Old Lighthouses Offer New Thrills

October 11, 2018 by Woody

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Woody Woodburn

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Old Lighthouses Offer New Thrills

The wood steps were narrow and shallow and steep, more ladder rungs than stairs, rising nearly vertically as if to a tree house.

It was a white-knuckle climb of three flights. The blind descent would prove more unnerving. No matter, even for someone with an aversion to heights the round trip was well worth taking.

The reward at the top, 60 feet in the sky, was a 360-degree view to treasure – open sea as far as the eye could see. This “tree house,” round as a giant sequoia, was made of brick and covered by white shingles.

The Point Prim Lighthouse is the oldest seafarer’s beacon on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. It marks the entrance at the outer waters of Charlottetown Harbor.

If you were asked to close your eyes and imagine an iconic lighthouse, Point Prim Lighthouse is what you would conjure. Hollywood would cast it in a movie. Solitarily situated on a thumb of land jutting into the turbulent seas, the tapering tower is topped by a fire engine-red crow’s nest, the cherry on top.

This stanza from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Lighthouse” perfectly suggests the guiding beacon at Point Prim:

“The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,

“And on its outer point, some miles away,

“The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,

“A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.”

The lantern room atop the massive masonry at Point Prim today features an energy-efficient solar light as its modern “fire by night.” Originally, however, when built in 1845, four lamps fueled by seal oil provided its beaming light.

Next came kerosene lamps, twelve used in unison here, offering a brighter navigational signal.

Angus Murchison, Point Prim’s lightkeeper from 1920-1955, was said to be so “in tune” to the intensity of the kerosene light at night that even while he slept he could perceive when the beacons began to dim. As if by sixth sense, he would jolt awake and refill the lamps in time to keep mariners safe.

As vigilant steward of the light for 35 years, Angus was the longest serving of the succession of 16 keepers who lived at the Point Prim Lighthouse. However, he was not the lone Murchison to perform the lonely task – his son, grandson, and great-grandson followed in his footsteps up the steep ladder/stairs.

With astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first footstep on the moon in 1969, electricity at long last replaced kerosene as the light source at Point Prim. With this belated modernization, Mason Murchinson retired as its final keeper and a romantic era ended.

Touring a lighthouse makes time skip backward. Savoring the view from the lantern room, even on a T-shirt-warm clear day, one could imagine a ship in the distance, in the night, in a storm or in the fog, relying on this shepherding “pillar of fire.”

A visit to nearby Wood Island Lighthouse, 20 miles southwest on the Northumberland Straight, was equally enchanting. Prior to being built in 1876, its founder, Donald Duncan MacMillan, displayed a simple kerosene lantern in the second-story bedroom window of his house to aid sailors.

The poem “The Light-Keeper” by Robert Louis Stevenson hangs on a wall inside the Wood Island Lighthouse and includes these powerful lines:

“The life of the light-keeper,

“Held on high in the blackness

“In the burning kernel of night,

“The seaman sees and blesses him.”

No lightkeeper could have saved the Titanic and earned its captain’s blessing. In consequence, 121 victims of the iceberg disaster are buried in the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia – the next port on my travels.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

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Time Melts in Rain in Quebec City

September 29, 2018September 29, 2018 by Woody

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Woody Woodburn

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Ventura, CA 93003

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Time Melts in the rain in Quebec City

Gentle showers fell, and we were not dressed for them, and it was wonderful.

My wife and I were strolling through Quebec City on the eve of autumn, but it might as well have been Paris in the rain in the springtime. Cobblestone streets, narrow as alleyways and lined with cafes, and everyone but tourists speaking French all enhanced this impression.

Indeed, replace black umbrellas with colorful ones and turn the pedestrians’ formal attire to casual, and the famous 1877 painting “Paris Street; Rainy Day” by Gustave Caillebotte comes to mind.

We had planned to visit Canyon Aainte-Anne, a steep-sided gorge with a spectacular waterfall and three suspension footbridges 200 feet above the river. But, as John Steinbeck wrote, “People don’t take trips, trips take people.”

Salvador Dali’s “Danse du Temps I”

The rain, promising to erase the breathtaking views, caused our trip to take us in a different direction.

Instead, we walked from Lower Old Town to Upper Old Town where, soaked as duck-hunting dogs, we ducked into the lobby of the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. Built in 1893, this 18-story fairytale-like castle of a building is said to be the most photographed hotel in the world. I added to the record tally.

