Summer of '87

"Born in secrecy during the summer of ’87, the child of lofty idealism and rough political bargains, the Constitution is a story that will continue as long as the nation does,” David O. Stewart

At Monday’s History book club meeting Joy Anderson gave away books, including “Maria’s Journey,” which Ray and Lorenzo Arredondo gave a report on last year. Handing it to Barbara Wisdom, there with her sister and friend Rock Ferrer, I told her of having edited it and written the afterword. I took home David O. Stewart’s “The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution” and started it while getting an oil change and 30,000 check-up at Lake Shore Toyota.  Stewart introduces George Washington, eulogized in Nathaniel Philbrick’s “Valiant Ambition,” in this manner, describing a 1784 meeting at his Mount Vernon plantation with fellow Virginian George Mason:

  Known to crack walnuts with a single large hand, the strongly built Washington had thrived on outdoor living and battlefield dangers.  At 53, he retained the grace and power of a splendid horseman and dancer, but it was something from the inside that made him the master of every room he entered. Certainly, he was a Virginia gentleman of courtesy and integrity, but so were others. Equally, he had his flaws, including being “addicted to gambling . . . avid in the pursuit of wealth, . . . a most horrid swearer and blasphemer ,” and unrelentingly ambitious.

  Washington’s force came from the antagonistic qualities he blended.  His “gift of taciturnity” radiated dignity and calm, yet he simultaneously implied, in the words of one admirer, “passions almost too mighty for man.”  No one who saw Washington’s rage ever forgot it. The combination of steely discipline and powerful drive generated a charisma so compelling that, by one account, every king in Europe “would look like a valet de chamber by his side.

end-of-summer party; Phil and Dave on both ends: below, Dave and Toni at IU

During the summer of 1987 the Lane nest was emptying, as son Dave prepared to join his older brother at IU Bloomington, where Phil participated in celebrations touched off by the Hoosiers winning the NCAA championship.  It was a memorable summer at Maple Place, with visits from friends and relatives and a lively end-of-the-summer party featuring friends of our college-bound sons.  I was 45, Toni 43, and our lone home companion was Marvin, a cat inherited from Suzanne Migoski, also off to school. I don’t recall suffering from “empty nest syndrome,” then or since. Nine months later, granddaughter Alissa came into our lives.  In the news: President Ronald Reagan accepted responsibility for the Iran-Contra scandal, and the Senate rejected reactionary Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.

At Chesterton YMCA Alan Yngve’s lesson dealt with being overly aggressive when your hand doesn’t justify a game bid.  On the hand he demionstrated from last week, I went down one in 4 Hearts, but others get set two and three tricks.  Against Carol Miller and Barbara Larson, I was dealt 7 Clubs, Ace, King, Queen, 4 Spades, a doubleton in Hearts, and a void in Diamonds.  Carol, on my left opened 3 Diamonds, Alan bid 3 Spades, and Barbara bid 5 Diamonds.  In short, to bid Clubs, I’d have had to go to the 6 level.  Instead, aware of going against Alan’s lesson but convinced it was a good sacrifice, I bid 5 Spades, and Alan went down one.  Another couple bid and made 5 Spades doubled, the double allowing the declarer to correctly guess whom to finesse.  Our worst score, against Kris Prohl and Barbara Mort, began when Alan opened one Diamond.  With 17 high card points, I jump-shifted to 3 Clubs and, much to my chagrin, he passed. All other pairs bid and made game, either 5 Clubs or 3 No-Trump.  Alan suggested I should have said 2 Clubs, evidently a demand bid. I’ll have to learn that  system, known as New Minor Forcing.  We finished right around 50%, fifth out of 11 couples, with Chuck Tomes and Tom Rea the winners.

Dee Van Bebber and Chuck Tomes achieved a 75.66% at Charley Halberstadt’s Valparaiso game, Barb Walczak’s Newsletterreported.  Chuck recalled: “Not only is Dee a lovely lady but also a solid, experienced player from whom I’ve learned a lot, especially about bidding. We plussed 18 of 27 boards with 9 tops and 3 tied for top.  We made no major mistakes and got a lot of good breaks.”  Dee added: “Chuck is one of my favorite players, never critical and always complimentary.  We were in sync all afternoon.  Of course, we had our share of good luck – making for a memorable day.”

