"41", A FINE WINTER'S READ

A FINE READ, REGARDLESS OF ONE'S POLITICS

THE 41ST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AS A PITCHER ON THE YALE BASEBALL TEAM

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, NOT A BAD MORNING

Sunday, 9:00 AM. 8 degrees F, wind SSW, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky has a high overcast which the sun is trying its best to penetrate.  The humidity is 74%, the barometer 30.32" and falling.  All things considered it is not an unpleasant morning, with everything very quiet.  I have been doing some winter reading, and will pass on a good read.
   George W. Bush had his good and bad points as President, and his supporters and detractors.  But he has published a fine book, a tribute to his father, George H. W. Bush, the 41st President.  "41, A Portrait of My Father" by George W. Bush, is essentially a love story; that of a son for his father.  One might say it is a tribute to fatherhood, as well as a biography of a President.
   It is also a very good history book, as the 41st President has had a long life, encompassing WWII, in which he served as a decorated dive bomber pilot in the Pacific, and there is a lot of insight into the Cold War and its demise, the Reagan presidency and his own presidency, and the First Gulf War.
   The elder Bush was the scion of a distinguished American family, but essentially made his own way in business and politics before he became first Vice President and then President.  He and his wife Barbara raised a normal American family in a West Texas environment, and their marriage is a tribute to them both.  They are also people of deep faith, which supported them through all the difficulties and tragedies of WWII, the loss of a child to leukemia, and the stresses of national politics and life in the fast lane.  Bush 41 also comes across as a genuinely humble man, with a good sense of humor, as well.
  There is not a great deal about George Bush the younger in the book, except as his life was influenced by his father.  I firmly believe, from reading the book, that perhaps except for necessary help with historical research, this book is truly written by the son, and as a genuine tribute to his father, it reflects well on him also.