Thursday, April 27, 2017

Betty MacDonald, first editions and 100th day in office

Anne MacDonald Canhamanybody can do anything_swedish_1951_paperback_FRONT



mrs. piggle wiggle, hello_english_cassette_FRONT

Pippi, you're the best.   
Hello 'Pussy' it's Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Pippi Longstocking: 


Now, as you approache your 100th day in office, we wanted to circle back to some of the voters — most of them your supporters — we had spoken with around the start of his presidency about the issues that had driven their votes.




trump-protests-13.jpg

 plague_English_1994_paperback_FRONT
  
Should I remain in bed, leave my country or fight against the dragon?

( see also the story by Wolfgang Hampel
' Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say ' )
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plague_German_1952_hardcover_bookjacket - cleaned_FRONT

The Egg and I Film Illustration























 


Click images for alternate views
Bildergebnis für Betty MacDonald Christmas
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle author Betty MacDonald on Vashon Island
<p>Time Out of Mind (1947) - avec Betty et Don MacDonald et Phyllis Calvert</p>

Betty and Don MacDonald in Hollywood

Bild könnte enthalten: eine oder mehrere Personen und Personen, die sitzen



Betty MacDonald's mother Sydney with grandchild Alison Beck
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Kein automatischer Alternativtext verfügbar.

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Betty MacDonald fan club fans,


Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter April is available with many International Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen book covers.

You can read two very interesting letters by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen. 


We are looking for signed or dedicated first editions in great condition with dust jackets by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen for our fans.

Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography and new Betty MacDonald documentary.


Join one of our Betty MacDonald fan club research teams, please. 

Thanks a million in advance for your outstanding support.

Let's talk about Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest.

You can vote for your favourite Betty MacDonald book cover.

Deadline: June 30, 2017

Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest winner will be  owner of a signed first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books.  

In which language the book ' försöka duger  '  has been published? ( see book cover above )


anybody can do anything_swedish_1951_paperback_FRONT


Send us your mail, please and maybe you'll be the winner of Betty MacDonald fan club surprise.

Good luck!



Our most important research item is an updated Betty MacDonald documentary with  lots of new info and interviews with Betty MacDonald, her family and friends.


Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel  told us that Betty MacDonald fan club research team does an excellent job in supporting him with his several Betty MacDonald projects especially an updated Betty MacDonald biography.

Reading this updated Betty MacDonald biography you'll learn the true story of many personalities in Betty MacDonald's books for example the mysterious and rather strange Ms. Dorita Hess from 'Anybody can do anything'.

Tell us, please what should a Betty MacDonald biography include?

Don't hesitate to send us your thoughts, please.

I'd say a real Betty MacDonald biography should also include fascinating info on Betty MacDonald's fascinating brother and sisters including adopted sister Madge.

As we can see Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett got so many fans because of her unique interviews with Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.

We are going to offer some interviews by Wolfgang Hampel, never published before.



Many fans adore the new outstanding website of beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli. 



Don't miss it, please. 

 














Surprise, surprise!

We found new radio manuscripts and shows. 

We are working on Betty MacDonald fan club exhibit and an updated Betty MacDonald documentary.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter April  includes a letter by Betty MacDonald, mentioning Dorita Hess and other very important persons in her books.




Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel  told us that Betty MacDonald fan club research team does an excellent job in supporting him with his several Betty MacDonald projects especially an updated Betty MacDonald biography.

Betty MacDonald fan club event team is very happy to hear from you and they got some really great ideas for the next International event. 

Thanks a lot! 


You can join Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club on Facebook.

Join us, please. We have lots of fun and joy and had several International ESC meetings in the past. 


Vita Magica with Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Letizia Maninco was outstanding.

The audience enjoyed it very much.
 
Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica is  fascinating because he includes Betty MacDonald, other members of the Bard family and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans. 




We'll have several International Betty MacDonald fan club events  in 2017.


Join us in voting for your favourite city, please. 



Wolfgang Hampel's  Vita Magica guest was a very famous TV lady, author and singer and she is our new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.


I guess our Casanova adores our Betty MacDonald fan club honor member very much because author and TV moderator Tatjana Geßler is a very beautiful, charming and intelligent lady. 


Tatjana Geßler's books are outstanding. I've read several of them. 

Enjoy Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island, please.





Great Betty MacDonald fan club news!
 

You can join 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald Society

Vita Magica

 

on Facebook.

 

Thank you so much in advance for your support and interest.

If you join Betty MacDonald fan club blog as a follower during March you'll receive a very special Betty MacDonald fan club Welcome gift.

Send your email-address to our contact address, please. 


Great news!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back and his fans are delighted.

We'll have several International Betty MacDonald fan club events  in 2017. 

Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica March, please. 

You'll enjoy it very much. 



You can see brilliant Brad Craft. 



"This is Me," by Bad Kid Billy. [Official Music Video]


Seems I'm in this for a hot second.  I remember being asked to participate one day on the street in front of the bookstore where I work.  I didn't think to ask what it was for, or even so much as the name of the song or the band.  Didn't want to be late coming back from lunch.  Silly bugger.  The very nice young woman with the green hair also featured herein happens to work at Magus Books.  She mentioned she'd seen me.  Told me the name of the band, and here we are.



Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Monica Sone and other Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project 'Vita Magica'. 
 





We got very interesting new info for updated Betty MacDonald biography.

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to include all these new details and info in updated Betty MacDonald biography.

If you'd like to join Betty MacDonald fan club you only have to press the join button on Betty MacDonald fan club blog.


New Betty MacDonald fan club fans will receive a special Betty MacDonald fan club Welcome gift during April.  

Send us your email address to our contact address, please.


Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica February was outstanding and so was Vita Magica Betty MacDonald event with Wolfgang Hampel, Thomas Bödigheimer and Friedrich von Hoheneichen


 
We are going to publish some new Betty MacDonald fan club interviews  by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.
 

Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
 


This very new Betty MacDonald biography includes all the results we got during a very successful Betty MacDonald fan club research which started in 1983.

You'll be able to find unique Betty MacDonald treasures in our Betty MacDonald biography.

Betty MacDonald biography includes for example interviews with Betty MacDonald, her family and friends.

We got many letters by Betty MacDonald and other family members even very important original ones.


Our goal is to publish a Betty MacDonald biography that shows all the details of Betty MacDonald's life and work but also to present her fascinating siblings.

Dear Betty MacDonald fan club fans let us know please what you are interested most in a future Betty MacDonald biography.  

Do you prefer an e-book or a so called real book?
 
Vita Magica by Wolfgang Hampel is really fascinating and very interesting.



Wolfgang Hampel and Friends of Vita Magica visited Minister of Science of Baden-Württemberg, Theresia Bauer in Stuttgart.

They visited Landtag and had a great time there.
 

Do you have any books by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen with funny or interesting dedications? 


If so would you be so kind to share them?


Our next Betty MacDonald fan club project is a collection of these unique dedications.


If you share your dedication from your Betty MacDonald - and Mary Bard Jensen collection you might be the winner of our new Betty MacDonald fan club items.


Thank you so much in advance for your support.



 


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Thank you so much for sending us your favourite Betty MacDonald quote.


We are so glad that our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back.

New  Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many new interviews.

Alison Bard Burnett and other Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's fascinating project Vita Magica.







Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel interviewed Betty MacDonald's daughter Joan MacDonald Keil and her husband Jerry Keil.

This interview will be published for the first time ever.



New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many interviews never published before.


We adore Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli 


Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.


Wolfgang Hampel's literary event Vita Magica is very fascinating because he is going to include Betty MacDonald, other members of the Bard family and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.

It's simply great to read Wolfgang Hampel's  new very well researched  stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett,  Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others.

 


Linde Lund and many fans from all over the world  adore this funny sketch by Wolfgang Hampel very much although our German isn't the best.

I won't ever forget the way Wolfgang Hampel is shouting ' Brexit '.

Don't miss it, please.

It's simply great!

You can hear that Wolfgang Hampel got an outstandig voice.

He presented one of Linde Lund's favourite songs ' Try to remember ' like a professional singer.

Thanks a million!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for Betty MacDonald fan club fans from all over the world.


Don't miss Brad Craft's 'More friends', please. 

Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island is one of my favourites.


I agree with Betty in this very witty Betty MacDonald story  Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say by Wolfgang Hampel.

I can't imagine to live in a country with him as so-called elected President although there are very good reasons to remain there to fight against these brainless politics.

On Day 1, they were a mix of Trump faithful, Trump skeptics and Trump haters. Local party bosses and state senators, teachers and retirees, unionized and nonunion workers, talking about their hopes and dread as a brash untested leader strode into the world’s most consequential job.
Now, as President Trump approaches his 100th day in office, we wanted to circle back to some of the voters — most of them Trump supporters — we had spoken with around the start of his presidency about the issues that had driven their votes. Had Mr. Trump fulfilled his promises? Did his struggles and slack poll numbers disappoint them? Was he pleasing any of his detractors, or proving worse than they had feared?
Many of his biggest backers said they had no regrets. No matter how few legislative accomplishments Mr. Trump can list, no matter the problems facing “the Wall,” no matter if his Twitter posts make them wince, they praised his swagger, his executive orders and his Supreme Court appointment. “Hitting it out of the ballpark,” said Dianna Ploss, a former nurse in Massachusetts.
Others who opposed him then said they oppose him even more now. “When I get up in the morning, I think, ‘Well, what did Trump do now?’” said Diane Kirt, 64, of Reedsburg, Wis. But his critics have newfound energy and inspiration from protests that have propelled millions into the streets and nudged some to make first-time runs for public office.



I think the future dinosaur flatulence will be the behaviour of 'Pussy' and his very strange government.

Poor World!    Poor America! 

Don't miss these very interesting articles below, please. 



The most difficult case in Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle's career 



mrs. piggle wiggle's magic_korean_2011_hardcover_FRONT



Hello 'Pussy', this is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. 

You took calls from foreign leaders on unsecured phone lines, without consultung the State Department. We have to change your silly behaviour with a new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cure. I know you are the most difficult case in my career - but we have to try everything.......................







Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sent his brilliant thoughts. Thank you so much dear Wolfgang!     Bildergebnis für Donald Trump and Lady Liberty      



 Hi Libi, nice to meet you. Can you feel it?





I'm the most powerful leader in the world.




Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say

Copyright 2016 by Wolfgang Hampel

All rights reserved 


Betty MacDonald was sitting on her egg-shaped cloud and listened to a rather strange guy.

He said to his friends: So sorry to keep you waiting. Very complicated business! Very complicated!

Betty said: Obviously much too complicated for you old toupee!

Besides him ( by the way the  First Lady's place ) his 10 year old son was bored to death and listened to this 'exciting' victory speech. 

The old man could be his great-grandfather.

The boy was very tired and thought: I don't know what this old guy is talking about. Come on and finish it, please. I'd like to go to bed.

Dear 'great-grandfather' continued  and praised the Democratic candidate.

He congratulated her and her family for a very strong campaign although he wanted to put her in jail.

He always called her the most corrupt person ever and repeated it over and over again in the fashion of a Tibetan prayer wheel.

She is so corrupt. She is so corrupt.  Do you know how corrupt she is? 

Betty MacDonald couldn't believe it when he said: She has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.

Afterwards old toupee praised his parents, wife, children, siblings and friends. 

He asked the same question like a parrot all the time:

Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
I know you are here!

Betty MacDonald answered: No Pussy they are not! They left the country.

They immigrated to Canada because they are very much afraid of the future in the U.S.A. with you as their leader like the majority of all so-called more or less normal citizens. 

By the way keep your finger far away from the pussies and the Red Button, please.


I'm going to fly with my egg-shaped cloud to Canada within a minute too.

Away - away - there is nothing more to say! 


Real vs. Ersatz







I am neither Christian enough nor charitable enough to like anybody just because he is alive and breathing. I want people to interest or amuse me. I want them fascinating and witty or so dul as to be different. I want them either intellectually stimulating or wonderfully corny; perfectly charming or hundred percent stinker. I like my chosen companions to be distinguishable from the undulating masses and I don't care how. - Betty MacDonald




Daniel Mount wrote a great article about Betty MacDonald and her garden.

We hope you'll enjoy it very much.

I adore Mount Rainier and Betty MacDonald's outstanding descriptions

Can you remember in which book you can find it?

If so let us know, please and you might be the next Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner. 

I hope we'll be able to read Wolfgang Hampel's  new very well researched  stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett,  Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others - very soon.

It' s such a pleasure to read them. 

Let's go to magical Betty MacDonald's  Vashon Island.



Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team share their recent Betty MacDonald fan club research results.

