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CNN Live Today
Interview With Edward Bleier
Aired November 26, 2003 - 11:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There is more to Thanksgiving than food and football. Really, there is. It's one of the few holidays that draws Americans regardless of religion or ethnicity, it draws them together. The new book, "The Thanksgiving Ceremony," looks at the history of this holiday and offers a brief reading that may make your meal more special. Edward Bleier is the author. He joins us live now from New York. Good morning.
EDWARD BLEIER, "THE THANKSGIVING CEREMONY": Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Why did you feel a need to write this book?
BLEIER: Because I felt that the Thanksgiving holiday was just lovely but it was food and football or the parade and that we forgotten the meaning of the country and the holiday.
COSTELLO: We all sort of know the history, don't we?
BLEIER: I think mainly we know it from the wrong perspective. Mainly it's a varnished history of what happened. But the ceremony goes beyond the history. It goes into how the country has finally realized its melting pot aspect, how we have racial and religious tolerance and multi ethnicity and cross culturalism and a lot wonderful things that make the country which it is today which it wasn't 400 or 200 or even 100 years ago.
COSTELLO: You are suggesting a 20-minute ceremony before the big meal. For some it's hard to pause to say grace. Do you people are actually going to sit down?
BLEIER: Well I think there's a time when the turkey should come out of the oven and be sitting any way. And part of the ceremony is the passing of the fruit bowl representing the harvest (UNINTELLIGIBLE) thirst and huger there is.
I think people should make time. I think there should be a time when everybody in the country is more or less on the same page rededicating ourselves to what this country is about. And it's a pretty special country.
COSTELLO: So some suggestions from you on what we might say.
BLEIER: The formal ceremony is 20 or 25 minutes. It involves a history, it involves sayings, it involves classic poetry or Lincoln's proclamation and Martin Luther King's speech. And then there are 40- odd pages of our favorite hymns or poems or songs, so that people can add to it or enhance the meal or use it instead of the formal ceremony. But I think it's -- and a personal grace of course.
But I think the idea is a rededication of who we are, and what combines us, what consolidates everybody in their love of the country, not what separates us.
COSTELLO: You are so passionate about this.
BLEIER: I'm very passionate. I'm a first generation son of immigrants who worked hard to give me the opportunity. And I think too many meshes, younger than I, have taken it for granted. I would like to see everyone on the same page at least 20 minutes a year.
COSTELLO: You know, we are looking at these pictures beside you now. And the nice thing about Thanksgiving, a lot of people donate their time to feed the homeless on this particular holiday. That's a good thing, right?
BLEIER: It's a wonderful thing. And I wish we had time to get the books to homeless shelters and indeed to our troops overseas.
There's a lot of ceremony in Thanksgiving, but it's so far dedicated to food and parades, and no words. And I wanted to put words to it. That's a simple thing.
COSTELLO: All right.
BLEIER: And make it a simple table-sized book that will last forever.
COSTELLO: The book is called "The Thanksgiving Ceremony." Edward Bleier, many thanks for joining us.
BLEIER: Thank you, Carol.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 26, 2003 - 11:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There is more to Thanksgiving than food and football. Really, there is. It's one of the few holidays that draws Americans regardless of religion or ethnicity, it draws them together. The new book, "The Thanksgiving Ceremony," looks at the history of this holiday and offers a brief reading that may make your meal more special. Edward Bleier is the author. He joins us live now from New York. Good morning.
EDWARD BLEIER, "THE THANKSGIVING CEREMONY": Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Why did you feel a need to write this book?
BLEIER: Because I felt that the Thanksgiving holiday was just lovely but it was food and football or the parade and that we forgotten the meaning of the country and the holiday.
COSTELLO: We all sort of know the history, don't we?
BLEIER: I think mainly we know it from the wrong perspective. Mainly it's a varnished history of what happened. But the ceremony goes beyond the history. It goes into how the country has finally realized its melting pot aspect, how we have racial and religious tolerance and multi ethnicity and cross culturalism and a lot wonderful things that make the country which it is today which it wasn't 400 or 200 or even 100 years ago.
COSTELLO: You are suggesting a 20-minute ceremony before the big meal. For some it's hard to pause to say grace. Do you people are actually going to sit down?
BLEIER: Well I think there's a time when the turkey should come out of the oven and be sitting any way. And part of the ceremony is the passing of the fruit bowl representing the harvest (UNINTELLIGIBLE) thirst and huger there is.
I think people should make time. I think there should be a time when everybody in the country is more or less on the same page rededicating ourselves to what this country is about. And it's a pretty special country.
COSTELLO: So some suggestions from you on what we might say.
BLEIER: The formal ceremony is 20 or 25 minutes. It involves a history, it involves sayings, it involves classic poetry or Lincoln's proclamation and Martin Luther King's speech. And then there are 40- odd pages of our favorite hymns or poems or songs, so that people can add to it or enhance the meal or use it instead of the formal ceremony. But I think it's -- and a personal grace of course.
But I think the idea is a rededication of who we are, and what combines us, what consolidates everybody in their love of the country, not what separates us.
COSTELLO: You are so passionate about this.
BLEIER: I'm very passionate. I'm a first generation son of immigrants who worked hard to give me the opportunity. And I think too many meshes, younger than I, have taken it for granted. I would like to see everyone on the same page at least 20 minutes a year.
COSTELLO: You know, we are looking at these pictures beside you now. And the nice thing about Thanksgiving, a lot of people donate their time to feed the homeless on this particular holiday. That's a good thing, right?
BLEIER: It's a wonderful thing. And I wish we had time to get the books to homeless shelters and indeed to our troops overseas.
There's a lot of ceremony in Thanksgiving, but it's so far dedicated to food and parades, and no words. And I wanted to put words to it. That's a simple thing.
COSTELLO: All right.
BLEIER: And make it a simple table-sized book that will last forever.
COSTELLO: The book is called "The Thanksgiving Ceremony." Edward Bleier, many thanks for joining us.
BLEIER: Thank you, Carol.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
