| OCR Text |
Show w (s. '!? v 1 in - v - v- wti vw j 'y ' w-- a- ' - 4 .Ii I, The Salt Lake Tribune. Sunday, May "Private Lives in Imperial Cit 1,1, 1979 Erwin Rommel Iii Normandy now Jolm Leonard writes of cats and tiling! Kf Rommel in Normandv : Reminiscences bv Friedrich Ruse; Foreword by Lt. Gen. K. B. Roberts; Presidio Press, 266 pp., illus., $12.95. Generally agreed upon as Germanys most outstanding World War II general, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is immediately associated with numerous military victories and heroics in North Africa, Egypt, and the Balkans. He also comes readily to mind as a Panzer division commander during the 199) invasion of France. But Rommel in Normandy? When, why, and to what effect? The present volume undertakes to detail this particular facet of the war. Admiral Friedrich Ruge, naval adviser to Rommel during his Normandy experience, possessed a sense of history and, in defiance of High Command policy, began a diary in 1943. A decade after the war's end, he used his diary and several other primary sources to create these reminiscences. The work was completed in 1959, but for reasons not e' plained, eluded a publisher until I "Private Uves in Imperial City, John Leonard; Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.. pp., .95. This is not your usual collection of pieces bv a newspaper columnist, although John Leonard, along with such as Haywood vanished typewriter-pounder- s Broun, Meyer Berger and Damon Runyon, has long earned his living by issuing forth a prose samples of per week. However Leonard, currently both a columnist and book critic for the New York Times, is a different breed of cat. Parenthetically I might add that he is at times concerned with cats. Ieonard is an essayist. So, I suppose, are most newspaper columnists. Oddly, many of the best writing in this genre began their careers as sports with the genial Broun and the columnists immersed in acid Westbrook Pegler coming quickly to mind. Leonard, to the best of my recollection, is the first with journalist to combine or pillaring, as one col limning wordsmith once put it. A pillar is a column, get it? An Awesome Flow A product of his times as well as the Times, Leonard is capable of an awesome flow of present-daverbiage. Orion acrylic! Dacron Polyester! Amel triacetate! n Rayon! Neoprene! Bivron! Vyrene! and Spandex! Why, you wanted to ribs know, nonskid, kr.it, sanitized, mercerized. Sanforized, shrink resistant and machine washable, why am I the only thing in the world that smells ? Thats LeonardDmitri answering a question put to him by a daughter well-know- n half-doze- ) " " , 5 - ' hM, t i V :L .? ss n big-cit- y g ar. . In the meantime, Ruge has earned recognition as a historian of stature on the basis of several books dealing with naval warfare and international y Indications Evident of 1943 German intelligence could summer the By see indications that the Allies were planning a major invasion of northwest Europe. Relizing the difficulty that a third front would present, the German High Command turned its attention to coastal defenses. Previous defensive measures had been taken locally, haphazardly, and without the benefit of a unifying strategy. Rommel was dispatched to the area in November to analyze the situation San-tee- I jr Cv vat-dye- d, two-plie- d, r -- Rommel felt that if the Allies were to be defeated at all, the Germans would have to do it on the beaches. He knew that if the landing was successful, allied superiority in men and material would in time overwhelm the defending forces. The High Command, on the other hand, took the threat of invasion less seriously, feeling that if it did come the highly mobile Panzer divisions could defeat it in a counterattack. Unfortunately, says Ruge, these divisions were badly understiength and unexperienced in battle, matters that the little flags on the maps did not reveal. Many of the authors substantive reflections are devoted to the politics of this dichotomy. He points out that Rommel was not officially given command of coastal defenses until January 15, 1944, and even then was never given the supjiort from the High Command that he needed. Accordingly, the