Pathogen

“Trumpism has infected the American polity like a foul pathogen. But it has also stimulated a powerful immune response that just may leave us stronger in the end,” Steve Chapman

Every so often, I come across an unfamiliar word, such as pathogen (a virus or other disease-causing micro-organism), in a column by Chicago Tribune editorial writer Steve Chapman titled, “Trump is Toxic: Americans Are Not.”  I’m so averse to thinking about our president that I find no pleasure in ruminating over our present political crisis.  Quite the opposite. Of course, it’s impossible to ignore Trump’s daily hate-spewing tweets and actions, such as calling refugees an infestation and smiling when a supporter at one of his rallies shouted, “Shoot ‘em.”  In my blog I generally let old friend from University of Maryland days Ray Smock speak for me.  Here’s Smock’s latest: 

    An Apology for the Enslavement and Racial Segregation of African Americans, H. Res. 194, passed the U. S. House of Representatives on July 29, 2008, on a voice vote. It was a long time coming but that resolution, which did not make a splash in the news media, is worth reading again.More importantly, and more timely, somebody should sit the President down and take his phone away long enough to read this resolution to him. He has no idea of American history, no idea of the history of African Americans, and not one iota of knowledge about the history of this nation of immigrants. Racism begins in ignorance and fear and then gets fueled by hate.

    An entire political party, the GOP, is currently enabling President Trump and not calling him out on such fundamental matters. I do not believe for a minute that all Republicans are racists. But the silence of this major party is deadly. Good men and women cannot remain silent on such a thing. No person in Trump's administration seems able to tell the president to stop tweeting racist and bigoted statements about black and brown people.

Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes

The mini-series “The Loudest Voice” concluded with Roger Ailes, (Russell Crowe) forced from Fox network in disgrace but with Trump’s being nominated for President, a phenomenon made possible by the dethroned evil genius.

Lane-Okomski gang

At the large family gathering over the weekend, there were a couple Trump supporters.  At one point I asked niece Andrea, who lives in Seattle and shares my lefty political views, whom she favored in the Democratic field.  Hostess Lisa almost immediately silenced me, emphatically stating that any discussion of politics was forbidden.  She got no argument from me.  Sunday afternoon Jackie Okomski’s well-read boyfriend Nick, a carpenter from New Jersey, asked what I thought of Trump and how anyone could support him.  On the latter point I mentioned one-issue voters, such as gun fanatics and those wanting to outlaw abortions.  Then without getting into specific political issues, I lamented Trump’s total disrespect for the political process or anyone who dared take issue with him. I briefly lost my composure contrasting his demagoguery with John McCain, who claimed Obama was a Muslim born, telling her that she was wrong, that he was a loyal American.  Draft-dodging Trump branded McCain, a POW for five and a half years (!!!) a loser rather than a war hero and had to be pressured into lowering flags to half-staff at his death. 

Schoolboy Q and Hanif Abdurraqib

In “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” Black essayist Hanif Abdurraqib wrote about rapper ScHoolboy Q (Quincy Matthew Hanby), who grew up in South Central L.A., encouraging white people concertgoers to sing along to “Yay Yay,” which contains these lyrics:

I'm a drug dealin' nigga, cause them grades ain't get me paid
My agenda for today is to make bread or get laid
See my daughter need some shoes and my mom work overtime
So I'm standin' by that stop sign with nickels and them dimes

As one totally uncomfortable with the “n” word, I’m still analyzing why ScHoolboy Q would make that request. Abdurraqib wrote: “The reclaiming of the slightly modified ‘nigga’ is a political act.” Yet, on the other hand, Abdurraqib sees it as bowing to the comfort of affluent white ticket holders. He introduced the essay with this quote from one of my favorite Philadelphia 76ers, Allen Iverson, criticized by the media for his postgame appearance: “You can put a murderer in a suit, and he’s still a murderer.” “ScHoolboy Q defended his position by saying, “It’s not like these white people are racists, they’re at a rap show.”  True, but “Howlin’ Wolf was in demand at Deep South, all-white fraternity parties.  In 1970 I discovered that blue collar longhaired hippies from white working-class neighborhoods were a different breed of cat from those from the East and West coasts.

