A Good Jolly

“A good jolly is worth what you pay for it.” George Ade

Ray Boomhower’s “Indiana Originals” contains a chapter on Hoosier’s “warm-hearted satirist” George Ade, mentor to both acerbic Jean Shepherd and fantasist Kurt Vonnegut.  Following in the footsteps of Mark Twain, Ade wrote humorous columns and books about everyday Americans.  His “Fables in Song” bore a resemblance to Shepherd’s semi-fictional tales of the Calumet Regional and certain characters that appear in Vonnegut’s novels.  Like Progressive urban reformer Jacob A, Riis, Ade’s writing career began as a beat reporter for a big city newspaper, in his case the Chicago Morning News.Riis’s big break was scoring a scoop covering a New York City fire.  Ade was the first reporter on the scene following an explosion on the steamer Tioga on the Chicago River on July 11, 1890, caused by naphtha vapor and resulting in at least 26 deaths. 

Boomhower referenced Jazz Age songwriter Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael’s autobiography “Sometimes I Wonder,” the first line of Carmichael’s classic “Stardust.”  Born in Bloomington, Carmichael was named for a circus troupe that stayed at his parents’ home during his mother Lida’s pregnancy.  Lida, whom Hoagy was much closer to than his dad, an electrician, played the piano at home in preparation for dances on the campus of Indiana University as well as at local movie houses.  Carmicael’s mentors included black pianist Reginald DuValle and Bix Beiderbecke (he named a son Hoagy Bix).  In “Indiana Avenue and Beyond,” a history of jazz in Indiana, DuValle’s son, Reginald Jr., recalled that when Hoagy was a young aspiring jazz pianist, he’d sit on their front porch in Indianapolis and listen to his father practicing until he was finally invited in to take lessons. From DuValle Hoagie learned how to improvise and play stride. In turn, once he became famous, Hoagy he would frequently visit the DuValle family when passing through Indianapolis.Carmichael’s repertoire of popular standards included “Up the Lazy River,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “Heart and Soul,” and “The Nearness of You.” He died at age 82 in Rancho Mirage, California.

 son Hoagy Bix with Annie Lennox

At duplicate bridge in Chesterton Charlie Halberstadt and I finished in first place with 62.5 percent, earning each of us .90 of a master point.  Our best hand came when Charlie overcalled a Club by bidding one Diamond.  The opponent to my right bid a Spade, and I passed, having just six points but six Hearts to the Ace Queen.  When Charlie bid 2 Hearts, I jumped to 4 Hearts, causing Charlie to exclaim, “I woke him up.”  He made the bid on the nose, and we were the only pair to be in game. Charlie asked Dottie Hart for the recipe for her snickerdoodle cookies, only he butchered the four-syllable name, causing a caustic rejoinder from the cool octogenarian.  

 John and Karen Fieldhouse in 2016

Next day at Banta Center Charlie and I finished third, scoring 55 percent sitting north-south in a six-table match.  I told John Fieldhouse, who was a chemist for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, that my father had been an industrial chemist for Penn Salt (later Pennwalt Corporation) in Easton, Pennsylvania before being transferred to the company’s Philadelphia executive office.  Like Vic, John had been expected to comply to a strict dress code, even to an extent of wearing white shirt and tie under a lab coat.  Firestone frowned on employee behavior that might reflect badly on the company, similar to the situation with Vic, who even wore the requisite monogrammed polo shirt on the golf course of Manufactures’ Country Club in Fort Washington, PA.  Both traveled often for work, in John’s case to Prescott, Arkansas.  One time his travel agent booked him on a flight to Prescott, Arizona.  A chlorine expert, Vic often went to Paducah, Kentucky. Both secured valuable patents for their respective companies.

 Manufacturers' Golf and County Club clubhouse

Elton John and family, 2015

While the film biopic “Rocketman” had great production numbers, it mostly concentrated on the reasons for Elton John’s admitted drug, alcohol, and sex addiction – a result, according to the screenplay, of feeling unloved and ashamed of his homosexuality, augmented by the temptations and insecurities endemic to his profession. The triumphant final number, “I’m Still Standing,” follows the singer’s long stint in rehab going to group therapy and precedes mention that Elton has been drug and alcohol free for 28 years, happily married to Canadian filmmaker David Furnish, and the father of two boys, Zachary and Elijah, born to a surrogate.

The U.S. women’s soccer team slaughtered Thailand 13-0, including a half-dozen goals in the waning minutes, celebrating each like it was the winning shot, jumping on each other’s backs and shimmying on the sidelines – the wretched excess creating an international backlash.  The rout reminded me of Phil’s soccer team beating Lew Wallace by a similar score, only the boys acted more maturely rather than rubbing it in.  Phil took exception to my original characterization of the women’s behavior as disgusting, pointing out that rules prevent more than two substitutions and a World Cup goal is more momentous than a high school feat.

