AUGUST 26, 1998
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P rof . M c K inley B i ri
Since I closed last w eek’s article
with a ’page-image’ from Herman
Melville’sclassic.“MobyDick” (“like
a painted ship, upon a painted sea” ), I
thought, why not draw again from the
poetic prose he used to describe the
pursuit o f ’The Great White W hale?’
Melville engraves a permanent
place in the readers mind and in the
history o f reading’-when he brings
one’s ear to interact with his visual
description o f the port city from which
Captain Ahab launched his ill-fated
adventure.
Had this gifted writer so very early
on developed a 'literary virtual real­
ity?’ “...thesaltylickandlapofthesea,
at the foot ofevery cross-town street?”
Can you not hear, see, and smel 1 the
reality ofthis New England town. The
word-artist has left an indelible im­
print on a receptive mind; a master
craftsman has painted a word-picture
that the reader may recall and enjoy
forever. This is why there are those of
uswhoindicttoday’seducation system
for failure to equip so many children
with adequate reading skills; intellectu­
ally starved.
O f course, we have it on good au­
thority that 'H om er,’ the famed Greek
bard was illiterate, though, as Alberta
Manguel tells us in his “History o f
Reading” (Viking, 1996), his admiring
listeners transcribed poems like the
“Illiad” onto parchment scrolls-24 in
the particular case. They were distrib­
uted throughout all known lands.
A “scroll” is an interesting device
for conveying a written message; in the
third grade we wrote horizontal mes­
sages on long strips o f paper, such that
theycouldbewoundbetweentwosticks-
gradualiy revealing the entire message
by winding or unwinding the sticks.
We, like the Greeks, called this
“scrolling,” and interestingly, the tech­
nique o f retrieving stoned information
in your computer is still called “scroll­
ing." O f course, that is a vertical pro­
cess as opposed to horizontal; but as
z
Manguel goes on to recite an infor­
mative and fascinating story o f the de­
velopment o f books as we know them.
Clay tablets o f legal codes became
"codexes" which could be hand-held.
Papyrus was too brittle to be folded into
booklets, but parchment orvellum (ani­
mal skins) could be cut or folded into all
sorts o f shapes and sizes.
O ur author provides us with much
o f the history ot 'b o o k s’ in the ancient
w o rld o f G re e c e , R o m e, an d
M esoptamia (M iddle East-Iran, Iraq).
The Egyptian developm ent centers
around the fairly 'la te ' developm ents
at the famous library at Alexandria.
M anguel skirts the seminal contri­
butions o f the Africans and obvi­
ously, begins his story with the con­
ventional European treatment. Thus,
you will not find commentary on the
e a c h y e a r, o u r c o m m u n itie s
n e e d s tr o n g e r p r o te c tio n s .
W e n e e d to e x p a n d o u r r ig h t
to k n o w a b o u t th e c h e m ic a l s
th a t p la c e o u r h e a lth a n d o u r
/
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
L e t te r to E d ito r
R e p r e s e n ta tiv e C h u c k
C a r p e n te r
S t a t e C a p ita l B u ild in g
S a le m , O r e g o n 9 7 3 1 0
D e a r M r. C a r p e n te r ,
A s a c i tiz e n o f O r e g o n a n d a
n u r s i n g m o t h e r , I am c o n ­
c e r n e d a b o u t th e in c r e a s i n g
n u m b e r o f to x ic c h e m ic a ls in
O r e g o n ’ s e n v ir o n m e n t. M a n y
o f th e s e c h e m ic a l s h a v e b e e n
lin k e d w ith c a n c e r , b ir th d e ­
f e c ts , a n d o th e r p r o b le m s ,
w h ile m o s t h a v e n o t e v e n b e e n
f u lly te s te d fo r h e a lth e f f e c ts .
