Think Haiku

“Nightfall

Too dark to read the page

Too cold”

         Jack Kerouac

Jimbo, Izzy Young, and Toni in Stockholm, Sweden, June 1996 

When Toni and I went to Sweden in 1996 for an oral history conference, we spent several days with folklorist and, like Jack Kerouac, former Beat poet Izzy Young, who took us on a walking tour of Stockholm that included frequent stops at coffeehouses.  He and Toni bonded, and before we parted, Izzy read a Haiku that he had composed especially for her.  From a Japanese tradition consisting of three short lines, haikus generally contain colorful imagery and capture insightfully a moment in time.  Several years later, while Izzy was Ron Cohen’s houseguest, we took him to dinner at The Spa in Porter and afterwards he noted that his steak was the best he had eaten in years.

In the epilogue to “Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History” (2010), Yunte Huang described visiting legendary detective Chang Apana’s gravesite during a visit to Honolulu, and he reprinted a poem of his that employs poetic diction modeled after Charlie Chan’s pidgin English.  Entitled “Think Haiku, Act Locu: An Experiment in Back-Translation,” it includes references to ping pong, hot and sour soup, and being shanghaied and contains these lines:

take it

with a grain of MSG

what’s the memory size

of your abacus?

speak

in a chopsticked tongue

another day

another yen

the yin-yang

of base and superstructure

On December 8, 1933, the day Chang Apana died from a severe case of diabetic gangrene, Mauna Loa volcano erupted.  Historian Gilbert Martines wrote: “The molten lava was Madame Pele’s way of shedding black tears of anguish over the passing of Apana.”  Huang added, “In Chinese it is called tian ren gan ying – the sympathy between heaven and human.”  Earl Derr Biggers, author of the Charlie Chan series, had died just eight months earlier.  Huang concluded: 

The most unlikely of comrades, they together had given birth to an unforgettable character who is strangely American apple pie and Chinese chop suey.  Despite their sudden and untimely deaths, the American folk hero Charlie Chan would live on, immortalized as a symbol of both racial bias and cultural fantasy.

Bridge partner Dee Van Bebber revealed that her Florida duplicate club used to meet at a biker bar that featured live entertainment later in the evening, including occasional male striptease performances by Chippendales. Tom Rea wondered if Dee stayed around for the show.  I mentioned a time when our family was having lunch at the Golden Coin in Miller, Phil’s favorite restaurant due to the ribs when women participating in a private lingerie party came sashaying past.

 Eddie Sadlowski and Studs Terkel, 1977

Union activist Ed “Oilcan Eddie” Sadlowski passed away on June 10 at age 79, and NWI Timesreporter Joseph Pete asked for a comment. Elected in 1975 as Director of District 31, encompassing Chicago and Northwest Indiana and representing 130,000 steelworkers,  Eddie was very charismatic, militant, and principled.  I enjoyed his company at a Labor History conference in Youngstown, Ohio.  The featured speaker was oral historian Alessandro Portelli, and after Eddie asked him a pointed question and identified himself, Portelli insisted on doing a taped interview with him.  Fifteen years ago, I sat with Eddie at a Stand Up for Steel Rally at RailCats Stadium (officially U.S. Steel Yard).  I recall him being cynical about US Steel management (those sons of bitches, he called them) wanting union help when normally they’d do everything possible to screw the working man.  Mike Olszanski wrote:

Eddie was an environmentalist. As District 31 Director, he set up the first Environmental Committee in a USWA District, Paul Kaczocha and I were members. And he debunked U.S. Steel's Environmental Blackmail, when they falsely asserted the shutdown of their Open Hearths was due to EPA regulations. Actually, as Eddie told the newspaper, they shut down the Open Hearths because they could make more steel faster WITH FEWER WORKERS, with the (then) new Basic Oxygen Process BOP shop.

During a dull moment during a Cubs telecast, Len Kasper and Jim Deshaises started talking about crossword puzzles.  One of them was stumped by the clue, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch,”calling for a six-letter answer.  Recalling a series of drawings Toni did called “Old Saws,” I knew the answer before they said it.

 Portage students protest termination of Kevin Giese; Times photo by Joyce Russell

Dave, Angie, and the kids attended a Portage School Meeting, joining more than 50 others, to protest the termination of popular auditorium director Kevin Giese, a wonderful role model who developed the talents of James and countless others and whose plays were always polished and enjoyable.  Having held the position for nine years, Giese received no reason for his dismissal, only a vague letter stating that the district had decided to go in a different direction for the position.  Angie wrote afterwards:

Why would they fire such a dedicated, hard-working and highly respected man who has been the backbone of Portage High School's theater department when he has done nothing wrong?!  Then when the community shows up to voice their discontent at this injustice at the public school board meeting they refuse to allow anyone there to address the board about the theater department! Unbelievable! These cowardice board members need to go!

NWI Timesreporter Joyce Russell wrote that eventually 2018 graduate Andrea Vance managed to speak briefly and received a standing ovation after saying, “You are taking away a person who makes a difference in our lives. You take his job, we are taking yours.”  Superintendent Amanda Alaniz admitted, “Mr. Giese has done a phenomenal job”but claimed that the school is seeking a certified teacher to fill the position.

As part of a fund-raising effort, IUN’s Office of Development shared this letter from Business Administration student and Strack Family Scholarship recipient LaKisha Vance:

When I graduated from high school, the odds were against me.
I grew up in the housing projects and had a baby at 16.
While my life was a struggle at times, I am now proud to say I have a thriving son and a great job.  I knew in order to make a better life for my family and
to advance in my career, I needed a college degree.
That’s why I decided to attend IU Northwest. And, thanks to the generosity of others, like YOU,  I am achieving my goals and fulfilling my dreams. I am proof that your support can make a huge difference…it can change someone’s life.