The Quite Contrary Man

K-Gr 4—Joseph Palmer made his rather unusual mark on history sometime during the 1830s. Supposedly unique since his infancy, preferring gravy on his popcorn and vinegar on his pancakes, he chose to grow a long flowing beard when such things were very much frowned upon. Castigated by the townspeople of his New England village, even chastised from the pulpit, Palmer refused to shave. Accosted by some townspeople armed with barber's shears and a razor, he fought hard enough to thwart their intent to shave him. However, the men reported that it was Palmer who had attacked. He refused to pay the fine and was jailed for an entire year. When the sentence was up, Palmer refused to pay for the food he'd eaten and the coal he'd used, and refused to leave the jail. The jailer and the sheriff eventually carried him outside. Hyatt tells the story well, with good pacing, and Brown's well-designed watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations capture both the time period and the spirit of the tale. Whether Palmer deserves the appellation of folk "hero" is open to debate. He was, after all, jailed for assault, not for sporting the whiskers, and his refusal to pay the fine left his wife, his mother, and two young children to fend for themselves for a year. Was his refusal to shave an act of courage or one of hubris? Hyatt supplies an extensive author's note detailing the history behind the objections to beards and the change in attitude toward them when Abraham Lincoln grew his famous one. An interesting read-aloud and good discussion starter.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