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by Biff with NRGotN
For every canoeist there is a special river, a river that affords him what he prizes above all. It can be good fishing, bountiful hunting, breathtaking scenery, or cascading white water. For me, it is the peace of mind imparted by a remote river with a gentle nature, and I found that river in the northern reaches of New Brunswick. It is the Northwest Upsalquitch, winding along a magnificent course through the foothills at the northern terminus of the Appalachian range.
New Brunswick's north woods in autumn splendor.
Our put-in was at Twenty-Five Mile Brook, in a meadow beside the game warden's hut. It was late afternoon when we finally completed the shuttle, and after rounding the first bend in the river, the setting sun spread a sheen of scintillating silver caps on the water, a wide set of rippling wavelets. Shallow and swift, the character of the river wasted no time in asserting itself ... it would be a relaxing run with plenty of time to absorb the surrounding wilderness while the canoes carried us forward with effortless ease.
A quiet evening, as John inspects the hull of his Grumman, and Ken contemplates a beverage.
Pic by Biff
We set camp on a sand bar about five miles downstream. There was no need for hurry. We had two days to finish the run and no expectations of difficulties, like the need to portage. A few times, we did have to walk the canoes for short stretches through shoals, but these were welcome opportunities to stretch our legs.
Upsalquitch means "little river" in the Migmaw tongue, as compared to the larger Restigouche.
Within an hour of setting camp, we heard a rustling in the bushes behind us. We froze and listened. A few seconds later, a young doe stepped gingerly out of the alders less than twenty feet behind us. She had not yet learned to fear the two-legged predator who all too often shot her kind not out of need, but for sheer sport alone.
Carefully, I gathered some alder shoots from the bushes, and slowly, quietly approached the graceful innocence. She too took several short and timid steps, until, ultimately, we were face to face. Ken and I held our breath as she accepted and ate the alder shoots from my outstretched hand. Then she turned and retreated with a noiseless bound into the alder thicket. She remained there for a few moments yet, coyly observing us before finally forsaking our camp for her own element. The river had just greeted us.
The next morning, we put in shortly after nine o'clock. Ken admonished John and me for having missed the magical early morning, which he maintained were the best hours for canoeing. Perhaps he doesn't appreciate the relaxing, soporific effect of fresh air, gently running water and primeval quiet as keenly as I do. The forecast had been for cloudy skies with a chance of showers the next day, but the weatherman must have had a crack in his crystal ball because we enjoyed clear sunny days for the duration of our run.
Within minutes of setting out, the river's mood penetrated us. The icy cold water (it was the first week of June) flowed with crystal sharpness, refrigerating the bottom of the canoe. We wound down the river, past cedar islands plump with mature ferns, with the primordial silence of the hills rolling down to the river and enveloping us with a sense of quiet awe.
Ken ventured ahead of us and disappeared around a bend. John and I spoke little; words seemed out of place, like a taint on the beauty of lush evergreens, birches, and poplars growing down to the water's edge, and at times, tipping precariously over the river.
Where the noon sun shone squarely on steep slopes of dark spruce and pine, the hillside rippled in waves of dark yet radiant green, spangled with the bright leaves of birches spinning in the spring breeze.
As our canoes glided ever closer to these huge luminous and animated quiltwork images, we could not tell whether the river would turn left or right until we were at the hillside's very foot. Then, with a quick right angle bend in the stream, the image disappeared as our craft pointed to a new perspective, another verdant tapestry which in turn loomed ever closer, ever more vibrant and magnificent with every stroke of the blade.
The water was shallow, one to two feet deep, and the river bed, thoroughly leeched of silt by the rapid passage of water over the ages, was strewn with colorful, almost gaudy rocks and pebbles in pastel hues of reds, greens, blues and yellow, like a brilliant bed of jewels sparkling in the gin-clear water.
We came to our first large pool. A solid rock cliff, casting shade over the river, descended into deep, green water. We could trace the ledges of rock stepping down eerily for twenty, thirty feet or more, and there was movement at the bottom. I bent over the side of the canoe to take a closer look. The movement turned out to be a lone bottom-feeder, startled by the shadow of our canoe.
Ken cruises through a quiet rock garden on the main stem of the Upsalquitch, just above Boland Brook Camp. The Coleman canoe pictured here was his first boat, and has long since met its end on a rock.
This was the only fish we saw. It was not yet the season of the salmon run, when this pool would shelter shoals of salmon, all at different depths. I am told the Upsalquitch salmon average a weight of twelve to fifteen pounds fully mature, and offer a fierce fight when caught on the fly.
On hiking up the hillside to enjoy the long view up the valley, Nanook came upon the tool of the poacher, a wide net of fine mesh used to scoop out the salmon on the sly. We buried it under scrub and scree, hopeful to foil those who would imperil the survival of this noble species already in dire decline.
We paddled on, and around the next bend, we saw a dark shape lumbering from the right hand shore, making its way across the river. It was a bear, the largest I'd ever seen in the wild. We came closer and closer as it continued to ford the wide stream. It moved slowly through the swift water and sharp rocks, and we were within two or three canoe lengths before it reached the bank, crashed into the bushes, and disappeared.
Then I did a very foolish thing. I wanted a picture. I didn't have a camera with a telescopic lens to capture an image while the bear was still in the water, so we put into shore where it had landed and I rushed into the woods, looking for the bear.
About thirty feet into the woods, I thought I saw movement ahead of me, and a thought crossed my mind: "Remember, if the bear is standing, turn the camera sideways to get a full picture." A second thought raced through my mind, erasing the first: "A standing bear is usually a dangerous bear." My camera fever quickly subsided and I beat a speedy retreat back to the canoe. Regrets for the missed picture soon dissolved and washed away as my mind turned once again to the lulling flow of the river and the blue sky topping the rising hills.
Salmon fishers pole from pool to pool on the shallow Upsalquitch.
As we continued down the river, flocks of ducks soared over the water's surface ahead of us in twos and threes, reeling from bank to bank. Blackbirds called from the banks, urging us on, past their nesting places. The sense of remoteness deepened.
Towards evening, we encountered more salmon pools, the water deepening somewhat, fed by an increasing number of streams and brooks, bubbling into the river. At one particularly large and deep pool, nets were strung in fences, closing off the access to the upstream reaches to salmon. In this manner, the provincial government collects the fish, counts them, and allows them to disperse upstream to their spawning beds under the wardens' careful supervision later on in the summer. Other wardens guard the upper pools, binoculars in hand, to prevent poachers from plying their unsavory trade.
We camped that night above the Upsalquitch Forks, on the last meadow before the riverbed narrowed into the canyon above the river's confluence with the Southeast Branch. Thoughts of mortgages, deadlines, and mercenary managers were dispelled by the camaraderie only a riverside campfire and a clear wilderness night can conjure.
End of August, taken from "The Rock" in Upsalquitch village looking upriver. The name of the salmon pool is Doubloon.
Early on the third day, we passed through the short canyon leading to the Forks of the Upsalquitch. High granite walls loomed on either side, and the watercourse narrowed to less than half its earlier width upstream. We bounced and buffed in the quick current from the shoulder of one rock to another in quick turns, never in danger of capsizing, until at the Forks itself. Here the nature of the river changed, as it received the Southeast Branch and shifted course to head towards the larger river in the north, the Restigouche.
At Forks Pool. A recent flood shifted the course of the Southeast branch, which now enters one look downstream.
The current was still swift, but deeper. The hills no longer reared to lofty heights, but sloped in gentler, rounder contours, no longer offering the grand verdant tableaux in shimmering sunshine of upstream. The woods became lusher, yet less majestic, sparser in evergreens. Fewer blackbirds complained at our passing.
The rock bed, though still gem-like for the most part, lost some of its sparkle as if covered by mud and the water seemed murkier. Here the salmon pools had kitschy names like Puncheon Bar, were flanked by log lodges sporting barbecues, satellite dishes and station wagons.
Roads intruded to the water's edge, flanked by picnic tables and cottagers cozy in their bug-free gazebos. Soon the tangle of telephone lines completed the rout of wilderness, and left us with a wistful longing for the untamed, untrammelled open spaces of the Northwest Upsalquitch.
The Upsalquitch is famous for its gin-clear water.
We finished our run at Robinsonville. I had a three-hour wait with the canoes while Ken and John retrieved our upstream shuttle vehicle. The promised clouds were beginning to roll in now. Let them, I thought, as I lay back in Ken's canoe, munching a chocolate bar. The canoes were stored just under the Robinsonville bridge, the same one that Long John Baldry sings about when he croons "You can't cross the Upsalquitch until you pay the toll, so don't try to lay no boogie-woogie on the king of rock and roll." The sounds of cars and motorcycles rushing back and forth with Saturday night madness soon disintegrated into a far-away rumble as my thoughts centered on the previous two days.
