{"id":4968,"date":"2020-11-14T21:12:24","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T05:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/?post_type=product&p=4968"},"modified":"2020-11-16T23:33:20","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T07:33:20","slug":"strong-as-silk","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/product\/strong-as-silk\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong as Silk"},"content":{"rendered":"

About the book:<\/strong>
\nStrong as Silk is a mix of fictionalized journal entries and accompanying poems (based on traditional Japanese forms), telling the story of the historic Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony. Although short-lived, (1869-1871), it is considered to be the “Japanese Plymouth Rock.”<\/p>\n

Located in Gold Hill, California,\u00a0the\u00a0farmhouse has been recently renovated and placed on the register of historic sites. Plans are underway to make the surrounding 200-plus acres into a park, either state or national. The whole project has wide support, including state and federal legislators.<\/p>\n

All of this is background to the better-known story of Okei-san, the young woman who fled her homeland with the colonists after Japan’s own civil war of the 1800s. Less than two years after her arrival, she essentially died of a broken heart and is buried on a hilltop at the farm. Indeed,\u00a0she is so beloved\u00a0among her people, there is a replica of her gravesite in the colonists’ hometown of Aizu Wakamatsu.\u00a0While I was intrigued with her story, I also wanted to give voice to the others who arrived with such high hopes, including the founder’s wife, Jou, \u00a0as well as his trusted ally,\u00a0Matsunosuke, the\u00a0samurai soldier, and the colony’s carpenter, Kuni. Failures dogged the venture and the colony dissolved. Matsunosuke did\u00a0remain there, working for the neighboring land-owners, until his death in the early 1900s. Recently, I met with two of his descendents. Of all those who came here, only details of Kuni’s later life are known; the fates of the\u00a0others\u00a0are simply rumor and speculation.<\/p>\n

Excerpt from a review by Grady Harp, 2-12-12
\nSTRONG AS SILK is a little miracle of a book, another gift from the craft of fine publishing of the Lummox Press. It is a sensitive combination of recalling true events in the history of California in the 19th century and recreated through the talented mind and hands of Brigit Truex…<\/p>\n

Truex relates this touching historically accurate story by means of poetry presented visually in near calligraphic style, letters form the members of the colony, photographs of the members, articles from the San Francisco and Sacramento newspapers, dividing her book into sections Arrival, Harvest, Waiting, and Ending. In addition to the beauty of her prose and poetry Truex includes a cast of characters, biographies, explanation of Japanese customs and words and festivals, and the resources she used to compile this book.<\/p>\n

This is an exceptional book, rich in a history about which few of us are aware. it also asks the reader to experience the sense of being a ‘stranger in a strange land’ – some that each of us at some point in our history (or our present!) have experienced. A very beautiful, touching, and memorable book.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some samples…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pressed between pages \u2013
\npale green flower? a jade moth?
\nAh, the word took flight!<\/p>\n

~ * ~<\/p>\n

Butterfly-to-be,
\nwrapped in rice-paper, wings furled.
\nEarly plum blooms first.<\/p>\n

~ * ~<\/p>\n

At dawn\u2019s edge, heron
\nsteps into pond of black silk.
\nWater heals itself.<\/p>\n

~ * ~<\/p>\n

Line by line, wild geese
\ninscribe farewell notes on sky.
\nWind fingers their nests.<\/p>\n

~ * ~<\/p>\n

Strung like notes on fence wire,
\nfive midwinter crows.
\nSee the song take flight.<\/p>\n

~ * ~<\/p>\n

Pleated silk blossoms —
\ndespite others\u2019 names for you,
\nyou still bloom the same.<\/p>\n

~ * ~<\/p>\n

The moon is in awe of you,
\narmored silver toad.
\nMoths flutter their fans.
\nAm I to become
\na toad in the pond
\ntelling the same tales all night?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SBN: 978-1-929878-83-3
\nPages:138
\nPublishing Date: Jan. 2012 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Brigit Truex has lived in the four quarters of the States since beginning her writing career. In each locale she has also established workshops to help others hone their prose and poetry as well, but her primary focus is on poetry. Her mixed ethnic background (French Canadian-Abenak\/Cree and Irish) has been a theme she continues to explore in her work, approaching it from various angles. The historic Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony\u00a0was based in the nearby community of Gold Hill, a scant 10 miles from where she currently lives in the\u00a0Sierra Nevada foothills of northern California. Its universal\u00a0story of “stranger in a strange land”\u00a0resonated with her\u00a0as\u00a0the tale evolved and grew from an initial single poem into\u00a0this detailed book, the result of extensive research and truthful imaginings.<\/p>\n

The author has been published here and abroad in various literary journals and anthologies including Atlanta Review, Tule Review, Native Literatures, Yellow Medicine Review and others. She is a board member of Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers and Native Writers Circle of the Americas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4969,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[292],"product_tag":[304,298],"class_list":["post-4968","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-books","product_tag-brigit-truex","product_tag-lummox-press","first","instock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/4968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=4968"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=4968"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lummoxpress.com\/lc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=4968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}