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Essential Interviewing Skills
for the Helping Professions


Essential Interviewing Skills for the

Helping Professions
A Social Justice and Wellness Approach

Nicole Nicotera, PhD, LICSW

University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work

1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.

Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press

198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.

© Oxford University Press 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction
rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.

You must not circulate this work in any other form

and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.

CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress

ISBN 978–​0–​19–​087687–​6

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by WebCom, Inc., Canada


Contents

Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Author Biography xv

1. Skills for Building Rapport 1

Listening With Your Whole Heart, Mind, and Body 1
Skill Practice—​Tone of Voice 2
Skill Practice—​Facial Expressions and Body Language 3
Mindful Use of Self for Astute Listening Skills 3
Skill Practice—​Listening With the Mind, Body, and Heart 4
Microaggressions 6
Skill Practice—​Listening for and Responding to Microaggressions 7
Person-​Centered Values 9
Skill Practice—​Listening With Person-​Centered Values 10
Wellness Exercise 11
Resources for Creating Deliverables for Online Teaching and Learning 12

2. Skills for Ethical Interviewing 15

Informed Consent, Competence, and Confidentiality 16
Skills Practice—​Competence 17
Skills Practice—​Informed Consent and Confidentiality 19
Ethical Boundaries, Power, and Social Justice 19
Boundaries and Power 19
Skill Practice—​Self-​Disclosure 20
Social Justice 22

v
vi Contents

Skills Practice—​Social Justice 24

Wellness Exercise 25

3. Skills for Obtaining the Initial Story 28

Open and Closed Questions: The Role of Power 29
Skills Practice—​Open and Closed Questions: Part 1 30
Skills Practice—​Open and Closed Questions: Part 2 31
Paraphrasing and Summarizing 31
Skills Practice—​Paraphrasing and Summarizing: Part 1 34
Skills Practice—​Paraphrasing and Summarizing: Part 2 35
Wellness Exercise 36
Practicing Social Justice 37

4. Skills to Deepen the Telling and Understanding of the Story 38

Person-​Centered Approach 38
Core Elements of the Person-​Centered Approach in a Context
of Social Justice 40
Uncovering and Attending to Emotion 40
Building the Skill for Reflecting Feelings 42
Skills Practice—​Reflecting Emotions: Part 1 42
Skills Practice—​Reflecting Emotions: Part 2 44
Eliciting Meaning 45
Skills Practice—​Meaning Making and Identity 46
Skills Practice—​Uncovering Meaning 47
Challenging Incongruity 47
Skills Practice—​Challenging Incongruity: Part 1 49
Skills Practice—​Challenging Incongruity: Part 2 49
Wellness Exercise 50

5. Skills for Understanding the Context of the Client’s Story

and Creating Goals 54
Six Steps for Exploring Change in Context 54
Introducing the Eco-​Map and Initiating the Process With a Client 57
Skills Practice—​Creating an Eco-​Map 59
Assessing Readiness for Change 60
Skills Practice—​Applying the Transtheoretical Model of Change 62
Creating Goals 62
Skills Practice—​Creating Goals 64
Wellness Exercise 65
 Contents vii
6. Beginning Skills for Intervention 67
Solution-​Focused Skills 67
Skills Practice—​Solution-​Focused Questioning 74
The Empty Chair 74
Skills Practice—​Empty Chair 77
Wellness Exercise 77

7. Skills for Evaluation and Closure 80

Closing and Evaluating a Single Session 80
Skills Practice—​Closing a Single Session 83
Closing the Entire Clinical Relationship 84
Skills Practice—​Termination 86
Wellness Exercise 86
Closing Comments 87

