Ye Zhou, a Quiet but Prolific Writer Friend

Last week, I was notified via WeChat friends that my former colleague Ye Xinyao, also known as 叶周 (Ye Zhou) in the Chinese literary circle, died of a heart attack on November 28, 2024 in Anhui Province, China. He was 66. 

Through social media, I read that shortly after his retirement, Ye returned to Shanghai, China in early November, to reunite with his former colleagues and friends. He then went on to Anhui to visit the hometown of his father who had killed himself by jumping from a high-rise building on August 2, 1966. As Vice President of the Shanghai Arts and Writers Union, and deputy head of  the Shanghai Film Studio, Ye Yiqun (叶以群) was driven to suicide by unbearable political persecutions and pressures in the turbulent Cultural Revolution. Little did one anticipate, a father's birthplace became a son's final resting place.

Upon my graduation from Fudan University in 1982, I started to work for the editorial departments of film journals under the joint auspice of Shanghai Arts and Writers, and Shanghai Film Bureau. Under the same roof, there were two separate periodicals, Dianying Xinzuo (New Screenplays for Chinese films), and Screen International. A year after me, Ye joined us. He was an editor for the former, while I was for the latter. From then to the end of 1988 when I left the department for Santa Cruz, California, I always remembered him as a quiet but upright colleague. I more or less contributed his reserved personality to the shadow of his father's premature death.

Soon after starting my Certificate program in Theater Arts at University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), I was told that Ye came to the States as well. He entered the Film and TV Department at San Francisco State University (SFSU). After the completion of my program at UCSC, I was accepted by the same department in the spring of 1990. Ye and I helped each other by sharing writing materials, and exchanging ideas and experience. As the months went by, I found it harder and harder to commute from Palo Alto to San Francisco. I decided to discontinue my study at SFSU, but to concentrate on working and saving for my library program in the fall at Berkeley. 

Once in the Great Bay Area, Ye and I should be closer distance-wise from San Francisco to Berkeley either by BART or car. As Ye was extremely reticent by nature, I knew preciously little about his personal life, or professional work. Moreover, I was insanely busy pursuing my library degrees, research work, and eventually job-hunting. I learned indirectly that his wife came to join him. They soon had a daughter, Andrea. Together they now lived in an apartment in Burlingame. He found a job at a local TV station after his graduation. 

In June 1996, I left Berkeley for Santa Cruz to join Paul. Towards the end of that year, Ye called me. He and his family had some time to share, and planned to have a holiday season in Santa Cruz. As we had accepted Lew's invitation to spend our Christmas and New Year in Puerto Vallarta, the proposed reunion did not pan out. As usual, I kept in touch with Ye and his family by sending Christmas cards. One day out of the blue, Ye's wife told me by phone that Ye was leaving for China, but she and her daughter decided to stay, now that she was a qualified accountant and felt comfortable living in this country. Since the call, the whole family had disappeared from our life until I saw his group photos last September when Mr. Fan and his wife visited him and another former colleague of ours in Los Angeles. Personally, I always felt responsible for not being able to get together that eventful 1996 Christmas. Things might have turned out differently if our schedules did not collide, and two families had met. 

Following his passing, Chinese media on both side of the Pacific have explored his life. He turned out to be a prolific writer, critic, and TV producer. His literary career peaked since 2017, leaving behind an impressive legacy of published fiction, nonfiction, collections of essays and articles, and media productions curated partly by OCLC, an international bibliographic utility. He was equally well-known among Chinese writers in Southern California and China by holding the title of Honorary President of Chinese Writers Association of America (CWAA) in Los Angeles.

Ye, quiet but with an inner volcano for literary creations, will be missed. He lived a short but prolific life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY BY YE ZHOU

Fiction (长篇小说)

《旧金山的雾》(2022)

《美国爱情》

《丁香公寓》(2014)

Nonfiction (长篇非虚构)

《世纪波澜中的文化记忆》

Essays (散文集)

《文脉传承的践行者 : 叶以群百年诞辰纪念文集》(2011)

《地老天荒》(2013)

《巴黎盛宴 : 城市历史中的爱情》(2015)

《伸展的文学地图》(2020)

Alverda Left Her Heart at Davenport

Yesterday afternoon, a call came in, while I was writing a memorial piece for my former colleague Ye. It was from Luisa, Alverda Orlando's twin daughter. My heart instinctively sank on hearing her voice. I was going to swing by Alverda's apartment to deliver some chocolate, on my way to Ann's home to return her shirt. As there were lots of errands to take care of before Nick arrived, I had to stay home.

Alverda Orlando passed peacefully away at 4:00 am, December 14, 2024 at Brookdale Nursing Home located at #100 Lockwood Lane. The cause of death is pneumonia complications. She was 94.

I knew Alverda when I started to work as an extra help librarian for Santa Clara County Libraries (SCCL) in May 1996. I was relocating from Berkeley to Santa Cruz. Since the opportunity for a full-time position was scarce then, I applied to both SCCL and San Jose State University for temporary and part time jobs. Alverda, retired from Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL), was one of the four fellow trainees at Cupertino Library of SCCL. Upon the completion of two weeks' training, we could be qualified to start our service for elected branch libraries. 

One day after the training in the parking lot of Cupertino, Paul asked Alverda if she could give me a ride to Santa Cruz the next day, for I had not driven solo over Highway 17. Alverda readily agreed. That was the beginning of our nearly three decades' friendship. In the ensuing months and years, we carpooled over the hill whenever we could until I started my employment with DIALOG Corp. in July 1997. 

During those unstable but carefree years, our friendship flourished beyond carpooling. I learned tremendously from her, such as her professional reference skills in a public library setting, her research on Davenport and north coast areas, many colorful anecdotes in and outside SCPL, and her keen interest in library history. She was a rare specimen among public librarians, well-read and well-published. She researched, wrote and published well into her nineties, winning many prestige awards and grants, such as the Distinguished Historian of 2001 by History Forum of MAH, 2007 and 2017 Dolkas-Mertz Award, and the 2011 James Dolkas Memorial Fund.

Alverda was warm and generous to a fault. In 2000, she took in Nick to live with her for more than three weeks, when Paul and I visited my sick father in Shanghai, China. Since I started to work for SCPL, She, Nick, and I met regularly for our Friday dinner. After Nick left for college, she suggested that we add Donna and later Pam to our dinner table. Our Friday monthly dinners lasted until Covid-19. Over those dinners, we exchanged our ideas and achievements. With her wealth of experience and knowledge, we three learned and were benefited accordingly. Alverda has forever been our calming and solid rock anchoring our respective lives and challenges. She always has had advice for every occasion. "Anyway," she would start. 

