Did I say tomorrow? I meant today. A is for Arrival (and άφιξη, in Greek).

When my family and I arrived in Greece in late August, 1995 – it was the first time for all of us – we were greeted at the Thessaloniki airport and put in a cab that would to take us to our quarters on the campus of Anatolia College just outside the city. We joined the main road and got behind an old pickup whose cargo area was completely covered by canvas stretched over a frame, with the following letters printed across the back:

ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΕΣ

Metaphors! A truck full of… metaphors? What could that mean? I puzzled over it as we passed yellow fields burnt by the sun, with intensely green trees standing in the middle of those fields or in small groves on the hillsides. They were olives, though I didn’t know it yet. As the truck turned toward the city, a gust of wind parted the canvas – to reveal… a huge load of watermelons. Off they went to markets and street corners in central Thessaloniki, and off we went, a lesser load of four Americans, toward our new home on a slope rising eastwards above the city. As for ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΕΣ, I solved the riddle, thanks to my acquaintance with a 16^th-century treatise on English poetry, in which “metaphor” is called “the figure of transport” (since it carries one meaning over to another). 

So you see my introduction to Greece came by way of this invitation to think poetically about life there. The truth is, I was predisposed to it. We all are. How do most of us first encounter Greece? Through myths, if I’m not mistaken. And symbols, like the image of the Parthenon that the Green Mountain Academy used to advertise my talk and that appears in American social studies books in junior high school. I recall reading (in a later book) that Alexander the Great carried a copy of the Iliad with him on his conquests; he kept it, and a dagger, under his pillow at night as he crossed Persia. He imagined himself as another Achilles. He was living his myth, just as a campaign by the Greek National Tourism Organization was encouraging me to do more than two millennia later.

The sociologist Max Weber said that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. He also held that “All knowledge of cultural reality … is always knowledge from a particular point of view.” This little “A to Ω” (thank you, Jesus) reflects my own.

It’s out! A Guide to the Battle of Bennington and the Bennington Monument, 56 pages long and illustrated with 37 color maps, photographs, and artworks, was published on Battle Day itself (August 16) by West Mountain Press and is now available in outlets in Bennington and Manchester, Vermont, and online through the Northshire Bookstore (northshire.com). A local paper quoted me as follows: “I thought,” says Holland, “that visitors to Bennington – and all of us who live here, for that matter – needed a popular guide to a battle that helped shape the course of American history. The more I learned about it myself, the more fascinated I became. The personalities, tactics, and the way the fighting played out in real time – if I were making a movie of it, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

I had a great time researching it, writing it, finding the images I wanted to use, and playing a bit part in putting it all together – the major role once again went to Leslie Noyes, who designed a really attractive book. She also suggested my hiring the drone photographer (David Barnum) who took the top cover photo of the landscape around the Monument and a great one inside closer up. Now, to sell them (you may also order direct from me: $12.95 plus $3.99 first-class shipping, payable by check to me at 72 Grouse Lane, Shaftsbury, VT 05262; VT residents add 78 cents sales tax).

I promised a bibliography. Here it is:

This bibliography is divided into four parts: 1) on the Battle and related matters 2) on Daniel Redding 3) On the Bennington Monument 4) on Grandma Moses.

1. On the Battle and related matters:

Anburey, Thomas, Travels through the interior parts of America, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1923.

Barker, Tom, “Loyalism in Rensselaer County,” The Symposium on the Battle of Bennington, Hoosick Township Historical Society, October, 2000, http://www.hoosickhistory.com/shortstories/BattleSymposium.htm

Barbieri, Michael, “Bennington Fatally Delays Burgoyne,” Journal of the American Revolution, June 11, 2013, https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/06/bennington-fatally-delays-burgoyne/

Bassett, T. D. Seymour, “Vermont’s Nineteenth-Century Civil Religion,” Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, Winter-Spring, 1999, vol. 67, nos. I & 2, pp. 27-53, https://vermonthistory.org/journal/misc/CivilReligion.pdf

“Battle of Bennington,” Bennington Banner, Nov. 28, 1889, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84022639/1889-11-28/ed-1/seq-2/

Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site, http://nysparks.com/historic-sites/12/details.aspx

Bennington, Postcard History Series, Bennington Historical Society and Bennington Museum, Acadia Publishing, Charleston, S.C., 2014.