Index 89
 Preface


Essential Interviewing Skills for the Helping Professions: A Social Justice and
Wellness Approach reaches beyond most other books on essential skills for clin-
ical interviewing with its emphasis on social justice, attention to the role of
microaggressions in clinical practice, and the upmost importance of wellness as in-
tegral to longevity in the helping professions. Each chapter addresses interviewing
skills that are foundational to the helping professions from mental health to physical
health, includes detailed exercises for practicing those skills, attends to social justice,
and engages the practitioner with wellness opportunities.
Clinical interviewing skills are the foundation of clinical practice in any of the
helping professions, from clinical social work to nursing and doctoring to phys-
ical therapy and educational psychology. The most skilled clinical interviewers may
appear to be engaged in a simple conversation with a client or patient, thereby making
the process appear effortless. However, any clinical interviewer will explain that what
appears effortless on the surface is actually guided by a foundation of knowledge perti-
nent to their profession and intensive practice in listening and responding with integ-
rity and intention. The skilled interviewer simultaneously listens while deciphering
what the client is saying and using the appropriate clinical interviewing skill to engage
the client in telling his or her story with as much ease as feasible.
Regardless of how expert a clinical interviewer becomes, all began where you are
today, as students in the foundational course work of their profession or as a newly

ix
x Preface

trained graduate embarking on a first positon in their field of practice. The only
way to gain the clinical interviewing skills you need to succeed with clients and/​or
patients is to practice, practice, and practice more. It requires being open to feeling
a bit odd recording yourself in role-​played scenarios and in real client interactions,
when you have the client’s permission. Gaining skills also requires that you share
these recordings with professors, clinical supervisors, and colleagues with an open at-
titude of learning from constructive feedback. It also requires a commitment to life-
long learning: Even after years of clinical interviewing practice, helping professionals
spend their days with individuals who are most likely at their worst moments or
they would not be seeking help, making the clinical interview a complex and ever-​
changing process.
The clinical interviewing process requires moment-​by-​moment choices, such as
whether to use silence, empathy, or to challenge incongruous behavior. Sometimes
clients’ stories are fraught with trauma, other times their stories are bound within
generations of substance addiction or family violence, and other clinical stories pre-
sent personal and social obstacles that arise from years of oppression at the hands
of prejudice and discrimination. Some of the more complicated stories are a com-
bination of all of these aspects. Therefore, essential skills for clinical interviewing
goes beyond the basic ideas of choosing when to use an open question or to reflect
emotions but also covers how to integrate social justice and knowledge of power,
privilege, and oppression into the interviewing arena. Essential interviewing skills
require the practitioner to not only purposefully listen to the client’s story but also
to be self-​aware and to be willing to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them.
The work of the clinical interviewer is a continuous challenge of balancing listening,
responding, action, and self-​awareness, and it requires skills for wellness.
Chapter 1 engages the reader in listening with the whole heart and mind. It focuses
on the basic skills for building rapport with clients and patients and emphasizes
tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. Readers engage in practice of
skills for attending to the whole person with person-​centered values, responding to
microaggressions, and a first wellness exercise. This chapter also includes resources
for creating deliverables for online teaching and learning.
Chapter 2 includes skills for ethical interviewing, such how to obtain informed
consent, explain confidentiality, and practice within one’s competence. Readers are
challenged to consider the ethics of boundaries, power, and social justice; practice
the skill of appropriate self-​disclosure; apply the skills with a social justice approach;
and complete a wellness activity.
In Chapter 3, readers are introduced to the skills necessary for obtaining a client’s
initial story such as the use of open and closed questions and the related topic of how
the practitioner as “questioner” equates to power from the very start of the clinical
 Preface xi
relationship. Readers are also engaged in learning and practicing paraphrasing and
summarizing as well as skills for wellness and social justice practice.
Chapter 4 covers skills that are foundational to gaining a deeper view on the
client’s story by uncovering and attending to emotions, assisting clients in discovering
the meanings they place on their story and experiences, and challenging incon-
gruous actions. The chapter places these skills in the context of the person-​centered
approach, examining the core elements of that approach from a social justice frame-
work. The chapter presents the breath as a soothing wellness activity.
Chapter 5 covers skills related to putting the client’s story into context and setting
goals. The skills needed to apply the eco-​map tool to gain a full picture of the client’s
concerns and the players within those concerns are covered. Attention is paid to
learning how oppressive experiences can be included in the eco-​map. Readers are
challenged to integrate the interviewing skills from the previous chapters for this
purpose as well as to assess client readiness for change and develop client-​driven
goals. The wellness activity combines the body and mind as readers engage in a
walking meditation.
Chapter 6 engages readers in applying beginning skills for intervention such as
solution-​focused elements (e.g., scaling questions, exception questions, and the mir-
acle question) and skills for applying the empty chair for internal dialogues and
external dialogues, which is especially useful for clients confronting experiences of
microaggressions. Readers learn a wellness strategy, the 3-​minute breathing space,
which was developed for mindfulness-​based cognitive therapy by Mark Williams
and his colleagues at Oxford University.
Chapter 7 concludes the book with the skills required for evaluating the helping
relationship and for closure. Readers apply the skills required for closing a single
session as well as the skills for closing an entire helping relationship. Readers also
engage with evaluating their own skills on a session-​by-​session basis, including social
justice, power, and the potential presence of microaggressions during the session and
how to follow up. An evidence-​based wellness activity on cultivating gratitude closes
the chapter.
 Acknowledgments