In a eulogy to author Toni Morrison Time contributor Tayari Jones quoted her favorite Baptist hymn “May the Work I’ve Done Speak for Me.”  Nice sentiment.  When Ton Dietz said he was spiritual but belonged subscribed to no rigid set of beliefs, I explained that Reformation leaders such as Martin Luther and John Wesley broke off from the catholic church over the doctrinal issue of good works verses faith, that due to original sin, no amount of good works could get one to heaven, only belief in Jesus as redeemer. Like me, he thought that the silliest thing he’d ever heard.

Obama signing Affordable Care Act

On International Lefthanders Day WXRT morning jock Lin Brehmer noted that Cubs star Javier Baez, nicknamed “El Mago” (the magician), grew up lefthanded but wanted to play shortstop, considered a righthander’s position; so he simply started batting and throwing righthanded and now he has the strongest arm at that position in the majors, yet still eats and writes lefthanded.   I began eating and writing lefthanded after getting my right arm caught in an old-fashioned clothes wringer that one used before hanging wash out to dry.  I was about two at the time.  Our past three presidents, Clinton, Bush, and Obama, were lefties.

William A. Wirt in 1917

I introduced Ron Cohen prior to his Senior College talk on William A. Wirt and the Gary schools, noting that Ron came up with the ideas for the Calumet Regional Archives, Steel Shavingsmagazine, and our pictorial history of Gary. Although Wirt was a brilliant educator, he was a cold fish with virtually no friends and three troubled children.  Ron mentioned that the Wirt family summered in upstate New York; the car ride took three days, and Wirt forbade any talking during the trip.  Billy fled at first opportunity and became a merchant seaman.  Younger son Sherwood and daughter Eleanor spent years in mental institutions. Born on a farm near Markle, Indiana, Wirt disliked city life and was a staunch Republican whose capitalist ventures into banking and a car dealership went bust during the Depression.  

Lanes and Cohen in in IUN library courtyard

With Ron were daughter Alysha, whom I knew as a little girl, and granddaughter Eva, a history buff who asked a question about whether students learned cursive, at present controversial, as some schools are phasing it out.  Both were quite charming. Alysha asked how Phil and Dave were doing. 

Charlie Halberstadt had an excellent bridge week, finishing over 60% two days in a row.  Our 67.19% at Banta is almost always enough to win but Mary Ann and Norm Filipiak earned 68.23%.  In the hands we played them, we each had a high board, and on the third hand they tied for best board by making 3 No Trump while all other East-West pairs played in Diamonds, with only one of them making 5.  Terry Brendel asked if I wanted to teach Social Studies in a Michigan City middle school. The only catch, he added, was that I’d have to start tomorrow.  I demurred. When I mentioned Temple Israel in Miller, Helen Boothe wondered if Rabbi Stanley Halpern was still there.  He retired, I replied, but returned to preside at the wedding of Herb and Evelyn Passo’s son Alex to Bianca.

Rabbi Stanley Halpern

I was a guest on the WLTH afternoon “Drive” with Karen and Steve Williams, who’d heard that I would be speaking about Vivian Carter and Vee-Jay Records.  WLTH first went on the air in 1950, and during the 1970s broadcast from Glen Park. One of its talk show hosts back then was arch-conservative Warren Frieberg, who took exception to Ron Cohen’s anti-Vietnam War arguments. When Ron noted that the French finally realized that holding onto South Vietnam was hopeless, Frieberg called the French a bunch of pansies, or something to that effect. WLTH moved to Merrillville before returning to Gary in 2013 and presently located downtown.

