A Timely Lesson from Mr. Squirrel

The downturn in the economy, government debt, conflicts abroad and natural disasters are forcing many Americans relearn many of the lessons taught to their grandparents and great-grandparents during the great depression and subsequent war.

Perhaps it is not too late to learn from Old Mr. Squirrel’s experience “when the world was young” as told by my favorite author of children’s books. The parallels to today are surprising in the following  tale from Thornton W. Burgess’s book, Mother West Wind “How” Stories.

William George Jordan – Author Extraordinaire

William George Jordan (1864-1928) grew up in New York City the son of Irish immigrants. I’m frequently asked what religion was William George Jordan. What I can say is that according to extended family members he and his family were Episcopalian. Another indicator is that he was married in the Grace Episcopal Church of New York City in 1922. His parents also referred to their heritage as Scotch-Irish. Indicating that they were not Catholic.

His father was a printer and perhaps that contributed to his vocation as a publisher and writer. He graduated from City College of New York in 1884 and immediately joined Book Chat, a monthly magazine which published reviews of current books and news in the publishing world. In 1888 he was hired as the managing editor of Current Literature, a magazine “devoted exclusively to the literature and topics of the day.”

On July 26th of 1891 The Inter-Ocean paper of Chicago published an interview with WGJ where he discussed his thoughts about education and “Mental Training”. After the article was published he received so many requests for information that he scheduled a trip back in October to lecture on the subject. The Inter-Ocean in a September 24th article reported that: