[MB McCart] - The $$$ of the #COV: City of Covington Financials, 1st Report

|||||||

City of Covington, GA, USA

The City of Covington, GA, with approx 15,000 residents, is a self-described "full service city" that has multiple revenue streams & expenditures while providing electricity, gas, water, sanitation services, along with the traditional roles of police protection, public works & municipal court, amongst others. It's been thought by many over the years that the city's spending is too high & not efficient enough. Those will be questions for a future time. For now, in this first report, we're just going to be looking at the basics. So here we go... 

For fiscal year (FY) 2017 the city had a total of $11.9 million in regular revenues vs. expenditures of approx. $23.1 million. So, technically a deficit of over $11 million! But that's not the full story. Remember that we are a "full service city" & that there are revenues coming in from those other streams. So for FY 2017, over $10 million was transferred from the city's utilities' funds which meant that the city ended up with an actual budget deficit of right at $1 million. 

For the current budget, the revenue for the regular, "General Fund" budget is set to increase to $14 million, so a pretty substantial increase there (right at $2 million). But you have to remember that an amount likely in excess of $11 million will be transferred from other funds, namely electric & gas, that will bump the total revenue amount to approx. $26 million. So, for those keeping score, an approx. $3 million dollar increase corresponding to a 13% growth of government. That seems extremely high...

And this is where things can get a little complicated. A lot of times one is dealing with apples & oranges comparisons & you have to do some figuring & computing to try to get things truly figured out. And while the public "Financial Report" shows an expenditure number of around $23 million, you might see another number that maybe has all the payroll expenses of all revenue streams (utilities included) that will be much higher. 

|||||||

- LOCAL ADVERTISER -

Tom's Auto Service

When you take your vehicle to Tom's Auto Service,
you have a DIRECT LINE OF CONTACT with the
mechanic! Tom will be the one working on your vehicle
& Tom will be the one you're speaking with. As Tom
has said, this is key, especially when it comes to
troubleshooting difficult issues. 

Bring your car to Tom's today! Call:

770.317.7935

Tom's Auto Service | 9191c Hwy 278 Covington, GA 30014

- Local advertisers do not neccesarily support or endorse opinions of TPC or MBM -

|||||||

Or, you may see the full, total figure of everything that will show you this for revenues & expenditures:

FY 2018:

REVENUES: $132,046,207
EXPENDITURES: $131,632,850

OMG, some folks might be saying. Or maybe - WTH?

Well, remember, this is the full, big, "everything" number. This is including all revenues & expenses from electricity, gas, water & a few other revenue streams. But, it doesn't change the fact that Covington, a city with 14,000 residents (per latest official census numbers) has a overall budget more than twice as big as Newton County's with over 100,000 residents. So, we are talking BIG money here.

Let's delve into just a few specific numbers:

- Total salaries, wages & benefits paid for all Covington employees in 2017/2018: $31.14 million 
     - that's an increase of right at $2 million over the previous year
     - or a growth rate of almost 7%

- Various revenue streams from the latest available data:

     - Property Taxes: $4.9 million

     - Share of Sales Tax: $2 million

     - Licenses & Permits (including occupational tax): $243,283

     - Fines & Forfeitures: $441,643


Interesting...

What would really be interesting is seeing the numbers in the Stormwater Utility enterprise fund. That's coming.

And getting into the numbers of the utilities. Also coming.

Thanks for reading. Until next time. 

- MB McCart

The Piedmont Chronicles

Your Source for the REAL Story

[Perrin Lovett] - TPC On The Road: A Christmas Tradition?

The Vispoli family, Todd, Claire, Ruthie, Bryson, and Lizzie, make their way into the great American Northeast for Christmas. A day out of Anytown finds them departing the Comfort Inn of the Pocono Lakes Region in Pennsylvania. Their ALL NEW Mazda CX-9 SUV (WITH 3rd Row!) hits I-84 just after breakfast, as wet, early morning snow begins to tinkle on the windshield. Let’s listen in on the festive holiday jaunt conversation:

The deft i-ACTIV® all-wheel-drive crunched through the new-fallen icy snow as Twin Rocks Road and the Poconos Inn disappeared behind. Todd Vispoli gripped the toasty comfort of the leather-wrapped, heated steering wheel and smiled. ‘Lordy, I’m glad we went with the Signature!’ Todd beamed.

