Competition

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation,” Plato

Dawn Knight, IU football star George Taliaferro’s biographer, writes that the Gary neighborhood where he grew up, the 2800 block of Madison was integrated and that Serbian friends would have pig roasts where everyone would bring a side dish.  Nonetheless, George went to an all-black school, Roosevelt, and until his junior year the football team was not allowed to compete against white schools.  Track and field was OK because it was not a “contact sport.”  The football team had to play schools in Chicago, Indianapolis, Evansville, and as far south as Tuskegee Alabama.  The summer between his junior and senior year, with World War II creating demand for steel and a labor shortage, Taliaferro worked in a steel mill alongside his father.  He talked of quitting school, but his dad would not permit it.  In four years at Roosevelt he earned 16 sports letters. 

An All-American at IU, Taliferro in 1945 led the Hoosiers, coached by Bo McMillan, to their only undefeated season. During his college career, interrupted by a year of military service, the versatile tailback led the team in rushing, passing, and punting.  The first African American selected in an NFL draft, he made the Pro Bowl three times and played for four different teams, ending his stellar career with the Philadelphia Eagles. Tony Dungy wrote the Foreword to Knight’s book in 2007.  He was coach of the Indianapolis Colts at the time and claimed Taliaferro was an inspiration to him.  Knight mentions that IU trustee Ora Wildermuth opposed integrating contact sports teams but that President Herman Wells wanted to end Jim Crow practices on campus, which heretofore had excluded them from living in the dorms, using the dining facilities or swimming pools or being part of the compulsory ROTC program on the pretext that they had flat feet.

above, George Taliaferro; below, Carson Cunningham

Chancellor Lowe returned Carson Cunningham’s “Underbelly Hoops” that I had loaned him.  When I first read it, I missed a section in the back mentioning what happened to some of his teammates.  Keith “Boss” Closs sobered up, played recently in the West Coast Basketball League, and hoped to join a team in Australia or China.  In 2011 Ronnie “Rockford” Fields was shooting hoops in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.  Brent “The Baffler” Bailey played in Germany and then Finland.  Only Jamario Moon made the “bigs,” gaining a roster spot briefly with five NBA teams, but most recently was with a minor league franchise, the Quebec Kebs.

A letter in the mail informing me that IUN emeritus faculty will no longer receive parking permits gratis, supposedly because of income tax benefit regulations.  We had been warned that this was coming, but it seems unnecessary and slightly insulting.  Ron Cohen agrees and wrote Chancellor Lowe that he and I remain co-directors of the Calumet Regional Archives and make valuable contribution to the university without compensation.  Hopefully something will come of this so we don’t have to apply for a temporary permit each time we come to campus, which in my case, being unofficial University historian, is most every day.

Rudy Giuliani spoke on campus on the subject of principles leadership.  I didn’t attend.  If I had I would have asked him about his friendship with shock jock Howard Stern.

For my Portage talk in three weeks I’ll make use of Bruce Sawochka’s brief history and oral histories from my Portage Shavings.  Robery Reibly, for instance recalled: “I started working for the police department in July of 1959.  When I left the mill, I was making $8,600.  I started at the police department at $4,850 a year.  We started out in a little building on Central Avenue – five policemen and the chief.  We had materials donated, so we built the building.    We got our first money from Midwest Steel.  They gave us 15 thousand dollars for our first year’s budget.  We bought two 1957 Plymouths, which were a couple years old.  When I left, we had 35 people, not counting clerks and other office personnel.”  It’s the twentieth anniversary of the Portage Historical Society, and organizer Al Goin claims well over a hundred people will be in attendance.

Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly have replaced the iron token with the likeness of a cat after a “Save Tour Token” contest.  Other token that survived include the thimble and wheelbarrow.  The cat beat out a robot and a guitar. The cat will join the Scottie dog among the pieces.

Against the Town Drunks, the Engineers won game one by 122 and lost the next two but held on to series by 30 pins.  Joe Piunti, who calls me “Professor,” said afterwards that it takes a couple pitchers of beer before his team gets started.  After struggling all evening, I replied that it took me longer than that.  Both of us used to have much higher averages, but J.P’s son, Joe, Jr., rolled a 600 series.  Frank Shufran announced that he’s miss next week due to a cataract operation.  I wonder how far down the road that’s in store for me.