AM 670 (The Score)sports jocks Dan Bernstein and Connor McKnight claimed that Dodger pitcher Clay Kershaw’s great-uncle was on the team of astronomers that in 1930 discovered Pluto, the so-called dwarf planet. Located in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune, Pluto’s solar orbit takes 248 years.  Tom Wade has a t-shirt defending Pluto against detractors who in 2016 argued that it wasn’t a real planet.  One thing about Dan Bernstein, dating back to his afternoon show with Terry Boers, he often abruptly hangs up on obnoxious callers.

Weather has remained summery, sunny with highs in the 80s, but the daylight hours are markedly shorter. At lunch with Mike Olszanski, I discovered the veggies I had packed were missing. Later I found them on the ground near the Corolla.  On a library elevator a half-dozen students were peering at someone’s phone.  I asked what interested them; Apple was unveiling new products. 

Nicki Minaj and Cardi B got into a shoving match at a New York Fashion Week event after Cardi had called Nicki a bitch.  In retaliation, Minaj evidently stepped on Cardi’s dress, causing it to rip in the back.  After security teams separated the two rap divas, Cardi threw a shoe at Nicki, who kept it as a souvenir. The New Yorker’s Carrie Battan believes that Minaj epitomizes rappers’ tendency toward self-mythologizing and braggadocio:

 It feels cheap to draw a parallel between Minaj and President Trump, but the attitudinal similarities – the obsession with winning, the instinct to dismiss critics as losers or liars, the paranoia, the rabid fixation on the initial    victory rather than the ensuing work – are too obvious to ignore.

East Chicago Central grad and friend of the family Denzel Smith wrote: “I remember when I had a speech impediment. Now I’m doing speeches in front of Presidents. Honored to have been asked to lead the invocation for the Bethune Cookman Annual President’s Assembly at the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center.”  Son Dave was one of his mentors.

below, former coach and AD Earl Smith praising Rod Fisher

Both the Post-Triband The Timescovered protests at a Gary school board meeting regarding the unjust termination of longtime West Side girls basketball coach Rod Fisher. Supporters of Fisher plan to present a petition (I’ve signed it) to the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeal Board. West Side principal Marcus Muhammad praised Fisher’s extraordinary career but claimed a woman could relate to “the young ladies we have today”better than a man.  Former athletic director Earl Smith called Muhammad’s statement “asinine”and predicted that this would have a negative effect on the community. Smith said, “He dedicated his life to the West Side Cougar family and former players love Coach Fisher.”  Smith added that during the 14 years he was AD, Fisher “never asked the athletic program for anything.  What he couldn't do raising (money) with the parents, he took out of his pocket. You find me another coach that's any more dedicated than that.”  Fisher’s wife Linda told supporters, “They didn’t just tale away his job, they took his life” and asked, “Is he too old, too successful, too white?”  My Facebook coverage generated numerous emoji responses, including sad and angry. 

Times photos by Ed Bierschenk (above) and Jonathan Miano

The third edition of Ron Cohen and my “Gary: A Pictorial History” arrived, looking great. The photos covering the past 15 years are in color and more vivid than I’d hoped for.  In ones by Timesphotographers Ed Bierschenk and Jonathan Miano of protestors at City Hall opposing efforts to open an immigrant detention center near Gary Airport I recognize Miller activists Ruth Needleman and Tom Eaton and possibly Jim Spicer and Carolyn McCrady. Cohen’s updated bibliography even includes Leonard Moore’s 2018 book on the 1972 National Black Political Convention at West Side High School. At my suggestion chapter 8, “Looking Ahead, 2004-2018” begins:

     On the evening of July 14, 2005, Gary’s Centennial Committee held a gala at the Genesis Center.  Waiters on loan from Dean White’s Star Plaza served hors d’oevres. The Roosevelt High School band marched through the crowd playing “76 Trombones” from “Music Man.”  Emerson students put on a moving skit.  The musical group Stormy Weather, whose members were self-proclaimed “region rats,” entertained with doo wop hits and a stirring, a capella version of the national anthem.  Not since Mayor Hatcher’s “Evenings to Remember “was there such a glittering party. More important, U.S. Steel pledged $400,000 toward a “Fusion” statue and other efforts.  President of the Centennial Committee, appropriately, was First Lady Irene Scott-King, who stated: “It’s important to understand where you’re come from in order to see where you are going and move ahead in the future.  It’s critical to enlighten and give young people the foundation they need to one day take over the reins of the city.”

