Friday, September 1, 2023

GOODNIGHT, FUCKERS #740: NOTES FROM THE PAST


 I feel certain that I've mentioned here before that I'm somewhat of a used book detective. I like to find out about the previous owner of a book through the notes they leave or what they highlight or even the condition of the book. I'm 95% positive I've written about it before, but 740 GF columns are a lot to go through, and I'm not going to do that now. (Or ever, probably.)


I was going through my things, packing my books away, when I found this book. I don't recall how it came into my possession. It's not something I would have picked up at a used bookstore. I have a suspicion I inherited it from somewhere, which happens sometimes.


It's almost a hundred years old, so I'm thinking it might be something Mom had, possibly from her grandparents or great aunt or uncle. But the note left inside is pretty cool:




At first I thought it might have been my stepfather's parents, but the date is wrong. They would have been in Germany still. And I doubt they would have inscribed it in English. It's not from Dad's side of the family. There's no way it would have come to me through him. I doubt it's from Gramps's side of the family. They would not have written in English, either, back then. It would have been Greek. That leaves Grandma's side. Most of them were in America long before that written date, and none of them would have written in another language.


But who are Georgia and Frank? More importantly, who is Bada, aka the Old Puzzle Maker? All I know is that Bada would have been born in 1866, a mere few years after the Civil War.


I haven't said it in a while, so perhaps it bears repeating. History is never far behind us.

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