Dirty Laundry

“I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry.”

         “Dirty Laundry,” Don Henley

Dave’s “Best of 2017” CD compilation contains “Dirty Laundry” by All Time Low, rockers from Towson, Maryland.  The lyrics aren’t nearly as interesting as the song of the same name by Don Henley, who once said, “We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry.”  Dirty Laundry is also a brand of shoes, boots, and sneakers advertised as “not so dirty that mom wouldn’t want a pair for herself.”  The phrase “airing your dirty laundry”means being candid, spilling your guts in confidence to a trusted friend. It also refers to deep, dark secrets people hope won’t come to light. Gary’s dirty laundry includes U.S. Steel Corporation’s desecration of the lakefront environment – air, land, water - as well as other industrial eyesores, such as the Ninth Avenue Dump waste disposal area, now a Superfund site, one of several in the Region awaiting more than cursory federal attention.  It’s shameful that the polluters weren’t required to clean up the messes they made.

Years ago, while Dave lived with us, he’d accumulate more dirty laundry than Toni and I combined. Because he didn’t hardly sweat, many items weren’t soiled. It wasn’t uncommon for him to discard a pair of pants daily, plus sweats if he’d exercised or played sports that day.  If I only had a half-load, I’d grab some of his clothes, sometimes folding pants as if I’d cleaned them.  Toni and I moved to the condo on the condition that I’d do the laundry, so she wouldn’t have to make extra basement trips.

photos by Maria Strimbu

The night before our “Gary: A Pictorial History” book signing at Gary Public Library Ron Cohen told me there’d be a formal program, so I came prepared to thank the City of Gary (in particular Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and Councilwoman Rebecca Wyatt) and Legacy Foundation for their financial support as well as Donning Company for their expertise in preparing the new chapter.  “Looking Ahead, 2004-2018” contains an introduction and 15 pages of color photos.  After crediting Ron for suggesting a third edition, I emphasized that, while the book does not ignore problems facing Gary, we wished to rebut the stereotype of a virtual ghost town and emphasize, not abandoned buildings – schools, churches, hospitals, movie theaters, and the like – once central to civic life, but rather the vibrancy and diversity of its people.  Subjects range from school and church activities to steelworker rallies and protests over efforts to construct an immigration detention center near Gary airport.  The chapter opens with a photo of Omri Amrany’s centennial sculpture “The Fusion” and closes with Corey Hagelberg’s woodcut “We All Share the Same Roots.”

"The Fusion" (2016)

Attending were colleague James Wallace and friends Mike Olszanski, John Attinasi, and Gloria Biondi, whose Region humor is reminiscent of late husband Clark. I spotted her as she was descending the steps.  “I’m leaving, it looks like it’ll be boring,”she joked.  Library board member Robert Buggs, once a fixture at IUN’s labor Studies office, was pleased to see Oz.  Dawn Darceneaux, a 1960 Froebel grad and former executive secretary to U.S. Steel public relations officer Tom Farrell, whom I hadn’t seen in 45 years, was delighted to discover that I had written about her in my latest Shavings, which I was giving away to those purchasing the pictorial history.  She was quoted extensively in an article about Richard Hatcher’s first year in office 50 years ago.

Others purchasing books included former Congresswoman Katie Hall’s daughter Junifer, and Indiana Room librarian David Hess (eight copies).  A Cedar Lake descendent of pioneer resident Obadiah Taylor and Potawatomi Indians, as well as town historian Beatrice Horner but with a Polish last name, knew about my controversial Cedar Lake Shavings, which some bluebloods thought contained too much dirty laundry about motorcycle gangs and “Lake Rat” lifestyles.  A city employee named Niavia had us sign hers; I asked her to write down her name and pronounce it – the emphasis was on the second syllable, not Níavía. Mayor Freeman-Wilson, who had praised Ron and me for our many years of service to the city, gave me a big hug and had us autograph a copy for her niece Jordan in Cambridge, Massachusetts.   

 Magnum Jamal at 4 Brothers Market

On the way back to IUN I stopped at Four Brothers Grocery at 1139 East 21st Avenue and gave the pictorial history to co-owner Magnum Jamal, pictured in the book. With the recent phasing out of the Frank Delaney housing project, I feared it might be closed after serving the community for over 30 years, but no need to worry yet.  Then I took one to Sharon Gardner in IUN’s Bursar’s office. Sharon’s husband, Pastor Dwight Gardner, is pictured (below) celebrating the sesquicentennial anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation on January 2, 2013 at Trinity Baptist Church.

