Under Pressure

“It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming 'Let me out'”
Queen

The highlight of the movie “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” was when the psych ward physical therapist broke out musical instruments. Because Craig didn’t have one, he was persuaded to take the microphone and sing. Suddenly the scene turned surrealistic, and inmates are transformed into elaborately costumed band members performing Queen’s “Under Pressure,” which begins: “Mm ba ba de/ Um bum ba de/ Um bu bu bum da de/ Pressure pushing down on me.” “Under Pressure” is a phrase used in football, and analysts even keep statistics on how many times a quarterback was sacked and how often he was under pressure.

Fasted 12 hours and felt slightly under pressure on the way to get blood work done. The woman who checked me in was daughter-in-law Delia’s Aunt Elba. Small world. Last time a nurse struggled to find an adequate vein, but no problem on this occasion. Had an egg McMuffin afterwards and two cups of coffee. Can’t figure why customers buy a large coffee when one can get free refills with a small container.

During the 1840s John Coffee Hays, according to historian S.C. Gwinne, transformed the Texas Rangers into a brutally effective deterrent force by learning tactics from enemy Comanches as well as friendly Apaches and using Colt six-shooters effectively on horseback (the first military force ever to do so). During the Mexican War the Rangers routed much larger forces and often lived off the land, raping and pillaging.

At lunch someone asked what the “F and S” on my purple bowling shirt stood for. It was the name of our sponsor, a construction company that Kevin Horn worked for in the 1990s. Jean Poulard is traveling to his home village in France to celebrate the release of his memoir. Siblings ranging in age from 80 to 89 will attend, the 71 year-old Political Scientist told me.

Aviva Duggin, daughter of former IUN Economics professor Leslie Singer, requested copies of anything we had at the Archives by or about her father. I mailed her “Educating the Region: A History of Indiana University Northwest” (Steel Shavings, volume 35) which has several dozen references to Les, a larger-than-life character who arrived when the university was in downtown Gary and taught well into his mid-70s. During the Sixties Leslie wrote and directed a one-act play that included bathroom scenes. Behind stalls the audience could see bare legs and hear sounds of flushing. During rehearsal Singer fell off the stage and broke his pelvis, resulting in his being hospitalized the night the play was performed.

Former student Gayle Simpson is coming to the Archives. She is a librarian at Ivy Tech in Michigan City and is working toward her Master’s degree in Library Science. Twelve years ago she was part of my “Cedar Lake Gang” that conducted oral histories for volume 27. In the editor’s note I described her as soft-spoken and gifted at putting subjects at ease. We were a close-knit group and I still recall them all vividly. Baby-faced Daniel Avitia went on to become a state policeman. Would love to hear from him or the outgoing Jacki Snow. I dedicated the Cedar Lake issue to town historian Beatrice Horner, who provided much of the documentation for the pre-World War II period.

Shannon Pontney’s dad Richard died at age 57. Shannon’s friend Angie called to tell me from the university. Rich was a friendly, unpretentious bear of a guy, an art school grad turned steelworker. Shannon shared his zest for life and brought him to several Voodoo Chili shows and Pat Conley’s Air Show parties near the lake. Toni and I had dinner with him and wife Audrey before a Star Plaza Oldies show that featured Dion. The Post-Trib obit described Richard as “a Notre Dame and White Sox fan” who “enjoyed golf, was a practical joker and had a great love for animals.” What a blow. Wish I’d known him better.

Dr. O removed the nine stitches behind my right ear. My pressure reading was 127 over 75, the lowest in memory. Usually, feeling under pressure at the doctor’s office, the readings are abnormally high compared to at home. I wasn’t anticipating the nurse taking it, so I didn’t have time to tense up.

On their way back west after spending two days in the genealogy room of the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, old friends Dean and Joanell Bottorff stopped in to see our condo and have lunch. Dean’s paternal grandmother died mysteriously nearly a century ago, and his maternal grandfather deserted his children after his wife died shortly after childbirth. Dean’s two year-old mother was taken in by a Swedish family who raised her as basically a domestic servant. His father was forced to quit school at age 11 to work on the farm, hated it, joined the army six years later, and became a cook and ultimately a chef. Dean and Joanell were our next-door neighbors when we first moved to Maple Place. His kids Richard and Ann, who came every summer, were approximately our kids’ age. We taught them the game of Murder. Participants crawled around with the lights out until the person who drew the murder card committed the crime. The victim screamed, and the detective would turn on the lights three seconds later and commence interrogations. Only the murderer could lie.

After Dean and Joanell moved to rural Valparaiso (where they raised goats), we often made homemade pizza, using sausage made of goat meat. After Dean quit his job at the Post-Trib to become editor of a computer magazine in Honk Kong, I stayed with them for three weeks in 1994 while lecturing at Chinese University. When they moved to Rapid City, we visited them with Alissa and the Migoskis. Bored with retirement after six months, they bought a lodging house in the Black Hills and have operated it ever since.

Ron Cohen emailed me a 15-minute BBC program on the travail of Gary, Indiana. Local photographer David Tribby took the TV crew to Seaman Hall, the Palace Theater, and other ruins. The director used Archives footage of the 1956 Golden Jubilee parade and has promised to send Steve a copy of the program. Mayor Rudy Clay mentioned that Gary residents helped Obama carry Indiana, but it remains to be seen whether he is truly committed to helping this ailing city whose once thriving downtown now resembles a ghost town. For all the ranting Glenn Beck and his ilk do about the President, he is not as much of a liberal activist as the country needs. Unfortunately, our political system, in the hands of corporate capitalists, appears irredeemable. By a 5-4 vote the Supreme Court recently threw out legislation that regulated corporate campaign contributions, opening the door for “ a new stampede of special interest money in our politics,” according to Obama.