The James Logan Courier

By Gordon Houser
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

Marilynne Robinson is not only an award-winning novelist but an outstanding essayist. Her newest book collects 10 incisive essays on an array of topics, though common themes thread their way throughout, including education, religion and the nature of humanity.

When I read a book for review, I underline passages that strike me with their insight, the beauty of their language or their troublesome nature. Typically, by the end of my reading I've underlined a dozen or two passages at most. My copy of this book, however, is filled with such markings. There are few spreads without something underlined.

From Wikipedia:
Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca (April 11, 1889 – February 22, 1961), was an early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag". He was part of what is generally regarded as the first recorded jazz band, a band which recorded and released the first jazz recording, "Livery Stable Blues" in 1917.

Nick LaRocca was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of poor Sicilian immigrants. His father was Girolamo LaRocca of Salaparuta, Sicily and his mother was Vita De Nina of Poggioreale, Sicily. Young Nick was attracted to the music of the brass bands in New Orleans and covertly taught himself to play cornet against the wishes of his father who hoped his son would go into a more prestigious profession. LaRocca at first worked as an electrician, playing music on the side.

Read "The Nick LaRocca Story," free from ODJP.com.

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