Nola Peters and Dan Robertson

Recorded July 13, 2013 Archived July 13, 2013 34:57 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id: ddd000910

Description

Nola (57) talks to Dan (75) about their library and about their favorite books and authors.

Subject Log / Time Code

NP talks about her first memories of going to the library when she was young.
DR tells the story of how his brother found out he could read from a very young age and asked him where he learned but DR could not recall learning.
DR talks about a plant NP gave him and how he takes care of it.
DR talks about his favorite books and authors. He tells of a book he wants to write.
DR tells how he wants to be the king of the world and spread all the wealth equally.

Participants

  • Nola Peters
  • Dan Robertson

Recording Locations

Contra Costa County Library

Venue / Recording Kit

Partnership Type

Fee for Service

Transcript

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00:04 Hi, I am and Dan Robertson age. 75 today's date is July 13th, 2013. We are in Pleasant Hill California and my relationship to NOLA is a friend friendship.

00:24 Hi, I'm Nola Peters may just 57 today's date is July 13th, 2013. Where in Pleasant Hill and Dan is my friend and also my editor.

00:40 Oh, that's right. Yes. I am publish a magazine in Crockett.

00:45 California and Nola has been a columnist for a long long time and everybody really really enjoys the way you write Nola certain. You have a certain kind of vision that nobody else has had it kind of sense of humor that goes with it. And that's really really good.

01:04 Now we're going to talk about libraries.

01:08 Since we are both fond of libraries, you've been the president of the friends of the library in the past and Crockett and I am the currently the president of the friends of the library. So we've been very active in library activities.

01:25 Hello, what would you say is your favorite?

01:28 Library experience of your entire life

01:36 Just going there. I always get lost in libraries. And I remember as a young girl.

01:43 In Iowa

01:45 We would walk.

01:48 From the farm to the library. It was about 5 miles.

01:51 And

01:53 We would go to Jake's grocery store and get a soda pop and drink that and then go to the library.

02:00 And just while away the afternoon in the Summers and that was fun.

02:07 And they always let me take out more books and I was supposed to.

02:14 How about you? What's your best one?

02:17 When I was

02:20 About eight or nine years old. My brother was visiting he was 18 years older than I wasn't lived in another state and he was visiting and one afternoon. I was sitting out on the porch reading the local newspaper and my brother walked by and he said though, what are you doing? I said, I'm reading the paper. He said you reading comics I said no. I'm reading the front page stories here.

02:45 Really? He said, do you know what your reading? Do you understand? And I said yeah, I do so he looked at the story and he asked me some questions and I was able to answer the questions about that story.

02:59 So he said read this story and tell me what it's about. So I read that story and I read another story and he answered me questions about those and I got them. All right, cuz I've always been a I just love to read my whole life and he said, you know, that's amazing for a kid your age Dan. Do you have a library card to go to the library? I said, yeah, I sure do when I ran into the house and I got my library card and I rushed out see it's got my name on it and everything and he said what's this big this is seized up in the left corner. What does that seem mean?

03:34 And I said, well it means I can check out any books. I want in the children's section and then when I get 13, it's going to be up there and I can check out books from the Teenage section. And then when I get real old, it's going to have a a on it and I can check out books from the adult section.

03:55 Is that all you thought for many Silva to would like to go to library now? I said, yeah, let's go to the library. So we walked a couple miles to the library and then we went in my brother said give me your library card.

04:10 I thought what does he want my library card for you can only check out books from the kids section.

04:16 So we took my library card and we walked over to the librarian.

04:20 And he said I want my brother to have a card with an A on it. The sea is not good enough for him. He can read other things besides children's books. And she said no he's too young to do that. We can't do that.

04:35 My brother said yes, I would like you to give him a card with an A on it and he started arguing back and forth with this librarian and I went over and I got behind a book shelves and stuff. This is how you do it.

04:51 Another library and came to a more there arguing with my brother in a waving their hands and shaking their heads. No and then one of them went and knocked on the door and went and brought out.

05:02 But I called The Librarian goddess, you know, the one with the glasses on a cord and you know, the one that stays in her office most of time and she came out.

05:12 So my brother is talking and they're talking back at everybody's holding your hands like this and shaking their heads know and there's more talking and all I can think of is Jack. I want to go home don't do this. This is too embarrassing. I didn't even know you could talk to librarian Canto much maybe when you're checking out a book.