T h e w e ll - p u b l ic iz e d d is a s tr o u s
c o n se q u e n c e s o f p re g n a n t
w o m e n w h o w e r e g iv e n d ie th -
y l s t i l b e s t r o l ( D E S ) in th e
1 9 5 0 s a n d 1 9 6 0 s a re j u s t th e
tip o f th e ic e b e r g . M r. C a r p e n ­
te r , 1 am a b i o l o g i s t , n o t a
famed
“Rosetta
Stone”
__ i . as im
o i I had a handheld
Tpva«
“ Rosetta
Stone
v whose par­
early
1979
Texas famed
allel
inscriptions
in
three
languages
Instrument calculator on which one
perm
itted
m
odem
man
to
learn o f
could horizontal ly scroll an almost infi­
the
wonders
and
grandeur
o
f
ancient
nite number o f decimal places. 1 was
Egypt:
Hierogliphic,
Demotic
and
never sure o f the accuracy.
L u d d ite , n o r an a l a r m is t . 1 j u s t
w a n t th e f a c ts a b o u t th e c h e m i­
c a ls I u s e . W h a t c h e m ic a l s a c ­
c u m u la te in b o d y f a t? W h a t
c h e m ic a l s w ill 1 p a s s to m y
b a b y w h ile n u r s in g ? 1 h a v e a
f a m i lie s a t ris k .
1 u r g e y o u to s u p p o r t
s tr e n g t h e n in g O r e g o n 's to x ic s
r e p o r tin g la w s so w e c a n f u lly
tr a c k th e flo w o f c h e m ic a l s
th r o u g h in d u s t r ia l f a c i l i t i e s in
r ig h t to k n o w .
C i tiz e n s c u r r e n tl y h a v e a c ­
c e s s to l i m i t e d i n f o r m a t i o n
a b o u t s o m e to x ic c h e m ic a l s in
o u r c o m m u n itie s , b u t O r e g o n ’s
r ig h t to k n o w la w h a s b e c o m e
o u t d a t e d . W ith 7 2 ,0 0 0 s y n ­
th e tic c h e m ic a ls a l r e a d y in u s e
a n d 1 0 0 0 m o re b e i n g a d d e d
o u r s ta te .
W e n e e d to s e t s tr o n g s t a t e ­
w id e r e p o r tin g s ta n d a r d s w h ile
r e s p e c ti n g th e r ig h t o t lo c a l
c o m m u n itie s to o b ta in th e i n ­
f o r m a tio n th e y n e e d . T h e s e
s te p s w ill h e lp u s to r e d u c e
c h e m ic a l u s e a n d p r e v e n t p o l ­
lu tio n .
G reek texts.
But then again this book is not
about the particular technical or cul­
tural contributions o f mankind over a
long-time line o f'rec o rd e d ’ histoty.
But, instead, is about the devices and
techniques that various peoples and
organizations used to record and pass
on information about the world as
they knew it; religious, secular, sci­
entific and philosophical.
You will be inspired to read further,
inspired to follow up the many little
gems of knowledge that have been
revealed. But 1 think that most impor­
tant o f all, you will be highly motivated
to join the current drive to raise the
reading levels of our school children.
“Phonics" is 'where its at’ and where it
has always been. They must not be
deprived of the great gift of literacy.
1 k n o w p o l l u t e r s a n d b ig
c h e m i c a l u s e r s w ill b e p r e s ­
s u rin g
you
to
o p p o se
s tre n g th e n in g
O re g o n s
t o x i c s r e p o r t i n g la w s . P le a s e
p u t y o u r s u p p o rt b e h in d in ­
c r e a s i n g th e r i g h t s o f O r e g o ­
n i a n s to i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t
h a r m f u l s u b s t a n c e s in o u r
c o m m u n itie s .
F o r m o re
in f o rm a tio n ,
p le a s e c o n t a c t m e f o r r e f e r ­
e n c e s i n c l u d i n g O u r S to le n
F u tu re by T h e o C o lb o rn ,
D ia n n e D u m a n o s k i a n d J o h n
P e te r s o n M y e rs ( f o r e w a r d b y
V ic e P r e s id e n t A1 G o r e ) .
