Bethel Tales

Dennis Listort

Description

In August 1969, hundreds of thousands of people assembled on the grounds of a farm in Upstate New York. After nearly half a century, this festival, billed as the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, still resonates as the quintessential music extravaganza of all time. Similar in theme and form to Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, The Bethel Tales, chronicled by a 20-year-old named Danny Berger, it is a collection of 33 narratives told by a group of concert-goers as part of a story-telling contest to pass the time traveling from Manhattan by Greyhound bus to the Woodstock Festival near White Lake, NY. The tales told by the people on board, a diversified party of professional, blue-collar, secular, and religious individuals, are thought-provoking, humorous, inspirational, bawdy, and, at times, tragic. Their stories offer us not only a wide-ranging look at our culture of the time, but also of what people choose to remember and wish to pass on to others.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528956758
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Bethel Tales
Dennis Listort
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-05-31
The Bethel Tales About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright Information Acknowledgement Introduction My Prologue The Marine’s Tale A Story of World War II with the Noble Captain Carey, Beautiful Lisette, and the Vile Colonel Wolff A Discussion Between the Host and the Bartender An Argument Erupts over Who Will Relate the Next Tale The Bartender’s Tale A Vulgar Account of Ryan, Holly, Tricky Nicky, and Pastor Kane The Real Estate Agent’s Tale Ben, John, and Alan in a Narrative from the Prohibition Era The Errand Boy’s Tale The Notorious Man Called Herring and His Friend Wilson The Judge’s Tale The Trials and Tribulations of a Woman Named Constance Prologue to the Tale of the Wife from Gravesend A Five-Time Married Woman from Gravesend, Brooklyn, Presents a Lengthy and Curiously Rambling Introduction to Her Tale A Conversation Between the Corrections Officer and the Psychologist Tempers Flare as Accusations Abound The Wife from Gravesend’s Tale The Story of a Knight on a Quest to Find the Answer to the Question, What Do Women Want? The Psychologist’s Tale Tragedy at a Montana State Prison The Corrections Officer’s Tale Don Carlo Gambino, a Mafia Soldier Named Drake, the Willowy Lucille, Her Husband Thomas, and the Way the Tables Are Turned The Professor’s Tale An Old Story of an Italian King, How He Tested His Wife, and How Her Loyalty, Faithfulness, and Obedience Brought About a Happy Ending The Stockbroker’s Tale The Pear Tree Incident The Marine’s Son’s Tale Identical Twin Girls. Identical Twin Boys. Youth. Passion. The Chef’s Tale A Parable from China: The Virtue of Honor, a Loving Couple, and the Sorcerer Chang The Doctor’s Tale The Plot of an Awful Melodrama Prologue to the Street Hustler’s Tale Money Is the Root of All Evil: A Refutation The Street Hustler’s Tale Double-Cross and Murder in Manhattan’s Five Points Neighborhood Prologue to the Steward’s Tale A Short-Order Cook Is Given an Exciting Opportunity The Steward’s Tale A Yacht Owner, a Harbormaster, and How Gretchen Gets Her Way Prologue to the Nun’s Tale The Nun’s Proclamation of Her Faith The Nun’s Tale The Loss of a Child and His Ascension into Heaven My First Tale An Abbreviated Fairy Tale of a Handsome Cowboy, Peaceful Indians, and a Savage Monster An Interruption by the Real Estate Agent, the Bartender, the Steward, the University Professor, the Corrections Officer, and the Judge My Second Tale –The Story of Rosalie Rosalie; Her Husband, Guzman; and Their Daughter, Silvia, in a Story Taking Place in Spanish Harlem The Landscaper’s Tale Four Anecdotes Illustrating the Fickleness of Fate Prologue to the Nun’s Priest’s Tale A Man of the Cloth Proposes a Story The Nun’s Priest’s Tale The Sins of Vanity and Flattery Epilogue to the Nun’s Priest’s Tale Compliments for the Priest Prologue to the Second Nun’s Tale The Sin of Sloth The Second Nun’s Tale A Tale of St. Cecilia, Her Chastity, and Her Tragic Death at the Hands of the Magistrate and the Emperor Prologue to the Farmer’s Tale A Preface Recalling the Adage: A Fool and His Money Are Soon Parted The Farmer’s Tale Deceit, Deception, and the Bones of the Dead The Caterer’s Tale Sage Advice for Those Who Would Speak Too Much Opinions Differ Regarding the Content of the Tale to Be Told by the Divinity Student The Divinity Student’s Tale A Spontaneous Sermon on the Wretchedness of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Sanctity of the Seven Heavenly Virtues Our Arrival at the Gate August 15, 1969 EPILOGUE The Auction
About the Author
Dennis Listort, a retired public school teacher and administrator, is a freelance writer.
He is the author of The Writing Box , an adult contemporary novel; and co-editor with his wife, Darilyn Stahl Listort, of The Wolves at My Shadow: The Story of Ingelore Rothschild.
About the Book