Upsalquitch is a MicMac word for "small river" and surely it is, when compared to the Restigouche and Saint John. But no other river has impressed me more than the Northwest Upsalquitch as being so majestic in unfettered spirit.
I wondered how long the lonely peaks would protect this small river. For the time being, a gentle princess flows proudly through her remote domain of lofty hills and verdant glens, polishing her crown-bed of jewels. And I almost feel glad about missing that picture of the bear.
Read Nicholas's Trip Report on the Upsalquitch
Read Linda's Trip Report on the Upsalquitch
Read Craig's Trip Report on the Upsalquitch
A few pics from our 2011 Upsalquitch trip
Random Upsalquitch River image
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Home Dartford News Article
Dartford's Vox factory and the amp that powered the sound of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles
BySean Delaney
sdelaney@thekmgroup.co.uk
Published: 06:00, 23 November 2020
| Updated: 09:53, 26 November 2020
There are many tales of the origins of rock 'n' roll in Britain but a lesser known one starts a few doors down from a fish and chip shop in Kent.
And no it is not the time Rolling Stones' rocker Mick Jagger was pictured tucking into a fresh bag ahead of a gig.
Posters used to advertise the Vox amplifiers made in Dartford. Photo: Paul Bundock
It is, in fact, the story of how one small music company from Dartford took on the world from an old warehouse, creating an ear-busting invention that would go on to define the sound of the swinging Sixties.
Dartford Road's Vox factory was the birthplace of the world-famous Vox AC30 amplifier, which helped power the British Beat Boom, and is long associated with legendary music acts The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
As rock 'n' roll was imported to UK shores from America in the 1960s, demand for electric guitars coincided with a need for amplifiers to ensure bands performing to thousands of screaming, adoring fans could be heard.
This led to the creation of the AC15 amp, invented by sound engineer Richard 'Dick' Denney.
Born in Belvedere in 1921, Dick worked as an engineer at Vickers' munitions factory in Crayford during the Second World War.
Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's 1962 VOX AC30 'Normal' model amplifier built at the Jennings Dartford Road factory Picture: Julien's Auctions
During this time he would strike up a friendship with music entrepreneur Tom Jennings, who ran Jennings Musical Industries in Dartford, a business specialising in the manufacture of electric organs, guitars and bass guitars.
Working together they produced the Vox AC15 amp in 1956, so called because it ran off AC electricity and generated 15 watts of power.
On the back of its success, Dick was approached by Bruce Welch and Hank Marvin, of The Shadows, to generate a more powerful 30 watts device capable of reaching larger audiences.
However, Mr Jennings had his reservations and it was only when paperwork – revealing Dick had continued to work in secret on the project – led to a row, they agreed on a trial run.
The result, the Vox AC30, would change the landscape of music forever.
Before long the amp was adopted up and down the country and Vox counted legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix among its long list of illustrious clients.
Dick Denney, who invented the AC30. Photo: Emily Turner
Some musicians claim it to be the best ever made, including Queen guitarist Brian May who told a BBC documentary it was a "gift from God".
Its popularity rose to new heights when Mr Jennings struck a deal with Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles, that meant the band would only ever play Vox equipment during his tenure.
But to truly reach the top and earn yourself a musical footnote in rock and roll history they say you have to "crack America".
Bill Wyman, a former Rolling Stone and the vox amplifiers made in Dartford. Photo:Paul Bundock
And Vox did just that. In the 1960s, Mr Denney toured the world demonstrating Vox equipment, sometimes even landing himself appearances on cable TV beamed to thousands of homes.
Speaking in 2013, his granddaughter Emily Turner said: "He toured the world demonstrating Vox equipment. Word got round and Hank Marvin had a Vox and then The Beatles.
"He set up equipment for live performances, including the first live appearance of The Beatles on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1963.
"My mother went with him to the venue and the desperate teenage mob made carrying the equipment through the stage entrance difficult."
She would go on to describe how they had to use water cannons to disperse crowds of girls attempting to hammer down the dressing room doors.
Her grandfather Dick coolly told her mum to stay in the stalls until the sound checks were complete, where she found herself sat next to a young Des O'Connor and Ringo Starr.
The Rolling Stones were fans of the Vox equipment Picture: Rebecca Gibbs
Meanwhile back in Dartford it was not unusual for the stars themselves to frequent the factory on any given day.
Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, being local boys, visited often to try out the latest equipment and would interact with the engineers and technicans hard at work.
They went one step further and even showcased the guitars Vox were producing alongside the amps at the time.
Despite the publicity, Vox found it hard to keep up with demand amid pressure from rivals Fender and Marshall and eventually JMI was sold to the Royston Group in 1964.
Today, the company – which counts Foo Fighters, Queen and The Killers as fans – is owned by Japanese group Korg which moved production outside the UK in 2002. Dick, who died on June 6, 2001, sold his shares in 1967.
A Facebook page has been set up for people to share their photos and stories of Dick Denney and the Vox AC30.
A blue plaque to commemorate the buildings that Vox used to be in at Dartford. Photo: John Westhrop
In 2017, a blue plaque was placed on the wall of JMI's former offices in 119 Dartford Road, between Hair Flair and ADS Business Centre.
Members of Mr Denney's family joined about 20 former employees of the Vox factory and others for the unveiling.
It reads: "From these premises, music entrepreneur Tom Jennings and sound engineer Dick Denney produced the first Vox Amplifier, changing the sound of popular music forever."
To read more of our in-depth features click here.
Read more: All the latest news from Dartford
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Why Do Women Dominate YA?
August 9, 2012 by Nathan Bransford 66 Comments
NPR recently released a list of Readers' Top 100 YA Novels, and The Atlantic wasn't the only one to notice how female authors dominated the field:
More than 75,000 votes were cast to cull the list of 235 finalists to the top 100. Also notable: Of those 235 titles, 147 (or 63 percent) were written by women—a parity that would seem like a minor miracle in some other genres. Female authors took the top three slots, and an approximately equal share of the top 100. As a comparison, you'd have to scroll all the way to number 20 on last summer's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy list to find a woman's name (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley).
First off, I don't want anyone to read concern into this post. I don't think this is a problem. It's just interesting. It's also not a rout — in the top 100 it's still 50/50, though when you remove classics the trend is more stark.
I can think of any number of reasons why women might dominate young adult fiction, everything from institutional explanations (children's publishers are overwhelmingly staffed by women) to genre (teen romance) to psychology (more on that in a minute), but I'm not sure any of them feel like a totally satisfactory explanation.
I think it's equally curious when you consider that middle grade (for 8-12 year olds) is a place where male writers still have some of the most popular series: Wimpy Kid, Series of Unfortunate Events, Ranger's Apprentice, Fablehaven.
The only explanation I can come up for that, back to the psychology, is that middle grade is a time when men have their formative taste-creation time (take it from me: what guys like at age 12 is pretty much what they like at age 32), whereas for women maybe high school is more formative? So maybe men are more likely to gravitate to middle grade?
What do you think? Why are there so many more female YA writers?
Art: Lady writing a letter with her maid – Johannes Vermeer
Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Culture, Young Adult Literature
Erica Cameron says
That's actually a really good theory. I can believe the psychology behind that though I've never really questioned it before. It definitely changes individual to individual, but I think as a whole the idea that middle school is more formative for boys and high school more formative for girls is relatively sound. As much as any generalization on humanity can be, anyway.
Jaimie says
Your psychology explanation is very perceptive. I like it.
Ann Best says
In view of having raised three girls and then a boy, your theory works for me!
I am a teen services librarian and I have noticed that in youth, females overwhelmingly dominate library readership and participation in library-related events. For example, my teen summer reading club has 800 participants, and the participation breakdown is 70% / 30% females to males. So…perhaps it is just a matter of appealing to audience because more females are reading YA fiction than males.
Alex Villasante says
I don't have an answer, only observations. I was at the YA Fest this past weekend in Easton PA and among 30+ YA authors, writing in every conceivable genre, there were maybe 5 male authors. Two of them, Charles Benoit and Jonathan Maberry write in more traditionally male genres – noir and horror – and with male protagonists. Jennifer Hubbard writes (amazing) YA contemp with male protags.
I guess the (non) point I'm making is about the audience that came out to see these authors at the free event. They reflected the gender of the authors proportionally – overwhelmingly female. Perhaps that's something to do with it?
Philip Heckman says
Why are most nurses and most elementary school teachers female (and thus relatively underpaid)? Because the male-dominated society at large stupidly undervalues those professions. The more money, awards, and fame that accrue to YA titles, however, the more men will become interested. The Hunger Games and Harry Potter have got a lot of attention, which will begin to show up in more male YA writers in coming years. (So I'm a cynic.)
Michael G-G says
For a simplistic explanation of why there are more males in MG and women in YA: it all comes down to respective audiences' interest in romance versus exploding toilets.