In the paper was an announcement that Joseph Stiglitz would be appearing by phone on a WLTH afternoon radio show hosted by Post-Trib reporter Michael Gonzalez.   Jerry Davich got me Gonzalez’s email address and learned that he’ll be doing the interview via phone. I wrote back: “I am very impressed you got in touch with him.  I've been trying to contact him for the past year.  Since I'll be busy tomorrow, will there be a tape made of the show?  We'd love to have a copy for IUN's Calumet Regional Archives.  I'd be happy to give you a copy of my history of Gary in return.  Stiglitz' s dad worked at Gary National Bank as a Travelers Insurance agent; his mother came from a family of New Deal Democrats.  He was valedictorian at Horace Mann and captain of the debating team.  You might ask about memorable teachers he had there.”  On the program Stiglitz talked mainly about his latest book, “The Price of Inequality,” but did mention that he got an excellent education at Horace Mann and had some wonderful teachers.

The Office of Student Life sponsored an “IUN’s Got Talent” Day whose participants ranged from reciters of uplifting poetry to a scatological rapper.  One woman sang a gospel hymn while another read a short story about someone killing her abusing ex-husband.  On hand were a couple recent issues of “Spirits” magazine.  One had an excellent photo by Taylor Jo Thompson entitled “Beauty in the Breakdown” of the ruins of Seaman Hall showing the stage and theater seats; another was a clever drawing entitled “Bethaeny” by Fred McColly’s son Seamus

above, photo by Taylor Jo Thompson; below, drawing by Seamus McColly

Seamus is also the name of the Romney Irish setter forced to ride atop the family car.  Another dog owned by Clare Torry provided vocals of sorts on a Pink Floyd song.  A common Irish name, Seamus (Finnegan) is the name of a half-blood wizard who was friends with Harry Potter.

Sheriff Dominguez invited me for lunch at Obuelo’s in Merrillville, which served great steak fajitas and reminded me of Casa Gallardo, my favorite restaurant until it closed suddenly without warning some 20 years ago.  As we were leaving, Roy spotted Larry Alt, who looked familiar to me.  Formerly head of the Lakeshore Region chapter of the IU Alumni Association, he used to do fundraisers on Channel 56 during timeouts of IU basketball games.  I told him that my son Phil worked for the station then and probably was producer/director for some of those events.

When I arrived at L.A. Nails to get my toenails cut, the manager knew my name.  I guess they don’t get many male customers.  While a comely young Asian woman was ministering to me, Judge Judy was on TV giving the business to a retired teacher who allegedly harassed a meth addict whom he met at a Gentleman’s Club and then hired supposedly to clean his house.  Then it was on to Primary Care to get prescriptions to have my blood medicine refilled.  On their scale I weighed 177 pounds, fully dressed with a fat wallet in my back pocket, a weight I’ve pretty much maintained for years.  My dad, who weighed around 185, would talk about getting down to the 160s.  At one point I was down to 165 in an effort to get rid of the beer belly, but a couple people thought I looked gaunt.

Rockin' in the Free World

“There’s a warnin’ sign
On the road ahead.”
Neil Young

Before I gave the eulogy paying tribute to Bill Neil at IUN’s Faculty Organization, retired historian Fred Chary gaveled the meeting to order and mentioned the cohort of “Young Turks” that Bill hired between 19655 and 1972 – Ron, Paul, Rhiman, Fred, and I - being mainstays of the department for 35 years. Since I was going out afterwards to Three Floyds Brewery in Munster with colleagues Jonathyne Briggs, Jerry Pierce, and Diana Chen-lin, I stayed for the entire meeting. The main agenda item was revising the promotion and tenure guidelines. Alan Barr explained the proposed changes, which included faculty having less recourse to appeal negative committee votes, something Alan said he had opposed in committee. After Barr argued that Research and Teaching are by far the most important component in the process and disparaged certain guidelines in the Academic Handbook, Ken Schoon rebuked him in a passionate appeal to allow faculty to be able to make a case for near excellence in any or all three categories of research, teaching, and service and that the latter is especially important in departments such as Education, SPEA, Business, and Nursing. With the vocal backing of many in the audience he concluded that faculty who won’t follow Handbook guidelines should disqualify themselves from serving on promotion and tenure committees. Schoon, the author of “Calumet Beginnings,” has impeccable research credentials, so his arguments were not self-serving. Still angry about a colleague having been denied tenure despite his obvious worth to the campus, I stifled an impulse to get in my two cents worth. Fortunately an appeal process was available to him.