Inside the lobby, which is open to the public and seems as crowded as Disneyland, the luxury is stunning. Perhaps the over-the-top opulence is best illustrated by describing one of the handful of gift shops, rather, boutiques.

Actually, it was not a boutique so much as an art museum. On display were a full dozen bronze sculptures by Salvador Dali and nearly as many original cubism paintings by Pablo Picasso.

The sculptures were especially striking and included a series featuring melting clock faces, a surrealist image Dali returned to – no pun intended – time and time again. Explained the artist: “The mechanical object was to be my worst enemy, and as for watches, they would have to be soft, or not be at all!”

One such bronze, titled “Profil of Time,” portrayed a melted clock hanging across the branches of a barren tree.

One of numerous Picasso paintings in the chateau’s high-end gift shop.

Additionally, “Dance of Time II” and “Dance of Time III” in the boutique/museum were smaller versions of the original seven-foot-tall “Danse du Temps I” on display outside the hotel. Crafted by Dali in 1984, the green-faced melting clock with gold hands and numerals is valued at nearly $1 million.

Yet perhaps my favorite sculpture was “Horse Saddled With Time.” As the name suggests, it is of a horse with a melted clock serving as the saddle.

Dali noted: “… it is time which controls all of man’s passage. Man believes he is in control of the voyage, but it is always ‘time’ who is the ultimate rider.”

Rushed for time on our way back to the cruise ship to resume our voyage, we managed to step out of the rain once more and into a café. As they say, “When in Rome . . .”

And when in Quebec – that’s “kee-BEK” not “kwe-BEK” according to the locals – one must try the signature dish “poutine.” Basically, it is a messy pile of French fries, gravy and cheese curds.

My review: I prefer my fries with ketchup and thus had only one bite. My wife, however, gave it two thumbs up – until later that evening when she fell seasick on calm waters. She blamed the poutine and felt saddled with slow-passing time for a while.

“ ‘Sail on!’ it says, ‘sail on, ye stately ships!’ ” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his poem “The Lighthouse.” Sail on we did for our next port and a tour of some historic beacons.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
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Discovering a Dickensian Dessert

September 22, 2018 by Woody

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Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

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Serendipitous Menu Item in Montreal

It was the best of times, not the worst of times, as my wife and I strolled the Old Port streets of Montreal recently.

Celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary, we were at the launching point of a cruise that would take us to four more Canadian port cities before a stop in Bar Harbor, Maine, and ending in Boston.

The cherry on top of our travels, for me, would be a post-cruise visit to Mark Twain’s House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. As I’ve chronicled previously, I collect visits to famous writer’s homes the way others collect antique clocks or baseball cards.

Author Charles Dickens

Touring where Samuel Clemens penned some of his most important works – including “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” – promised to be well worth a three-hour drive each way from Boston.

In Old Montreal, in a restaurant we stumbled upon while looking for another, serendipity winked and whispered: “Follow me across the room, Woody, and add another gem to your collection right now.”

The wink. At the bottom left corner on the front of the menu at L’usine De Spaghetti appeared this small headline: “DICKENS GRIFFONNE.”

The whisper. “In May of 1842, Charles Dickens visited Montreal and wrote the notes for A Tale of Two Cities in the back room of this very restaurant.”

When our waiter arrived, instead of inquiring about the specials of the evening, I asked: “Is the back room still around?”

“Oui,” came the answer and he pointed me in the right direction.

Instantly, I excused myself and less than 30 paces away arrived at a stone wall bearing a wooden plaque reading “PLACE DICKENS.” Nearby was a gild-framed portrait of the wild-bearded author.

The serendipitous item on the menu.

Through connecting the doorway awaited a pub-like room that also had the feel of a library thanks to numerous built-in bookcases filled with leather-bound volumes. While the tables and booths were too crowded for me to peruse the specific titles, a waitress assured me the shelves included a copy of “A Tale of Two Cities.”

What a perfect place, a distant cousin to a modern coffee shop, for a writer to write. In my mind’s eye, in the corner booth in the far rear, I could see Dickens working on his most famous masterpiece.

Already well known for penning “The Pickwick Papers” and “Oliver Twist,” in the late spring of 1842 the literary Londoner traveled to Niagara Falls, Toronto and Queenston before spending two weeks in Montreal.