05:31 But then the librarian the library and got us wrote something down and shook her head this way and that way and then my brother said Jack I mean damn come over here so I came over there.

05:45 And the library and got us said your brother is very persuasive. We have never done this before.

05:55 And she handed me a library card at my name on it.

05:58 And up in the corner if it was a big a and I remember thank you for the library to me at that moment. Big bigger than any space I've ever seen or even thought about and it was filled with light pets and that light has never gone away. That's sweet. So I could just go in and check any book. I wanted after that. So do you remember what you checked out? Yeah. I was interested in Africa that time and I went and checked out some books about Africa.

06:28 That's marvelous. Who is your favorite librarian?

06:39 I think Miss Lucy in Virginia City, Nevada.

06:44 The special to me. I adore Liz Watson Crockett and Carol Anne.

06:51 And

06:55 Very sad that this is going to be retiring but I am hopeful because we've had such excellent Librarians that that Trend will continue.

07:05 Right treasure

07:09 A line train come to Crockett and they they really like the

07:13 Small historical atmosphere we have our library was going to be 100 years old next march and the building is that old too. So it just has some particular quality about it that attracts librarians.

07:27 And Librarians I talk to including the part-time librarian to come in and say they just really like the feeling of the people that come in. It's a very friendly community. So it's a little bit small yard communities only about 3,500 people.

07:44 Yeah, big picture window and

07:48 And the school district and the library Contra Costa County Library System. I thought for a while that they would close that Library down and move it to a brand new high school building that we're building and the friends of the library said that that is not going to happen. So I went to school board meetings and not talk to Librarians then really raised a fuss about that and they change their mind and I'm glad because in Virginia City the library was in the high school.

08:20 And it's just difficult.

08:24 It's nice for the high school.

08:27 But I like our little self-contained. Absolutely the school board said they wouldn't take their kids to the library if it were at the high school because of the language and support that just really bad with the kids there. So he's going to stay there.

08:46 That's a very sad thing and just in defense of the school children.

08:51 I feed them lunch often at the deli and we have a lovely bunch good.

08:59 Am I currently my favorite librarian is also Liz Watts at the Crockett library right now. She's always very helpful with the friends. We have a lot of activities lot of Advance including one today.

09:12 And she makes all the posters that go around town and she make sure everything is done properly.

09:20 And she's really really good although

09:24 Last month lease watch with my least favorite librarian by

09:29 Because I had to give her $16 in overdue fines dude. $16.

09:40 What else would you like people to know about?

09:44 Being interested in libraries

09:52 It's just the best thing you can find out anything.

09:57 Everyone is funeral complaining about student loans and this and that the other thing and was a library card. You can learn anything like the original internet.

10:09 That's a good way to put it. It's like the original internet.

10:18 And no other is nothing like holding a book in your hands. That really is the right way to read a book my opinion.

10:25 I remember as a kid that I decided that.

10:29 Why was going to become of course the king of the world someday? Like all kids think that and I decided that one of the first things I would do is King is make sure everybody in the world.

10:43 We have a library that they could walk to.

10:47 And that Library would be open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

10:54 And it would had every book every magazine every newspaper that was ever published in that Library.

11:02 I didn't know where I put them all I got to put them on the ground most of the time probably but

11:08 Now that we do have the internet is almost then almost this happened in a sense.

11:13 Yeah, and I find it very sad that the library's hours are so cut.

11:20 I wish for funding I wish for.

11:26 I wish for more access for people people can't go.

11:31 Absolutely anywhere open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday close at 5. If you have a job, you can't go.

11:40 I mean now you can actually you can.

11:44 With the internet

11:46 You can request stuff and get stuff still.

11:51 But you miss that feeling of being in there.

11:54 Yeah, well, that's another good thing about our library system. I don't know if this is true all over the United States now, but you can order any book you want on the internet. They have it delivered to your library and the one it's about three days before the book is do you get a little email it says your book is do such and such a day and yet you still have a $16 fine and I think we need to talk about that. Just glad you paid it.

12:21 How are you?

12:23 I like when my two daughters were growing up. They always used to joke about going to the library because the first thing I always had to do was go to the desk and pay a fine.

12:35 And sometimes I would sort of sneak their library cards and check books out on their card and then they would find out about it. They would immediately take the book back and check it in return it to the library.

12:48 How did you guys meet?