‘Yes,’ smiled Claire, ‘I enjoy the auto dimming rearview mirror with Homelink® and the kids just love the 38.5 inches of rear headroom.’

TODAY’S C.F. Floyd “National Affairs” Feature is proudly brought to you by Mazda and the All New! 2019 Mazda CX-9 Signature!

Mazda. Automotive excellence, made by Japanese Elves, now available in America.

‘Lizzie’s already asleep,’ piped in Ruthie, herself sleepy and nodding as she looked at her baby sister, tucked snuggly into a car seat on the second row.

‘She’s had a hard morning,’ Todd answered, ‘I, myself, am ready to pass out from those do-it-yourself waffles.’

‘Don’t pass out, dear,’ Claire said, half in a daze, ‘It’s four hours to Mass.’

Eight A.M. and the family was on the freeway, heading North, with less than an hour of Pennsylvania roads left to travel. Coffee-fueled and ready for anything not work-related, Todd and Claire man the front buckets. Little Ruthie, seven-years-old, and tiny Lizzie, barely one, hold the middle. From the rear, with the gear, nary a sound comes from ten-year-old Bryson. Fortnite suffers no idle chit chat.

Second down and goal to go! The Sunday morning before Christmas was a fine, if cold, time.

‘Can we listen to “Dominick the Donkey?”’ asked Ruthie.

‘Not again,’ Claire replied, ‘Ten times was enough last night. And, WODS will be playing it twice an hour - unless they’ve switched to some listless contemporary lineup - which would JUST BE STUPID.’

‘Say,’ added Todd, ‘How ‘bout a little Dandy and the Bass Slayers? They’ve got the best Christmas album. From ninety-seven? Maybe ninety-nine?’

‘Honey,’ Claire sighed, ‘Nobody wants to hear that tired, redneck, Bluegrass-pop vulgarity again. Let them go.’

‘But, they were the last feature in Marshall’s Music Minute!’ Todd boasted. ‘Marshall only picks the coolest, hippest tunes. I think they played Covington last week.’

Claire looked disgusted. ‘It’s been a year now. More than a year. Oxford is behind us. Being the chair of economics at Anytown U means something. Rehashing you and your buddy’s drunken hillbilly music fest doesn’t. And that’s not REAL Christmas music, anyway.’

‘MAAAAAN! My shotgun!’ screamed Bryson, alarmed at some digital development. His eyes never left the iPhone screen for a second.

‘Huh, what?’ murmured Todd as he visually surveyed a mile-marker through the swirling snow - number 22… ‘Okay. Alright. Let’s… Bryson. Bryson? You okay? … Okay, let’s just listen to the rest of the TPC podcast!’ Todd’s finger twitched over the infotainment flat panel.

‘Yeeeeah. About that.’ Claire said, her eyes rolling as white woodlands flew by the window. ‘Last night old M.B. was in a tizzy over the Newton County Board scheme to tax Christmas trees!’ “Exclusive! A week out from Christmas and the local gestapo goes full Grinch!”’ she added in a feigned gravelly voice - ‘Aaaand … “Let’s GO DAWGS!”’

‘We were only in Covington for three years, babe. We don’t need to be concerned about local Piedmont struggles now. Shoot. There’s too much local anywhere. Anytown even! Five the Hive is still going on about the school peanut thing.’

‘Another reason to homeschool, dear,’ said Todd. An odd silence followed, broken by:

‘Hey!’ said Todd, excitedly. ‘I think Da is talking about peanuts this time!’

‘Yes,’ Claire added with clear irritation. ‘He’s concerned about the spelling of “P-nut,” a capital “P” and “nut” as improper grammar. Whoopee…’

Sweet Ruthie, thumbing aimlessly through some volume of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, suddenly looked up. ‘Let’s hear what Miss Bess has to say about Christmas! I love Miss Bess because she loves kids like me!’

‘Darling, sweetie,’ said Claire, her eyes on a passing insurance billboard, ‘we all want to know what happened to “The Greatest Inflatable Snowman.” How did thirty-three kids make it without one for soooo long? But, hey!, Aunt Patty texted me a few days ago. They have one of those big, old, giant, inflated snow globes out in front of their new house. We’ll see it this afternoon.’

