Up the Road from Tassinong

About the Book

You hold in your hands a poetical grab-bag that contains everything from the products of youthful “raging hormones” to the uncensored irreverence of advancing age, a total of 125 pieces that span 46 years. Among these you will find a post-9/11 verse for “The Star Spangled Banner,” a Riley-esque homage to a history-minded Hoosier town poet, the aching tragedy of a life inexplicably cut short, a series of snapshots of a rambunctious child from crib to commencement, tributes to one of the best writers who ever lived, and several unforgiving self-portraits. Tassinong was the oldest village in northern Indiana, founded as a French mission and trading post in 1673, according to the historical marker that lists an ancestor as one of those who incorporated it. It is located in the front yard of a farmhouse at the head of Baums Bridge Road near the outlet to Indiana 49 about eight miles south of Valparaiso, Indiana, where I was born. If you indulge me, you will discover how much this book owes to a handul of very special people from a girl with forbearance beyond her years to a woman with a dragonfly tattoo. To them and to all the others I apologize for taking too much time to do this.,

About the Author

Charles M. Bartholomew is a retired journalist and radio announcer. He is a native of Valparaiso, Indiana, and a graduate of Valparaiso High School, Wabash College (B. A., Physics), and the University of Maryland (M. A., Journalism). Except for a number of years in the north and northwest Chicago suburbs, he has spent most of his life in Northwest Indiana, about which he has written extensively of the people and history as a newspaper correspondent. He began writing “schoolyard rhymes” in elementary school and became a serious amateur poet—a Valparaiso tradition, as you will read—at the age of 16, continuing his art for over 40 years. He learned much of his craft at the knee of his mother, an English teacher and mezzo-soprano who instilled in him a voracious appetite for language and all kinds of music. He has written in all styles—lyrics, parodies, blank verse, advertising jingles, “deadline” poetry, inspirational and patriotic verse, humorous and satirical sketches, and protest songs. Most dear to him are the many portraits of family, classmates, and friends on which he honed his skills. He has authored one book, a fantasy called The Sleigh Elf’s Daughter, a clear example of his taste for the outrageous.