Earlier this year I went to the post office to get stamps, and I saw a set of stamps in the Black Heritage series depicting Ernest J. Gaines. I had never heard of this man. Who was he, I thought?
I bought the stamps and headed home, but it didn't seem right to use them without getting familiar with his work which is clearly a big fucking deal if he's on a stamp. When I got home I googled him and l found his book "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" on Libby and borrowed it.
Well I just finished the book and wow! Phenomenal book. I absolutely understand why he is on a stamp and I thank whoever advocated for him to be on a stamp for introducing me to his work.
If you also missed out on Ernest Gaines' work in your literary education... go read this book! And more of his work!
Great quote by Koopmans on tractability traps in economics (or trampolines?)
I wish I had remembered it earlier
"Tools tools also have a life of their own. They may even come to dominate an entire period or school of thought. Our servants may thus become our guides, for better or for worse, depending on the accidents of the case"