Summer Lists

"The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you."  Barack Obama

President Obama traveled to Orlando to offer support and condolences for victims of the mass murders at PULSE nightclub and their loved ones and to praise the first responders and medical staff that have been treating the wounded.  What a horrible week for that community, as, to add insult to injury, an alligator snatched a two year-old boy walking in shallow water at Disney World.  A sign warned against swimming but not against alligators.  Eighteen hours later, the boy's body was found intact, the cause of death drowning.  Officials vow to euthanize the killer alligator.

Lorenzo Arredondo blasting Donald Trump with Jose Bustos on left; Post-Trib photo by Jim Karczewski

Lake County Democrats gathered in front of the Immigrant Support and Assistance Center (ISAAC) in East Chicago to castigate Donald Trump for his malicious remarks against California judge Gonzalo Curiel, a native of Indiana Harbor.  ISAAC manager Jose Bustos noted that anxious clients are asking for ways to transfer care of their children to others in the event that Trump becomes President and they are deported.

Responding to Post-Trib columnist Jerry Davich's interest in a summertime to-do checklist, one reader said she wanted to check out a new pizza place every Friday.  Former student Joseph Coates (above), an archivist at Purdue North Central, wrote: "Taking kids on vacation, finishing landscaping, pressure wash and stain the deck, clean the garage, drink beer, apply to graduate school, and get a paper ready for publication."   My wish list includes inviting Dean Mark Hoyert and History Department members to Gino's for Chris Young's July history book club presentation on Andrew Jackson and delivering free Steel Shavings copies to the Remarkable Book Shop in Merrillville.  Long range, I hope to take Toni to Ireland and conduct at least a hundred more oral histories pertaining to my adopted hometown in Gary, Indiana.

Celebrating his 57th birthday birthday, Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker savored a 12-inning comeback win over the Cubs, who nevertheless finished a nine-game road trip 5-4.  Baker comes from a long line of Cubs managers unjustly blamed for the team's century-long World Series drought.  I talked baseball with old friend Paul Turk, who lives in the DC area but is a diehard Cleveland Indians fan.  When he heard about the ceremony for Midge and my dad's gravesite, he said he'd have attended had he known about it.  In 1965 he drove from Ohio through a snowstorm to attend Toni and my wedding.

Samuel A. Love posted two photos of Miller Woods, one taken following a March brush fire and the other a contemporary shot on his 39th birthday, showing how much greener the forest affected by the fire is than the adjacent area.

Miller Woods photos by Samuel A. Love

Phil sought advice on suitable attire for his daughter Alissa's wedding.  I suggested something practical rather than a tuxedo "monkey suit."  When hippie-leaning  Ivan Jasper got married during the 1970s, guys in the wedding party wore denim outfits.  On the other hand, at a "lefty" friend's nuptials where I expected blue-collar outfits, guys wore tuxedos.  Both receptions were at Marquette Park pavilion where Dave and Angie was held.  Nephew Beamer's family will be visiting the weekend of Alissa's bridal shower, so wife Kim can go with Toni to Grand Rapids while the guys engage in board games.  Two summers ago Beamer loved attending Wade Game Weekend.

I'm reading Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!  Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America" (2016), which Phil gave me.  The Grand Valley PBS station where he works is one of over 1,400 carrying Goodman's hour-long daily program.  When "Democracy Now!" aired commentary by death row inmate and convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal two decades ago, pressure from the Fraternal Order of Police caused Temple University to halt its airing on the campus radio station.  In 1999 Goodman reported on protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization that niece Andrea Okomski participated in.

On Facebook Missy Brush (above with Marianne) wrote: "This was one of the greatest nights of my life!!!!  We finally got to see our favorite bucket list band, The Cure. They sounded unbelievable."

A new eight-hour documentary on O.J. Simpson revealed that his father was gay and that the then-married celebrity forced his future wife Nicole to have sex with him on their first date.  The irony is that while Simpson tried not to think of himself as a black man, in the end that's what got the jury to find him not guilty, given the tawdry history of the LAPD's treatment of minorities.

The ordering of my new Apple computer has been delayed while Ryan Vega in Tech Services figures out how to make a substitute request for a wired keyboard.  My last computer came with a miniature wireless device that I hated, so I continued to used an old keyboard that now sticks on certain letters, making capitalization difficult.  Meanwhile, I'm making do on a MAC located on the first floor of the library.

Ron Cohen just told me that Lotte and Seymour Meyerson died on the same day at an assisted living facility in Asheville, North Carolina.  Married in 1943 when she was 20 and he 26, they lived in Gary for 45 years beginning in 1952.  Lotte was President of the Gary League of Women Voters and head of the Northwest Indiana Open Housing Center.  Toni worked with her at the Center and on the 1972 MCGovern for President campaign.  A chemist, Seymour had worked on the Manhattan Project and then for Standard Oil.  They loved folk dancing and once had us and several other couples over for food, conversation, and dancing.  Lotte was active in Temple Israel and both were ACLU members.  They were good friends and role models.