Corbett, Theodore, No Turning Point, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 2012.

Cubbison, Douglas R., Burgoyne and the Saratoga Campaign: His Papers, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 2014.

Foster, Herbert D., and Thomas W. Streeter, “Stark’s Independent Command At Bennington,” Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association, vol. 5 (1905), pp. 24-95, Published by the New York State Historical Association, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42889850

Gabriel, Michael P., “I Did Not Hear a Single Shot Fired”: A Reevaluation of Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrich Breymann’s March to Bennington,” Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, August 2013, vol. 16, p. 37. http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/91969017/did-not-hear-single-shot-fired-reevaluation-lieutenant-colonel-heinrich-breymanns-march-benningtonhttp://eds.b.ebscohost.com.hrt-proxy.libraries.vsc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=9b8714a9-708e-4a8b-9a53-d23acb6ae84f%40sessionmgr105&hid=126

Gabriel, Michael P., “We Were at the Bennington Battle,” Walloomsack Review, vol. 4, pp. 30-46.

Gabriel, Michael P., The Battle of Bennington: Soldiers and Civilians, The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2012.

Hadden, James Murray, Hadden’s journal and orderly books: a journal kept in Canada and upon Burgoyne’s campaign in 1776 and 1777, Albany, N.Y., J. Munsell’s Sons, 1884, https://archive.org/details/haddensjournalor00hadd

Hall, Hiland, and Hall, N.B., Vermont Historical Magazine, pp. 136-181, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vtwindha/vhg1/0135_bennington.htm

Houghton, George Frederick, and James Davie Butler, Addresses on the Battle of Benningtonand the Services of Col. Seth Warner, Burlington, VT, 1849, Leopold Classic Library.

Ingrao, Charles W., The Hessian mercenary state: ideas, institutions, and reform under Frederick II, 1760-1785 (Cambridge University Press, 2003)

Kelleher, Sean, “Q&A: Douglas Cubbison on British General Burgoyne,” The New York History Blog, June 27, 2012, http://newyorkhistoryblog.org/2012/06/27/qa-douglas-cubbison-on-british-general-burgoyne/

Ketchum, Richard M, Saratoga, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1997.

http://www.littlebrownjug.net

“Lorimier, Claude-Nicolas-Guillaume De,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/lorimier_claude_nicolas_guillaume_de_6E.html

Lowell, Edward J. (1884), The Hessians, New York: Harper & Brothers

Luzader, John F., Saratoga: A Military History of the Decisive Campaign of the American Revolution, Savas Beatie LLC, New York, 2010.

Miles, Lion G, “The Loyalists at the Battle of Bennington,” The Symposium on the Battle of Bennington, Hoosick Township Historical Society, October, 2000, http://www.hoosickhistory.com/shortstories/BattleSymposium.htm

Mintz, Max M., The Generals of Saratoga, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1992.

“The Northern Journey of Jefferson and Madison,” National Archives, Founders Online, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-20-02-0173-0001

Parks, Joe, “New York’s Part in the Battle of Bennington,” The Symposium on the Battle of Bennington, Hoosick Township Historical Society, October, 2000, http://www.hoosickhistory.com/shortstories/BattleSymposium.htm

Riedesel, Friederike Charlotte Luise von Massow, Memoirs, letters, and journals of Major General Riedesel, Chapel Hill, 1965.

Riedesel, Friedrich Adolf, Memoirs, letters, and journals of Major Heneral Riedesel, New York, 1969.

Regiment von Riedesel, http://vonriedesel.weebly.com/history.html

Rindfleisch, Bryan, “The Stockbridge-Mohican Community, 1775-1783, Journal of the American Revolution, Feb. 3, 2016,

https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/02/the-stockbridge-mohican-community-1775-1783/

Rose, Ben Z., John Stark, Maverick General, Treeline Press, 2007.

Saratoga National Historical Park, https://www.nps.gov/sara/index.htm

Smith, Richard B., The Revolutionary War in Bennington County, A History and Guide, The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2008.

Stark, Caleb,

Stevens, Lauren R., “The Hoosic Matters: A Brief History of the Hoosac Valley,” http://www.williamstownhistoricalmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Hoosic-History-12_2014.pdf Sultzman, Lee, “Mahican History,” http://www.dickshovel.com/Mahican.html Tokar, Major John A., “Logistics and the Defeat of Gentleman Johnny,” Stephenson, Michael, Patriot Battles, Harper Collins, New York, 2007.

http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues/julaug00/ms516.htm

Valosin, William, and Eric Schnitzer, personal communication, July 2016.