‘Patty, Patty, Whoop-Whoop has a new house?’ asked Ruthie.

‘Yep,’ answered mommy, ‘They moved to Bolton this summer.’

‘What’s Bolton?’ Ruthie asked.

‘Bolton is a town West of Bean-town. Out somewhere near Foxborough. You know, where the Pats play?’ Todd explained, his gaze upon a passing fish market truck.

An awkward, silent mile passed in a flash. “Port Jervis, 10 Miles,” a big green sign announced.

‘The snow is starting to get thinner, lighter,’ said Todd, ‘It’s gonna be nice in Bolton tonight. Maybe a white Christmas?!’ A moment’s pause and he added, ‘Speaking of fish (the truck remembered), M.B. promised Kayla would cover the Porterdale Festive Friday Fish Fry in this week’s Corner. Kayla, anyone?’

Claire shifted in her heated leather seat. “Oh, yeah. We all know why you like Kayla, Todd.’

‘What?’ Todd inquired faux innocently and, in truth, somewhat alarmedly, turning a slight shade of red. “What’s the matter? I like the Corner.’

Claire reached over and patted Todd’s knee. ‘We know you like the curver … the corner, Todd. We know why.’

‘Got me, babe,’ Todd smirked. ‘Okay, then there’s Perrin…’

‘Mr. Lovett is scary!’ squeaked Ruthie.

“Sssssigah!’ snorted Lizzie, seemingly wide-awake.

‘For God’s sake, Todd!’ Claire exclaimed, clearly alarmed at the prospect. ‘Last week, crazy man was trying to arm children with AK-47’s to fight off animatronic Christmas lawn characters! “We can beat the Satanic Globalists, one lawn at a time!” he said. “Eff the Elf Vampires,” he said. I think he may be serious. And, he’s seriously deranged.’ Claire wasn’t the biggest fan of TPC’s take on “National Affairs.”

A few more miles slid by as a Winter wonderland unfolded along the highway.

‘The Hudson, Waterbury, Hartford, and we’ll practically be there,’ Todd noted, regaining his composure. “I wonder if Santa knows where Bolton is?’

‘Mr. Lovett says Santa Claus was the creation of Trotskyites on Madison Avenue back in the ‘20s,’ said Claire, letting the disdain flow. ‘“Nothing a bomb won’t cure,” he says, “2033, tick, tick.”’

‘Well….,’ fumbled Todd, ‘Fred might have some insights…’

‘I’ll take Tucker Carlson, if I want the GOP perspective,’ quipped Claire.

“Mmm, hmmm,’ added Todd, ‘I have Kayla. You have Tucker C.’ A smile slowly extended across his face as Claire’s complexion reddened just a hint.

‘Got me,’ Claire giggled. One moment and a hundred snowflakes passed. ‘Kids. What do you want to hear?’

‘Dominick!’ said Ruthie with glee.

‘Baa-baa,’ chirped little Lizzie.

‘Darn it, man! Devastator, I hate you!’ bellowed Bryson in the back.

“Okay, gang,’ said Todd with a cheery smile, ‘Let’s see what Sirius has to offer.’ He nudged the touch panel into action.

The Bose® surround sound system roared to life: ♭ a golden Waitresses oldie beckoned ♭:

Then suddenly we laughed and laughed
Caught on to what was happening
That Christmas magic's brought this tale
To a very happy ending…

♭♮♭♭♭♭

Merry Christmas, merry Christmas
Couldn't miss this one this year
Merry Christmas, merry Christmas
Couldn't miss this one this year
Merry Christmas, merry Christmas
Couldn't miss this one this year ....

The CX rolled on. The snow came down. Another Christmas break headed towards history. Another swipe at “fiction” passes. So it goes.

Merry Christmas, to one and all this Season! The Affairs National will resume next week. (Your kids should be armed. Killer holiday bots are everywhere).

Pic by PennDOT/LehighValleyLive.

Perrin Lovett

The Piedmont Chronicles - Your Source for the
REAL Story! 

[MB McCart] - Common Sense Prevails: The Anderson Avenue Gazebo WILL Stay

Covington Board of Adjustments & Appeals (BOAA) votes unanimously to approve variance

*edited, 3:07PM, 12/19/18

For many who've lived in Covington for the last few decades, the memories are vivid & clear. The old Walker Harris property on Floyd St. The small pond & the cute, little gazebo. Those memories are especially strong this time of the year when folks remember all the Christmas lights & the lit-up Santa, sometimes on a boat, but sometimes in the gazebo itself.