Congratulations! They found the most interesting and important info for Wolfgang Hampel's oustanding  Betty MacDonald biography.

I enjoy Bradley Craft's story very much.  


Don't miss our Betty MacDonald fan club contests, please. 

 
You can win a never published before Alison Bard Burnett interview by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel. 

Good luck!  

This CD is a golden treasure because Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett shares unique stories about Betty MacDonald, Mary Bard Jensen, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Nancy and Plum. 





Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans. 


Many Betty MacDonald  - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories.


We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.
 

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerl is beloved all over the World.

We are so happy that our 'Casanova'  is back.



Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to share very interesting info on ' Betty MacDonald and the movie The Egg and I '. 

Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.

The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952. 

Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.


Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.

 
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.

Enjoy a great breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.


Take care,

Sandra

Anne MacDonald Canham
anybody can do anything_swedish_1951_paperback_FRONT


Bildergebnis für Betty MacDonald Onions in the Stew

best friends by mary bard


la_conner_daffodil_festival_photo_winner_2014
Dare we face the question of just how much of the darkness around us is of our own making? - Betty MacDonald



Don't miss this very special book, please.

you can join 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald Society  

Vita Magica  

Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club 

on Facebook



Vita Magica Betty MacDonald event with Wolfgang Hampel, Thomas Bödigheimer and Friedrich von Hoheneichen

Vita Magica 

Betty MacDonald 

Betty MacDonald fan club 

Betty MacDonald fan club on Facebook

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( Polski)   

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel -   

Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia  ( English / German )

Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )

Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French ) 


Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 


Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  


Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Greta Larson

Circling Back to Voters, 100 Days Into Trump Era









 
President Trump arriving in West Palm Beach, Fla., this month. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times

On Day 1, they were a mix of Trump faithful, Trump skeptics and Trump haters. Local party bosses and state senators, teachers and retirees, unionized and nonunion workers, talking about their hopes and dread as a brash untested leader strode into the world’s most consequential job.
Now, as President Trump approaches his 100th day in office, we wanted to circle back to some of the voters — most of them Trump supporters — we had spoken with around the start of his presidency about the issues that had driven their votes. Had Mr. Trump fulfilled his promises? Did his struggles and slack poll numbers disappoint them? Was he pleasing any of his detractors, or proving worse than they had feared?
Many of his biggest backers said they had no regrets. No matter how few legislative accomplishments Mr. Trump can list, no matter the problems facing “the Wall,” no matter if his Twitter posts make them wince, they praised his swagger, his executive orders and his Supreme Court appointment. “Hitting it out of the ballpark,” said Dianna Ploss, a former nurse in Massachusetts.
Others who opposed him then said they oppose him even more now. “When I get up in the morning, I think, ‘Well, what did Trump do now?’” said Diane Kirt, 64, of Reedsburg, Wis. But his critics have newfound energy and inspiration from protests that have propelled millions into the streets and nudged some to make first-time runs for public office.




And then there are those somewhere in between. Some who were reluctant in November say they are happy with a growing economy and his support for the military. Some who cast a hedged, qualified vote for Mr. Trump say they are frustrated with his temperament and repeated falsehoods and would consider supporting a primary challenger.

Others say: Give it more time — 100 more days, or 1,000.

Wisconsin: Satisfaction Amid Division










 
Al Exner, chairman of the Sauk County Republican Party, spent time on Inauguration Day at the Inn at Wawanissee Point in Baraboo, Wis. Credit Ben Brewer for The New York Times

Al Exner, Republican Party chairman of Sauk County, Wis., made no secret of his delight over Mr. Trump’s victory as he chatted in January in a diner in one of America’s most closely divided places. Mr. Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was a mere 109 votes here, part of a shift that flipped Wisconsin from blue to red.
Now, Mr. Exner said he was pleased, reflecting Mr. Trump’s overwhelming and enduring support among Republicans even as opinion surveys give him historically low marks. Still, Mr. Exner was hard pressed to name more than a few accomplishments. He said the airstrike Mr. Trump ordered on Syria resounded as a declaration of American strength.
“We’ve been on the back burner, defensively, since Obama took office,” he said. “The first thing I said to my wife when I heard about Syria was, ‘Syria isn’t really the target. He’s put the world on notice — we’re back.’” — Julie Bosman

Illinois: Angry and Fired Up










 
Credit Jim Watson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Back in January, Maureen Sauer had to be coaxed into traveling to the Women’s March on Washington from her home in O’Fallon, Ill. She has a bad back and she did not think marching would make any difference. But her sisters prevailed, and the march proved an inspiration. Now, she is active in a church group called Dormant No More, trying to bring about change in her own town. She joined the school board and the local League of Women Voters, attended her first City Council meeting and worked to oust the mayor.

The first 100 days of the Trump presidency have proved worse than Ms. Sauer, 55, feared, but she said the best part was that it had spurred activism. “He has brought us off our couches, paying attention,” she said. She worries the most about how much Russia interfered with the election, and what the links may be to Mr. Trump or his campaign. — Susan Chira

Ohio: Fired Up on the Right

At the dawn of the Trump era, Brandon Moore, 39, sat down inside a Mexican restaurant in central Ohio and counted himself a hopeful skeptic. As a Bible-believing Christian and supporter of gun rights, he had voted for Mr. Trump but was watchful. And today?
“I do have mixed feelings,” he said. He liked Mr. Trump’s decision to order a missile attack on a Syrian airfield because it showed that “America means business again.” He liked how Mr. Trump baited and sparred with the news media.
But as the nation searches for its political bearings ahead of the next election cycle, Mr. Moore said that watching months of anti-Trump protests and outpourings of left-wing activism these past 100 days had convinced him of this much: “That’s where I don’t want our country to go: into their hands.” — Jack Healy

Indiana: The Alt-Right Energized

Matthew Heimbach, 26, is among the young men who identify with the alt-right, the amalgam of white supremacist and misogynist internet trolls and citizens who were energized by Mr. Trump’s campaign.

This month, Mr. Heimbach said he felt more invigorated than ever. “He did what we in the alt-right wanted him to do,” he said. Mr. Trump had brought anti-immigrant sentiment into the mainstream, destabilized politics and polarized the electorate, Mr. Heimbach said. “Our movement, it’s gotten more unified,” he added. “It’s gotten more clear on direction as to what we’re working toward, which is an independent homeland.”
During the campaign, Mr. Heimbach was captured on video shoving a black woman at a Trump rally. The woman sued, and Mr. Heimbach responded with his own claim, saying that he “acted pursuant to the directives” of the candidate.

