Adenville, Utah, 1896

When I taught economics, I loved teaching the introductory course, especially lesson one. I remembered the time I walked into my first econ class, only there because it was a required core course, and had my life changed. Economics is a way of thinking, they say. And if I could pass on just a shadow of the enthusiasm for seeing the world through an economic lens to a few of the students, I considered it an achievement.

So what is it you see with an economist's eye? I see highways melt away and become gravel roads decades prior and wonder how to measure the life improvement of the passengers. I see Coca Cola and wonder how miraculousa can of it must be to places in the world where there is no other source of clean drinking water. But mostly I see the world described in the children's novels of John D. Fitzgerald - the cult favorites known as the Great Brain series. Fitzgerald describes the world of Adenville, Utah around the end of the 1800s, and he often references how a dime back then was worth something like a dollar today. Blew my mind reading that in the 1970s.

Like most readers who become obsessed with their favorite books, I was frustrated that I could never learn more about the main characters after the series ends. I can sympathize how all the Harry Potter fans feel these days. Actually, no, tack on three decades and call me. Anyway, what a surprise it was when the Internet was invented and I could track down fans even more intense than myself who reported (No!) that Adenville was make-believe. No such place. It's not that the integrity or moral lessons of the book are cheapened in any way, but there was something about the first person authenticity that meant more than just a composite image.

Well, I am happy to share a new blog with you. A kind soul named Carrie Thatcher recently started up a blog called Finding Fitzgerald to continue the work of her fabulous site of the same name. It is only a month old, and I hope Carrie never loses her enthusiasm no matter how small the updates are. 

And thanks Carrie. Fitzgerald's children thank you.

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