Together with Davenport, we will miss you, Alverda!

Overtaxing USPS: a Comedy of Errors

In an attempt to economize shipping cost, I accidentally managed to overtax the fragile workload of US Post Office (USPS) by combining three transactions into one, totaling a package weight to 24 pounds. 

In November 4, 2024, I wrote to the Editor of the California State Library Foundation (CSLF) to purchase 50 copies of Bulletin that serialized my article on Laura Steffens Suggett in issues 141-144. She graciously accepted my request and delegated the task to her copy editor who finalized a phone order on November 7. I was excited and expecting the package to sit on our doorstep in the issuing days, just like any packages or boxes from Amazon or Costco. 

For some mysterious reason, the expected package after two weeks never showed up. On November 18, I wrote to the copy editor to ascertain if there was any error in our address. He confirmed that the shipping address was all in order, and advised me to contact our local USPS. Per his advice, Paul immediately checked our local office. It turned out USPS was unable to trace a package, if there was no tracking number. Apparently his mail room did not add any tracking number even when the value of package exceeded $400. Worse still, a return address was omitted in the process, so the lost package could not be returned when it failed to be delivered.  In addition, we asked our mailman for help. He has been actively looking for the package on his local route, with no results. 

On November 22, I wrote to the Editor about the troubling shipment. She replied with apologies on December 2, as soon as the holiday closure was over and CSLF was in operation. The very next day, a fresh shipment with the same content was dispatched with a tracking number and insurance for a value of $410. I received a confirmation email the same day, promising the new package would arrive by 9:00 pm on Friday, September 6, but our door step remained empty. The same night I created an online account with USPS. It repeated the same message about 9:00 pm Friday being the delivery time. 

The next day, Paul saw our mailman's substitute and inquired about the second shipment. The substitute mailman kindly provided him with a direct phone number for the regional supervisor. After many phone attempts, Paul was finally able to discuss the issue with the supervisor after 6:00 pm. It seemed that Amazon shipments were USPS priority items. Since our shipment was unusually heavy with 24 pounds, it was apparently considered the lowest among the priority list. Fortunately it was insured and tracked, and would be processed eventually. Thank you, the CSLF Editor, for your wise insight and foresight, or it would have meet the same fate as the first missing package.

The expected shipment that should appear today has been erroneously routed from San Jose to Wyoming, Michigan by a mere act of misscanning. Homer's Odyssey is continuing. Hopefully, the journey will not take as long as Odysseus did.

Trough more than a month long delivery time for a media matter package from Sacramento to Santa Cruz, I have learned my lesson: the weight matters with USPS. Don't ever try to be outsmart the unwritten rule by consolidating transactions, especially during the holiday season. No one wants to break their backs by lifting any weighty objects.  

Egret Ballerina Soaring to the Sky

Ever since the result of Election 2024 was announced on November 6, the whole country has been thrown into a hurricane. People are either exhilarated to high heaven, or diven down to a bottomless black hole. In the between space, very few people can remain long. Paul is one of the few, with his egret ballerina winning this week's Photo Contest in Good Times. The ballerina, along with his series of bird photography, has reflected his equilibrium of mind and soul, "I have done my civic duty to cast my vote, and now I am living my own life."

Paul's soaring ballerina captures the recent anchovy rush in the Monterey Bay, which has been attracting numerous cormorants, egrets, herons, pelicans, seagulls, as well as families of sea lions, and individual harbor seals and sea otters. The feeding frenzy has delighted aquatic fowl and marine mammals alike, but has also kept city and marine workers busy, trying to be the cleaning agent between nature and living beings on the bay.

Congratulations, Paul! Your new work has been well received in FB.

A Sad Farewell to Masako

Through my former classmate Cyrus, I learned about the unexpected passing of Masako Kasai on September 26, 2024. Instantly I felt a profound sadness. Luckily, Debbie came to visit Paul and me in Santa Cruz that Sunday, September 29. We were joined by more friends during 2024 Open Studio pre-exhibit hosted by Santa Cruz Art League. All these gatherings provided us with much needed reminiscent opportunities. 

Masako was one of our original study group members at Berkeley. Never working in a library prior to 1990, I was floundering after missing nearly a month's time when the Library School started its session. It was the study group that rescued me from deep trouble, thanks to a long tradition of Berkeley campus to encourage students to free form their study groups, so as to help each other. Before long, I was in a group consisting of  Cyrus, Laura and Masako. Both Cyrus and Masako had been cataloging for years for GTU (Graduate Theologian Union) and East Asian Library at Berkeley. I benefitted tremendously from their expertise and handheld patience. In preparation of our Pacific Rim Library project for Buckland's Library Management class, our group was augmented with two more members, Elizabeth and Debbie. 

Masako at Koyasan Saizen-in Temple, 2019

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217188302314187&set=t.100000792644087&type=3

After a full and intensive academic year, most of us graduated with our Masters degree. Elizabeth moved from San Francisco to a small town in California while Laura went to work for Library of Congress. Debbie stayed on to finish a couple of more classes, whereas I continued with the Graduate Certificate program in the face of a statewide hiring freeze. However we had weekends and holidays to ourselves. We four permanent members would choose a fresh restaurant for our Friday night dinner each week. Very soon, we tasted nearly all the eateries in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito. Whenever we made a poor choice, we would excessively express our disappointment. Only Masako could laugh it off lightly. Unlike the harried usual me, Masako always remained her calm and elegant self. She told me that she and her husband immigrated from Japan in the early eighties. They had two daughters.

In the mid nineties, Masako moved with her husband from San Rafael to a castle-like building perched high in Napa County. While beautiful and secluded, the new residence became a challenge for professional careers other than the wine business. Masako quit her Berkeley position to work for a law firm in the City by long daily commute. But the law firm job did not last too long. A few years later, it started to lay off its employees, among whom was Masako. 

Masako in December 26, 2018

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217092064390121&set=t.100000792644087&type=3

Masako contacted me to see if I knew someone working at San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). Doris, one of my Extra Help colleagues at Santa Clara County Library, happened to be a fulltime librarian there, and she just chanced to find out that her library was indeed looking for a Japanese cataloger. With Doris and my aggressive nudging and pushing, Masako applied and got the position. She worked and retired from SFPL. During the time she was working there, Masako and I would meet for lunch or chat in her workplace whenever I had conferences or workshops in San Francisco. She and I had been exchanging Christmas cards ever since I moved back to Santa Cruz from 1996 until 2023 when she was apparently too sick to reply. I always treasure her beautiful cards.