Anne Balay’s “Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers” has alternating chapters titled “Rolling” and “Stopping” containing colorful subtitles such as “Drag and Fly” and “The Pickle Park.”  In the acknowledgements Anne wrote: “Jimbo Lane inspired my first book, and when I didn’t get tenure he fought for me fiercely, paying a high price for his advocacy and earning my undying love.”  She interviewed many of the 66 “narrators” at Gary truck stops and described them colorfully in an appendix.  Here’s what she wrote about Marilu Fanning, whom I’ve met for lunch and when Anne made a triumphant return to IUN as a guest speaker:

  Marilu is the most beautiful, hottest tranny around. She has been trucking all her life and transitioned while in the business.  She is big and bold and fun as hell.  She displays lots of cleavage, drinks double Stoli with a Coors Light chaser, and loves to sing karaoke, which she does in her deep voice.  Nothing is sexier.  We met initially in Gary, Indiana.  

Marilu Fanning

At Hobart Lanes the Electrical Engineers won two games and series against Pin Hungry Fire Ball, a team that included Delia’s Uncle Phil Vera, Angel Menendez, and Jaime Delgado, who always wears Gary firefighter t-shirts.  My 440 series included a half-dozen splits and no doubles. Horace Mann grad Dennis Cavanaugh on the next lane has an expressive wink that can denote hello, nice shot, or tough luck.

Purdue Northwest History professor Kenny Kincaid brought his class to the Archives and is hoping to return at semester’s end. I was at VU on a guided tour by Ascher Yates of his photo exhibit depicting war-ravaged South Koreans living in dire poverty in 1953-54.  Yates depicts battlefields so damaged even the ground burned.  One showed a boy his military outfit adopted, reminding me of M*A*S*H*.  I complimented Ascher on their quality and that almost all contained people.  The exhibit being near VU’s Art department, I ran into Liz Wuerrful, who introduced me to sophomore Carmen, who with two other interns accompanied Liz to Palestine last summer. Afterwards, I said hi to Brauer Gallery curator Gregg Hertzlieb, conducting a tour, and David Austen, whose photos of rural Australians were on display.  Austen grew up in Crown Point and was a Miller Beach lifeguard. He shot Ascher and me viewing his work.  In one a farmer fed a tiny kangaroo with a baby bottle.  Afterwards, Ascher drove us to Panera Bread – my first time.  My chicken salad half sandwich was delicious.

David Austen

Neither “Green Book” or “The Old Man and the Gun” with Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek has come to the Cinemark in Valpo.  I was the only patron for “Front Runner,” about the destruction of Gary Hart’s campaign to win the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomination after unethical Miami Heraldreporters staked out his townhouse and discovered that he entertained a woman not his wife. The resulting press frenzy to dig up more dirty laundry about Hart’s past that made further campaigning impossible.  This invasion of Hart’s privacy marked a turning point in the coverage of politicians by a press that had ignored marital infidelities of FDR, Ike (during wartime), JFK, LBJ, Ronald Reagan, and the 1988 Republican nominee George H.W. Bush, rumored to have a mistress.  The talented, charismatic Colorado Senator would have had a much better chance against  Bush than dour Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, the eventual Democratic nominee. Bush 41, who passed away over the weekend, was an honorable man, war hero, and patriot who deserves praise for his civility and bipartisanship.  He was extremely competitive, not above employing campaign dirty tricks, and not without character flaws.  In his nineties, he allegedly liked to grab nurses’ asses affectionately (?!!!) but got a pass from the media due to his age and status.

George W. Bush declared his father to have been America’s best one-term president.  I disagree.  Both John Adams and John Quincy Adams (our other father and son combination) were superior, as was, I believe, Jimmy Carter.  He probably was our best Republican one-term president, comparing favorably to the likes of Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, and Herbert Hoover.  Here’s a tribute to the elder Bush by Ray Smock:

  My tenure as Historian of the House of Representatives included the years George H.W. Bush was president. I had no personal dealings with him, but I was able to observe him on ceremonial occasions at the Capitol, during his State of the Union addresses and other times when he spoke to Congress. I met George Bush once and spoke to him briefly at an outdoor oyster bar in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1980, when he was campaigning for president for the first time. He lost in the primaries to Ronald Reagan, and then Reagan selected him as his running mate.

