A Place of Brightness: Made in Wisconsin: Barbie

Friday, August 15, 2014

Made in Wisconsin: Barbie

Barbie? Do you mean Barbies are made in Wisconsin?

Nope, they're probably made overseas somewhere, certainly not in Wisconsin.

Do you mean Barbie was designed or invented by someone born in Wisconsin?

Nope, the credited creator of Barbie, Ruth Handler, was born in Denver, Colorado.

Then how in the world is Barbie somehow even remotely from or connected to Wisconsin!!!!???

Lamentabile dictu, Mattel decided early in their promotion of this doll that Barbie needed a back story.

And this back story was to be presented to the public through a series of "Barbie Novels" that Random House published in the 1960's.

Here's apparently how the conversation went in the board room:

Maybe we make Barbie be from Nebraska?

Are you f*&^ing serious?

Um, maybe Barbie is from California? Say, Malibu! We can even call her "Malibu Barbie"!

You're fired. There's no way that's ever happening.

Um, um, um, how about Barbie is from Wisconsin!

Yes! Give that man a raise!

And thus, Barbie was given the following back story. Her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. She was born to parents George and Margaret Roberts in the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie, by the way, attended the fictional Willows High School in those novels.

We in Wisconsin can hardly be proud of a doll that has perpetuated an unhealthy and impossible body image to generations of girls for decades.

But, for what it's worth, I guess Barbie's from Wisconsin...

Keith Massey was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. He has his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Biblical Hebrew, with a minor in Arabic. After 9/11, he served as an Arabic linguist at the NSA. He is currently a Latin teacher at a public high school in New Jersey.

Keith is the author of Intermediate Arabic for Dummies. His fiction novels follow the adventures of Andrew Valquist, roughly patterned after himself--a man born and raised in Wisconsin who gets pulled into the world of international intrigue.

Keith's novels are A Place of Brightness, Amor Vincit Omnia: An Andrew Valquist Adventure, Next Stop: Spanish, and In Saecula Saeculorum.

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In Saecula Saeculorum, the 4th Novel in the Valquist Series

In this fourth novel of the Valquist Series, Andrew Valquist is retired (?) from the National Security Agency and teaching Latin at a Classical Academy in the Washington DC area. But in the world of espionage, looks can be deceiving. He's not necessarily happy with the role he has played in all this, but the school was actually a joint NSA/MI-6 Project in which four young people have been unwittingly prepared for a mission to travel back in time to ancient Rome to retrieve information from a library that may save the modern world from certain destruction. They know they have to at least try to save humanity, but can they also save each other?

Next Stop: Spanish, the 3rd Novel in the Valquist Series

This third novel in the Valquist Series can be read as an espionage action-adventure in its own right, but also you can use it as a way to either brush up on your Spanish or learn functional Spanish for the first time! John Valquist needs to learn Spanish. But he's in luck, since his uncle Andrew is a language expert and a former (?) spy who is taking him on a vacation to Spain so he can study the language. In Next Stop: Spanish, you have the chance to see and study the words John studies, and then watch him add more and more Spanish into his dialogue as the story progresses. During this vacation, they get pulled into espionage intrigue (why do these things always happen to the Valquist family?). In the dramatic conclusion, John will need to put together everything he has learned to save his uncle!

Amor Vincit Omnia: the 2nd Novel in the Valquist Series

In this second novel of the Valquist Series, Keith Massey takes you into the halls of the National Security Agency, where he himself worked for four years after 9/11 and an Arabic linguist. You follow our hero Andrew Valquist, as he starts work as a new recruit at the NSA. Little does he know that on his first on the job, he's about to fly off on an unexpected overseas assignment. He'll be even more surprised when he learns that his background in ancient Latin will be crucial to the mission!

Friday, August 15, 2014

Made in Wisconsin: Barbie

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