Over the years, Masako also visited my family in Santa Cruz with Debbie and Cyrus until I was told that she had developed Parkinson's disease which eventually claimed her life and smile. We miss you, Masako! Please rest in peace. There is no more long commute and illness pestering you.

Masako Kasai (1948-2024) 

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/calimakiroll

Revisit Youngstown for 55th South Reunion

On August 29, Paul and I went to Youngstown to attend his 55th South High Reunion, and returned home in the evening of September 3, the day after Labor Day.

Awesome Eight who attended together Sheridan Elementary, 

Princeton Jr., & South High School 

In less than a week's time, we embraced a lifelong experience. Before and after the big event that weekend, we packed three lunches with his friends from kindergarten, grade school and high school. All in their early seventies, those friends were more or less living and retiring locally or in cities like Columbus or Cleveland, with the farthest in Pittsburgh or Farmington, Michigan. In general, they were all content and happy in their own way. Even Gary who has been taking care of his 101-year-old Mother for more than two decades did not complain to much, except for his bitter reminiscence of his football career thwarted by a school bully who died young in his twenties. 

Poland Public Library Now in Youngstown, Ohio

In addition to lunching with friends, Paul and I visited the famed Poland Public Library, newly renovated Millcreek Park, and ate twice at Handel's Ice Cream, one in the rain, and the other on a chilly evening. According to Wikies, Handel's Handmade ice cream is a company founded by Alice Handel in 1945 in Youngstown, Ohio. Now it operates 125 corporate and franchise stores in 12 states, with its headquarters in Canfield, Ohio, and it's own neighborhood district in Youngstown. To a certain degree, Handel's ice cream & yogurt is similar to Penny's Ice Cream in Santa Cruz with its local business roots. With the change of times, Handel's has branched out to catering parties and Uber delivery, apart from its physical stores. It is superior in its inexpensive pricing and over 45 flavors rotating each month, such as Salty Caramel Truffle, Chocolate Pecan, and of course, Paul's favorite, Black Cherry. No wonder, the business is so loved by many new and returning chubby and chunky individuals and families.

A Handel's we visited twice in Youngstown, Ohio

The 55th Reunion was preceded by an unofficial meet and greet on Friday, August 30 in Holiday Inn hotel. It served as a warm up for the following day for both organizers and attendees. On arrival at 7:00 pm, we found a roomful of people talking and snacking. It turned out that we were one hour late, by adhering faithfully to the schedule which had undergone many revisions without too much notifications to all. When the actual reunion started, Paul and I were in the same hotel one minute before 6:00 pm, so were his classmates.

As Bill Finzel, the Master of Ceremony (MC), was absent due to his dizzy spell, Joseph Palmer, a retired library director, became his replacement. Together with the former Homecoming Queen, Deborah North, the new MC announced the opening of the reunion. It was quite a spectacular scene, with eight round tables, and one long VIP table in the hall, permeated with colorful lighting, music, dance and 3-D rotating photography. 

Paul and I at Reunion

Fifty-five years later, all those high school students gathered together in one place. Their former anger, competition, or frustrations were all like water under the bridge. Present and future was what they held. The organizers did a fantastic job making the reunion affordable and possible. In the past five years, they were holding bake sales and selling raffle tickets to donate to the proceeds to the event.

Deborah North and I

We celebrated Labor Day with Alexees's family. Michael and Joann's four kids came, including two-month-old Charly (Charlotte). It was a real treat to enjoy authentic Greek home cooked food, such as spanakopita, lamb, baklava, etc. On our way to the Cleveland airport, Paul was lamenting our missed opportunities to visit his Greek Church and downtown Youngstown. At that very moment, he happened to glance over his shoulder to see a magnificent building beckoning. Since there's no time like the present, we exited immediately to go through downtown streets and revisit this building that turned out to be his former church. 

Former Greek Orthodox Church, now Apostolic Faith Temple

109 W. Woodland Avenue, Youngstown

What a memorable revisit!

A Time for Everything in August 2024

The month of this August is the embodiment of "A Time for Everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens," as stated in Ecclesiastes 3. 

Having successfully completed her 2024 Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp on August 2, Leni was picked up and driven home by her father Nick the very next day. The following Friday, August 9, Gene Moriarty, a long time good friend of ours, passed away. Paul and I attended his Vigil Service and Funeral Mass August 26-27.

In between time, there were also happy occasions. We spent the week of August 20-24 in Seattle, Washington, having pizza and wine at Stephanie and Tyler's Happy Hour on August 22, and going to their Wedding the following day. In the shadow of the threatening new Covid19 in Hui's family, everyone, once recovered enough, was determined to have a great time, celebrating a brand-new life for the high-achieving couple. Nick and his four younger cousins had a complete cousin reunion for the first time in their life. Meanwhile, I received the first edit of the third installment proof of A Bright Star from the California State Library Foundation. As I did not have a laptop with me this time, I read through Gene Kennedy's corrections and approved them, in addition to answering his query.

August 24 was our departure day. As usual, Paul built in more than two hours for traffic and rental car return. Unlike Thursday night's frantic SeaTac Airport when we picked up Nick, the traffic was smooth, so was our fuel filling and car return. Paul, Nick and I felt visibly relieved to arrive at the quiet airport at barely 8:00 am, well before our respective departure times at 10:30 am, and 3:40 pm. 

All hell broke loose when we reached the Security Check point. There were six serpentine long lines of passengers waiting to be admitted. It took at least one hour to be at the head of the line that was to be continued by another line. The second queue, similar in length to the first one, would take the same amount of time for one to have their IDs, bodies and luggage checked. Instead of using the state of art facial recognition photo scan, all TSA officers checked us with their own eyes. After the checkpoint, we could not find our Alaska gate number, since QR was unable to spit out a printout. All the bulletin boards surrounding us were unusually quiet. Paul had to ask a Delta service desk for help. Instead of using her computer at the service desk, the representative was searching the internet with her cellphone to locate our gate. Fortunately, our flight was delayed 15 minutes, which gave us a pit stop opportunity before boarding the plane, while Nick was guarding our luggage. He was as good as his words to see Paul and me walking the tarmac to the plane. 

