Gift ideas: Meet a guide into the wonders of literature

November 10, 2011 by

If you love the inspirational work of C.S. Lewis or Frederick Buechner—and so many of us do—then you know that their lively Christian writings leap from their love of literature. One of the defining moments in Lewis’ life, according to biographers, is the moment when a friend insisted to the religiously skeptical Lewis: “The myths are true.” This catalytic comment, biographers say, was a key step in Christian conversion. These great writers—and many others, of course—first felt a stirring for the larger spiritual universe deep in the pages of books. Lewis, of course, loved early classics in world literature. Buechner writes about his lifelong love of L. Frank Baum’s Oz novels, among many other novels.

Writing in this same vein is Sarah Arthur, whose new At the Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer is a great choice for holiday gift giving. Click back to read our Monday story about our other two gift-giving picks this week: Shooting Salvationist and Streams of Contentment.

Just like a passage out of Lewis or Buechner, Sarah quickly takes us into a beloved library from her childhood. After such early adventures in the pages of great writers: “We remember certain scenes from certain books like we remember major life events: they become part of our personal histories, listed among the episodes that marked turning points in our lives. Indeed, many of us might include a poet or an author, whether dead or living, among our spiritual mentors. On a quiet evening, culrled up with a good story, we have encountered the memorable character, the articulate phrase, the evocative image, the small suggestion, the smuggled truth, the shattering epiphany, which changed us, and we weren’t even looking to be changed. It enriched our lives, and we didn’t even know our own poverty. We were not the same people afterward.”

Purchase and read At the Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer, which is available right now from Amazon—and you will not be the same person afterward.
And now, here is Sarah Arthur herself in …

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR INTERVIEW WITH SARAH ARTHUR
ABOUT AT THE STILL POINT: A LITERARY GUIDE TO PRAYER

SARAH ARTHUR, courtesy of her publisher.DAVID: You say that this book is an attempt to marry two worlds: Christianity and literature. I guess I would start by saying that they always have been a part of the same world. In your introduction you recall the era when many big churches included lending libraries with a wide range of books. But, I do understand your argument that, today, faith and literature often seem divided.

SARAH: It’s vital to nurture our imagination with great literature. Too often, when we are thinking about faith, we tend to sideline something like a contemporary poem as having been written just for our entertainment. We don’t see the connections that we can make with the poet. Poetry has been so denigrated in our society today that about the only place most people expect to find it is in a Hallmark card. We’ve forgotten that God speaks to us through our imagination. We know this as children and we continue to witness this even when we’re grown up. Sometimes we see this in its purest form when we’re interacting with children. But most of us are told that we should grow out of this. Imaginative people, at a certain point, seem dangerous to us.

Too many people confuse the spiritual life with a cut-and-dried following of strict precepts. There is no space left for the creative imagination. There are writers and artists who are trying to do the same thing I’m doing in this new book with music or with the visual arts. My specialty happens to be literature. So, I have focused these readings in that realm.

More than appreciating literature, we need to acknowledge again that our imagination is a gift. It is a mark of the Creator within us. To exercise imagination is to live into part of that image of God. J.R.R. Tolkien often said: We are sub-creators. We make because we were made. We begin to treat scripture as if it is an encyclopedia or textbook and we lose the creative imagination that’s right there at the center of our faith.

DAVID: You’re best known for books, which we will mention in our overview story, for younger readers. You’ve written books of meditations on Tolkien’s and Lewis’ fantasy novels. But, this new book feels more like a book aimed at adults. Did you consciously plan it that way? You’ve got guides to literary imagination already for younger readers—now it’s time for a more adult guide to prayer fueled by literature?

SARAH: That’s a good question: Is this more for adults than students? But, I think that the answer depends on the reader. I remember having a conversation with some high school students and they were complaining that what passes for Christian fiction these days makes them gag. These Christian novels were being pushed on them by adults who love them. And I told them: Try reading something different like Crime and Punishment. I remember a student coming back, thanking me for the suggestion and telling me: That’s the most amazing book I’ve ever read.