field marshal was forced to rely on personal salesmanship in implementing his defensive strategy. A man of drive and great charisma, Rommel achieved much. Nevertheless, the situation was an impossible one, and he clearly sensed it. Personality and Character is in the matter of Rommels It '" precisely here Impersonality and character during those final desper-3?t- e months that Ruges reminiscences are the -- most interesting. We see Rommel as a sensitive and Itiycn-tempcre- d man, a man of modesty and modera-Jtio- n who would not countenance obscene humor, abhorred rudeness, and prided himself as cultured m JUSflt the literature. Though never really accepted by the High Command, he was admired and well respected by the general German bCssEi'is'ji?' jyyt 'K' . noggin-crackin- purse-snatchin- g, Dateline Fort Bowie: Charles Fletcher Lumniis Reports an an Apache War, edited, annotated and with an introduction by Dan L. Thrapp, University of Oklahoma Press; 206 pp.. illus., $10.95. Harvard-educateCharles Fletcher Lummis was 25 years old when he decided in 1S84 to hike from Ohio to Los Angeles. But being healthy, hearty and a believer in walking he covered the 3.507 miles in 13 days . arriving at his destination Foh 2, 185. Because he was a thinking man of his day, young Lummis had the wit and enterprise to send letters describing his journey ahead to the Los Angeles Times for possible publication. The editor was taken by the idea and went even further, he met Lummis on his arrival and offered him a job. When Lummis accepted, he became the entire local news staff, and because he was a bright and enterprising Harvard-educategentleman, he saved his money and 19 months later bought into the newspaper. Alsuit this same time he was appointed city editor. Ill health forced him to leave newspaper-inin 187, just two years after he joined the fourth d 1 . . d g estaters Authority On Indians tlus is by way of background, supplied by Dan Thrapp, a Times man of today, who also is as a writer of books and an authority on southwestern Indians, particularly Apaches. Lummis had been desk bound a year when he did what all writers in similar straits yearn to do, but lack the gumption. He had been reading of the Apache Geronimo and his skirmishes with the U.S. Army; but Lumniis, blessed (or cursed) with an curiosity, was slowly being frustrated by the continually conflicting accounts from army headquarters as to the current situation. In that special way editors have of cheering their readers by sending reporters on good, interesting news stories, (remember Stanley and Livingstone), the Times carried a notice which explained: Charles F. Lummis of the TIMES staff, left yesterday for Geronimo's stamping ground in miles southeast of San Sonora, Mexico, twenty-fiv- e Bernardino Springs. . . . Lum will write directly from General Crooks camp and will furnish the TIMES with a series of letters and special dispatches which will throw a good deal of light on the much-vexe- d Indian question, and will keep our The military genius of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel has generally been considered to be paramount in desert warfare, but new book on him tells of brilliant Normandy effort. class-conscio- According to Ruge, Rommel was the only man in Germany strong enough to effect a change in Germanys political leadership and to negotiate an armistice proposal with the Allies despite their demand for unconditional surrender. But when Hitler survived the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944. such speculation became moot, Rommel, implicated in the plot, consented to suicide three months later. Those looking for a complete biography of Field Marshal Rommel will not find it here. But such was not Ruges intent. Rather, he has created a credible and orderly catalog of events dealing with a single aspect of the war. lt is intended more for the specialist than the generalist, but whoever reads it should be intrigued by the portrait that emerges not only of Rommel but of Ruge as well. Could such officers in the Nazi war machine really have been honorable and decent? It is an idea that does not occur instantly to the American