THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508130635
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: PAUL SOUTH
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
In terms of the American presidency, Herbert Hoover was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
On Black Friday, when the stock market's plummet slapped the ebullient America of the Roaring Twenties into an almost catatonic silence, Herbert Hoover became the scapegoat.
For those who stood in the bread lines, it was as if the Hoovervilles and Hoover blankets were crafted by the 31st president's own hand.
In that context, it would be easy enough to dismiss last Thursday afternoon at a local bookstore as a time to tuck tongue firmly in cheek.
For while most of an earlier generation consider Hoover the architect of the Great Depression, the mention of Hoover at Manteo Booksellers evokes a fond smile, as if recalling a favorite old uncle. August 10 passes almost without notice everywhere else, but in Manteo, there is reason to rejoice.
It is Herbert Hoover's birthday. And at Manteo Booksellers, folks sipped Herbert Sherbert Punch and munched on red, white and blue birthday cake. Flutists performed, and people talked and laughed. Some mingled near the Herbert Hoover Shrine, featuring photos of the late president and a ``This Is Your Life'' style scrapbook.
Others, like store manager Steve Brumfield, wore a T-shirt bearing Hoover's likeness, and a quote from the former President: ``What this country needs is a great poem.''
``He was interested in literature,'' said Brumfield. ``He wanted the country to have a national poem. He thought it would lift everybody's spirits during the Depression.''
Brumfield came up with the idea to hold the Hoover celebration in conjunction with an author signing. This year, David Poyer was the featured guest.
``We would always get fresh flowers when we had an author signing, and people would ask why,'' Brumfield said. ``We'd tell them it was Herbert Hoover's birthday. It seemed like a good reason to have a party.''
But for Chris Kidder, a bookstore employee, Hoover's interest in the written word makes him a natural honoree for a bookstore celebration.
``He wrote 18 books in his own right,'' Kidder said. ``He really pushed for a national poem. He really took it up after the Depression, and after his presidency was over. After he was out of office, he was a frequent guest on radio shows, where they wanted him to talk about foreign policy, where he had a lot of expertise. He would go off on a tangent, and start talking about a national poem. I think they thought he was a bit dotie about it.''
After a fashion, Newark, Del., teacher Charles McVaugh is Hoover's kindred spirit. As part of the Hoover celebration, a poetry contest is held. McVaugh won the contest a year ago. He remembers a far different Hoover than most history books care to recount.
``He was very liberal in a lot of ways,'' McVaugh said. ``His wife was a blue stocking who subordinated her own considerable intellect to accommodate him. She was a precursor to Eleanor Roosevelt. But Hoover was nonpartisan. He served Republican and Democratic administrations.''
McVaugh can reel off Hoover's legacy of service: The Hoover Institute for Peace worked to find ways to avert international conflict. The Hoover Commission, formed in the Truman Administration, reinvented government by streamlining the executive branch. Hoover served the Wilson administration by supervising efforts to help European refugees after World War I.
``That's the reason I like him,'' McVaugh said. ``I like to present him to my students in terms of his entire career. The Depression was caused by circumstances not of his making.''
It is part humor, part honor that causes folks to gather to remember Mr. Hoover. How would he react to the celebration?
``I think he would smile with his tongue in his cheek. He's never really received the appreciation he deserves for all of his career. But like the saying goes, `The wind blows ill and it blows well.' At least in Manteo, the wind blows well for him.'' by CNB