On Strategic Calm, as a Virtue

As the years go by, I am more and more convinced that the immediate, fast-twitch talk-show responses about what we "have" to do in response to various developments are almost always wrong, and the calm, day- or week-after reflections about proportion, response, and national interest are almost always wiser. If I could, I would put all cable-TV discussion of breaking-news crises on a 24-hour delay. Maybe there has been a case in which immediate reflex-response to big news has seemed wise in the long run. Right now I can't think of any.

–James Fallows

Alan Rodgers (1959-2014)

Back in the old millennium, nellorat reviewed science fiction for Publishers Weekly. One of the books she received was a tale of one of America's most mythic nonfictional figures, Robert Johnson. Bone Music, by Alan Rodgers, was worthy of its subject, a powerful tale of Gringo Magic Realism. Unfortunately, it came from an off-brand publisher and appears to have disappeared without a trace. I tried a few of his other books, but they did not strike me as having the same mojo. Alas, Rodgers has now died, after much illness. Someone should bring back Bone Music.

Thanx to File 770