Since I don't write MG or YA, I'll only speculate that for some women, that was their favorite time in their life. (team sports, mean girls, BFF, jockeying for position or for that captain of the team)
I think you're right about the psychology. Many adult women (not YAs) like to read YA, though I can't understand why. Nostalgia? (the same as some women can't understand why I love sci-fi and fantasy)
Interesting stats, but not surprising.
David Jón Fuller says
It's an interesting theory — I wonder if it explains in part the huge proportion of superhero comic book writers who are men?
Munk says
I completely agree with your comment that what men like at 12 is pretty much what they like at 32. But do you think industry definitions are driving what is available to readers? Or are reader's interests driving the industry? What of the 13 to 16 year-old boys who are more interested in science than vampire lust?
Bobbie Shafer says
I'm wondering if perhaps the 12 year old child in us makes us write y/a or middle-grade. Whereas boys of that age were more sports minded and outdoorsy, girls stayed inside and read, imagined, and daydreamed. It's the child in me that loved y/a, middle-grade books and I was an avid reader from 6 on up.
I think women are naturally more in tune to kids because they tend to be the ones who raise them, and are therefore more aware of the nuances in their behavior, more interested in it, and therefpre have more to say on the subject whereas men tend to concentrate on more "grandiose" subjects.
Kathryn Rose says
"What guys like at age 12 is pretty much what they like at age 32."
I now understand my husband. Eureka!
Are they really all female authors?
Look at the romance genre, almost all of the authors of romance are women or have female pen names. If you are a man and you want to write for Harlequin, you need a female pen name.
If you're female and you write thrillers, then you might consider using a male pen name.
Didn't Rowling use her initials instead of her first name so that readers wouldn't know she was female?
So who is the target audience and what gender of the author's name sells more books to that audience?
So as the teen services librarian pointed out, %70 of teen readers are female, therefore I would expect 70% of the author's names, whether real names or pen names, to be female. So they are actually on the low side.
Ted Cross says
I don't see how Dune or LOTR are considered YA. I love many older YA books, like The Hobbit and A Wizard of Earthsea, but other than Harry Potter I feel that modern YA tends to talk down to kids, and I don't like that at all.
JeffO says
Interesting idea. Here's a couple of thoughts. When I was 11, I decided I wanted to be a writer. For all of sixth grade, I wrote a ton, and I read a ton all through elementary school. When I hit 12 and 7th grade, I didn't exactly stop reading, but I cut way back; I spent a lot more time out and doing things with my friends. As for what I read when I *did* read, it was almost-exclusively adult fiction, except for some of the staples like S.E. Hinton books and things assigned for school.
Maybe the boys who are reading are not reading YA books.
1. Your theory works for me.
2. A lot of women who would write "clean" romance write YA, because there is one line for "clean" (not inspirational) romance.I think more women write romance than men, so being boxed in could be part of it.
Andrew Leon says
I just did a post related to this topic, so I'm not going to go back through it all here; however, I will add that I think this is a bottom up change and that over the next couple of decades we'll see women dominating more than just the YA field.
Woman tend to gravitate towards support groups within their endeavors. I think that in and of itself helps women in the YA genre. The YA market in Romance Writers of America is one of the fastest growing sub-chapters within RWA. Now I'm not trying to be an endorsement ad for RWA but the information writers are able to attain as a member is substansial as is the opportunity to pitch agents and editors who are seeking YA. The vast majority of members within RWA happen to be women. The YA market is such a no holds bar genre right now that authors are able to go places within fiction that they are unable to go in adult fiction. Also too, the romance genre in general tends to be stronger sales wise than other genres like horror, thriller and mainstream fiction. Even during economic downturns, the romance industry is still going strong. I believe that contributes to the strong sales by female authors in the YA genre. Just two weeks ago I was at the RWA National Conference, agents and editors were salivating over finding the next Stephenie Meyer or Suzanne Collins. As different as those two series are the thing they do have in common is a love triangle. I'm not saying that men can't write romance, take Nicholas Sparks for instance, but the vast majority of YA that have ended up on that list and were written by women, have romantic elements if not full blown romantic invovlement between the protagonists. Now when you get down to the psychology behind it, teenage girls fantasize about romance, the happily ever after, and such. When you look at The Hunger Games popularity among teenagers, as brutal as it it, Ms. Collins still weaves a love triangle in between Katniss, Peeta and Gale. And Ms. Collins makes you want Katniss to get a HEA even more because of how bad her life had been. Most YA that I have found that has been geared towards boys rarely has a romantic element to it. Boys by the time they hit 12 are usually playing more video games than reading as part of the cultural psychology of young boys. Whereas teenage girls tend to want to be included in anything their girlfriends are doing so when one of them says you have to read this book, then everyone within that circle of girls is reading it.
Maggie Mae Gallagher
What guys like at age 12 is pretty much what they like at age 32.
Nathan, I'm the same age as you and I feel this is a backwards causality. Actually, before the explosion of YA, I too pretty much read the same types of books between ages 12-25. (I am female)
HOWEVER, more teens are reading YA now than I did because there is more YA to read. The genre wasn't as big back then.
And yes, most of it is paranormal romance that wouldn't appeal to guys. However, Hunger Games definitely had cross-over appeal.
I don't know why more women write YA, but I don't think it's because teen years are more or less formative for females than men. It may simply be that so many women are mothers and we see what our teens are going through. Or it may be that Twilight inspired so many women writers. Also, a lot of writers are following the trend: they may have previously chosen to write adult romance or women's fiction, but are now writing YA because that's what's selling.
Carey Torgesen says
Good post,
I would have to say it is the same reason most teachers are women. There is something about nurturing children, making them understand that we have all been there, and something in them that wants to help and teach. When it comes to kids and teens, women dominate the jobs that have to do directly. Counselors, social services, libraries (school), teaching, administration in schools, etc. So I think writing for kids is just a natural extension.
That and high school is about crushing on that hot guy or being nervous about asking that girl to the prom. It's the purest of love, without complication of career and age pressure. And girls love reading and writing about love. And every woman has that perfect high school love story in their head. So there is that too!
But that is my guess…by the way. I am a teacher, so this is where I'm coming from. 🙂
And yes. I write romance-ish stories for both YA and adult.:)
Carey has a point. I, too, am a teacher. At a Middle School in San Jose. And even though I am not the only male teacehr there, we are in the minority. Of the 12 principals I've had over the last 25 years, nine were women and three were men.
And interestinly, when I divulged to one of my fellow teachers recently, (a woman, btw) that my debut novel was going to be published this summer, she assumed it was a MG or YA book. She was nearly shocked when I told her that it was NOT for kids. KILLER OF KILLERS is not even remotely for kids.
Kendall Hoover says
I have no idea why this would be, but I think it's incredibly interesting. I wonder, though, if there are more women writing YA or only more women getting PUBLISHED in YA.I think the answer to that would help determine whether author-factors or publisher-factors are more culpable.
It's a good question. There's a part of me that thinks there's some truth to the Victorian notion that women retain childlike qualities throughout their life in a way men generally do not. As the primary caregivers to children, it makes evolutionary sense for women to be able to relate to children.
Also, as more men become stay-at-home dads and dads are expected to do more and more childcare, you see more this "man boy" cultural stereotype. For example, the new NBC show "Guys with Kids." Also, the existence of Paul Rudd, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, et al. Maybe evolution at work.
All that said, I feel I gravitate toward young protagonists because it's an interesting time in one's personal development. Things are raw and new and surprising and you're not set in how to cope with the world. You're making things up as you go along. Improvisation is fascinating to me, and what are your teen years other than one, giant improv comedy/tragedy sketch?
collectonian says
As a female writer, I didn't set out to write YA, it happened more because for the stories I write, the age group is a better set of actors. While they may be limited by parents, they also have a greater freedom of imagination, etc.
Mentally, if I think about some fantastical creature coming up to someone and saying "hey you, time to save the world" the cynical adult will just walk off and pretend they didn't see it, while a teenager is more inclined to at least pay attention and go along with it.
How many 30 year olds would just follow along with some fairy declaring them the hero of the world? 😛 Not to say it can't be done (in one of my adult stories, even, I do have adults dealing with it, but also in a more "grounded" space of angels/demons versus more out there creatures).
I don't think it has anything to do with the "nurturing" side of women – I frankly dislike children. I don't write YA for them, the stories end up being YA because it is what is best for the story and characters 😛
Long aside past, as for why there are more female than male – good question. I think part of it is that YA does tend to be more "romantic", not necessarily romance, but the fantasy of going off to a far off world, etc is a romantic notion that appeals to both male and female readers but that men may not feel the urge to write about. Though I'd be curious to know – how many YA readers are male vs female, it may just be the authors writing to the audience, similar to romance novels.
When I was in the YA target audience, I had already skipped into "adult books". Or rather I had moved into genrely speaking into Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. My sister on the other hand did the pure YA thing.
She transitioned out of YA and into mainstream fiction sooner than I did. She had an easier time of it, and mostly looks back on those books as being silly.
