Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Betty MacDonald, new contest and The Egg and i




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Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Betty MacDonald fan club fans, 



we  celebrated 70th anniversary of Betty MacDonald's golden The Egg and I.


We asked  in which languages The Egg and I has been translated?


We got lots and lots of mails but many wrong answers until today.


That's your chance. Don't miss it, please.


You can win our new Betty MacDonald documentary.


The Egg and I belongs to the most successful books ever.



First published by the J. B. Lippincott Company on October 3, 1945, The Egg and I received laudatory reviews and soon appeared on the best-seller list. 

The book was a blockbuster success as a novel, being reprinted on a nearly monthly basis for the next two years.

On September 12, 1946, the specially-bound one-millionth copy of the book was presented to MacDonald by Washington Governor Monrad Wallgren at a luncheon in Seattle.


Let's talk about Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest.

You can vote for your favourite Betty MacDonald book cover.

Deadline: June 30, 2016

Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest winner will be  owner of a signed first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books.  



We can't wait to read new Betty MacDonald Fan Club stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Heskett, Donald MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde R. Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea Darsie Bard Goldsmith, Alison Bard Burnett, Jerry Keil, Joan MacDonald Keil, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Perry Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and many others. 


Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans. 



Many Betty MacDonald  - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories. 


Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli got so many fans from all over the World. 


Mr. Tigerli is very busy and we hope to hear from him very soon.



I totally agree  that our unique Betty MacDonald fan club honor members are outstanding artists and writers. 

Enjoy a new breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.


Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  is going to share some new adventures.

He is a real Casanova but this magical guy got fans from all over the world.

I belong to Mr. Tigerli's devoted fans.

Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.

Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica guest reader in June  is a very famous personality in many countries.

Don't miss it, please. 

Jamie-Lee with Ghost got over 7 million views and over 62.000 people like the song.

This is our Betty MacDonald fan club ESC 2016 TOP 5 according to Betty MacDonald fan club ESC fans in 40 countries.






Have a nice Tuesday,


Michael



Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund interviewed author Traci Tyne Hilton who is a huge Betty MacDonald fan.

Many greetings to Traci Tyne Hilton and Betty MacDonald fan club fans around the world.


Lena


Betty MacDonald fan  club interview with author Traci Tyne Hilton
                
Copyright 2014/2016 by Traci Tyne Hilton & Linde Lund

All rights reserved





I can find several interviews with you. Which two ones do you prefer?



Here are two recent interviews. The second one is a "character interview" with the characters from my newest book, which is kind of fun.




 






 


 

This is a picture of me on my tenth wedding anniversary at The Betty MacDonald Farm on Vashon. My sweet husband planned our weekend away, but didn't realize that I actually wanted to STAY at the farm! But he did drive me there to see it before we went home, though. I'm pretty little in the picture, but if you look closely, you can see me by the door to the barn.


Which book by Betty MacDonald did you read first?


My mom gave me her copy of The Egg and I when I was about 11. It was my first taste of Betty Macdonald, but I was definitely hooked! I read it at least once a year until I was in my twenties and finally got around to finding the rest of her work at my library...and then collecting reprints.


What do you like most in Betty MacDonald's books?


I love her over the top humor paired with her brutally honest representation of life. 



Is there anything you dislike in Betty MacDonald's books?


One could call her portrayal of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest in the Egg and I racist, but she was a woman of her time, and the things she writes about, such as alcoholism, are not untrue. They are just reported with that brutal honesty that she also uses for her white neighbors--no one is safe from her sharp pen. So, it makes me a little uncomfortable to read, but at the same time, I think it is real (from her perspective at least, and her perspective is valid,) and I don't dislike it, if that makes sense.


Did you ever read Betty MacDonald's books for children for example The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series and  Nancy and Plum?


Oh yes! I wish I had had them as kids, but I have been reading them to my kids which is even better! My sister in law bought me Nancy and Plum several years back, and I love it. I don't know why it's not a classic on par with the Secret Garden or the Little Princess! But...even better than Nancy and Plum are the Piggle Wiggle books. They crack my kids up, and were the first chapter books that my girls really devoured. They crack me up, too!



What is your favourite book by Betty MacDonald?


It is still The Egg and I. It's a book that formed so much of my opinion on fiction and held such an important part of my growing up--I don't think anything could beat it. My husband and I call snobby activities "The Theatah and the Dahnce" and I've been known to say "I itch, so I scratch, so what?" 



Did Betty MacDonald influence you as author?


Absolutely. Though I write mysteries I want them to be funny, and I hold Betty MacDonald's work up as a standard for humor.


What do you think is the reason Betty MacDonald is beloved all over the world?



Betty's work gives us a glimpse into a world that we would have never known without her. Both life in the Olympic Mountains and on Vashon are so different from regular town and city life. I think readers love to escape, and the more remote the location, the more different the people we get to meet, the more we love the work! Betty's books help us all escape to a time that is getting farther and farther away, and a place that doesn't even exist anymore, but even when it did, it was unexpected, hilarious, and stunningly beautiful.



Dearest Traci I hope I don't bore with so many questions.


I wasn't a bit bored! Betty MacDonald is definitely my favorite author and I loved having a chance to talk about her work and why I love it so much!


As I already mentioned there are several Betty MacDonald fan club fans who enjoy your books very much.


That people who love Betty MacDonald also like my books is almost unbelievable to me, and really is a dream come true, as an author. When I was a young girl, curled up with her work, escaping to that remote egg farm, I never dreamed that someday people who loved her, would also enjoy what I had to say.



Dearest Traci thanks a million for this wonderful interview.

Lots of love to you and your family.

Lots of love to you, as well! Thank you.


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Don't miss this very special book, please.




Vita Magica 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French ) 


Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  








 


Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 

 

The Dalai Lama says ‘too many’ refugees are going to Germany




















Speaking to German reporters in the de facto capital of Tibet's exiled government, the Dalai Lama apparently said that "too many" refugees are seeking asylum in Europe.

"Europe, for example Germany, cannot become an Arab country," he said with a laugh, according to AFP, which quoted from an interview the spiritual leader gave to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper. "Germany is Germany. There are so many that in practice it becomes difficult."
It was an unexpected extension of sympathy for a sentiment that has found fertile ground mostly among nationalist groups. The Dalai Lama, who often speaks of humanity's need to acknowledge its "oneness," is a refugee himself. After Tibetans rose up against Chinese limitations on their autonomy in 1959, the current (and 14th) Dalai Lama led tens of thousands of his followers to India, where they and their descendants have lived since. An estimated 120,000 Tibetans live in India, and those born in the country can vote.

"From a moral point of view, too, I think that the refugees should only be admitted temporarily," the Dalai Lama said.
 








The bulk of Arab refugees he was referencing are fleeing Syria's brutal and seemingly endless civil war, and its spillover into Iraq. But the truth is that the vast majority of those refugees are not seeking asylum in Europe, but in Turkey and two other Arab-majority countries, Lebanon and Jordan. Germany is a country of 80 million people and has accepted just over 1 million refugees. Before the war in next-door Syria, Lebanon had a population of more than 4 million people. It has since taken in well over a million Syrians.
Beyond the skepticism, the Dalai Lama did convey his characteristic compassion.
"When we look into the face of every single refugee, especially the children and women, we can feel their suffering," he said. "The goal should be that they return and help rebuild their countries."

Read More:

The shifting sea routes of Europe’s refugee crisis, in charts and maps
Eerie photos show the aftermath of a rapidly evacuated refugee camp
Almost 1,000 people have been killed in attacks on health-care facilities since 2014, WHO says