At white nationalist events these days, he said, he is often among the oldest in the room, a stark difference from pre-Trump years, in which the people who shared his views were often twice his age. Mr. Heimbach runs a group called the Traditionalist Worker Party, which advocates replacing the United States with nation-states based on races, ethnicities and religions. He said that vision seems closer than ever.
“Getting Trump elected was a great first step,” he said. “Now it’s time to deploy to Stage 2.” — Julie Turkewitz

West Virginia: Support From Appalachia










 
Rail cars containing coal in Williamson, W.Va., in August. Credit Ty Wright for The New York Times

Mr. Trump’s blunt talk has always been a selling point for State Senator Mark R. Maynard, 44, a freshman lawmaker in West Virginia and a Republican who was a leader of Mr. Trump’s state campaign. So it was unsurprising that close to 100 days in, Mr. Maynard had nothing bad to say about Mr. Trump’s shoot-from-the-hip talk and style, which has been such a departure from previous presidents.
In fact, Mr. Maynard, who hails from tiny Genoa, W.Va., could not think of a single criticism of Mr. Trump’s tenure thus far. He liked Mr. Trump’s attack on President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan. And he said his optimism is widely shared in his district, set in the struggling heart of Appalachia and coal country.

“You know, everybody that I talk to has a positive rating, and they like what he’s doing,” he said. “I’ve not heard any complaints — and that’s my feelings, too.”


Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mr. Maynard, a climate change skeptic, praised Mr. Trump for his executive order in March that will undo the Clean Power Plan in an effort to lift the coal industry.

Even Mr. Trump’s failures — the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the travel ban blocked by a federal judge — seemed reassuring to Mr. Maynard because they showed that Mr. Trump was trying to do what he had promised.
“I think attempting is better than doing nothing, whether you’re successful or not,” he said. — Richard Fausset

Pennsylvania: Hope in Coal Country

At a rally in Ambridge, Pa., a once-thriving steel and energy town and a symbol of the losses and grievances that powered Mr. Trump to the White House, Ron Ritz waited in line for hours to see the candidate. Back then, in October, Mr. Ritz said of Mr. Trump, “I think he’s going to try to give the American people back the things they deserve that were taken from them.”

Mr. Ritz, a 69-year-old retired corrections officer and military veteran, believes that Mr. Trump has restored optimism about the American economy. Near his small hometown, Friedens, Pa., there was a shuttered coal mine, which he said started up again after Mr. Trump took office. “Guys that were laid off are going back to work,” he said. For him, the best moment of the presidency so far was when Mr. Trump visited coal miners in West Virginia. “I know what those people feel like,” he said. “There was a time in my life I was almost swept under. To see them get another glimpse of light, that says there’s some hope here.” — Susan Chira

Iowa: Ignoring the Critics

In Iowa, Mary Whisenand compared Mr. Trump in September 2015 to a “summer fling” that her fellow Republicans would soon get over as they turned to other candidates. Throughout the primary race and general election, Ms. Whisenand, a longtime party activist, never worked to elect Mr. Trump. She said the other day that she did not declare her support for him until Nov. 8, Election Day, when she cast her ballot. But she ended up attending his inauguration in Washington, and today she defends many of his stumbles as the learning curve of a nonpolitician, one who is keeping his word to shake up government.

Ms. Whisenand, 52, an insurance executive in Des Moines, cites the president’s ability to brush off critics in the news media as a sign of success. “He is not making decisions based on polling or what the media is saying,” she said. “I like that about him.” But, she added, “I wish to God he had never tweeted about Obama wiretapping him.” The attempts by Trump allies in the White House and Congress to try to prove Mr. Trump right “looked like the Keystone Kops,” she added. — Trip Gabriel

New Hampshire: Praise for Military Shifts










 
At the White House this month, Mr. Trump signed a bill to temporarily extend a program that lets some veterans seek medical care in the private sector. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times

Joe Vigue, 68, came to Mr. Trump reluctantly. As he watched election-night returns stream in at a hotel ballroom in Concord, N.H., a retired construction worker in bluejeans amid a sea of suits, Mr. Vigue ticked off a list of concerns about the military and Mr. Trump’s disparaging comments about Senator John McCain of Arizona.
Now, Mr. Vigue, a Vietnam veteran, is pretty happy with what he sees, especially on the issue most important to him: beefing up the military. Mr. Trump has proposed slashing billions from various domestic programs and shifting $54 billion to the armed forces.

And he applauded Mr. Trump’s determination to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs, reduce wait times for veterans seeking health care and protect their benefits. He still winces once in a while when Mr. Trump “opens his mouth,” but he said the country was much better off than it had been during the previous eight years.

To his relief, Mr. Vigue has found Mr. Trump to be “not quite as conservative as a lot of people thought.” Back in November, he said he did not want Mr. Trump to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and as it happens, Mr. Trump failed to do so when he tried.
“So far, I’m glad I voted for him,” Mr. Vigue said. “I wasn’t so sure for a while, but now I am.” — Katharine Q. Seelye

New Hampshire: The Swamp Is Too Big to Drain

Chris Ager, 57, a program manager for an electronics company who lives in Amherst, N.H., was so thrilled with Mr. Trump’s election that he set off fireworks.
Mr. Ager, a long-time Republican, said at the time that he believed Mr. Trump could truly change the country.

“He’s not controlled by Wall Street, the Republican establishment, the power brokers — none of that,” Mr. Ager said back then. “He’s free to do what’s best for the country.”
Today, Mr. Ager sounds slightly chagrined at his naïveté. While he remains pleased with Mr. Trump, he has come to understand that the campaign promise to “drain the swamp” is not easily accomplished.
“The sobering thought that I have right now,” Mr. Ager said, is that “you may need to cut deals with the swamp because it’s too big to drain.”
A case in point, he said, was Mr. Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Mr. Trump was successful, Mr. Ager said, only because Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader and long-time denizen of the swamp, exercised the so-called “nuclear option” and changed the Senate rules.

“President Trump needed him to get the deal done,” Mr. Ager said. The lesson? “You can’t go to war with the entire swamp, you may need parts of it to get your things done.” — Katharine Q. Seelye











U.S.

Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Withhold Money From Sanctuary Cities











 
Protesters outside United States District Court in San Francisco this month. Credit Haven Daley/Associated Press

A judge in San Francisco on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Trump’s efforts to starve localities of federal funds when they limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement, a stinging rejection of his threats to make so-called sanctuary cities fall in line.
The judge, William H. Orrick of United States District Court, wrote that the president had overstepped his powers with his January executive order on immigration by tying billions of dollars in federal funding to immigration enforcement. Judge Orrick said only Congress could place such conditions on spending.
The ruling, which applies nationwide, was another judicial setback for the Trump administration, which has now seen three immigration orders stopped by federal courts in its first 100 days. And as with the rulings halting his two temporary bans on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, the president’s own words were used against him.
Though Justice Department lawyers argued in the case that the government did not intend to withhold significant amounts of money, the judge noted that the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions had suggested the punishment could be far greater.


“If there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments,” Judge Orrick wrote.
While the order is only a temporary injunction until the judge issues a broader ruling on the executive order’s constitutionality, he strongly signaled that San Francisco and Santa Clara County, the plaintiffs in the case, were likely to win a permanent victory. It was also an early verdict on the question of whether the White House can coerce cities and counties into helping federal immigration agents detain and deport immigrants who are not authorized to be in the country.
Mr. Trump has criticized judges who have ruled against him, and late Tuesday night the White House released a statement saying, “Once again, a single district judge — this time in San Francisco — has ignored federal immigration law to set a new immigration policy for the entire country.”
Exactly what makes a city or county a sanctuary is a matter of interpretation, but most that present themselves as sanctuaries, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston, limit how much they cooperate with federal immigration authorities, often by refusing to turn over unauthorized immigrants from local jails except under certain conditions or by preventing local police officers from asking about immigration status.
In San Francisco’s case, the city argued that the executive order violated the Constitution by essentially trying to commandeer state and local officials to enforce federal immigration law. In practical terms, San Francisco’s filing said, forcing the city to cooperate with federal immigration agents would threaten public safety by breaking trust between local authorities and immigrants, who the city argued would become less likely to report crimes or serve as witnesses.
The city estimated that it stood to lose more than $1 billion in federal funding as a result of the executive order. Santa Clara said about $1.7 billion, or more than a third of its revenue, was at risk.











“This is why we have courts — to halt the overreach of a president and an attorney general who either don’t understand the Constitution or chose to ignore it,” Dennis Herrera, the San Francisco city attorney, said in a statement. “Because San Francisco took this president to court, we’ve been able to protect billions of dollars that fund lifesaving programs across this country.”
While the judge’s order temporarily stops the White House from placing new restrictions on federal funding without going through Congress, it does not keep the administration from enforcing existing rules on federal grants. In letters to several local governments last week, the Justice Department warned that several current grants could be in jeopardy.
During his campaign and since taking office, Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked sanctuary cities as harboring lawbreakers. Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions have seemed particularly galled by San Francisco’s policies, pointing multiple times to the killing of Kathryn Steinle, who was shot in San Francisco in 2015 by an immigrant with a record of multiple deportations.
Sanctuary cities “breed crime; there’s a lot of problems,” Mr. Trump told Fox News in February. “If we have to, we’ll defund. We give tremendous amounts of money to California — California in many ways is out of control, as you know.”
But as President Barack Obama was sometimes thwarted by conservative states and Republican-appointed judges, Mr. Trump has been stopped by liberal jurisdictions and, in this case, by an Obama appointee who had been a bundler for his 2008 campaign, according to OpenSecrets, a website run by the Center for Responsive Politics.
In court, lawyers for the government argued that despite Mr. Trump’s vows to end all aid to uncooperative sanctuary jurisdictions, the order was intended to do no more than highlight the president’s commitment to hardening immigration enforcement. No more than a few small grants would be affected, they said.
Judge Orrick’s response: If that were true, what was the point?
“The result of this schizophrenic approach to the order is that the counties’ worst fears are not allayed and the counties reasonably fear enforcement under the order,” he wrote.
He also wrote that because the Constitution gives Congress the federal wallet, the president may not impose new conditions on federal funds to municipalities. The Supreme Court has held that the federal government cannot compel states to administer a federal program, the judge wrote, citing a case with very different partisan battle lines: National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the 2012 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the government could not withhold Medicaid funding to force states to comply with Mr. Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
And, Judge Orrick added, 10th Amendment restrictions on the power of the federal government require that the federal funds at stake be related to the policy in question, so that, for instance, housing funds cannot be yoked to immigration laws.
San Francisco became the first city to sue the administration over the executive order in January, arguing that the order’s provision for cutting off funding to sanctuary jurisdictions was unconstitutional. Since then, at least five other local governments have sued, including Seattle; Richmond, Calif.; and two cities in Massachusetts, and others have vowed to do so if the administration moves to follow through on the executive order.
But, facing the prospect of losing millions in crucial funding and of a showdown with the Oval Office, multiple jurisdictions have already backed away from sanctuary-style policies since Mr. Trump was elected.













Asia Pacific | News Analysis

As North Korea Speeds Its Nuclear Program, U.S. Fears Time Will Run Out

















 
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, with what the C.I.A. calls “the disco ball.” The sphere is supposedly a nuclear weapon, shrunken to fit inside the nose cone of a missile. Credit Korean Central News Agency

WASHINGTON — Behind the Trump administration’s sudden urgency in dealing with the North Korean nuclear crisis lies a stark calculus: a growing body of expert studies and classified intelligence reports that conclude the country is capable of producing a nuclear bomb every six or seven weeks.
That acceleration in pace — impossible to verify until experts get beyond the limited access to North Korean facilities that ended years ago — explains why President Trump and his aides fear they are running out of time. For years, American presidents decided that each incremental improvement in the North’s program — another nuclear test, a new variant of a missile — was worrisome, but not worth a confrontation that could spill into open conflict.
Now those step-by-step advances have resulted in North Korean warheads that in a few years could reach Seattle. “They’ve learned a lot,” said Siegfried S. Hecker, a Stanford professor who directed the Los Alamos weapons laboratory in New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, from 1986 to 1997, and whom the North Koreans have let into their facilities seven times.
North Korea is now threatening another nuclear test, which would be its sixth in 11 years. The last three tests — the most recent was in September — generated Hiroshima-size explosions. It is unclear how Mr. Trump would react to a test, but he told representatives of the United Nations Security Council at the White House on Monday that they should be prepared to pass far more restrictive sanctions, which American officials say should include cutting off energy supplies.


