12:50 Asstube

12:53 I know it was working at a store in our town.

12:59 And

13:01 I would take the Crockett signal in there. They sold the signal at that store in one day Nola said, you know of

13:08 I would like to do some proofreading for you. If you would like me to do that. The boy that's a great idea. And then about I don't know what next time we talk to the time after that. We decided that you should write a column and you've been doing that ever since so it started off as it was supposed to review movies. I think so movie review and a garden in column to psi.

13:33 Was hurt as a horticulturist and that's why I was working at the store.

13:41 So that way I could still do something interesting with the the gardening world.

13:47 So the movie thing I don't really watch that many movies. So it just kind of went with you guys to stream of Consciousness now, I mean, it's like some sort of strange public diary, but it's been really fun and you know Lee my old friend Lee.

14:05 But every copy for the last since 1999.

14:11 And he went through them last year when I came home and copied all my articles and put them all together in a in a folder o excellent and it really was I mean you like flip back 5 years and there's what I was doing, you know, so it is kind of a diary for me even though it's just a once a month.

14:34 Entry there's a real progression.

14:37 Yeah, that would be something that should go in the Library of Congress Nola diary.

14:47 How can I see you get stuck in day-to-day life and then you think okay. This is the way I'm feeling and

14:52 And then but to have that and you can look back and go. Wow, I was feeling that way and so there's been growth and regression and it's really fun.

15:08 It is it really is good good stuff.

15:16 Do you have any questions for me?

15:21 How's Miss fuzzy fluffy? I'm also his horticulturist, but I have been very remiss. What is that plant? What kind of plant?

15:33 Yeah, and he christened.

15:37 My wife made that Miss fussy years ago at this is beautiful. Don't we keep in our living room? And if you don't do everything exactly, right? All the time is fussy starts to wilt and look really pissed him off. I don't want to be here. I want to be over there. I don't want that sunshine to come here. Give me more water or give me less water Miss fussy. So whenever things are not looking the best from is fussy and now no yes, no, love them know that you have to come and you have to get on your knees and grovel to miss fussy. Like everybody else has to

16:11 And so it's looking she's looking really good right now. That's fussy is.

16:17 That I want to ask you.

16:24 How many years have you been doing? The signal? I've been there 14 years started 1987.

16:35 Yeah, 1987 just move there and thought

16:41 Everything is going on around town that people needed to know more about like that. The cogeneration plant was going to come to town and all that kind of stuff. So I thought I would just publish of a little newsletter 67 pages and

16:55 It's quit immediately 250 some pages and it's been 156 since then magazine size. So

17:04 People when I started at people said Dan

17:07 You can't you can't do a publication about Crockett. Nothing ever happens here.

17:14 Now every month I usually have too much stuff. I can't even put it all in. I got so much stuff. It's our community has about 60.

17:23 Volunteer organizations and they are really really active on everything. They it's amazing how much stuff gets done in our town by volunteers?

17:35 Amazing. It is amazing. I've never once going to County Supervisors office. That was my think won the code in plant with coming some some important things going on. So I went to the County Supervisors office with a couple of other people from Crockett to talk about a specific issues that we wanted some changes made and when I walked in the superintendent's chief of staff was standing by the desk there at the door.

18:05 And as soon as I walked in and he turned to one of the clerks sitting at the desk, and he said oh oh, oh.

18:13 Here Comes Crockett, just give them whatever they want.

18:19 So that's good. How did you learn to read then?

18:24 I don't know. I learned to read very early though.

18:28 I just

18:30 It just sort of came. Naturally. I guess I'ma who remembers how you learn to read. Do you remember how you learned?

18:37 Yeah, my older sister used to read to me out of her chemistry book chemistry 3 years old would follow the fingers and

18:53 Yeah, and then I I just

18:56 The hymnals in church

18:59 I just always knew how to read seems like.

19:04 Hey, I did that and then I went to school and they tried to teach me how to read and I was highly insulted.

19:13 Cuz you already knew how

19:16 What's your favorite book and all those years or books?

19:25 You know.

19:28 Goodnight Moon never gets old but I read that book so many times both of my own children and when I was teaching

19:36 With the Toddlers and then I read about her Margaret wise Brown who wrote that book.

19:44 Was incredibly eclectic person.

19:51 Probably my favorite book.

19:59 I can't say I really have a favorite favorite. I have books that I like to read like every 5 years or so because every time you read them there.

