Family Matters

“Be kind.  Do no  harm.  Take care of your family.  Don’t start wars.”  Kurt Vonnegut

Volume 47 of Steel Shavingsended with the above Vonnegut quote.  Now almost two years into the disastrous Trump administration, we need the Hoosier sage’s words of wisdom more than ever.  Trump wouldn’t know the first thing about kindness, means nothing but harm, has no respect for families save for those with Trump blood, and, like any bully, will wage war on any entity weaker than him.  Latest outrage: abrogating the nuclear arms limitation treaty and threatening to use military force against Honduran refugees.

“Family Matters” enjoyed an 8-year run on CBS beginning in 1989.  A “Perfect Strangers” spin-off, it centered around a gruff but lovable cop with an eccentric family and nerdy neighbor.  Most critics compared the sitcom unfavorably to “The Cosby Show,” but reruns are still a BET staple, while anything associated with predator Cosby is toxic.  I can’t recall ever watching “Family Matters.”  The kid on “Webster” adopted by Alex Karras’ character was my favorite African-American waif.

We celebrated Angie’s birthday at Craft House in Chesterton, our first time there.  The place was lively on a Friday evening at 6:30; in fact, at a nearby table, a woman shrieked with laughter every few minutes, annoying at first but palatable after two 16-ounce Yuegling lagers evidently brewed elsewhere.  Having a mini-brewery on-site seems like a can’t-miss endeavor. We shared several appetizers; I ordered a delicious bistro steak and salad.  At the condo for cake, we got in two Uno games won by Angie and James.

Mike and Jimbo; below, Toni, Mike, Max, Janet, Brenden

 

Saturday we drove south on I-65 (a death trap once winter begins) to Carmel for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with the Bayers. For years this was an annual tradition, which we’ve tried to continue after Mike, Janet, and Shannon moved back to the Indianapolis area, close to daughter Kirsten and husband Ed Petras. With our burgeoning families, scheduling it around Thanksgiving got too complicated.  Toni contributed mussels and other appetizers. Phil took a case of Rolling Rock. Turkey and ham were on hand with all the trimmings, including turnips made to Michael’s liking and glazed cranberry slices – Janet and my preference over cranberry sauce. I saved room for slices of both Beth’s pies, lemon merengue and apple cranberry.

Keeping up a holiday tradition, we played charades. The five Bayer grandkids (two of Brenden’s, two of Kirsten’s, and Shannon’s 3-year-old Max) really got into it after some initial shyness. The lively conversation reminded me of evenings at the Bayers’ Miller house.  Years later, Mike Olszanski said he had thought of me as rather quiet, meeting me on those occasions.  I thought the same thing about him.  Truth was, it was hard to get a word in edgewise with so many competitors.  Phil gave rookie soccer coach Ed tips on drills; I reminisced with Michael about poker games with old lefties Fred Gabourey, Al Samter, Scotty Woods, and AFT union leader Charles Smith.  We talked about the 3-hour memorial service for USWA district director Eddie Sadlowski and how Mike Olszanski and I quoted Mike extensively in “Steelworkers Fight Back,” aSteel Shavingsissue about the 1977 USWA election.  One union leader kept asking, “Who is that guy Michael Bayer?”  Only an invaluable source on what went wrong during Eddie’s campaign for the USWA presidency.  Mike and Janet had spent several weeks in Ireland with his brother Joe Davidow and wife Janna, whom David and I had stayed with in Helsinki.  Janet got out the same album Joe had given me, “Different Moments,” featuring Joe playing his compositions on piano and saxophonist Seppo “Parioni” Paakkunainen.  The album artwork was by Maxwell Gordon, Mike’s uncle, who moved to Mexico in 1961 in the wake of a bitter divorce and for whom Shannon’s kid is evidently named.

"Wounded Angel" by Maxwell Gordon

After a night at Mike and Janet’s in nearby Fishers, we were back in Carmel for  breakfast. Kirsten had prepared a delicious egg dish.  Other contributions included quiche and Polish pastries purchased by Beth.  I saved room for the last remaining piece of Beth’s apple/cranberry pie.  Ed was off to a Colts game, which reminded me of past holiday touch football games.  I told Alissa about meeting Brother Blue’s widow, Ruth Hill, at the OHA conference in Montreal.  When she was just a kid, she was with them on a tour of a Native American museum; she doesn’t remember but does recall Halloweening that same afternoon as a tourist with a camera around her neck in downtown Santa Fe and scooting down a mesa on an Indian reservation faster than we could keep up with her – stories we’ve repeated many times to keep the memory alive. After playing the perfect hostess for 24 hours, Kirsten appeared to have a sore shoulder, so I gave her a five-minute rub, which she thanked me for. She’s like family, having lived with us part of her senior year after her parents moved to Vermont. There were parting hugs all around and vows to come back even earlier next year while the heated salt water pool was still open.