 
The American physicist Norris Bradbury next to “Gadget,” the first atomic bomb, which was detonated in the desert near Alamogordo, N.M., in 1945. Credit United States Department of Energy

“People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it’s time to solve the problem,” Mr. Trump said.


He made his remarks after a Sunday night phone call on North Korea with Xi Jinping, China’s president, who urged Mr. Trump to show “restraint” with North Korea, according to a Chinese television report. White House officials said little about the call, and aides are trying to use Mr. Trump’s unpredictability to the greatest advantage, hoping it will keep the Chinese off balance and deter the North Koreans.

A Growing Arsenal

Inside the C.I.A., they call it “the disco ball.”
It is a round, metallic sphere, covered by small circles, that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is shown caressing in official photographs as if it were his crown jewel. And it may be: The sphere is supposedly a nuclear weapon, shrunken to fit inside the nose cone of one of the country’s growing arsenal of missiles.
American intelligence officials still debate whether it is a real bomb or a mock-up that is part of the country’s vast propaganda effort. But it is intended to show where the country is headed.

















India
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Scud B/C/ER
180–600 miles
Thailand
Italy
KN-11
600
China
Spain
Russia
North
Korea
Britain
Nodong
800
Japan
Greenland
(Denmark)
Guam
Musudan
2,200
Australia
Papua
New Guinea
Canada
North Korea’s Growing Reach
The potential range of North Korea’s current weapons, particularly the KN-14 and KN-08 missiles, would put most of the world in reach of its nuclear warheads.
KN-14
6,200
United
States
KN-08
7,200
Estimated
ranges

Unless something changes, North Korea’s arsenal may well hit 50 weapons by the end of Mr. Trump’s term, about half the size of Pakistan’s. American officials say the North already knows how to shrink those weapons so they can fit atop one of its short- to medium-range missiles — putting South Korea and Japan, and the thousands of American troops deployed in those two nations, within range. The best estimates are that North Korea has roughly 1,000 ballistic missiles in eight or so varieties.
But fulfilling Mr. Kim’s dream — putting a nuclear weapon atop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach Seattle or Los Angeles, or one day New York — remains a more complex problem.
As Dr. Hecker, a man who has built his share of nuclear weapons, noted last week, any weapon that could travel that far would have to be “smaller, lighter and surmount the additional difficulties of the stresses and temperatures” of a fiery re-entry into the atmosphere.
By most estimates, that is four or five years away. Then again, many senior officials said the same four or five years ago.

















 
At a train station in Seoul in 2006, South Koreans watched a broadcast of North Korea’s first nuclear weapons test. Credit Jung Yeon-je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

But the North has come farther than most experts expected since the infancy of its program in the 1950s, when the Soviet Union began training North Korean scientists in nuclear basics.
It took three decades for the North to assemble the technology it needed to make its own bomb fuel. Finally, from a reactor at Yongbyon, it succeeded in making plutonium: enough for about one atomic bomb a year.
The first North Korean nuclear crisis, in 1994, ended in an agreement with the Clinton administration to freeze the North’s production facilities in return for oil and peaceful reactors. It fell apart early in the George W. Bush administration. In 2006, the first test explosion, while unimpressive, entered North Korea into the club of nuclear powers. Analysts say the first blast was a plutonium bomb, as was a second detonation just months into the Obama administration in 2009.
Dr. Hecker visited Yongbyon in 2010, and the North Koreans showed him a complete uranium enrichment facility, which American intelligence agencies had missed. The message was clear: The North now had two pathways to a bomb, uranium and plutonium. Today, it has an arsenal made up of both, intelligence officials say.

















OPEN Interactive Feature

And it is aiming for something much bigger: a hydrogen bomb, with a destructive force up to 1,000 times greater than ordinary nuclear weapons. That is exactly the path the United States took in the 1950s.
Recently, United Nations investigators found evidence that the North’s factories had succeeded in producing lithium 6, a rare ingredient needed to make thermonuclear fuel. Gregory S. Jones, a scientist at the RAND Corporation, said the North might have already used bits of thermonuclear fuel in its 2016 detonations.
A potential clue, analysts say, is that the North’s five blasts over the past decade have grown steadily more destructive.

Shrinking the Bomb

A bomb is useless to North Korea — as an offensive weapon or as a deterrent — unless the country can make a convincing case that it has a reliable delivery system. So when the North flaunts missiles at military parades, as it did on April 15, the stars of the show tend to be the big missiles that are designed to reach Washington and New York. While several intercontinental ballistic missiles rolled down the streets of Pyongyang, conducting a flight test that proves one could fly that far, and land with accuracy, is so far only an aspiration.Missing from the parade were the short- and medium-range missiles that have been successfully flight tested. American intelligence agencies believe some of those can carry operational nuclear arms. The critical one is the Nodong, which has a range of about 800 miles.
But the North Koreans are discovering — as the United States, the Soviet Union and China did before them — that it is far more complicated to design an intercontinental missile. With that weapons system, a warhead would move at four miles a second and re-enter the atmosphere in fiery heat — so, if badly engineered, it would burn up long before hitting a target. To reach their goal, North Korean weapons designers are looking to miniaturize their warheads, making them far lighter and more powerful.
The big effort these days is to merge two technologies: Get a missile that can cross the Pacific, and marry it to a warhead that can survive the ride. And this is why the United States is so desperate to stop the cycle of testing.
The cyber- and electronic warfare attacks that President Barack Obama ordered against the country’s missile fleet were intended to slow North Korea’s learning curve. The Musudan, which can travel 2,200 miles, has racked up an embarrassing failure rate of 88 percent — although how much of that is due to incompetence or outside meddling is not known. Until the North Koreans figure out what is going wrong, and how to fix it, they appear hesitant to test the KN-14 and the KN-08, both of which are designed to hit the continental United States.
















Examining North Korea’s Missiles


By MARK SCHEFFLER and DAPHNE RUSTOW on Publish Date April 16, 2017. 

The diplomatic pressure from China to stop a sixth nuclear test at the Punggye-ri test site is intended to keep the North Koreans from making advances in warhead miniaturization and the design of a hydrogen bomb. As Mr. Obama noted before he left office, even failures are important learning tools for the North Koreans, aiding the trial-and-error process of making new warheads.
How long will it take for the North Koreans to solve those problems? The best guesswork is around 2020 — while Mr. Trump is still in his first term.