While I took a lot longer and found it harder to transition out of genre fiction, when I did, I moved more towards literary fiction — except in rare instances mainstream fiction bores me.
I seriously doubt my sister would ever pick up a "Sweet Valley High" book again. Or for that matter, anything similar. She is more Erin Morgenstern, Sara Gruen, Jennifer Close these days.
While I am more William Gaddis, Cormac McCarthy, Junot Diaz, Margaret Attwood. I will though, cheat and read something by Brendan Sanderson, John Scalzi, or Alastair Reynolds.
Growing up, given my Robert Jordan, Piers Anthony habit, I don't think I ever experienced anyone telling me anything other than "Grow up, those books are garbage." Which I think caused me to gravitate more towards serious books.
While I think my sister went through a more natural "Oh, those books are fine for a girl, she will grow out of them." comments about her reading.
I think you've got a good theory Nathan, and not one I'd heard before. I was at the SCBWI conference in LA last week, and chatted with a lot of YA authors, all of the women. Most of us seem to agree that middle school is a time we'd rather forget! (Though some women do gravitate to MG.) Middle grade shapes gals too, but first loves, learning how to keep your friends while turning more attention to the opposite sex, and then there's the separation from one's parents – the angst, the trauma, the drama – all great fodder.
For me, there was never a question of what age I'd write for. When I began to write, the voice that came out was a YA voice (and it continues to be). That's the younger part of myself I most relate to still. Maybe that's the way it is for a lot of other women.
Thanks for sharing this idea – it is intriguing.
linda@adventuresinexpatland.com says
Oh Nathan, Nathan. Seriously?? Women tend to write more YA because they believe YA are worthy of their time and attention. Men write fiction and it's 'literary fiction'. Women write fiction and it's 'chick lit, women's lit' etc. But in fairness let's not forget R.L. Stine and other men who also write because they think kids deserve good writing.
linda-
Ummmmm….. You know I'm a man who writes children's books right?
Jan Priddy, Oregon says
I admit I haven't read all the books on the two lists, so maybe it isn't fair for me to comment, but I will anyway: the lists are weird.
I have no idea why some books are on the lists at all, why some are on both lists, why some rank higher than others—why isn't China Miéville higher, for example—or what idiot ever decided that The Lord of the Flies was a YA book to begin with.
One reason for the disparity: marketing. A YA author commented that she (SHE) didn't set out to write YA, that's how she was classified. There is some sexism at work here. If a book is about a child and especially if it has a woman author, I suspect it's more likely to be classified as YA, regardless of the content.
Here's another: Rowling used her initials and a central male protagonist to sell her books. Girls will cross gender lines, but boys rarely do. That's why ALL the books I read as a child had male protagonists. This only began to change for me as I got older and could find books of the sort I wanted to read with girls in them.
But mostly, these are stupid lists. Many of my personal favorites are on both, but not all, not in the order I would place them, and sometimes on the wrong lists.
I agree with Michael G.G. Boys, even in high school, tend to enjoy the typically MG book themes (slapstick humor and adventure), whereas girls, even in elementary and middle school, tend to enjoy the older YA book themes (relationships, loss). My theory is that more girls are reading books targeted to older audiences and more boys are reading books targeting younger audiences, and the authors are responding to this trend.
david elzey says
From another perspective, my MFA creative writing for children and young adults program was 95% female. the question us got kept getting was "how do we get more men involved?"
therein lies another long conversation, but the fact that the NPR list came in with *as many* male authors as it did is perhaps better than it was in the past when men were predominantly the ones getting published.
Mary Horner says
I like your theory about formative creative years, but don't know the psychology behind it. I have, however, read many YA novels, and never really thought about breaking down the numbers by gender. I do know that one hundred percent were written by people, so, food for thought!
I find it interesting that females dominate the YA field, but what I find even more interesting is that they don't dominate anything else. In fact, they not only don't dominate, they are not fairly represented.
From the article, this caught my attention:
"The results are dismaying: after reviewing catalogs from 13 large and small publishing houses (and eliminating genre titles unlikely to be reviewed), she found that only one came close to gender parity, while the majority had 25 percent or fewer titles written by women".
25% or fewer? It's really hard for me to believe this is representative of the author gender breakdown. In other words, that only 25% of writers are women.
In some ways, the question that the Atlantic posed is telling. Where are the articles asking why MG is dominated by male writers? Why literary fiction is dominated by male writers? In fact, why every single other genre is dominated by male writers?
I think it will be very interesting to see if independent publishing opens the door for these statistics to change, since women will have full access.
I'm not giving you a hard time, Nathan, though, for posing this question. I think it's really interesting that women have broken through to dominate YA, and the debate here in the comments about the reasons for that are interesting. I just think the underlying issue behind the question is also very interesting.
MaryAnn Pope says
I agree with Mira. So woman slightly dominate YA and probably romance genre too, but men grossly dominate the rest of the genres by 75%? Is that true?
I calculated the percentage of woman authors on the 100 top scifi that this blog post linked to, and only 15%of the authors were woman. So men dominated that genre by 85%.
I agree with Mira that a more interesting question is why are men still dominating literature in general.
Selene says
Ye Gods, the stereotyping of women in the comment thread is depressing. Because of course we're all naturally more nurturing and interested in children than men! That's why we should, like, stay home and take care of the kids when they're small. Or why we're just more naturally suited to be teachers or nurses and stuff. It's the natural way of things, you guys! It's biology!
@Selene – As an explanation it also doesn't make sense, because they why do men dominate Middle Grade?
Thanks, Mary Anne. I also had to look at those stats twice. 25 percent seems so low! Interesting about the science fiction list.
I also wanted to add why I suspect women were allowed to breakthrough YA. I think it was because J. K. Rowling, and then Stephanie Meyer, were so successful. Alot of money made there, so it probably got associated with the gender of the writer with the genre.
Just a theory.
Jon VanZile says
I hope this doesn't get me in trouble, but I think it's because of the large crossover between contemporary YA and romance. Paranormal romances are huge in the YA category and many of the YA books I read feature a pretty traditional romance at the center of the book. So it makes sense to me that a lot of the YA readers later graduate to contemporary romance, which dominates trade fiction in terms of number of titles published and (I think) overall share of the market. With boys, on the other hand, they begin to drift away from reading around middle school in general, so they read these MG novels, and then sadly many of them are done reading for a long time or they graduate to nonfiction and magazines.
Mister Furkles says
I think Jan Priddy, Eva and Michael G. G. have addressed the real question: who is reading what? Who writes what is determined by who reads it. The publishing industry classifies books but the names of the classes do not necessarily reflect who is reading these books.
The significant differences in MG and YA seem to be age of the MC, vocabulary, sentence complexity and voice. Usually, girls read more and at a more advanced level. Hence, more girls would read YA and more boys would read MC. As the boys reading MC mature, they move on to adult books if they are still interested in novels. I also suspect there is a lull for teen boys where they are not reading much but the teen girls are reading more. After that, young men and women both move into adult books.
First of all 25% fewer women than men does not at all mean %25 of writers are women. If you have a hundred male writers, 25% fewer female writers is 75 women writers. If there are 50 male writers, 25% fewer would be 38 women. Not good at all, but no the the reactionary gender apocalypse that is implied in the comments.
Secondly I'm glad the Atlantic mentioned the Jodi Picault issue. She complained that women writers weren't being reviewed in the New York Times. Well what isn't mentioned is that VIDAweb.org did a survey of women reviewers, and while a lot of publications (the Atlantic included) were dismal regarding the number of women reviewers they hired. Jodi Picaults nemisis, the NYtimes rather well 48 women reviewers to 52 male reviewers.
That said if you are truly interested in gender equity, then YA's 63 percent of writers being women is not in any way healthy. The only healthy statistic is 50 percent.
Anon, you are quoting incorrect statistics. It was not 25 percent fewer women than men. It was 75 percent fewer women authors than male authors.
And it was measured over the entire publication listof 13 publishing houses.
The world does pretty much treat everyone unfairly, including most men. But it can treat some people even more unfairly than others.
I also want to mention this is not really about who reads or writes what type of genre. It's about who is chosen for publication in that genre.
I believe women dominate the YA field because more women are responsible for the care, feeding, and upbringing of the YAs. Women know what their (YAs)interests are and can better apply that information to writing publishable books.
Interesting post! I agree with many of the comments here, especially by Bobby Shafer (daydreaming girls as future writers) and Beth (YA often offers clean-er romance). I also wonder if its just this period of development–girls spend a lot time talking to their friends about boys, dates (or wishing they had friends to talk about these issues) etc, and reading these books might feel like they have friends. Many successful YA writers tap into girlhood/teenage angst (think Judy Blume!) I read a lot of YA myself, and it taps into my younger self. But I write mysteries, also dominated by women (at least the "softer" types).
Anon @ 10:55, you are right about the statistics. I should've read more closer. So it's about 43 % women writers which is much more reasonable.
