Tim Madigan

This book is a mixed bag. People who love the book - please remember my experience doesn't need to take away from yours. Not in the least. I'm happy for everyone who gained connection, understanding, and emotional growth in their reading - and I, like you (probably), want to grow in my experience of connection and brotherhood with my fellow human beings.

I found it to be a worthwhile read, as I'm fascinated by Fred Rogers and his legacy - and I value the push for men to become more open and show more familiar with their emotional experience of life. The fact that white men are more threatened by self harming behavior between the ages of 45 and 55 than any other danger to their lives bears out the need for more awareness. Guys are depressed, and middle life brings changes that they aren't prepared to handle.

That said, there are some odd tones throughout the book that I was able to give a pass until around 60% of the way in. The author keeps introducing people he briefly considers the most important people on Earth, only to lead up to details of how he responds to their deaths and critical hardship. It's very strange to me how each of these individuals can be his biggest priorities for fleeting moments of time that coincide with their death and suffering.

When his brother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he waits an entire year before visiting him - then harps on the importance of each and every instant of his remaining days. It feels unintentionally vampiric - and I say unintentionally with every hope that you'll hear me loud and clear. I don't think he means to come across this way at all - and I'm certain his responses are more healthy than many (most?) men could bring themselves to write about and experience fully - but it reaches the point of distracting preoccupation for him.

There seems to be a market motive, however unconscious, for the book in that it admittedly follows in the footsteps of Tuesdays With Morrie and that book's success and audience. It does so in a less spiritual and engaging fashion - - but again, I don't think anyone has overt negative or dishonorable intentions.

The end acknowledges that the story was scrutinized and directly steered (in an editorial sense) by Fred Roger's business partners and family. A journalist should balk at such a proposition - but perhaps it was the only way to gain approval for publication. I don't know if that compromise resulted in an honest portrayal, though - and at the end of the day that may be a tragic result.

It's good to know that Fred Rogers had outlets to communicate his abundant suffering. The importance of suffering in some religious traditions is certainly promoted and aggrandized throughout the story. That's an aspect of Christianity that I find heartbreaking in its scope of unintended consequence - which seems to result in reduced efforts to alleviate suffering on a grander scale. Fred himself did untold worlds of good on that front, when it came to ministering to the emotional awareness and self acceptance of children. That's his unsullied legacy. The underpinnings seem to indicate a tortured soul who related strongly to other tortured souls - and if you are looking for answers or examples to alleviate that undercurrent of fearful dependence on supernatural aid, you won't find help here. You'll find people who examine the pain, reframe it to give it meaning beyond the natural world, and seem to hop from pain to pain - supping upon the sharpening of the mind that it can bring. Many people find this to be a good thing, apparently. I feel we can do better. show less

This book makes me cry every time I read it. It's beautifully written, short enough to be read in an afternoon, and it really captures the beautiful spirit of the Mister Rogers that my generation knows and loves. It's reassuring to know that the TV icon that kept me company as a child was the same man in real life, when so many times the actors we see on TV don't match up to their real-life counterparts. This is a great book, I highly recommend it :)

A great friendship amid Furies (Fred’s term for the author’s struggles with depression and marriage turmoil) is rare. The friendship described in the narrative and witnessed through many letters and emails is encouraging and inspiring. I had been impressed with Rogers from the superb Tom Hanks portrayal and his biography in The Good Neighbor but this first hand witness was the most impressive to me. I particularly appreciated reading more personal words from Fred about his faith in God.

The Burning
The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
by Tim Madigan
St. Martin's Press

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book. It's the 100 year anniversary of this carnage and I hope no one forgets this. Some didn't even know about this at all until 1970 when the book was first printed because the event was covered up so well.

This book is a wealth of information about before, during, and after the massacre. It follows several people personally from before, during, and show more after. It describes the society at the time, what was leading up to this. The layout of the town, the daily routine of the people, what was changing. It also discussed the trigger that set everything off.

It also discussed the rise of the KKK and how it came to be, how it morphed into what if it is now. How is changed the lives of everyone when it was shown as a savior to whites in the movie, 'Birth of a Nation'. The rise of hate, the lust for not just killing, but torture and killing.

It was hard to read this book but I wanted to know the truth. That is something hard to come by these days. Even if it's not what I want to hear, I need the truth. Unfortunately I see a comparison of then and now. The rise of not just the hate but the lust of hate! Not just here in America but across the world. We were never a compassionate people but why can't we learn from our mistakes like this event in the book! A horrible massacre that killed hundreds of innocent people.

I recommend this to all people that have a sliver of hope left for mankind. This book is packed with information and clarity as to the explosive, damaging rage and hate has in our communities. May we become better than this. show less