Over the years that piece of property has changed hands a couple of times & eventually the gazebo, now currently pushing 50 years old, fell into a bad state of disrepair. In 2016 when it changed hands again, the owners of the property were planning to demolish it. When local couple, Carla Ferry & Ray Lustenberger, caught wind of this, they both wanted to do something about it. Having both grown up in Covington, they had a sentimental attachment to it.

The Historic Walker & Cora Harris Gazebo* at the Corner of Anderson & Thompson
 Downtown Covington, GA 

So in the Summer of 2016 they moved the gazebo a few hundred feet down to the house they'd just purchased at the corner of Anderson & Thompson. They were pleasantly surprised that it survived the move. That's how in rough shape it was. Once they got it moved, they rehabbed it & shored it up. Also during this time, they'd been working tirelessly to clean up the grounds of this property that had basically been going back to nature for the better part of a decade. Those familiar with this area in the heart of Covington know what I'm talking about. A few years ago you just figured this property was going to get condemned. The work they've done on it is remarkable.

So, all is well. This gazebo becomes a focal point of the neighborhood. People drive by just to look at it, basking in its memories. A couple of years pass by & then apparently the city gets a complaint from someone. Apparently, where Carla & Ray placed the gazebo was not in line with the ordinances of Covington. And remember, this is almost 2 & 1/2 years AFTER they moved it. Making it more complicated is that this part of Covington, like the rest of downtown Covington & the Floyd St & Conyers St. corridors, is part of the Covington Historic District, which puts it under the purview of the Covington Historic Planning Commission. A little known fact is that any property in this part of Covington is basically like being in a neighborhood with an association, bound by covenants & restrictions, but times ten. After all, this is the government we're talking about. Due to a 1980 state law, any municipality can designate a historic district & then have this police power over any & all properties in the district, which Covington did in the late 1990's. 

So the letter went out, Carla & Ray were in VIOLATION of Section 16 of the Covington, GA Code of Ordinances, and ultimately the city was requiring this gazebo to be removed (or moved to the backyard, which wouldn't have worked due to the grade of the back lot). But there were serious concerns that the gazebo wouldn't be able to survive a move of any sort. Also, there were questions as to if its status as an "accessory structure" was even legitimate or proper.  

|||||||

- LOCAL ADVERTISER -

Tom's Auto Service

When you take your vehicle to Tom's Auto Service,
you have a DIRECT LINE OF CONTACT with the
mechanic! Tom will be the one working on your vehicle
& Tom will be the one you're speaking with. As Tom
has said, this is key, especially when it comes to
troubleshooting difficult issues. 

Bring your car to Tom's today! Call:

770.317.7935

Tom's Auto Service | 9191c Hwy 278 Covington, GA 30014

- Local advertisers do not neccesarily support or endorse opinions of TPC or MBM -

|||||||

And perhaps this is were things possibly got a little sideways. I've compiled a pretty thick folder's worth of information, documentation & correspondence on this thing & it does seem as if there were some questionable things & activities on the city's side. More than anything, I think there was a communication breakdown early on, and that eventually lead to a tussle of sorts. And here is where opinions may vary depending upon one's perspective. Did the city engage in selective enforcement? Did they dig in their heels a bit? Did a nosy neighbor ultimately cause all of this? And then on the other side, did these homeowners go into crusade mode? Were they, as one person with the city I spoke with off the record thought, looking for a fight?

Again, your mileage will vary depending on where your vantage point is, but I'll certainly say this - I think both Carla & Ray are two fine people, and I've very much enjoyed getting to know them. And, for the sake of the gazebo, this fight had to be fought. I was told by a city employee that they were serious about this thing & that they didn't want to create a slippery slope. So, while some may say the process worked as it should, and I agree with that sentiment, it was not a foregone conclusion that all would end well...

