[.ca] Christmas in Plains: Memories (ISBN 0743227158)

From Amazon.com:
Jimmy Carter's Georgia hometown has been the one constant in his life, and he pays tribute to it with Christmas in Plains, a collection of holiday memories from his childhood through his Navy days, his time as Georgia governor and U.S. president, and his very active retirement. As a schoolboy, Carter looked forward to painting many-colored magnolia leaves to mix in with the holly on the mantle. His favorite way to collect mistletoe "usually at the top of oak or pecan trees and on the ends of slender limbs, was to shoot into the clump and let the bullets or buckshot cut off some sprigs." And when his godmother went to Cleveland, Ohio, one December, he asked her to bring back a snowball. It was quite some time before he realized that the large white marble she gave him was not "a real petrified snowball." Carter's memories of holding onto faith during the Christmases of his presidency are often poignant, taking place in the context of the Iranian hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And his postretirement experiences of Christmas are strangely, comfortingly familiar, characterized by jealousy of in-laws and generosity towards neighbors. --Michael Joseph Gross

The Human Side of America's 39th President:
I had the privilege and honor of meeting President Carter at the University of Washington, where he signed a copy of this book for me. "Christmas in Plains" is a wonderful book that approaches autobiography in a new and interesting way: Jimmy Carter reflects on his life as a series of holiday seasons. We see the triumphs and the failures in eloquent and honest prose. History will remember Jimmy Carter as a compassionate human being with a genuine desire to help others. This book would make the perfect holiday gift. After all, what better values truly embody the holiday spirit than compassion and love?

Merry Christmas from the Former President:
Merry Christmas from the Former President Prolific former President Carter's slim volume of Christmas memories--most spent in his hometown--makes for a quick and easy read and leaves a lingering satisfied feeling. No vignette is particularly earth-shattering, but perhaps it is the mundane and wholesome nature of his experiences that makes them all the more engrossing. While few observers would term Jimmy Carter a great president, only the most blindly partisan Republicans fail to see him as a noble patriot overflowing with integrity. These identifying attributes are quietly displayed throughout the episodes he narrates. Even when he steps on a few toes, they are feet that deserve it. Those with a phobia about vestiges of Christianity in public schools will shutter when he writes of his childhood, "it would have been ridiculous in those days for anyone in our community, or the state of Georgia, to think that the dedicated religious services that were held every day in the public school might violate in any way the First Amendment." The former president sees great value in the school's religious presentations "because they reached every child, not just the churchgoers." Such virtuous suasion may earn him membership in the vast right wing conspiracy in some circles, but unabashed honesty forms the basis of Jimmy Carter. Perusing his others Yuletide tales spent in the Navy, as a young father and husband, serving as Georgia's governor, on to the White, House, and back home again, readers may be disappointed by the skeletal nature of certain chapters. However, Carter's post-presidency has produced a substantial oeuvre, and other works can undoubtedly flesh out the missing tidbits. Maybe the book's greatest strength is near complete avoidance of the political realm. Carter seems to be saying that Christmas is for all Americans, and while politics has its place, it takes a back seat--or at least it should-- to our nation's sacred holidays.

Life in Plains, Acommunity in:
CHRISTMAS IN PLAINS by Jimmy Carter LIFE IN PLAINS This is another of Jimmy Carter's books of God and his values. Jimmy is a good man and writes something that will not electrify you. This is part of his autobiography from Plains, the village or small town in Georgia where he remembered the good things when was a boy and always returned to Plains with his family to spend time with his mother and his wife's mother for Christmas. His father passed on earlier from cancer during this period. He graduated from Annapolis, spent a long tour in the Navy, elected for two terms as state senator and then to the Governor of Georgia, before being elected President of the USA. He married Rosalynn, a childhood sweetheart, during his time in the Navy and they had three sons. He now has six grandchildren, at the last count. After that, Jimmy and Rosalynn returned to Georgia. After founding the Atlanta-based Carter Center he is devoting the rest of time writing and doing good for all the world's people.

It's O.K.:
This book was not half as detailed as "An hour before daylight," which I thought was great! Daylight also has photographs, this one does not, and the artwork in this is uninspired (sorry Amy). I just didn't find enough Christmas feeling in this book to suit me. I would recommend redoing this one, enlarging it to include Rosalyn's perspective with photographs. Maybe some input from more members of the family. And I would like to see some enthusiasm, excitement and humor in Amy's art.

Christmas Joy from the Carters:
The short, joyful book contains Jimmy Carter memories of Christmas. His earliest memories begin around 1930 (when he was 5), and involve memories of father Earl and mother Lillian, as well as black neighbors (in an era of separation, his family perhaps represented a light in the South). There are happy childhood memories of finding the Christmas tree and fireworks. Jimmy and Rosalynn always tried to get back to Plains, but there are included a few absent remembrance from Navy years, and a rather tense Christmas with the holding of the Iran hostages. The line drawings by daughter Amy add a family charm to the book. May the Carter's have many more Merry Christmases together in Plains.