Betty Birney’s Blog

That’s the Battle of the Books in Midland, Michigan! I took a whirlwind trip to Midland and the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library to kick-off this year’s battle – its 30th year! The World According to Humphrey was on the list last year and I can now announce that Friendship According to Humphrey made the list this year.

My two speaking sessions were packed – almost 600 Midlanders turned out and we had a great time! The Grace A. Dow Memorial Library (Dow Chemical is headquartered in Midland) is a beauty with a great auditorium. The audience was enthusiastic and the question periods fun and even a little challenging!

With Stephanie Williams and friend - a battling bear!

Thanks so much to Supervisor of Youth Services Stephanie Williams and to Youth Services Librarian Monica Anderson, who first contacted me way back when, and the GREAT-GREAT-GREAT children’s library staff. We all had a great dinner at a terrific restaurant called Zinc.

These quick trips are a little surreal, though. I was in 4 airports twice each (technically 8 airports) in less than 72 hours, and went from light snow when I left Saginaw to 90 degrees in Burbank. The plane flew dover the wildfires – it seemed as if there were more than 4 or 5 and the smoke was oppressive when I got off the plane. It’s much better today as the winds have died down but that’s not much comfort to those who lost their homes.

There’s a grim joke here in Southern California. “People say we don’t have seasons here, but we have four: Earthquake, flood, fire and mud.” Too true to be funny today.

Dave and me

Also at the library, I got to meet Dave Rogers and wife, Delores. He’s a former editorial writer for the Bay City (MI) Times and a respected journalist, writer and local historian. He’s been in contact with my husband quite a bit due to his interest in James Gillespie Birney, my husband’s great-great grandfather, who lived in Bay City for a while. He’s quite a prominent American and his son, David Bell Birney (my husband’s great-grandfather) was a well know Civil War General. Frank hopes to get to Bay City one of these days.