The reviews for Three Floyds Brewery were either five-star raves (“great beer and food”) or one-star disgust (at the rude waiters and doorman). I’ve heard ads for a service that gets rid of unwanted negative comments about one’s business – Three Floyds should look into it. While our waiter wasn’t exactly friendly, he was efficient. Anne Balay and two other young English lecturers joined us as well as Sociology professor Kevin McElmurry, who lives in Miller and praised realtor Gene Ayers for helping him find a house. Anne mentioned going to last year’s Oral History Association conference in Atlanta and meeting Alessandro Portellli. We sampled each other’s beers, and I had two delicious Alpha Pale Ales. By the time we left the place was packed, with more folks in the lobby and outside waiting for tables. Diana was so sweet to come and so complimentary about the Neil eulogy that I gave her a hug as I left and told her I loved her.

Took a short nap before heading to L.F. Norton’s in Lake Station to hear Dave sing with Blues Cruise, featuring Bruce Sawochka and prodigy named Steve, who wore a Joe Perry “Have Guitar Will Travel t-shirt and clearly relished playing with his former teacher (Bruce) and jamming during a break with Dave on Neil Young songs. Introducing “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Dave said it was one of “my dad’s” favorites and dedicated it to Marianne, whose late husband Tim (“Big Voodoo Daddy”) played a scorching lead guitar on what had been Voodoo Chili’s signature song. Fred McColly graced us with his presence, as did Robert Blaszkiewicz, who works for The Times and is helping me obtain high quality photos of Sheriff Dominguez. He is very impressed with 29 year-old Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic candidate for state treasurer last year who is running for mayor of South Bend. He’s a comer, Robert predicted. I danced with Lorraine Todd-Shearer, Marianne Brush, and Angie and talked with Ken Gagliardi, a Hobart policeman and old classmate of Dave’s who bowled with us in a mixed league (Sunday Night Rowdies) several years ago. On Facebook Lorraine wrote: “Saw the band tonight, great. I need Steve’s last name, he is talented to say the least. Get some Aerosmith in you set list, you can tell that kid wants to let it go!”

Following an exchange of Facebook messages with Lorraine, hubby John Shearer requested that we be friends. I confirmed. Meanwhile a couple dozen others have requested that we be friends, including several people I don’t recognize, but I’ve held off adding them because I send so few Facebook messages. If I didn’t get an email notice that someone had commented about me, I’d almost never check my wall.

Teachers and steelworkers in Indiana and Wisconsin are protesting en masse against proposals by Republican governors to pass right-to-work laws and prohibit collective bargaining by public employees. Old friend Alice Bush, divisional director for SEIU Local 73, was on the cover of The Post-Tribune addressing angry comrades at McBride Hall. “This is an orchestrated effort on the part of the powers that be in this country – a well-placed, well-planned all-out attack on all of us who are working people,” she asserted. Another photo showed a grey-haired, bearded middle age worker identified as Dario Llano. Twenty years ago I had a student by that name who wrote about his father growing up during the Sixties. It has to be either the father or son, I wonder which. Indiana governor Mitch Daniels has been trying to bust teachers unions for years. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker rode to victory three months ago with Tea Party support and his attempts to railroad anti-union legislation into law has caused to Democratic legislators to flee to Illinois to prevent the necessary quorum. Tom Wade is thinking of joining demonstrators at the state capitol in Madison. Talking with Sheriff Dominguez on the phone, I expressed gratitude that he was making common cause with public employees; organized labor will remember those who stood by them in this hour of crisis.

Kids in the “Annie” cast performed a couple songs at Southlake Mall. Because the girl playing “Annie” was in Wisconsin, Rebecca, her understudy, got to be Annie, complete with red wig. During the “Tomorrow” number she was holding a dog on a leash. Right at the end the dog bolted from the stage. Angie posted the performance on Facebook.

Anne Balay wanted to meet gay and lesbian steelworkers at Leroy’s Hot Stuff, so I joined her and three friends Saturday. We listened to the band, C 4, for a bluesy set and then moved to the restaurant side where we could hear each other. I told Anne that I wished the band had played a good rock ‘n’ roll number so we could have danced.

Tom had a good day gaming, winning three of five. My lone victory was in Stone Age by a mere three points. I bought two double hut cards that Tom needed more than I and played a starvation strategy, concentrating on purchasing huts.

