I just have a little more to say
about Edna Ferber. It seems that her
writing have fallen out of favour which is a crying shame. I think with the times we are experiencing
now, in America but also around the world, her take on humanity has real
value.
Ferber wrote many books on the
expansion in America focusing on the value of the immigrants’ who helped build
America, the Polish, the Jews, the Dutch, the American pioneers; in books such
as Cimarron, So Big, American Beauty, Ice Palace, Giant and Come & Get
It. In her obituary the remark was “Her
books were not profound [well, I take
exception here] but they were vivid and had a sound sociological basis.” In today’s society we have new immigrants who
are bringing their work ethic into the country.
In particular the Philippine people are outstandingly hard workers and
keep their funds inside the country to help the economy.
Do we have challenges today with
immigration? Yes, but overall the
majority of the people who enter our country or well-vetted, decent people who
just want to have a good life away from war and strife and poverty. Looking through Edna Ferber’s lens of
compassion, curiosity and acceptance I think we can all learn some valuable
lessons in being multi-cultural. It’s
not easy, but that’s life.
That’s the velvet.
What about Gutzon Borglum who sculpted American heritage profiles at Mount Rushmore? Or Jacob Riis from Ribe, Denmark, who documented "How the other Half Lives" in the 1890's? Danish Bjarne Stroustrup, now professor in Texas, who created the programming language C++? Or the Heilsberg brothers, who wrote Pascal, later Turbo Pascal for Borland? Or Niels Bohr? And thousands of Danish immigrants, whose influx had profound effects on the North American society? My family, who has certainly left its own fingerprint on many aspects of life in North America. We are quiet contributors, humble inventors and entrepreneurs. We don't boast of our achievements. But the society would be missing something, were it not for the silent, brave Danes. Remember them. Not through monuments and statues, but in your hearts.
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