But the low percentage of women writers represented in the top 100 Science fiction/fantasy list is still staggering.
MaryAnn, you have to go to the original article for the statistics. I'll quote it again:
"Ruth Franklin at The New Republic did her own analysis of the literary glass ceiling. The results are dismaying: after reviewing catalogs from 13 large and small publishing houses (and eliminating genre titles unlikely to be reviewed), she found that only one came close to gender parity, while the majority had 25 percent or fewer titles written by women."
Of the 13 house reviewed, for 12 of them, 75% were male authors.
Unless there is something I'm missing, Anon's statistics are not correct.
I think it may just be hard to believe it! 🙂
Philip Heckman, Munk, and Diana bring up some valid points.
I'd say the bottom line is where the interest lies for the writer.
Nathan points out that SciFi is lower on the list for female writers. Is this just a lack of general interest in gismos and technology? I want to write about a theme park of dinosaurs! Rawr!
YA tends to have more of a leaning toward young love and first relationships. You look at something like Twilight — it's not really about vampires (if you can even really call them vampires–She changes canon). It's about young love.
Maybe females just like to write about young love more than males? And we would rather write about dinosaurs riding the Tilt-O-Whirl.
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AR says
If it's a temporary or contemporary trend – perhaps the influence and inspiration of Madelaine L'Engle?
Also, developmentally, adolescence is the time when social intelligence is developing. Is it too much to suggest that in general women might have a leg up in that arena and that's what YA is really about?
Some intrepid male author may pioneer a form in which young men can read about all those things that they largely lack in contemporary society – the initiations into manhood specifically as opposed to mere, and delayed, maturity.
Unless that's already been done – and the secret is that adult fantasy/sci-fi is actually all adolescent fare. 🙂
Peter Dudley says
I wonder how many of the female YA authors on the list have children, and how old those children were when they wrote their successful books.
I think you're right on the male MG author psychology. It's easy for an adult male author to identify with middle school boys. I've noticed that especially as a youth coach–before 6th grade, they're little kids. In middle school, you can start joking around with them, but you're still someone they look up to. As they get older, they act and think more like adults-in-training. Connecting with our inner juvenile, in that sort of safe, middle-grade fiction way, is fun for adult males.
One of the reasons I settled on YA, however, is that my boys have always "read up" and read a lot of YA when they were younger (10 to 12 years old). It's easy, as a father, coach, and other youth group leader, to connect with my target audience. While being a parent is no more a requirement to write YA than being an elf is a requirement to write good fantasy, I think it probably makes for an easier path. Especially for moms who have another breadwinner in the household–there's a very deep connection to the target audience, and those writers probably spend a lot of time already telling stories to children.
Just a thought. Overall, I don't really think it matters much. But it's fun to speculate.
Jack Holder says
This could have a connection with the education we each receive. Reading the comments, I think we all agree that women are more and more dominating the areas of early education, and top students. The stat of 60% of students in college being women has some bearing all the way back to middle school. Girls are taught at an early age to be literate, to read, to succeed in academia. Boys more and more are being taught that the most lucrative and rewarding venture they could have is swinging a bat or catching a football (I say this in full knowledge of my self-love of football). But young adults read what they can connect to. And in a broad general sweeping sense, women can write better women characters than men can.
Terin Tashi Miller says
Just got done camping for four days at a Scout camp with my son.
Found this in my email. Extremely interesting observation, I think.
But when is the last time someone actually looked at the fact female writers (in my estimation), and women in modern publishing, in fact, outnumber males now?
This has been a running theme, in fact, on some blogs where the prize winners are calculated for "literature" versus "YA" or the euphamistically termed "chick-lit."
As if, if it is written by a woman, it can't possibly qualify as "lit," on its own. It must have its own category.
Why, in fact, are most Pulitzer and other major literary award winners men? Do they actually write better books than, say, Jane Austen?
And then, to go beyond who writes, and who publishes (agents, acquisition editors, etc), a study could and perhaps should be done on who, exactly, demographically–and not by guessing or opinion–is reading what these days?
J.K. Rowling's popularity isn't merely from kids reading her Harry Potter series. It's also from Scholastic taking a chance on her stories, and from teens to adults liking her stories as well–it's own "Lord of the Rings" phenomenon, for a new generation.
I laugh at any concern this might cause anyone. If more men read, more men likely will write. It's possible men may write something men might like to read, just as its possible women might write something women like to read. Or that men write something women like to read (50 shades of grey?) or that women write something men like to read.
As for the prevalence of women writing and publishing more YA than men…hahahaha. Like I said, someone should check to see the sheer number of women writing versus men; the number of women in the publishing industry versus men, and perhaps, the greater awareness of kids' tastes for "classic" YA versus middle-grade YA? Or even (shudder the thought) why there ever was a YA genre devised, considering most of us were reading "classic YA" like Jack London's stories and Hemingway and Fitzgerald in high school, before someone decided they were too deep or too well written or whatever for high school kids and decided they'd be better off and safer with the likes of "Mockingbird" or "Hunger Games"
As a female writer, I'm honestly just glad to hear we dominate any area of fiction! I thought the men dominated in all genres, so this is great news to me, esp. considering my critique partner thinks my book should be YA not middle-grade (as pitched). Yay!
Oops, forgot to sign my post.
Yvette Carol
This is what happens when the publishing industry is, in general, not as interested in female writers as male ones. Women who want to write gravitate to genres where they are more likely to be successful, and because the "important" genres are ones where male authors dominate, women end up writing in the ones that aren't seen as important. YA was given very little attention until recent years and wasn't seen as a "serious" genre. So it was just easier for a female author to break into that part of the industry.
I disagree with a lot of the other explanations being offered here. YA is more romance-focused so women tend to write it more? I think that gets the causation backward — YA isn't inherently about romance, it's that a lot of YA authors (most of them women) decided to put that element into their books. And if the issue was that women are more "in touch" with teens because they do more childcare — well, that's even more true of younger children, but men are still dominating in that publishing category.
And Nathan, I think your explanation misses the mark as well. In general, I'm skeptical when people posit an explanation for something like this that is based on the assumption of an inherent difference between men and women. It's too easy to assume that explains things when in reality there's usually a simpler, more concrete social factor (like the publishing industry's resistance to female authors).
Think of it this way: even if most women would say their high school years were most formative to them, and most men would say their middle school years were, presumably both men AND women think that adulthood is an important time in their life. But in almost every category of literature focused at adults, male authors vastly outstrip their female counterparts. That suggests that the distribution of successful authors isn't about author-interest nearly as much as publisher-interest.
Women read more fiction than men. Also, a lot of stay at home moms read a lot with their kids, so this might breed some story ideas.
Most guys I know read lots and lots of non-fiction, save for the gamers that will read tons and tons of fantasy novels.
Terin and Anon 8 a.m. Good points!
So, just to double-check, I went back to the article about the original research re. the 75% male/25%female ratio. I should mention that they don't consider the research conclusive or necessarily representative cross-industry because it excluded genre and commercial books, as well as having a small sample size. (Important point here, since many readers of Nathan's blog write and read commercial or genre).
The point of the research was to find out if the number of books (written by women) being reviewed reflected the gender breakdown of publication of books (likely to be reviewed).
So, they focused on book genres that are likely to be reviewed, and the 75%/25% reflects that.
Here's the link to the research, if anyone is interested:
http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/82930/VIDA-women-writers-magazines-book-reviews/
I honestly think that it's just what happens to be "in" right now. Lots of focus on the romance. I know plenty of male authors in different genres that are not "in" at the moment, like sci-fi/fantasy for teens. They are known among kids who like to read that stuff, but I don't know if they would make it to the top 100 list when they have to compete with Twilight, The Hunger Games, and all the spin-off titles.
Jessica Peter says
Interesting comments all around! The one thing I couldn't help responding to was D.G. Hudson's comment speculating that for some women the teen years were the best of their life. . . It made me smile, because I write YA partially for the entire opposite reason – it was likely the worst part of my life (and many of my friend's lives), but it has such great opportunities for anxiety, tension, and heartbreak – which make good fiction, though I wouldn't want to live them again!
But in general, I agree with some posters that it has to do with who's reading the books. Mainly girls reading the YA, so mainly female-written and female-centric books are written. But. . . which came first? Hm. . . .
A. M. Perkins says
It could be any one of the reasons mentioned above (personally, I think Philip Heckman hit it closest), but there could be something else at play: random chance and individual talents.
This all reminds me of something similar on the British quiz show QI: they discussed the local myth that women's pheromones attract fish. Apparently, it started because female fishermen (fisherwomen? fishers?) held the top fishing records in Britain.
Instead of saying "Hey, those ladies can really fish!" the men thought, "Wait, there are women that fish better than men? There must be a biological reason for it – why else would a woman be better than us at something?"