A Freeze, to What End?

The strategy emerging from Mr. Trump’s national security team comes down to this: Apply overwhelming pressure on the North, both military and economic, to freeze its testing and reduce its stockpile. Then use that opening to negotiate, with the ultimate goal of getting the North Koreans to give up all their weapons.
Many experts, however, believe that is a fantasy, because Mr. Kim regards even a small arsenal as critical to his survival. The upside of the strategy, if it works, is that the “nuclear freeze” would delay for years the day the North can fit a small, reliable, well-tested weapon atop a large, reliable, well-tested missile. The downside is that it would leave the North Koreans with a small, potent arsenal — one the United States would be essentially acknowledging, if not accepting.
That is why it will be hard for Mr. Trump to fulfill his vow to “solve this problem.” And every day, there is the chance of miscalculation, or an accident.
At any moment, Dr. Hecker said on a call to reporters organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a live weapon could turn into an accidental nuclear detonation or some other catastrophe.
“I happen to believe,” he said, “the crisis is here now.”
















Continue reading the main story
 






















Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

we share a very special gift by beloved and very popular Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor member Letizia Mancino.


We know you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

Thanks a Million, dear Letizia Mancino.


You are an outstanding writer and artist.

We are so proud and happy to have you with us.

Letizia writes: One should not underestimate Wolfgang Hampel’s talent in speedily mobilizing Betty MacDonald’s friends.

We agree. Thank you so much dear Wolfgang Hampel for doing this. You founded Betty MacDonald Fan Club with four members.

Now we have members in 40 countries around the world. A dream came true.

Mary Holmes did an excellent job in translating this great story. 


Thank you so much dear Mary Holmes. 


We are really very grateful.

All the best to Letizia, Wolfgang and Mary and to all Betty MacDonald Fan Club fans from all over the world!

Lenard 






Following in Betty’s footsteps in Seattle:

or some small talk with Betty

Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
All rights reserved
translated by Mary Holmes

We were going to Canada in the summer. “When we are in Edmonton”, I said to Christoph Cremer, “let’s make a quick trip to Seattle”. And that’s how it happened. At Edmonton Airport we climbed into a plane and two hours later we landed in the city where Betty had lived. I was so happy to be in Seattle at last and to be able to trace Betty’s tracks!

Wolfgang Hampel had told Betty’s friends about our arrival.
They were happy to plan a small marathon through the town and it’s surroundings with us. We only had a few days free. One should not underestimate Wolfgang’s talent in speedily mobilizing Betty’s friends, even though it was holiday time. E-mails flew backwards and forwards between Heidelberg and Seattle, and soon a well prepared itinerary was ready for us. Shortly before my departure Wolfgang handed me several parcels, presents for Betty MacDonald's friends. I rushed to pack the heavy gifts in my luggage but because of the extra weight had to throw out a pair of pajamas!

After we had landed we took a taxi to the Hotel in downtown Seattle. I was so curious to see everything. I turned my head in all directions like one of the hungry hens from Betty’s farm searching for food! Fortunately it was quite a short journey otherwise I would have lost my head like a loose screw!
Our hotel room was on the 22nd floor and looked directly out onto the 16-lane highway. There might have been even more than 16 but it made me too giddy to count! It was like a glimpse of hell! “And is this Seattle?” I asked myself. I was horrified! The cars racing by were enough to drive one mad. The traffic roared by day and night.
We immediately contacted Betty MacDonald's friends and let them know we had arrived and they confirmed the times when we should see them.

On the next morning I planned my first excursion tracing Betty’s tracks. I spread out the map of Seattle. “Oh dear” I realized “the Olympic Peninsula is much too far away for me to get there.”
Betty nodded to me! “Very difficult, Letizia, without a car.”

“But I so much wanted to see your chicken farm”

“My chickens are no longer there and you can admire the mountains from a distance”

But I wanted to go there. I left the hotel and walked to the waterfront where the State Ferry terminal is. Mamma mia, the streets in Seattle are so steep! I couldn’t prevent my feet from running down the hill. Why hadn’t I asked for brakes to be fixed on my shoes? I looked at the drivers. How incredibly good they must be to accelerate away from the red traffic lights. The people were walking uphill towards me as briskly as agile salmon. Good heavens, these Americans! I tried to keep my balance. The force of gravity is relentless. I grasped hold of objects where I could and staggered down.
In Canada a friend had warned me that in Seattle I would see a lot of people with crutches.

Betty laughed. “ It’s not surprising, Letizia, walking salmon don’t fall directly into the soft mouth of a bear!”
“ Betty, stop making these gruesome remarks. We are not in Firlands!”

I went further. Like a small deranged ant at the foot of a palace monster I came to a tunnel. The noise was unbearable. On the motorway, “The Alaskan Way Viaduct”, cars, busses and trucks were driving at the speed of light right over my head. They puffed out their poisonous gas into the open balconies and cultivated terraces of the luxurious sky- scrapers without a thought in the world. America! You are crazy!
“Betty, are all people in Seattle deaf? Or is it perhaps a privilege for wealthy people to be able to enjoy having cars so near to their eyes and noses to save them from boredom?”

“When the fog democratically allows everything to disappear into nothing, it makes a bit of a change, Letizia”

“ Your irony is incorrigible, Betty, but tell me, Seattle is meant to be a beautiful city, But where?”

I had at last reached the State Ferry terminal.

“No Madam, the ferry for Vashon Island doesn’t start from here,” one of the men in the ticket office tells me. ”Take a buss and go to the ferry terminal in West Seattle.”
Betty explained to me “The island lies in Puget Sound and not in Elliott Bay! It is opposite the airport. You must have seen it when you were landing!”
“Betty, when I am landing I shut my eyes and pray!”

It’s time for lunch. The weather is beautiful and warm. Who said to me that it always rains here?
“Sure to be some envious man who wanted to frighten you away from coming to Seattle. The city is really beautiful, you’ll see. Stay by the waterfront, choose the best restaurant with a view of Elliott Bay and enjoy it.”
“Thank you Betty!”

I find a table on the terrace of “Elliott’s Oyster House”. The view of the island is wonderful. It lies quietly in the sun like a green fleecy cushion on the blue water.
Betty plays with my words:
“Vashon Island is a big cushion, even bigger than Bainbridge which you see in front of your eyes, Letizia. The islands look similar. They have well kept houses and beautiful gardens”.

