[Alumni-chat] Peg Bracken, Antioch '40, author of best seller I HATE TO COOK BOOK writes about o

Wed Jan 9 19:08:34 EST 2008

Jan. 9, 08

Thanks, Art Dole, for your kind words about Peg Bracken writing I did for WWW.Amazon.Com.

I never had the pleasure or honor of meeting up with Peg personally, but I did once see her as a commercial actress part of a network television ad selling tasty food!

Her opening line (she had become famous as the author of THE I HATE TO COOK BOOK), was "Hi, I'm Peg Bracken!  I may hate to cook but I LOVE to eat!"   Then she extolled the food product (don't remember qutie what it was).

During the middle 1990's, I engaged in a personal research project to collect information of Antioch College alumni who became authors reported in the CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS reference book (most authors connected with books put out by national publishing companies are profiled in CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, and most large public and academic libraries always used to have print versions of the on-going reference work, which stretched on for dozens of shelf feet in libraries, and was hundreds of bound volumes long, like a giant encyclopedia.......a computerized version was available in the 1990's, but then it wasn't free or available to the public free or on-line....don't know if that changed}.

I assembled bio and critical profiles of several hundred Antioch College alumni authors, and determined that of about 4,000 plus accredited (in the 1990's) higher education schools, Antioch College had generated so many authors published in CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS reference work, that it ranked #40 in the entire USA as a school producing published authors with major publishing co. connections.   Columbia University was #1, and Harvard University was #2 on the list.  All the schools leading up to Antioch (ranked at #40) were very famous name schools, mostly very physically large ones.   Antioch was in the top 1 percent of all schools in the USA producing authors, I determined.

Anyway, Peg Bracken had been interviewed by CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS and the interview itself, reprinted in one of the dry reference volumes of CA, was one of the funniest pieces of writing I ever read.  Peg Bracken's wit as astonishing.....her mind worked, it seemed to me, like a comedy computer!  She was very fast to reply with VERY funny observations and answers.

Life in the Antioch College Tea Room in the 1930's with Peg Bracken as a co-worker must have been very entertaining for you and Peg's other Tea Room co-workers.   I'm surprised dishes and glasses weren't dropped by Tea Room workers doubling over at Peg's jokes!

Thanks again for your kind words about my writing.  RIP, Peg!  Get her Old Age book!  It's great!

Best,
Yazz (David) Allen '66 
(email me directly anytime at YazzAllen at Yahoo.Com)

---------------------
Contact "Yazz" (David) Allen directly via email at YazzAllen at Yahoo.Com, mail to 644 Shrewsbury Commons Ave., #239, Shrewsbury PA USA 17361...Phone (717) 235 - 1982!