At that time, this back room actually comprised the entire restaurant. Dickens, meanwhile, was staying next door at Rasco’s Inn, which he called “the worst hotel in the whole wide world.”

Is it possible this lovely pub and loathsome inn inspired the famous opening line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . ”? It is pleasing to think so.

On the other hand, because “A Tale of Two Cities” was not published until 1859 – nearly two decades after Dickens’ Montreal visit – assertions of the novel’s origins reaching back to this room could be seen as a fanciful “George Washington Slept Here” claim.

No matter, I choose to believe.

I also choose to add Charles Dickens to my writerly collection. Technically, of course, the back room of L’usine De Spaghetti was not his home. Also, he purportedly only wrote the notes for “A Tale of Two Cities” here, not the full manuscript. All the same, with an asterisk, I am counting it.

My tale of six cities will continue next week.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

Part III: More Typewriter Notes

September 15, 2018September 15, 2018 by Woody

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Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

More Notes from the Bookworm’s Typewriter

The response from readers to last week’s column filled with notes from a public Remington typewriter in Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm in Camarillo was so profuse and positive, an encore of more messages in the bottle from bookstore patrons seems merited.

“If you haven’t noticed already, its hard to use a ty-pewriter. YOUL write a lot of jum bles before it wo-rks out. But somehow, i am ok with that.”

“I do like the carriage return. It reminds me of the slot pull handles in Vegas.”

“Life. Give it a whirl! Love Yourself Forever. Peace love and happiness”

“Give of yourself. the results may surprise you.”

“Letters – Seconds / Words – Minutes / Sentences – Hours / Paragraphs – Weeks / Chapters – Months / Essays – Years / Novels – Decades / Series – Centuries / The written/typed word – Timeless”

“Please be kind to everyone you meet. You don’t know what kind of day they are having.”

“PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

“It is a very challenging disability. It is a very misunderstood disability. It is a very illusive disability. Not visible except through behaviors and how I physically am affected.

“Some of my behaviors while triggered can easily be mistaken as those of a person who has poor social skills and graces, some people have mistaken my being triggered as being drunk.

“Seldom is there someone who truly recognizes that I am deeply in pain emotionally and to avoid judgment or condemnation, but to say to me they see I am struggling, and ask me if I need assistance, and if so, what they can do.

“For the general public: The smallest acts of respect can make a world of difference.”

“have hope and smile”

“Note to self. When the ink on this typewriter seems to have run out, before asking Mrs. Figs for a new ink ribbon, first check the right side of the typewriter where the tab with three colors is, and ensure it is NOT set on white or red.

For those not familiar with the term “ink ribbon”, that is the precursor to things like “toner” and “ink cartridges”.

“Is the ink in this fading? Do we need more toner? A new ink cartridge is needed for this ; ) ”

“dude be nice”

“How you treat those in need reflects your true colors.”

“I had a trip on the Amtrak train from Camarillo to San Francisco; it reminded me of those old black & white movies and TV shows where train was the main source of transportation.”

(The note writer’s train of thought continues on for quite a while.)

“dreams and dedication are a powerful combination.”

“I am blessed with many friends, but my dogs are just as dear. Dogs give and give and give long past common sense. They believe in us long before we might believe in ourselves as children. ADOPT IF YOU CAN. Blessings to you.”

“Love Molecules

“I miss the molecules that make / up our friendship and the tiny / space between our heartbeats / when we hug.”

“This is a magical place! Filled with magical stories and people. xo”

“annabelle loves the bookworm the bookworm is amazing reading is fun the bookworm is the best”

“go outside instead of going on an ipad. and read a book.”

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

Part II: Bookworm’s Typewriter

September 13, 2018September 15, 2018 by Woody

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For a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

Part II: Notes From a Bookstore’s Typewriter

The vintage Remington typewriter on display in Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm, an enchanted independent bookstore in Camarillo, could not be more irresistible were it to have a “Do Not Touch” sign on it.

Instead, a note invites patrons to sit down and type. As further encouragement, a sheet of paper always awaits in the carriage. Hundreds of people, many of them youngster who have never before used such a relic, have accepted the invitation.

Typing my own message on Mrs. Figs’ typewriter.

Some typists take their messages with them as keepsakes, but most tuck their “Notes from a Public Typewriter” – that being the title of the book that inspired this special nook – into a memento jar.

