When the Bell brothers published their book of poetry ‘Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell’ in 1846 it seemed to be an act of little significance, reportedly selling just two copies (although one of this duo of readers was so impressed that he wrote to the publisher, Aylott & Jones, for the Bell’s autographs).  Of course, we know now this was an act of incredible significance as it was actually the first book to reach print by the Brontë sisters (and, on a side note, every copy was eventually sold).  The poetry is important of course, but the names are important too.  All of the Brontë sisters were shy, to a lesser or greater degree, possibly as a result of the relative seclusion they were brought up in after the death of their mother Maria, thriving in their own company rather than in that of others.  Emily Brontë above all prized anonymity and secrecy, so it is likely to be she rather than her sisters who pressed for the use of pseudonyms when presenting their work.  Charlotte, in the biographical notices of her sisters she composed after their death, explained why they had used ostensibly male names:  ‘We did not like to declare ourselves women, because we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice’.  This is a sentiment that was echoed by Anne Brontë in her preface to the second edition of The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall:  ‘All novels are or should be written for both men and women to read, and I am at a loss to conceive how a man should permit himself to write anything that would be really disgraceful to a woman, or why a woman should be censured for writing anything that would be proper and becoming for a man.’  So we know why the sisters chose to hide behind the mask of the Bells, but just why did they choose the names Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell?  Firstly, it allowed them to retain their initials:  Currer Bell was Charlotte Brontë, Ellis Bell was Emily Brontë, and Acton Bell was Anne Brontë.  The surname Bell could have been chosen simply because of the sound of the bells from their father’s St. Michael’s and All Angels church, a short stroll from the Parsonage in which they lived.  Another option is that they may have borrowed part of the name of their father’s new assistant curate--Arthur Bell Nicholls.  He arrived in Haworth in May 1845, not long before the sisters began to send their poems to prospective publishers.  At the time they could not have guessed the importance that Arthur would have to their lives--he would become dog walker to Flossy and Keeper after the death of Anne and Emily, and he was later to marry Charlotte Brontë.  A third possibility:  Could Bell be a shortened form of the maiden name of their mother, and more pertinently perhaps their brother?  By removing the middle letters of the name they could disguise it so that B(ranw)ell becomes simply B’ell or Bell.  Read other theories at https://www.annebronte.org/2017/03/26/who-were-the-real-currer-ellis-and-acton-bell/  See also The Brontës’ Secret at https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-brontes-secret/480726/ 

Pizza has been a core food for North Americans for so long that we forget that it is, relatively speaking, a new dish on our shores.  Most people over the age of about 75 can remember the first time they ever saw, heard of, or tasted pizza; the New York Times first introduced the dish to its readers back in 1944.  But Sam Panopoulos, 81, of London, Canada, a small city about halfway between Detroit and Toronto, can take it one step further.  He can remember inventing what’s now one of the most popular pizzas in the world:  the Hawaiian pizza.  The Hawaiian pizza doesn’t come from anywhere near Hawai’i.  It comes from Ontario, and was concocted in 1962 in a restaurant serving typical mid-century food without any particular focus.  Dan Nosowitz   https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hawaiian-pizza-origin 

The Disaster Poet:  On William McGonagall, the worst famous poet in the English language by Matthew Sherrill  Many of McGonagall’s poems, which he churned out at a reliable clip after his poetic conversion, were benign and banal odes to Scottish and English landscapes in the manner of a one-man lyrical tourism bureau.  Despite a penchant for the versified guidebook, however, the principal thematic fixture of McGonagall’s career was cataclysm.  “The Tay Bridge Disaster” was only the inaugurating work in a long series of calamity chronicles.  It seems as if the poet never met a catastrophe that he didn’t contrive to transform into misguided elegy.  Shipwrecks were his forte, but any disaster would do, really.  He memorialized the victims of fires, tornadoes, stampedes, floods, military routs, any mass-casualty event that would have found its way into the Dundee press.  According to Norman Watson, McGonagall’s biographer, out of the 270 poems attributed to McGonagall, twelve are on funerals, six on fires, fifty on battles, and twenty-four on “maritime disasters.”   https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/disaster-poet 