 With WLTH afternoon co-hosts on the "Drive" Steve Williams and Karen Williams

Co-hosts Steve and Karen Williams, who are not related, greeted me warmly.  Steve was very knowledgeable about Vee-Jay Records, and Karen, a lifelong resident, about Gary history.  A Roosevelt grad and member of St. Paul Baptist Church, she recalled when her place of worship burned down, and Rev. L.K. Jackson going for help in his big Lincoln.  She described Sunday services as at least two hours long and for some women like a fashion show when they’d go to the front to take communion.  The wife of policy boss Fred Mackey wore a beautiful silver fox stole, she recalled.  Jazz saxophonist Art Hoyle goes to her church, as does Chancellor Lowe’s administrative assistant Kathy Malone.  Steve tested me by asking if I knew the former names of various doo wop groups. I knew that the Spaniels called themselves the Three Bees and that the Impressions were the Roosters, but he got me on the Dells (El-Rays) and Dee Clark’s original group, the Cool Gents.  As I was leaving, Steve said he'd expected me to be a nerdy professor with boring facts and statistics but could see how much the music meant to me.

Temptations

“You got a smile so bright

You could have been a candle

I’m holding you so tight

You know you could have been a handle.”

         Temptations, “The Way You Do The Things You Do.”

In “Without our memories, what are we?” Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts wrote about visiting his Aunt Millie in a facility that cares for Alzheimer’s patients.  Millie’s memories had mostly vanished, but when a band played the Temptations’ “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” Pitts put his arms around his aunt and started singing. “I’m watching her lips and she is nailing the words,” Pitts recalled, adding that the next day Millie had no recollection of the experience: “It is another piece of her, lost to her.  But I will keep it for us both.”

With original members David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, and Eddie Kendricks, the Temptations had a string of Motown hits starting in 1964, including “My Girl,” Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Just My Imagination,” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.”  Known for intricate harmonies, tailored suits, and syncopated choreography, they underwent a host of tribulations, including health issues, alcoholism and drug abuse, as well as personal conflicts.  Ruffin died in 1991 from a cocaine binge.  Blue-eyed soul singer Daryl Oates remembered, “His voice had a certain glorious anguish that spoke to people on many emotional levels.”

I’ve never been tempted to take up cocaine.  The buzz is quite intense and only lasts a short time, so addicts are stuck with a very expensive habit. Long ago, someone offered me a line, and I sneezed at the absolute wrong moment.  The only other time I partook, my heart seemed to be pounding so hard that it scared me away from further use.

Producer and Stormy Weather vocalist Henry Farag got to sing with David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, and Pookie Hudson of the Spaniels in January 1991, and called it the “biggest thrill of my singing career.”  Not long afterwards, he attended Ruffin’s funeral at a church in Detroit whose pastor was Aretha Franklin’s father.  Stevie Wonder delivered the eulogy.  In “The Signal” Farag described the scene as “right out of the Old South”:

  “Hand-held fans were waving in unison to stir the air in the un-air-conditioned church.  Cries and moans sometimes interrupted tributes and lengthy speeches.  David was laid out full length, exposed complete with tux and patent leather shoes in a coffin on the altar below the preacher’s platform.  A spontaneous, incredible version of ‘My Girl’ was sung at the podium by all the remaining Tempys putting their in-fighting aside as the ultimate eulogy.”

In a Rolling Stone interview novelist Stephen King admitted to using cocaine “all the time” for eight years beginning in 1978.  Before that he consumed an estimated case of beer daily and recalled:

  “I realized I had a problem about the time Maine passed a returnable-bottle-and-can law.  You could no longer just toss the shit away, you saved it, and you turned it in to a recycling center.  And nobody in the house drank [beer] but me.  I went to the garage one night, and the trash can that was set aside for beer was full to the top.”

A good liberal, King said about Republicans:

  “Whenever it comes to money – the national debt, for instance – they yell their heads off about ‘What about our grandchildren?’  But when it comes to the environment, when it comes to resources, they’re like, ‘We’ll be OK for 40 years’”

Tom Wade brought over Russian Railroad, voted 2013 Meeples board game of the year recently. Of the worker placement genre, it involves developing railroads, constructing and improving track and acquiring and upgrading engines to run on them.  Players can acquire factories and accumulate bonus points in a somewhat bewildering variety of ways.  Meeples, I learned, are characters representing people, in this case Russians.