We landed in San Francisco miraculously on time Saturday afternoon. Looking at the bright and spacious airport, I felt a blissfully new appreciation of California, after going through the congested SeaTac, its inadequate bathroom stalls, and lack of real time flight information. Over FaceTime we celebrated Lee Anne's birthday that Saturday evening. It is the Birthday Girl that untangled the mystery of chaos at SeaTac. In her search for Nick's arrival time, she discovered that the airport had been a victim of a cyberattack. To be fair, the Seattle airport did a marvelous job in damage control in the face of vicious attacks and unfavorable working conditions. Offline and calmly, it managed to get its passengers to their destinations eventually. There was no public disorder, thanks to the air traffic control tradition of its city's aerospace industry.

Busy August does not seem to slow down, with our next trip scheduled for August 29-Septermber 3 for Paul's 55th Reunion in Youngstown, Ohio.

Gene, a Friend to Remember

Barely six months after the celebration of his 80th birthday, Gene Moriarty left us last Friday, August 9, 2024. It was known for quite a while that Gene's health was declining, but it is a new string of COVID19 that was the ultimate cause of his death.

Gene is the sixth dear friend to depart among our local friends, Sue Reynolds, Ted Grace, Lewis Weinstein (2017), James King, and John Breznak (2021). Each departure has taken something from us, leaving us with more grief and renewed resolve to live a full life. 

In the latest JAMA (August 13, 2024, vol. 332, no. 6), I happened to read Someone Has to Be Around to Put out the Lights  by Joel Jager. It is a very inspiring article advocating the positive attitude toward the disappearing of friends who have succumbed to illness or death. In front of this inevitable life cycle, as the author states, there seems to be only two options to avoid such a sad situation: either one dies first, or develops dementia, so they will not know what is going on around you. However, there is a third option as the author's 90-year-old father did a generation ago, i.e., revamping his purpose in life, "Instead of being immersed in the typical diversions of Southern Florida retirement, he began to focus on helping those remaining individuals and their families 'tie things up," usually in some small fashion...In his words, 'Someone has to be around to put out the lights.'"

Now the author and his wife are both in their 80s. Cognitively still intact, they opt to follow his father's footsteps by invoking the mantra of "May I be allowed to be of service" to each other, and their contemporaries that consist of relatives, friends, and acquaintances in both big and small ways, such as advice, assistance, guidance, referrals, and listening. Even though they often end their day emotionally spent, they are grateful for the opportunity to be of assistance. Meanwhile they hope there will be others around to help them in their declining and dying days. I admire the author and his father's way of living. 

Gene's Mass at Holy Cross Church

Paul and I are both relieved that we will be able to attend Gene's Vigil Service at the Pacific Garden Chapel, at 6:00 pm. August 26th and Funeral Mass at Holy Cross the following day, 11:00 am. Thank you Gene for your kindness, friendship and wisdom. We will miss you.

Holy Cross Father at the Beginning of Reception

Our Table at the Reception

(Lowe's brother, Jim S and Paul)

A Bird to Remember

Last late Friday afternoon, Paul and I were on our way to Leni's Swimming Team practice when we noticed three young girls hovering around a section of the sidewalk at Elm and Center Streets. All we could see was a hungry red mouth facing upward. It must be a lost chick, said I.

Chick Calling

We quickly found a spot and parked our Tesla along the street diagonally across from the bird and girls. It turned out that our initial guess was correct: a fuzzy chick was in distress. With its eyes closely shut, it was calling out incessantly in the middle of the sidewalk. One girl was on the phone, apparently calling a certain animal rescue agency, while her two friends were standing by sympathetically. Paul lost no time to have a closeup of the bird.

Fortunately, the assumed orphaned chick did have a parent. "She fed it a minute ago before we were on the scene," one girl informed us. Soon, the girl on the phone ended her call, and told all of us that she was advised to leave the bird where it was. If it were not abandoned, its parents would come to take care of it. There was nothing else we humans could do. As the chick was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, we all felt that we need to move it to aside, preferably somewhere secure and out of public eye or traffic. Finally one girl scooped up the bird tenderly and placed it behind a leafy plant right beside the house foundation, as everyone wished.

New Sanctuary

As soon as the five of us walked away, two adult brown birds that had been sitting on the telephone lines above our gathering place flew to the top of the roof and then hopped down to the house. One bird was situated like a security guard on the top of garden tree, while the other cautiously approached the bird call. It was soon seen on its mission to find something edible in the nearby mostly barren yard. A further minute later, the guarding bird flew away, apparently received his mate's order to food hunting to a wider world.

Observing what was happening before our eyes, Paul and I felt extremely content and comforted at the thought that the chick was now in the safe hands of its parents. We now set off for our grandparent's bond towards the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls Club. There was a human bird waiting for our attention.

An hour later when Leni's swim team training was over, we three left the club, only to see not far away a pair of birds still flying by turns to feed their offspring behind the plant. Nothing is stronger than a parental bond and dedication!

Swim Meet at Santa Cruz Boys and Girls Club

Around 11:30 am last Saturday, Paul and I attended a swim meet between the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls Club and Watsonville YMCA. 

Both teams had about equal numbers of team members, 15 from Santa Cruz and 20 from Watsonville. However, there was an obvious difference between the two teams. For example, the Watsonville team seemed to be more mature, and more uniform in appearance by donning the same white YMCA swimming cap, and performing similarly styled strokes.

Leni belonged to the diverse Santa Cruz team, ranging in age from 6 to 16. Their swimming skills varied too. Some were very fast almost reaching the professional level and speed while some were lost in the midst of the competition. Despite the setback of a year's inactivity and only a couple weeks of training, Leni, race numbers temporarily tattooed on her arm as 2-5-15-18, participated in several categories, 25-meter freestyle, 50-meter backstroke, and team relay. She did reasonably well for her team that enthusiastically cheered each other's heats in turn.

Leni was in the 2nd lane left.

Small as it is, the swimming pool at the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls Club, had the same Olympic spirit, monitored closely by their respective coaches, and assistant coaches. Each swimmer's performance was duly clocked and recorded by pairs of appointed volunteers. Two sections of bleachers were filled with young athletes' family members and friends who shared every moment with them, whether it was a victory or disappointment.

Papu was photographing Leni in action. 

Like any stadium of professional grade, the Santa Cruz swimming facility provides a side yard with refreshments while the competition was heating up. Swimmers and attendees were welcomed to hot dogs, burgers, beverages and healthy foods. 

Since the two-city swim meet was not a truly professional event, the Watsonville coach ended the meet by throwing a sandwich bag full of coins into the pool for swimmers to dive and retrieve. Instantly those highly motivated youngsters were like dolphins diving in and out of water. What a fun meet indeed!

