1976 Club: What I’ve Already Read

 

 

1976 is the new Club year! Thank you to Simon at Stuck in a Book for being our Club host!

1976 At a Glance

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Queen Elizabeth and President Gerald R. Ford share a toast as Vice President Nelson Rockefeller watches.

It was America’s Bicentennial and we had our only unelected President–Gerald Ford [Washington was “elected” by acclaim]. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited and saw the Liberty Bell. (I saw the Bell the year before on a band trip).

I was a freshman in high school.

Mini-series of big novels were a hit on t.v. Captains and Kings, The Last Convertible, Rich Man, Poor Man, Once an Eagle were among the books brought to life on tv over several weeks in the 1970s. We LOVED big sprawling books then! No social media to destroy our attention spans.

The Bicentennial Minute, a commercial-length history sound byte, was a feature of evening tv that year, educating Americans about our history. (See the bottom of this post for a video of one Bicentennial Minute).

I was a big reader by then, but rarely of the titles assigned in school! I loved anything by Herman Wouk or Patrick Dennis, as well as The Great Gatsby, GWTW, and all kinds of history books.

My hometown, which was dominated by General Motors and GM-related factories and a growing state university (transformed from a Teacher’s College), had an outstanding indie bookshop that my Mom and I loved.

A Chorus Line won the 1976 Pulitzer for Drama–I would see it in London in June 1977 with my grandmother. I still know nearly every word to every song.

 

Some of the Books Published in 1976 That I’ve Read

 

My favorites?

1. The Great Sanitini by Pat Conroy
2. Saving the Queen by William F. Buckley jr
3. Letters From Father Christmas by JRR Tolkein (“Centenary Edition” refers to the date of the first letter–not the publication of the book).
4. Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry like Christmas by Maya Angelou

Note: This is just a list–they are not ranked in any order.

Are you participating in the 1976 Club? Do you have a favorite book published that year? Leave me a comment or a link to your own post.

Here is a Bicentennial Minute