Some may tell you yellow wax beans taste just like green beans—heresy!  Their unique grassy flavor is one of summer's distinct delights.  Plus, these translucent, supersmooth pods need no stringing.  Cheryl   https://www.cookinglight.com/food/in-season/fresh-right-now-yellow-wax-beans

Wax beans are great raw or cooked.  Try them steamed and topped with fresh breadcrumbs or dressed with a vinaigrette.  They can be roasted with a little olive oil, or boiled briefly and tossed with butter.  They're also great raw in salads with cooked tuna or salmon, or served with a creamy herb dip.  Swap green beans for wax in any of the recipes at https://www.marthastewart.com/334122/in-season-wax-beans  For plain yellow wax beans, wash and cut into bit-size pieces.  Boil for 15-20 minutes. 

PARAPHRASES from A Piece of the World, a novel by Christina Baker Kline  *  You don’t put all your goods on one ship.  *  Are shame and pride two sides of the same coin?  *  The greatest kindness is acceptance. 

Put your best foot forward is first recorded in the second edition of Sir Thomas Overbury's poem A Wife, circa 1613:  "Hee is still setting the best foot forward.”  The Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings dates "Always put your best foot forward" to 1495, but provides no supporting evidence for that.  'Put your best foot forward' is rather an odd saying for us to use as it implies three or more feet.  Shakespeare, not usually a stickler for linguistic exactitude, used a 'proper' form of the expression in King John, 1595:  "Nay, but make haste; the better foot before.”  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/put-your-best-foot-forward.html  Put one’s best foot forward means to make the best impression one can, or to get off to a good start.  The origin of this phrase is murky.  One theory is that to put one’s best foot forward refers to starting a journey with your best or strongest foot.  Another theory is that the left side was considered the sinister, evil or unlucky side.  Therefore, one would start out on the right foot in order to ensure blessings or good luck.  https://grammarist.com/usage/put-ones-best-foot-forward/ 

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 377 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2019.  Of the 566 books challenged or banned in 2019, the following are the top 10 most frequently challenged:  George by Alex Gino  Reasons:  challenged, banned, restricted, and hidden to avoid controversy; for LGBTQIA+ content and a transgender character; because schools and libraries should not “put books in a child’s hand that require discussion”; for sexual references; and for conflicting with a religious viewpoint and “traditional family structure”  Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin  Reasons:  challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, for “its effect on any young people who would read it,” and for concerns that it was sexually explicit and biased  A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, illustrated by EG Keller  Reasons:  Challenged and vandalized for LGBTQIA+ content and political viewpoints, for concerns that it is “designed to pollute the morals of its readers,” and for not including a content warning  Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, illustrated by Fiona Smyth  Reasons: Challenged, banned, and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content; for discussing gender identity and sex education; and for concerns that the title and illustrations were “inappropriate”  Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis  Reasons:  Challenged and restricted for featuring a gay marriage and LGBTQIA+ content; for being “a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate young children” with the potential to cause confusion, curiosity, and gender dysphoria; and for conflicting with a religious viewpoint  I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas  Reasons:  Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content, for a transgender character, and for confronting a topic that is “sensitive, controversial, and politically charged”  The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood  Reasons:  Banned and challenged for profanity and for “vulgarity and sexual overtones”  Drama written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier  Reasons:  Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and for concerns that it goes against “family values/morals”  Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling  Reasons:  Banned and forbidden from discussion for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing actual curses and spells, and for characters that use “nefarious means” to attain goals  And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson illustrated by Henry Cole  Reason:  Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content  https://ncac.org/banned-books-week/banned-books-top-10 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2265 September 30, 2020