Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman

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Summary: What is the definition of a Hoosier?
Review: Alas, the book 'Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman' does not offer a definitive answer to this article's title question: What is the definition of a Hoosier? Kevin Kline's recent film 'In and Out', set in the not-so-mythical Greenleaf, Indiana, had a scene near the conclusion where the teacher of the year was trying to deliver a speech with the same title, only to get interrupted before giving the answer. Perhaps the answer contained in this book is not so much a dictionary-style answer, but rather the collective experience of people such as those represented in this book.

The author, Nelson Price, has been a reporter for the Indianapolis Star and News newspapers, the state's largest papers, for over 15 years. Born in Indianapolis, educated at Indiana University, he is a fifth generation Hoosier; his great-great-grandfather arrived in the state just about the time of Indiana achieving statehood. Thus, if anyone has background qualification for producing such a text as this, it would be Price.

Indiana is well represented in the history of the American nation. Three presidents: William Henry Harrison, his grandson Benjamin Harrison were Hoosiers, and Abraham Lincoln claimed substantial Hoosier influence in his backgrounds. Other historical figures in the country's political and historical development include John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), George Rogers Clark, Tecumseh, Frances Slocum, Robert Owen, Eugene V. Debs, Wendell Willkie, and Dan Quayle (eek!). Indiana has in fact had five vice presidents, including Schuyler Colfax and Thomas Marshall.

Little known fact: Reggie Miller and Jane Pauley were both diagnosed with ailments in their childhoods that would have ruled out most any productive role in adult life, Pauley with nervous disorders, and Miller with a crippling childhood disease.

Hoosiers in Hollywood and the performing arts include Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Clifton Webb, Red Skelton, Carole Lombard, John Mellencamp, Florence Henderson, David Letterman, Michael Jackson, Crystal Gayle, Shelley Long, Joshua Bell and Twyla Tharp. Writers and artists include Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Robert Indiana (could have guessed that, right?), Jim Davis (of Garfield fame), T.C. Steele, James Whitcomb Riley, Booth Tarkington, and Theodore Dreiser.

Famous business people have included Madame Walker (the first self-made black millionaire), Eli Lilly, the Studebaker family (yes, the cars), the Ball brothers, and J. Irwin Miller, all known not only for their entrepreneurial spirit, but also their philanthropic drive. The Lilly Endowment is one of the largest in the world today.

Little known fact: 'Go West, Young Man!' is a phrase coined by an Indiana newspaper reporter.

Indiana is also the state of Ryan White, the child AIDS activist whose name became familiar all over the world. It is home Sandi Patty, the gospel singer, and Jane Pauley, the television journalist. It is the birthplace of the fashion designer Bill Blass and the childhood home of Halston. It is the home of sex research Alfred Kinsey and the gangster John Dillinger. It is the home of journalist Ernie Pyle and publisher Eugene Pulliam. It is the birthplace of high flyers Orville and Wilbur Wright (now, there aren't too many states in the nation where a family would have both an Orville and a Wilbur, don't you know...)

Indiana wouldn't be Indiana without sports, particularly basketball, and boasts such legends as Larry Bird, Bob Knight, Oscar Robertson, George McGinnis, and Bobby Plump. Racing goes without saying, too, in Indiana, and the names such as Bettenhausen, Andretti, and Gordon are legendary in the sport. Mark Spitz, Kurt Thomas, Doc Counsilman, Jaycie Phelps, Don Mattingly, and Knute Rockne are other well-known names in the sporting world.

Little known fact: Carl Fisher, the founder of the Indianapolis 500, took his fortune to found Miami Beach, Florida, where he died penniless.

So, you now have a perhaps overblown sense of who comes from Indiana. So what?

Perhaps the best thing about this book is to give a sense of pride of place to native Hoosiers. I am a firm believer that knowing one's personal history is very important, and this includes a sense of the place where one is born and raised. There is, among my acquaintances who have come from elsewhere in the world to live here, a decided reluctance to admit the term 'Hoosier' applies to themselves. For the longest time, I thought that no one actually comes from Indiana, or that perhaps Indiana is a good place to be from, but not a quality to be valued. Nelson Price's book is somewhat of a revelation in that sense, in that it shows the great diversity of persons in a wide range of human endeavours who were born in or had significant residence in Indiana. Once, Steve Martin made a comment describing a place as 'nowhere, USA', and he picked a town in Indiana. Perhaps Indiana is somewhat distant from the 'centre of all things', be that New York, Los Angeles, London, wherever one might choose. However, perhaps its critics are a bit too harsh on the state, and the history of this relatively small place needs to be re-examined, not least by those who reside here.

Little known fact: William Henry Harrison built a plantation as a Governor's Residence in Indiana, and called it Grouseland.

The Hoosier state is richer in history than might at first meet the eye. Nelson Price's book puts in small, journalistic-style stories, accessible narratives of the people who make up this history, past and present. This would make a great gift to anyone who lives in Indiana, who is moving to Indiana, or has a significant Indiana experience in the past.

Little known fact: A large number of astronauts have come from Indiana, and those who were not Hoosier natives often have a Hoosier connection - education from Purdue University, renowned for engineering.

This is a coffee-table book. Wonderful pictures of people past and present, good print production and nice formatting make this a pleasant volume to read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent gift book
Review: I was thoroughly entertained and captured by this book. Furthermore, I was thrilled to receive such a large and handsome hardcover book. Everyone should give a copy to every Hoosier they know!

Rating:
Summary: This book should be on the shelf of every Hoosier
Review: This book is the most exhaustive study of Indiana natives available today. Written in the same conversation style that he uses in his newspaper column, Nelson Price relates the "rise to fame and fortune" stories of many familiar personalities. And to receive such a terrific hardcover book for this price is almost criminal. Everyone should buy a copy today!