A SHIP TO REMEMBER by Alexander Griffin
23 Jul 2009
Won this on eBay:
A SHIP TO REMEMBER - THE SAGA OF THE HORNET by Alexander Griffin
This is a 1943 book covering the short life of the original aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV 8). I read this in about 5th grade or so, and it was probably the second in the string of books that really got young Murdoc interested in military history.
I’ve been watching for this on eBay for quite some time, and have just missed a couple of good ones over the years. This copy isn’t in the greatest condition, but it’s pretty solid and very readable. It’s a former library book, but it appears to have been a school library, not a public library. A penciled note appears to indicate that it was purchased 4/13/44. The last person listed on the handwritten library card is Howard Steffik(?) with a due date of 3-21-73. Howard had also checked it out in an earlier March (no year listed), as well.
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:45 pm
If you can squint your eyes right, and interpret that name as “Howard Stern”, you could probably increase the value 10 fold.
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:13 pm
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/-6025259/used/Carrier%20War%20in%20the%20Pacific
I checked this book out of my elementary school library several times per year.
July 24th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Nice, how much did this set you back murdoc?
July 24th, 2009 at 8:59 am
jaymaster: Hah. It’s only the last letter of the last name I’m unsure of, so I think “Stern” would be a stretch.
Captain Ned: That one looks familiar, too. I think it was in our high school library.
fj44dash1: Only about $15 including shipping. I look at it as one of the formative books of Murdoc and think $15 is a steal.
July 28th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&sortby=2&sts=t&tn=a+ship+to+remember+hornet&x=0&y=0
ABEBooks.com is your friend, they have 14 copies listed, with at least two copies for about $11, including shipping. It’s a little-known (apparently) resource for buying used books from secondhand bookstores around the world, and I always check it against eBay and Amazon when I see something I want in those places. It’s rare when some bookseller on ABEBooks is not lower.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I swear by ABEBooks and Alibris.com Both sell used books and when looking for a specific title I check both sites. You can sometimes find a $20 dollar difference between the two.
A few years ago I started buying some old juviniles for my son (now 11). These included “We Were There at Pearl Harbor,” “The Battle of Midway” by Irving Werstein and “Have Spacesuit will Travel” by Heinlein. They actually got him away from his Nintendo for a few days. I actually read the Werstein book when I was 8 or 9.