Brian Matthew Jordan
In response to my post of December 28, 2008, Who Is Shannon Berry and How Does She Know So Much About Franklin Pierce?, fellow Franklin Pierce enthusiast David Holzel made the observation, "Someday, everyone will have written a biography of Franklin Pierce." It seems we are one step closer to fulfilling David's chilling prophecy. Today, I discovered a Pierce biography hitherto unknown to me, and doubtless unknown to most of America. The author, Brian Matthew Jordan, wrote his book, Triumphant Mourner: The Tragic Dimension of Franklin Pierce while in high school. I have learned via the internet that he is in the class of '09 at Gettysburg College, majoring in Civil War era studies, and is now off to Yale for graduate work.
In the preface of his book, the precocious Mr. Jordan stated,
Ask Americans today the question "Who was Franklin Pierce?" and they are most likely to respond to your question with a puzzled expression or a shrug. If any president in our history, in particular, has suffered from oblivion in American memory, it is Franklin Pierce. . . Franklin Pierce was our most obscure president.As Scrooge said in Dickens' A Christmas Carol, "An intelligent boy! A remarkable boy!"
lol. Maybe we should invite him to lunch.
ReplyDeletelol...That child is off to Yale? Man, I am getting old....Michelle
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteYour appreciation of all things Pierce is . . . I'm at a loss for words.
David H.,
ReplyDeleteHow about dinner? Burgers are half price at Sonic on Tuesdays after 5PM.
Michelle,
I think the picture is a few years old, but still...we are getting old. At least we're young at heart.
Elektratig,
Thank you for just trailing off--there are so many adjectives you could have used.