Last Sunday the Crestline book club met at McCabe's & Company Booksellers to discuss The Postmistress, a novel by Sarah Blake.
The conversation naturally focused on the central matter of the novel, which was the flight of the Jews from Nazi Germany during World War 2. Americans did not want to enter a foreign war, and they refused to see what was happening across the ocean. If they had known what was happening, they would have felt obligated to do something about it. They kept their eyes and ears closed because they did not want to disrupt their daily lives for the sake of foreigners.
Interestingly, one of the residents of the small town in Cape Cod was a German Jew, but people thought of him only as a German. They distrusted him, and the children teased him mercilessly.
The doctor in the small town is one of the exceptions to the refusal to get involved overseas; the other exception is a woman reporter from New York.
Dr. Fitch wants to create some meaning in his life and career by going to London to tend to the wounded during the Blitz. Frankie Bard wants to tell the people back home what is happening to the people in Europe. Both of them fail, but their failure is spectacular.
These and other topics came up in the course of our discussion, but what struck me was the statement of a pastor from a local church who has done missonary work in Africa. He said that he does not pay attention to the news because his focus is international. How, I wondered, is that different in quality from the stance of those who ignore the international news because their focus is local? In light of the book that we had read, this seemed to be a valid question.
What I said at the time, thinking on my feet, was this: In a high-school class in conservation, the first thing that they taught us was that you can't clean up the world until you clean your own room. Local issues matter.
Here in Crestline, the niggest issue is the man-made lake that provides recreatoi for both locals and tourists. Lake Gregory used to provide us with drinking water, but it has been neglcted for so long that we now get icky brine from the Mojave River. Our communities are working overtime to repair the dam and dredge the lake.
What matters to you? What is important in your life? What are you doing about it?
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