A Tribute to E.B White

I've just finished The Points of My Compass, as collection of White's essays originally published in The New Yorker and other periodicals. Many of you know this author as the creator of Charlotte's Web, or as the White in Strunk and White's Elements of Style. In my opinion, his essays take the prize. He writes with clarity, honesty, and a welcoming wave of the hand, inviting us to see the humor and mystery in the simple routines in life. One essay is written during an epic battle with a marauding fox, intent on stealing Bantam hens from the Whites' henhouse. Another whimsically captures his adventures aboard a ship traveling the length of Alaska in the 1920's. He saw with uncanny foresight the profound effect that TV would have on our culture. He gives the reader an important glimpse into life in America in the earlier part of this century. I also recommend a further book of his essays, entitled Second Tree from the Corner.