Brush up on Woody Guthrie by Stacy

 

The library’s One Book, One Community series started with a successful kick-off last night and we gave out over 75 books.  As in the past, participants sign-up for a book discussion and receive a free copy of the book we are reading.  This year, Stillwater is reading “Bound for Glory” by Oklahoma folk artist and musician Woody Guthrie. 

We’ll be hosting a large array of events focusing on Woody Guthrie from learning about his background and influences to learning how to write songs.  To prepare for these events, you may want to stop by the library to pick up materials that will give you more background to make this Oklahoma series all that richer.

·             House of Earth by Woody Guthrie.  Guthrie’s discovered unpublished novel was just published last week.  This novel follows Tike and Ella Hamlin as they try to eke out an existence in the Texas Panhandle.  The Hamlin’s live in a dilapidated old shack, but once he sees instructions in a government pamphlet, Tike dreams an adobe dwelling.  A home that is fireproof, windproof, and Dust Bowl-proof will change their lives.

·             Little Seed: songs for Children by Woody Guthrie.  Musician Elizabeth Mitchell performs songs written by Woody Guthrie for his young daughter.  The sweet, simple songs from a parent to a child will have your children singing along and learning early the music of an Oklahoma legend.

·             Hard hitting songs for hard-hit people.  Collector Alan Lomax and folk singers Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger compiled nearly 200 American songs depicting the Depression era and union movements.  The songs include an entry by Guthrie, guitar tablature by Seeger and accompanying photographs.

·             Woody's road:Woody Guthrie's letters home, drawings, photos, and other unburied treasures by Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon.  In this new biography, Guthrie’s sister pulls together family material that she saved throughout the years and which is new to the public.  The volume is filled with private letters, artwork and photographs that will shed light on the influential musician Guthrie would become.

The library has many other items on Guthrie for both children and adults.  For more information on the series, visit http://library.stillwater.org/1B1C.htm.