The American

At the Patio Trish and Ray Arredondo filled me in on their marketing plans for “Maria’s Journey.” Lotte Meyerson, who moved from Miller to Asheville, North Carolina, some years ago after a long career as a community organizer, is setting up numerous appearances. Sandy Appleby, whose “Pass the Culture, Please” project was an inspiration for the book, has made a DVD based on the original slide show. Roy’s brother, Judge Lorenzo Arredondo, was sitting at another table showing off the book to lunch companions. So far the family loved it. Had delicious crab cakes and salad, and we toasted the book’s successful publication with merlot. I told them I’m working on an article for Oprah’s magazine “O.” Noticed that Barnes and Noble had a dozen copies of “Maria’s Journey” in the “Local Interest” section.

Picked up two copies of the Arcade Fire CD “The Suburbs.” One is for Mary Ann Brush in lieu of a dish for her end-of-summer party. I’m a product of suburbia although the street where I grew up wasn’t part of a development like when we lived in Beverly Hills, Michigan, for a year. There’s an Arcade Fire line that goes, “In the suburbs I learned to drive.” I was able to get a learners permit at age 14 and test my dad’s patience driving through our Michigan subdivision.

George Clooney was terrific in “The American” as an assassin hoping to retire after one final assignment. Slow-moving, brooding, and without the car chases and special effects bullshit that characterize most Hollywood products today, it was directed by Anton Corbijn, best known for directed music videos for Depeche Mode, Nirvana, and U2. Critics have mentioned its pensive, low-key foreign film feel to it, including the full frontal nudity (Violante Placido as a prostitute with a heart of gold is stunning) and symbolism in the form of an endangered butterfly. Clooney is about the only American in the movie. There is nothing cute about Clooney’s portrayal of Jack, but I was still rooting for him till the very end.

I’ve been emailing back and forth with Judy Jenkins, my first girlfriend, about beautiful Alice Ottinger (Ockie), her best friend in high school, whose father was Fort Washington’s police chief. He once found Toni and me parked in the Van Sant farm driveway. Alice is evidently coming to the reunion (her first), but Judy doesn’t think she’ll make it. She doesn’t like to fly and worries that she won’t know anybody (there an Arcade Fire line, “All my old friends, they don’t know me now”). On summer Judy and Ockie returned from a trip having learned about French kissing. Another time Judy kidded Alice about having a dark hair growing on one of her fingers. It’s amazing what irrelevancies one remembers. I took Alice to a dance in eleventh grade, doubling with Dave Seibold. At the 2000 reunion I reminded him that he followed us up onto the Ottinger porch afterwards and wanted a kiss from her, too. It being years later, I was trying to be humorous, but he looked crestfallen and apologized.

Heard from Suzanna for the first time in over a week. Feeling blue and waiting for muggy August to end, she revealed herself to be a Pink Floyd and Moody Blues fan. Told her I used to wear out the album “Dark Side of the Moon” in the Seventies and catch the Moodies whenever they come to Northwest Indiana. Heard Eddie Cochran’s 1958 hit “Summertime Blues” on an Oldies station and turned up the volume. Still know the words by heart, including the cynical response from the Congressman: “I’d like to help you, son, but you’re too young to vote.” Vince Curll and I attended an unforgettable “Cavalcade of Stars” concert in South Philly sponsored by radio station WIBG featuring Eddie and Gene Vincent, two wild and crazy rebels without a cause or a clue (to invoke James Dean and Tom Petty).

At bowling Robbie (Bob Robinson) gave me a copy of IUN’s 2009 annual report that contained an article about my “Retirement Journal” and a photo of volume 40’s cover. Bowled slightly under my average but edged out Clark Metz so didn’t have to pay.

Spotted Anne Balay in the archives looking for books on steelworkers and gave her a big hug. She turned me on to the “Homer’s Phobia” episode of “The Simpsons,” which originally aired in 1997. Mad genius “Hairspray” director John Waters did the voice for gay antiques dealer John, whom Bart takes a shine to. Homer becomes uneasy when Bart starts wearing Hawaiian shirts and dancing in a woman’s wig and takes him to see a steel mill, not realizing the muscled-up workers are all gay and that the factory at night turns into a disco. C+C Music Factory’s song “Gonna Make You Sweat” plays during the closing credits, which include a dedication to American steelworkers reading “Keep reaching for that rainbow.”

Fantasy Football drafts are upon us. I was with Dave at his computer with my rankings cheat sheet in hand. There are eight teams this year (up from six), so the available talent was slightly diminished. Drafting third after Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson were gobbled up, I took running back Ray Rice even though my sheet recommended Maurice Jones-Drew ahead of him. I also got Charger tailback Ryan Mathews and quarterback Tom Brady with Donovan McNabb as a backup. My top two wide receivers are DeSean Jackson and Marques Colston. Not bad.