Boys Are Back

“Friday night they’ll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino’s bar and grill.”
“Boys Are Back in Town,” Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy is literally coming back to town, Chicago that is. Even though founding member Phil Lynott is dead, two old stalwarts are still around and the word is that they still smoke, having added a member of Def Leppard. “Jailbreak” still gets me going, especially in “Detroit Rock City” when the teenagers break out of school to attend a KISS concert.

Hardworking Savannah Gallery director Ann Fritz launched a new show of Patty Carroll’s work entitled “Anonymous Women.” The colorful pieces look like female shapes shrouded in fabric only they are, I believe, computer generated. I need to examine them more closely. They have interesting titles, something I appreciate.

A relative of Glen and Helene Roames discovered online that the Calumet Regional Archives has 600 pages of their letters in the Carl Krueger Papers written to Helene’s sister Catherine Krueger while in occupied Japan and Korea after World War II. Archives volunteer Maurice Yancy is Xeroxing copies. Catherine and Carl’s son’s wartime letters formed the basis for Steve McShane and my book “Skinning Cats: The Wartime Letters of Tom Krueger.”

Friday night Dave will be playing with Bruce Sawochka’s band Blues Cruise at L.F. Norton’s in Lake Station. I’m urging colleagues to come. We’re going to Three Floyds brewery in Munster following a Faculty Organization meeting where I’ll deliver this eulogy to William M. Neil (1910-2010):

“In 1937, with his family lacking the money to send him away to school, Bill Neil started taking classes at Gary College, the forerunner to IU Northwest, located at Horace Mann High School. Working a day job as a bank messenger, he attended class between seven and nine p.m., and after three years earned an associate degree. At a session of the 2008 Arts and Sciences Research Conference Bill told of meeting Mary, his wife of 65 years, at a Music Club function there. He won a scholarship to the University of Chicago, but a year later WW II interrupted his studies. While serving as a bombardier over occupied Europe, he decided if he got out of the war alive, to pursue a teaching career at the university that had made his higher education possible.

“In 1948, the same year Indiana University took over Gary College, Bill was hired to teach a course at what was then known as IU’s Gary Center, located at the Seaman Hall annex to City Methodist Church in downtown Gary. After he received a PhD from the University of Chicago, he was hired full time. In 1956 he helped draft the first constitution for the Faculty Org and then became its first elected chairman. In an interview Bill recalled the cramped quarters at Seaman Hall: “The library was separated from the student lounge only by steel shelving. Education offered a course on the Elements of Play there, and beanbags used to come sailing over the shelves into the library. We were across from a bookie joint. I’d look out the window and see all these people coming and going.”

“When IUN moved to Glen Park in 1959, Neil became acting director after Jack Buhner went on a two-year sabbatical. During the 1960s Bill built up the History Department to a size greater than today. Starting in 1969 he served as Dean of Faculties for four years before returning to his first love, teaching. He was one among equals in a department dominated by young Turks he himself had hired. Once after he’d used the phrase “follow the yellow brick road” at a meeting, Paul Kern, missing the “Wizard of Oz” reference, said to me, “I’m surprised Bill is familiar with Elton John. He retired in 1985 but was a frequent guest lecturer in Paul and my History classes. He returned to the Faculty Org 11 years ago to deliver a eulogy honoring President Herman B Wells and again last year as part of the festivities “Celebrating Fifty Years” at IU Northwest’s present location. He was a gentleman and a scholar, an avid photographer and gardener, and an inspiration to countless students and colleagues. At a recent memorial service in Valparaiso his children proudly displayed photos of Bill in his WW II uniform, wearing his maroon academic robes, and playing a bagpipe. Bill, you great Scotsman, we miss you.”

At the annual Darwin Day mini-conference put on by the Anthropology Department, I heard David Klamen talk about whether belief in both God and evolution are reconcilable. He gave arguments on both sides and let members of the audience decide for themselves. He made the point that atheists (i.e., David Hawking) and fundamentalists (Moody Bible professors) are in agreement that they are irreconcilable.

Sheriff Dominguez brought a couple boxes of newspaper clippings to the Archives, and we went over last minute additions to his autobiography.

The same team that beat the Engineers a week ago during position round swept us again. We lost game two by five pins; I rolled a 184 and barely missed a double in the tenth. The opposition’s final bowler doubled and then gave the ten-pin the finger when he only had nine on the final ball. Melvin Nelson bowled his best series of the season, 534, but the other team kept stringing strikes and were way above their average.

