How many grandparents among us have given official state quarters to our grandkids to teach them about history, government and geography? On the occasion of the release of the final state quarter this year, attorney Jim Noles takes readers on a tour of the people, places, monuments and symbols that appear on the quarters in A Pocketful of History -- Four Hundred Years of America -- One State Quarter At A Time. In a brief interview, Noles talked about his interest in the quarters and the writing of his book:
Q. Visually speaking, which quarter do you like best?
A. I think there are several good ones. I like the artistic simplicity of Connecticut's, with the Charter Oak; of Montana's, with a buffalo skull; and of Texas', with the Lone Star. I think Rhode Island's is well done also. It depicts the schooner Reliance sailing in front of the Claiborne Pell Bridge.
Q. Your book is divided into fifty chapters, and each tells the story behind the image of a particular state's quarter. Do you have a favorite?
A. I enjoyed the chapters in which I was able to tell something new or unusual about a state's history. For example, Colorado's quarter depicts a mountain range, which is a fairly common image of Colorado in people's minds. But very few people realize that the CIA trained Tibetan freedom fighters in Colorado's mountains outside of Leadville in the 1950s. Another example -- Alabama's quarter depicts Helen Keller. Practically everyone in the world knows of Helen Keller. But far fewer realize that, because of her radical political beliefs, she was subjected to monitoring by the FBI.