  The extensive journal I kept during the years I served in the House is filled with numerous references to him, especially in relation to the first Gulf War.

What follows is a brief excerpt from my journal entry for June 27, 1991, when the President and Mrs. Bush had a grand time in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.  Today, President Bush will lie in state in that Rotunda, and I will be remembering him as I saw him there more than 27 years ago. 

  At 2:30 I went over to the Rotunda for the unveiling of the vice-presidential bust of George Bush. The Senate commissions busts of the vice presidents since they serve as Presidents of the Senate. The marble busts are situated in the halls around the Senate chamber. I attended the ceremony for Jerry Ford's bust a few years ago and chatted with President Ford on that occasion.

  But this was the first time a sitting president was able to unveil his own bust. The Rotunda was full of spectators and the press. A military band played a medley of tunes before the ceremony started. The leaders of the House and Senate were all there on the platform, along with the 90-year-old sculptor, Walker Hancock. Senators Ted Stevens and Wendell Ford spoke, and the Architect of the Capitol, George White, was master of ceremonies.

The President and Mrs. Bush seemed to thoroughly enjoy the ceremony. They were all smiles and relaxed and cheerful. Mrs. Bush seemed to enjoy the surroundings and I noticed several times that she leaned her head back from her seat to gaze upwards, taking in the magnificent dome and the Apotheosis of Washington painting in the center of the ceiling, 180-feet above her. The President was in a jocular mood and he set the tone for the whole event. It was lighthearted and friendly. The President said the press would probably say “President Gets Busted in Capitol,” or words to that effect. Then he said this was a rare treat to be at such and unveiling “when I'm not even dead yet.”Everyone had a good time and the whole ceremony was over in a half hour.

 Hermann Hesse

Driving James to bowling, we discussed German-born Hermann Hesse’s “Siddartha,” set in India, which he read in advanced English.  According to a recent article in the New Yorker, Hesse (1877-1962) had a difficult upbringing and rebelled against his parents’ strict pietist teachings.  He took solace in Eastern religion and sought to withdraw from his country’s tumultuous politics.  Most of his books, including “Steppenwolf,” “Narcissus and Goldmund,” “Siddartha,” deal with young people searching for self-knowledge and spirituality.

Before bridge eight of us dined at Gino’s in Merrillville.  Jimmy, the owner, stopped at our table, and I praised the free Happy Hour bar food available before book club meetings.  The same waitress who serves us at those gatherings asked Brian and Connie Barnes if they wanted the same meal they always split.  I ordered delicious beef tenderloin medallions smothered in mushrooms and gravy.  Toni was the big winner at cards.

I finished the “Ten Strikes” labor history by Erik Loomis, which ended with a chapter on the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Justice for Janitors fight and its leader, John Sweeney, in 1995 becoming president of the AFL-CIO. I watched the first episodes of the HBO series “My Brilliant Friend” about two girls coming to maturity in postwar Italy (with subtitles, a TV rarity). The men were almost without exception insufferable, but several had the ability to keep cigarettes in their mouth while working, an impressive feat.  On the other hand, I was disappointed in the Lena-Dunham-created series “Camping.” For one thing, the men are puerile and pathetic.  More interesting are two teens who end up in a lesbian relationship and the 200-pound  bulldagger camp manager Harry (Bridget Everett) who ends up with New Age hippie Jandice (Juliette Lewis). Earlier, Harry was watching “Body Heat” with Kathryn and Walt’s son and this exchange occurred:

  Harry: Nudity is natural, it’s beautiful.

  Kid: Can I see your boobs?

  Harry: Not a fucking chance dot com, little man.

This surprisingly hilarious husband-and-wife exchange occurred when the main characters were high on drugs:

Kathryn (Jennifer Garner): Did you know chickens die after sex?

          Walt (David Tennant): The one I fucked did.

Forced to play backup QB Chase Daniel in place of Mitch Trubisky, the Bears lost to the lowly Giants. On the second play from scrimmage Daniel tossed a pass into the arms of a defensive lineman for an easy pick six.  Another interception would follow.  Fortunately, all other Bears’ rivals lost, including Green Bay to lowly Arizona, costing Coach Mike McCarthy his job.  Thanks to Eagles QB Carson Wentz and tight end Zach Ertz, I finished the regular Fantasy season 8-5, tied for first with nephew Bobby and thus earning a bye in the playoffs.