Traded emails with Karren Lee, who had sent photos of her latest grandchild to her friends. She mentioned that she’ll be reading an excerpt from Simone de Beauvoir at an upcoming Aquatorium event. I wasn’t asked to participate despite the success of my Jean Shepherd reading last year. It takes place the same afternoon as the final performance of “Annie,” so it is just as well. Karren asked how we like Chesterton, and I responded: “We miss Miller, but it was so nice not to be on top of the hill at our old place during all the snow storms. Condo living definitely has its advantages.”

Portage Historical Society

I spoke to about 25-30 members of the Portage Historical Society last evening. First I told them about how Steel Shavings magazine got started (to publish family histories written by IUN students and record other aspects of social life in the Calumet Region). Then I mentioned what went into the Portage issue (volume 20) that came out in 1991, including articles and interviews some of my seminar students did as well as interviews I conducted with politicians Cortie Wilson and William Westergren. I recruited 18 Historical Society members to read quotes from old-timers who had been interviewed by Portage High School students in 1981 about life during World War I and the 1920s. Passing out magazines with the various people’s lines marked with red ink, I told the volunteers they could keep the magazine when we were done, an incentive that apparently worked.

Before the group performance, former student and friend Bruce Sawochka read an excerpt from his article “Portage in Three Stages of Its Growth.” In between the “Pioneer Era” and the “Big Bang Period” starting in the 1950s were the quiet years of farms, villages such as Crisman, McCool and Garyton, and one-room schoolhouses. I got chuckles mentioning that one teacher was also a preacher and closed school on funeral days but then made students make the day up on Saturday. The reading experiment went very well with people almost always talking loud enough and picking up on their cues (I was well organized, having employed this method of shared participation in talks about the city of Gary). When I had run out of male volunteers, Lois Mollick offered to assume the role of Marvin Guernsey and drew laughs when she read his lines with a deep voice. One woman turned out to be the granddaughter of one of the Anderson brothers, Elmer and Walter. Elmer recalled: “I got a job working in the mill before we had the eight-hour day. I worked in the mill nights, and then in the daytime I worked on the farm.”

During the question period I mentioned that I lived in Portage but that my neighborhood, Edgewater, was disappearing because it was within the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. When someone asked about the big slide in Ogden Dunes during the Twenties, I replied that one could read about it in my “Tales of Lake Michigan and the Indiana Dunelands” issue (volume 28). I also got in a plug for Ron Cohen and Steve McShane’s book on South Shore posters, “Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated History of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad” One man said he was thinking about writing a book about stories from his years working at U.S. Steel, and I encouraged him and told him about Richard Dorson’s book “Land of the Millrats” and my Shavings volume (no. 19) on “Steelworkers Tales.”

I had spoken to the group in 2006 when my “Centennial History of Gary” came out. Lois Mollick remembered me and told the group that she had been interviewed by two of my students (excerpts appeared in my Postwar issue “Age of Anxiety” (volume 34). Turns out she and a friend skipped school to see Frank Sinatra sing at a Tolerance concert held at Gary’s Memorial Auditorium during the 1945 Froebel School Strike. Someone else reported seeing Nat King Cole perform with his trio at Memorial Auditorium. I took that opportunity to mention that African-American celebrities often went to Midtown for ribs at Mae’s Louisiana Kitchen but that Roosevelt principal Theo Tatum thought the place to be disreputable and prohibited his teachers from frequenting Mae’s because he thought it would reflect badly on the school’s image.

Afterwards helped myself to some of the many cookies on hand and chatted with Barb Borg-Jenkins, the South Haven librarian who had originally invited me to talk. She had read about Ronald Osgood’s “My Vietnam Your Iraq” documentary on my blog and hopes to purchase a copy after it is completed. Another Historical Society officer told me that her sister had done an article for my “Brothers in Arms” issue. Turned out she was referring to Sherril Tokarski, one of my all-time favorite students, who also wrote about a family grocery store in Glen Park for my 1980s issue (volume 38), “The Uncertainty of Everyday Life.” (the title was fitting, as the store was robbed several times during the decade) As I was leaving, Barb Borg-Jenkins said, “Come back any time.” I was flattered and pleased with how everything went. I think at least two folks are planning a visit to the Archives.