John Riggins Super Bowl ramble

Home for most of the Redskins victory over the hated Dallas Cowboys.  Announcers compared Skins running back Adrian Peterson, 33, to John Riggins, MVP at that ripe old age, and showed a clip of his memorable 43-yard TD run in Superbowl XVII. In the fourth quarter, Washington went up by 10 on a sack/fumble/TD and then barely held on, 20-17, when a false start penalty moved a Dallas last-ditch field goal try back 5 yards to Washington’s 38-yard-line.  At the last moment the ball veered to the left and bounced harmlessly off the goalpost. I called Dave afterwards to make sure he watched.  We both were once diehard Redskin fans, but the advent of Fantasy football has reduced his team loyalty.  One time, much to my shock, when he rooted for a Skins opponent on his Fantasy team to score a TD.

 Nathan Hare and Marvin X, 2017

In the Jeopardy category African-American History a question asked which university instituted, under Nathan Hare, the first Black Studies program.  Answer: San Francisco State in 1968.  IU Northwest launched its program shortly thereafter and offered courses before SFSU did. I knew Sweatt v. Painter, the Texas Law School “separate but equal” case but guessed Sojourner Truth instead of Harriet Tubman as the former slave who helped fugitives escape from her native Maryland.  

On the cover of “IU200: The Bicentennial Magazine” was a bison, IU’s mascot during the late 1960s, and inside Steve McShane’s article about various IUN mascots, including Indians, Blast, and Redhawks. University Archivist Stephen Towne wrote about IU during the Civil War.  In December 1860, when South Carolina voted to secede from the Union, someone placed a secession flag atop the University Building, prompting outraged residents to remove it, drag it through the streets, and burn it at the Court House Square. Two literary societies held boisterous debates on the merits of the war until President Cyrus Nutt insisted that topics be approved in advance.  Towne wrote: “Members of the literary societies raged in protest.  The Board of Trustees suspended students until they submitted.”

 James Dye, honorary degree ceremony, 2009

I called the office of former IU Trustee James Dye to apologize for the various snafus during his visit for our interview.  His son Jim answered and recognized my voice since his sister had taped the interview.  Claiming his dad had enjoyed himself immensely, he strongly suggested I call him at home. Eleven years my senior, Dye still has a keen mind and a quick wit.  We talked for a good half hour; he told me about a buffalo farm he ran during the 1990s. It was hurt by the failure of Ted Turner’s restaurant chain, Ted’s Montana Grill, specializing in bison, to take off.  Unlike cattle, Dye said, only a relatively small portion of a buffalo can be harvested for food, and hides are not profitable.  From what I could gather, the land Dye acquired for his farm turned out to be a good investment.  Dye told me he doesn’t feel his age until he looks in the mirror.  I told him about a 1957 dance party and talk I hosted for South Shore Arts and someone commenting that I seemed to go back in time mentally as the program went on.

Purdue Northwest grad student Jeff Swisher sought advice on his thesis topic, the 1959 Steel Strike and Its Effect on the City of Gary.”  He had read “Gary’s First Hundred years,” so I pulled out some Shavingsmagazines and Ron Cohen and my “Gary: A Pictorial History.”  He is hoping to show that the lengthy labor dispute had a profound effect on the city’s subsequent economic decline, whereas most studies trace that phenomenon to white flight. He has consulted census figures, school enrollment statistics, and plant labor force size. I suggested a few other sources and that he focus the narrative on the work stoppage itself and weigh the multitude of factors behind deindustrialization in a concluding chapter. A Hammond Gavit H.S. history teacher, Swisher is studying under Professor Saul Lerner, who is several years my senior.

Jimbo Jammers had the second most points in Fantasy football, but I lost to Phil, now with a record of 1-6, whose Denver defense earned him an unprecedented 34 points.  On Monday Night Football, I needed 20 points from my wide receiver Julio Jones.  He gained 110 yards but failed to score any TDs.