consciousness. Stanford J. Layton, Utah State Historical Society. All Best Sellers New The York Times Service l iistnqs biOw arc based on computer sales figures from 1,400 bookstores throughout the United states 2. FICTION 3 This Last Week Week Weeks List On 4 The Mafarese Circle, Ludium Good As Geld, Hefier War and Remembrance. Wouk Manta Yo, m.h $$GB, Oeiqbton Chesapeake, Michener Ovenoad, Haile The Slones of John Cheever, Cheever Dubm's Lives, Meiamud OressGra, TruscottIV high-ranki- NON FICTION The Complete Scarsdale Medical Oiet, Tarnower Baker TheBronzZoo, trie and Goienoock How to Prosper During the Comtnq Bad Years, Rutt Lauren Bacall bv Myself, BacaM Sophia, Ltvme and Lovm9. Hotcnner 6 Mommie Dearest, Crawford 7 The Complete Souk of Runmnq, Fixx 8 To Set The Record Straight, 5 30 II 8 S'nca V 10 9 ?i )Q 8 The Pritikin Program, 8 26 Pritikm How to Get Everything You Want Out of Life, Brothers I? (Copyright) - nf nrrVirBii" HARDWOOD SPECIAL 13th to Frames (Rapidesign, Timely, Alvin) 972-41- 34 A: atN .1 S 44 1 1 392-272- 7 20 A Month Crownlite Lamps (Reg. $25.95). .515.95 25 Off 52.40 (Reg. $4.08) as Enough But a month was enough, Lummis was a corker, his copy was alive and much of it was new! He was a remarkable observer and had an instinct for knowing what interested readers. And because of his dispatches, he was a voice of history from the Arizona desert, the most unforgiv ing of all environments. Lumniis did much to breathe life into an otherwise silent passage of history, and because of him the southwestern Indian wars have a goodly measure of eyewitness reportage. Writing from Arizona Territorys Fort Bowie, Lummis dispatches offer a perceptive view of the workings of a major frontier post during the critical days of the famous Indian campaign. Lummis reports are of three varieties: Articles filed by mail for use when the Times had space; brief items sent by telegraph when the news was too important to risk delay; and later stories pieced together after he returned to Los Angeles and cplled his field notes about the strange sights he; had witnt ssed and unusual men he had interviewed. " Scalp Stayes Stuck Lummis scalp stayed stuck. And because Dan Thrapp recognized a fine batch of reporting when he saw it, he collected Lummis file, provided ail introduction and an epilogue to help the reader with some of the esoteria of Apacheria, and put the stories in a kind of order to make the reportage a cohesive entity. It is fascinating reading and provides as the Times of 1885 promised, a good deal of light on the much-vexe- d Indian question. To offer examples would be to reprint the Ixxik. See Page E-- Column 1 HERITAGE WEATHERWOOD NEWPORT PRECEDENT BRITTANY DYNASTY GRAND TOUR I SKETCHBOOK iti favorite designer you havent been in before you will find well someone very qualified to assist you. The month of May is our last opportunity to help you invest in our lovely DREXEL HERITAGE furniture at the current prices less 10 to 20 off. In June your investment will be at a much higher rate. You will be able now to SPECIAL ORDER for future You will also be able delivery at the old prices, less to SPECIAL ORDER selected HERITAGE SOFAS, LOVE SEATS, AND CHAIRS at 25 savings for the of month. this remainder Again thank you for your help in making our DREXEL HERITAGE GALLERY such a success. r if Off .... 537.40 Drafting Scales Newsprint Pad 18x24" V4 Please contact your Off 20 48 Color Set (Reg. S48.00) 10. Grumbacher Golden Palette Oils Titanium White Size (Reg. $3.95) 915 W. Riverdale Rd OGDEN A fuiiiriu miMinihety f ... WALL SYSTEMS 4 1 8th CENTURY ET CETERA FRANCHESCA II Off 0 Planhold Tables PrismaMarker SALT LAKE 20th 20-5- Templates 1842 S. Redwood Road Crook. WOODBRIAR DELRAY TOURAINE III CONSENSUS MAY the Charles Fletcher Lummis spent just a month in the field before Geronimo, Chihuahua, Nana, and Natchez (the Apache leaders) surrendered with their followers (29 bucks and 48 squaws) to the army under DREXEL CABERNER II CHARTWELL MAY Should as to events. d in our new location. You have confirmed that our desire to provide beautiful furniture and accessories in lovely settings would be appreciated. To show our appreciation we would