"Yeah I'm sorry, I can't afford a Ferrari,
But that don't mean I can't get you there.
I guess he's an Xbox and I'm more Atari,
But the way you play your game ain't fair.”
Cee-Lo Green
Tuesday I had lunch with cafeteria regular Alan Lindmark, about to retire but pledging to return occasionally. I got into a discussion with Jean Poulard, who admitted using a test question asking students to explain why JFK’s foreign policy was a fiasco. I argued that if Kennedy had taken the actions Poulard advocated in Cuba, Berlin, and Vietnam, it could easily have led to a nuclear war. Comparing him to Reagan, I concluded that while Kennedy used combative rhetoric at times due to political realities, his main accomplishment was to prevent the Cold War from escalating into war between the superpowers. In fact, after the 1962 missile crisis he took steps to move haltingly toward détente with Nikita Khrushchev.
A Ray Smock essay on the History Hews Network website entitled “Newt Gingrich the Galactic Historian” mentioned Newt’s fascination with Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” trilogy and suggests that protagonist and psycho-historian Hari Seldon is his role model. The articles generated many responses, including this one that Ray particularly liked: “This article settles it, there is N.O.T.H.I.N.G. conservative about Newt Gingrich, he is just a power hungry totalitarian unprincipled fruitcake who will make life hell if elected just as sure as any 20th century communist or fascist dictator would.” I emailed Ray: “Thanks to you, I have spent hours on the HNN website, including perusing the considerable reaction to your piece. Michael Lowry said it well, calling Newt a pandering hypocrite who nonetheless has two useful political skills, the inability to feel shame and the ability to speak confidently even while uttering obvious falsehoods.”
I sent Vice Chancellor David Malik a proposal to fund Steel Shavings in return for my contributions to the Calumet Regional Archives. I wrote: “Since our conversation on making Steel Shavings magazine self-sustaining, I have been mulling over various options. The best course, I believe, would be to set up a fund within the Steel Shavings account to cover publications, travel, research, and special events. The cost, $11,000 (a sum equal to a single Summer Faculty Fellowship), would not only cover publication costs of future magazine issues (that’s where the lion’s share of the money would go) but allow for other activities associated with the Archives, including new outreach initiatives. In return for obtaining the funding, I would continue to serve as unpaid co-director of the Calumet Regional Archives, assisting researchers, collecting “treasures” (as Steve McShane refers to acquisitions), planning special events (such as bringing speakers to campus who have published books about the history of Northwest Indiana), and doing other useful tasks as befits my expertise as a regional historian. Since Steve McShane is the Steel Shavings account manager (21-601-72), he would oversee the expenditures, as could others in the chain of command, including the librarian and the campus chief financial officer. Even though I will be eligible next year to earn money for my services to the university, I believe this to be a better course than my requesting compensation for activities in connection with the magazine and the Archives. One way to proceed would be to allocate a one-time funding that would allow publication of volume 42 in the Steel Shavings series and then assess whether to include the item in future annual budgets. In addition, by not allocating the funds to me personally, the way is open for a successor to eventually become the editor of the magazine.”
Wearing to IUN’s Holiday Party an IUN polo shirt from when I worked the Porter County fair, I splashed much gravy on my turkey, mashed potatoes, and filling, had two cups of un-spiked egg nog, and chatted with retired professors Leroy Peterson and Mike Certa, among others. A deejay was blasted music at a volume that made conversation difficult, but I liked the selections and folks were line dancing. Immediately following “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” came Cee-Lo Green’s “Forget You.” I listened closely when it came on to see whether it was the x-rated version. JoAnn Hurak, who used to work for Purchasing, hadn’t heard that they phased out her office in favor of a centralized, all campus system. Her granddaughter used to live across from us at Maple Place, and both dogs that used to bark all night when she wasn’t home have since died. She mentioned getting a phone call from her old boss Murray Taylor from a nursing home but he hung up before she could get his address or phone number.
