Here’s the cover photo courtesy of http://www.harriscomm.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=17570, where you can also go to order it.
Well, since I spent all weekend fixing server disasters, only to discover that they weren’t fixed, I thought I’d talk about two archaic medieval commodities that you may remember – if you search the darkest recesses of your mind.
The U.S. Mail, and books. You remember books, right? They were like really long tweets only made out of paper.
So, today I received via the U.S. mail, a book. That’s right. The Pony Express rider brought a dead tree – right to my front door. After Jack scared him off, I was able to open the package and enjoy its contents.
The book is called Deaf Culture Behind Bars: Signs and Stories of a Texas Population. It is written by someone with whom we are quite familiar – thanks in no small part to our contributor Jean F. Andrews – Katrina R. Miller. The forward is by our own McCay Vernon. It was sent to me via this antiquated method, by Joanne Greenberg – our site’s owner and publisher.
You can order it from http://www.harriscomm.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=17570
Now, having just received it today, I’m not really in a position to offer you a qualitative review, but having flipped through it, I find it to be informative, interactive and even somewhat humorous.
There’s a section where Dr. Andrews shows you all the signs you’d need to know, should you find yourself a guest of the state. For example, I now know the proper sign for Ad-seg.
I also found a section dealing with substance abuse amongst the Deaf. There are even a few first hand accounts of life behind bars as experienced by Deaf offenders.
Beautiful Daguerreotype of an old Pony Express rider. Image:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pony_express.jpg
All in all, I can’t wait to start devouring this book. I think it will help me as I write for you on this site, and it will contribute to my overall understanding of this complex and difficult subject.