I’ve had a lot of experiences with young people reading literary classics and really responding to them. I think we underestimate what young adults can handle and appreciate.

DAVID: How about the Twilight sensation that’s sweeping the country this autumn, once again, as we approach the release of this new movie?

SARAH: Twilight certainly is wonderful for younger readers right now. It’s this journey of the imagination that, in many ways, is quite creative. But there’s so much more out there than Twilight. If you enjoyed those novels, don’t stop there! If you love fantasy, there’s Wind in the Willows. There’s Hans Christian Anderson. There’s George Macdonald.

DAVID: The fact is that our world has produced countless literary geniuses and many of them are right here in the pages of your book: Jane Austin, Garrison Keillor, G.K. Chesterton, Herman Melville. As you demonstrate in these pages, there is no shortage of terrific literature to stir the spirit!

SARAH: That’s right. And I know that each reader will be drawn to some works more than others. Someone will pick up this book and get hooked on Jane Austin’s Northanger Abbey—or perhaps they might discover a great classic like George Eliot’s Middlemarch that might take them a whole season to read. Some people today still get hooked on Tolstoy and, if Tolstoy is your choice, then you’re going to be reading for a while. I don’t expect readers to enjoy every selection I provide in the book. This is more of a sampler.

DAVID: One great thing about your book is that, if readers do get a taste for the classics, many of them are easily available. If you suddenly become a fan of Tolstoy, for example, there’s one edition of his works that costs just 99 cents on a Kindle.

SARAH: That’s right. I want people to choose what inspires them. I want people to feel free to read at their own pace. The last thing in the world I want to become is someone’s 9th grade English teacher, assigning them to meet deadlines to get a good grade. I want people to pursue their delights. And, if you pick up this new book and discover that something lights up your day—then for heaven’s sake grab that and carry it with you for a while and enjoy it.

We know from ancient times that the Divine qualities include truth, goodness and beauty. In most churches, we get a lot of the truth and goodness part of this message, but I think we’re losing sight of the beauty as a part of our experience of the Divine. It’s God’s beauty that often compels the transformations that truly open up our lives.

Remember: You can purchase and read At the Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer, which is available right now from Amazon.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

Conversation is far better than the dangerous shouting matches we’ve been witnessing in our global culture. So, please, tell a friend to start reading along with you!
We welcome your Emails at [email protected]
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, YouTube and other social-networking sites. You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Gift ideas: Crime story, Contentment guide, Contemplation

November 6, 2011 by

Everyone is strapped for cash this holiday season, so ReadTheSpirit plans to help readers make smart choices of books and DVDs that will cheer—and inspire—the men and women in your life. Starting today, we are recommending holiday gift ideas. Plus, this week we will publish interviews with all three of these authors, so you can learn more about their work. If you wind up purchasing these books as gifts, you may want to print out the interviews later this week to enclose with these gifts.
(Click the titles or the covers, below, to jump to Amazon and order copies.)

DAVID R. STOKES: THE SHOOTING SALVATIONIST

Most Americans tell pollsters that faith is important in their lives—and most Americans love mysteries!
Check out any week’s listing of bestelling books and you’ll find murder mysteries and true-crime page-turners dominating the list. Unfortunately, readers rarely are able to connect theology and thrillers. Now, David Stokes is giving us both thrills—and a whole lot to ponder about the nature of religious leadership in America. The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial that Captivated America is quite simply a fun “read.” Or, if you are part of a book-discussion group, you might want to mull over issues raised by Stokes’ history of a ruthless religious entrepreneur. This cautionary tale is set in the 1920s, but the Rev. J. Frank Norris was an early model for today’s politically powerful mega-church preachers. He managed to run enormous churches both in Texas and Michigan. But, he wound up in headlines coast to coast when he shot and killed an unarmed parishioner in his church—then claimed that he was acting in self defense. (And, meet author David Stokes in a ReadTheSpirit interview.)

