The term Rust Bowl derived from Dust Bowl, was soon was bent into Rust Belt, and then it stuck like a barb.  The first known use of the term was in a politician’s speech in 1982.  Akron, because it was so closely tied to a single industry, one that was disappearing like an exhale in the quick of a Lake Erie winter, was feeling a sudden and profound loss of identity.  The term Rust Belt was sucked hard into that void and there it would stay.  Literary Hub  from The Hard Way on Purpose (2014) by David Giffels   

Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson.  After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote The Power Broker (1974), a biography of New York urban planner Robert Moses, which was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest nonfiction books of the twentieth century.  He has since written four of a planned five volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012), a biography of the former president.  Consequentially, he has been described as "the most influential biographer of the last century."  For his biographies, he has won two Pulitzer Prizes in Biography, two National Book Awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement), the Francis Parkman Prize (awarded by the Society of American Historians to the book that "best exemplifies the union of the historian and the artist"), three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the Mencken Award for Best Book, the Carr P. Collins Award from the Texas Institute of Letters, the D. B. Hardeman Prize, and a Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded Caro the National Humanities Medal.  Due to Caro's reputation for exhaustive research and detail, he is sometimes invoked by reviewers of other writers who are called "Caro-esque" for their own extensive research.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Caro   

Drunken beans recipe correction  https://www.rachelcooks.com/frijoles-borrachos/#wprm-recipe-container-33571  Because you start with dried beans, this recipe takes a little time.  It’s pretty much all hands-off time and plus, you get to enjoy the delicious aroma while they cook.  Just let your pot of beans simmer gently on the stove, and enjoy the fragrance.  Thank you Muse reader!   

Feb. 7, 2023  In the 1890s, the estate of T.C. Williams Sr. gave the University of Richmond’s law school $25,000.  Eventually, UR named the school for Williams.  But in 2022, UR removed the name, citing Williams’ ownership of enslaved workers.  And now his descendants are asking for their money back—with interest.  The family has asked for $51 million.  Two members say the university has not provided documentation proving Williams’ ownership of enslaved people, and has not engaged the family in conversation.  A spokesperson for UR said the records are publicly available and that the university has not referred to the law school by Williams’ name in 20 years.  Eric Kolenich  https://richmond.com/news/local/education/a-family-wants-its-132-year-old-donation-to-the-university-of-richmond-refunded/article_045796ec-a631-11ed-b8c1-97582815b503.html   

A most popular Polish-American tradition is celebrated on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  You may have heard it called Fat Thursday or Tłusty Czwartek (pronounced Twoosti Chvartek).  In Polish-American culture, Pączki Day (punch-key) is a once-a-year event and is only celebrated on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, which always falls in the seventh week before Easter.  People will ask for pączkis, not realizing that pączki is already the plural of pączek (punch-ek). Pączki are very rich donuts, deep fried and then filled with fruit or cream filling and covered with powdered sugar or icing.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Traditionally, Lent was 40 days of fasting, meaning only one meal a day and full fasting on Friday.  Any rich foods were not allowed.  The Tuesday before Lent, people of Poland used up food so that it would not be spoiled or wasted.  Families would use up their eggs, butter and sugar and fruit by treating themselves one last time before Lent began with these rich donuts.  This tradition was started in the medieval age during the reign of August III.  https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/pczki_day_a_polish_tradition_becomes_an_american_tradition   

Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments. - Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2634 February 20, 2023