See my pro movie actor photos and recent credits/resume by visiting WWW.IMDb.Com (world's largest movie info database, owned by Amazon.Com) IMDb RESUME.  Also WWW.SAG.Org "IActor" file.  Also WWW.CastingNetworks.Com and/or WWW.NYCasting.Com. > Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 14:36:17 -0800> Subject: Re: [Alumni-chat] Peg Bracken, Antioch '40, author of best seller I HATE TO COOK BOOK writes about old age as a comedy experience!> From: aadole at roadrunner.com> To: alumni-chat at w3.antioch.edu> > Yazz--thiis is wonderful tribute to Peg Bracken. I got to know her when we> toted trays in the Tea Room. Sad to say, she died in 2007.> > Art Dole '46> > > > On 1/8/08 7:33 AM, "YAZZ ALLEN" <davidallenusa at yahoo.com> wrote:> > > Jan. 8, 08> > > > Hi from Yazz (David) Allen '66 (Email me at: YazzAllen at Yahoo.Com):> > > > Peg Bracken, Antioch College, Ohio '40 is about 90 years old these days if> > she's still with us (I hope she is....I was in email contact with her about 5> > years ago, and she described a relatively recent stop-by visit to Antioch in> > Ohio trip she made and her reactions to how things had changed since her> > pre-WWII times as a teen at Antoch). When she and I were in contact, she> > lived in Oregon with her husband.> > > > As many Antiochians know, Peg Bracken '40 was (and is) the author of one of> > the best selling humor books of the 20th century titled THE I HATE TO COOK> > BOOK, written and widely discussed in the 1960's.> > > > Peg didn't choose to "go gentle into that good night" (see Dylan Thomas' poem> > about that he wrote to his father urging his Dad NOT to "go gentle into that> > good night").> > > > She wrote a terrific humor book about old age as a comedy experience, and I> > reviewed it for Amazon.Com.> > > > I mentioned Peg's status as an Antiochian of fame. Those who engage in public> > writing like me about people part of Antioch can use the occasion as an excuse> > to boost and publicize and enthuse about Antioch College........it's a good> > way to get the old school back on it's feet and "going" again........a job> > which always needs doing and has since 1852, it seems!> > > > Here's my Peg Brack old age book review from Amazon.Com, FYI (see all 34> > Amazon.Com book reviews I wrote by inputting DAVID ROGER ALLEN as a "reviewer"> > search term on the Amazon.Com website or the Google.Com site):> > > > ----------------> > > > On Getting Old for the First Time by Peg Bracken> > Edition: Hardcover Availability: Currently unavailable> > 51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:> > > > > > LIKE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, PEG BRACKEN STILL ACHIEVES AT 80+!, February 16, 2001> > > > > > Peg Bracken (Mrs. John Ohman of Portland, Oregon), renowned author of THE I> > HATE TO COOK BOOK and ten other equally worthwhile published works, is now> > past age 80, and like Frank Lloyd Wright, still working full time at what she> > does best, satiric essay writing with a homespun yet bitingly witty edge.> > > > > > Ms. Bracken is a 1940 graduate of Ohio's famous Antioch College, one of the> > world's most important and individualistic higher education centers. Peg> > Bracken is certainly a daughter of Antioch, individualistic, outspoken,> > charming, and intelligent in ways disarming, yet very easy to relate to and> > admire. > > > > > > The subject of her latest book is Old Age, and she writes about her subject in> > her well known humorous way in almost a journalistic style. Her writing about> > her personal experiences as an "Older Person" is what the American Association> > For Retired Persons magazine should offer, but, sadly, never does. It is> > relevant, poignant, and filled with important observations skillfully cradled> > in diplomatic and humane style, always self-deprecating and fraught with wit> > and humor created by a person obviously born with a gift in those areas.> > > > > > Peg Bracken really covers her subject in almost all areas one could wish and> > does so in only 125 pages, happily presented in readable, larger than average> > typeface, ideal for comfortable reading and reflecting. I read the first> > chapter of ON GETTING OLD FOR THE FIRST TIME in a Cockeysville, Maryland> > (suburban Baltimore) public library, and found myself laughing out loud so> > noisily that the usually tolerant librarians on duty were forced to make> > several visits to my reading location, and ask me to quiet down.> > > > > > I really did try to accommodate them, but Peg Bracken's wit is so astonishing> > and infectious, I finally realized that, for me, her book would only be> > readable in a non-public location. It's too funny for public library located> > consumption. > > > > > > This said, it should be noted her subject matter is very serious, and the> > implied conclusions raised by her intelligent writing constitute the best food> > for thought I've ever read by any author, ancient or modern, on the subject of> > Old Age. > > > > > > Get this book and read it. Buy it. Keep it at home, and re-read it again and> > again over the years. Encourage your local public library system, nursing> > homes, retirement communities, and booksellers to stock multiple copies at all> > times, and to publicize it continuously.> > > > > > > > This modest little book is a classic, and though the self-effacing Ms. Bracken> > would likely be the first to deny it, a true work of genious. In today's> > world, we need all the genious and wisdom we can get, especially on the> > subject of Old Age.> > > > > > > > > > > > > > ----> > Contact "Yazz" (David) Allen directly via email at YazzAllen at Yahoo.Com, mail> > to 644 Shrewsbury Commons Ave., #239, Shrewsbury PA USA 17361...phone (717)> > 235 - 1982!> > > > See my movie actor photos and recent credits at WWW.IMDb.Com (world's largest> > movie info database, owned by Amazon.Com) IMDb RESUME. Also WWW.SAG.Org> > "IActor, "WWW.CastingNetworks.Com.> > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------> > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it> > now.> > > > _______________________________________________> Alumni-chat mailing list> Alumni-chat at w3.antioch.edu> http://w3.antioch.edu/mailman/listinfo/alumni-chat> Visit http://www.Antioch-College.edu today!
_________________________________________________________________
Watch “Cause Effect,” a show about real people making a real difference.
http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/MTV/?source=text_watchcause