ROBERT J. WICKS: STREAMS OF CONTENTMENT

Lots of books promise happiness, but most Americans know that they’re not going to turn their lives around in 10 Easy Steps, no matter who is pitching the latest get-successful-quickly scheme. No, it’s time to set our sights on something much more practical—and, in the long run, much more likely to bring us enduring joy. Robert Wicks already is a beloved author and a highly respected therapist with a string of popular books to his credit. Now, in Streams of Contentment: Lessons I Learned on My Uncle’s Farm,Wicks mixes his lifelong expertise in overcoming trauma with a wealth of grassroots wisdom he has picked up over a lifetime. “Life is simpler than we make it,” Wicks writes in the introduction. “Knowing this can encourage us to focus more directly on what is truly important and essential to life.” If you are just discovering Robert Wicks’ name in this review, click here to read our 2009 interview with him about his earlier book, called Prayerfulness. (And, meet author Robert Wicks in our ReadTheSpirit interview about Streams of Contentment.)

SARAH ARTHUR: AT THE STILL POINT

Toward the end of each year, bales of prayer books and 365-day guides to contemplation crowd onto store shelves. Some are packaged as page-a-day calendars; some are geared toward one particular denomination; some are inspirational collections from a single best-selling writer.
Why so many prayer books? Since the vast majority of Americans tell pollsters they pray on a regular basis—a prayer book is a great gift. What’s tough is finding a unique volume. That’s what Sarah Arthur gives us in “At the Still Point,” which she describes as “a literary guide to prayer.” In fact, Sarah’s book is so unusual, we recommended it once last summer—and we are recommending it again for year-end gift giving. (Meet Sarah Arthur in our new ReadTheSpirit interview about At the Still Point.)
Many of our readers already are familiar with Sarah’s earlier devotional books that link popular culture with spiritual treasures from the Christian tradition. You might have enjoyed her Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings—or perhaps her Walking through the Wardrobe: A Devotional Quest into The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Now in At the Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer in Ordinary Time Sarah ushers us into a library full of poetry and prose where we meet dozens of writers from Jane Austin to Victor Hugo. There are some contemporary excerpts, as well, including Kathleen Norris and Garrison Keillor. In At the Still Point, there are many prayers and recommended scripture readings, but the spiritual art of this book is reflecting on Sarah’s selection of literary passages. This is a perfect gift for the relative or friend who loves reading—and enjoys finding deeper spiritual connections.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

Conversation is far better than the dangerous shouting matches we’ve been witnessing in our global culture. So, please, tell a friend to start reading along with you!
We welcome your Emails at [email protected]
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, YouTube and other social-networking sites. You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Songwriter Fran McKendree’s song of hope

October 30, 2011 by

Fran McKendree talks with ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm on his porch.Singer-songwriter Fran McKendree responded to our request for hopeful songs by sending along a video of his stirring song Times Like These.

We introduced Fran McKendree to readers in 2010 during our American Journey series. Since then, Fran has returned several times with news, fresh music and creative ideas for small groups.

This song is terrific if you’re burned out, or as Fran puts it: If you’re “choking on the front-page news” and mourning in our angry political climate “the grave of our civility.” Despite all of that, Fran is convinced that “hope is breaking through somehow” and “it brings me to my knees—in times like these.” Most importantly, no matter how bad things may seem, the One still “stirs the wind that shakes the trees and shouts the truth—in times like these.”

CLICK ON THE FRAN McKENDREE VIDEO BELOW to hear his song Times Like These. If a video screen does not appear, try clicking on the headline of this story to reload it with the video. Or, Click Here to jump directly to YouTube and view the song there.

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Care to learn more about Fran McKendree?

Visit Frank McKendree’s website.

Get his music via the CD Baby website.

Care to read more on Caregiving?

See our complete Caregivers list of Songs to Remember Our Hope.

Guide for Caregivers: Learn about this very helpful book and online project.

Guide for Grief: Help in Surviving the Stages of Grief and Bereavement after a Loss.

