13 of us met in the Zoom Room! Everyone seemed to have enjoyed News of the World, by Paulette Jiles. Carla’s questions guided our discussion.
Question: Discuss Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd’s work as
a newspaper reader. What does he bring to his audience, and what does he gain
from his work besides financial compensation? Introducing the question, Carla
told us that the Kidd character was based on a relative of the author.
To me, this
was the most unique and interesting aspect of the book! I thought the idea of reading
some newspapers and staging gatherings to read these news stories to groups of
people seemed like not only an excellent idea on the part of a literate person of that time and place but also an important part of the day or week for many people in a community!
Joanne said
Kidd might have had nothing else to do. It would be lucrative for him because
there would always be an audience.
Marcia said
it worked particularly well for Kidd because he had no family and was retired,
so he could afford the time to read the papers to himself and then travel to different
communities to gather audiences. It didn’t require physical labor, so would
seem to stay viable into Kidd’s older age.
Carla said
that legislation after the Civil War had restricted what you could put into
print. Kidd originally had a print shop, but with these restrictions, it was
probably safer for him to spread the news orally. Kidd could read the published
news selectively. Free speech, without freedom of the press!
Flo thought
the money was a big incentive for Kidd.
Pam figured
he probably enjoyed the adventure.
Carla
mentioned that this was a social outlet for a man who lived alone, where he
would see people, often the same ones regularly, and he could talk with people
and develop relationships.
Joanne
thought that without as many media activities as we have today, such an
audience would have been interested in what Kidd had to say.
Cindy T. noted
that developmental differences among different communities were vast at that
time. She compared it to the dichotomy between Texas having a power grid
failure the same week that Nasa landed on Mars. Thus, in the right niche, Kidd’s
services were in demand!
Pam said
that Kidd had traveled and done many things, so bringing the news to
communities was very fitting and enjoyable for him.
We had a dynamic
discussion of more of the questions, as usual! Topics included Johanna’s point
of view and emotional development regarding being separated from her original
parents and living among the Kiowa for 4 years, the logistics behind the legal
and political implications of the Kiowa kidnapping children of other
backgrounds, childhood development and how different ages and sexes might have fared
in the wild West at that time of frequent kidnappings, and true stories of
children who were kidnapped.
Joanne made
a comment that exemplified and approached the essence of our Book Club and all
our discussions! She said, “I learn so much from all of you!”
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