Rest in Peace, Mr. President - You Still Serve Us Well

With all my work travels of late methinks I'm spending more time in literary settings than in the real world.  I've been getting a lot of reading done on the road, which is nice, and about the only thing good to say about being away from home and family so much.  Even at home a good chunk of my free time has been devoted to reading to the kids - not that I'm complaining about that at all.  It is an uncontested highlight of the day.  But the bottom line, and my rambling attempt at a point is that I've been pretty immersed in books, so if my entries are tending a little toward the bibliographic, you now know why.

This afternoon I brought to a close a biographical undertaking upon which I'd first embarked probably six months ago, David McCullough's John Adams.  Ever since our adventure through Boston and Gettysburg last summer I've been on a bit of an American history kick.  On returning from our trip I knew I wanted to read something historical, but wasn't sure what.  Even though it was a "kid's book" I started up an old copy of Johnny Tremain simply because I had it around and enjoyed it so much that I felt I wanted a richer picture of the background and context featured there.  Around that time I'd begun hearing so many great things about the McCullough book that when I saw it in a used bookshop in beautiful condition, I had to abandon my self-imposed "library only" constraint and picked it up.  While it seems it took me as long to read Adams' exploits than it did for him to execute them, it was time well spent from start to finish.  What a detailed and evocative story McCullough had to tell!  Literally thousands of letters between John Adams and his wife Abigail and hundreds more exchanged with numerous family members and contemporaries gives a truly whole and satisfying portrait of the great man.  A stunning figure with accomplishments enough to leave you in awe, and yet with just enough flaws and foibles to render him utterly human and thoroughly endearing.  Good natured, honest, opinionated, vain, scholarly, over-trusting, doggedly loyal, alternately self-aggrandizing and self-effacing, bombastic, meditative, humorous, tender and brilliant -- a man of rare and sorely needed qualities.  After spending six+ months with him, following him across the world and back and sharing his triumphs and heartbreaks, my parting with the good President this afternoon was a sad and somber occasion.  I hope to meet others of his like again, but I suspect it won't be often.