Mon07062015

News

Effective today, library cards free again in Los Altos

Both Los Altos libraries should see a spike in use soon. After the elimination of an $80 annual card fee that had been in place since 2011, nonresidents will receive free library cards at local libraries, effective today.

Residents of Mountain View ...

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Schools

Almond fifth-graders set sail at Shoreline

Almond fifth-graders set sail at Shoreline


Courtesy of Corinne Finegan Machatzke
Fifth- graders at Almond School launched the boats they designed and built at Shoreline Lake last month.

Almond School fifth-graders boarded their handmade boats at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View last month to...

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Community

Taking it back to 'The Streets': Local filmmaker aims to revive 1970s series 'Streets of San Francisco'

Taking it back to 'The Streets': Local filmmaker aims to revive 1970s series 'Streets of San Francisco'


Courtesy of Charles Alley
Charles Alley’s filmmaking company may be based in Mountain View, but he knows all about “The Streets of San Francisco.” He’s rebooting the 1970s TV classic.

When people look for the next hit TV show, they often assume ...

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Sports

Enjoying the moment


Courtesy of Dick D’OlivA
Former Golden State Warriors trainer Dick D’Oliva, from left, wife Vi, former Warriors assistant coach Joe Roberts and wife Celia ride on a cable car in the victory parade.

Dick D’Oliva almost couldn’...

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Comment

The death knell of suburbia: A Piece of My Mind

The orchards are gone. The single-story ranch house is seen as a waste of valuable land and air space. An eight-lane freeway thunders past the bridle paths in Los Altos Hills. But nothing has signaled the death of suburbia more strongly than the ann...

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Special Sections

While competent & safe, MKC still can't catch European competitors

While competent & safe, MKC still can't catch European competitors


courtesy of Ford
The 2015 Lincoln MKC doesn’t overwhelm as far as overall performance goes, but it does offer comfortable ride quality.

Of all the auto companies with headquarters in the United States, only Ford managed to weather the great re...

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Business

Company installs EV charging stations at LAHS

Company installs EV charging stations at LAHS


Courtesy of Green Charge
Officials from Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District celebrate the installation of electric-vehicle charging stations at Los Altos High last week.

The Mountain View Los Alto...

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Books

People

HILDA CLAIRE FENTON

Hilda Claire Fenton, beloved wife and mom to 9, grandmother to 30 and great grandmother to 22, passed away June 20 following a long illness. She was 90.

Hilda was born Sept. 28, 1924, to Lois and Gus Farley then of Logan, W. Va. While she was still ...

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Travel

Venetian spa offers ways to de-stress

Venetian spa offers ways to de-stress


Courtesy of The VEnetian
The HydroSpa in the Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Venetian in Las Vegas offers a muscle-relaxing bath and radiant lounge chairs.

Vegas cab drivers usually ask if you won or lost as soon as you get in their vehicles. They assum...

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Stepping Out

Cast carries 'Arcadia'

Cast carries 'Arcadia'


Courtesy of Pear Avenue Theatre
“Arcadia” stars Monica Ammerman and Robert Sean Campbell.

The intimate setting of Mountain View’s Pear Avenue Theatre proves the perfect place to stage “Arcadia,” allowing audience members to feel as though they a...

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Spiritual Life

Magazine

Living it up Older adults aim to age in place

Living it up Older adults aim to age in place


Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Local enthusiasts flock to the Los Altos Senior Center to play bocce ball. The center hosts informal games four days a week and occasional tournaments.

As baby boomers in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View nose...

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Inside Mountain View

Carrying the torch

Carrying the torch


Members of the Mountain View Police Department carry the Special Olympics torch as they run along El Camino Real between Sunnyvale and Palo Alto June 18. Members of the department participate in the relay annually to show their support for Spec...

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Isaacson offers engaging portrait of founding father


Sometimes you read a book because you’re interested in the subject matter, while other times you’re a fan of the author.

I picked up a copy of Walter Isaacson’s best-selling “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” (Simon & Schuster, 2003) not because I’m a huge admirer of Ben Franklin, but because I enjoyed Isaacson’s more recent biography, “Steve Jobs” (Simon & Schuster, 2011).

And I am certainly glad that I did. Despite its length – the paperback version runs 493 pages – “Benjamin Franklin” is an incredibly enjoyable read that provides a wealth of information not just about Franklin, but about American values in the 1700s. Isaacson does a masterful job of researching his subject and presents a balanced picture of a very complex individual.

The chronological structure of the book is of great help to both reader and subject. Isaacson devotes a chapter to each of the main phases of Franklin’s life, for example, “Bon Vivant: Paris, 1778-1785” and “Peacemaker: Paris, 1778-1785.” Readers who are not that interested in Franklin’s Parisian flirtations can skip such sections and jump to the founding father’s varied accomplishments.

Franklin cannot be an easy subject for a biographer, given that he was so influential in so many roles: author, printer, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, activist and diplomat. But Isaacson manages to weave the story of Franklin’s achievements together, connecting threads of a life built on “a sincere belief in leading a virtuous life, serving the country he loved, and hoping to achieve salvation through good works.”

I laughed out loud several times while reading “Benjamin Franklin,” mostly when reading quotes from Franklin himself. Readers will certainly gain a greater appreciation for the man and his wily ways. Although Franklin liked to portray himself as a simple man from the backwoods of America, he could be rather devious and scheming during the lengthy negotiations with the French over the terms of the Treaty of Alliance, and later with the British over the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War.

Despite Franklin’s many accomplishments, Isaacson doesn’t flinch at chronicling his failings, which include his rather poor treatment of both his wife, whom he did not see for the last decade of her life, and his son, whom he never forgave for siding with the British during the war.

Isaacson reserves his best insights for the book’s conclusion, where he notes, “During the three centuries since his birth, the changing assessments of Franklin have tended to reveal less about him than about the values of the people judging him.” John Keats, for example, complained that Franklin was “full of mean and thrifty maxims,” and Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson found Franklin too materialistic. English novelist D.H. Lawrence wrote that Franklin “had no concern, really, with the immortal soul. He was too busy with social man. …I do not like him.”

As Isaacson concludes: “(Franklin’s focus tended to be on how ordinary issues affect everyday lives, and on how ordinary people could build a better society. But that did not make him an ordinary man.”

Book clubs that read nonfiction should especially enjoy “Benjamin Franklin,” but give fair warning and plenty of time because of its length.

Leslie Ashmore is a longtime Mountain View resident who belongs to two book clubs.

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