Current Work

I am writing this essay to let you, my readers, know what I am working on, so that you might give me some of your impressions if you have anything to add on these topics. I am now writing four books, each of them dealing with a quite different topic (that is why I haven't sent out many essays recently!) Here they are:

1. A book on the biblical Book of Proverbs, entitled Wisdom Seeking: 30 Days with the Book of Proverbs. I have been taken by the bold claim of the Book of Proverbs that the life of wisdom is a course of life-mastery. That is, Proverbs is convinced that learning to live in wisdom will result in a life of ever-broadening blessing, prosperity, and insight. Proverbs is convinced that wisdom is the most valuable commodity in the world, more valuable than money or acclaim. What I do in the book is to identify 30 themes or individual proverbs and then exposit them one by one. I would like the book to be a "one chapter a day" book for a month. I begin with wisdom as the most important thing in the world; then I turn to wisdom and the human heart; the way of the fool; the path of wisdom and, finally, proverbs you don't want to miss. For example, in this last section I advance the thesis that Proverbs 22:6 gives us insight into a good philosophy of education today. I argue that Proverbs 25:11 played a role in helping Abraham Lincoln formulate the concept of equality of all. So, this book should be out in October. I will keep in touch on it. My editor says that it will be about 305 pages, which is about 100 more than I wanted to make it...

2. The second book is the one I am writing now, entitled Teaching and Learning in America: 2010. I have spent a good deal of my 57 years in hardcore learning. I consider myself a sort of Jack LaLanne of the mind--dedicating myself daily to learning of all kind, storing my knowledge, writing about it, and then recalling it at appropriate times. In this book I point out what I think is essential to the teaching and learning process. I begin with such revolutionary concepts as "make it clear," go "line-by-line," encourage students to memorize things, pay attention to the Latin roots of everything. I also provide practical insights on how to speak and write well. Central to my concept of education is an insight from special education: each student, and not just disabled students, should have an Individualized Education Program. I am excited about this book, and hope it will stimulate lots of interest for those who spend a lot of their time thinking about learning and teaching.

3. I plan to begin the third book in November, when I have finished book # 2 and my Fall traveling. It is tentatively titled: Reclaming Your Life--After You Have Given It Away. It will be a sort of "self-help" book, consisting of about eight chapters, focusing on how you can "get your life back." The problem I am exploring is especially felt by women in their 30s-50s, but also is felt by men. You "wake up" in the middle of your days and realize that you are not living your own life. It is as if you are living by others' rules, for their purposes; you don't like it one bit. But, even though you don't like it, you feel powerless to change things. I almost decided to call this book "Minding Your 'P's" because each chapter will focus on a different "P," such as "plugging the air leaks in your life," "not giving away your power," "planning rather than panic," and several others. What advice would you give to people who have, for some reason, given away their lives, and find it very difficult to get them back? Any thoughts?

4. The final book of my (what is the fourth book of a trilogy?) four will be called 100 Words You Should Know and Use. I plan to write this book in January 2010. Some of the work is already done through many of my "words" essays on this site. The book may not simply be limited to 100 words; it might be 102; it may be 99. Some of the essays might introduce a dozen words that are good to know and use; others might simply be an exposition of one word for several pages. For example, my essay on the flower named "loosestrife" illustrates the way a word has changed meaning over 2000 years. My point in this book is that words open fresh worlds to us; by learning the story of words, we learn their power and enrich our lives. I don't anticipate this will be a "word a day" book, nor will it simply be a "word origins" book. Rather, it will be a ruminative book on how words well spoken and chosen can enrich your life.

That is what I am working on. Your thoughts? Thank you.

Bill Long

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