I also added this final peroration to Cohen's draft:

 Though a tough environment, especially for those struggling to find work and raise families, Gary in the past has afforded opportunities for a host of athletes, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs, and other notables who have achieved success elsewhere.  Even more impressive are those who stayed or returned and became community pillars. While some lament what Gary has lost, there is potential for a bright future, not only in the development of the lakefront but in commercial possibilities associated with airport expansion, an academic corridor along Thirty-Fifth Avenue (anchored by IU Northwest and IVY Tech’s new building on Broadway), and downtown revitalization (exemplified by the newly refurbished main library).

Bridge Lesson

“If I’m playing bridge and a naked woman walks by, I don’t even see her, but don’t test me on that.” Warren Buffet

Before diamond life master Joe Chin gave a bridge lesson in Steve McShane’s class, student Michal Schoon interviewed him.  As it has been all summer, the Archives was frigid, so I asked Joe if he needed a sweater.  “Coming from Manilla, I’m warm-blooded,” he replied, flashing an infectious smile. IUN Media Communication specialist Erika Rosa took photos of them in the Ronald D. Cohen Room, McShane’s former office. After Joe told me that he left the Philippines for America in 1970, I asked if he’d heard of former Lake County Sheriff Ray Dominguez’s father-in-law Panciano Olayta, a survivor of the Bataan Death March, who had served in the Philippine military during World War II as part of U.S. Allied forces.  He hadn’t.  The Olayta family moved from Manila to Gary in 1967. Wife Rosalina was a Methodist Hospital pharmacist. Panciano Alayta worked in the Richard Hatcher administration as a Gary MANPOWER planner.  This is how Dominguez described him:

    He had five martial arts black belts and was the most universal man I had ever met.  He had written books on yoga and played a half-dozen musical instruments, from the violin to the drums, in a professional manner.  With his shaved head, he looked like actor Yul Brynner, in “The King and I.”

photos by Erika Rose

A veteran teacher, both at Gary West Side and IUN, Joe Chin was relaxed, witty, and informative.  He started by writing “Remember, bridge is not a matter of life or death” on the board and gave a rudimentary description of bidding and the relative value of suits, from 1 Club up to 7 No-Trump.  He said that Bill Gates claimed bridge to be one of the last games where people can beat a computer and that he wouldn’t mind being in a jail cell if with three bridge players. Concerning the almost infinite possibilities of hands, Joe wrote 635,013,559 on the board and then added three more numbers (600) to bring the total to over 635 billion.  Several students prefaced questions with, “this may sound stupid,” eliciting Joe’s retort that there are no stupid questions.

At Chesterton Y Dee Van Bebber and I finished fourth out of 11 couples to earn .39 of a master point.  Knowing my interest in high school basketball, Jim Carson loaned me “The White Painted Circle: Northwest Indiana Inner City High School Basketball, 1957-1975” by Rick Martich and Craig Gertes.  Thanks to colleague Paul Kern, I first became a big Gary Emerson fan in 1974-75, the year the Emerson Golden Tornado reached the Lafayette Semi-State.  Much to me chagrin, the book only contained an oblique reference about Emerson’s “one final moment” of glory in 1975 – a misleading statement in view of the great Emerson teams of 1976-78, coached by Earl Smith, Jr., and featuring the twin towers of Wallace Bryant and Frank Smith.

 above, Emerson Golden Tornado; below, Emmett Lewis and fans; photos by Toni Lane

In the opener of the 1975 Gary Regional, Emerson defeated Merrillville (despite Cary Carrabine’s 31 points), while number 1 ranked Hammond High, led by Rich Valavicius, squeaked by East Chicago Washington in double overtime.  In the nightcap, guard Emmett Lewis had to leave the game with leg cramps but returned and scored the winning basket with six seconds to go to make the final score 72-71.  When teammate Earner Calhoun Mays missed a shot, Lewis out-hustled Valavicius for the rebound; he finished with 28 points. The following Monday, I ran into him near Emerson, and he looked like he’d been beaten up. Against Lafayette Jefferson the following week, Emmitt Lewis got into early foul trouble on very questionable calls and eventually fouled out in a 71-69 loss.  Lewis went on to have a stellar career at the University of Colorado and was drafted by the Denver Nuggets. Barely six feet tall, he was the fiercest competitor I ever witnessed.

Reading my post, Paul Kern responded: “Emmett Lewis was one of my all-time favorite players. I remember his winning shot against Hammond High like it was yesterday. Rich Valavicius was a bust at IU and soon transferred, I think to Auburn.”  Indeed, Valavicius transferred to Auburn after enduring abuse from fiery IU coach Bobby Knight.  Years later, he told a reporter: “I didn't know what he wanted. He was yelling, screaming and cussing all the time. I wanted to do all the things he wanted, but I was thinking instead of reacting.”