DeeDee Ige and Vernon Smith want me to be on a committee to study how to enhance IUN’s image within the Gary community. I’m happy to oblige. There was a time years ago when the administration sought to downplay being in Gary, but that hasn’t been the case for some time. Maybe I can push having an event honoring Thelma Marshall and bringing in Gregg Andrews, the author of the Thyra J. Edwards book.
Watched my teammates win game one in bowling and then at home put on the end of the Maryland basketball game. They beat Florida International, coached by former IU star Isaiah Thomas. Then I switched to the Blackhawks, who won an overtime shootout with Minnesota thanks to their young duo of Toews and Kane.
On Facebook Sam Barnett wrote: “The paper of this student who always reeks of cigarettes reeks of cigarettes. This one is staying at work tonight. My clothes reek so much after bowling that I keep my jacket in the garage and immediately strip down and throw my clothes in the laundry room.
Niece Andrea has invited me to come to the Big Island of Hawaii for a week in early January while she, her husband, and son Joe are there. Tom Dietz is going with me. It should be great.
Among those honored at the Retirement Reception were Alan Lindmark in Chemistry, Ken Schoon in Education, and two longtime staff members and really good people whose positions were phased out, Jan Taylor in Printing Services and Marianne Malyj in Purchasing. Also Donald Young, one of my top ten favorite students is stepping down as a police officer. When I interviewed him for the History of IUN Shavings issue, he praised General Stusies director Bob Lovely, Communication professor DeeDee Ige, and Chief Andy Lazar for their faith in him. He had funny stories about being hazed by veteran officers and interrupting lovers at the outer edges of the parking lots. He was also the first bicycle patrol officer and a really nice fellow. I had intended to say a few remarks about Don, but the program was set up basically to have only one person per retiree speak (although jean Poulard, as usual, got up and went on about how he and Lindmark are best friends despite their political differences). The police lieutenant who talked about Don started with what he said was an Elizabeth Taylor quote to her husband: “I won’t keep you long.” I told Marianne afterwards that I still recall fondly her singing “Taking Care of Business” at pro-Business Division Chancellor Dan Orescanin’s retirement roast.
John Davies presided over the annual Legends induction at the Welcome Center that honored four Medal of Honor recipients, four Nobel Prize winners, and the Jacksons. On the program to explain the selection process and then to describe why the Jackson Five were worthy of being inducted, Steve McShane introduced me as the area’s preeminent historian. Nice. On hand was the widow of Emilio De La Garza, who died in Vietnam and the brother of another Medal of Honor winner Danny Bruce. IUN Business professor Steve Dunphy did a good job talking about the four Nobel Prize winners, including biochemist Ferid Murad, born in Whiting, whose work with nitric oxide led to the marketing of Viagra. Thanks to Harry Vande Velde, of the Legacy Foundation, an excellent book about the all the Legends on the Wall has been produced for fourth graders. I took home two of them for the grandkids to take to their school.
Showing posts with label Alan Lindmark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alan Lindmark. Show all posts
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Oral Histories
Interviewed Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez Monday for a book we’re doing. He loves the political process and is a great storyteller. His latest efforts are on behalf of his nephew Alex Dominguez, who is a candidate for circuit court judge in the wake of Judge Lorenzo Arredondo’s impending retirement. In recent weeks Dominguez has buried the hatchet with three former political enemies and is positioning himself to have Lake County Democrats united behind him should he decide to run for governor in 2012.
Because a search is underway for a new chancellor at IUN, talk at the faculty lunch table revolved around the two candidates (one is an Irish historian) and some of our past leaders. I recalled saying at a roast for Danilo Orescanin that his attributes included a firm handshake, an ability to hold his liquor, and (to paraphrase John Petalas) “the best line of bullshit I’ve ever heard.” Orescanin, I think, took that as a compliment. Orescanin was one of the few administrators that Chemistry professor Alan Lindmark liked, and he commented that he had read that characterization of Dan in my and Kern’s history of the university. I told him I was flattered that he had read it. My main role, in addition to being chief editor, was to do oral histories. One of the best was with Donald Young, a Labor Studies student as well as a campus policeman. He talked about catching people making out at night in the parking lot as well as other indoor places such as darkened classrooms and far reaches of the library.
