The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 64

C18 bSSiRwI SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1977 BOOKS HOBBIES First novel relates wsr- i Fan tasy illus tra tor woman art book fc 'V vj 4 1 subject oi By DORIS E. BROWN Home News staff writer NEW YORK Coffee table art books for Christmas giving need not be expensive, proves paperback publisher Bantam Books with the four new titles added to its Peacock Press list just in time for the holidays. This increases to 24 titles the Bantam series of large format art books published under the Peacock imprint. The titles deal with innovative artists and their works and the books include biographical essays on the artists and generous selections of full color reproductions of their works printed on shiny stock paper. The four new titles are: "The Land of Froud," "The Western Paintings of John Clymer," "Frank Frazetta Book Two" and "The Art of Nancy Eckholm Burkert." All are priced at $7.95 apiece.

The 96-page, 9 by 11 18 inch book featuring the extraordinary young English artist Brian Froud boasts 46 color plates of his dream world paintings and book illustrations of faeries (his preferred spelling), gnomes, goblins, trolls, bogeys and other strange woodland and fantasy creatures. The artist, who is not yet 30 years of age, lives in Chagford, a village described by fellow artist Brian Sanders of London who wrote the introduc- CAMERA ANGLES Pip I A vcfA' I 1 I 1 WOODLAND FANTASY "The Land of Froud" Photographic art in 1 978 calendars If i trials of a I HAD WILD JACK FOR A LOVER. By Meredith Marsh. Coward, McCann Geoghegan. $9.95.

378 pages. There are a lot of "firsts" connected with Meredith Marsh's novel about a young woman coming of age In the early '60s. Foremost Is the fact that this is a first novel. Readers should be pleased, however, because this first novel successfully establishes its author's literary credentials. Meredith Marsh's writing style is luxuriant.

Her characters have been created with patience and a sensitivity to first impressions being lasting ones. People, places and things are meticulously described. Great care is given to setting the physical and emotional stages on which each of life's little dramas are played out for main character Hanna Erikson. Hanna is first seen in a prologue as a girl of 7. She is shopping with her parents for a bicycle.

Although her parents want her to get a bike she can handle, Hanna obstinately selects one much too large for her to safely maneuver. But by the end of this chapter, she has mastered the intricacies of control and balance on this outsized vehicle much in the same manner in which she will later learn to take charge of her life. The metaphor may be obvious, but it's handled with an exacting craftsmanship which further sharpens the piercing observations of a young female's first encounters with life. The story then picks up several years later and follows Hanna as she becomes a woman, first in the bumbling clutches of a neighborhood hood and then in the more expert embraces of an Israeli dancer she meets in college. As Hanna is growing up, each artfully portrayed "first" in her life serves only to push her into a more willful posture of rebellion and self-reliance.

Her maturing as an individual, separate from parental restrictions and her college roommate's neuroses, is completed by the time she is 18 and and begins an affair with Eli Ari) Arieli, the dancer (and also the Wild Jack of -the book's title). Although Ari has but a few weeks to remain in America before returning to Israel, Hanna gives herself to this un-nervingly womanizing foreigner to satisfy her curiosity. Throughout their short-lived encounter, it is Ari who continually warns Hanna not to fall in love with him as so many other women have done, to their own undoing. Hanna, however, needs no such warning, and Ari's incredulity is reduced to an AT AGE 65 He conquers Washington Post-LA Times News Service LOS ANGELES Stan Zundell observed his 65th birthday recently by settling for a climb up a mere peak. And this from a man who has ascended the Matterhorn a total of 10 times.

Zundell might have done it more often, except that he didn't get on the mountain climbing kick until he was 57. It was the third heart attack that got him started. "I think the health problems were brought on by two things," Zundell said in his West Los Angeles home. "I was a workaholic and the prospect of retirement was making me blue. On top of that, after being involved with our children for' so long, my wife and I found ourselves with an empty nest.

Sickly and out of shape, Zundell headed one day for a rock monolith north of Chatsworth, Calif. It was only 250 feet high, but everything begins ipliiiiBiBS MEREDITH MARSH of a woman uncharacteristic expression of love by book's end. Ms. Marsh has created a convincing collage of experiences chronicling the growth of a teen-ager into adulthood. Hanna 's joys and sorrows are so familiar that the novel, at times, assumes the poignancy of that teen-age diary so many of us have conveniently thrown out with other forgotten artifacts of our youth.

"I Had Wild Jack for a Lover" is not the typical, contemporary action novel. Instead, it is contemporary literature, whose plot is secondary to the author's well iisplayed talent for creating a moving and powerful work of fiction. It would not be surprising to find this book included in the syllabus of an American literature college course in the very near future. South Jerseyan Mereci'h Marsh is presently at work on a second novel. Hopefully, it, too, will be as full of "firsts" as her delightfully readable first novel.

CHARLES JOHNSON The Home News mountains with the first step. "I know it sounds crazy, but five months later I decided to try the Matterhorn. At my age, I felt it had to be that way. I did a number on myself. I went around telling everybody I was going to climb the Matterhorn.

