The Troubles

 “Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken

And the violence caused such silence, who are we mistaken?

Another mother's breakin' heart is takin' over
When the violence causes silence, we must be mistaken”

         Cranberries, “Zombie”

Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries passed away suddenly at age 46.  Best known for her yodel-like vocals on the song “Dreams,” she wrote “Zombie” in 1993 in memory of 12-year-old Tim Parry and 3-year-old Johnathan Ball, killed in an IRA bombing in Warrington, England, on March 20 of that year, during a period of guerrilla war over the fate of Northern Ireland known as The Troubles.  Ball was with a baby sitter, shopping for a Mother’s Day card. O’Riordan declared: “This song is our cry against man’s inhumanity to man, inhumanity to child.”  Here is the pre-chorus and chorus:

But you see, it's not me
It's not my family

It's the same old theme
Since nineteen-sixteen
In your head, in your head, they are fightin'
With their tanks, and their bombs
And air bombs, and their guns
In your head, in your head, they are cryin'

In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What's in your head, in your head?
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie

Warrington bombing

Historian John Dorney described The Troubles, a euphemistic folk name also used in earlier Irish conflicts, as a 30-year low intensity armed conflict beginning in 1968 that killed 3,500 people.  The worst violence took place in 1972 including the “Bloody Sunday” atrocity, when the British army killed 14 marchers. What precipitated the Warrington bombing was the exclusion of Sein Fein from peace talks until the organization gave up its weapons.

In New York Review of Books Eric Foner critiqued “Goddess of Anarchy: The Life and Times of Lucy Parsons, American Radical” by Jacqueline Jones.  The African-American wife of Haymarket martyr Albert Parsons, executed for a crime he did not commit, Lucy Parsons was just as celebrated an orator as contemporaries Bill Haywood and Emma Goldman. Foner wrote:

  Today, after Timothy McVeigh, Osama bin Laden, and ISIS, loose talk celebrating violence seems rather less exhilarating than in the Parsonses’ era.  Jones makes it clear that she believes their advocacy of violence was “largely harmless.”  Few workers seem to have taken it seriously.  A local newspaper, covering one of Chicago’s labor picnics, reported that after speakers harangued the crowd to arm themselves, listeners did – with beer.  Jones points out that the language was entirely counterproductive, needlessly frightening law-abiding citizen and allowing authorities to tar all radicals with the brush of insurrection.

 Gary librarians during 1918 flu epidemic

Perhaps motivated by the current flu epidemic, Doug Ross of the NWI Times is writing about the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more Americans than died in combat during World War I and sought information and photos from the Archives.  In our pictorial history Ron Cohen and I used a hundred-year-old shot of Gary librarians wearing masks, accompanied by this caption:

In October 1918, a nationwide flu epidemic spread to Gary, causing the closing for several weeks of all public places, including theaters, schools, libraries, churches, pool halls, and dance halls.  In a single month, a total of 64 people died in Gary, including 35 residents and 29 non-residents who had been brought to local hospitals (not a good idea, it turned out).  The quarantine was lifted in November, but some library staff members continued to wear protective masks.

Steve McShane put my latest blog, titled “Nostalgia,” on the screen in order for me to provide suggestions on possible things to include in student “Ides of March” journals, including musical and sports preferences, commentary on current events, and memories about school and family.  I believe class went well.

While eating lunch by my computer, an order came over the loud speaker for everyone to evacuate the library/conference center.  I figured it was just another drill, but gas fumes were permeating the building.  Spotting groundskeeper Eddie cutting the hedge with a gas device, I said, half in jest, “There’s the culprit.”  It turned out I was right.  Eddie was working near the building’s ventilation intake system.

 photos of Dee Van Bebber in Barbara Walczak Newsletter

I hadn’t played duplicate with Dee Van Bebber in two weeks due to the weather.  Nonetheless, a few brave souls showed up last week, I learned from director Alan Yngve’s email.  He wrote:

What an unusual Tuesday we had.  Many of us had substantial lake-effect snow and I-90 was closed both ways in Portage due to a big accident that involved semis.  So?  Well, when I drove out of the snowy dunes to the YMCA, northbound Indiana 49 was barely moving with all the traffic coming off of the tollway.  I had seen the tollway backup earlier in the afternoon from the 249 Bridge in Portage but at the time I had no notion of what that was likely to portend.  Clearly it would have virtually impossible to get to Chesterton from the south!  Nonetheless, four of us, all from Chesterton, were there and we played about 1.5 hours of rubber bridge.  I think we all enjoyed it; Joel, Barbara and George Bolesch, and me.