Yesterday I conducted another interview in connection with an oral history of IU’s FACET program rewarding excellence in teaching. Sociologist Tanice Foltz agreed to let me and audio/visual technician Aaron Pigars and Tome Trajkovski came to her office between classes for the taping. Aaron manned two cameras because the room was too small for a second person. Tanice was excellent and quite demonstrative, getting up from her chair on several occasions to act out dances she did at FACET workshops and a talent show. At one point she mentioned that my longish hair and frilly, multicolored shirt indicated that I was telling people that spiritually I’m cool, like an old hippie.
Because a search is underway for a new chancellor at IUN, talk at the faculty lunch table revolved around the two candidates (one is an Irish historian) and some of our past leaders. I recalled saying at a roast for Danilo Orescanin that his attributes included a firm handshake, an ability to hold his liquor, and (to paraphrase John Petalas) “the best line of bullshit I’ve ever heard.” Orescanin, I think, took that as a compliment. Orescanin was one of the few administrators that Chemistry professor Alan Lindmark liked, and he commented that he had read that characterization of Dan in my and Kern’s history of the university. I told him I was flattered that he had read it. My main role, in addition to being chief editor, was to do oral histories. One of the best was with Donald Young, a Labor Studies student as well as a campus policeman. He talked about catching people making out at night in the parking lot as well as other indoor places such as darkened classrooms and far reaches of the library.
Yesterday I conducted another interview in connection with an oral history of IU’s FACET program rewarding excellence in teaching. Sociologist Tanice Foltz agreed to let me and audio/visual technician Aaron Pigars and Tome Trajkovski came to her office between classes for the taping. Aaron manned two cameras because the room was too small for a second person. Tanice was excellent and quite demonstrative, getting up from her chair on several occasions to act out dances she did at FACET workshops and a talent show. At one point she mentioned that my longish hair and frilly, multicolored shirt indicated that I was telling people that spiritually I’m cool, like an old hippie.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Culinary Arts
Went out to eat this past weekend more times than in an average month. On Thursday granddaughter Rebecca called to invite us to help celebrate her being named student of the month. At first she wanted to go to Cici’s Pizza buffet but then decided she wanted ribs, so we went to Longhorn Steak House near Portage’s Bass Pro Shop. I was expecting peanut shells on the floor, but Longhorn’s was quite classy, and my 18-ounce steak was delicious and so plentiful I had leftovers enough for lunch the next two days.
On Saturday evening son Dave was honored at a banquet sponsored by the LakeShore Chamber of Commerce (formed as a result of a merger between the Hammond and East Chicago’s chambers) and held at the Horseshoe Casino’s ballroom (the Venue). It was my first visit to a Northwest Indiana “boat” and to get to the Venue we passed through very crowded gaming rooms (there might be a recession going on but you’d never know it, at least this Saturday evening). There was an open bar, and we were seated at a table next to Hammond teacher of the year Allen Bild, a friendly fellow who teaches Culinary Arts at the Hammond Career Center (formerly Hammond Tech). Also at our table were Purdue Calumet chancellor Howard Cohen and his wife, who were very pleasant and sociable. Dave had been interviewed on tape previously, and when the winners of the awards (policemen and firemen were also honored), they played excerpts from the interviews on a big screen. It was quite impressive. After dinner a 10-piece band played dance music and during their breaks a deejay put on songs that lent themselves to people doing the electric slide and whatever else is presently in vogue.