Otherwise I was afraid I would back out once I got over there." Zundell not only conquered the 690-foot Swiss peak, but has done it nine times since. The Swiss tell him they know of no one else who has climbed the mountain that many times. In fact, he did it three times within one week. "And to think, for much of my life I had acrophobia (fear of height)," he said. In between his duties as a.

vice president with the Bank of America, Zundell also has scaled Mt. Whitney and Mt. Baldy. His next climb, he said, will be the difficult Eiger in Switzerland. By IRVING DESFOR AP Newsfeatures The current appearance of 1978 calendars is a sure sign that Christmas and New Year's Day are coming up fast.

As for camera fans, there is a fine assortment of photographic calendars to choose from, either for gift giving or for personal enjoyment. Photographer Sherry Suris has compiled, designed and published as a personal venture two new calendars which assure a month-by-month, year-long exposure to fine art photography. One, "PHOTOGRAPHY 12 Master Images 1978," provides visual inspiration by a dozen contemporary photography artists. They include: Henri Cartier-Bresson, W. Eugene Smith, Wynn Bullock, Imogen Cunningham, Andre Kertesz, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Josef Sudek, Ralph Steiner, Minor White, George Tice and Shelley Burden.

Second, "WOMEN Images by 12 Women Photographers," shows how noted female photographers view other women. They include: Eve Arnold, Lilo Raymond, Eva Rubinstein, Sonja Bul-laty, Dena, Abigail Heyman, Helen Levitt, Mary Ellen Mark, Holly Max-son, Barbara Morgan, Suzanne Opton your birthday star be your daily guide. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 A thoughtless word early in the day may cause another a major emotional setback. Guard your tongue. -When unsure about a decision for change, seek a fresh opinion.

Children have much to say. Beware your demands are not resented. Even best friends may tire of feeling "put upon." Minor setbacks could become major unless you nurture the right "comeback" attitude. 20) Real opportunity depends upon your willingness to accept it. What-might-have-been may haunt you.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Keep and the publisher, Sherry Suris. Both calendars are printed for fine photographic reproduction on quality coated stqfk with lettering and titles in distinctive calligraphy. They are spiral bound, measure 12V4 by 9V4 inches, and are designed for either wall hanging or desk decoration. The calendar boxes are roomy enough for daily notations, reminders and appointments. Aware of collectors and their pursuit of photographies, Miss Suris adds a first in calendar publishing: a special, limited, signed edition of 100 copies of each calendar.

In these, individual photographic pages are autographed by the living photographers. The calendars. ($5.95) are available nationally from many major photographic galleries and from the national chain of Brentano and Rizzoli book stores. For information about the signed, limited editions, write: SherArt Images, 60 E. 12 New York, N.Y.

10003. Another calendar of historic photographs, several of them dating back to the 1850s, is entitled "The Photogra-' pher's Calendar 1978." It has been compiled and designed by Liliane De Cock and published by Morgan Morgan, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522. unpleasant news to yourself for now. Friends and relatives may be short on patience.

TAURUS(April 20-May 20) Let your conscience help you decide about a child's future. Friends may have much to say about it. GEMINKMay 21-June 20) Be optimistic in attempting to describe a new idea to those who could help get it started. CANCER (June 21-July 22) Present aims are viable, although you may be unable to further them right now. Double-check materials.

LEO(JuIy A tight schedule demands more of you than you can or want to give at the moment. Look for a loophole! Drive toward a new goal with gusto and faith in your own ability to achieve it. If you insist upon trying to do everything yourself, you will be exhausted at evening. tion as "set on the edge of Dartmoor, An area of wild moorland encrusted with moss covered ancient stone walls, high tors, tumbling rocky streams, and wooded dells. In short, an ideal setting for Brian's world of The imaginative creator of the humorous little people and beings from the world of fantasy explains, "Each book or story is like a journey, there is a beginning, a middle and an end.

My paintings are the I am always thinking, what is over the hill? What will happen next?" Froud says, "There is invariably a character in my pictures who is the viewer, sometimes it's me, and no situation is too' monumental for that character to overcome." The Peacock edition of John Cly-mer's western paintings, which also contains 96 pages, is a collection of 42 full color paintings of the Pacific northwest. It features the trappers, mountain men and cowboys who contributed to the West's colorful history. The second edition of Frank Frazetta 's works is a new collection of full color reproductions of art by this dean of science fiction and fantasy artists. The well-known American illustrator of juVenile fiction Nancy Eckholm Burkert is presented in the fourth new Peacock title. The book offers a selection of her exquisite, delicately colored paintings and illustrations.

You may well have a cool, distant relationship with your own family. When the chips are down, however, it is the family that rallies around, offering whatever assistance it can. The only thing that is asked of you at such times is that you will offer help to them when they need it. Outsiders often do not understand how deeply your family love and loyalty runs; they fail to realize that out of sight does not mean out of mind for you. You take your major joys from your work, being interested in your own future and in the contribution you can make to society through your success.