It is a joy and honor to work with David Follmer and Oxford University Press
to write Essential Interviewing Skills for the Helping Professions: A Social Justice and
Wellness Approach. I want to acknowledge my teachers and clinical supervisors, who
pressed me to gain the skills and knowledge for astute clinical social work practice.
I am also indebted to the teachers who challenged me to integrate a social justice
framework into every endeavor, from clinical practice to conducting research. I also
want to thank the numerous students I have taught in my clinical interviewing skills
course; I learn more and more about clinical skills every time I teach the content and
exchange ideas with them. Finally, but certainly not least, I want to thank my spouse,
Ellen Winiarczyk, for her support and patience.

xiii
 Author Biography


Professor Nicotera is a social work educator and coordinator of the clinical
skills training and the mind–​body courses for the Master of Social Work program
at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, where she also teaches
mixed-​methods research for the PhD program. She is also trained in the use of expe-
riential therapies (low and portable ropes courses) with youth, family–​youth groups,
and couples. Her research and scholarship focus on promoting health and well-​being
across the life span; civic engagement and mindfulness practices as pathways to well-​
being; measuring civic development and civic engagement; interventions to en-
hance civic leadership and positive youth development; the role of risk, protection,
and resilience in health; and the issues of unearned privilege and oppression in social
work practice, education, and research. She is an active community-​engaged scholar
and collaborates with community agencies to conduct research on their programs
and to help them use the results of that research to create stronger programs.

xv
 And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
—​A ntoine de Saint-​E xupéry, The Little Prince

1
Skills for Building Rapport


Listening is the primary skill required for any clinical helping professional,
regardless of whether the individual practices social work, medicine, nursing, coun-
seling, psychology, or physical therapy, to name a few. Those of us who work in the
helping professionals must gain skills for listening to more than the words a client
uses to tell his or her story because words have many meanings and words do not
communicate the entirety of a client’s experience. Therefore, how we listen and what
we listen for are important.

Listening With Your Whole Heart, Mind, and Body

Helping professionals listen not only for words but also for tone of voice. We use
tone of voice in our daily lives to express ourselves, though we are not always aware
of it or how it sounds to others. We use tone to express joy when we greet someone
we care about or to express urgency or danger in order to stop someone from walking
out in front of a car. However, tone of voice can also be more subtle and difficult to
detect. Helping professionals need to become keenly aware of tone of voice even to
the point of noting a client’s intake of breath, which may signal he or she is about
to speak. We can use silence to give the client room to speak or check in, perhaps
asking, “Were you about to say something?” As clinicians, we need to be able to hear
how our own tone sounds as well as the client’s tone of voice.