Toni’s birthday falls on Valentine’s Day, and she usually prefers not venturing out among the throngs but I talked her into going to The Bistro in Valparaiso at 4 p.m. with Dave and Angie. Last year daughter-in-law Beth gave Toni a hundred-dollar Bistro coupon that was due to expire soon, and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the excellent service. The crab cake appetizer was as delicious as the ones at the Miller Bakery Cafe. I had the lamb stroganoff plus various bites of crab cake and steak that Dave and Angie ordered. They got the two-person Valentine’s special, which came with a delicious dessert sampler we all shared. Once again I needed a doggie bag and probably brought home more stroganoff than I consumed, having pigged out on rolls and salad. Toni described to us what a sous chef is. Rather than just some underling who chops and peels, he is second in command to the head chef and in charge of things in the chief honcho's absence. For instance Bakery Cafe chef Gary Sanders might plan the menu and order the ingredients but often lets a sous chef handle on the scene operations. With the recent demise of longtime Miller restaurants Ming Ling and Beach Cafe as well as short-lived ventures Four Four Four and La Dolce Vita the Bakery Cafe has the local fine dining field virtually to itself.
My Nineties Steel Shavings issue, “Shards and Midden Heaps,” contains an article by Daniel Gesmond entitled “Culinary World.” While in high school, the author worked for a catering chef aptly named John Cook. Then he worked at The Spa, my family’s favorite eatery when Phil and Dave were young (especially the Friday buffet with crab legs). While working at the fancy Brio Restaurant at the Blue Chip Casino, Gesmond spent a year as a student at the Chicago Cooking and Hospitality Institute but then gave up his ambition to be a chef, burned out and, as he put it, “sick of smelling like food even after a shower.”
For lunch today the venue was the IU Northwest cafeteria with “the boys.” Geology professor Kristen Huysken joined the table and someone asked her about the 4-point earthquake that many of us felt a few days ago at four in the morning. She said that scientists don't know that much about that particular fault and minor quakes enable them to learn new things. With Biology professor Amy Bishop killing three colleagues at the University of Alabama at Huntsville being the big story in the news, Alan Lindmark made a joke about professors shooting colleagues who deny them tenure. Last year Mondays usually featured tacos, but today I went with the chicken salad and bread. Reminds me of the LBJ quote: “Gentlemen, I may not know much, but I know chicken shit from chicken salad.” He also said that in politics, “overnight chicken shit can turn into chicken salad.” Unlike JFK, whose salty language usually referenced sexual activities, LBJ’s preferred words that referred to bathroom functions.
English professor Alan Barr teaches a film class and invites the faculty to view the Monday film, which today was the 1967 film “Belle de Jour” directed by Luis Brunuel and starring the great Catherine Deneuve. The title literally means “daylight beauty” and is the name of a flower, a morning glory, that only blooms in the daytime. It’s about Severine, a mixed up married woman who has masochistic nightmares and goes to work as a prostitute afternoons from two to five, calling herself Belle de Jour. In a flashback it appears that the woman was molested as a child and associates sex with sin. French movies usually go over my head, and this one was no exception. One man takes her to his estate, has her get into a coffin dressed as his dead wife, and afterwards a servant kicks her out in the rain. While in the brother Severine meets a young gangster who seems to cure her of her frigidity but then in a possessive rage shoots her husband. Young and sexy in this movie, Deneuve was still sexy 25 years later in the classic movie “Indochine,” scenes of which I used to show in my Vietnam War class.
Alan wrote a question on the board that students were expected to answer by Wednesday. It had to do with how the director used Deneuve’s body parts and clothing symbolically. In the course of being a prostitute she went from being reluctant to disrobe to stripping without a second thought. Similarly, once she starts getting comfortable with sex she literally lets her prim and proper hair down. There isn’t any frontal nudity (had the movie been made a year or two later it would have been de rigeur), but we see Deneuve’s ass as she walks to get into the duke’s coffin in a see-through outfit. In the film’s most shocking scene, the duke’s servant throws her out into the rain as if she were a lowlife slut, messing up her carefully made up face and hair.
News flash: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh just announced he won't run for another term as Senator in the fall. Is he scared of the Republicans or what? He blames a "dysfunctional Congress." Former Senator Dan Coats recently announced he'd run as a Republican but has lived out of state for several years. Bayh looked unbeatable, but then so did his dad 30 years ago when Dan Quayle defeated him. The timing of the announcement is suspicious. Would-be Democratic candidates now only have a very short time 24 hours - to gather 500 signatures from all of Indiana's Congressional districts, otherwise the party's central committee will select the nominee. Bayh might have done it with a successor in mind for the central committee to rubber stamp.