Connie Halpern – dear “Mrs. Figs” herself – recently allowed me to open the stuffed jar and read its contents. Some of the notes are silly, others heartfelt. Many are like short fortune-cookie adages, others much longer. Some have the typist’s name, but most are anonymous. More than a few have endearing typos and misstrikes.

Here is a sampling . . .

“me and my sister rachel are in a book store and i found this awesome typewriter and i am sooo fascinated with how this works and i love it.”

“hello. Typing on a typewriter is fun.”

“hello my name is eli and I am awesome. This typewriter is cool.”

“Hello world i am here”

“Ben the Incredible was here.”

“Sometimes you see a friend . . . just see their face, and your entire world brightens.”

“Some days feel like they may be an ‘upside down’ day, but then life happens and the day turns out to be just beautiful and ‘upright!’ Thank. You. Life.”

The one and only Mrs. Figs — Connie Halpern.

“i LOVE u”

“ ‘I love you.’ Language is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”

“I LOVE THIS TYPEWRITER”

“Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type Why do people still have typewriters?”

“this is an old piece of technology. this thing does not always make the letter appear you must press hard.”

“memories of the past this typewriter brings each finger presses a key to create the words my fingers are tired.”

“The most valued gifts to someone are: Your time, your attention, and your respect : ) ”

“KNOCK ME OVER WITH A FEATHER

“I am a disabled veteran who went to In-N-Out Burger on Independence Day to avoid the fireworks because the sound and sight and shockwaves put me in a bad place emotionally. And, while there, wearing a hat which identified myself as a veteran, I had two teens approach me. I had never met them before. They both said ‘Thank you for doing all you have done’.

“Then each of the two young men shook my hand. It was a very good feeling, being recognized even in the high-paced and crowded place that is In-N-Out. Thank you to those two young lads who made my Independence Day”

“I love reading. I love books. I love Mrs. Figs!”

“hi im a geek I love harry potter.”

“Do you REALLY want people to treat you the way you treat them?”

“Sometimes we don’t think things are working out, but they are.”

“Don’t forget to sing. Please.”

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

Bookworm’s Readers Also Type

September 11, 2018September 11, 2018 by Woody

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For a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

Bookworm’s Readers Encouraged to Type

Visitors to Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm, a magical independent bookstore in Camarillo, take in a wonderful greeting upon entering. I am not talking about a warm hello, although always they receive this as well.

Rather, three steps inside the front door and straight ahead so as not to be missed, The Typewriter Nook beckons.

Specifically, a grey 1955 Remington Quiet-Riter manual typewriter rests on a small table with a chair before it. There is always a sheet of paper in the vintage machine.

Also on the table, to the right of the typewriter, is a small, thin, red hardback titled: “Notes from a Public Typewriter.” The book is about a typewriter set out in a similar fashion for patrons of a bookstore in Ann Arbor to type messages. It was the inspiration for this special nook 2,300 miles away. FIGS_Typewriter

A few months past, Connie Halpern – also knows as Mrs. Figs – sent a copy of the little red book to Michael Mariani. She thought Michael, a Venturan who collects vintage typewriters, would relish it.

Connie, as usual with her book recommendations, was spot on. As a thank you, Michael gave the Quiet-Riter from his collection to Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm so its patrons could have a similar opportunity to express themselves on a public typewriter.

“It was a huge surprise,” Connie says of the refurbished antique gift. “It brought tears to my eyes.”

And so The Typewriter Nook came to be.

As a further welcome and enticement to sit down and express oneself, on the table just to the left of the typewriter is this message: “Valued Friend. You are important. Please enjoy this space. Take your message with you. Or leave it her to be shared with others.”

For the latter, there rests on the table a square jar labeled: “Messages in a Bottle!” Hundreds of notes, many brief and others quite lengthy, have filled the glass vessel to overflowing.

“Mrs. Figs” aka the wonderful Connie Halpern

“At least once a day, someone sits at the typewriter,” Connie says. “Always with a big smile on their face!”

She adds: “I would say the majority of the typists are youngsters – who have a giggling parent standing by, sharing how they used to type on one.”

Nostalgia for the grownups is new-fangled for the kids.

“Most will ask for help,” Connie shares. “Some frequent and repetitive – and precious and priceless – questions have been:

“How do you turn it on?” (You don’t need to, she answers.)

“Where is the number 1?” (You have to use a lower case “L” on this model, she tells them.)

“Where is the exclamation point?” (You have to use a period, then backspace and use an apostrophe over the period, she directs.)