1
2 Essential Interviewing Skills for the Helping Professions

It is fairly safe to interpret the tone of voice that warns you not to cross the street
when a car is coming or the tone of joy you hear in a loved one’s voice when he or she
greets you. However, in professional clinical practice, we cannot assume we know the
meaning associated with a client’s tone of voice because our understanding of tone is
culturally and linguistically bound. It is important to refrain from assuming what tone
of voice means, even when you and the client share a similar culture and language.
In addition to listening for tone of voice, clinicians must also be adept at
observing facial expressions and body language. Similar to tone of voice, we use fa-
cial expressions and body language in our daily lives, and we are often unaware of
how we appear to others. Facial expressions and body language can be explicit, such
as throwing one’s arms in the air, or they can be subtle, such as the blink of an eye and
a lowering of a gaze. Regardless of how obvious or subtle, the clinician should not
assume he or she knows what gestures or facial expressions convey.
In sum, observing facial expressions and body language, and listening for tone of
voice are called attending skills. The key to this set of interviewing skills is to remember
that all listening and observation are culturally bound. That is, what you suppose a
client means by tone of voice, gestures, or facial expressions is based on what you
learned in your family, the first or home language you learned growing up, and social-​
cultural norms. Attending skills only alert you to these elements of what a client is
telling you and must be followed up with interview skills such as effective questions,
paraphrases, reflections of feeling, and eliciting of meaning, all of which are covered
in subsequent chapters. The challenge for you just now is to practice the skills of lis-
tening for tone of voice and observing facial expressions and body language.

Skill Practice—​Tone of Voice

• Pair up with a colleague or classmate.

• Take turns being the listener and the speaker.
• When you are the speaker, take about 5 minutes to respond to the following
prompt: “Tell me about a favorite place, real or imagined.”
• When you are the listener, close your eyes for the entire time and simply listen
without asking questions or making comments.
• When you are listening, take note of how you are affected by your colleague’s
tone of voice. Can you hear any emotion(s) in the tone of voice? What does
the tone of voice tell you about your colleague’s favorite place?
• After each of you has played both listener and the speaker, (1) each person
should share what you heard in your colleague’s tone of voice and then
(2) discuss what it was like to listen with eyes closed compared to your typ-
ical listening with eyes open.
 Skills for Building Rapport 3
Skill Practice—​Facial Expressions and Body Language

• View the following media clips, which present exaggerated examples of fa-
cial expression and body language.
• Discuss each media clip with one or more classmates or colleagues: What
did you learn about the power of facial expressions? What did you learn
about the power of body language? What did you learn about tone of voice?
How will you apply these in clinical interviewing?

Media Clip 1: Big bang theory on body language: https://​www.youtube.com/​

watch?v=vicuZS0ChYQ
Media Clip 2: The importance of nonverbal cues as told by friends: https://​www.
youtube.com/​watch?v=OvEci5Bjgd4

• View the following media clip with your device on mute. The interview in and
of itself has relevance for you as a clinical social worker, and this will be cov-
ered in a subsequent section of this chapter. So for now focus on watching it
without the sound to practice the skills of observing facial expressions and body
language.
• As you watch the interview, consider the following questions: What do their
respective facial expressions communicate about how each of them feels
about the topic? What about their facial expressions suggests how they are
feeling in the moment itself ? Identify moments of body language for each of
them. What does it suggest about their rapport with each other?

