Rick McBee's Writings
Explore the magic of new ideas and books to read as well as see what books I have written, my favorite photos, my opinions on may subjects, including Science, Africa, the Caribbean, the Civil War, my Book Reviews, and Much More!
Book review: “The Nazi Officer’s Wife” by Edith Hahn Beer
The Nazi Officer’s Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust by Edith Hahn Beer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is one of those amazing books that allow you to understand a bit of what the person suffering through the entire Jewish pogrom era of Nazi Germany had to do in order to survive. I Edith’s own words we read what it was like to be in the slave labor farms, the factories and the streets of Germany as the Nazis took over, destroyed their society, went to war as victors and fell into the depths of hate and sin as a country with no moral guidance.
We can only imagine what it might be like to have everything that is part of your identity taken away from you. We can only imagine what being a slave to a dominant race must be like. We can only imagine what it must be like to eat the rats and garbage of others in order to survive. We can only imagine what it must be like to secretly marry an officer of the military that is destroying your life, religion and culture in order to survive and live through the holocaust of Nazi Germany.
This book will help you gain some of that insight. Read it. Ponder it for our own times as we see how others are willing to treat those who are only slightly different from ourselves in our own 21st century country. Realize how close to the brink you really are.
Book Review: Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig
I was 7 or 8 years old and living in Montana during the time frame of this book. Even today I still remember the hay ricks and horse drawn forks in certain parts of the Gallatin Valley as we built our house out on Sourdough Road. Although this is fiction, it is so true to the era and the wide eyed blissful naivete with which we pursued life. The ability to ride the bus to another town, or even to meet a relative coming in on the train was an adventure. The hobos and bums who lived down near the dump and rode the trains were regarded as a fact of life but not persons to be feared, by our parents who themselves had been forced during the depression to fend for themselves on the road.
I am always amazed at Ivan Doig’s ability to tell a tale through the eyes of an adolescent in such a manner that we feel the anxieties, the amazement, the fears and the embarrassment of youth once more. This is a story well worth reading and as one who still has my grandmother’s signature book with many interesting ditties from friends and acquaintances, I at times long for the slower more thoughtful and more interconnected lives we led during those times. Enjoy!
African child
Source: African child
Let them in
Source: Let them in
Hero and Traitor: Book Review of “Valient Ambition” by N. Philbrick
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book certainly changed my ideas and understanding of Benedict Arnold. Obviously he was a very complex man who ended up being placed in exactly the right kinds of positions for his audacity and cleverness for military battles and exactly the wrong positions when it came to his poor interpersonal relationships and greed for a life style for which he probably wasn’t fit. The author’s descriptions of the battles involving General Washington also give me a much different picture over-all of the man who I only knew from the legends of chopping down the cherry tree and crossing the Delaware River. In the final analysis, I do believe that Arnold was definitely a traitor and that the continental congress and the commanding persons over Arnold himself were complicit in sending him in that direction by not simply putting him back out onto the front lines and then giving him recognition for his talents. As we see even in modern times, one man’s cup of tea is another man’s dregs. The book is well written and very thorough is covering the life of a man whose place in history ought to be used as an example for more than just the fact that he betrayed his country.
African Kid Pictures! Plus! A new Book Review of “Ghosts of Ukuthula”
Check out “Richies’s Reviews” An excellent review site! Rich is a man who is prolific in doing several reviews a week of the adventure, action, sci-fi, mystery and historical fict…
Source: African Kid Pictures! Plus! A new Book Review of “Ghosts of Ukuthula”
African Kid Pictures! Plus! A new Book Review of “Ghosts of Ukuthula”
Check out “Richies’s Reviews” An excellent review site!
Rich is a man who is prolific in doing several reviews a week of the adventure, action, sci-fi, mystery and historical fiction genres. I follow him to see what other books I might read myself and also view him as an inspiration to my own writing.
Be sure to check him out! Rich’s Blog
The Feature picture above is a wonderful shot of two young Fulani girls which I took awhen I stopped my motorbike along the road running from Ndop in the Bamenda highlands to Foumban in East Cameroon in 1967. This is near the junction of this road with the track leading to the village of Koupa-Matapit to the north for those of you who know the terrain.
Below are a couple of other very interesting pictures of kids in Africa.
The one on the left is from 1973-4 during the drought when the Shashi River dried up and all the village kids from Maun went out to the remaining pools and had a whale of a good time catching the fish with their small spears.
The picture on the right is from West Cameroon in 1966-7 in a small Bakwiri village near Buea, where the kids were having a grand music fest and practicing their rhythms and also dancing. I actually believe that what we now call “Break Dancing” had it’s origins in West Africa. At our school in Sasse, one of the third stream boys, Kevin Njemo, could dance and twirl just as well as some of the guys you see doing it now on the streets of Harlem and in competitions.
Being a kid in any country can have its fun moments. Hope you enjoy!
Funny Cute
Funny Cute
Source: Funny Cute
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Rick McBee's Writings 
Slide Show on “Ghosts of Ukuthula”
Posted on April 4, 2017 by Richard H. McBee Jr.
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Here’s a set of 14 slides from one of my book talks that will help you understand the characterization and background of “The Ghosts of Ukuthula.” Enjoy!
1. The Cover showing the fading Old Apartheid Government Elephant and behind it ar two powers: right wing apartheid hard liners and soviet infiltrators who are hoping to take control in the country. In the foreground is the Black African Logo and new flag of unity with black African rule.
2. The section of African that the book covers showing original dates of independence as colonies, not black African rule for Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia.
3. The Guy you want to root for!>))
4. The Guy you want to lose but he’s a tough one!>((
5. Some more of the good Guys and Gals!>))
6. Opps, still got as few baddies up our sleeves, like reallll baddies!>((
7. This will help you visualize the whole geography of the plot.
8. As will this little bit of geography
9. Even though the USA poo-pooed the idea of Russian involvement as a third force in the South African Border War, just ask the Russians!
10. This gives you a visual to understand the complexity of the South African border war.
11. Here’s a great reference if you want the inside poop on Russian involvement.
12. Of course the USA in 1960 was on the side of Apartheid in case you get all big headed about how good we are. It came out in the 1990’s.
13. And here’s the suspension of hostilities after almost 50 years of protest and then guerilla warfare which leads up to the novel.
14. Today if you visit South Africa you can travel north to the site where the Nelson Mandela was captured in 1960.
Hope you enjoyed the slides. I think I’m getting the hang of some of this stuff.
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