I drove through snow to Lakeshore radio in Merrillville to appear on the noontime Chris Nolte show about “Gary: A Pictorial History.”  Producer Dee Dotson, a recent IUN grad who majored in Public Relations and worked for the campus radio station under Eve Bottando, recognized me. I was only on the air for about 15 minutes but, a veteran of multiple appearances with hosts Tom Higgins and Jerry Davich, thanked our sponsors and emphasized our goal of focusing on people’s activities.  One of my favorite photos, I pointed out, was of Pastor Dwight Gardner preaching at Trinity Baptist Church.  Appearing on a page showing the Wirt/Emerson choir performing at Holy Angels and St. Timothy members who participated a jazz vespers service, it exemplifies the contributions of religious institutions striving to keep neighborhoods viable.

 St. Timothy vesper service by Billy Foster, top, right

After my bi-monthly haircut, I picked up an Imagine Dragons CD at Chesterton library ( Dave included “Thunder” by the Las Vegas rockers in his “Best of 2017” CD) along with Anne Tyler’s “Vinegar Girl,” subtitled “The Taming of the Shrew Retold” and set in Baltimore.  I have already read it but every so often get a yen to reread one of Tyler’s novels for their deft character studies.  “Vinegar Girl” begins, “Kate Battista was gardening out back when she heard the telephone ring in the kitchen.”  It was her controlling father, a Johns Hopkins research professor. Here are the book’s final words:

  Pyotr rose to his feet and placed an arm around Kate’s shoulders.  He smiled into her eyes and said, “Kiss me, Katya.

  And she did.

Chesterton library had the new issue of Traces with Hoosier Hot Shots on the cover.  One guy was playing a washboard.  Active for almost 50 years beginning in the 1930s, the Hoosier Hot Shots performed novelty songs (i.e., “From the Indies to the Andes in His Undies,” “I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones”) and country favorites on radio shows such as “National Barn Dance” and appeared in several forgettable B-movies. Guest editor James Madison noted that Traces did not just focus on “great white men” during its 30 years in print and, citing my articles on Reverend L.K. Jackson and Women of Steel, its coverage of African-American and women’s history.   

Into the Woods

“Careful the spell you cast, not just on children.  Sometimes the spell may last past what you can see, and turn against you.”  Witch (singing) in “Into the Woods”

I delivered copies of “My Name Is Gary” (Steel Shavings, volume 44) to Jack Franklin, who’s on the cover in a chair in front of Roosevelt Service Center, and to Magnum Jamal, whose 4 Brothers Grocery is on the back cover.  Sitting outside just like in the shot Frederic Cousseau and Blandine Huk took of him tipping his cap, Franklin eyed me suspiciously as I got out of the car, stared at the photo for a few seconds and exclaimed, “That’s me!”  Suddenly wary again, he asked, “What does it cost?”  He was pleased when I gave it to him free of charge.  Magnum Jamal, behind a counter protected my thick glass, shook my hand and showed considerable emotion.

above, Toni at Porter Beach; below, Shannon and Maxwell

Granddaughter Miranda, down from Michigan for the Discovery Charter School production of “Into the Woods,” went shopping at Marshall’s with Toni and then to Waverly Beach, it being so mild outside.  Afterwards, Toni used a photo Miranda took for her new Facebook profile picture.  Checking it out, I discovered that Shannon Bayer gave birth to a boy named Maxwell.  It made me think of the Beatles’ “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” Agent Maxwell Smart, and Max Blaszkiewicz.

At Edison High School for the grandkids’ play, Miranda spotted Delia (her mom) in a Lake Station class of 1988 photo on the wall. I ran into Melvin Nelson’s neighbor Wendell, who bowled with us for several years and whose granddaughter would be performing on stage.  He said he reads the Steel Shavings magazines I give to Mel and introduced me to his grandson, a Michigan State freshman studying to be a chemistry teacher.

“Into the Woods” was a huge success, with the cast getting a standing ovation from the appreciative audience.  It combined several of Grimm’s fairy tales, including Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel.  As the Baker, one of the leads, James appeared in almost every scene and was charming and witty.  Becca threw herself into the role of Witch, who near the end turned into a beautiful young lady.  It made me realize how much my grandkids are growing up.  That afternoon James had been in need of tall white socks, and the pair Archives volunteer Maurice Yancy gave me over the winter were perfect.