Workshops at NASIG 2024

Unlike my usual disarrayed self at various conferences, I was laser-sharp focused at the 39th NASIG conference on the following four topics:

1. LCSH and other LC Vocabulary (June 4, 9:00-10:00 am) by Melanie Polutta, Cataloging Policy specialist at Policy, Training & Cooperative Division of Library of Congress (LC). The first half of her workshop looked at the basics of what is LC subject heading (LCSH), and how to make a proposal for a new subject heading. LCSH was used primarily to describe what was in the library.

The second half examined the current development of the controlled vocabularies. She also discussed ongoing DEI work and thoughts about the vocabularies going forward. It seemed that there would be less use of subdivisions, or form (e.g., Juvenile literature), but more post-coordination. The trend would be putting business into their categories, formal headings to genre headings.

2. Two workshops on ChatGPT

a. Transforming Library Data Analytics into Strategic Insights with ChatGPT (June 4, 2:45-3:45 pm) by Marlene van Ballegooie of University of Toronto. It centered on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in advancing library data analytics by gaining practical experience of how AI could be utilized in library collection analysis, and by discovering how AI facilitated comprehensive data exploration and the creation of insightful visualizations of improved decision-making. It provided practical lesson in applying AI in library collection analysis, and equipping participants to adopt similar technologies in their home institutions. 

b. Using ChatGPT as a tool for the acquisition and assessment of e-resources (June 7, 9:00-10:00 am) by Amanda Yesilbas of University of South Florida. The learning outcomes aimed at: 1) What the interface of ChatGPT looks like and how to begin using it. 2) What training ChatGPT is and how to do it. 3) How to do complex spreadsheet operations with simple conversational prompts. 4) How to create visual spreadsheet data with simple prompts. 5) How to create executive summaries with simple prompts. 6) The potential pitfalls of using an AI tool. 7) How AI tools were just another stop on a technological timeline. Personally, I could not help but agree with Amanda's conclusion that working with AI tools was like chasing a moving target.

3. Cataloging

a. Introduction to Serials Cataloging Part I and Part II (June 5-6, 9:00-12:00 pm) by Steve Shadle of University of Washington Libraries (UWL). Two workshops provided the basic principles of original and copy cataloging of print serials with a focus on the elements contained in the RDA CONSER Standard Record (CSR). The specific goals were to understand the concept of continuing resources, identify serials and distinguish them from monographs and integrating resources, become familiar with MARC tags used for serials, creating original serials cataloging records, and how to identify appropriate serial copy ad needed edits.

Personally I felt deeply indebted to Shadle, head of Serials Cataloging at UWL, for his wealth of knowledge and experience. For the first time, I obtained a systematic training and reconfirmation from Dody's tutoring more than two decades ago.

b. You Want Me to Catalog What? Practical strategies for cataloging insensitive/offensive material (June 5, 1:30-2:30 pm) by Mandy Hurt, Serials Description Librarian and Coordinator at Duke University Libraries. As an experienced CONSER serials cataloger who worked extensively with special collections materials that deem sexually explicit, or offensive by hate groups such as Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi organizations, Mandy developed a healthy coping mechanism to protect herself, family and colleagues. One of the strategies was to catalog one item per day.

4. Workshops on BIBFRAME & Linked Data (June 6, 4:00-5:00 pm)

a. BIBFRAME at the Doorstep by Lisa McColl, manager, and Gregory Edwards, Metadata Services librarian at Lehigh Library. It showed how a mid-sized academic library defined the pros and cons of BIBFRAME adoption and its early stage of life. It provided a concrete vision of how it looked to catalog in BIBFRAME, and how MARC data could be cleaned to benefit our users and facilitate possible future conversion. 

b. Library Barbie and the Real World presented by Regina Romano Reynolds, director of U.S. ISSN Center at Library of Congress. It demonstrated our catalogs and discovery systems were in a closed or open environment. It also helped us to understand that MARC could be enhanced by linked data, with real-life examples of linked data's use in both MARC and non-MARC systems. Regina was a great presenter, reminding me of our Alverda.  

NASIG at Spokane, WA

This year, NASIG (North America Serials Interest Group) held its 39th annual conference at Grand Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington, from June 3 to 7. The conference coincided with the two months' local celebration of the 50th anniversary of 1974 World Expo, beginning from May 4 until July 4.

Expo '74 50th Celebration 

The city of Spokane, a county seat of Spokane County, is the second largest city after Seattle with a population of 539,339 according to the 2020 U.S. census. The tribe of Spokane, or "children of the sun," or "sun people," were the first human settlers in as early as 12,000 years ago. The native tribe lived on hunting bison and antelope, rooting forests, picking berries and nuts, and harvesting salmon. 

David Thompson (1770-1857) was the first European explorer to set up the fur-trading post called the Spokane House, with the native people on the Spokane River in Washington, operating from 1810 to 1820. Spokane County was established in January 29, 1858, annexed by Stevens County in 1864, but reestablished in October 1879. 

Spokane is a place where the past meets with the present. The Spokane Airport Davenport is compact, small but complete, which reminds one of a small Norwegian airport, as Paul has pointed out, even though a modernization project called Concourse C Expansion Project is to be unfolded soon. 

Upcoming Concourse C Expansion Project

The downtown is a mixture of old clock towers, church steeples, red bricked buildings and modern hotels and convention centers. Local residents seem happy and leisurely, although we do witness the homeless, and drug activities in the street and along the Riverfront. 

Spokane Waterfront

The local population consists largely of white and traditional, often with many youngsters in tow. At the local Costco, we saw many families having at least two to three kids. One family had seven kids, like a row of Russian dolls, all quiet and well-behaved sitting at the food court table. Their father was hardly older than 30 years old. The mother appeared a bit older, probably tired from her seemingly yearly child bearing. 

This is my third attendance of NASIG, with the first one in Fort Worth, Texas in 2014, and then in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2019. Unlike my usual disarrayed self, I was better the third time around.

An Evening with David Sedaris in Santa Cruz

After quickly finishing our dinner yesterday evening, Paul and I set off to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium to see David Sedaris at 7:30 pm. By the time we arrived, we saw big crowds and an endless queue in front of the auditorium. To our amazement, the fast-moving queue was by no means shortened but augmented by more ticket holders behind us. Once seated in our designated seats, we saw the auditorium all but empty. Where did the people ahead of us go? Before long our question was answered. Right before the opening time, the lobby became quieter but the auditorium was instantly filled up around, above and below us. Two sections of folding chairs down in the center were also filled.