On Saturday evening son Dave was honored at a banquet sponsored by the LakeShore Chamber of Commerce (formed as a result of a merger between the Hammond and East Chicago’s chambers) and held at the Horseshoe Casino’s ballroom (the Venue). It was my first visit to a Northwest Indiana “boat” and to get to the Venue we passed through very crowded gaming rooms (there might be a recession going on but you’d never know it, at least this Saturday evening). There was an open bar, and we were seated at a table next to Hammond teacher of the year Allen Bild, a friendly fellow who teaches Culinary Arts at the Hammond Career Center (formerly Hammond Tech). Also at our table were Purdue Calumet chancellor Howard Cohen and his wife, who were very pleasant and sociable. Dave had been interviewed on tape previously, and when the winners of the awards (policemen and firemen were also honored), they played excerpts from the interviews on a big screen. It was quite impressive. After dinner a 10-piece band played dance music and during their breaks a deejay put on songs that lent themselves to people doing the electric slide and whatever else is presently in vogue.
Toni’s birthday falls on Valentine’s Day, and she usually prefers not venturing out among the throngs but I talked her into going to The Bistro in Valparaiso at 4 p.m. with Dave and Angie. Last year daughter-in-law Beth gave Toni a hundred-dollar Bistro coupon that was due to expire soon, and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the excellent service. The crab cake appetizer was as delicious as the ones at the Miller Bakery Cafe. I had the lamb stroganoff plus various bites of crab cake and steak that Dave and Angie ordered. They got the two-person Valentine’s special, which came with a delicious dessert sampler we all shared. Once again I needed a doggie bag and probably brought home more stroganoff than I consumed, having pigged out on rolls and salad. Toni described to us what a sous chef is. Rather than just some underling who chops and peels, he is second in command to the head chef and in charge of things in the chief honcho's absence. For instance Bakery Cafe chef Gary Sanders might plan the menu and order the ingredients but often lets a sous chef handle on the scene operations. With the recent demise of longtime Miller restaurants Ming Ling and Beach Cafe as well as short-lived ventures Four Four Four and La Dolce Vita the Bakery Cafe has the local fine dining field virtually to itself.
My Nineties Steel Shavings issue, “Shards and Midden Heaps,” contains an article by Daniel Gesmond entitled “Culinary World.” While in high school, the author worked for a catering chef aptly named John Cook. Then he worked at The Spa, my family’s favorite eatery when Phil and Dave were young (especially the Friday buffet with crab legs). While working at the fancy Brio Restaurant at the Blue Chip Casino, Gesmond spent a year as a student at the Chicago Cooking and Hospitality Institute but then gave up his ambition to be a chef, burned out and, as he put it, “sick of smelling like food even after a shower.”
For lunch today the venue was the IU Northwest cafeteria with “the boys.” Geology professor Kristen Huysken joined the table and someone asked her about the 4-point earthquake that many of us felt a few days ago at four in the morning. She said that scientists don't know that much about that particular fault and minor quakes enable them to learn new things. With Biology professor Amy Bishop killing three colleagues at the University of Alabama at Huntsville being the big story in the news, Alan Lindmark made a joke about professors shooting colleagues who deny them tenure. Last year Mondays usually featured tacos, but today I went with the chicken salad and bread. Reminds me of the LBJ quote: “Gentlemen, I may not know much, but I know chicken shit from chicken salad.” He also said that in politics, “overnight chicken shit can turn into chicken salad.” Unlike JFK, whose salty language usually referenced sexual activities, LBJ’s preferred words that referred to bathroom functions.