Annalise Green says
Honestly, I think that right now teenage boys are more likely to play videogames than read books, so females comprise the majority audience of the later YA books. I DON'T want to read any gendered reasons into that – I think a lot of it might be societal, for instance, because videogames market more to boys and YA books more to girls – but that does seem to be the pattern at the moment.
adan says
i was gonna say i felt confused, but actually i AM confused, but in a kinda of delightful way, and with an expectation that this conversation will probably get even more interesting over time 😉
i myself have only recently returned to fiction (since the early 80s) having been primarily focussed on poetry and painting, so my own work is tilted toward young seniors (YS ?) 😉
and i have NO opinion or observation of who writes what percentage-wise in this is-it-even-a-genre topic
i do like writing from an over six decades perspective though, 'cause i can, as needed/wished include all the ages before me –
and that's something i do find kinda fun to be able to do, and seem to be getting equally good response from males and females
if it's true one returns, in old(er) age, to a child-like semblance of our innocence, maybe there's some hope there, in aging, i hadn't anticipated 😉
best wishes everyone!
I think females have been inspired by JK Rowling and then Stephanie Meyer, who made YA look glitzy and fun. Rowling & Meyer became really rich, really fast. As we have Suzanne Collins also doing really well, we can expect even more female YA writers. People say women and girls read more than boys & men, but what are they reading most? Romance.
Now, you cannot drag women into the technology fields where they are needed (and where the money is). 99% would rather sit on the sofa & read romance, or write it. This is why women fail & hardly earn as much as men in the workforce in general. Too much time thinking about romance & Young adult Fiction.
^ Lol at this person above me.
Yes, why DO women dominate YA? That is, assuming they do in the first place. StackedBooks has recently published a post debunking the perception that women dominate YA. It's supported stats based on the best-seller lists for YA fiction from the New York Times.
I think women just seem to 'dominate' because the books that have gathered such international popularity – enough to merit film treatments – happened to be written by women. Another reason could be because we're used to not seeing a whole lot of participation by female writers (that are noticed anyway) in other genres. So suddenly, when the lists seem to contain a lot of female names, they're 'dominating' when that may not really be the case.
Women writers have romance and now moving into YA… I don't have a problem with this except it creates a unfair playing field. When almost from what i understand 60% of YA is Romance theme based (Contemporary for one)with a female pov.
Now with that being said can any one list YA written by women that features a male pov? (If you can't that's okay)
What i'm saying is YA is dominated by Women not Men so it begs the question is YA Gender bias?


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White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that he had no "information that would corroborate" that the US paid the families of the men who were killed, but he declined to talk about it in detail.
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text:
Beráter (z  německého Berater – poradce) byl představitel nacistického Německa, který působil ve válečné Slovenské republice (SR) jako poradce ve vládě, na ministerstvu nebo v jiném ústředním úřadu státní správy, v generálním sekretariátě Hlinkovy slovenské ľudové strany (HSĽS) nebo na hlavním velitelství Hlinkovy gardy (HG).

Německé úřady vysílaly berátery buď z vlastní iniciativy, nebo na žádost slovenských státních činitelů (nejaktivnější byli v tomto směru představitelé radikálního křídla HSĽS Vojtech Tuka a Alexander Mach). Postavení beráterů nebylo právně zakotveno, přesto měli na Slovensku diplomatické výsady. Jejich cílem bylo zabezpečit nacifikaci režimu SR a dohlížet na to, aby slovenské zdroje co nejvíce přispívaly k německému válečnému úsilí.

Na Slovensku začali první beráteři působit na základě Důvěrného protokolu o hospodářské a finanční spolupráci, který byl podepsán 23. března 1939 v Berlíně a připojen k ochranné smlouvě. Jeho obsah znal jen úzký okruh vládních představitelů. Článek II protokolu ustanovoval, že "Slovensko si vytvoří vlastní měnu a Slovenskou národní banku jako centrální emisní ústav", přičemž Říšská banka (Deutsche Reichsbank) "vyšle do ředitelství této banky poradce, který bude spolupracovat při všech důležitých rozhodnutích" a slovenská vláda "přibere tohoto poradce i k sestavování a plnění svého státního rozpočtu a bez jeho souhlasu neschválí žádné úvěry". Německo postavení beráterů plně prosadilo po salcburských jednáních v červenci 1940.

Na Slovensku působilo asi 20 beráterů (spolu s větším počtem spolupracovníků), přičemž největší vliv měli v letech 1940–1941, za působení vyslance Manfreda von Killingera. Úlohu beráterů vykonávali též členové německé vojenské a policejní mise. Mezi nejvýznamnější berátery patřili Obersturmbannführer Viktor Nageler (HG), Erich Gebert (hospodářství a finance), Obersturmbannführer Albert Smagon (sociální věci) a Hauptsturmführer Dieter Wisliceny (židovská otázka), kterého v roce 1944 nahradil ještě bezohlednější Hauptsturmführer Alois Brunner. Po vypuknutí Slovenského národního povstání činnost beráterů nahradila přímá moc německých okupačních sil.

Reference

Slovenská republika (1939–1945)
Zahraniční vztahy nacistického Německa
Slovensko-německé vztahy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Stephen J. Cain, age 65, passed away of natural causes on Christmas Eve of 2017.
Steve was born on May 18, 1952, in Burlington, Vt., the second of seven children born to L. John Cain and the late Paulina P. Cain. Steve had a wonderful time growing up in Burlington. He loved summers at Starr Farm Beach and playing Little League baseball.
Steve attended Burlington High School, where he excelled academically. He also found that his true passion was for sports. Whether Steve was swimming laps at the BTC, chasing his friends around at flag football, skiing for BHS or playing high school football, Steve was "all in." He showed up for every game or practice with a big smile and gave it all he had. Steve was so friendly and popular that he was elected president of his senior class in 1970.
Steve loved sports because they embodied what he valued most: a common cause, team effort, optimism, commitment, friendly competition and being surrounded with friends. Steve was a relentless sports fan to the end of his life because of the values and good times he had playing sports in high school and college.
Steve went to the University of Vermont, where he majored in political science. Steve was always interested in politics and closely followed the state and national elections. Of course, Steve was immersed in intramural sports and played every game he could. Baseball, softball, flag football, tennis, soccer — you name it; he played it. He even decided it would be fun to play rugby barefoot! Steve graduated in 1974 and went looking for a job in politics.
Steve got lucky when he got a job as driver for Burlington mayor (and uncle) Frank Cain's campaign for United States congress. Jim Jeffords won the job, but this did not dim Steve's passion for politics. His next job was as an aide for the newly elected United States Sen. Pat Leahy. Steve was in his glory in Washington, D.C., as he watched the business of politics play out before his eyes. Steve worked in D.C. for three years before returning to Burlington.
When he returned to Burlington, Steve began showing signs of mental illness. Steve had to deal with mental health challenges for the last 40 years of his life. Our brother did not let this disease define him; in fact, he made the best of his life. Steve was always cheerful and friendly, and he also managed to hold down a job and live independently. These are remarkable achievements, and we are very proud of Steve.
Steve was always good at making friends. He had an affinity for people that most of us can only aspire to. People could see that he had no ulterior motives; he talked to them because he liked them and wanted to brighten their day. Steve always had a joke to tell; some were actually really funny, and if you missed one, he would be happy to repeat it. He related to so many people through discussion of politics, the weather and sports — he was very bright and could converse on just about any topic. Part of Steve's legacy is all the friends he left behind.
Steve was one of the most optimistic people anyone ever met. Steve always spoke so positively about how beautiful the day was or how well his sports teams were playing. Steve certainly had plenty to complain about, but he chose to approach life in a positive way.
Our family gives special thanks to Steve Polewacyk and the other fine folks at Vermont Pub & Brewery, where he enjoyed many years of employment. We also want to recognize and thank Shannon from Magnolia restaurant, Bill Kamela from Washington, D.C., and all of Steve's many friends from all walks of life.
Steve is survived by his father, L. John Cain, and his six brothers and sisters and their families: John Cain (Betsy Cain), Dr. Paul Cain (Kathryn Cain), Dan Cain (Joan Lyons), Larry Cain (Cara Cain), Connie Ramsey (Jack Ramsey) and Elizabeth Steinman (Paul Steinman). He is also survived by Louise and John Stimets, 12 nieces and nephews, and two great-nephews.
Steve is predeceased by our beloved mother, Paulina Powers Cain, who passed away in 1989.
Arrangements are by LaVigne Funeral Home and Cremation Service. Visiting hours will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, January 12, 2018. Funeral services will be at Christ the King Church at 11 a.m. on January 13, 2018. If you would like to share your condolences, please visit lavignefuneralhome.com.


text:
30 quotes that will make (or save) you money
The best pieces of investment advice can be boiled down to a single sentence. Here are some expert one-liners that will make you money.
Matthew Smith, Kate Cowling, Jeremy Chunn
Updated Aug 18, 2015 — 3.18pm, first published at 12.15am
The best pieces of investment advice can be boiled down to a single sentence. Here are 30 expert quotes that will make you money.