20:08 There's something

20:11 Elsa comes

20:12 To meet your spirit

20:19 Modesto to book is the golden, bough.

20:25 And I was very pleased when I met my current partner. That's he had a copy also. Oh, okay. That's a good.

20:35 I noticed that people who I like have a lot of books.

20:41 That's why you like me. I've Got Away hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books on his I donate books to the library for Book Sales.

20:57 And then I go to the book sale and I see that book is a really interesting book and I buy my own books back.

21:09 I've always liked.

21:13 Oh William Faulkner.

21:16 It was very popular in the 50s and 60s, very complicated books novels. But one thing I really liked about him was he was Ernest Hemingway was also really popular at that time.

21:32 Ernest Hemingway was very crisp.

21:36 Short sentences no fooling around none of this flowery stuff. Let's just get to the end of the sentence.

21:44 But William Faulkner, I'd beat his ass again. When I was a kid, I think wow. When is he ever going to get to the end of this sentence? It would go on and on and be really complex and deep and it's saw the humidity in the bourbon dude. So it was a great contrast between those two authors who were writing at about that same time. I really like that.

22:09 And I'm also very fond of Alan Paton.

22:13 Cry the Beloved Country and too late the phalarope 242

22:19 Really really good books my opinion.

22:22 Just about the South Africa in the 50s and the relationships between blacks and whites at that time and

22:33 Just very smooth smooth story.

22:38 And

22:40 This one part where in too late the phalarope where there's this guy who's the lieutenant and he's from a strict family and very God oriented and all that but he has season attracted to a.m.

22:54 Black woman and at one point just one point they go out to the woods in the forest and they have sex and there's no big description about that at all. He just says we met there in the forest that I possessed her.

23:08 And while he was very heard some crinkling In the Backwoods and after they were done he was going back to where he lives and he was concerned. He shouldn't have done that. It's against the law at that time for any kind of relationship like that between black and why you couldn't do it and he thinks maybe somebody was seeing him there because they heard that quickly heard that crackling and maybe somebody was walking back there and how it was worried about that. This could ruin his life is whole family and when he got home to his house

23:41 There was a sign on the front door that said I saw you and that what you read that boy you get chills in the back of your

23:51 Back of your neck turned out later in the book. You find out that that person saw him somewhere else doing something else. So but anyway, that's a really good book too late. The phalarope is a really really interested book for that time.

24:08 At a recent one. I liked a lot is on.

24:13 Audiobook first one I ever had was called. It's that person ever listen to is called them.

24:20 In the company of the courtesan

24:22 Sarah dunant. Yeah, you know that I've got three of them and when is set in Venice and one is said in Roman when is said

24:35 Wherever but isn't she marvelous? Really really good? This one is both Rome and Venice in the 1500 so much about the politics the romance the magic the fear of living at that kind of area at that kind of time and

24:55 The person book is Rewritten by and by at her dwarf companion and all the things he has to go through and you know, what else I've been reading this been good. Is that the Game of Thrones?

25:12 Stuff

25:16 Are narwhal

25:17 Martin

25:19 And I guess they're making movies out of it, but the books are just incredibly.

25:28 And it's fantasy, but it's just the wickedest people.

25:33 Now if you were going to write.

25:37 A novel

25:39 And you were going to write a non-fiction book tell me what the novel would be. Like, what would it be about?

25:51 Redemption

25:53 In what sense in every sense and what will it be contained by your experiences? But being shaped by them?

26:03 Okay, how about you? What would your novel be?

26:11 I think I would write a novel where they have a guy.

26:16 And

26:19 Gruyere

26:21 Each month, he would become a different person.

26:26 1 months he would be a woman may be a mother with 5 babies in the house.

26:33 Or maybe he would be and I was stripper at a and a prostitute in Hong Kong.

26:41 And next month maybe he would be a doctor in an emergency room.

26:47 And then the next month after that maybe he would be a bank robber. I mean actually living being alive living those experiences for a 12 months changing into a completely different person every 12 months.

27:03 And then

27:05 I think at the end of the 12 months.

27:09 I would have a which you mentioned which earlier I would have a which spin a wheel.

27:16 And wherever it stopped that would determined who he was going to be for the rest of his life. So kind of karmic astrology and then I would in the book before the decision was made I would in the book with the wheels still spinning pretty nice.