English professor Alan Barr teaches a film class and invites the faculty to view the Monday film, which today was the 1967 film “Belle de Jour” directed by Luis Brunuel and starring the great Catherine Deneuve. The title literally means “daylight beauty” and is the name of a flower, a morning glory, that only blooms in the daytime. It’s about Severine, a mixed up married woman who has masochistic nightmares and goes to work as a prostitute afternoons from two to five, calling herself Belle de Jour. In a flashback it appears that the woman was molested as a child and associates sex with sin. French movies usually go over my head, and this one was no exception. One man takes her to his estate, has her get into a coffin dressed as his dead wife, and afterwards a servant kicks her out in the rain. While in the brother Severine meets a young gangster who seems to cure her of her frigidity but then in a possessive rage shoots her husband. Young and sexy in this movie, Deneuve was still sexy 25 years later in the classic movie “Indochine,” scenes of which I used to show in my Vietnam War class.
Alan wrote a question on the board that students were expected to answer by Wednesday. It had to do with how the director used Deneuve’s body parts and clothing symbolically. In the course of being a prostitute she went from being reluctant to disrobe to stripping without a second thought. Similarly, once she starts getting comfortable with sex she literally lets her prim and proper hair down. There isn’t any frontal nudity (had the movie been made a year or two later it would have been de rigeur), but we see Deneuve’s ass as she walks to get into the duke’s coffin in a see-through outfit. In the film’s most shocking scene, the duke’s servant throws her out into the rain as if she were a lowlife slut, messing up her carefully made up face and hair.
News flash: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh just announced he won't run for another term as Senator in the fall. Is he scared of the Republicans or what? He blames a "dysfunctional Congress." Former Senator Dan Coats recently announced he'd run as a Republican but has lived out of state for several years. Bayh looked unbeatable, but then so did his dad 30 years ago when Dan Quayle defeated him. The timing of the announcement is suspicious. Would-be Democratic candidates now only have a very short time 24 hours - to gather 500 signatures from all of Indiana's Congressional districts, otherwise the party's central committee will select the nominee. Bayh might have done it with a successor in mind for the central committee to rubber stamp.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Northwest Phoenix Article
Adam Hazlett, a reporter for the IU Northwest student newspaper, the Northwest Phoenix, did a feature article on the autograph party and pep rally. A photo of me singing the chorus of “Surrender,” with drummer John in the background (son Dave was jealous), is captioned, “Jim Lane joins Jimbo’s Jammers for a jam session in the Savannah Center lobby.” I was pleased at how the article emphasized that it was a History Club function and that there were quotes from club president Heather Hollister, who mentioned being pleased with the turnout of people inquiring about club functions, and secretary Sabrina Atchley, who said, “This party is pretty poppin’” and that "we are here to support Dr. Lane." The article started out, “For Dr. Jim Lane, retirement is a flexible condition.” Several people on campus commented on the article, including CETL director Charlotte Reed, who, based on the photo, asked if I were a member of the band. Also in the Phoenix issue was an article about the Women’s Clothesline Project that Anne Balay helped organize, which has been on display in the student union and movingly bears witness to violence against women. Anne is quoted as saying that designing the t-shirts was an emotional experience and that sometimes students started crying while doing it.
Lunched with cafeteria Monday regulars, including Jim Tolhuizen, George Bodmer, Alan Lindmark, Ray Fontaine, and Michelle Stokely, who on the way back to our offices mentioned that she is working on an article about a Kiowa Indian tribal calendar. Many in the nineteenth century were done on buffalo hide. Almost all have some depiction of the 1833 meteor shower that lit up the sky – in fact, that is a key way experts can date them. Michelle and Ray are very well versed in Native American lore. A week ago when Political Scientist Jean Poulard was claiming that our culture was superior to others and citing religious toleration as a key reason, Michelle mentioned that Native Americans didn’t have freedom of religion until 1975. The subject of fishing came up, and I mentioned that our furnace man Chuck returned from a Tennessee River fishing trip in Alabama with bags of croppies and blue catfish for us. That led to the subject of noodling, catching catfish with one's bare hand, which is popular in Oklahoma and elsewhere in the South. Had never heard the term before.