Check out Caregivers on Facebook.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Praying for Our World: Elders Eying a Better Future

October 2, 2011 by

HOPEFUL CHILDREN from around the world. Top: NASA image of the planet. Then: School children in Vietnam, then Brazil, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Images in public domain, couresy of Wikimedia Commons. We invited men, women and children to contribute to a prayer that starts with these simple words:
“I hope for a world where …”
Today, we are sharing examples of what people have done with this idea. You are free to share these prayers. (Just inlcude a link to the readthespirit.com version as you share a copy.)

Read the Original Invitation: This story explains the project, which you’re still welcome to try.
Turning 9/11 into a Day of Hope: Learn how young and old voiced their hopes at AOK Detroit.
A Retirement Community Prays: This prayer came from the Chelsea Retirement Community.
Women of WISDOM: The creators of the Friendship and Faith project gathered their prayers, too.

Pray: ‘I Hope
for a World Where …’

WHAT IS THE CHELSEA RETIREMENT COMMUNITY? For more than 100 years, the Chelsea Retirement Community has been one of the major retirement communities related to the United Methodist Church.
WHY SELECT THIS EXAMPLE TODAY?
Cathy L. Rafferty, chaplain at the Chelsea community, invited men and women to add lines to this prayer as part of a worship service. What is fascinating about the Chelsea prayer is that it shows how congregations can adapt this idea to pray for universal concerns in their own specific religious context. The Chelsea group is comprised of Christian elders and, while their lines set this prayer in their own faith tradition—they touched on the two universal themes people raise in this prayer: the need to overcome poverty and lift up children. Whatever our age or location or specific religious tradition—we share a great deal in our hopeful visions.

THE CHELSEA VERSION:
‘THINGS’ ARE NOT SO IMPORTANT

I pray for a world where …
There is peace
There is no hunger or homelessness
Jesus’ teachings rule
Children grow in safety
Love conquers hate
There is peace in the whole world
All nations are neighbors
People love and show respect for each other
“Things” are not so important
God reigns
Everyone knows Jesus
All the world can rise and sing “Praise the Lord!”

REMEMBER:
You can find two other examples via links above.
You can share these prayers with others.
And there’s still time for you to try this project.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Join in a 9/11 Prayer: “I hope for a world where …”

August 21, 2011 by

Since our founding in 2007, ReadTheSpirit has encouraged prayer for peace in our world. Our earlier effort, launched after a May 2011 conversation with Celtic-Christian writer John Philip Newell asked readers to begin prayers with the line, “Open my eyes to …”

NOW, in a new interview with John Philip that will be published on Wednesday, we discussed the ever-growing interest in that earlier form of prayer. And, we discussed starting a new kind of prayer in light of the looming 10th anniversary of “9/11.”

The new effort encourages everyone to complete this line: “I hope for a world where …”

Why “hope”? Because we all regard hope as a virtue, whatever our faith may be. For Christians, who comprise the vast majority of the U.S. population, hope is listed among three core virtues. In First Corinthians, chapter 13, Paul writes: “For now we see in a mirror darkly—but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part—then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three—and the greatest of these is love.”

Why refer to the “world”? Because, despite a lot of Christian preaching about evil in the world these days, there is a strong 2,000-year-old tradition in Christianity—and in Judaism even before that—teaching that God’s creation is basically good. Our role is to repair this world—and to become people of compassion.

Why now? Rather than focus solely on the pain of the “9/11” anniversary—and rather than allowing some angry activists to fuel even more anger—this kind of prayer aims our intentions toward a better future.

BEGIN A PRAYER WITH:
“I HOPE FOR A WORLD WHERE …”

THIS IS EASY!
Simply complete that 1 line,
then email your response to [email protected]
We plan to assemble these lines into prayers we can publish for readers just as we did in our earlier effort with the phrase “Open my eyes to …”

Some peace activists already are gathering lines for the new prayer. WISDOM, the women’s network behind our Friendship and Faith project, produced a memorable prayer using the earlier “Open my eyes to …” phrase. WISDOM now distributes that prayer they assembled from many lines from many different people. That WISDOM prayer has been used in congregations in Sunday worship and in other settings.

