Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: This Day in History: Ford Motor Company Takes its First Order for a Two-Cylindar Model A, July 15th 1903

"On this day in 1903, the newly formed Ford Motor Company takes its first order from Chicago dentist Ernst Pfenning: an $850 two-cylinder Model A automobile with a tonneau (or backseat). The car, produced at Ford’s plant on Mack Street (now Mack Avenue) in Detroit, was delivered to Dr. Pfenning just over a week later." (http://www.history.com)

I Invented the Modern Age by Richard Snow

A lively account of Henry Ford's invention of the Model-T places his innovations against a backdrop of a steam-powered world and offers insight into his innate mechanical talents and pioneering work in internal combustion, describing his indelible impact on American culture and the perplexing subsequent changes in his personality. (Publisher Summary)

The Life of the Automobile: the Complete History of the Motor Car by Steven Parissien

Model T (DVD) presented by The History Channel

The Classic Car Book: the Essential Guide to Buying, Owning, Enjoying and Maintaining a Classic Car by Andrew Noakes

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

This Day in History: Ford Motor Company Takes its First Order for a Two-Cylindar Model A, July 15th 1903

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