Sent a copy of Sam Barnett’s AREA Chicago article to Senate Historian (and Maryland grad school buddy) Don Ritchie, who replied, “Thanks, many a night I did homework while listening to Jean Shepherd on WOR radio in NYC. He always had a breathless way of storytelling. I enjoyed your interview. You and I are reaching the fossil stage of life where young historians come to interview us!” I also sent Sam’s interview to IU history professor John Bodnar, whose book “The Transplanted” was a major influence on how I examine the immigrant experience. I’m also hoping Bodnar will take a look at Sheriff Dominguez’s autobiography, which I have been working on for six months and is just about done. Bodnar wrote an excellent introduction to Ray and Trish Arredondo’s book “Maria’s Journey,” due out in the spring.
Interviewed Vice Chancellor David Malik, who is also director of the FACET program on teaching excellence. Tome Trajkovski brought his assistant, Aaron Pigors, along, so one camera was trained on Malik and the other on me. Malik was especially interesting talking about teachers having to imagine what goes on in their classrooms from a student’s point of view and things done at a retreat he planned that simulated teachers being in students’ shoes. He also mentioned that he would write personal letters to bright students who had done well in his Chemistry course encouraging them to pursue that discipline and how surprised and gratified students were to hear from him that way. Afterwards Malik talked about the great MAC computer he’d ordered for my use, and I told him I’d “earn” it. One idea is to put excerpts of interviews on the FACET newsletter. He also invited me and a cameraman to the spring retreat, where we could do interviews with a variety of people and videotape some of the events.
Received in the mail from Salem Press my second choice of books to review, journalist Clay Risen's “A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination.” My first choice had been “Daughters of Aquarius: Women of the Sixties Counterculture.” Perhaps in anticipation of it coming I finished Richard Russo’s novel “That Old Cape Magic.” It is about a troubled marriage but has moments of high comedy and some unforgettable characters, including Jack the protagonist’s moronic jarhead twin brothers-in-law Jared and Jason. The main character is an English professor whose parents were also academicians who resented the fact that they were stuck at a state university in Indiana. The most endearing characters are Korean-American Sunny Kim, who has a crush on Jack's daughter (Jason and Jared take it upon themselves to loosen him up), and hot-to-trot Marguerite, who Jack meets at one wedding and takes to his daughter's wedding a year later while separated from his wife.
Risen’s “A Nation on Fire” starts with this quote from former Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz’s “The Dark and the Fair”: “We learn, as the thread plays out, that we belong less to what flatters us than to what scars.” In the index I found three references to the city of Gary, Indiana. The first mentions Mayor Richard Hatcher attending a crisis meeting with Lyndon Johnson at the White House, along with other Black leaders (Hatcher told me the whole time he was anxious to get back to Gary). Next Risen mentions that in those cities like Gary where major racial disturbances didn’t occur “competent antiriot mechanisms [were] in place and [Hatcher] made the point of showing [himself] in the streets as soon as possible” (the Mayor also enlisted the help of members of the state championship Roosevelt High School basketball team). Then, contradicting himself, Risen alleges that Hatcher cancelled plans to attend the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr., “because of renewed rioting in his city.” Instead of “renewed rioting” Risen should have said something like “the threat of rioting.” In his prologue Risen laments the paucity of books that discuss the aftermath of King’s assassination. One excellent study, however, is Ray Boomhower’s “Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary.” RFK, of course, was in Indianapolis when he told a shocked crowd of King’s death and appealed for compassion in the face of bloodshed. Perhaps in part for this reason. Indianapolis also escaped a race riot.
Lunched with cafeteria Monday regulars, including Jim Tolhuizen, George Bodmer, Alan Lindmark, Ray Fontaine, and Michelle Stokely, who on the way back to our offices mentioned that she is working on an article about a Kiowa Indian tribal calendar. Many in the nineteenth century were done on buffalo hide. Almost all have some depiction of the 1833 meteor shower that lit up the sky – in fact, that is a key way experts can date them. Michelle and Ray are very well versed in Native American lore. A week ago when Political Scientist Jean Poulard was claiming that our culture was superior to others and citing religious toleration as a key reason, Michelle mentioned that Native Americans didn’t have freedom of religion until 1975. The subject of fishing came up, and I mentioned that our furnace man Chuck returned from a Tennessee River fishing trip in Alabama with bags of croppies and blue catfish for us. That led to the subject of noodling, catching catfish with one's bare hand, which is popular in Oklahoma and elsewhere in the South. Had never heard the term before.