I relax during this introduction, “Bainbridge” you are Vashon Island, and order a mineral water.

“At one time the hotel belonging to the parents of Monica Sone stood on the waterfront.”
“Oh, of your friend Kimi!” Unfortunately I forget to ask Betty exactly where it was.

My mind wanders and I think of my mountain hike back to the hotel! “Why is there no donkey for tourists?” Betty laughs:

“I’m sure you can walk back to the hotel. “Letizia can do everything.””

“Yes, Betty, I am my own donkey!”

But I don’t remember that San Francisco is so steep. It doesn’t matter, I sit and wait. The waiter comes and brings me the menu. I almost fall off my chair!
“ What, you have geoduck on the menu! I have to try it” (I confess I hate the look of geoduck meat. Betty’s recipe with the pieces made me feel quite sick – I must try Betty’s favourite dish!)
“Proof that you love me!” said Betty enthusiastically “ Isn’t the way to the heart through the stomach?”

I order the geoduck. The waiter looks at me. He would have liked to recommend oysters.
“Geoduck no good for you!”
Had he perhaps read my deepest thoughts? Fate! Then no geoduck. “No good for me.”

“Neither geoduck nor tuberculosis in Seattle” whispered Betty in my ear!
“Oh Betty, my best friend, you take such good care of me!”

I order salmon with salad.

“Which salmon? Those that swim in water or those that run through Seattle?”

“Betty, I believe you want me to have a taste of your black humour.”

“Enjoy it then, Letizia.”

During lunch we talked about tuberculosis, and that quite spoilt our appetite.

“Have you read my book “The Plague and I”?”

“Oh Betty, I’ve started to read it twice but both times I felt so sad I had to stop again!”

“But why?” asked Betty “Nearly everybody has tuberculosis! I recovered very quickly and put on 20 pounds! There was no talk of me wasting away! What did you think of my jokes in the book?”

“Those would have been a good reason for choosing another sanitorium. I would have been afraid of becoming a victim of your humour! You would have certainly given me a nickname! You always thought up such amusing names!” Betty laughed.

“You’re right. I would have called you “Roman nose”. I would have said to Urbi and Orbi “ Early this morning “Roman nose” was brought here. She speaks broken English, doesn’t eat geoduck but she does love cats.”

“Oh Betty, I would have felt so ashamed to cough. To cough in your presence, how embarrassing! You would have talked about how I coughed, how many coughs!”

“It depends on that “how”, Letizia!”

“Please, leave Goethe quotations out of it. You have certainly learnt from the Indians how to differentiate between noises. It’s incredible how you can distinguish between so many sorts of cough! At least 10!”

“So few?”

”And also your descriptions of the patients and the nurses were pitiless. An artistic revenge! The smallest pimple on their face didn’t escape your notice! Amazing.”

“ I was also pitiless to myself. Don’t forget my irony against myself!”

Betty was silent. She was thinking about Kimi, the “Princess” from Japan! No, she had only written good things about her best friend, Monica Sone, in her book “The Plague and I”. A deep friendship had started in the hospital. The pearl that developed from the illness.
“Isn’t it wonderful, Betty, that an unknown seed can make its way into a mollusk in the sea and develop into a beautiful jewel?” Betty is paying attention.

“Betty, the friendship between you and Monica reminds me of Goethe’s poem “Gingo-Biloba”. You must know it?” Betty nods and I begin to recite it:


The leaf of this Eastern tree
Which has been entrusted to my garden
Offers a feast of secret significance,
For the edification of the initiate.

Is it one living thing.
That has become divided within itself?
Are these two who have chosen each other,
So that we know them as one?

The friendship with Monica is like the wonderful gingo-biloba leaf, the tree from the east. Betty was touched. There was a deep feeling of trust between us.
“Our friendship never broke up, partly because she was in distress, endangered by the deadly illness. We understood and supplemented each other. We were like one lung with two lobes, one from the east and one from the west!”
“A beautiful picture, Betty. You were like two red gingo-biloba leaves!”

Betty was sad and said ” Monica, although Japanese, before she really knew me felt she was also an American. But she was interned in America, Letizia, during the second world war. Isn’t that terrible?”

“Betty, I never knew her personally. I have only seen her on a video, but what dignity in her face, and she speaks and moves so gracefully!”

“Fate could not change her”

“Yes, Betty, like the gingo-biloba tree in Hiroshima. It was the only tree that blossomed again after the atom bomb!”

The bill came and I paid at once. In America one is urged away from the table when one has finished eating. If one wants to go on chatting one has to order something else.
“That’s why all those people gossiping at the tables are so fat!” Betty remarks. “Haven’t you seen how many massively obese people walk around in the streets of America. Like dustbins that have never been emptied!” With this typically unsentimental remark Betty ended our conversation.

Ciao! I so enjoyed the talk; the humour, the irony and the empathy. I waved to her and now I too felt like moving! I take a lovely walk along the waterfront.

Now I am back in Heidelberg and when I think about how Betty’s “Princessin” left this world on September 5th and that in August I was speaking about her with Betty in Seattle I feel very sad. The readers who knew her well (we feel that every author and hero of a book is nearer to us than our fleeting neighbours next door) yes we, who thought of her as immortal, cannot believe that even she would die after 92 years. How unforeseen and unexpected that her death should come four days after her birthday on September 1th. On September 5th I was on my way to Turkey, once again in seventh heaven, looking back on the unforgettable days in Seattle. I was flying from west to east towards the rising sun.



Ein lyrisches Portrait von Hilde Domin
Anne MacDonald Canham

 




 









photos and graphics betty family betty and friend



Is this Mr. Tigerli?


Dare we face the question of just how much of the darkness around us is of our own making? - Betty MacDonald
Betty MacDonald ART Photos of ICONS Amazing Ladies Pinter Betty MacDonald Quotes Famous Quotes by Betty MacDonald Quoteswave 1950s showing Betty MacDonald descending a staircase and other images  betty macdonald betty bard macdonald wurde 1908 in boulder colorado  photos and graphics betty family betty and friend photos and graphics betty family betty grandchild photo of Betty MacDonald and two children in 1950 costumes Click images for alternate views BETTY MacDONALD PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED DOCUMENT 281143  photos and graphics betty family betty and don on vashon  
          



Betty MacDonald