To celebrate the closing night of Sedaris's national tour, the whole population of Santa Cruz seemed to show up for the evening event. After a lifetime of practice, David Sedaris has turned his book reading into an art of live performance. While flipping through a stack of cards from his articles, notebooks or diaries, he transported his audience effortlessly to his airport adventures, African safari with his open jeep surrounded by seven lionesses, literary festivals in Pakistan, small talk in the elevator of his tall luxury apartment building in New York City, and the most poignant of all, his loss or betrayal of friendship by his introduction of Pattie to Dan, a better-off childhood neighbor and friend in North Carolina.

While performing his art, Sedaris has managed to inserts his viewpoints on world politics, and society. His satires on fashionable cultural appropriation, and prevailing pronoun requirements were not lost on his audience, or his humor on foreign language learning programs, Doulingo vs. Pimsleur. His satirical view of dogs, particularly those "rescue" ones and their self-righteous owners, brought waves of laughter from the audience. Sedaris is a master to open our eyes to a world outside our mundane existence, by combining simplicity with complexity, writings with entertainment, and personal life with political and cultural commentaries. No wonder so many people in Santa Cruz came to be entertained by him this evening, including a large percentage of the elderly and sickly on walkers!

Reunion with Friends Near and Far

Paul finally reunited with Pearl and Manu Gennai of Switzerland on April 25, 2024 in Santa Cruz. The couple, along with their 6-year-old daughter, were his travel companions in Africa in 1981. They were all waiting then for their visas to go to Sudan. Forty-three years later, the itch of traveling took over. The couple had been on the road for months on another global trip, without the daughter who was long retired with her busy life.

The Gennais stayed at Robert and Deborah’s. It is there that we had our first reunion evening. It turned out that Pearl and Deborah Bone shared a mutual friend in Switzerland. It was quite a reunion for them too after over half a century. The host and hostess treated us to a wholesome family dinner that consisted of soup, salad and cheeses, and homemade bread. Afterwards we drank wine and champagne interlaced with chocolates. 

Paul, Pearl and Manu

Pearl and Manu 

Pearl and Manu told us about their work in the conception of smart city, their five daughters (one of whom has been transgendered to a son), and properties in Italy, and France on the border with Switzerland. Apparently they had made many wise choices in life, including their travel accommodations with residence exchange, a plan similar to, but better than timeshare with a more flexible time and geographical coverage around the world.

Manu, Pearl, Robert, Paul and Deborah 

Robert, Deborah, Paul, Manu and Pearl

Six of us resumed our gathering the following evening at our home. We had egg rolls and sushi as appetizers, and salmon steak as our main course. Drinks and conversations flowed smoothly. We learned in depth why Deborah was in Switzerland, how her nursing degree fit her family tradition with a doctor grandmother and a pacifist academia father (John Bone who wrote Negro novel in America). We were also confided to in detail about the daughter of Gennais, their much too abbreviated transgender process, and philosophy of cultural appropriation. On this topic, Deborah offered her view about the generation differences between the 1960s and today. The older generation tried to change society with their free love, while the new generation focused on changing themselves, in order to change society. We were also reminded of the sobering fact that United States is still the world leader. For this reason, it needs to make wise decisions for the world.

We departed around midnight and promised each other we would keep in touch. First, Manu and I should be connected on LinkedIn. Second, we would share with Robert our orchid bulbs. Third, we would venture out as much as we could. See you Pear and Manu, and see you in the Staff of Life, Deborah and Robert!

Seventeen Cotton Is Now an International Fashion Center 2

Shanghai No. 17 Cotton Textile Factory, or Seventeen Cotton for short, has been part of our family history. Two factory locations, the South Mill and North Mill, were separated by Yangshupu Road, a busy thoroughfare running east to west in the city of Shanghai. Seventeen Cotton was a major employer for several generations in our family. My paternal and maternal grandfathers both worked and retired from the North Mill, while my parents, my little aunt's husband, and cousin worked, retired, or prompted from the South Mill. My father's elder brother who used to work in the North Mill too was transferred in the 1950s to Xian, as part of the governmental efforts to foster and strengthen heavy and light industries in less developed provinces and cities.

Our experience with Seventeen Cotton is at once bitter and sweet. On the one hand, it provided us with an ample and stable income, for my grandparents were strong with their technical skills, and my parents were known for their managerial capabilities. On the other hand, it doggedly followed national trends in various ideological and political movements, to persecute and purge its employees, especially those middle managers. In the early 1950s, my maternal grandfather was forced to confess imaginary crimes, forcing the whole family to pull together their money, and gold and silver to pay back the requisite phantom bribery. When he was eventually proven innocent, the currency was returned, but not the precious gold that flowed directly into the government vault. The unfortunate incident became a bone of contention among family members, totally ruining his amicable relationship with his stepson's family. The grandfather did not fare better either in the 1960's when the Cultural Revolution started. As a section manager with certain executive power, he automatically became an "enemy of people". Relieved of all administrative duties, my grandfather was on long-term sick leave with reduced pay for more than a decade, until he reached the age of 60 when he could retire. Two years later, he had been diagnosed with late stage brain cancer, and passed away within six months.

Compared with my maternal grandfather who had joined a couple of affiliations of the Kuomingtang, due to his position at the North Mill, my parents had a relatively easier time, with their newly-minted careers in the 1950s. Like many promising young people then, they were duly educated and promoted through the evening school run by Seventeen Cotton and outside professional programs. Like my grandfather, their careers reached a stalemate in the mid-1960s, especially after the breakout of Cultural Revolution. They were thrown into all kinds of political currents, and labelled with diverse anti-revolutionary tags. Being a pupil of the elementary school attached to Seventeen Cotton, I had the chance of visiting and work practice in the same factory regularly, as part of curriculum requirements. At the beginning, I really enjoyed those extra curriculum activities. I loved the food in the factory dining hall. Different from our usual family meals, the factory food had a great variety and selection to choose from. I liked my work in #4 Weaving Workshop, where we paired ourselves with different workers. My supervisor was impressed with my swiftness and accuracy in joining yarns. During the break time, I would sneak out to visit my parents and watch them in real action. Once I saw my father supplying workers with heavy bags of cotton. I was shocked to see him in work clothing outside his office. On another occasion, I went to the #2 Weaving Section. As soon as I entered the insulated door, I was greeted with a familiar voice. My mother was holding a meeting attended by at least a few hundred people. She was so calm and eloquent that I felt an immediate pang of guilt, as if I had intruded on her personal and professional space.

