Like Little Bear’s Porridge

Linda Burton posting from Salem, Oregon – “Jim Stembridge of Salem, Oregon loves state capitols. You will love them too, once you read his book about the 50 of them.  Like Little Bear’s porridge, this book is Just Right. It isn’t a heavy-duty, hardbound coffee-table book that’s hard to fit on your lap. It isn’t filled with endless facts and figures that you simply don’t want to wade through. Nor is it one of those slapped together 101’s, where inspiration unfortunately gives way to glib.You will enjoy reading it, and you will be satisfied with the logistics and consistency of it. I’ve always wanted a collection of capitol photographs. This book offers that – left hand page, alphabetical order by state – a full-page color exterior shot. You can flip through the book and easily find the one you want, or just enjoy them one after the other. These are not glam shots, touched up to a too-pretty perfection. Stembridge puts you there; you get a sense of place, as though you were standing on the sidewalk beside him.”

I wrote this review of Jim’s new book last July, and today, I did “stand on the sidewalk beside him,” right here in his home town of Salem. Jim is a Board Member of Capital Cities USA, so over lunch we talked about how the Journey is progressing, and we talked about his book. I wanted to hear more about how he came to write it. » read more