like to make you aware of a wonderful opportunity to invest in fine DREXEL HERITAGE furniture at a savings. If you would like to add to or have been wanting to buy any of the following DREXEL HERITAGE groups: 370 South West Temple Dinettes Unlimited offers this beautiful, 5 piece Hardwood set for only $199.00. Dinettes special price is limited to stock on hand. Formica table top measures 36" x 48" with four Mates Chairs. Perfect for the kitchen or smaller dinning rooms. The dinette experts offer the Best for Less. readers campaign continue he will probably remain in tlu field with General Crooks forces as long as his legs hold out and his scalp sticks fast. have contributed to the great start Now! One Convenient Location $199.00 Heading for the airport one day. Iouard gives thought, as we all do, to the world J)e wishes to will to his children. It would bea world without kidnappers, Arafat, Cambodia and the electric chair. He thinfcffif his friends, affirmative and puissant; for the Zeitgeist and the subcommittegi on selfishness and the liberated thugiT he wishes merely a permanent moratorium, concussions and mumps. Mr. Leonard, you see, is confident of the future, even of New York's future, es penally if there is glee in our blood and joy in our sleeping bags and fondue for , our He continues to believe chromosomes. that our children who are ultimately our teachers are more important than siding and murder. Happily, upon reaching the airport, he learns his flight has not been canceled. Hopefully the same will be said about our world and the humans who inhabit same. Jack Goodman. would like to thank all of our customers who 6c FROM3 MimMnmitieoJ -- We at TRIBES INTERIORS peuecsYiuecs AcW disiettes Carson, or Portnoy and Sahl, and wonder w hether our world will ever think straight again Intellectuals Columnist Leonard is not the sort of columnist who reports upon the great and near great he has encountered in bars, nor is he give! to anecdote-tellin- g in the simpler sense, por does he give forth terrible jokes in the sty le of Leonard Lyons. He is, instead, , the intellectuals columnist. You will assuredly enjoy this modest volume if you read books, read Harpers, the Saturday Reviety.tyr none of which quite the New Yorker qualifies you as an intellectual. Let me but You are likely to enjdy it differently. Private Lives if you prefer chamber music to pops or country western. Dateline: Fort Bowie, A.T. t - In this plastic age, Leonard deals with our principal product, noting plastic is not sincere. Plastic has no memory. The wheel remembers the water, the null remembers the wind, and the glass remembers the sand, and the beer remembers the barley But what does plastic remember? The urea from which it derives? Thin chance Shut up, he then snaps, when a daughter mildly suggests the credit card remembers everything. Remembers Every thing Leonard likewise remembers everything. especially about life in New York as it is lived today. He is far from pleased when rowdy kids from the local junior high school disturb neighborhood peace hy but is well gamboling upon his stoop aware they have little other space in which to play. Besides, in some neighborhoods youngsters of similar age would be engaged in rapine or slaughter. On occasion Leonard is concerned with such localized phenomena as Blooming-dale- s and New York art theatres where one waits in long lines to view the latest in theatres totally lacking in foreign films ambience of the sort provided by buttered popcorn and a litter of gum wrappers and soft drink cups. At other times he ventures into suburbia or to California, musing, like any true New Yorker, uxn the oddities of the barbecue or upon the existence of cities without subways. Now and then he will conduct an interior monologue concerning the importance of Mort Sahl to his generation He may in a short space also give thought to the monologues of Molly Bloom and Johnny z3 XI $2.40 JhilxtJni&Wi Free Magazines Palette Talk, Exhibit, Todays Art Open 8 am S pit) Weekdays; 10 am FURNITURE & DESIGN Slno IBIS 3025 HARRISON BLVD. OGDEN, UTAH 6 pm, Sat 370 South West Temple i-- 621-187- OPEN 3 FRIDAYS UNTIL 9 P.M. ; ; SPACIOUS PARKIN- G- |