“Where is the delete button?” (Mrs. Figs tries not to laugh.)

Connie continues: “There has not been one face that is not smiling, ear to ear, while exploring the typewriter.”

Has this enchanted reaction surprised her?

“To be honest, no,” Connie answers. “Because when I sat down to type on it the very first time – it had been almost 35 years since I had used one – I nearly cried tears of joy. I squealed! So I immediately knew that joy would be the overwhelming reaction.”

Always a lovely place to be, when someone sits down at the Quiet-Riter and the clickity-clack-click typing begins, Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm becomes even more so.

“If I were asked to describe the melody of the typewriter,” Connie says, “I would say it sounds like Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach Cello Suite No. 1.”

Next week, I will share some of the “musical” notes played in the Bookworm to date.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

Today’s Column is a “Safe Space”

August 25, 2018August 25, 2018 by Woody

Is your Club or Group looking for an inspiring guest speaker or do you want to host a book signing? . . . Contact Woody today!

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For a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

‘Safe Space’ Free of Depressing News

Today’s column is hereby declared a “Safe Space” like those designated spots on college campuses where uncomfortable and upsetting topics are banned. For the next 600 words, this zone will be a haven of positivity.

I was catching up with a dear friend at a local coffee cafe recently when a man – probably homeless; certainly with mental challenges – approached our al fresco table asking for a handout.

Normally I am a soft touch, even though those who work in the trenches implore us not to give money handouts. Rather, they say the best way to help a homeless person is to donate to programs focused on helping. This time, I heeded those words.

My friend, a small business owner, reacted differently. She greeted the man by first name and then, realizing she had no cash, kindly told him to walk to her store where $5 would be waiting to buy lunch. As the man walked away, my friend phoned her shop assistant and instructed her as such. 1smile

I smiled at my friend’s big heart even as I felt a little small. I know the $5 may not have gone towards lunch. All the same, I confess that the next time I will have a hard time doing as those in the know advise.

My column last week about Jim Murray and mentoring brought in a flood of emails. Here is one from Glen Zeider:

“I first started reading Jim Murray when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I was one of those terrible readers that languished in the ‘D’ reading group. The one thing I loved was baseball.

“My mom would save the sports section for me after my dad left for work, and exposed me to Mr. Murray. He changed my life in many profound ways. Learning to appreciate how words can convey ideas, knowledge and emotions has been one of the great joys in my life.”

Jim Murray, and sports, sparked Oxnard’s Bill Organ to share this memory from his childhood in Long Beach.

“The Country Club had decent tennis courts so they hired a tennis pro. My little sister, Susan, enrolled along with her school buddy, Susan Williams, and another friend.

“Susan Williams was clearly good at the game and after a few months the pro confided to my mom that he thought my sister also had great potential, but doubted their other friend would ever be any good at the game.

“Sister Susan gave up tennis soon after but we all greatly enjoyed watching what became of her other friend, Billie Jean Moffitt (King).”

For the record, King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles on her way to the Tennis Hall of Fame.

Let me finish with an encounter shared by a friend, whose own friends in the story wish to remain anonymous.

Four sisters went with their mom to their dance recital. Their dad couldn’t attend, but was in a generous mood and gave each daughter $25 to spend at the mall afterward as a reward for all their hard work.

At lunch, on the way to shopping, their waitress noticed the dance clothes and told the girls she, too, had danced when she was younger. Conversation ensued, and the waitress revealed she was a single mom with 3-year-old twin girls and a 4-year-old son. To make ends meet she has two other part-time jobs.

While the waitress was serving another table, the daughters took a vote and it was unanimous – they pooled their spending money gave all $100 as a tip.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

Mentoring: Take Baton, Pass It On

August 18, 2018 by Woody

Is your Club or Group looking for an inspiring guest speaker or do you want to host a book signing? . . . Contact Woody today!

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For a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

Mentoring is a Relay: Take Baton, Pass It On

For the longest time, I never quite understood why Jim Murray wrote me a return letter and later became my mentor.

After all, “Mr. Murray” – I never could call him “Jim” despite his request – was already on the Mount Rushmore of Sportswriters while I was a just college senior seeking career counsel.

That was 36 years ago, long before the ease of email, and Mr. Murray penned me a thoughtful page-long handwritten reply that included this gem: “If you are meant to be a writer, you will be. No one can stop a writer from writing. Not even Hitler could do that.”

