Pete's review of The Boys in the Boat, a book by Daniel James Brown

 The Boys in the Boat tells the true story of the amazing American rowing team in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. The pinnacle moment, of course, is the big medal race under the watchful eyes of Adolph Hitler and his minions, along with thousands upon thousands of screaming German fans. The more compelling story, however, is just how these young Americans got to the Olympic level, these college boys from the University of Washington.

Rowing was a more popular sport in the early part of the 20^th century than it is today. But it was seen as an ‘elite’ sport, more fitting for Ivy League schools than for country boys from the northwest corner of the country. This particular team of 9 came together during the worst part of the Great Depression. Money was tight and jobs were scarce -- or non-existent. It was astonishing to read about what some of the guys had to go through to find odd jobs, to eat, to study, to pay tuition, and to row, day after day, faster and faster, battling fatigue, battling the elements, to keep winning, to keep going…

The thrust of the story concerns rower Joe Rantz. In the thick of the Depression, when he was just 15, Joe spotted his family packing up the car. After asking where they all were going, Joe was told he wasn’t going anywhere. The family was leaving him behind as he was getting too big and there were too many other mouths to feed. Things like that happened back then. Pets were often abandoned, some people too. But with gumption nearly impossible to believe, Joe maintains his schoolwork, works a myriad of odd jobs, poaches fish from a stream to eat, and yet a couple years later somehow gets himself enrolled at the University of Washington. Joe’s tall and muscular body grabs the attention of someone who suggests he try his hand at rowing, and the rest, they say, is history. It’s funny how one of the best sports books I’ve ever read is about rowing. I never would have guessed that, but I’m so fortunate to have picked up this very special book about an incredible team of very special individuals.  

Pete has a new book review

A Review of Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts

By Pete Schulte

In the year 1933 a US Ambassador was needed, but interest in the esteemed position was scant. For the position was US Ambassador to Germany, Nazi Germany. William E. Dodd wasn’t anyone’s first choice for the job, probably not even second or third. But somebody had to do it, and Dodd did study for a time in Germany and knew the language. Ambassadors in those days were usually men of wealth and extravagance. Dodd had neither of these attributes. He had a teaching background and was thrifty nearly to a fault. His American cohorts didn’t particularly care for him, and the Germans weren’t too impressed either. By all accounts, one would think Dodd was exactly the wrong person for the job. But there was a strength Dodd possessed that cannot be disputed. He had a vast historical knowledge, and based on this knowledge he knew that something had gone very wrong in Germany, and it was just going to get worse. Would anyone listen?

In contrast to Dodd’s reserve and thrift was his daughter, Martha, who came with the family to Germany. Martha was up for any party and dated a Gestapo officer, a Russian agent, as well as a variety of writers, bankers, diplomats, etc…She even had her hand kissed by Hitler himself.

Martha, dizzy from all the attention and excitement, took a long while to understand the gravity and seriousness of what the Nazis intended to do. But as ambassador, Dodd was hearing about people imprisoned without a trial ‘for their own protection,’ Jews being mistreated and subject to cruel new laws, and even visiting Americans being pummeled for not using the Nazi salute.

In those dark days, Americans were in the midst of the great Depression and had little interest in what was going on overseas. The government, too, had more interest in Germany repaying its debt than hearing about ‘isolated instances’ concerning the disappearances of Jews, Communists, or other perceived enemies of the state. The book’s author, Erik Larson, does an incredible job of bringing these ominous and dangerous pre-war times to life. You may not like Dodd after reading this, and likely not Martha either. But any shortcomings they had pale in comparison to the dark Nazi hearts In the Garden of Beasts.