#1 Shares
"It is far more important to minimise the inevitable investment mistakes than be obsessed with trying to find the tenfold investment winners." – Hamish Douglass, Magellan Group CEO, CIO and lead portfolio manager
This circumspect investment approach has helped Hamish Douglass build a $30 billion listed funds management giant and establish him as Australia's number one manager of global funds through buying high-quality US stocks ignored by other market participants.
Warren Buffett has only two rules. See #19 for what they are.
If you want to get technical, Douglass says his job is to "to assess the likely cash flows a business will generate over its lifetime, discount these cash flows back to the present value" and determine if buying today will generate an acceptable rate of return. Simple? Not quite. Effective? You bet.
#2 Asset allocation
"It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong."
George Soros, founder of Soros Funds Management
Famous for betting US$1 billion against the British pound in 1992, the philosophy of George Soros carries real weight for investors who understand that being right at the wrong time can be just as much of a disaster as being plain wrong.
Soros was the primary adviser to Quantum, a hugely successful hedge fund, which averaged returns of 20 per cent per annum trading highly leveraged global macro themes before it closed and returned $26 billion to investors in 2011.
#3 Property
"I am never in a hurry to do any deal. There's a real cut-off point and I am very unemotional about chasing things I think are too expensive."
The Australian dollar hit a three-week high on Friday morning Rob Homer
Lang Walker, billionaire property developer
In boom markets like Sydney and Melbourne, many investors suffer from a syndrome called fear-of-missing out. It's easy to get caught up in a bidding war at an auction but as the saying goes "Act in haste, repent at leisure".
Walker says that when assessing the value of a property he will arrive at a figure and stick to it. As he told us, every time he has been outbid in a transaction he's managed to find something even better in the weeks and months that followed.
"I spend most of my time thinking about the right price to pay for individual stocks that meet our criteria of trustworthy, competent management, conservative leverage and reasonably predictable futures. None of this is rocket science."
John Sevior, Airlie Funds Management founder and chief investment officer
John Sevior is the stock picker's stock picker. The occasionally self-deprecating fund manger is less concerned about the global macro themes that consume some commentators than he is about avoiding the pothole right in front of him.
Since kicking off his new venture in October 2012 after departing Perpetual, the Airlie Concentrated Share fund is up 57.7 per cent compared with the benchmark ASX 300's 36 per cent return over the same period. An impressive performance gleaned from a straightforward motto.
"Always question yourself and your ability. Don't ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead."
Paul Tudor Jones, founder of Tudor Investment Corporation
One of the most successful US hedge fund managers, Paul Tudor Jones is estimated to have amassed a personal fortune of US$4.6 billion through trading everything from shares and commodities, to bonds and long/short positions.
Tudor Jones shot to fame during the Black Monday market meltdown of 1987 when he reportedly tripled his clients' funds with a series of shorting strategies. The lesson here is a simple one, never get complacent about your positions.
"The person with the most information is generally a seller."
Paul Osborne, founder of Secret Agent
Caveat emptor! The asymmetry of information in the property market is the number one reason people get into trouble and yet it is so rarely discussed. Properties are not fungible or interchangeable. They are unique little patches of dirt each with their own quirks.
Osborne says that buyers need to operate with a heightened approach to due diligence to ensure you don't end up with a lemon. His says about a third of property sales take place because they aren't suitable, for whatever reason.
"Any company that has a material profit warning is a mandatory sell; bad news tends not to be an isolated event. If a company declines by 20 per cent, it triggers a review. If we are unwilling to buy more it becomes a mandatory sell."
Don Williams, Platypus Investments founder and CIO
Among the most consistently strong performing Australian fund managers, Platypus founder Don Williams has been able to consistently find growth in markets when there doesn't seem to be any growth around.
To make sure he's not getting caught up in a fad or a fleeting opportunity, he has some basic rules to live by. Since establishing the fund in 1998 his Australian equities fund has returned 10.3 per cent per annum.
"There is no substitute for meeting management, competitors, employees, and suppliers of listed companies to truly understand the operating environment and growth prospects. It is critical to understand the people involved in the business."
Ed Prendergast, Pengana Emerging Companies fund co-manager
Prendergast is emphasising the importance of deploying "shoe leather" in researching a company. If you own a position in a retail stock, for example, why not visit an outlet nearby and walk the floor?
Examine the foot traffic, does the fit-out meet expectations and are your interactions with the staff satisfying? Sometimes the answers to your investment questions are right in front of your nose.
"More than anything else, what differentiates people who live up to their potential from those who don't is a willingness to look at themselves and others objectively."
Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates founder
The man responsible for running the world's biggest and weirdest hedge fund is known for being extremely exacting and demanding plenty from his staff. Dalio is renowned for his ability to navigate global economic events, which he proved in 2008 when many of his hedge-fund peers lost money. His philosophy shows a good investor needs to understand themselves as much as the world around them.
#10 Shares
"It's hard to buy popular stocks cheaply. Superior long-term returns are found from focusing on buying unloved shares with good fundamentals in cyclically depressed sectors. For this reason, we focus on contrarian investment ideas."
Simon Mawhinney, Allan Gray chief investment officer
Mawhinney is in charge of running possibly the best-known contrarian or deep-value funds manager in the Australian equities market. It's easier said than done but blindingly obvious when you think about it. Since its launch in July 2011 Allan Gray's Australia Opportunities Fund has returned 6.5 per cent net of fees compared with the benchmark's 3.1 per cent.
"We are looking to invest in changes. That could be the change induced by shifts in industry structure, the economic cycle, competitor behaviour, changes in the cost base, investor risk appetite. Generally there are lot of things changing for a company at any point in time so the key to investing is understanding the relative impact of changes and their likely longevity."
Sean Fenton, Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager
Catalysts are where investors can make the best returns for their bet. While professionals will seldom own up to investing simply on the basis of a catalyst, the good investors will always have catalysts in their back of their minds.
This approach has enabled Tribeca to find returns in a market where many other investors can't. The Tribeca Alpha Plus Fund returned 20.5 per cent after fees for the 2014-15 financial year to take out the number one position on the Mercer Investment Survey for Australian equities managers.
"Never cite boredom as a reason to sell a stock. Always sell the first hiccup in a concept stock. Always buy a 'fallen angel' slowly. Avoid companies moving into an investment year. Never back an incompetent manager no matter how good the company he fronts."
Ben Griffiths, Ely Griffiths founder and portfolio manager
Known as one of Australia's best small caps stock pickers, Ben Griffiths established specialist small caps funds management firm Ely Griffiths in 2002. Griffiths prides himself on his ability to recognise trends and exploit trends to his advantage.
There are patterns in the sharemarket and Griffiths' philosophy highlights a few of the important ones. In a challenging environment for the smaller end, these simple rules have helped Griffiths deliver returns well above the market.
"These are the key tenets I live by: Capital preservation is the number one consideration. Don't invest in blue sky. Ensure the business has a strong business model; sound and robust management. Do the numbers and focus on free cash flow."
David Paradice, Paradice Investments founder
David Paradice of "Para" is revered among investors, having built a $10 billion funds management business starting with his highly regarded small caps fund which has earned him the honorary title of small caps king.
Para likes to keep things simple, which is why his core philosophy is stripped back to some of the most basic tenets of investing. No matter how complex a situation becomes, or seemingly endless the alternatives are, the best investors are always able to simplify the process.
"We consider the downside first. We look at balance sheet, cash flow, profitability. If you've looked at all these, then you've done your homework and you don't have to worry too much. The other thing is, do your own homework."
Nathan Parkin, Perpetual Investments deputy head of equities
One of the rising stars at one of Australia's oldest and best-known funds management firms, Nathan Parkin was recently appointed deputy head of equities at the firm that has produced more superstars than any other firm.
Parkin is known best for his ability to find opportunities the market might have missed. This is not a skill you can pick up from reading the reports others have written, it requires dedication and the ability to walk the walk.
#15 Property
"Patience. Patience. Patience. We're in an industry where everyone's throwing obstacles at you and it can take years. You've just got to keep rolling on all the time."
If you are trying to add another floor to your property and the bureaucracy is making you tear your hair out, spare a thought for property developer Lang Walker who has broken through the red tape to complete more than 200 developments.
Among his biggest developments were The Finger Wharf at Woolloomooloo, Broadway Shopping Centre and Collins Square in the Melbourne CBD, Australia's largest mixed-use commercial project which is valued at more than $1.6 billion.
"The use of leverage should be conservative. The cheap-money era may end sooner than we expect."
Look, nobody's asking you to start reading the tea leaves from US Federal Reserve statements, there are enough analysts around the globe doing that already and haven't they done a smashing job! The lesson here is, be cautious.
You don't need to be US Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen to know that when rates start rising being geared up to the eyeballs will get very painful, very quickly, no matter how sound the underlying asset is. So build your equity, the sleep-at-night ratio remains one of the most important investment metrics around.