This Thursday – Aug. 16 – marked the 20th anniversary of Murray’s death. My goodness, what a debt I will forever owe him. He not only helped me become a better writer, but a better person as well.

With my writing idol and mentor, Jim Murray

For example, my annual Holiday Ball Drive has his fingerprints all over it. Reading “The Best of Jim Murray” three decades past, I was deeply moved by a passage about his pre-sports days as a crime reporter. Specifically, he told of his heartache doing a story on a little girl who lost her leg after being run over by a truck.

“The thought of her going though life that way made me shrink,” Murray wrote.

My literary hero took $8 he had left from his paycheck – “which was only $38 to begin with in those days” – and bought the girl an armful of toys and took them to her in the hospital.

That next Christmas, I bought an armful of basketballs and donated them to the Special Olympics. Later, when I saw a young boy ruining a keepsake autographed basketball because he had no other basketball to play with, it was only natural to start an official ball drive.

Further emulating Murray, when I received a letter from a 13-year-old Thousand Oaks boy about 20 years ago, I responded. Fast forward: Jon Gold is now a gifted sportswriter proving he can make it anywhere by making it in New York City.

Three Februarys past, that boy-turned-man made me feel like a Pulitzer Prize winner by inviting me, out of the blue, to his wedding. More unbelievably, he told me I was his Jim Murray.

“I couldn’t wait to read your sports column,” Jon shared. His words that followed caressed my heart: “What you wrote back to me is something I carry with me to this day. You were a hero, are a hero, and more, a friend.”

My goodness, I hope my similar sentiments expressed to Mr. Murray made him feel half as wonderful.

Another wonderful feeling was mine when Camarillo resident Stephen Jester sent me a copy of his new book of poetry – with a surprising dedication page for all to see: “To Woody Woodburn, my friend, mentor and fellow author.”

I was floored. What had I done to deserve such an honor? It seems that after Stephen had been harshly told to give up his dream of becoming a writer, I simply sent him words of encouragement. Probably, I even quoted Mr. Murray’s Hitler line.

“Telling someone to continue to follow their dreams, and you’re proud of them, is a powerful message that goes right to the heart,” Stephen told me recently. “You inspire and encourage me to continue my writing journey. That’s why you’re on the dedication page.”

Mentoring is a relay event in life. Take the baton, run, pass it on. As John Wooden said: “I have lived my life to be a mentor, and to be mentored, constantly.”

I’m thankful Jim Murray felt likewise.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

Using Darkness For Illumination

August 11, 2018 by Woody

Is your Club or Group looking for an inspiring guest speaker or do you want to host a book signing? . . . Contact Woody today!

* * *

For a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

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Darkness as Source of Illumination

The stories stay with me, unforgettable in their clarity, haunting as tales told around a campfire often are.

I speak not of ghost stories, however. And instead of being told to a gathering of youths by an adult, it was the children themselves orating to a camp counselor.

The stories, plural, were really one singular story told time and again to my daughter when she was in college and serving as a counselor/educator at a weeklong summer camp.

Held in the San Bernardino Mountains for 200 disadvantaged fourth- and fifth-graders from the inner city, the retreat offered typical camp activities like arts and crafts and games, horseback riding, singing and dancing.

Also, naturally, there were gatherings around a campfire each night. It was here that one youngster after another said, in different ways but with a shared tone of awe: “Wow! I’ve never seen the stars before!”

Can you even imagine that? Being 10 or 11 years old and, because of light pollution and because you have never before traveled outside the city limits, never having seen stars except on a movie screen or TV or in a book?

Not being able to pick out The Big Dipper or Orion or Cassiopeia is one thing, but to be blind to the twinkling night sky is quite another. This all comes to mind now because of the ninth annual “2018 Wild and Scenic Film Festival” to be held Aug. 18 on the Ventura County Credit Union’s campus on Vista Del Mar Drive in Ventura. (Ticket information: venturalandtrust.org/2018_wsff ) 1lostlight

Specifically, “Lost in Light” – one of the festival’s 11 short films – has me thinking of those wide-eyed summer camp kids. Shot mostly in California, the 3-minute film shows how light pollution affects our night skies. Opening with a skyline view of San Jose with the stars completely erased from visibility by Light Pollution Level 8, the time-elapsed scene shifts to Level 7 in Mountain View with a few scattered celestial pinpricks discernible.