My idyllic time at Seventeen Cotton did not last very long. In our fifth grade, we went to the South Mill as usual. The moment we queued to enter the gate, I saw big letters splashing on the ground in front of the factory administrative building on the left side. There were big-character posters hanging on the walls too. They were all specifically pointing to my mother, accusing her of being a spy, and loyal lackey of the Kuomingtang. I was blindsided with this sudden change of political wind. Meanwhile, it dawned on me that my life would never be the same again. Before long, some unobtrusive classmates became aggressive and would mock me at my parents' expense. I found myself apprehensive of those regular factory visits, dreading that those big letters and posters would reappear.

Seventeen Cotton Is Now an International Fashion Center 1

Last month, Brother Ying shared with my sister Hui and me a year-old article entitled 《曾经的’万人大厂’，蝶变为‘时尚地标’》(= "Once a 'Big Factory with Ten Thousand People', Metamorphosed into a 'Fashion Landmark'") . It was a story about how the Shanghai No. 17 Cotton Textile Factory had been morphed from the largest textile factory in the city of Shanghai into an international fashion center.

It was such an exciting article that I promptly shared it with my WeChat Group of Language Training Class. As usual, it sank like a dead rock into the deep sea. It dawned on me once again that such news was way too low-brow for my high-achieving classmates to patronize, especially as it was about Yangpu, one of the lower east-end districts in the city of Shanghai. Successful people should avoid such places like a plague.

Undeterred by the silence, we three siblings were heartily discussing what Shanghai No. 17 Textile Mill had meant to us and our family. In 1922, Nissho Corporation founded its first textile mill in Shanghai, the Nissho Yufeng Textile Co., Ltd., at No. 2866 Yangshupu Road, Yangpu District, along the bank of east Huangpu River. It was a prevailing business practice then in the textile industry to establish its factories in the east end of towns or cities, due to the flow of river from west to east. 

Since its founding in 1922, the Nissho Yufeng had undergone a series of ownership changes. After World War II in September 1945, it was taken over by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Kuomintang. The following year, it was controlled by China Textile Co. Ltd. under the new name of China Textile Corporation No. 17 Textile Factory. In 1949, the Shanghai Textile Industry Bureau took control and renamed it Shanghai No. 17 Cotton Textile Factory, or simply Seventeen Cotton. Unlike many other textile mills in Shanghai, Seventeen Cotton boasted the largest areas covering about 181 acres in two factory locations separated across each other by Yangshupu Road, one of the major traffic arteries from the east to the west of Shanghai. The two locations, known as South Mill, and North Mill were maned by more than ten thousand employees. 

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), it was one of the strongholds for the Shanghai Workers Revolutionary Rebels led by Hongwen Wang (1935-1992) one of the members of the Gang of Four. With China opening up after the1990s, the textile industry in Shanghai became increasingly irrelevant, and unsustainable as a state-owned enterprise. Owing to the stiff competition from less expensive and more mobile textile workshops or factories outside the city, a total of 37 textile mills were shut down one after another, and Seventeen Cotton was the last mill to close its doors, and moved to Dafeng, Jianshu Province in 2007.

From 2009 to 2013, the Shanghai Textile Group, a mere shadow of the former powerful Shanghai Textile Corporation, embarked on a makeover project for Seventeen Cotton, in order to revive it into a factory Shanghai would need, to keep up with global fashion trends, and to make Shanghai the sixth largest fashion city in the world, after New York, Paris, London, Milan and Tokyo. By 2013, the Shanghai International Fashion Center had officially been completed, with six self-contained parts, i.e., multi-functional show venue, reception club, creative office, boutique warehouse, apartment hotel and catering, and entertainment. 

Because of the original two-part layout of Seventeen Cotton, the Center has conveniently been divided into the South and North Districts. The former's immediate proximity to the Huangpu River is a great advantage with a unique river view, while the latter has been converted into apartments, offices and parking lots, and other catering and entertaining functions. The conversion is a source of pride for the locals and the government alike. The Center has earned a series of awards, such as the 2013 Excellent Unit of Shanghai Industrial Tourist Attraction Service Quality, 2015 National 4A Tourist Attraction, and 2017 Top Ten National Industrial Heritage Tourism Bases. 

Seventeen Cotton is the only surviving entity standing in the same address.

Visiting Pacific Meadows

Yesterday morning at around 11, Dody, Gail and I embarked on our long planned trip to Carmel to visit Arline and Sheila, our two retired colleagues. Our fourth companion, Diane, was unable to go with us, for she had just contracted COVID after her latest trip to Las Vegas with her daughter.

Despite a lack of the usual loquacious enthusiasm from Diane, and gloomy clouds hanging in the sky, we had a pleasant and safe journey with Dody at the helm. Once outside the county line, we immediately saw familiar stretches of green farmland. Luckily, this part of the world remains pretty much the same, immune from the frenzy of building more housing. 

An hour later, we arrived at a booth for allowing visitors to drive in, thinking that it must be our friends' place. Looking at the guard's puzzled look, I retrieved my low-battery phone to double-check the correct street number. As it turns out, our address should be #3515 Del Mesa Drive, whereas the place we stopped at was #500, which was designated for the Del Mesa Carmel Community Association. The friendly man told us that we needed to turn back and look for a facility called Pacific Meadows.

After another phone call and a minute of driving, we finally reached our destination, confirmed by the waving of Arline on her third-floor balcony. Once inside, we found ourselves sitting in a garden-like living room, overlooking a long range of emerald green mountains, not in the least bit inferior to Hitler's Berghof. Apparently, Monterey County has done extremely well with its low-income housing for senior citizens. Nearly half a dozen buildings flanked the magnificent Santa Lucia Range. It will not happen in Santa Cruz. Anything with a decent view of water or mountains will certainly be sold to the highest bidder.

It seems that Arline is thriving in such a community after less than two years. Having lived for decades in a land-free trailer on Swanton Road, Arline finally bought a house in a bullet-ridden neighborhood in Stockton, but sold it to follow her daughter to Florida. Once a new home was built from scratch in Port Charlotte, she returned to California, for the destructive hurricanes and divisive politics did not agree with her. Just as she was getting content in her mobile home in Ukiah, her number was called for the Pacific Meadows. Arline is one of the most single-minded friends I have had. Wherever she goes, she can always manage to cultivate a beautiful garden out of the wasteland. It was a truly comfort to see her finally settle down in a secure and affordable community, concentrating on her self-imposed duties to be creative, and to instruct her fellow residents how to play cards and games. 