Media Clip 3: Oprah Winfrey interviewing Dr. Brene Brown, PhD, a social work
researcher who studies and writes about vulnerability: https://​www.youtube.com/​
watch?v=RKV0BWSPfOw

Mindful Use of Self for Astute Listening Skills

Attending skills are the primary building blocks of establishing rapport and begin-
ning to earn the trust of a client. However, the skill of listening extends beyond these
basics. Listening also occurs from and within the mind. What ideas and thoughts
does the client’s story call up in you? Does the story remind you of a personal ex-
perience, another client, a news story you heard on your way to work? The skill of
listening with the mind is being aware of the ideas and thoughts that come to you
when the client is telling his or her story so you can remain on target and stay in tune
with the client’s unique story.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 He was soon at the head of a large and powerful army. With this
he marched forward, defeated the English troops that advanced to
meet him, and, in three months after his arrival, he took Edinburgh,
the capital of Scotland.—​France now sent him aid, and, with a force
of 7000 men, he marched southward into England, and took the
town of Carlisle. At Preston Pans, he defeated an English army of
4000 strong; and such was his success, that the English
government, under King William, of Orange, trembled for their safety.
They therefore made great efforts, and in April, 1746, they sent a
large army against him, under the Duke of Cumberland. At Culloden,
the two armies met, and a terrible battle followed; Prince Edward
was defeated, and his army entirely dispersed. He was scarce able
to save his life by flight; and, indeed, he wandered about, from place
to place, among the wilds of Scotland, being every day in danger of
being seized and given up to the English government, who offered
$150,000 to anybody who would bring him to them. It seems strange
that so large a bribe could be resisted; but, such was the love that
the Scottish people bore him, and such their fidelity, that no one was
found to betray him, though many people were entrusted with the
secret of his being among them. Even the poor mountaineers
refused to give him up, though offered a sum of money that would
have made them very rich.
At last, a faithful Scottish nobleman, by the name of O’Neil, took
him in charge, and after wandering along the sea-shore in a skiff,
flying from island to island, and experiencing the greatest sufferings
and dangers, he was put on board a French frigate, that had been
sent for his rescue. He was now taken to France, and soon after,
giving up all hopes of seeing his family restored to the throne, he
settled in Italy, where he died in 1788, in the 68th year of his age. He
was the last of the Stuart line, and was called the Pretender, on
account of his pretending to set up claims to the throne of England.
 Winter.

December has come! Winter is here! These are common-place

words, but they mean more, perhaps, than we are apt to consider.
Winter, then, means that the myriad leaves of the forest are
shrivelled and torn from the trees, and scattered in the valley: it
means that the sap of the trees has ceased to flow, and that these
giants of the vegetable world have passed into a state of stupor, in
which they must remain till spring again returns.
Winter means that the myriad races of annual weeds and plants
are dead, to revive again no more; that myriads of blossoms have
faded forever from the view; that the verdure of the forest has
passed away; that the gemmed garment of the meadow is
exchanged for the thin, brown mantle of leanness and poverty; that
the velvet of the lawn has given place to the scanty covering of dried
and faded grass.
Winter means that the minstrelsy of the birds is gone, and that the
field and forest, so lately cheered by a thousand forms and sounds
of happy existence are now silent, or rendered more dreary and
desolate by the moaning winds. It means that the birds are gone to
their southern retreats; that the myriad races of insects are dead;
that the whole generation of butterflies has perished; that the
grasshoppers have sung their last song; that even the pensive
cricket has gone to his long home. It means that death has breathed
on our portion of the world, and that nature herself, as if weary of her
efforts, has fallen into a cold and fearful slumber.
Winter means all these melancholy things; but it also means
something more. It means that the granary of the farmer is full; that
his barn is supplied; that there is good and ample store for the
beasts that look to man for support, and for man himself. It means,
too, that the comfortable fire will be kindled, around which the family
will assemble, and where, secure from the bitter blast without, there
will still be peace, comfort, and content. It means, too, that there is
such a thing as poverty, shivering, without fire, without food—
perhaps, without sufficient shelter; and it means that charity should
seek and save those who are suffering in such a condition.
And winter means something more than all this: it means, by its
examples of decay and death, to teach us that we, too, must pass
away; and that it is well for us to make preparation for the great
event. Winter also brings us to the end of the year, and suggests a
serious self-inquiry, and self-examination. It would ask us if the last
year has been one of profit or loss? Are we better, and wiser, than
when it began? Are we more kind, more just, more patient, more
faithful, more fond of truth?—Summer is the season for the harvest
of the field; winter is the season for the moral harvest of the heart.
Let it not pass with any of us as a barren and unproductive season,
in which we neither sow nor reap the fruits of wisdom and peace.
 The Hand.