My first Shavings issue was just 40 pages long while volume 40 is more than seven times as thick at 304 pages. The Portage issue, 96 pages, was the first to have a spine (not until volume 23 was there writing on the spine, however) and one of the last pre-computer issues that had to be retyped and therefore re-proofread by the printer. As Bruce Sawochka was finishing the reading the paragraph I had assigned him, he said at loud, “This is quite good.” That was also my feeling when going through the entire magazine. There are articles covering work experiences, school activities, church functions, July Fourth celebrations, Little League, Girl Scouts, trailer court life, the Bonner Center for senior citizens, and much more. In my “Editor’s Personal Note” I mentioned playing softball for Porter Acres at Woodland Park (its clubhouse was the site of the History Society meeting), taking my mother-in-law Blanche to play bingo in a church basement, and watching my granddaughter Alissa do puzzles at the public library.

Back home, I opened “Brothers in Arms” to Sherril Tokarski’s article, which dealt with her brother-in-law Charles Hubert Stanley being in a three-day battle in Vietnam during the Tet offensive. The sister I met seemed too young to have been married in 1967, but who knows? In his last letter to his wife Linda the young first lieutenant said he looked forward to seeing her soon on R and R in Hawaii. Then Sherril writes: “March 1968 – a green car arrives at our home. The soldiers inform my sister that her husband was killed. A defective grenade in his ammo pouch exploded while he was waiting for a chopper to airlift him out of the field at Binh Long province.” Sherril adds: “A young man died far from home for a lie delivered to all Americans by those we trusted. He never got a chance to buy his first home, hold his first child, have the great pride in his children, hold his grandchildren, and grow old or even middle aged. It has been 40 years since he died in that far away place, but he has not been forgotten. We are proud of you and will always love you.”

David Malham sent me two emails, a link to an Esquire article about film critic Roger Ebert called “The Essential Man” and a plea to sign a petition protesting the History Channel’s plans to show a scabrous biopic of John F. Kennedy next year on the fiftieth anniversary of his election as President. Got a call from Post-Tribune reporter Andy Grimm soliciting my reaction to the Gary Library Board changing the name of the Ora Wildermuth Miller branch to Carter Woodson, thereby honoring “the father of Negro History.” A couple years ago a historiancame across and published racist letters Wildermuth, Gary’s first librarian, wrote to IU President Herman Wells while he was on IU’s Board of Trustees opposing integration of dorms. Wildermuth argued that it would lead to intermarriage and that would be horrible. While Grimm mentioned that Wildermuth’s views were no different than most whites of his time, I told him I agreed with the Board’s decision.

Chichen Itza

I have returned from a fifteen-day trip to California and the so-called Mayan Riviera near Cancun, Mexico. Those all-inclusive stays at ocean-front five-star hotels such as the Grand Bahia Tulum are everything that they are made up to be – great food, free drinks, no tipping, and shows every evening, not to mention perfect weather for January and daily walks along the Gulf of Mexico beach. Most impressive was a visit to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, featuring the incredible thousand year-old pyramid honoring the Mayan sun god Kukulkan (feathered serpent). Our knowledgeable guide, who joked that some tourists call the site “chicken ‘n’ pizza”) pointed out the amazing mathematical and astronomical calculations that went into designing it. For example, during the spring and autumn equinoxes the afternoon sunlight causes seven isosceles triangles to form near the pyramid's main stairway imitating the body of a serpent that creeps downwards until it joins the huge serpent's head carved in stone at the bottom. Other notable sites include a ball field (the game ended after one goal after which there was a ritual beheading as sacrifice to the gods) and columns where market was held. While in Los Angeles with friends Kate and Jim Migoski, we stayed with their daughter Suzanne, her husband Kris Kallin, and their delightful kids William and Julia. William has a really winning grin, and Julia has remarkably penetrating eyes that appear to take in everything that is happening.

Did some reading during the vacation, thanks to finding “The Great Gatsby” in Kris and Suzi’s bookcase (was even more impressed with Fitzgerald than the first time I read it) and “The House of God,” a book about interns set in the 1970s that was satirical and pretty raunchy. My favorite novelist John Updike compared it to Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22.” Author Samuel Shem (real name Stephen Begman) is someone Kris knows personally.

Unlike a year ago, when we arrived back from California to discover that the furnace had stopped, all was well on our Maple Place hill even though a fire had destroyed the house across the ravine from us. A dozen or so phone messages awaited, including updates from the Arredondos and Sheriff Dominguez on our book projects. While we were gone, son Dave had been named Lake County teacher of the year, and we will be able to go to a reception in his honor to be held at the Horseshoe Casino (it will be my first visit to one out the Region boats).

