same colour, isn't it.........................
Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
Happy Birthday dearest Wolfgang Hampel!
We wish you the most wonderful birthday ever.
Don't miss ' The Egg and Betty ' and ' The Kettles' Million Dollar Egg ' by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel, please.
The updated versions with many new info, documents and photos are really fascinating.
I adore the brilliant letter by Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Monica Sone.
I share two reviews by Olivier Thill.
The Egg and Betty
Author: Wolfgang Hampel
Publisher: Betty MacDonald fan club
Electronic file. 2002
Updated version with many new info, documents and photos in 2016
Rating: ****
This is the study of the bestseller, The Egg and I, by Betty MacDonald, first printed in 1945. You can read many fascinating thoughts from readers of The Egg and I and the long and careful investigation undertaken by the founder of Betty MacDonald fan club.
Contents
- A lesson in crosspurposes or Too much scrubbing takes the life right out of things
- They were all quite drunk but still jovial or Birdie Hicks the second
- My friend Betty or A letter from Kimi
- A far cry from the Smith brothers and/or a real bastard?
- Put out that match or Do you want me to start the greatest firework you've ever seen?
- How long will the forests last? or Where is the spotted owl?
- The type of female the pioneers were tickled pink to give the Indians as a hostage or I'm saving my old newspapers for you
- The terrible nearness of the mountains or A hell of a place to live
- Who is who? or Old McDonald' had a farm
- The good guy in The Egg and I or A long search with the help of an ex-FBI man who had helped catch Dillinger
- The Egg and I road or People on this road are pretty private
- A smile from Chimacum or How beautiful is it to be human
- Huge fans of Betty's or The "Kettles" were just trying to feather their own nests...
- Photos
Wolfgang Hampel has made funny and enigmatic titles like Betty MacDonald did.
This first chapter is an informal discussion about two families, the Kettles and the Hicks, who where the closest neighbors of Betty.
A "Betty Expert" ventured the hypothesis that the name Hicks derives from the adjective "hick" meaning rural and uncouth.
Wolfgang Hampel unveils the truth which was not easy to guess and to find, and which is completely different.
The second chapter starts with a few words about the Kettles. The rest of the chapter is about the representation of the Indians in MacDonald's book.
Wolfgang Hampel has asked the opinion of readers, and publishes their very interesting reactions
The next chapter entitled "a letter from Kimi" is also about the Indians. It ends with a very imporant letter from Kimi who in reality was author Monica Sone, first Betty MacDonald fanc club honor member and a very good friend of Betty MacDonald and Wolfgang Hampel.
The next chapter is about Betty's first husband, Robert Eugene Heskett
Wolfgang Hampel reveals a very interesting lie of Betty, which is that before marrying Bob, she already lived in the country, not in town.
Knowing the real life of Bob makes you feel more pity for poor Betty. One might also wonder why she has been so eager to quit her home at an early age, accepting to fly away with an old alcoholic as a result.
In the next chapter the truth is told about the fate of the farm after Betty and Bob left it.
In the rest of the book, you'll discover many other interesting things.
I won't go into details here (although I have carefully read every line till the end), because the purpose of a review is only to give an idea of the content of a book.
Wolfgang Hampel has done a wonderful work of research.
Now, every reader of Betty MacDonald's The Egg and I has the possibilty of learning the true story, which, personally, I find more interesting than the semi-fiction it inspired.
The Kettles' Million Dollar Egg
Author:Wolfgang Hampel
Publisher: Betty MacDonald fan clubElectronic file. 2002
Updated version with many new info, documents and photos in 2017
Rating: ****
The Kettle's Million Dollar Egg is an historical account of a trial.
Betty MacDonald is the author of The Egg and I, which turned out to be a best-seller. It was adapted to the screen. A movie was made, and proved to be very successful too. Afterwards " Ma and Pa Kettle" appeared in a very successful series after the name of a couple of farmers who are not very flatteringly described by Betty MacDonald. Undoubtedly it is their dirtyness and dumbness that make the spectators laugh. The series was a big success. The problem is that a family sues Betty MacDonald for having been exposed to ridicule in her book. The Bishop family believes she had been depicted by Betty MacDonald as the Kettle family.
The plaintiffs are the first to talk. On some issues, witnesses are asked to confirm or infirm what has been said.
A few days later, Betty MacDonald can talk. She is asked to tell in what circunstances she wrote the book.
Comments Being the defendant is not pleasant. Being in the witness stand is not always very easy:
She said a finer man never lived than Al Bishop and described his wife as a wonderful woman. Cautioned by Judge Wilkins just to answer questions and not to volunteer information, Mrs. Madeline Bishop, a sprightly and alert woman, turned to the judge with a broad smile: "Am I talking too much, judge?" she asked. "We all do that sometime," the judge remarked smiling. "But I can't tell you unless I explain," she answered pertly. According to her Albert Bishop had tremendous working habits, not at all like Paw Kettle in the book. He had red hair "like that juror's", pointing to a young juror with red hair. Albert Bishop worked "like a dog, night and day." Her sister wasn' t profane as was Maw Kettle. "It was not a habit of hers. She was not a profane woman. She might say 'Doggone you' to a kid or something like that." Several pictures of the Albert Bishop family which defense attorney Crandell sought to have introduced through Mrs. Bishops identification were ruled out of evidence as having no bearing on the case since they were taken a number of years before the time allegedly covered in THE EGG AND I. As the last of the pictures was ruled out, Mrs. Bishop drew a photograph in a small round frame from her purse. "Here's one of my sister when she was a young woman," she remarked , " but I suppose that one has no bearing either." Then she put the picture before Judge Wilkins, commenting as she did so: "She's sweet, isn't she?"The situation is absurd. When people are attacking others or defending themselves, they feel the need to say and do stupid things, as if it were the most stupid person who would be the winner in the end. The judge knows that natural inclination, he encourages the others to talk nonsense, and then, he rules out whatever he likes. Even if the Bishops are mostly interested in getting financial subsidies rather than in restoring their dignity and honour, they are nevertheless victims in some ways, because Betty's book changed their life. They had to deal with tourists, who wished to see the ranch where Betty lived. They had to recreate it, to reinvent a myth, to charge one dollar per visit, to declare they were the Kettles or to deny that according to circunstances.
The story is about a rebellion against mighty forces which are thwarting long-established plans and desires. The Olympian Gods want to make surprises, but the poor mortals don't like them.
Work and life of Betty MacDonald had been honored by Wolfgang Hampel in Vita Magica.
We got very important info regarding the original 'The Egg and I' and the way Betty MacDonald described her first husband Robert Eugene Heskett and their neighbours.
Enjoy a very nice Monday,
Mats
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sings 'Try to remember' especially for Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund at Vita Magica September
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Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I
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Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )
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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
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