And that's where the BOAA, the Covington Board of Adjustments & Appeals, comes in. They ensured that it did indeed end well, and for that - we should all be thankful. Yesterday, the 18th, at their quarterly meeting, the board - Fred Harwell, Liz Pope, Ms. A - Lee Aldridge & Sid Haggard - voted unanimously for common sense & maintaining a piece of Covington's history. Also in attendance were approx 20 supporters of the gazebo, this writer included. A round of applause filled the room after the Board's vote as folks took turns to hug Carla & shake Ray's hand. It was a win. A win for history. A win for good government & common sense. A win for Covington.

As always, thanks for reading. We'll see you next time.

*edited to be listed as the "Walker & Cora Harris Gazebo" as a family member made me aware that it was truly Ms. Cora's passion. 
- MB McCart

The Piedmont Chronicles

Your Source for the REAL Story

[Bess Tuggle] - Memoirs of Surviving Children: the Non-Joys of Christmas Shopping

Shopping.  If there’s such a thing as Hell on Earth, that would be mine.  I HATE shopping!  Don’t make me go to the store!!!

I learned this aversion to shopping young.  My aunt is my first, worst, shopping influence.  She can go into a dozen stores, pick stuff out, and decide not to buy anything.  It took HOURS of shopping with nothing to show for it.  Then we had to get through her buying clothes, deciding she didn’t like them, and take them back.  Yes, take them back, after trying on everything before we ever left the store.

The grocery store is the place where I “Power Shop.”  I know where everything is at.  I can walk in, grab a cart or basket and not think twice about what I’m throwing in.  With my list in hand, I don’t slow down.  Off the shelf, into the cart it goes and out of the store I go.  I don’t think my best friend will ever grocery shop with me again, and I do believe my husband prefers to grocery shop on his own.  He will stop, peruse the sale papers, and shop accordingly.  I just want to get OUT!

|||||||

This Edition of Bess Tuggle's "Memoirs of Surviving Children" Brought to you by... 

Tom's Auto Service

When you take your vehicle to Tom's Auto Service,
you have a DIRECT LINE OF CONTACT with the
mechanic! Tom will be the one working on your vehicle
& Tom will be the one you're speaking with. As Tom
has said, this is key, especially when it comes to
troubleshooting difficult issues. 

Bring your car to Tom's today! Call:
770.317.7935

|||||||

Then we have shopping with my grandmother.  This is pure torture.

We get to the store and she asks “What do you want?” or “What would you like?”  I usually don’t want a whole lot of anything.  Therein lays the problem.  She will drag me through the entire store until I pick –something-.  I end up getting something, not because I want it or like it, but because I just want to get out of the store!

The next argument with my grandmother is at the cash register.  I want to pay.  She won’t let me.  I’m younger, though.  I can swipe a card before she can dig cash out of her wallet.  It doesn’t get me any brownie points, but sometimes the scowl on her face is worth it.  I GOT one!

Shopping with my boys’ was a whole different story.  

They learned young not to beg for anything.  My first answer would be “No!”  The grandchildren have learned that lesson, too.  But if you don’t beg, I’m a sucker – I’ll get it.

The boys learned how to tag-team me.  We’d go to the store, list in hand.  I was asked frequently, marching across the parking lot, “Are they all yours?”  No, Sherlock.  I pick up stray kids for grins and giggles.

Into the store we’d go, I’d shop by my list and check out.  This is before the days of self-checkout stations.  I wish they were there 20 years ago.

We’d get home and it was the boys’ job to bring the groceries in.  They learned to grab the broom, load the grocery bags on the handle and bring them all into the house in a single trip.

They brought the groceries in, and I put them up.  That’s when I found out what they threw in the buggy when I wasn’t looking.  I was too busy keeping up with little hands to see what was being checked out.  It was an insidious plan.  Two or three would get my attention, the other brothers would plant things in the buggy that they –knew- I wouldn’t buy, given the option.  

I love Amazon.Com and Cyber Monday.  Spare me the pain of shopping and just deliver it to my door.

  We’re about to brave the stores to finish up Christmas shopping.  

Heaven help me.   

Bess

Bess Tuggle

Marshall's Music Minute: Chris, Jon & Scott @ Five O'Clock; Big Weekend at Porterdale Bar & Grill

Welcome back, music lovers, and let's get the 411 on who's playing where & when.

Local music superstars & TPC faves Chris, Jon & Scott will be playing at TPC fave Five O'Clock Bar & Grill (recent winners of CBS46's Golden Spatula Award) Friday night, the 14th, at 9PM. 