At the university more than 350 emails were waiting to be read and/or deleted, including New York Times updates on the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti and the shocking loss of Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat to Republican Scott Brown (once named America’s sexiest man by Cosmopolitan magazine). I got invitations to join several Facebooks, with the message that so-and-so wants to add me to their list of friends. The most touching email came from the parents of Robin Hass Birky, who died last year when a truck plowed through a red light and crashed into her car. They must have heard that I mentioned her in my retirement journal and requested a copy. Her mom wrote, “ I spend time looking up things about her as it gives me peace knowing her efforts in life.” In my letter I directed her to the Index. In a section entitled “Grieving,” I wrote that on September 2, 2008, Vice Chancellor Kwesi Aggrey set aside two hours where people could share thoughts over her death and how many people could barely control their emotions. Kim Hunt emailed me that day that “Robin was one of my academic inspirations. She motivated us to enjoy and want to learn more about our language, just as you motivated us to enjoy and learn more of our history.” On September 3 I wrote how I passed where Robin had died on my way to the packed service. In church Mary Russell called her “our Rockin’ Robin.” Kwesi sang a Ghanian song in her honor that was unbelievably moving. DeeDee Ige mentioned that when she went back to teaching, Robin gave her a book. Inside was a photo of the three of us dancing at my retirement party (it’s one of three photos in volume 40 that Robin is in) and a note telling her to keep joy in her life. Before going to the cemetery the funeral procession wove past the Valparaiso firehouse, where Robin’s husband worked, the firemen were out front at attention. Back at school was this email from a stunned Paul Kern: “Robin’s son Cole played basketball for Morgan Township. I’d check the bos scores to see how he did and mention it to Robin. The heartfelt tributes were deserved. What a lot of enthusiasm snuffed out.”

High school classmate Gaard Murphy Logan reported that the Tacoma Art Museum where she is a docent has an exhibit featuring animals in artwork and that she and hubby Chuck “did our first motorcycle ride of the year last week. It was sweet to be back on the road.” She had been ill but claims to be 97 percent well and back to jogging and visits to the gym. I replied in part: “I checked out the information about the animal exhibit on the Tacoma Art Museum’s website. Sounds like April 25 will be fun with folks dressed in the favorite animal outfits. There’s a guy on our campus who often dresses as a cat with whiskers, a long tail, and mittens. He is a ‘furry,’ part of a cult group partial to the novel ‘Watership Down.’ Let me know if you see any furries while you are a docent.” A telecommunications professor from Bloomington, Ronald Osgood, who used some material from my “Brothers in Arms” Shavings magazine, wants to send me a DVD he did called “My Vietnam Your Iraq: Eight Families, Two Wars,” Sounds intriguing. Got this email, which I passed on to Dave: “This is Aaron, the bass player from Drena's jam night. Thanks for the kind words on your blog. The kind words should be coming from me. David did a great job. I wish to jam with him again real soon. It was very invigorating.”

At bowling rolled three games in the 170s, well above my average. Relaxing at home with a quart of Miller High Life, started planning my February 16 appearance before the Portage Historical Society. I’ve decided to have some 17 people read excerpts from my oral history of Portage (Shavings, volume 20, 1991) covering the years from World War I through the 1920s. In an article entitled “Portage in Three Stages of Its Growth,” former student (and good friend) Bruce Sawochka called the time between the 1880s and the 1945s “The Quiet Years” to distinguish it from the previous half-century (the pioneer period) and the past half-century (in his words, “the Big Bang”).

Pep Rally & Autograph Party (2)