Back at Chesterton Y, Dee Van Bebber and I held our own.  My worst and best hands came back to back against Charlie Halberstadt and Tom Wade.  In the first I misinterpreted Dee’s 3 Diamonds response to my 1 No-Trump (my fault).  Then, with a favorable lead, I made a 4-Heart contract doubled.  

 Michael Schoon and Joe Chin 

Here’s a revised version of Michael Schoon’s Indiana History paper “Joe Chin and My Experience with Bridge”:

    In my first email with Joe Chin, I wrote: “Hello Mr. Chin. I am excited for the opportunity to meet with you and hopefully get to learn a new card game. I live in Morocco, Indiana, which is about 60 miles south of IUN. I am free on most days, but do work nights at Wal-Mart. I am interested to learn more about you and what you do for hobbies or on a day to day basis. Hope to hear from you soon.”  This led to our first meeting in which I was on crutches. I had unknowingly run through poison ivy that spread to my foot and I contradicted cellulitis. Joe told me that his father was an avid reader of bridge books and would talk about the game, even though he didn’t play; but Joe did not show much interest. It was not until his later years, college and beyond, that he took up the game.

  That same day, Chin gave a bridge lesson to the class. I learned a lot about him from his first quote on the board: “Bridge is not life or death, it is more than that.”  After class, Joe gave me a book about bridge and emailed me a link to a website, so I could review bridge terminologies and lessons.

     In my next email, I asked him a few questions, including, knowing he loved coffee, if he had to choose between never drinking coffee again or never playing bridge again, which would he choose.  He replied: “Ethnically I’m Chinese, born and raised in the Philippines, and was named after the cedar tree (in Chinese).  But my English name is Joseph due to a March birthday, the month of the Catholic Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus.  As a child I was fascinated by dad’s paperback on contract bridge, which he read again and again.  When some relatives visited from Hong Kong, I witnessed my first real life bridge game.  Then in college a few dorm mates asked me to play with them.  But it was not till I settled into my teaching career in Gary that I started taking serious bridge lessons and dived into this fantastic competitive avocation.  Regarding coffee and bridge, one’s a physical addiction while the other is a mental addiction.  Once I mentioned this to a now grown-up son of a bridge partner that if you had to be addicted to something, caffeinated coffee is not too bad.  I got him a Starbucks gift card for his college graduation since he visited Starbucks frequently.

    After several more email exchanges, Joe invited me to Starbucks in Schererville on Indianapolis Boulevard.  We talked about our families. Joe choose not to start a family of his own but is close to a sister and brother and told me stories about his nephews and bridge friends, whom he considers like family. It ended up being a great night.  We talked there for about 3-4 hours straight.  The time flew by. 

Joe Chin on right, photo by Michael Schoon

    The next time Joe and I met up was at a Sunday bridge tournament at Highland Community Center.  At first, I stood back and watched politely from a distance. After about five minutes, the director told me to have a seat at Joe’s table.  I pulled up a chair and whispered hello to Joe. He introduced me to everyone around the table with a cheerful spirit, which made me feel welcome. Then an older woman turned to me and Joe and said sternly “I do not appreciate talking during a game!”  Joe is usually soft-spoken, but he immediately raised his hand and complained to the director. He turned to me and said “I am sorry you were treated so rudely.  Not everyone here is like this. Do not be scared off the game because of her.” After several hands, Joe and his partner, Tom Hallum of Mishawaka, faced several other opponents.  All were very polite and sociable.  Hallum was especially humorous and had plenty of jokes to tell. He and Joe played the game very quickly, so I did not hardly have a chance to process their moves before they had made three more. They also talked to one another in what seemed like a whole new language.  I was thoroughly lost by the end of the day.

    The next time I contacted Joe, I asked how he did in the tournament that I attended. He replied, “That Sunday, we finished third out of 19 teams. Overall, I had the second highest number of master points for the entire sectional tournament.”  Then Joe mentioned going to Connecticut to visit a sick brother-in-law asked me about my girlfriend Shawna, who had gone to St. Louis for a concert. We agreed to stay in touch over the holidays, even though my paper would be due by then.   Overall, meeting Joe was a great experience. I now value the game of bridge, am aware of its complexity, and will continue to try and learn it in my spare time. I will also try to keep in touch with Joe, a very engaging and charismatic individual.