September 13th is National Peanut Day. For the occasion, who better than George Washington Carver. I have one more Landmark book, to help me. It is “George Washington Carver” by Anne Terry White, published 1953.
I read this very book in seventh grade when I had to do a book report on George Washington Carver. While he did not invent the peanut, he did develop many practical uses for the peanut-325 various applications. He advocated growing peanuts, along with sweet potatoes because southern farmers were only growing cotton, which depleted many nutrients from the fields. Peanuts would add nitrogen back, and help the soil.
BTW, kids love to eat peanut butter. Today is also National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day. Read what I said about kids cooking on September 10th.
On September 13th, 1903 Claudette Cobert was born. I have a DVD of a wonderful movie, Cleopatra. This was made by Cecil B. DeMille in 1934. This is a lavish, pre Hayes code movie with Claudette Cobert as the star. It is apsolutely a great movie. That year, Cobert starred in three movies that were nominated for best picture. She won an Academy award that year for “It Happened One Night.”
Since I started the topic of Cleopatra, I have a few books. The first is from my never ending supply of Landmark books, Cleopatra of Egypt” by Leonora Hornblow, 1961.
The next book is Cleopatra, the Life and Death of a Pharaoh” by Edith Flamarion, 1997. This is a very interesting book with lots of illustrations and paintings of Cleopatra through the ages.
“Cleopatra” by Emil Ludwig, 1937. This is a older, yet very well written book about Cleopatra.
My last book is “Cleopatra’s Palace: In Search of a Legend” by Laura Forman. This is an interesting book published by the Discovery Channel, of Cleopatra and Alexandria, where she lived. It is believed that her palace is sunk just off shore because of an earthquake, about 100 years after her death. This is story of searching and exploring it.
Not everyone sees Cleopatra as beautiful…but that’s how Julius Caesar. The others were just in denial. Did pharaoh moans make her irresistible?
Librarytomes 