Victor
04-23-2006, 08:59 PM
Anyone read any of his books? At 19 he bet a friend at the U of Michigan he could circle the world without money and did so, having some really hairy experiences along the way. Wrote the Vagabonding series of travel books. Settled down in New Hope PA and raised a family of 5. I have a friend who knew his widow well - he kept inviting me to meet her but I never did. Started reading his books after she died and couldn't put them down. The societies he describes were so exotic, so different, from what they are today, you'd think he was describing a society hundreds of years ago. Really interesting takes on life as it was lived at that place and time.
Travels in Northern China is a good place to start. One of the most interesting books I've ever read in my life. In Korea, as in many other places around the world, upper-class women dressed with their breasts exposed, peasant women did not. He also describes Russian aristocrats in exile having their balls every Saturday night, dressed in tails and gowns and dancing formally, while literally starving and living in the open. One Russian came to the YMCA looking for food - the director told him he'd be glad to give him lunch in exchange for cutting the grass. Oh no, he said, I'm sorry, I don't do manual labor.
Franck joined the Army at 66 and went to France shortly after D-Day. Died in 1960. A really fascinating man.
The other night, on a whim, I called a Franck in the phone book and asked the woman who answered if she was related to him. Oh yes, she said, he was my grandfather. We had a nice chat. My family gets calls like this all the time, she said, from one of a small but very enthusiastic group of Harry Franck fans.
Travels in Northern China is a good place to start. One of the most interesting books I've ever read in my life. In Korea, as in many other places around the world, upper-class women dressed with their breasts exposed, peasant women did not. He also describes Russian aristocrats in exile having their balls every Saturday night, dressed in tails and gowns and dancing formally, while literally starving and living in the open. One Russian came to the YMCA looking for food - the director told him he'd be glad to give him lunch in exchange for cutting the grass. Oh no, he said, I'm sorry, I don't do manual labor.
Franck joined the Army at 66 and went to France shortly after D-Day. Died in 1960. A really fascinating man.
The other night, on a whim, I called a Franck in the phone book and asked the woman who answered if she was related to him. Oh yes, she said, he was my grandfather. We had a nice chat. My family gets calls like this all the time, she said, from one of a small but very enthusiastic group of Harry Franck fans.