his narrative nonfiction book Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History.

(Stephen Markley and Josh Ritter offer a pair of fictional books that earned high marks of 4.25-stars from Matt Lynn Digital of 2020).

Josh Ritter offers one of the two fictional works earning 4.25-stars from Matt Lynn Digital with the book Bright’s Passage. The storytelling approach uniquely and ambitiously increases emotional tension across timelines with a revelation that really works. A similar, growing tension makes the book Ohio: A Novel by Stephen Markley in offering a stunning yet mysterious sense of vengeance and confused understanding.

(Ron Chernow offers a biography of Ulysses S. Grant that earns 4.0-stars by Matt Lynn Digital).

The book Unsolved Murders and Disappearances in Northeast Ohio by Jane Ann Turzillo, as another work of true crime, offers the first of nine nonfiction books earning 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five in 2020. The Robert A. Musson book Akron Beer: A History of Brewing in the Rubber City sticks in the same region while looking into a niche market impacted by Prohibition and other economic factors through time. Phil Rosenthal looks into the life of a sitcom writer in the book You’re Lucky You’re Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom. The book A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway autobiographically looks at the life of the writer, autobiographically as did Rosenthal. Ron Chernow offers a revealing biography of eighteenth US president Ulysses S. Grant with Grant. Jonathan Kozol returns to a theme of opportunity inequality running through our books this year with the book Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America. Tara Westover‘s book Educated: A Memoir is unique in offering a firsthand account of educational difficulty prompted by extreme familial difficulty. Rachel Carson started an environmental movement with her book Silent Spring. Michael Michalko approaches fundamental creativity as a learned approach with the book Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques.

(Stephen King‘s The Stand earned 4.0-stars by Matt Lynn Digital in 2020).

The Ernest Hemingway collection of short stories called In Our Time begins a group of fictional books earning a rating of 4.0-stars by Matt Lynn Digital. Romantic chaos is the fare of the Ford Madox Ford book The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion. The character Mitch Rapp makes his first appearance in our listing with Vince Flynn‘s book Extreme Measures. The Stand by Stephen King proved to be a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy book to be reckoned with this year.

(The Margarat Creighton narrative nonfiction book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair earned 3.75-stars from Matt Lynn Digital).

The book Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death by Anthony Everitt is a review of the life of the military and political leader Alexander the Great, who lived almost 2,400 years ago. The first of six books earning 3.75-stars for nonfiction. Getting more contemporary, the World’s Fair of 1901 was the fare of Margaret Creighton‘s narrative nonfiction book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair. The exercise of political power gets earnest reviews with the David Maraniss book A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father, the Tom Brokaw book The Fall of Richard Nixon: A Reporter Remembers Watergate, and the Peter Bergen book Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos. The Robin DiAngelo book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism admittedly is uncomfortable subject matter for many that serves a legitimate purpose that all are not ready to confront.

(Consent to Kill, Act of Treason and Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn earned 3.75-stars by Matt Lynn Digital in 2020).

The fictional work The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West, in earning 3.75-stars by Matt Lynn Digital, plays in a similar playground to The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion by Ford Madox Ford.  2009 Pulitzer Prize winning book Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout brings together short stories like Hemingway‘s In Our Time.  The Dead Zone by Stephen King brings the notion of multiple head traumas to an extrasensory tale mixed with political intrigue. Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn began a sequence of three books featuring Mitch Rapp to earn 3.75-stars by Matt Lynn Digital. The others were Act of Treason and Protect and Defend.

(John M. Barry and Richard Preston wrote on similar subjects and earned a similar rating of 3.5-stars by Matt Lynn Digital).

The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History as written by John M. Barry and Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come as written by Richard Preston are nonfiction accounts of the response to deadly disease that, if read by people in leadership, could offer learning for how to effectively respond to pandemic. Both earned a 3.5-rating from Matt Lynn Digital.

(The fictional book The Consultant by Bentley Little earned 3-stars from Matt Lynn Digital).

The Pro Football Historical Abstract: A Hardcore Fan’s Guide to All-Time Player Rankings by Sean Lahman offered an interesting book for my analytical style. The work is speculative nonfiction. Bentley Little wrote The Consultant, a work of fiction that came recommended by Stephen King. Both offered an interesting premise with a something that we had hoped would resonate with us a bit more than they did. That they earned 3-stars on a scale of one-to-five rings true for us today.

Share the Matt Lynn Digital blog with your friends if you see value in what we are doing. Before the end of this year, a similar review for entries on movies will also be coming. We feel these reviews provide excellent content that we would like to continue offering.

Matt – Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Margaret Creighton and the book ‘The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City’

The World’s Fair of 1901, alternatively called the Pan-American Exposition of that same year, took place in Buffalo, New York. An ostensible attraction of the event was meant to show the progress of civilization in the Western Hemisphere that had occurred in the 1800s. The book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair by Margaret Creighton highlights ways that this fair was something else altogether.

(Margaret Creighton wrote The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair. The 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo is discussed in the book).

Among many things with the fair, the fact that United States President William McKinley was fatally shot by Leon Czolgosz. Theodore Roosevelt would take the presidential oath of office in succession of McKinley at the Ansley Wilcox House in Buffalo eight days after McKinley was initially shot. While the change in presidential power overshadowed much of the memory of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, Creighton points out in The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City that the assassination may have worsened the losses of the fair yet was not the primary reason for that loss.

(A photograph of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. The exposition is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).

The proximity of Buffalo to Niagara Falls was a natural tourism draw that bolstered the case for investing in the city for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. The access to railroads, the existence and partial creation of state-of-the-art architecture and asphalt streets, and finally magnificent electric lights powered by Niagara Falls helped Buffalo economic and political leaders to see that being the eighth-biggest U.S. city at the turn of the 20th century was indeed a reason for the city to invest in the fair. An unrealized ambition for the fair was to help Buffalo to supplant Cleveland, Ohio as an economic hub while upstaging Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 from Chicago, Illinois eight-years earlier.

(Martha WagenFuhrer successfully riding the rapids and whirlpool of Niagara Falls sealed in a barrel called ‘Maid of the Rapids’ is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).

The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City tells a story “about arrogance, all about unjust power, all about the belief in American exceptionalism. Those are themes that are resonant today, obviously.”  The book tells … a [further] “narrative about those who resisted and attempted to subvert that power and that arrogance. For example, Native Americans and African Americans challenged demeaning representations on the fairgrounds in creative ways.” A self-proclaimed Animal King, Frank Bostock, is given much attention for inhumane treatment of people and animals, including Alice Cenda, aka Chicquita as well as an attempted electrocution of an elephant.

(The fate of Alice Cenda, aka Chicquita is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).

Much of The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City involves the efforts to put on the fair, which. Despite some of the shocking things that the fair did to attract folks, when considering for the fact that Buffalo was largely working class in 1901, that seven day work weeks were normal in 1901, and the lack of regional support, Pan-American Exposition stockholders along with the city of Buffalo lost money in putting on this world fair. The federal government ultimately eased the financial pain of many who invested in the fair.

(The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine captured this drawing from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo called The Court of Fountain, From the Plaza. The exposition is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).

The notion of amusement parks, world fairs, and true life intrigue and criminality that sometimes associates with such places or events are interesting to me. I rate The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair by Margaret Creighton at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, July 1, 2020