A Spyglass Look at the Past
Massive student riots at the University of Wisconsin-Madison following the student killings at Kent State in 1970. Running 21.7 miles nonstop for pleasure and charity before distance running became a national craze. Touring Europe at age 17 in 1965. All these stories are set against the background of growing up in mid-century, rural, small-town Kansas. Such was the early adventurous life of Clyde ("The Stride") Toland.
Miriam Colt's heart-rending account of the utopian Vegetarian Colony disaster in 1856 Territorial Kansas. Fred Funston's stories about an Indian wedding in 1891 in the Mohave Desert, and 1894 Arctic whalers playing baseball in minus 47-degree weather. Funston as an 18-year-old teacher fighting in class the school bully for possession of the bully's revolver. "Mad bomber" Charley Melvin's attempt to resolve a social problem by dynamiting illegal saloons in 1905 prohibition Kansas. A German woman's observations about her country in a June 1938 letter.
Author Toland directs his spyglass to provide a closer look at each of these pieces of history, some of which resonate today. Rather than singling out similarities and contrasts between the past and the present, Mr. Toland allows the reader to form their own conclusions.
PRAISE FOR SPYGLASS:
"Mr. Toland's detailed and first-hand accounts of his childhood years give the reader a ringside seat to so many experiences-some routine and others earth-shaking. Of particular interest are the young man's impressions of Europe, air travel, and other cultures during his trip to the Continent. Similarly, Toland's accounts of the student riots at Universities around the country in the late '60s and early '70s should be noted not only for his observations but for what it felt like for most Americans to observe the level of unrest and dissatisfaction that can result over government action and unpopular policies. The description of the hopes and idealism of the vegetarian community that ultimately was doomed is a painful reminder of the promises and challenges of a new land and the razor-thin edge between dreams and reality. Mr. Toland gets enormous credit for telling the stories of Major Fred Funston-stories that might have been lost to history but for Clyde Toland's remarkable preservation of Funston's role in so many exciting and unusual events. The description of the bombing of a city because of its 'joints' reminds us of the destruction that can be wrought in the name of 'doing good ' Finally, I had to read and re-read the short letter of the German woman to convince myself that she believed that her life was better under Hitler. It hits the modern reader as gruesome irony.Thanks to Clyde Toland for this very personal addition to our historical understanding. We should all be recording our personal recollections in some way. It is hard to tell when some of these seemingly ordinary personal details will inform some extraordinary moment in time in the future." Hon. Deanell Reece Tacha, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (Ret.)Customer Reviews
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