After our lunch at Woody's in the aforesaid Del Mesa Carmel, we visited Sheila, Arline's former office-mate. It is Sheila that had introduced Arline to the facility. Even though they live in the same community, they hardly see each other. Unlike Arline who likes indoor activities, Sheila is an outdoor lady. In addition to being a docent for the Big Sur Lighthouse, she is a school guard for the local middle school. At the age of 82, she seldom stays in her home for long.

After vising our two friends, we decided to leave at 3:40 p.m., an hour earlier than planned, due to a shortage of parking spaces, which was one of the few issues in the Meadows. Three of us all felt happy and accomplished after the visit. 

Happy Birthday, Gene!

Last Friday evening, February 2, 2024, Paul and I were invited to join an 80th Birthday celebration for Gene, one of our oldest friends in Santa Cruz. The location was at Rosie McCann's Irish Pub & Restaurant on Pacific Avenue.

The celebration impressed us tremendously on multiple levels. First, the food was exceptionally abundant and delicious. It has been a while since we saw such a bounty. Second, Fran, our hostess, was generous and attentive, lavishing us with drink tokens and personal conversation, even though she had to keep an eye on her husband every second. Third, it was truly a reunion of family and friends. Thanks to Fran's organizational skills, the couple gathered together their two children, granddaughter, nephew, two sisters and one brother-in-law, along with lifelong friends from different circles, particularly the Philosophers Club, now semi-active since Gene's illness. The celebration was extraordinary considering Gene's present condition. 

Through Paul, I began to be acquainted with Gene and later Fran in 1989 when just coming to Santa Cruz for my graduate study. In those 35 years, Gene taught, became Dean of Electric Engineering Department, and recently retired from San Jose State University. He used to have an imposing physical presence, tall and robust, always with a ready twinkle in his eyes. He and Fran dated, married and soon had a daughter and son in a quick succession. 

During the same period, Paul and I were busy putting our life together, with the studio growth, graduations, coming of age, weddings and grandchildren. Gene and Fran have been our constant guests and supporters. Even during his fragile moments, Gene who had acted as one of his academic references asked about Nick in great detail, such as where he was working and what he was actually doing. 

Thirty-five years flew like a blink: newer generations have sprung up while the older ones have disappeared. The strong becomes weak whereas the young becomes strong and mature. With an album the hostess brought for the occasion, I saw many a friend gone forever from us. Meanwhile, I began to know a couple of new faces at the celebration, such as Nancy from Aptos and Laura, a former student of Gene's. No wonder, we stayed well past 9:00 pm when we were supposed to leave. It is the occasion for old and new friends to come together.

 

 

Adventure with Neal Stephenson

Neal Town Stephenson (1969-) is an American writer, famed for his speculative fiction. His range of genre forms has expanded from science fiction to historical fiction, cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk, and baroque.

Courtesy of Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle)

It is Neal's Baroque Cycle that has recently put us on a treacherous adventure that is best described as a typical comedy of errors. In August, 2023, a patron submitted to the library staff his purchase request for an audiobook entitled Quicksilver, because he "would like to see this title as audiobook, as he was not satisfied with the print or e-book." Since the author was unknown, the staff placed Dean Koontz as the author. As such an item happened to be in stock, the patron was duly supplied, but immediately returned for it was discovered as a wrong item by the wrong author. He "would like us to purchase either an eAudiobook or Audio CDs of Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver." To satisfy the patron's needs, both CD and digital editions were purchased.

Two months later in October, 2023, the same patron approached the library for the remaining two installments in volume one Quicksilver, for the acquired item was only the first book in the volume. In December, 2023, he somehow reverted to his earlier wish for digital format by asking for the eAudio version of volumes two and three, the Confusion, and the System of the World. His request had to be denied, for from the very beginning he had been advised that the series was unavailable on eAudio, due to the publisher's (Brilliance) prearrangement for not pursing digital format. Even though the first installment in volume one was in digital format, it was published by a different publisher. As a concession, the CD edition for both volumes was promptly purchased and delivered to the patron. In between times, a new error was detected, for the vendor overwrote the library call number specification, causing a potential inconsistency.

Little did we anticipate that a storm was waiting at the end of last month. On receiving a brand-new volume three on CD, the patron was thrown into a total rage, stating that first the Libby version of volume three was abridged, but didn't clearly say that it was abridged. He believed that it was deceptive to patrons and should be remedied. Second, the CD audiobook of the System of the World that we had newly acquired was actually only the final book in the volume, which included multiple books. The complaint that library and patron were cheated on audiobook came to me exactly at 4:57 pm on the eve of my vacation. To complete my work on hand for the day, I put it on pause for the time being.

Once home, I checked first our online reference tool, NoveList. It stated clearly three volumes,

• 1.
  Quicksilver (Oct 2003)By: Stephenson, Neal
• 2.
  The confusion (Apr 2004)By: Stephenson, Neal
• 3.
  The system of the world (Oct 2004)By: Stephenson, Neal

I doublechecked also our vendor's site that listed seven titles in the Baroque Cycle, without offering any volume information, or interrelationships. Every listed title was Part of the Baroque Cycle series.

To alleviate the pain of being cheated endured by the patron, I turned again to Wikipedia that summarized most succinctly, 

• Quicksilver, Vol. I of the Baroque Cycle 
  • Book 1 – Quicksilver
  • Book 2 – King of the Vagabonds
  • Book 3 – Odalisque
• The Confusion, Vol. II of the Baroque Cycle  
  • Book 4 – Bonanza
  • Book 5 – The Juncto
• The System of the World, Vol. III of the Baroque Cycle  
  • Book 6 – Solomon's Gold
  • Book 7 – Currency
  • Book 8 – The System of the World

For some mysterious reason, the breakdown into eight books is only relevant to audiobooks, not print books. Similarly unlike other volumes, the second volume does not have a customary volume title, but a combination of books 4 and 5. As it turns out, information on these unique characteristics is preciously sparse. It is up to users to work everything out in the dark, which may be the part of the fun the author injects into us readers and libraries alike. No wonder, the patron in question was joyful for the first time,

    "First I’ll joyfully make clear that recently the scpl acquired the complete audio CD set of the complete 2nd novel   of the Baroque Cycle trilogy, The Confusion, (comprised of Book 4 and 5 of the series, unabridged on 29 CDs),   which I checked out today and am excited to get started on …"