In August 1969, hundreds of thousands of people assembled on the grounds of a farm in Upstate New York. After nearly half a century, this festival, billed as the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, still resonates as the quintessential music extravaganza of all time. Similar in theme and form to Chaucer’s  The Canterbury Tales ,  The Bethel Tales , chronicled by a 20-year-old named Danny Berger, it is a collection of 33 narratives told by a group of concert-goers as part of a story-telling contest to pass the time traveling from Manhattan by Greyhound bus to the Woodstock Festival near White Lake, NY. The tales told by the people on board, a diversified party of professional, blue-collar, secular, and religious individuals, are thought-provoking, humorous, inspirational, bawdy, and, at times, tragic. Their stories offer us not only a wide-ranging look at our culture of the time, but also of what people choose to remember and wish to pass on to others.
Dedication
For Darilyn, my one and only.
For all my children.
For all my grandchildren.
Copyright Information
Copyright © Dennis Listort (2019)
The right of Dennis Listort to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528900157 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528956758 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgement
This work is a web of interplay among my wife, Darilyn; and my children, Cynthia Listort, Teresa Listort, Stephen Duffie, and Allison Duffie. Their comments and criticisms kept me on the true path.
Appreciation is posthumously extended to Dr. Morgan E. Jones, professor emeritus at the State University of New York, New Paltz campus, and to all New Paltz English Department faculty and staff of the 1960s and 1970s.
I am grateful for the help and assistance from Joni Mitchell, Michael Worden at the Alfred Publishing Company, webmaster Les Irvin, and Jane Tani at Grant, Tani, Barash & Altman.
Thanks are given to Kevin Smith and Fallon Black, publishing coordinators, and the entire Production team at Austin Macauley Publishers.
Introduction
If the novel is defined as a fictional narration of the human condition with events involving characters in a specific setting, then it can be argued that Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales , composed in 1380, is the first novel written in the English language. The assemblage of pilgrims at the Tabard Inn in the Southwark area of London and their subsequent travel to the shrine of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury Cathedral forms the framework for Chaucer’s creation, written both in prose and poetry, a journey artfully peppered along the way with the travelers’ stories of love and lust, life and death, God and country, joy and sorrow, honor and shame.
Chaucer’s (1342–1400) varied life experiences undoubtedly fueled his writing. He was, at times, both prose author and poet, philosopher, page, bureaucrat, courtier, clerk for King Edward III, civil servant, diplomat, parliamentarian, comptroller, and envoy for King Richard II, as well as a prisoner of war captured and then ransomed in the course of the Siege of Rheims in 1360 during the Hundred Years’ War. These positions and experiences must have contributed to his literary inclinations and given him a wealth of ideas to generate and to bring into being his works which remain foundations of English literature. He is honored to be the first poet buried in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey.
In 1969, two unprecedented and remarkable events held the interest and attention of the entire world. On July 20th, spellbound viewers watched on television as Apollo 11 rested in the Sea of Tranquility, the culmination of what was called by many humankind’s first interplanetary voyage. Less than a month later, on August 15th, it was estimated more than half a million concertgoers assembled and reveled on a dairy farm in Bethel, NY, at what was officially billed as the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, for four days of music, love, and peace. This event remains the quintessential music festival of all time.
My first serious encounter with Chaucer came the following year, in 1970. I had completed all course work for my Master of Arts degree in English Literature at the State University of New York, New Paltz Campus, and what remained was my thesis. My advisor, Dr. Morgan E. Jones, encouraged me to pursue research relevant to the sounds of our language, past and present. Since he was blind, I understood his gentle urging, realizing that to him sounds were nearly everything. Thus, I found Chaucer and his writings snug in the middle of the Middle English period (1150–1470). With Dr. Jones’ guidance and encouragement, and hours of painstaking research and composition work, my result was Phonological Change in the Ancestry of Modern English .
The similarities between Chaucer’s Tales and the Woodstock experience – the idea of diverse groups of people traveling to a specific place for a specific reason with storytelling in transit as a means to pass the time – were obvious to me. And so, for several years afterward, I kept thinking about telling a story of an assemblage of men and women, young and old, on their way from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City to Yasgur’s farm in upstate New York. Nearly a half-century later, after careers in education and business, raising a family, traveling, writing, and spoiling grandchildren, I finally managed to get started in 2016.
I duplicated many of Chaucer’s