Every limb and member of the body is made for some good
purpose.
The eye is made to see with; the ear is made to hear with; the
nose is made to smell with; the mouth is made to eat and speak with.
The feet are made to run and walk with; the hands are made to
work with, to write with, and to do many other things.
But do you think children’s hands were ever made to strike their
brothers, or sisters, or playmates? Were your little hands ever made
to snatch away things from each other?
Who gave you hands? God gave them. Did he give you hands to
steal with? Did God give you hands that you might throw stones at
geese, or dogs, or hens, or cows, or any other innocent animals?
Did God give you hands to injure or wound any of the creatures
he has made?
Take care of your little hands, then, my children! Take care that
the hands God has given, do nothing that God disapproves.
 Nuts to Crack.

The Word “Fast.”—This is as great a contradiction as we have in

the language. The river is fast, because the ice is immoveable; and
then the ice disappears fast for the contrary reason—it is loose. A
clock is called fast when it goes quicker than time; but a man is told
to stand fast, when he is desired to remain stationary. People fast
when they have nothing to eat, and eat fast when opportunity offers.

Military Courtesy.—Gen. Meadows, equally renowned for his

wit and bravery, being on a reconnoitring party, in the Mysore
country, a twenty-four pound shot struck the ground at some
distance from the General, and was passing in such a direction as
would have exposed him to danger had he continued on his route;
quick as lightning he stopped his horse, and, pulling off his hat very
gracefully, as the shot rolled on, good-humoredly said: “I beg you to
proceed, sir; I never dispute precedence with any gentleman of your
family.”

A doctor, in Scotland, was employed by a poor man to attend

his wife, who was dangerously ill. The doctor gave a hint, amounting
to the suspicion that he would not be paid. “I have,” says the man,
“five pounds; and if you kill, or cure her, you shall have it.” The
woman died, under the hands of the doctor, and, after a reasonable
time, he called for his five pounds. The man then said: “Did you kill
my wife?—did you cure her?” “No.” “Then,” said the poor man, “you
have no legal demand,” and turned upon his heel.
 How to shake off Trouble.—Set about doing good to
somebody: put on your hat, and go and visit the sick and poor—
inquire into their wants, and minister to them; seek out the desolate
and oppressed, and tell them of the consolations of religion. I have
often tried this method, and have always found it the best medicine
for a heavy heart.

A Father’s Impulse.—When Lord Erskine made his debut at the

bar, his agitation almost overpowered him, and he was just going to
sit down: “At that moment,” said he, “I thought I felt my little children
tugging at my gown, and the idea roused me to an exertion, of which
I did not think myself capable.”

The Sublime.—Over the stall of a public writer, in Rue de Bac, at

Paris, is the following inscription: “M. Renard, public writer and
compiler—translates the tongues, explains the language of flowers,
and sells fried potatoes.”

Feeling for Another.—A Quaker, once hearing a person tell

how much he felt for a friend who needed his assistance, dryly
observed: “Friend, hast thou ever felt in thy pocket for him?”

“What are you writing such a thundering big hand for, Patrick?”
“Why, do you see, my grandmother is deaf, and I am writing a loud
lether to her.”

