Category Archives: 1960s

366S: “No time, only duration” (Solved!)

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 Forgotten author name, likely American or British – collection of short stories with sci-fi/horror-type themes. I read the book `eons ago’ – so probably 60s or 70s.

The story of interest describes where 3 characters wind up inside a room where there is “no time, only duration,” so they’ll supposedly live forever if they never leave the room. An epilogue then tells us “a building was torn down and 3 skeletons were found in it…..”

The cover had some odd-looking creature on it, reminiscent of the YELLOW SUBMARINE animation style.

366H: Horse story with Native American main character

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I had (in the 60s or 70s) a collection of horse stories. One was about a Native American young man named (I believe) Johnny, who was a handsome man who was “lame” (walked with a limp and was self conscious about it). He had a horse he named Bay-ee because the horse was sort of copper-colored like a penny. He won some sort of race with the horse. Would love to find this story again.

366C: Bear Gets Tail Caught, Loses Coat

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A picture book, mid century American, 40s-60s possibly. 
A man lives out in the woods, it’s winter. I believe there is something about pancakes. He has to go outside to do something, he takes out his winter coat which has been eaten by moths. At one point he runs into a bear, but his gun powder has gotten wet so it doesn’t work. He ends up tying the bears tail in a knot, which gets caught between trees and the bear is running so fast he jumps out of his skin. The man wears it as a coat and goes home to eat said pancakes. 

365W: 1970s(?) book about kid spies

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I am looking for a book that is a children/tween/teen book from the 60’s or 70’s (I borrowed it from the Bookmobile in the very early 80’s) about 3 or 4 teenagers who fly a glider and get involved in a spy plot where an organization (maybe called Chaos or similar acronym) with a plan to put a memory drug into the water supply. Originally they are set astray by misinformation that it is going into the milk supply. I think one boy is super athletic and one is the brainy one. There is one part where they fly the glider over a compound and later break in. It is guarded by a lion that has been fed the drug and doesn’t attack them but is reliving a memory. It turns out the parents of one of the kids are actually spies and assist them in the end.

364F: Greek/Roman epic – a tough one!

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Hi there! Been looking for this for YEARS. Please bear with me as I read it in the 90’s and you know how memory goes.

Read it as a paperback. NOT a bodice ripper like romance. Was a Greek/Roman epic. NOT the book Empress of Rome. From the perspective of a prostitute from when she was a girl through adulthood and old age. Not necessarily first person but maybe.  She went to a courtesan-like school to learn the arts- painting, singing etc. I only remember like two very specific parts of the story.

**TRIGGER WARNING- Weird old school brothel tricks and sex talk**

She “ruins” herself or some such thing with a man and she needs to be presented as a virgin to some old guy or important man whatever. There’s a part where an older woman has her put a chicken egg filled with blood or something up there so that when the chicken egg breaks during sex it’ll appear as though it’s hymen blood. Don’t ask why that stuck with me, it just did.

There’s a bunch of intrigue and scandal. A bad guy is in it for sure. There’s a bunch of parties and a nice old guy painter I think. And the prostitute/courtesan is very well renowned. She falls in love with a younger soldier and eventually is together with him for years. At the end of the book she’s dying in bed and he’s holding her hand and she dies with a smile or some such thing because he had no idea how old she was because she took such good care care of herself.

Pretty thick book. Cover had a Greek/Roman depiction (maybe a man and woman? maybe a Greek building in back?) and was creme colored for the most part, I think. Had maybe a bit of red and black lettering. Books was very much late 1960’s-1980’s

I really hope you can help!! Thanks so much

363M: Quaker seamstress in Philadelphia during American revolutionary war (Solved!)

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Cheryl Hill, chill4hhorse@comcast.net[/private[

I am looking for a book I read as a teen and young adult in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  I recall finding it at my local library and I believe the author’s last name began with the letter A.  The story was historical fiction and the main character was a seamstress in Philadelphia during the revolutionary war.  She was a member of the Quaker religion and her fiancé fought with George Washington.  She worked in the home of Peggy Shippen’s family and was able to overhear some of the plans made by Benedict Arnold and his wife.

363L: Christmas-time story, possibly 1960’s

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The story is about a boy whose father (parents?) left for a trip, leaving him with the cook/housekeeper. Before the present time, she had won a baking contest when the boy knocked some chocolate chips into her mix and she decided to leave them. After they were alone, he ordered a (real) magic kit from the back of a comic book and when he got it and used the wax to form a figure of the housekeeper and maybe cast some spell to make her very sleepy and she stayed in bed for the rest of the story until the end. He then set about on some adventures including one where he made a willow wand to help him find the perfect Christmas tree, which I believe he cut down and brought into the house. I don’t remember the other adventures but at the end of the book he warmed up the wax to break the spell and some of it melted into the fire and filled the house with smoke, just at the time the father/parents came back from their trip.