You deal with problems scientifically, but you are strictly humanitarian in your approach to people. You have tremendous potential for leadership, especially as your persuasive ability develops. To find what is in store for you tomorrow, select your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let on probation in Middlesex Countv free. County Probation Officers Association PHOTO PINUP This mystical Image of "Sea Palms" by Wynn Bullock is a multiple exposure of a scene on the Pacific coast.

It is one of the illustrations In "PHOTOGRAPHY-12 Master Images," a new calendar of contemporary photographs published by Sherry Suris. HOROSCOPE Born today, you are a quick, easy, intelligent, and humorous conversationalist. You find it as easy to stimulate a gathering as to be stimulated by it. You are at home in the center of any get-together with all eyes and ears upon you. You are also a good listener, one who thinks as he hears and stores away knowledge for the future.

You are able to make others feel important by indicating that what they have to say is worth hearing and is perhaps something you haven't heard before. Usually, people stop what they're doing to hear what you have to say, which you always find gratifying and sometimes embarrassing. Library activities DO YOU CARE ABOUT CRIME? EAST BRUNSWICK: Kid's Magic Talent Show: Auditions tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. All ages. Registration is required.

HIGHLAND PARK: Story Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 2p.m. at and Ages 3-5. Registration is required. In September 1977, the Middlesex County taxpayers were led to believe they had spent their money wisely for a new Courthouse to increase the efficiency of their judicial system. Unfortunately, this is a job half-done, as a better building does not make for better justice.

We. the Probation Officers of Middlesex County, are the people who deal with the offenders when they leave the Court and inhabit your streets and towns. We believe the protection of your interests goes beyond the Courtroom. NEW BRUNSWICK: Turkey Talk: Crafts for Thanksgiving. Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Ages 6-10. Registration is required. Movie: Saturday at 2 p.m. All ages. "Meecalogy" Lacking snowfalls, skiers think grass By ELIZABETH THOMPSON Washington Post-LA Times News Service LOS ANGELES Skiers need not worry if the drought continues this winter.

Should resorts lack snow, enthusiasts can always schuss down the slopes of their neighborhood park on what may be sport's latest fad grass skis. Grass skiing has been popular in Europe for about 12 years, according to Steve Foulger, 24, of Torrance, Calif. Foulger, who taught the sport in Germany, says every major European country has a grass-skiing team competing in international races. Foulger, along with eight other skiers, demonstrated grass skiing recently at Zelzah Park in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, where Foulger is attempting to form a team. The skis, which are about twice as long as the attached boots, look very little like those used on snow or water, more nearly resembling the "endless" treads of a Caterpillar tractor.

"The sensation is a little different from skiing (on snow)," he said, "you're sitting higher up from the ground." Skiing on grass is slower than skiing on snow, although some grass skiers have been clocked at 55 miles per hour, Foulger said. The fastest speed clocked so far at Zelzah Park has been 35 mph, he said. Grass skiing is easier to learn than snow skiing, Foulger said, and has definite advantage in that grassy slopes are generally more available than snow in Los Angeles. One disadvantage, however, is the fact that when a grass skier takes a fall, he will be landing not on fluffy snow but on hard ground, complete with rocks, sticks and sprinkler heads. "The hardest part is going back up the hill," Foulger said.

The Judges of Middlesex County seem to care little about the Officers who enforce their sentences of probation. A staff of 100 Probation Officers is required to be available 24 hours a day, working unfixed schedules and handling the second highest volume of cases in the state. Yet, we are ninth in pay among other counties! Low pay, high caseloads and a lack of professional respect causes many experienced Probation Officers to leave their positions. High turnover results in unattended caseloads and inexperienced officers, thus jeopardizing your safety. a ill For over 11 months the Judges have turned a deaf ear by refusing to settle our 1977 contract.

The Probation Officers of Middlesex County believe you lose when we lose. Urge your County Court Judges to complete their job and be responsible to the public for the Deoole thev olace on nrobatinn. Hpln tn OLD BRIDGE: Friday Films: Friday at 4 p.m. Grades 1-6. Central Library.

Registration is required. "Dragon Stew," "Case of the Elevator Duck" and "Me and You Kangaroo." SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Preschool Storyhour. Tuesday at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Ages 3-5. Children's Films: Saturday at 1 p.m. All ages. "White Mane," "Cosmic Zoom" and "Strange Story of the Frog Who Became a Prince." WOODBRIDGE: Serendipity: Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Grades K-2.

Fords Branch. School-Aged Films: Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. "Toothpaste," "A Boy and a Boa" and "Kittens Grow Up." Sports Films: Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Fords Branch. "Ski Fever," "Blades and Brass" and "Flight in White." Puppet Show.

"Strega Nona" Friday at 1 p.m. Sewaren Branch. Preschool Films: Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Henry In- man Branch; Tuesday Treats: Tuesday at 4 p.m. for Grades K-3.

Henry Inman Branch. do good probation casework. Being placed should not be equivalent to being set The Middlesex TAKING TO THE SLOPES Ted Coxon displays the underside of grass skis at demonstration In suburban Granada Hills area of Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, where grassy slopes are far more plentiful than snow..