A Knotty Case.—Not many years ago, a man appeared in court,

whether as plaintiff, defendant, or witness, tradition does not inform
us. Be this as it may, the following dialogue ensued:—Court—“What
is your name, sir?” “My name is Knott Martin, your honor.” “Well,
what is it?” “It is Knott Martin.” “Not Martin, again! We do not ask you
what your name is not, but what it is. No contempt of court, sir.” “If
your honor will give me leave, I will spell my name.” “Well, spell it.”
“K-n-o-tt, Knott, M-a-r, Mar, t-i-n, tin—Knott Martin.” “O, well, Mr.
Martin, we see through it now; but it is one of the most knotty cases
we have had before us for some time.”

Good.—It was a judicious resolution of a father, as well as a most

pleasing compliment to his wife, when, on being asked by a friend
what he intended to do with his daughters, he replied: “I intend to
apprentice them to their mother, that they may become like her—
good wives, mothers, heads of families, and useful members of
society.”

A Learned Character.—“Give me ‘Venice Preserved,’” said a

gentleman, last week, on going to a celebrated bookseller’s at the
West-end. “We don’t sell preserves,” said an apprentice, newly-
imported from the country; “but you will get them next door, at Mr.
Brown’s, the confectioner.”

Ten To One.—Strict attention to office hours is a duty incumbent

upon every public officer. We heard of a case of an American consul,
in a foreign country, who was not remarkable for his attention to duty.
A gentleman, calling one day, found his office shut, and a label
sticking upon the door, with these words: “In from ten to one.” Having
called again several times within those hours, without finding him, he
wrote at the bottom of the label—“Ten to one he’s not in.”
 To the Black-ey’d and Blue-ey’d Friends of
Robert Merry.

It is now about a twelvemonth since our acquaintance

commenced; and I hope the feeling is such between us, that there is
a mutual desire to continue it. I know that the young, the happy, and
the gay-hearted, are apt to think that we old fellows are sour and sad
—disposed to look with an evil eye upon childhood and its sports;
and more ready to preach than practise charity.
I will not pretend to deny that, now and then, a person gets cross
and crabbed as he grows old, and like cider too long kept, turns to
vinegar: but this is not my case, or, if it be, my ill-humor never
displays itself toward the young. They are to me the buds and
blossoms of life, and their presence ever brings the welcome
feelings that belong to sunshine and summer.
Old age has been often compared to winter—the close of the
year; the season of desolation; the period of storms and tempests;
the funeral-time of the vegetable world; the time when the leaves,
the fruits, and the flowers are laid in their tomb, and covered over
with a winding-sheet of snow. This is a sad picture at first view; and I
believe many a child is led to avoid old people from the habit of
regarding them in this light—from the idea that they are shrivelled,
frost-bitten, bitter, and disagreeable.
Now, I will not deny that there is some resemblance between
winter and old age: an old man has not the warm blood of youth; his
pulses are, perhaps, like the river, chilled and obstructed by ice; his
temper is sometimes capricious and gusty, like the winds of
December; and his head, bald, or covered with a few silvery hairs, is
like the oak, stripped of its covering, and having its boughs
powdered with snow.
 All this may be true enough; but it is not good reason why the old
should be deserted by the young. I remember very well, that, when I
was a boy, there was a fine old walnut-tree, upon a hillside, not far
from where I lived. Now, I never thought or cared about this tree, till
the time when winter approached. Then, when the leaves were
scattered, the nuts were all ripe, then it was that the tree became an
object of interest to me. Then it was that I loved to visit it; to climb its
limbs and give it a shake, and hear the fruit rattle down like hail.
Never, in all my boyhood days, did I meet with anything more
delightful than this!
And let me tell you, my black-ey’d and blue-ey’d friends, that this
old walnut-tree was like many an old person you may meet with. You
will remark that, in this case, it was when winter had come, or was
near at hand, that the fruit was ripe, and ready for those who would
climb up for it and gather it. And let me tell you, that old people, like
this tree, have many a good nut to crack, many a good story to tell,
to those who will climb up in the lap and ask for it.
This is my view of the matter; and I hope that young people,
instead of running away from me, as a crusty, crabbed, one-legged
old chap, will treat me as I did the old walnut-tree—give it a shake,
and see if the nuts don’t rattle down!
I am not fond of making great promises; but, as I am anxious to
have my readers, who have set out on a journey with me, still keep
me company—at least for one year more—I am ready to engage to
do my best to please them. I shall, if I live, tell the rest of my own
story, and bring the history of Brusque to a close. The tale of the
Sable-Hunters, the travels of Thomas Trotter, the stories of the
Indians, will be continued and completed; and a variety of other
things are in store.
I can promise one thing more—and that is, some tales from the
pen of Peter Parley. That pleasant, kind-hearted old man is no more;
but I knew him better than anybody else, and all his papers are in my
hands. Among them are several tales, and I intend to publish them in
my magazine. My young readers, perhaps, do not know how
shabbily poor old Peter was treated. The fact was, that several
people in this country, as well as in others, wrote stories, and put his
name to them; thus pretending that they were actually his! Some of
these were very silly, and some were very improper. This cut Peter to
the heart, and it served greatly to shorten his days. I am sorry that,
even now, people are palming off trumpery works of their own as
Peter Parley’s.
But the tales that I propose to give, are genuine; there is no
mistake. They are by the same hand that wrote the tales about
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; and I hope they may be as
acceptable as those were.
I return a thousand thanks to my many young friends, who have
written me letters, whether of criticism, advice, or commendation. I
am glad to know that so many of them like Bill Keeler: let them be
assured his whole story will come out in due time. I shall be very
glad to get the bear story, which L. S., of Vermont, offers to tell. The
Indiana legend of the Wolf and the Wild-cat, is received, and will
appear soon. Jane R—— will accept my thanks for—she knows
what! If she were not so many hundred miles off, I should ask her to
let me see whether she is a blue-eyed or black-eyed friend. The
basket of chestnuts were duly received from Alice D——, and were
very welcome. Ralph H—— will see that I have done as he
requested; I have given a portrait of the fine gray squirrel he sent
me, in this number. He is well, and as lively as ever.
Robert Merry.
 WINTER—A SONG.
the words and music composed for
merry’s museum.

