Leaves of Grass

“Memories

How sweet the silent backward tracings!

The wanderings as in dreams -

The meditation of old times resumed – 

Theirs loves, joys, persons, voyages.

    “Memories” by Walt Whitman, from “Leaves of Grass”

When Walt Whitman published the 95-page first edition of “Leaves of Grass” in 1855, critics branded it as obscene because of its sexual and homoerotic references. Fellow poet John Greenleaf Whittier reputedly threw his copy into the fire.  During the mid-nineteenth century, the word grass often denoted lesser literary works while leaves referred to pages.  Thus Whitman declared his volume to be of modest importance.  Expanded in later printings, it has since become a classic expression of the American spirit.

Bucky Dent after winning HR

In “14 Back: Hate, Fate and the Summer of ’78,” a Sports Illustratedcover story, Tom Verducci asserted that a New York City newspaper strike was a crucial element in the unprecedented Yankees comeback from 14 games behind to overtake the Red Sox for the American League pennant.  The black-and-white cover was intended to emulate a newspaper front page. The Bronx Bombers’ roster of 40 years ago contained such feuding hotheads as Russell “Bucky” Dent, Albert “Sparky” Lyle, Richard “Goose” Gossage, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, and Reggie “Mr. October” Jackson.  Nearly to a man they hated owner George Steinbrenner and fiery manager Billy Martin. In the clubhouse and at hotel bars the city’s omnivorous beat reporters publicized every rumor and insult they unearthed, often from an inebriated Martin.  For three months, the presses were silent, and the Yankees went on an unlikely run culminating in a Bucky Dent HR (the “Boston Massacre”) in a one-game playoff, followed by a 4-2 World Series triumph over the L.A. Dodgers. Print journalists would never again have such influence over a team’s destiny.

above, Lanes 1978; below, with Rhiman Rotz, Paul Kern, Neil Nommensen

I still have vivid memories of the summer of 1978, especially Phil and Dave’s Little League exploits and parties on the hill at Maple Place. Being a huge Phillies fan, I watched them lose to the Dodgers in the National league championship but then had little interest in the World Series itself.

Anne Balay

I met former colleague Anne Balay at the South Shore Miller station prior to her IUN appearances in Tanice Foltz’s Sociology class followed by a campus talk in the Women’s Studies classroom about “Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers.”  We picked up two boxes of the hot-off-the-press books that she had mailed to friend Melissa, and I drove her past her old house, still purple with green trimmings.  We passed apartments Anne remembered because a girl who lived there once knocked on her door needing money for a train ticket to join her aunt in Illinois. When Anne accompanied her to pick up a satchel of clothes, she spotted a bunch of unattended kids, including the girl’s little sister.  Anne gave the girl enough money for the two of them.   I drove through Marquette Park (with north winds, Lake Michigan was gorgeous) and the Lake Street commercial district. Reaching campus, Anne had time for a brief visit at the Calumet Regional Archives and a salad at Little Redhawk Café before speaking to 80 attentive Sociology students.

Anne and Tanice; photo by Tome Trajkovski

In her introduction Tanice credited me with mentoring Anne when she embarked on her previous oral history “Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Steelworkers.”  After Anne spoke without notes about her innovative research and fascinating discoveries, students peppered her with questions, belying the absurd claim by the superior responsible for her dismissal four-years ago that her teaching was inadequate for tenure.  She told the class that gender identity was fluid, like colors of the rainbow, rather than rigidly binary.  She described long-haul trucking as exhausting but often exhilarating and a good fit for marginalized groups unwelcome in other professions.  During the past 40 years, however, onerous government regulations have fallen almost exclusively on drivers rather than on their corporate bosses, resulting in escalating  work force turnover. Asked what she’d be researching next, Anne replied, “Sex workers.”

Anne's talk and book signing; photos by Tome Trajkovski

above, Alyssa and Gabby; below trans truckers Dana and Mary Lou

Among the overflow crowd attending Anne’s 1 o’clock appearance were several lesbian and trans truckers interviewed for “Semi Queer,” as well as someone working on a documentary about the trucking industry. A half-dozen faculty were on hand, including Bill Allegrezza and Jonathyne Briggs, whom Anne and I used to have lunch with, and numerous former students of hers.  Two I’d known from auditing her Women’s Studies class were Portage special education teacher Alyssa Black and Kaden Alexander, whom four years ago I had known as a transitioning woman.  During Q and A Ron Cohen, noting that “Steel Closets” had led to a dramatic change in the United Steelworkers of America position toward bullying, wondered whether “Semi Queer” might have comparable impact on the Teamsters. Unfortunately, Anne replied, fewer than 8 percent of truckers belong to unions, due to a variety of economic, political, and demographic factors. When asked about HIV rates among truckers, Anne said that it was impossible to know since, without health insurance, most don’t see doctors.  

