[meteorite-list] Re: Falling Into Reading

From: Bob Martino <martino.6_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:25:36 2004
Message-ID: <005d01c31511$f45c8fc0$0300000a_at_TheMonolith>

All,

Ron's posting of an article about Ms. Polacco is of interest, and not just
because it's about a "meteorite."

I wrote an article for "Planetarian" magazine about a year ago discussing
how to tell when a rock is not a meteorite. I mentioned the "meteorite as a
headstone" story as a probable urban legend. I mentioned Ms. Polacco's book
because in the end of her story the "meteorite" becomes her grandmother's
headstone. I contacted Ms. Polacco to try and ascertain how much of her book
was true and how much was poetic license.

She responded by making legal threats against me.

Her basis for this threat was (1) I didn't have her "permission" to mention
her book. (2) Since I'd never seen her talks to school children, I couldn't
write about them. (I pointed out to her that there is a huge difference
between a _talk_, which I hadn't even mentioned in the article, and a
_book_, which was what I was asking about. Very oddly, she just couldn't
seem to grasp the difference between the two.) (3) She makes a lot of money
with her public talks and I wasn't allowed _by_law_ to say anything that
might hurt her income.

It's been reported here that the "meteorite headstone" is in fact a piece of
pink granite. One individual who has seen her speak in public also told me
that the "piece of meteorite" she passes around is also pink granite.

Of course, I gave her blowing of hot air all the attention it rightly
deserved and the article was published. While I couldn't say how much of her
story was true, I could (and did) mention her attempt at censorship. The
greatest irony of all this is the last few lines from the article reprinted
below, which is a quote from Ms. Polacco. She passes her piece of pink rock
around and encourages the children to make a wish, but with restrictions:

>"There are three wishes you can't wish
> for. You may not wish for money, you can't change
> other people and you can't wish for toys or possessions
> you can purchase with money."


-----
Bob Martino, Tucson, AZ

Can you really name a star? Read the Truth!
http://home.columbus.rr.com/starfaq/
.

> Message: 17
> From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
> To: meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com (Meteorite Mailing List)
> Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 14:40:31 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Falling Into Reading
>
>
>
>
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7670839&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=6
>
> Falling Into Reading
> Amy Soper
> The Midland Daily News (Michigan)
> April 10, 2003
>
> Wednesday morning's visitor to Adams Elementary School left some students
> with tingling hands.
>
> After hearing stories from author Patricia Polacco, students were given
the
> chance to touch a small piece of a meteorite which she wrote about in her
> first book, "Meteor!" Polacco told students they could make wishes while
> touching the piece of fallen star.
>
> "It felt tingly in my hand," said first-grader Nicole Meeks. Meeks said
her
> favorite Polacco book is about a principal who helps a student quit
bullying.
>
> "I like the book about her rotten redheaded older brother," classmate
Megan
> Bausch said.
>
> Katie Smith, another first grader, said she liked the book Polacco wrote
> about how she was taught to read. A fourth student said he liked the
breaks
> spent clapping and stomping feet between stories Wednesday.
>
> "The rock felt kind of cold when I touched it," said Nathan Fisher.
>
> Polacco began writing children's books when she was 41 years old and has
> written 50 in 17 years. She said she grew up around a family of story
tellers.
>
> "My mother's people are from Russia and the Ukraine and my dad was from
> Ireland," she told the students. "All my life I've been used to hearing
> stories, not seeing them. At my house we didn't have a television. We
> watched my grandmother. It was better than any TV I ever watched."
>
> Polacco shared that oral tradition with students by telling three
stories -
> one about a girl whose grandmother gave her a doll to play with and the
doll
> comes alive, a second about the meteor and a third about a quilt that's
been
> in her family for years.
>
> The meteor story is based on an event Polacco's mother told her about.
>
> "My mother saw it happen. I do know it was during the month of August at
> 11:30 p.m. All of a sudden it looked like the sun came out. They ran to
the
> windows of the house to see what was making noise and it crashed in the
> yard," she said. "My mother said the house shook and they saw something
> gleaming in the front yard."
>
> The meteorite has become a piece of family and local history in Union
City,
> where it crashed. People come in bus loads to touch it at the cemetery
> where Polacco`s grandmother is buried. The meteorite now has the family
name
> carved on it, but Polacco carries a piece with her.
>
> "With every legend there's a warning to be careful what you wish for
because
> it may come true," she told students. "There are three wishes you can't
wish
> for. You may not wish for money, you can't change other people
> and you can't wish for toys or possessions you can purchase with money."
>
Received on Wed 07 May 2003 11:28:49 PM PDT