Ward, Christopher, The War of the Revolution, 1952.

Wasmus, J.F., An Eyewitness Account of the American Revolution and New England Life: The Journal of J.F. Wasmus, German Company Surgeon, 1776-1783, trans. Helga Doblin, ed. Mary C. Lynn, Praeger, Westport, VT. 1990.

Webler, Robert M., “German (So Called Hessian) Soldiers Who Remained In Massachusetts And Neighboring States, Particularly After The Battles Of Bennington And Saratoga,” Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, http://jsha.org/articles/082-088_Webler.pdf

2. On Daniel Redding

Bennington Museum archives, Bennington VT.

Burleigh, H.C., “The Sad Story of the Reddens,” https://archive.org/stream/hcbreddensbyburleigh/hcbreddensbyburleigh_djvu.txt

Metcalfe, Wynn, personal communication, Aug. 1, 2016.

Spargo, John, The Story of David Redding Who Was Hanged, Bennington Historical Society, Bennington VT, 1945.

Watt, Gavin, personal communication

3. On the Bennington Monument:

The American Architect and Building News, vol. 18, no. 504, August 22, 1885. https://books.google.com/books?id=xBQvAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=entasis+bennington+battle+monument&source=bl&ots=8nDb6TtDEe&sig=XAh6i6sm74tnf3j81QBBgwxt6qM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiup7eWwJvNAhUKVz4KHdEfBuAQ6AEINjAE#v=onepage&q=entasis%20bennington%20battle%20monument&f=false

“Battle Monument” in SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VT-01-BE23.

http://benningtonbattlemonument.com

Bennington Museum archives.

Chicote, Marylou, personal communication, July 2016.

Gordon, John Steele, Washington’s Monument, Bloomsbury, NY, 2016.

Laying of the Cornerstone (program, August 16, 1887), Bennington VT.

Resch, Tyler, Bennington’s Battle Monument: Massive and Lofty, Beech Seal Press, Bennington, VT, 1993.

Spargo, John, The Bennington battle monument; its story and its meaning,” The Tuttle Company, Rutland, VT, 1925. https://archive.org/stream/benningtonbattle00spar/benningtonbattle00spar_djvu.txt

Weeks, Lyman H., “Description of the Monument,” Bennington Banner, Aug. 18, 1887.

4. On Grandma Moses:

Cotter, Holland, “The Fenimore Art Museum Reconsiders an American Idol Named Grandma Moses,” The New York Times, Aug. 4, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/04/arts/design/04mose.html

Grandma Moses, American Modern, Shelburne Museum, Bennington Museum, Skira Rizzoli, New York, 2016.

Franklin, Jamie, personal communication, July 22, 2016.

“Grandma Moses to Give DAR Painting of Famous Battle,” Prescott Evening Courier, Oct. 19, 1953, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XV4nAAAAIBAJ&sjid=608DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4558%2C5048917

 Kallir, Jane, et al., Grandma Moses in the 21st Century, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2001.

Kallir, Otto, Grandma Moses, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1973.

Marling, Karal Ann, Designs on the Heart, the Homemade Art of Grandma Moses, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2006.

Robertson, Mary Ann (Grandma Moses), Grandma Moses, My Life’s History, Harper, New York. 1952.

Peter Schjeldahl, “The Original,” The New Yorker, May 28, 2001.

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t been posting, because I’ve been writing a book. It’s A Guide to the Battle of Bennington & the Bennington Monument (West Mountain Press), scheduled for publication on Battle Day, August 16. I wrote it with visitors to Bennington in mind, but we all need to revisit our history now and then. It’s quite a stirring story – if I were making a movie of the Battle, I wouldn’t change a thing. With the help of my terrific designer Leslie Noyes, I’ve tried to make the book visually appealing. Here’s what the cover looks like:

The book will be available at outlets in Bennington County and through direct ordering. I’ll be posting information about how to get hold of it as soon as I have it in hand next week. In the meantime, I’m going to be speaking about it on VPR’s “Vermont edition” tomorrow (Thursday, August 11) at 12:35 pm.