"You cannot make money flipping assets when investing in direct residential property. The transactions costs are too high"
Richard Wakelin, director and founder of Wakelin Property Advisory
Sorry reality TV, the numbers just don't stack up. No matter how hard you try or how many cracks you paint over, speculating on property is still the fast track to personal ruin.
Even if you do bank a double digit return in 12 months the costs involved in listing a property, paying stamp duty, advertising and associated agents fees will eat away at your capital too much to make it worth your while.
"Don't go for a cheap $50 online valuation – get a full inspection done."
Chris Gray, CEO of property portfolio company Empire
Even if it's your 100th investment property, Empire's Chris Gray says you should never ever skimp on the valuation of a fresh acquisition. Gray says that this will almost guarantee that you won't get ripped off by paying too much for a property and at $500 a pop for a full inspection it's a small price to pay.
#19 Superannuation
"Rule one. Never lose money. Rule two. Never forget rule number one."
Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman
Of all the investment aphorisms, this remains the simplest and perhaps the best. Known as the world's greatest investor, Warren Buffett finessed the simple yet demanding value investing creed developed by Benjamin Graham to build a personal fortune worth US$72 billion.
The observation has a special importance for investors at all stages. For those in the accumulation stage, it is a reminder that there is nothing harder than having to make up lost ground. For those in the drawdown phase, well, need we say more?
#20 Asset Allocation
"The way I have dealt with the risk matrix of our business has been to diversify across the different sectors."
They say diversification is the only free lunch in investing. While Walker is specifically referring to the major property segments such as retail, commercial, industrial and residential this can be just as easily adapted to your entire portfolio.
Take a look at your asset allocation. Are you heavily exposed to one asset class over another? Is that because of a comprehensive risk-reward analysis you have conducted or did it just happen? Take stock at least once a year and rebalance when necessary.
"You should not simply focus on interest rate. For operational cash, you need to define what you need and then match that liability to a suitable cash option."
Kevin Toohey, Atchison Consultants general manager
An important distinction. With most of us so focused on how low the returns from cash are it's easy to forget that we all need cash for expenses and in retirement you need to be able to accurately forecast these expenses many years into the future.
Furthermore, while we are happy to lump at-call, term deposits and other instruments under the heading of cash remember they are all different. A cash fund that holds bank bills is different from cash in the bank. A cash ETF may be underpinned by bank deposits but is still a fund with different characteristics.
"At different points you've got to still expect inflation-plus, but the question is inflation plus what?
Harvey Kalman, Equity Trustees executive general manager
Everybody loves it when markets deliver returns in the high teens but you can't expect your investments to do this consistently over the long term. One of the biggest funds in Australia for instance, the Future Fund, has a target of CPI plus 4.5-5.5 per cent.
If inflation is running at 3 per cent and you are getting another 5 per cent on top, that's a pretty good result compounded over the past 10 years. Ground your expectations and don't rely on bumper years to help you reach your goals.
"Your risk profile needs to be compatible with your goals. When your goals or circumstances change, you would need to revisit that risk profile."
Wade Matterson, Milliman practice leader
There are a few gems in here worth unpacking. Firstly, that any investment plan needs to start with your goals and work backwards. If you are unhappy with the amount of risk you are taking on then perhaps it's time to revisit your goals.
The second idea worth exploring is that the time to change your asset allocation is when your goals or circumstances change, not when markets in Greece or China rise and fall. Remember that the signal is always personal never universal.
"A balanced investment portfolio should hold between 20 and 40 per cent in fixed income. If you're more conservative, say you're 65 and want to focus on income, you'll probably want to go higher than that."
Damien Wood, Spectrum Asset Management principal
The old rule of thumb that you should subtract your age from 100 to find out your allocation to growth assets (and by default fixed income) is no silver bullet but it is a useful depiction of how the "glide-path" model of asset allocation works.
The glide-path method tries to avoid any sudden step changes in your asset allocation. Making a number of gradual adjustments to your holdings over time is much more preferable and leaves you less exposed to any sudden market fluctuations.
"Most Australians are long property and shares. Automatically that tells you where you are underweight: fixed interest, global assets and securities outside the ASX top 20. "
It's probably no surprise that for most investors their super fund is simply an extension of their investing preferences. But this can be a missed opportunity because your super fund can be structured to complement your other assets.
As long-term investment, super can be the perfect investment hedge. What's more, investors have access to many more long-term investments than ever before with the proliferation of ETFs, LICs and high-quality options from industry funds.
"The broader country has risk of oversupply because councils say that their income comes from approving apartments, so everyone is approving apartments"
Harry Triguboff, billionaire property developer
This observation from the person who almost single-handed introduced the concept of apartment living to Australia is critical because when it comes down to the nitty-gritty the success of any investment comes down to supply and demand.
Speaking to The Australian Financial Review in April, Triguboff echoed the concern of the Reserve Bank about the enormous numbers of residential developments springing up in places like Melbourne. So do your homework and place scarcity of the asset among your top priorities.
"Seek third party advice to get an objective point of view. If you are not paying for the product or service, you are the product."
This advice could equally apply to any of the major asset classes (or indeed service purporting to be "free"). However it has special resonance in the property sector where standards of advice tend to be a bit looser than elsewhere.
When receiving advice it is critical to understand how the adviser is getting paid, ask for these details upfront so any conflict of interest is apparent. Make sure the adviser is fully accredited. Academic qualifications and industry accreditation is usually a good start.
#28 Super
"For anyone still working past 60, it's hard to find a reason not to start a transition to retirement pension. That's how effective they are."
Jonathan Philpot, HLB Mann Judd partner wealth management
Transition-to-retirement strategies can appear complex but they can deliver a powerful boost to your overall position. Effectively, once preservation age is reached, a worker can start drawing a tax-free pension while salary sacrificing at the same time.
The strategy works on multiple levels allows the investor to reduce the amount of income tax they would pay on their income while also saving on the tax they would pay on superannuation earnings. That's what we call a win-win scenario.
"The most outstanding investment records have been built by people who specialise, develop a deep understanding and stay within their circle of competence."
Hamish Douglass, Magellan Group CEO, CIO and lead portfolio manager
The vertically integrated model of bank-aligned advisers has produced great outcomes for the wealth management arms of the banks but some very ordinary ones for many of the clients they are supposed to be serving.
Consider your own investments. Is your fixed income exposure being managed by a specialist or by some coincidence is it being managed by the same company which appears on your adviser's letterhead? Compare the performance of your portfolio manager with the rest of the market and have a good reason to stay with them.
"Managers will ensure that the best returns are coming from the flagship and that's the balanced fund."
Greg Medcraft, ASIC chairman and IOSCO chairman
This gem that Australia's top corporate cop shared with us back in April was too good not to give another run. Growth options get all the attention for their sexy (often) double-digit returns and alluring mix of high-performing assets.
But as Medcraft outlined, the fund option with the most money invested and the most attention paid to it is almost always the balanced option. When comparing funds look beyond the short term and consider its performance over five-, seven- and 10-year periods.
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How to start a Hazelcast instance in a Spring Boot application.
The folks over at OpenCredo recently published a blog post entitled, "Running and Testing Hazelcast in a Spring Boot Application." In the post, they introduce some of the basic features of Hazelcast, some of its limitations, how to embed it in a Spring Boot application and write integration testings. Here's how to start a Hazelcast instance in a Spring Boot application.
The following example uses Spring Boot 1.3.0. This provides Hazelcast 3.5.3 as managed dependency.
On startup, an instance of com.hazelcast.core.HazelcastInstance is then added to the Spring Application Context.
Published at DZone with permission of Peter Veentjer , DZone MVB. See the original article here.


Quick Quiz - Guess What These Are?
If you were thinking pot holders, trivets, or Frisbee tossing disks, then you're on the wrong track.
These are actually wine nets (or bottle nets) by Bella Vita. I kid you not. These little flat disks will make carrying your wine easier and so much sportier.
You know it can be hard to carry in wine or other bottled beverages, but it's super easy with the bottle nets. Also, you look quite elegant (especially if you wear your dress clothes which apparently mine were in the wash). The yellow one on your right even makes a flower shape at the top.
These are green (as in can be used over and over), and they also would make a nice gift along with the bottle of wine. Just use a little ribbon to keep them pulled up around the bottle. They go back to the flat and easy to store shape when you let them go.
My barbecue buddies think these are really neat (although many of them are beer drinkers - may have to try these on a 40), and so do I. In fact, I love the whole concept and how these wine carriers work. It's two thumbs way up from me.
You can find these at Bella Vita. Now I'm lusting after the lavender and red one. I guess I'll have to drink a lot of wine and wear mine out (bet that would take a long while), or I could pick up some of the other colors for holiday gifts.
I hope everyone will like these as much as I did. I was confused when I opened the package, but once I figured these out, I was wowed (which does not happen too very often).


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