CJ&S!

Expect nothing short of musical nirvana as this marvelous trio does that voodoo that only they can do! It's remarkable the sound that just the three of them can create & how they can hop from genre to genre. It really is something. 

Always a big night at The 5!

And Saturday night at The Five will see the return of Whiskey Run, a band that always puts on a killer show with their mix of newer & classic country, Class Rock & 90's Rock. 

Friday Night Live Music @ Amici

Also on Friday the 14th, KayWow & LB will be at Amici Covington! 

Porterdale Bar & Grill has their usual double-music weekend. The highly heralded Duke Brothers on Friday night & Dani Mac & Co. on Saturday!

And don't forget about the other musical spots around town: Good Fellas in Social Circle, The River Tavern in Porterdale, the Mystic Grill in C-town, et al.

Enjoy the tunes, friends! See you next time. 

- MBM 

[Perrin Lovett] - A Book Review of Tolkien's "The Fall of Gondolin"

A story a century in the making. A book published 45 years after the author’s death. The latest in a long line of best selling works. Earlier this year came the “completed” master legend of the last days of Turgon’s hidden kingdom. Here follows my account of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Gondolin, the good, the great, and the quirky.

But, first, a few notes on how to read Tolkien, especially this tome. A virgin perusal is possible, provided the reader is possessed of what passed for, say, an eighth-grade education, circa 1960. (What that translates to, today, I do not know, though I suspect it leans towards the graduate level). While I’m about to highly recommend the book, I do not recommend it as an initial foray into Arda (the physical World of the Legendarium). Hence,

Start with The Hobbit. Read it at least twice. Then, read The Lord of the Rings (“LOTR”) - cover to cover - to include the important Appendixes. Read LOTR again. Next, read The Hobbit and LOTR, back to back. Then, read The Silmarillion - thrice. The initial criticism of Christopher Tolkien’s editing work will be manifestly obvious and seemingly justified during the initial and subsequent reading. What he painstakingly assembled immediately following his father’s passing at first looks like a neverending cobbling of names, places, dates, and more names. The basis for concern melts with the third reading as a thing of pure majesty presents itself. Somewhere around the twelfth consideration, the work takes on a pleasure all its own as the now academic reader skillfully seeks out well-known favorite passages.

Read The Hobbit, LOTR, and The Silmarillion in succession. Then, and only then, one may (and should) move into The Lost Tales, Unfinished Tales, the various volumes of The History of Middle Earth and other, associated works. Somewhere, during this time, a gander at the various explanatory Letters Tolkien sent is advisable.

Nearing finality in this educational process, one approaches The Children of Hurin, Tolkien’s grand tragedy to rival (I say “to best”) anything by Sophocles. Released in 2007, Hurin fully completes the tale glimpsed in some of the above works, a good novella stretched into a great novel. Hurin also set the stage for the first of two “disappointments” in the saga.

Last year we were treated to the full-length version of that base tale of eternal romance, Beren and Luthien. I say “disappointment” only because, unlike Hurin, Beren is not a completed telling. Rather, it is a “how the story was crafted over many decades” book, literally tracing the development, draft by draft, from WWI until near the time of Tolkien’s death. It’s fascinating, but what you get in the end is essentially the final product recorded in The Silmarillion 40 years earlier. Still, fans, we take what we can get, right?

So it is with The Fall of Gondolin. This is not an end-to-end expose of, perhaps, the most dramatic, action-packed legend in all the annals. But, it does, in primitive and rather disjointed format, link everything together. And, it’s all awesome.

Here, I pause to credit the masterful dedication of Christopher T. in revising, editing, and publishing so much we would otherwise miss. He says, and I believe him, that this is his finale. Then again, he hinted as much when Beren hit the shelves. If this is his end, the end of 70+ year tenure as vice-regent of Middle Earth, so to speak, he’s more than earned the retirement (and all the honor and gratitude we can heap on him). Thank you, Sir!

It occurs to me that more stories lurk in that vast archive housed, in all places, at Marquette University. Something tells me another generation or other appointed editor is already sifting through it. With any luck, a hundred years after people have forgotten the tedious Crowleyisms of Rowling’s inexplicably popular rubbish, they’ll still look forward to something new from the master of the Anglo-Saxon, our Literary Professor Emeritus.