 Mike "Big Bear" Garcia

Bridge player Sylvia Luekens was wearing an “Indians” blouse and, a Valpo resident, made a face when I asked if it stood for Portage H.S.  She and husband Tom are Cleveland natives and planned to attend the Indians-White Sox game the following evening at Comisky.  When I said that the Indians were having a pretty good year, she replied, “Pretty good? They’ve won 13 straight.”  In the mid-Fifties Paul Turk’s dad took my best friend and me to Cleveland’s gigantic Municipal Stadium (seating capacity 78,000). I saw Hall of Famer Bob Feller pitch at the tail end of his career and got an autograph from Mexican hurler Mike Garcia.  When I told the story to the Tom and Sylvia, they simultaneously blurted out Garcia’s nickname: “Big Bear.”  After the game, we couldn’t find Mr. Turk’s car in the Municipal Stadium’s mammoth parking lot for what seemed like hour.

 Charles Halberstadt and daughter

At Jef Halberstadt’s, Shelley Maupin taught me a board game reminiscent of Password while Shelley’s son Logan was on an iPad.  I won a version of Ticket to Ride against Jef, Tom Wade, and Charles Halberstadt that involved stock buying and featured a map of Pennsylvania.  I looked in vain for Easton (my birthplace) and Lewisburg (where I attended Bucknell) but noticed two towns I’d never heard of, Tawanda and Coudersport.  When I waved goodbye to Charles Halberstadt’s daughter Anna, she blew me a kiss.  Nice.

 faro game in Arizona saloon,1895

In “Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West” Christopher Knowlton mentioned that until poker caught on, the main game of chance in saloons was faro.  It was easy to learn and several players played against the dealer. An early version of poker used a 20-card deck with no cards below ten. “Cowboy Kingdom” opens with the devastating slaughter of the buffalo and concludes with the Johnson County War between Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) thugs and settlers accused, falsely for the most part, of cattle rustling.  In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison sent troops to Wyoming to rescue the WSGA’s hired killers.  Owen Wister’s “The Virginian” (1902) took the ranchers’ point of view while Jack Schaefer’s “Shane” (1949) sided with settlers engaged in farming or sheep herding.

 St. Paul Baptist Church centennial planning committee.; Kathy Malone on right; Below, L.K. Jackson

Traces magazine will publish my article on Reverend L.K. Jackson in its Fall issue.  Chancellor Lowe’s assistant Kathy Malone, longtime member of St. Paul Baptist Church, provided me with photos and information about Jackson’s family.  I recall interviewing the Gary civil rights pioneer at his home, being too timid to have him turn off the TV, and noticing a large closet containing hundreds of hats.  I knew beforehand about his participation in efforts to desegregate Marquette Park but that was just the tip of the iceberg so far as his activism went.  At a 1973 retirement banquet, Mayor Richard Hatcher declared that Jackson would “always be remembered in Gary for your never-ending battles against discrimination and racial injustice in this city. Your face silhouetted against the night as your church burned years ago will never be forgotten as never will your determination to let the then black-balled Paul Robeson speak in St. Paul Baptist Church. You have come a long way, L. K. Jackson for your belief in what’s right and you have come with your head unbowed.”

At Hobart Lanes I rolled a 497, more than 100 pins better than week one, thanks in part to four straight strikes and also a three-bagger. The ball was breaking more than normal, helping me (I tend to get more strikes from the Brooklyn side) and teammate Dick Maloney (who finished with a 502), while seeming to hurt opponents Denny Cavanaugh and Mikey Wardell.  The latter brought delicious brownies for all to share.  Cavanaugh saw me quoted in a Times Labor Day article about unions fighting for worker wages, health, and safety as well as fair trade and protecting the environment.  I was pleased that reporter Joseph Pete at my suggestion interviewed retired steelworker Mike Olszanski, who told him:

  The State of Indiana has gone from nearly 41 percent union membership in 1964, to less than 11 percent today – in large part due to the elimination of jobs in basic manufacturing especially in basic steel. In Northwest Indiana, it has been the enormous increases in productivity, resulting in enormous job loss in steel, that is largely responsible for the decline in union membership. In the Region, workers are not choosing to work non-union – they have been laid off from union shops in large numbers.

Mike Olszanski