Love, War & Polio: The Life and Times of Young Bill Porteous [Paperback]

Timothy James Bazzett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2008

Combining copious and meticulous research with original letters, interviews, personal recollections and anecdotes, Tim Bazzett tells Bill Porteous's story with compassion, insight and humor. His narrative conveys a contagious and obvious delight in discovering how we are all connected. Here is a homespun history lesson about the nearly forgotten polio plague years and our fathers' and grandfathers' war, presented in a way that manages to bridge the gap between generations and even allows us to laugh a little as we learn of such serious matters. Perhaps in the end, however, Love, War & Polio is a simple and universal tale - one of faith, hope, and the healing power of love.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An intriguing aspect of WWII not previously explored ... Bazzett writes with masterful insight, talent and heart ... Fascinating!" -- Jack Suberman, Ph.D., Retired Dean of the College of Humanities at Florida Atlantic University, and former Professor of English at North Carolina State, 1952-67

"Because of men like Bill Porteous we enjoy liberty and freedom ... Great job!" -- Bob Dole, former U.S. Senator from Kansas and author of the national bestseller, One Soldier's Story

"Love, War & Polio is vintage Bazzett, who has his own voice ... likeable and interesting, and true-to-life sounding." -- Samuel Hynes, Professor Emeritus of Literature at Princeton University and author of Flights of Passage

"Unique account of a soldier's battle with an unexpected enemy - polio ... Reveals how challenging recovery from polio could be." -- Daniel J. Wilson, Ph.D., Professor of History at Muhlenberg College and author of Living with Polio: The Epidemic and Its Survivors

A slice of history, filled with authentic details ... Captures perfectly the ideals of the 1940s ... Remarkable!" -- Peg Kehret, author of the award-winning memoir, Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Rathole Books (April 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977111938
• ISBN-13: 978-0977111930
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,273,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in 1944, Tim Bazzett grew up in west Michigan and spent three years in the army after high school, completing tours in Turkey and Germany. He then attended Ferris State and Central Michigan Universities where he earned a teaching degree and an MA in English. After teaching for five years at Monroe County Community College in southeast Michigan, in 1976 Bazzett reenlisted in the army, staying five years that time, serving again in Germany and earning a second Master's degree from Eastern Michigan University. Following his discharge he worked for the next 21 years as a Russian linguist and intelligence analyst at the National Security Agency in Maryland. He retired from federal service at the end of 2001 and returned to his home town in Michigan where he began to write. Since 2004, Bazzett has published three memoirs and a biography. Another memoir will be published in 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another fine work from tim bazzett, January 3, 2009

By 

David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love, War & Polio: The Life and Times of Young Bill Porteous (Paperback)

Tim Bazzett's works are characterized by an informal narrative with lots of embedded black-and-white photos. You get the feeling that you're sitting down with someone who is relating their story, and showing you lots of photos from his/her album. You get to know them--it's as if you're listening to an uncle or old friend. I had read Reed City Boy, Soldier Boy, and Pinhead, wherein Tim Bazzett takes you through his life: as a boy growing up in Reed City, as a soldier in the ASA, and the first couple of post-military years where he goes to college and gets married. In Love, War, & Polio Tim initially intended to write a biography of Bill Porteous, a Reed City banker who served in WW II and who was a generation older than Tim. But he found that he could not distance himself from Bill, who he had known and admired for decades. So you get a non-traditional kind of history, and a kind that works very well. This is a personal work, not something that is dry and researched in dusty library stacks. Tim does, however, do a lot of research--going back to the places and people that had impacts on Bill Porteous' life.

Tim Bazzett's autobiographical works describe growing up in a rural area of Michigan (he was born in 1944) where indoor plumbing was more a luxury for city folk (which Tim became). Love, War, & Polio goes back to Bill Porteous' life, and that of his father as well. It gives a fine flavor of what was expected of young men in small-town America in the 1920's. Bill's father never went to high school (like most young men in the area) but Bill went to Michigan State, where he (like all male students) was in the ROTC. He met his future wife Mable there, but WW II broke out and it was off to war. Bill never saw combat, and contracted polio in California. Mable, now his wife, joined him. I'm a couple of years older than Tim, and I well remember the worry about polio, and the relief when the Salk vaccine became available in 1955. Municipal swimming pools were, in ways, life-endangering lures up to then. Bazzett describes the very long recovery and rehabilitation, starting with the iron lung. Someone less determined than Bill might not have made it through.

Bill is still living when the book was written, but suffers from post-polio syndrome. There are people I know who have this--the muscles get weaker and weaker--with one person I know, 65-70 years after they were stricken with polio as a boy. This is a powerful tale, related with care and affection by a fine storyteller.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An account of a tough struggle just after World War II, August 12, 2009

By 

Schmerguls "schmerguls" (Sioux City, Ia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Love, War & Polio: The Life and Times of Young Bill Porteous (Paperback)

This is an account of a Michigan banker who was born on a farm in 1920, went to college, was in the Army during World War Ii, and in October 1945 was stricken by polio. The struggle that he made to overcome the handicaps he faced is well recounted. Of interest is that when in hospitals the subject of the book met Bob Dole, who had been severely wounded in the war, and also Charles Bennett, who was stricken by polio and went on to serve 44 years in the House of Representatives from Florida. The author adds a good touch by commenting on books, movies, songs, and radio programs mentioned by Porteous in letters he wrote his wife, which letters are quoted rather extensively. The book is laudatory and rightly so, though some might think it borders on the hagiographical. There is a bibliography, listing each book mentioned in the text--a feature I like since I do not appreciate books which lack a bibliography but expect the reader to page through the book to see the names of books cited.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love War and Polio, May 6, 2011

By 

Roger - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Love, War & Polio: The Life and Times of Young Bill Porteous (Paperback)

Currentlly reading this great book, an all-American story. Book was sent very quickly,

and arrived in "NEW" condition. This used item looked unread.

Total overall price was what clinched the purchase, this bookseller

offered it for about 50% less than others online... THANKS!!