WISDOM already is collecting responses to this new phrase.
Here are a few they have collected so far …

I hope for a world where …
… children grow up feeling safe.
… children are loved by, not only their own family, but by families around the world.
… we celebrate our differences as well as our similarities.
… we put the needs of others before our own.
… we join hands to feed our hungry.

How do YOU finish the line? “I hope for a world where …”
Simply complete that 1 line and email your response to [email protected]

Care to read our new stories with John Philip Newell this week?

Part 1: Overview of “A New Harmony” includes an excerpt of John Philip’s writing.

Please connect with us and help us to reach a wider audience

Conversation is far better than the dangerous shouting matches we’ve been witnessing in our global culture. So, please, email us at [email protected] and tell us what you think of our stories—and, please tell a friend to start reading along with you!

We welcome your Emails! . We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, YouTube and other social-networking sites. You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed. Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Celebrate KJV 400: Can you tell Bard from Bible?

May 15, 2011 by

Journalists have been covering the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible for months—and there’s a lot more to come throughout the year. One of the first writers to celebrate the anniversary was veteran religion newswriter Bill Tammeus, who pointed out the importance of the KJV was in making the Bible “available to many people whose contact with scripture generally was limited to a few verses read in church each Sunday.”

Bill also pointed out two major cautionary notes about the venerable KJV: This certainly wasn’t the “first English translation” of the Bible. In fact, this “authorized” Bible was a direct rebuff of other translation efforts floating around Europe at the time. And, second, as Bill puts it: “The KJV, whatever its many virtues, does not now represent the best available translation.”

Nevertheless, the KJV was an enormous milestone in shaping the English language—including lots of evocative lines that, to this day, millions of men and women call upon to talk about their spiritual lives. As Stan Malless and Jeff McQuain point out so well in their wonderful little book, Coined by God: Words and Phrases That First Appear in English Translations of the Bible, the KJV forever changed the way we talk about ourselves and our world.

However, there was another “enormous milestone” in “English language” in that same era! We’re referring to the plays and poetry penned by the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare. We inherited so many great lines from this era that we sometimes mix up the origins of our most powerful phrases, don’t we? TODAY, in kicking off an entire week of surprising stories about the 400th anniversary of the KJV, we invite you to test your memory with …

Quiz: The Bard or the Bible?
Who Came Up with the Famous Phrase?

Below, you’ll find 10 words or phrases. Half of them were introduced into the English language through the creativity of early Bible translators. The other half are from the Bard—and, to keep things within a manageable scale, we’ll limit the Shakespearean phrases to a single play: Hamlet. Your quest is to identify which 5 are from the Bible—and which 5 are from the text of Hamlet.

Try to answer all 10—then, scroll further in today’s story and you’ll find the answers. So, please don’t read too far ahead today, if you don’t want to spoil the fun!

THE 10 WORDS and PHRASES:

    1.) Apple of his eye.

    2.) Blind lead the blind.

    3.) City set on a hill.

    4.) Pluck out the heart.

    5.) Confess yourself to heaven.

    6.) Eat, drink and be merry.

    7.) Get thee behind me, Satan.

    8.) Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

    9.) Passing through nature to eternity.

    10.) The rest is silence.

THE ANSWERS:

1.) Bible. It’s first usage was in Deuteronomy 32:10: He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

2.) Bible. From Matthew 15:14: Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

3.) Bible. Matthew again was the birthplace of the phrase, slightly revised over time, that’s now common political coin. In 5:14: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

4.) Shakespeare verbally sent us down this horrific path, perhaps softened by those who, later, preferred only to pluck the heartstrings.

5.) It’s a timeless religious idea, but the phrase was from Shakespeare—not early Bibles.

6.) Bible. Yes, this one surely sounds Shakespearean—he reveled in this stuff—but it’s from Luke 12:19: And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

7.) Bible. Matthew once more! This time 16:23: But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (If you guessed it was Shakespeare, you may have been thinking of his line, “Get thee to a nunnery!”)

8.) You might want to reach for Benjamin Franklin as an answer for No. 8—but he’s not an option here! There are countless “wisdom” passages in the Bible—but this one also arose from Shakespeare’s pen.