The White Sox raised eyebrows by distributing commemorative t-shirts to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Disco Demolition riot that took place between games of a doubleheader, causing the nightcap to be forfeited due to fan hooliganism.  Among other things, some hard rock purists tossed albums like frisbees at Tiger players and dug up sod as souvenirs, rendering the field unplayable. 

The St. Louis Blues won their first ever Stanley Cup upsetting the favored Boston Bruins, who dominated the first period only to find themselves down 2-0 after 20 minutes.  A day later, the Toronto Raptors won their first NBA title over defending champ Golden State after both Kevin Durant and Trey Thompson were badly injured attempting to play hurt.  All in all, plenty of grist for the sports talk radio mill.  For a true fan, nothing beats that first championship.  I still recall where I was when Bobby Clarke and the Flyers beat the Bruins in 1974, the Phillies won the World Series in 1980, and the Cubs in 2016.

 Charlotte Cushman

In the “New Books” section of Chesterton library I discovered the “young people edition” of Michael Bronski’s “A Queer History of the United States.”  According toTime, what mainly got expunged were graphic photos and written depictions of sex acts.   For example, sodomy was defined not in terms of oral stimulation or anal penetration but as intercourse of some sort between two people of the same sex – misleading since fellatio and cunnilingus performed between males and females were also criminalized under sodomy laws. In a chapter titled “Nineteenth-Century Romantic Friendships: BFFs or Friends with Benefits?” the author leaves the posed question unanswered, concluding that such relationships may or may not have included sex, we have no way of knowing in most cases.  He examines George Washington’s relationship with General Lafayette to demonstrate that an intimate bond need not be a a “queer” one, consummated sexually.

Bronski’s chapter on acclaimed mid-19th century tragic actress Charlotte Cushman, titled “American Idol, Lover of Women,” leaves no doubt that the thespian was a practicing lesbian. Cushman’s lovers included African-American Sallie Mercer, British journalist Matilda Mary Hays, sculptor Emma Stebbins, and paramour Emma Crowe, to whom she wrote:

 Ah, what delirium is in the memory. Every nerve in me thrills as I look back and feel you in my arms, held to my breast so closely, so entirely mine in every sense as I was yours. Ah, my very sweet, very precious, full, full of ecstasy.

Bronski leaves out intimate details of orifices explored and erogenous zones aroused, but each relationship was stormy, filled with agony as well as sexual climax, but long-lasting despite not being monogamous.  At Charlotte’s death bed, Bronski writes, were Emma Stebbins, Emma Crowe, nephew Edward, and Sallie Mercer.

Charlotte Cushman, friends with President Abraham Lincoln and rich and powerful cosmopolitan New Yorkers of her day, had a fondness for men’s attire and often played male roles, such as Romeo in the Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.”  She was most famous for her role as ambitious Lady Macbeth, who, like Romeo, took her own life.  After Cushman’s death of pneumonia in 1876 at age 59, Reverend W.H.H. Murray delivered this eulogy: “She was a Samson and Ruth in one. In her the strength of the masculine and the tenderness of the feminine nature were blended.  She seemed to stand complete in nature, with the finest qualities of either sex.”  As Hoosier humorist George Ade would have put it, she had a gay old time and plenty of good jollies for which she must have deemed the price paid worth it.

 Charlotte Cushman as Meg in "Merrilees"

George Ade wrote: “After being turned down by numerous publishers, he had decided to write for posterity.”  I self-publish my musings and write primarily for posterity.  For an end-of-the-week “good jolly” I might smoke out, watched a couple episodes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and put on “Living Mirage,” the new Head and the Heart CD found in the library’s “New Acquisitions” section. Missed Connection” contains these lines:

Don't tell me I lost a step
Criss-crossed in the wrong direction

Phil also discovered the new Head and the Heart album and likes the track titled “Running Through Hell.”  It begins:

Well you know those times
When you feel like there's a sign there on your back
Says I don't mind if ya kick me
Seems like everybody has

The song advises:

If you're going through Hell
Keep on going, don't slow down
If you're scared, don't show it
You might get out

         Before the devil even knows you're there

Dave is sore from participating in a softball doubleheader, subbing for a team he used to play on. He wondered at what age I retired (56 was the answer, but I spent my later career on the mound). Dave went four for four in the opener and made a diving stop of a ground ball but was spent by the second game and may have pulled a hamstring.  It was at Hidden Lake, the same field in Merrillville where I pulled a “hammy” at his age attempting to break up a double-play on a hard-hit grounder to short. I recovered and played for several more seasons on a team put together by Dave and Kevin Horn.

On the cover of Timeis Bernie Sanders, whom Toni has not forgiven for challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016. There are articles on “Late Show” starring Emma Thompson and the appearance of Meryl Streep in the second season of the HBO series “Little Big Lies.” The role of a passive-aggressive mother-in-law was tailor-made for Streep.