The night skies slowly come alive as the film moves through Light Pollution Levels 6, 5, 4 and 3. Reaching Level 2, at Mt. Shasta, the heavens sparkle in breathtaking fashion and in Death Valley, Level 1, the firmament seems like a luminous blizzard where each snowflake is a star.

Other short films (all range from 3 to 17 minutes) at the festival include “Water Take One: Ventura Land Trust” showcasing VLT’s work to protect and preserve Ventura County’s open space and natural resources; “Brothers of Climbing” highlighting diversity in the rock climbing community; “Dragging 235 lbs. Uphill Both Ways” about a mother’s effort to help her four children unplug from electronics and embrace the outdoors; and “Grandad” about a man rising at dawn for a daily meditative journey rowing around a lake. 1level1

Back to “Lost in Light.” Filmmaker Sriram Murali writes of his visual creation: “The night skies remind us of our place in the Universe. Imagine if we lived under skies full of stars. That reminder that we are a tiny part of this cosmos, the awe and a special connection with this remarkable world, would make us much better beings – more thoughtful, inquisitive, empathetic, kind and caring.

“Imagine kids growing up passionate about astronomy looking for answers and how advanced humankind would be, how connected and caring we’d feel with one another, how noble and adventurous we’d be. How compassionate with fellow species on Earth and how one with Nature we’d feel.”

Masterful as it is, I wish Murali’s film was one minute longer – with the illuminated faces of children seeing the stars for the very first time.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

Life Stories Written ‘On the Road’

August 4, 2018 by Woody

Is your Club or Group looking for an inspiring guest speaker or do you want to host a book signing? . . . Contact Woody today!

* * *

For a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

Writing Life Stories ‘On the Road’

Jack Kerouac, in his 1957 masterstroke novel “On the Road,” wrote: “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”

In my mind’s eye, I also see old-time commemorative luggage stickers from different destinations around the country, and globe, bedecking the battered suitcases. Those sticky souvenirs, popular in the early 20th century, provided a personal reminder of journeys taken while quietly shouting to others, “Look where I’ve been!”

Travel is on my mind because the Ventura Storytellers Project, hosted by The Star and starring local residents, will hold two shows Saturday evening with the Keroucian theme “On the Road.”

(Both shows at the Bell Arts Factory are sold out but will be available on-line at a future date. Visit www.storytellersproject.com/ventura for more information.)

To get the wheels rolling, below are some of my favorite observations on travel from a few writers wise on the subject. 1ontheroad

Mark Twain pointed out why we should travel, writing: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

In his on-the-road memoir “We Stood Upon Stars,” Ventura author Roger Thompson adds an additional command to Explore, Dream and Discover – Get Lost. He writes:

“While traveling I’ll often veer onto a road that wasn’t on my route. This is the beginning of adventure. It’s how I’ve discovered tiny towns and sunsets and secret fishing holes and the Philipsburg Brewing Company in Montana. It’s also how I’ve gotten myself desperately lost. And since it takes an act of Congress to get me to turn around, I keep going over switchbacks and single-lane roads until either the curiosity is cured or I run out of snacks. Before turning back I get out and survey the landscape, looking to mountain peaks or rivers or stars for clues. It’s always there, deep in the wilderness, with my wife or my kids or my buddies or alone, where – in desperation for answers or simply curiosity – I am met by God.”

Another Venturan, award-winning travel writer and novelist Ken McAlpine, who has visited the earth’s four corners, always reminds me before I embark on the road: “Be sure to turn down a hidden alleyway or go inside a quiet doorway off the beaten path because that’s where you’ll find some of the most memorable experiences.”

Wise advice, indeed, for no less a philosopher than Ralph Waldo Emerson memorably beseeched: “Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Or, as Robert Frost poetically noted, take the road less traveled by for that will make all the difference.

Emerson’s younger contemporary, Henry David Thoreau, put it this way: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

Were he on the “On the Road” stage Saturday night, Dave Stancliff, my first newspaper editor, would surely include his observation: “There’s many things to see in this world that aren’t in tourist guides for one reason or another.”

In other words, grab your battered suitcase, throw off the bowlines, go down a hidden alleyway, step to the music you alone hear, get desperately lost and, coming full circle to Kerouac, “lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
Unsigned paperbacks or Kindle ebook can be purchased here at Amazon

WOODY WOODBURN

Writer, "Streaker" & Speaker

Author Archives: Woody

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