9.) And so we are, often inspired by Shakespeare’s reflections. The phrase came from his pen.

10.) Thus ends our quiz! The 4-word sentence is truly biblical in its poetic theme—but it was also from the pen of the Bard.

How’d you do?
If you enjoyed this quiz, click the Facebook Recommend button below! Challenge a friend!

Please connect with us and help us to reach a wider audience

Conversation is far better than the dangerous shouting matches we’ve been witnessing in our global culture. So, please, email us at [email protected] and tell us what you think of our stories—and, please tell a friend to start reading along with you!

We welcome your Emails! . We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, YouTube and other social-networking sites. You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed. Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Live from NY! Publishing booms, despite Borders crisis

February 17, 2011 by

Borders is bust. The bookstore giant may pass through bankruptcy as a smaller retailer of diverse products, but the era of big box bookstores is over. Have you seen the public filing that lists 200 stores Borders plans to close immediately? Here’s a copy from court records.

BUT TODAY, LIVE FROM NEW YORK, we’re reporting on highlights of the big annual conference of digital publishers and media developers in New York City. This is a summary of news items jotted down all this week on an iPad by ReadTheSpirit Publisher John Hile. Despite the wreckage that Borders now is spreading coast to coast: employees out of work, customers no longer able to browse for the latest news and books, community leaders no longer able to gather around a Borders coffeetable, towns left with big empty stores—yes, despite that grim news …

NEW YORK TOC SAYS PUBLISHING IS BOOMING

The O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing conference in New York is an annual watershed for the thousands of innovators building the next generation of publishing. Professionals come from major newspapers like New York Times and USA Today, from the realm of literature like author Margaret Atwood, from traditional publishers and booksellers like Ingram and Barnes & Noble. And, lots of professionals also come from companies you’ve never heard of—but may soon.
Our Publisher John Hile looked for points of light on the horizon. Here is his report …

After Big Box Bookstores, Where Do We Meet?

Where do hundreds of millions of friends meet now? Online social networking. Facebook represents the biggest single chunk of time for millions. If you haven’t done so already, you may soon interact in small discussion groups via online connectors. Some of the sites mentioned at ToC were: Book Glutton: Books Are Conversations, then still in development is ReadSocial, and some sites are taking different approaches to the methods of connection like Discoverreads, which is designed to link with friends through your own tastes in reading. Of course, an established site in that realm is Goodreads. AND, to a large extent, readers already are building their own online hubs through Facebook. Here’s a Facebook hub we set up at ReadTheSpirit for readers who enjoy discussing American values through the www.OurValues.org project. In 2011, ReadTheSpirit will bring you more opportunities to connect with friends. After all, we can’t depend on Borders to keep the lights on and the coffee hot for us.

Are ‘Most’ Publishers Ready For This?

No!
Of course, the giant publishing houses already have big new-media divisions. But the truth of American publishing is that this business really is a network of thousands of small to mid-sized publishers. And, here’s a startling stat heard at ToC: New research into American publishing shows two-thirds have not made any fundamental changes to their business models or workflows to adapt to digital publishing. As publishers, can we afford to ignore what’s unfolding? Companies must evolve. Here’s another startling stat heard at ToC: Throughout the corporate world, nearly half of the companies praised as stars in the 1982 best-seller “In Search of Excellence”—are gone. No choice. Evolve.

‘April Is the Cruelest Month’
(Or maybe not!)
T.S. Eliot Meets iPad

Know ‘The Wasteland’? Like ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg and works by Frost and Auden and Yeats, these are poetic pillars of the 20th Century. Does that sound a bit stodgy? Like that high school class you thought would never end? Nah! Ginsberg is fresher than ever on DVD and Blu-ray and, at ToC, we heard news that a transformed T.S. Eliot—with five recordings of the poem, plus video—is coming to our iPads in April. Yes, that is Eliot’s “cruelest month.” Or maybe not this year.

