Critically acclaimed American novelist Chris Bohjalian is the author of 16 books, including eight New York Times bestsellers. His works have been translated into over 25 languages and three have become movies. Born on August 12, 1961 in White Plains, New York, he began his career writing columns for newspapers and magazines, including Cosmopolitan and Reader’s Digest. One of his most notable books is Midwives, which was a selection of Oprah’s Book Club and a Publisher’s Weekly “Best Book.” The Sandcastle Girls, set during the Armenian Genocide, was called by USA Today as “stirring. . .a deeply moving story of survival and enduring love.” Bohjalian called it the most important book he will ever write. His next book hits shelves July 9^th, The Light in the Ruins, a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set in Tuscany at the end of World War II.

Books by Chris Bohjalian can be found on the “Featured Author” display on the second floor at the Main Library.

If you are wondering about the title, I originally started writing this blog back in December. Me being lazy, I decided that the title was still captivating enough, mainly because of the confusion as to why I am using the “Tis the season” part. Well, I could justify it by comparing how both Christmas and weddings are a time of joy, wonder, and family. Or for the pragmatically minded, I could point out how expensive they both are. Honestly though, I just didn’t want to have to come up with a new title. Titles are difficult. You have to be interesting, witty, or clever. You have to capture your audience’s attention, competing against every other title, sub-title, and blurb on the website. My backup title was “The Season of Faith’s Perfection” which satisfies my need to be clever (if you have seen Finding Forrester and remember the title of the article), but is even more confusing than my current title. Also, I would have had to cite the source to avoid plagiarizing (refer back to me being lazy), and man, citing sources is annoying. Don’t believe me? Check out the MLA Handbook for writers of research papers.

Now that I have fully justified my reasoning for the title, we can get to the true purpose of life, the universe, and everything else: debt, I mean weddings. I look fondly on the topic because I am engaged. As such, I have had to answer a lot of important life decisions such as: What is our song? How many groomsmen should I have? Who is this man that is marrying us? Why, oh why are we registering for different versions of things we already own? I still have not found a satisfactory answer to the final question-perhaps something about boosting the economy in a time of recession and the position of Venus. That being said, I truly can not complain much, the wedding planning seems Continue Reading →

A recent article I read got me to thinking…

It mentioned a man named Samuel Studebaker as one of the earliest residents of the area, and the builder of the first saw-mill in South Bend. Of course, anyone from around here would make a certain association when they hear the Studebaker surname mentioned. The part that piqued my interest was when the article said he was no relation to the famous, wagon-making Studebakers that settled here later on.

I wanted to know more about this shadowy Studebaker. Now granted, I’m a bit of a history geek, but I enjoyed looking through “The Studebaker Family in America”, and reading some of the earliest history of St. Joseph County. I was surprised by what I found.

Samuel was an extremely important man in South Bend in the 1830s. He is mentioned in many of the same documents with Alexis Coquillard and Lathrop Taylor, the men credited with the founding of the city. One source claims he helped them lay out the town. He put up $3,000 dollars (and this is 1830 money), to secure South Bend in its current location vs. a rival town further north. His saw mill served as the industrial foundation for later factories such as South Bend Toy and Knoblock Wagonmakers.

Here’s the kicker. By doing a little basic genealogy I found that not only is Samuel related to Clem, Henry, and the rest, he’s closely related! Samuel’s first cousin John (the father of the clan), stopped for a visit with his relatives here in his quest for a better place to settle the family. Samuel was instrumental in getting the Studebakers we all know to come to South Bend. AND, Samuel’s daughter Susan married her second cousin Henry and supplied much of the capital that got the two brothers started in the wagon-making business!

Unfortunately for posterity, Samuel had only daughters, and he died of consumption in 1837 at the age of 42, depriving the writers of South Bend’s history of the opportunity of getting to know him better.

Everything I learned was available through Local & Family History Services. Remember, the family you learn about doesn’t have to be your own.

Susan Studebaker will be making an appearance alongside Abraham Lincoln at the Friends of the Library book sale on Friday, May 3rd and strolling downtown for a few hours afterwards.

Who is Elizabeth Keckley? To answer the question, she is the person Jennifer Chiaverini writes about in her novel, Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker. She was a former slave turned professional dressmaker and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. She purchased her freedom from slavery in 1855. By 1860 she was making dresses for the city’s elites and attracted the attention of Mary Todd Lincoln.  She moved to Washington where she set up shop and was soon making dresses for the wives of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, as well as other powerful Southerners.

Come and enjoy “An evening with Author Jennifer Chiaverini,” Monday, April 29. Light refreshment will be served from 5:00-6:00 p.m. The book signing will be from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at SJCPL Main Library  in the Humphreys Multimedia Room. She has authored numerous books about quilts.  There will be Civil War reproduction quilts on display. You can purchase a copy of her novel, Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker at the event.

A reenactor portraying Elizabeth Keckley will make a brief entrance during the event.