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Cindy Stevens's avatar

Love these historical tidbits. Reminds me of your Florida Gator Farm road trips in the 90s, and if you haven't read Carl Hiaasen's Fever Beach, read it now.

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Cindy Stevens's avatar

Nicely done and will look into going there. Have you read Lincoln in the Bardo? I liked/ didn't like it, though Saunders' description of a grieving father was poignant and we lived beside a cemetery near Syracuse with rich townies' sarcophagi at the time he published.

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Craig Stoltz's avatar

Yes, I read Bardo and was knocked back by the beauty and genius. There may be residue of my admiration in this piece.

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Jim Sollisch's avatar

I remember reading this in its shorter form, which I don't think included the willow installation. What a painfully beautiful idea that brings to life the grief and the weight of loss that weighed on his presidency.

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Craig Stoltz's avatar

Thanks, Jimmy. That willow room blew me away. The coincidence of the cottage leader's own loss of a child is just amazing.

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Michael Murray's avatar

Such a poignant reminder of a president's grief, and his humanity in talking with the wounded soldiers, while hearing Taps.

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