“Tell me what does winter mean!”

’Tis a drea-ry change of scene—
When the meadow yields its bloom,
And the blo-soms seek their tomb.
Winter is the time of storms,
When the cloud in angry forms,
O’er the land in terror sweeps,
And the sighing forest weeps.
’Tis the funeral time of flowers,
Withered in their lovely bowers;
While the zephyr sings in grief,
O’er each shrivelled stem and leaf.
’Tis the dreary time of snow,
Falling chill on all below,
As a winding-sheet it weaves
O’er the graves of myriad leaves.

Winter is a time of tears,

For the poor, in youth or years,—
Where the storm drives keenly in,
And the blanket’s brief and thin.
Winter is the time of wreck,
When the billow cleaves the deck,
And the mariners go down
Where the battling surges frown.
 Transcriber’s Note:
This book was written in a period when many words had not
become standardized in their spelling. Words may have multiple
spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These
have been left unchanged unless indicated below. Obsolete and
alternative spellings were left unchanged. Misspelled words were not
corrected.
One Footnote was moved to the end of the chapter. Obvious
printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or partially printed
letters and punctuation, were corrected. Final stops missing at the
end of sentences and abbreviations were added. Duplicate letters at
line endings or page breaks were removed. Quotation marks were
adjusted to common usage. Page numbers in the Table of Contents
were corrected to match book pages.
Links to audio files were added for music. The music files are the
music transcriber’s interpretation of the printed notation and are
placed in the public domain. At the time of this writing, music file
links will not work in mobile e-book formats like epub or Kindle/mobi.
Users who are reading the e-book in one of these formats can listen
to the music or download music files in the HTML version. Lyrics to
musical scores are presented as poetry following the illustration of
the music.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT
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