Chancellor Bill Lowe showed up, a nice touch that Anne appreciated.  In fact, her stellar performances provided a degree of closure after her ordeal of four years ago.  Afterwards, helping myself to a sandwich and fruit in the Robin Hass Birky Center next door, I thanked Tanice Foltz for arranging the events. Kaden, sporting a beard and speaking with a deep voice, told me that our mutual friend Amanda Marie had come in from Glacier National Park last week for his wedding.      

The televised Senate Judiciary Committee appearances of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Cavanaugh held the attention of the nation. Having accused Cavanaugh of sexual assault while at a party in high school, Basey Ford came off as totally believable while the Judge ranted and raved about the unfairness of the hearings and refused to endorse an FBI investigation that might clear up what really happened.  This heated exchange with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar took place, for which Cavanaugh later apologized:

 Klobuchar: "So you're saying there's never been a case where you drank so   much that you didn't remember what happened the night before, or part of what happened?"

 Kavanaugh: "You're asking about blackout. I don't know. Have you?"

 Klobuchar: "Could you answer the question, judge?  You have -- that's not happened, is that your answer?"

 Kavanaugh: "Yeah, and I'm curious if you have."

 Klobuchar: "I have no drinking problem, judge."

 Kavanaugh: "Nor do I."

 

Perhaps to impress Trump, Cavanaugh modeled his behavior on how Clarence Thomas had reacted 27 years before when faced with sexual harassment charges from her assistant Anita Hill. The performance made him come off as injudicious, however; he’d have been better off admitting he sometimes got drunk at parties and may have stumbled upon Christine and pushed her onto a bed but without the intent to rape her.  Earlier, Cavanaugh admitted partaking immature high school behavior which now makes him cringe.  But, just as her Basel Ford said she was 100 percent certain Cavanaugh had pinned her down on a bed, groped her, and put his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming, he claimed to be equally certain he was not the perpetrator.  Next day, the Judiciary Committee voted 11-0, on straight party lines to send Cavanaugh’s name forward, but three Republicans joined Democrats in insisting on an FBI investigation prior to the final vote. Had Cavanaugh from the beginning humbly apologized for any actions that may have traumatized her, the gambit might have worked. Now he’s opened up a potential can of worms.

Discussing chapter 3 of Babbitt with James, I mentioned that envy (of the more exciting lifestyle of the Doppelbraus next door neighbors) and temptation (for bobbed-haired secretary Miss McGoun) were major themes, as aging businessmen in the 1920s feared domestication and emasculation that could not be assuaged by drinking beer, smoking cigars, gambling around a poker table or driving the latest model car.  Babbitt passed 9-foot billboards on the way to work featuring sexy ads for tobacco products and talcum powder, now primarily used while changing babies’ diapers but a century ago also a men’s product to apply to the groin area. Babbitt’s life may have seemed like a paragon of bourgeois virtue, but dissatisfaction was near the surface and rebellion not far from the horizon.  As Babbitt said to himself, “Oh, Lord, sometimes I’d like to quit the whole game.”

I have never stomached cigars, just filtered menthol cigarettes, and didn’t start drinking beer until college but enjoyed getting tipsy at fraternity parties as a way to relax and relieve stress but never blacked out or tried to get girls drunk. Like Cavanaugh, I did some cringeworthy things but never exposed myself or sought to trap women in a bedroom as he allegedly did. Some Bucknell frat parties featured a grape juice, soda water, and vodka concoction nicknamed Purple Passions that may have incapacitated unsuspecting coeds. Compared to other “Animal House” “jock” fraternities, Sig Ep was rather tame, at least in the early 1960s.

In Ticket to Ride: Pennsylvania, I finished second to host Jef Halberstadt, playing too cautiously.  Had I taken 2 more Pennsylvania Railroad stocks rather than the Erie line, I’d have won.