Sent a copy of Sam Barnett’s AREA Chicago article to Senate Historian (and Maryland grad school buddy) Don Ritchie, who replied, “Thanks, many a night I did homework while listening to Jean Shepherd on WOR radio in NYC. He always had a breathless way of storytelling. I enjoyed your interview. You and I are reaching the fossil stage of life where young historians come to interview us!” I also sent Sam’s interview to IU history professor John Bodnar, whose book “The Transplanted” was a major influence on how I examine the immigrant experience. I’m also hoping Bodnar will take a look at Sheriff Dominguez’s autobiography, which I have been working on for six months and is just about done. Bodnar wrote an excellent introduction to Ray and Trish Arredondo’s book “Maria’s Journey,” due out in the spring.
Interviewed Vice Chancellor David Malik, who is also director of the FACET program on teaching excellence. Tome Trajkovski brought his assistant, Aaron Pigors, along, so one camera was trained on Malik and the other on me. Malik was especially interesting talking about teachers having to imagine what goes on in their classrooms from a student’s point of view and things done at a retreat he planned that simulated teachers being in students’ shoes. He also mentioned that he would write personal letters to bright students who had done well in his Chemistry course encouraging them to pursue that discipline and how surprised and gratified students were to hear from him that way. Afterwards Malik talked about the great MAC computer he’d ordered for my use, and I told him I’d “earn” it. One idea is to put excerpts of interviews on the FACET newsletter. He also invited me and a cameraman to the spring retreat, where we could do interviews with a variety of people and videotape some of the events.
Received in the mail from Salem Press my second choice of books to review, journalist Clay Risen's “A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination.” My first choice had been “Daughters of Aquarius: Women of the Sixties Counterculture.” Perhaps in anticipation of it coming I finished Richard Russo’s novel “That Old Cape Magic.” It is about a troubled marriage but has moments of high comedy and some unforgettable characters, including Jack the protagonist’s moronic jarhead twin brothers-in-law Jared and Jason. The main character is an English professor whose parents were also academicians who resented the fact that they were stuck at a state university in Indiana. The most endearing characters are Korean-American Sunny Kim, who has a crush on Jack's daughter (Jason and Jared take it upon themselves to loosen him up), and hot-to-trot Marguerite, who Jack meets at one wedding and takes to his daughter's wedding a year later while separated from his wife.
Risen’s “A Nation on Fire” starts with this quote from former Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz’s “The Dark and the Fair”: “We learn, as the thread plays out, that we belong less to what flatters us than to what scars.” In the index I found three references to the city of Gary, Indiana. The first mentions Mayor Richard Hatcher attending a crisis meeting with Lyndon Johnson at the White House, along with other Black leaders (Hatcher told me the whole time he was anxious to get back to Gary). Next Risen mentions that in those cities like Gary where major racial disturbances didn’t occur “competent antiriot mechanisms [were] in place and [Hatcher] made the point of showing [himself] in the streets as soon as possible” (the Mayor also enlisted the help of members of the state championship Roosevelt High School basketball team). Then, contradicting himself, Risen alleges that Hatcher cancelled plans to attend the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr., “because of renewed rioting in his city.” Instead of “renewed rioting” Risen should have said something like “the threat of rioting.” In his prologue Risen laments the paucity of books that discuss the aftermath of King’s assassination. One excellent study, however, is Ray Boomhower’s “Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary.” RFK, of course, was in Indianapolis when he told a shocked crowd of King’s death and appealed for compassion in the face of bloodshed. Perhaps in part for this reason. Indianapolis also escaped a race riot.
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