27:34 Okay, you start on your Redemption and I'll start on that on fiction book going to be.

27:42 CIA

27:45 Well, you already took the how to train a cat story. So I guess

27:50 I guess I would have to go with Horticulture. I love the plants.

27:57 Okay, I do.

28:00 I'll tell you my cats a story. I was talking to her about yesterday. I was at the

28:06 Call the library in Pinole and they had the new book section. They had three books there about how to train your dog. And there were no books about how to train your cat. So, I don't know what I'm going to write the idiot's guide to training your cat.

28:23 It'll be easier to read cuz it's only going to have one page.

28:27 And it's going to say forget about it. You idiot.

28:33 I think another non-fiction book I would write would be to.

28:38 I would do a history of all the

28:42 Horror and burger and

28:47 Torture that have been caused by religions throughout the world since the beginning of the human race.

28:55 That would be more than one page. That would be more than one book actually be interesting to

29:03 Research all that. Do you think there's any chance that that will cease?

29:09 The word that that will cease that will

29:13 No, well get along.

29:16 Once again when I become king of the United States of the world, I'm going to

29:23 Make it illegal for anyone to participate in organized religion. Everybody can believe everything they want but it's going to be going to have to keep that all individually and it's try that for 1,000 years to see if it improves the world. If not, then go back to the way it is now, but give it a chance for a thousand years.

29:43 Instead of having people hate each other because they belong to a different religion or causing War like we have now because of nobody likes this. I believe that and somebody doesn't believe that so just try it separate get rid of the churches and organized religion.

30:02 4000 years

30:06 So then mr. King.

30:10 What how would you how would you distribute the?

30:14 Bounty that is amassed by the religions

30:19 The mountie That's the Best Buy religion the money all the money honey. It's tied up in the relations. What happened to that?

30:31 I would do what I would do with the all the money that's in the world everywhere in the world on the first of the year.

30:42 All the money all the values in the world would go into a big.

30:46 Be in and then it would be distributed evenly to everyone in the world. Everybody would get the same amount of money and that way people are really good at business would wind up rich at the end of the year if they want to.

31:00 People who are not good at business with the wind up or at the end of the year, but it would give opportunities for people who were who don't have a chance to start a business or improve their income in any way. They would have a chance to have some at least some starting money in their hand and give it a try.

31:19 So the world's wealth would be evenly distributed once a year.

31:26 Are you in favor of that?

31:32 I see several flies in it, but probably worth a try.

31:38 As long as I have enough money to pay my library fines at the end of each year.

31:47 There's one thing I think it could be changed as Library fines at least here in this County.

31:54 If you're late with a DVD movie, it's a dollar a day and books are only $0.20 a day. So I think that makes kids think that

32:04 Films are five times more valuable than books. And I don't like that. I think they shouldn't all have the same overdue fine price. I want kids to like books as much as they like films.

32:19 Although I did read somewhere a while back that if films movies had been invented before books.

32:30 Books with probably not exist at all because we are a visual and Society or 10 and we tend to look at things that are right here around us. So we would just keep looking at

32:43 Pictures rather than reading books. If the pictures all came first, then the film's came first, then we could be entertained by them before they were books.

32:52 What's an interesting idea? I like books better than movies.

32:58 Fertile imagination. I like my own.

33:03 Personification of things often more than

33:08 Then why is presented you know if you read the book and then you see the film and you think?

33:14 Mine was better.

33:19 Exactly

33:24 Yeah, but that's another reason. I'm not so fond of the audiobooks.

33:29 Cuz I like to give people the voices that I want them to have a very good point that really is a good point, but it's good to have all those options venues that is pretty marvelous at. You can get them all at the library.

33:47 It is marvellous. You can get them all at the library.

33:50 You can just go in and it's a hole.

33:55 The whole world they're both there could be an imaginative world. You can have all kind of fiction and wild stories and made up things or specifically scientific or specifically accurately 100% what's going on in the world now and nonfiction since so you have your choice and you can do both at the same time. You can go over here and pick out a picture about the hundred the book about the

34:22 Scientific beginning of the universe and you can go over there and pick out a story about

34:27 Some astronaut making up a strange life while flying around in one fiction one nonfiction. You can get them both right now at the library and for free you just go in. That's it. That's it.

34:47 And

34:49 It's been nice talking to you then.

34:52 Good nice talking to you.

34:56 And when we leave here, by the way.