I finished reading The Stand for the first time a few weeks ago (darned good book, I might add), and there were a good number of references in the novel to a correspondence school called "LaSalle" in Chicago that advertised on matchbook covers. Now, we all know about the other LaSalle, but was there ever a correspondence school in Chicago by that name? Cheers,
Yes. LaSalle Extension University was a rather large correspondence school, awarding one bachelor's degree (in commerce?) and a law diploma that may have qualified one to sit for the California Bar. It was accredited by the then-National Home Study Council, since renamed DETC. It went out of business in the very early 1980's, IIRC. A search on Google turns up 259 hits, mostly entries with someone listing themselves (or others) having attended it.
LaSalle Extension University did advertise on matchbooks and in comic books in the '50s and '60s. I think they were located on LaSalle Street in Chicago. They were California Bar qualified until the early 1980's. If I recall, they were purchased by a large publisher who discontinued the operations. Kirk then appropriated what was by then an abandoned name and started his operations in Missouri and later Louisiana.
Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, and although he is a serious fan of the Boston Red Sox, he (or his editors) had a major whoopsie in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Again and again throughout the book, the catcher for the Red Sox is identified as Jason Varitak, when it's actually Jason Varitek. A small point, I know, but King should have known better. More germane to DL, I just finished reading Tom Clancy's The Bear and the Dragon. Long story short, the book tells a story of Communist China going to war with Russia, with the United States getting involved. A sub-plot is a Chinese Baptist minister befriending a Catholic Cardinal who is in charge of the new Vatican Embassy is China. Without revealing the good parts of the book (and there are many), it comes to light that the Baptist minister was educated at Oral Roberts University. His first degree was a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. So far, so good. His second and only religious degree that presumably qualified him for ordination was a "Doctor of Divinity". I cringe whenever I read it or think about it. I always assumed that Tom Clancy had better research skills than that. Bruce
Naah, when I lived in Korea, they used to laugh about how precious little research Clancy must have done for the book (one of the Op Center (?) books). Mistake after mistake after mistake. The most glaring was that one of the characters was named "Major Kim Lee". Anyone that has been in Korea for longer than ten seconds or that has studied Korean culture for longer than 20 seconds knows that's not a possible name. Both Kim and Lee are family names and never first names (and never used together). Probably he learned about Korea from watching old MASH re-runs (where they used to make the same mistake). So much for research. Tom Nixon
LaSalle Extension University was a division of Macmillan Publishing, itself a division of something large and German. At the time they locked the doors, they had over 100,000 students left stranded. They had been penalized numerous times by the FTC for their egregious sales tactics by door-to-door salespeople. The report was that by making cold calls in certain neighborhoods, they could sell a course to one person in six. One of the legends, reported by the FTC, was the sale of a jet engine repair course to a frail elderly widow. That's right up there with Arthur Murray selling "double lifetime" dance lessons. I doubt very much if the LaSalle people in Louisiana were trying identify theft with this LaSalle, but rather with the regionally accredited and well regarded LaSalle University in Philadelphia.
Not so fast. She may have had big plans. Jet engines perform four distinct functions: Suck, squeeze, bang, and blow. Suck in air, Squeeze by compressing it, Bang by igniting it along with jet fuel, and Blow by blasting the air out the back and creating thrust. Perhaps she was just misinformed.
Favorite authors? A question that is just a little off-off topic. I admit to having read all the books previously discussed. I also admit they are entertaining, Clancy more than King, IMO. Then again I read everything, since I have no television, it is my relaxation state if you will (at least with entertainment only books such as these). I do like them for what they are, okay? However, I would have a *very* hard time naming either one of these authors or *most* of their ilk as my favorite author. Entertaining? Yes. Fun? Yes. Easy to read? Yes. As good as tv? Better, so I guess that is a yes. My favorite? What??!! Really though, I am not a literary snob at all. I would put books such as "Fountainhead" or "The Plague" above these books and they may not be embraced by the "people in the know". Orson Scott Card is also a much more talented author IMO. Then again it is in my opinion. So it comes to this. "Please tell me you were only commenting on the enjoyment of these books in the non-serious entertainment aspect". Please Tony I know art is a personal matter to a large degree, but I don't want to lose my respect of mankind (okay, kindof joking now)
Lasalle Back in the mid-70s a salesman did come to my house from Lasalle in Chicago after I had called about their law program. They had an LL. B. for business law (non-bar) and they had a separate CA bar program which I believe was more expensive. The LL. B. was only about $550 for the whole program if you paid up front, higher if you paid by the year. They even included a law library, I am sometimes sorry I did not take the course. A friend of mine got a diploma in computer programing from them and he spent more than 30 years in the field and earned salaries as high as the upper 50Ks at the time. Their Bachelor of Commerce & Social Studies was the highest NHSC accreditted degree they offered.