S in c e r e ly
P e n n y O k a m o to
Remembering Our Heroes
by
B ernice P owell J ack -
son
I ’m not sure if-.it was the
way the Fourth of July hit me
th is y e a r, as I r e -re a d
Frederick D ouglass’ speech
asking w hat Independence
Day m eant to people who
were not free. Or maybe it
was ju st the fact that I have
seen s e v e ra l s to r ie s abut
those heroes and sheroes o f
the civil rights movement and
what is happening to them
now. Or maybe i t ’s because
I ’ve been reading several new
books about the civil rights
m ovem ent and so the names
are fresh on my m ind. But
w hatever the reason ,1 find
that I want to salute them
now -giving them th eir roses
w hile they can s till sm ell
them . So I ’m going to take
tw o colum ns to rem em ber
some o f our patriots, our w ar­
riors for ju stice.
James Lawson
One o f those who was so
in s tr u m e n ta l in th e c iv il
rights m ovem ent, but whose
name is m ostly unknown is
James Lawson. An Ohioan
by b irth , L aw son w as an
Oberlin College theology stu­
dent when he met Dr. M artin
L uther King, Jr. It was a
m e e tin g w h ic h p ro b a b ly
changed both o f th eir lives.
Lawson had decided as a
child that there was a better
way than violence. He re ­
m em bers his m other’s ques­
tioning him upon his report
o f having slapped a sm all
w hite child who had called
him a nigger. She asked him
sim ply, “ W hat good did that
do?“ he said that everything
io his life seem ed to change
at th a t m om ent and as his
rights movement. In the early
mother talked to him abut how
years Dr. King him self stud­
much he was loved, by God
ied under Lawson. A b ril­
and his fam ily and how unim ­
liant but quiet man, Lawson
portant name calling was in
taught the students the basic
the whole scheme of his life.
prin cip les o f non-violence:
He made a vow to h im self
that they had the power of
never, if possible, to hit any­
moral right on their side and
one again.
that
power could bring down
In the late 1940’s, as a co l­
the
w
alls o f segregation; that
leg e s tu d e n t at B a ld w in -
they
must understand at the
W allace C ollege o u tsid e of
very
core
of their being that
C leveland, L aw so n ’s w orld
they
were
created
by God and
expanded and he became aware
that there was no shame in
of another world com posed of
being black in white America;
people o f color. He had a l­
that love would alw ays con­
ready become an activist, hav­
quer hate.
ing staged several sit-ins as a
Lawson then taught his stu­
teenager and w hile in college
dents
what to expect on the
he joined the Fellow ship of
picket
lines and how to pro­
reconciliation, an ecum enical
tect
each
other and themselves
peace organization. His com ­
from
th
e
v io le n c e w hich
m itm ent to peace deepened
would
surely
come. He pre­
and in his senior year o f co l­
pared
them
to
hear epithets
lege, with the Korean War rag­
and
threats,
he
tried to im ­
ing, he refused to seek an m in­
m
unized
them
against
the an­
isterial deferral or co n scien ­
ger
and
violence
and
to
cen­
tio u s o b je c to r’s sta tu s and
ter
them
on
G
od’s
love.
went to prison for refusing to
Lawson him self led dozens,
be drafted, he used his prison
perhaps
hundreds o f sit-ins
term to re -re a d and stu d y
and m arches during his days
G andhi's w riting on n o n-vio­
with the m ovem ent. He en­
lence.
dured many many beatings
A year la te r Law son r e ­
and yet his own com m itm ent
turned to Baldwin W allace to
to non-violence never waned.
finish his degree and was sent
It was Lawson who taught his
by the M ethodist church to
students by word and example
India to work in a P resbyte­
about “the beloved comm u­
rian college. His time in India
n ity ,” a phrase he often used
deepened his com m itm ent to
to
mean the place where bar­
non-violence and the teachings
riers
betw een humans came
o f G andhi and gave him a
down
and where people tried
broader sense o f the world.
to
address
so c ie ty ’s most d if­
When he read about Dr. King
ficult
problem
s.
and the M ontgom ery bus boy­
Today
James
Lawson serves
cott, Lawson knew it was time
as
a
U
nited
M
ethodist
pastor
to return.
in
Los
Angeles
He
is
truly
S hortly a fte r his a rriv a l,
an unsung hero of the civil
James Lawson met Dr. King
rights m ovement and this na­
and began a ten year career o f
teaching non-violence to stu ­ tion owes him a great debt of
gratitude.
dents and others in the civil
Just think; Your son
is b rig h t, hea lth y
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