On July 16, 2009, the International Herald Tribune (now the International New York Times) published a little confessional essay of mine in its Op-Ed pages. I received compliments from a couple of American subscribers at Anatolia College in Greece, where I was teaching English, a piece of fan mail from a woman in Amsterdam, and a check from the IHT. End of story.

Until a week ago, when I mentioned “Render Unto Larry’s” to my girlfriend Amelia. She googled it in my presence. A link to its original appearance was the top hit. But not the only one.

“What this?” she asked. “‘Holland’s purpose in telling the general public’… It’s from a site called Course Hero.”
“What’s going on?” I wondered out loud.

Lower down in the search results we found the answer: there was my essay listed in the Table of Contents of the 2^nd edition of Back to the Lake: A Reader for Writers, ed. Thomas Cooley, an anthology published by Norton in 2011 for the college market. The rest of the links came from various student papers and study guides that had made their way online. We could access online only the Table of Contents of the anthology, but I was able to see the names of some heavy hitters (Dillard, Russo, E.B. White) in proximity to my own. The publisher had neglected to inform me that I had become a classic author. I suppose the Times had given permission to reprint my piece. No mysterious royalty payments have arrived in my bank account. I was the last to know.

The student search results were more productive: “‘Render Unto Larry’s,’ Strategies and Structures,” for example, by Alexia Hankerson for Course Hero. I could only view 2/3 of the first page without paying for further access, but Hankerson seems to be helping others with their homework (for a fee). “Holland’s purpose for telling the general public about ‘the first time’ he confessed to stealing from Larry’s is because it was more difficult the first time he wanted to make amends.” The thrill of seeing my name in the third person, as a man with a purpose no less, quickly faded as the sentence grew murky, beginning at “is because.” It doesn’t speak very well for Course Hero, I’m afraid, but it is perhaps to be expected from a site which offers students 7 million course-specific, crowd-sourced study documents, one dedicated to my Larry’s piece as taught in English 103 at Northern Illinois University.

Wait, there’s more. A student named Schmicker (location, somewhere in cyberspace) wrote his first paper on my essay. He summarized it well, then said, “Reading this story, many memories from my childhood came back to me, but one in particular stood out.” My commentator was another juvenile thief, it seems, even younger than I was. He went on to tell his own story of transgression and deliverance, which shows the influence of Holland on Schmicker. Perhaps he was a student at Illinois Valley Community College (I seem to be well liked in Illinois), which assigned my essay in English 1001 in the fall term of (no year given). Meanwhile, at Sowela Technical Community College in Lake Charles, Louisiana, students were called on to discuss Holland’s use of dialogue and point of view as they relate to the definition of the narrative essay. After learning about the “success story” formula used by Franklin in his Autobiography, they are told that “one reading which uses a variation on this pattern is Phil Holland’s ‘Render unto Larry’s’.”  Franklin is actually in my story in the form of the face with pursed lips on the hundred dollar bill.

“Larry’s” also shows up as a 3-page homework assignment in Miss Abram’s honors English class at Wissahickon High in a suburb of Philadelphia. Miss Abram assigned, besides essays on me, Shakespeare, and other distinguished authors, the following intriguing paper topic:

Write a one-paragraph essay proving the thesis below. Pick two sins and give examples from the text that prove your thesis. Thesis: The members of St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception Church are very sinful, indeed.

Kinky! Especially for a public school. But I see now that the assignment refers to an article in the Onion that also landed in Narrative.

Amelia clicked on another link and found “Larry’s” coupled with an essay by Toni Morrison at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, Michigan. The next entry transported us to the English 103 syllabus at McCook Community College in McCook (pop. 7,698), Nebraska.

And there the trail ended, in the middle of the Great Plains.

I ordered a second-hand copy of Back to the Lake. It just arrived. I see that it is not unlike the anthology that I have been using this term at the Bennington branch of the Community College of Vermont, except that I am in it. There is even a brief biography, lifted, it seems, from the website of TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, on whose board I once sat. And, of course, my essay is accompanied by a battery of thoughtful study questions about Holland’s purpose, point of view, etc.

Before you rush to order Back to the Lake, I must advise you to seek out the 2^nd edition; “Render Unto Larry’s” has unfortunately disappeared from the 3^rd. Sic transit gloria.