The Pep Rally and Autograph Party for volume 40 Tuesday was a success. The band Jimbo’s Jammers, consisting of son Dave, former student Bruce Sawochka, and original Voodoo Chili drummer John, was great, starting with acoustic numbers and then rocking out and climaxing with Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." The band also did the Neil Young song about Johnny Rotten, "Hey Hey My My (Out of the Blue)," which contains the line, "it's better to burn out than to fade away." Dave invited me and favorite student Shannon Pontney up to sing the chorus to "Sympathy for the Devil" – first “woo, who,” then “ooo, who,” and finally “ooo, who, who, oh, yeah.” I also, as usual, helped with the chorus to "Surrender" - "Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright, they just seem a little weird. Surrender, surrender but don't give yourself away." (sat in sixth row to see Cheap Trick at the Star Plaza with niece Cristin; the drummer in the punky warm-up band threw a broken drum stick that sailed right by her; could have taken her eye out). Among the former students who came to the Autograph Party were Dave Serynek, Fred McColly, Sherril Tokarski, Thomas Hazlett, Mary Lee, Don Young (who took many photographs), and Marshall Lines. Marshall’s girlfriend Erica was puzzled that in volume 40 I referred to her tattoos (I rasn into them while working the Porter County Fair). She said she only had one and that it wasn’t visible; it must be near her breast or above her butt because I wouldn’t have made that up. Or would I?

Todd Cliborne arrived accompanied by his daughter Baylee. In an article called “Lifeless Angel in Sandals” that appeared in my 2000 issue Todd wrote about thinking of his three year-old daughter as he viewed the body of a young drowning victim and calling her after leaving the hospital to tell her how much he loved her. That was nine years ago, and I could tell from their body language how close they still are.

I danced with the Redhawk cheerleaders (who also performed) and numerous others, including Marianne and Missy Brush (Big Voodoo Daddy’s daughter, who also did a number with the band), John’s wife Lorraine, wife Toni, daughter-in-law Angie, Shannon, and Communication professor Lori Montalbano (much to her young daughter’s displeasure), and an African-American guy named David who basically danced the entire time. Jon, Jerry, Chris, and Jean from our department lent their moral support as well, as did Chuck Gallmeier and emeritus prof Ron and wife Nancy (who’s halfway though and said she’s learning more about me than she wanted to or words to that effect) and best friend Clark Metz. Trish and Ray Arredondo were pleased to find their names in the volume several times in connection with the book we worked on together, “Maria’s Journey.”

I got a lot of help from IU Northwest History Club members Heather, Brandy, and Sabrina, who signed up new members. Heather Hollister is a campus cadet and goes out with former student Josh Gonzales, who wrote an article for my Eighties Steel Shavings (he is one of eight Gonzales’s in the master index, plus seven Gonzalez’s with a “z” at the end). Scott Fulk from Student Life provided free popcorn, Ann Fritz kept the Gallery open (a haven for those who wanted to talk while the band was playing), where punch and cookies were on hand, and Donna DeGradi kept the bookstore open and reported that they sold a bunch of books. Some of the fans who had come for the basketball game were pleased at the entertainment, including two middle aged guys from Grace Collage (the Lady Redhawks’ opponents). After leading by ten at halftime the Lady Redhawks lost to the "Lady Lancers" in overtime.

In a reference to my “Wacky Mode” comments about Padgett Powell Gaard Logan wrote: “I think breaking a reader’s heart is a worthy goal for a novelist. I’m reading a little something called "Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet." It centers around the Panama Hotel in Seattle’s international district. The hotel was closed for 40-plus years following WWII, I’m guessing because all the Japanese were carted off to detention centers and so it could not longer make a profit. When it was purchased and reopened in the 80s, the new owners found the basement full of personal belongings left behind by the community. It talks about what the residents tried to do to save themselves from arrest, including burning anything that linked them to ‘old’ Japan – kimonos including wedding kimonos, photos of their parents and grandparents taken in Japan, artwork that today would be worth fortunes but meant ‘Japanese sympathizers’ to the authorities. I’m only at page 75, and my heart has already been broken. Twice.”

I recall watching the Johnny Carson Show many years ago when a Japanese-American actress said she was born in Arizona and Johhny expressed surprise, not realizing she had been in an internment camp. Initially families in the camps had virtually no privacy and had to keep lights on all night as soldiers could peer inside to make sure no subversive activity was taking place.

Wednesday was a busy day. I interviewed Charlotte Reed for the FACET project. She was very moving talking about her passion for teaching and very complimentary toward my son Dave, who was a student of hers in the Urban Teacher Education Program. They have kept in touch since he started teaching at East Chicago Central High School 15 years ago. In the afternoon I did my first steelworker interview for Anne Balay's project, which lasted two hours. At bowling I rolled a 512 and the Electrical Engineers won five points out of seven. One opponent looked just like Tommy Lee when he was in his blond-hair mode. At an O'Hare Airport bar Toni and I sat right next to him and he was charming to us and the young women seeking to say hey and maybe get his autograph.