Now - and, thank you for bearing with the preface - on with the book:

I have, here, no real Easter eggs. As I warned, The Fall is not really for the uninitiated, the faint of heart, nor the post-literate. I warped through it, the first time, in about an hour. This is due to: my pre-existing knowledge of the story; my understanding of Christopher’s editing style; the prior reading of Beren; some excellent outside reviews, and; the terrific, easy, and user-friendly layout of the Kindle version.

By the way,

BUY THE FALL OF GONDOLIN

Picture courtesy of Amazon, Tolkien, Tolkien, and Lee!

The first hint the casual reader may discover, of the grandeur of Gondolin, is in The Hobbit. This was the fabled city from whence came the blades of Gandalf and Thorin, originally made for the Goblin Wars. Therein, encircled and protected by near-impenetrable mountains, reigned Turgon, upon a time High King of the Noldorin Elves.

Of Tuor and His Coming Into Gondolin, we know from the Unfinished Tales. Orphaned Tuor, tallest of mortal Men, found the unlikely favor of Ulmo (Poseidon), Lord of Waters. He came to Gondolin following adventures wet and cold. There, he found the favor of the King and the love of his daughter, Idril. Theirs was one of a mere handful of mixed marriages and breedings (of Men and Elves), the progeny thereof being Earendil, future father of Elrond and Elros.

One of the most idiotic of all criticisms limply cast at Tolkien is his alleged forsaking of romance and of strong women. Forgetting, if it’s possible, Eowyn, Arwen, Galadriel, Gilraen, Morwen, Nienor, Luthien, Rose Cotton, “Gimli’s women,” Lobelia, Melian, Varda, Yavanna, and the literally scorching-hot Arien, Idril holds her own against both counts of libel. Her enduring love of Tuor and her unrelenting bravery in the defense of her people and her child suffice. When violently assailed by her wayward and lusting cousin, we learn she fought “like a tigress.” And, her plan was the contingency that saved the remnant, quite possibly preventing the First Age from ending prematurely and with total victory for Morgoth (Lucifer). Tolkien didn’t write weak women. Nor did he write weak fiction.

Not weak, but, as edited by necessity, confusing - hence my approach advice in the delving. The last telling of Tuor’s arrival, essentially that of Unfinished, comes towards the end of this book. A link is provided (in Kindle), instantly redirecting the reader back to near the beginning and the actual Fall of the most beautiful city of Beleriand.

In studying this demise it is helpful to know, in advance, something of how the peoples and the histories converged toward finality, of who made the cut and who didn’t, who became whom, and so forth. The Gnomes, for instance, were working placeholders; the “men” of the Gondolidrim are, in fact, Elves - Tuor being the only actual Man in the Kingdom at the time (though not in history). A healthy peremptory education prevents getting lost in an otherwise incomprehensible tangle of names, races, titles, and descriptions. But, once one has it - whoa!

Now comes the action, more action, and then, some more riveting action. Imagine, those of you of mere LOTR acquaintance, Minas Tirith falling, in spectacular fashion, during Sauron’s assault during The Return of the King. Imagine the peak valor and feats of heroism of that work, augmented and repeated side-by-side over and over again.

In The Fall we learn a bit more about Morgoth’s creation of the dragons, the slithering and winged. We also find out that Balrogs can be slain without the accompanying death of the slayer. Glorfindel (sorry Peter Jackson victims) finds and ends his “buddy” up on the mountainside. Ecthelion takes out three demons in rapid succession, only meeting his end killing the fourth - Gothmog, no less. Tuor slays five and grievously wounds a dragon and does so mostly unscathed.

Towers fall. Wolves run. Eagles fly. Snakes crawl. Evil wins the glorious day (night, rather) only to set up its eventual defeat at the hands of the temporarily vanquished. It’s a wild, violent, noble ride worthy of any acclaim ever aimed at the creation of Eru Iluvatar.

So… Five Stars. Highly recommended. Applause. Buy it today, read it when you’re ready.

And, another hardy thank you to Christopher Tolkien, illustrator Alan Lee, and, especially, to our most prolific Survivor of The Somme, Sir John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Excellence mirroanwe!

THE Legend. Picture from Biography Online.

Perrin Lovett

The Piedmont Chronicles - Your Source for the
REAL Story!