An App is a Ride … Not a Website

Think about that ‘Wasteland’ offering: so clearly focused that it’s easy to explain—and it’s intriguing even to people who might have shuddered over Eliot in school. At ToC, Jennifer Brook talked about the unique nature of Apps. She is an interaction designer who develops web, mobile and tablet applications for the New York Times. In her presentation at ToC, she stressed that anyone considering turning content into an App should stop and think about the unique nature of Apps. They’re not newspapers. They’re not websites. If a handheld platform is a theme park, an App is a ride. Successful Apps are clearly focused on a few very good features. Too many things to think about spoils the ride.

Know the bald guy? Read Seth.

COVER of Seth Godin’s new book, “Poke the Box.”As at previous ToC gatherings, there was buzz from the bald guy. If you don’t follow Seth Godin’s blog, well: Start. On Monday, people were buzzing about Seth’s latest challenge to re-envision book covers. Why? Among other things, covers don’t show on an actual Kindle device. Plus, the old marketing rationale for book covers is crumbling, Seth says; something new will emerge with growth of e-reading. Seth’s putting his own advice into practice; his latest book, Poke the Box, doesn’t have a title on the cover.

Shout out to McSweeney’s

At ReadTheSpirit, we’ve been watching McSweeney’s for a long time. Once McSweeney’s was an elite literary magazine famous for completely redesigning each new issue. One summer issue included a comb in the back cover to fix your hair after enjoying the stories. Now, the McSweeney’s App continues to impress for its simple yet elegant design and its subscription model that generates ongoing revenue. An App to watch!

And now for a little GeekSpeak

Among the smart voices recommended at ToC is A List Apart, also known as ALA. For example, USA Today interactive designer Willliam Couch pointed to a column at ALA in his talk. The site certainly isn’t flashy, but its content is all about nuts-and-bolts design, often digging into the theories behind how our senses gather information. How geeky is this site? A recent headline was, “Cross Platform Scalable Vector Graphics with svgweb.” But on the same page was a story praising the cognitive power of doodling and another story on designing web content for kids. Cool stuff.

HTML5: The beauty. The Horror.

Let’s go deeper into the tech realm for a moment—for a sure sign that media is moving rapidly into flexible new forms of presentation. Let’s say you really want your weather report to jump easily from the text of a forecast to a radar image of your region to an estimate of snowfall in the next 24 hours? Websites and Apps do that now, but they do it by hooking together software through a fairly cumbersome process. One big goal of HTML5 is to let software interact with Internet content more easily. Bottom line: You want your information NOW. And you want it customized to your life, your tastes and your location in the world. HTML5 is a new set of international standards for that kind of flexible Internet presentation. The buzz on HTML5 at ToC is: This new standard will speed up lots of cool stuff we want to do, including multimedia and 3D effects. What about all of our readers who simply want more flexibility in clearly publishing material online? Yes, HTML5 should give us all a great deal more flexibility in important choices like typefaces.

Sounds beautiful, right? But there also are warnings at ToC of horrors, at least at the moment. It’s even premature to call this a complete set of standards, because it’s so new. Much of HTML5 is undocumented; much of it is still changing. The proposed new logo for use with HTML5 projects was just released in late January and still hasn’t been officially finalized. If this were a Western movie: A cool new sheriff just rode in and he’ll clean up the town eventually, but his badge is still brand new and developers still don’t know all the rules he’ll enforce in the year ahead.

Want a Laugh? Everything Old Is New Again

Loud and clear, ToC confirmed one of the central principles at ReadTheSpirit: Quality content is the key to successful media. That doesn’t mean “fancy” content. That doesn’t mean “high flown” content that only a professor would want to read. It means brilliant content you’ve just got to share with friends. One such humorous moment at ToC was a presentation of a Japanese version of Tom Lehrer’s 1959 “Elements Song.” Lehrer, the musician and mathemetician who now is 82, wasn’t at ToC—but his 51-year-old song was.

You should see two video screens below: First is Lehrer’s original song. Second is the Japanese version shown at ToC. NOTE: If you’re reading this story in a version without these video screens, click here to visit the ReadTheSpirit page for today’s story that shows the screens. Enjoy!

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(Originally published at readthespirit.com.)