Tuesday, April 29, 2003

No History Gets Out Of Here Alive

I was reading Utusan Online over breakfast today, as I do every morning, when I came across news of this contest:

Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, has established a charitable fund that will finance an annual award for the best work of history written for young people.

The James Madison Book Award will have a cash prize of US$10,000.

"I hope by recognising books that teach children and young people about our country's past, this award will encourage authors to take up this subject and publishers to seek out writers who can make American history come out alive,'' Cheney, author of the children's book "America: A Patriotic Primer,'' said in a statement Thursday.

Selections will be made by an advisory panel that includes documentary maker Ken Burns, former presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan and historian Michael Beschloss.

"Make American History come out alive"?

Has history been held hostage, like the Presidential Papers of the G.H.W. Bush Administration?

Have Lynne and Rick Santorum decided to let history out of the closet?

Is history like a Peter Frampton double album?

I think I've got a good shot at the prize, but I can't decide to whether to submit "The Very Hungry Halliburton" or "The A-B-Cs of Iran-Contra."

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