At Camelot Lanes teammates James, Andrew English, Josh Froman, and Kaden Horn rolled a 745 scratch, almost a hundred pins better than the top game of the season.  Kaden had his first 200 game ever, bringing a tear to Kevin’s eye.  Bowling for Doughnuts are in first place with five weeks left to go. In class James is studying “Bleeding Kansas” and the coming of the Civil War.  He found a section of his book on James Buchanan and the 1856 election.

We had a full house over the weekend, as Phil, Alissa, and Beth arrived for Saturday evening’s performance of “Into the Woods” and Dave’s family slept over.  Sunday afternoon after Beth left, we played three rubbers of bridge with Phil and Dave, and I watched Michigan State lose the Big Ten championship game in OT to Wisconsin, whom I’m picking to win the NCAA tournament even though unbeaten Kentucky is the prohibitive favorite.  Five Indiana teams made it to the “Big Dance,” Indiana (luckily), Purdue (with a late season surge), Butler, Notre Dame, and Valparaiso, who will play Maryland in their opening round.  IU goes against Wichita State; last year the Shockers were undefeated but in a bracket with talented Kentucky and didn’t even make the Sweet Sixteen.  In “The Imaginary Girlfriend: A Memoir” John Irving wrote:

An imperious Spanish teacher [at Exeter Academy] was fond of abusing those of us who lacked perfection with the insensitive (not to mention elitist) remark that we would all end up a Wichita State.  I didn’t know that Wichita was in Kansas; I knew only that this was a slur – if we weren’t talented enough for Harvard, then Wichita State would be our just reward.  Fuck you.  I thought: my objective would then be to do well at Wichita State.

I’ve been proofreading a manuscript Julie Jackson wrote about Chicago director/playwright/actor Frank Galati, whom she worked with as costume director.  Having never heard of him, I discovered that he and co-writer Lawrence Kasden adapted Anne Tyler’s “The Accidental Tourist” into a screenplay and that the Northwestern professor was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.  Inductees listed under the rubric “Friend of the Community” included oral historian Studs Terkel and former mayor Richard M. Daley.  Billie Jean King was honored in 1999, Jane Addams and Henry Blake Fuller posthumously.  In 1896 Fuller published “Saint Judas’s,” the first American play to deal explicitly about homosexuality, about a gay man who commits suicide at his former lover’s wedding.

above, Henry Blake Fuller; below, photo by Brenda Love

Brenda and Samuel A. Love visited Conrad Station Nature Preserve in Newton County.  Now a ghost town, Conrad, founded by Jennie Minerva Conrad in 1908, once contained a train depot, hotel, general store, church, school, dance hall, blacksmith shop, and stockyards for Jennie Conrad’s cattle.  By the 1930s it became apparent that Conrad’s days were numbered.  According to historian Dick Schmal, Jennie Conrad’s father, Lemuel Milk, had been responsible for the draining of Beaver Lake, wiping out 12,000 acres of marshland, much to the dismay of hunters and fishermen.  The irascible Jennie Conrad frequently feuded with neighbors.  In a 1990 Kankakee Valley Historical Society publication Schmal wrote:

One day she spied some boys with buckets of berries. Stopping her team, she quickly threw the berries on the ground and crushed them with her feet. She then ordered the boys from her property, but they hid until she was gone, then set fire to a 40-acre field of wheat, which was ripe and ready to cut, a total loss.

Another time she locked up some of a neighbor's cows because they were in her corn. She was taken to court and fined heavily for nearly causing the deaths of the animals. It was hard for the neighbors to give up their berry picking, knowing that no one person could use it all, but Jennie still regarded them as trespassers and dealt with them sternly.

She had cattle stolen from her and was in court many times, and it soon became a part of her routine to ride the boundaries of her property with a shotgun at her side to drive away anyone who should be foolish enough to trespass on her property.

photos by Samuel A. Love

Monday Sam reported that officials were doing a controlled burn in Marquette Park and his job was to make sure Nelson Algren’s old cottage doesn’t burn.  When we lived on National lakeshore property, this was an annual thing in the spring.  The first couple years, it was unnerving.