Phil, pumped after scoring four soccer goals against a team of skilled college-age guys, described each in detail over the phone, including two with his left foot and two with the right.

Anne Koehler asked if I could speak to the Porter County Historical Society.  I mulled it over and offered to talk about Edgewater, a “Vanished Community” due to its incorporation into the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.   Many interested people resided there, including the daughter of Gary’s first mayor, poet Gib Laue, artist Dame Fleming, and a doctor who had a colonic clinic – giving enemas to patients.

It’s difficult to write a 190-word review for an edited book on international sports containing 13 articles plus an intro and conclusion.  Just to critique a single article in so short a space would be difficult.  My final draft, for example, does not mention President Jimmy Carter’s stupid decision to boycott he 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan for much the same reason our troops are there today.  Also left out, contributor Nicholas Evan Sarantakes citing the opinion of ancient Greek historian Thucydides that foreign policy is based on national interest, fear, and honor.  To that Sarantakes would add ideas (religion and ideology) and internal politics.  Public opinion initially supported Carter’s boycott, but after the winter Olympics’ “Miracle on Ice” support melted away and Carter failed in efforts to create alternative games to compete with Moscow.

Frederic Cousseau and Blandine Huk sent me a DVD of their two-hour interview of Mayor Richard Hatcher for the Archives.  I’m hoping for a copy of “My Name Is Gary” as well.

Inclement weather didn’t stop dozens of trick-or-treaters from stopping by the condo for candy.  Several wore black ski masks without cut out spaces for eyes.  Toni told me they became the rage a couple years ago.

Two days into the NBA season Derrick Rose went down with an ankle injury.  He’s missed almost two full seasons already during his brief pro career with knee problems.  I put on the final minutes of the Bulls home opener against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Lo and behold, Derrick Rose was not on the court, felled by a twisted ankle.  Chicago forced overtime, thanks to a stellar effort by “Captain Kirk” Hinrich, but lost by six points.

In the car I heard the Temptations’ “I Can’t Get Next To You” on WXRT's show on 1969, as well as "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis and "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones.  The Tempts also recorded “Run Away Child, Running Wild” that year, at a time when many young folks were running away from home.  Tom Marker discussed the tragic free concert the Stones put on at Altamont Speedway in San Francisco in December.  The Hell's Angels were hired to work security (with horrible results) because the venue was moved at the last minute and there wasn't time to build a stage high enough to prevent spectators from leaping onto it.

Between watching James bowl and attending IUN’s Homecoming basketball doubleheader, I showed off the Archives to photographer Cuck Walla, who likes to visit abandoned Gary buildings such as City Methodist Church and the Palace Theater.  It turns out he worked closely with volunteer David Mergl, photographing inside Bethlehem Steel and even doing wedding with him.

Nicki Monahan, Bernadette Grabowski, Danielle Zandstra; below, Nate Flores, Darrius Davis, Davin Ellis, DJ Teague 

Homecoming was quite exciting, with the bleachers almost full, many Alumni on hand, and hamburgers, hot dogs and chili served between games, or earlier if one was hungry.  The Lady Redhawks, led by Nicki Monahan’s 26 points, extended their record to 7-0 with a four-point win over the St. Francis Fighting Saints.  Scrappy guard Christina Ekohumu, who made numerous driving layups earlier in the game, got fouled attempting a three-pointer with seconds remaining but missed her second free throw, sealing the victory for IUN.  The men’s team lost a tough match against Roosevelt University 67-64, but I was impressed with their play against an NAIA team that was expected to win handily.  In the past the men’s team has been virtually all-white or all-black, but under Kristofer Schnatz, who is both coach and athletic director, there was a nice mix of talented players. 

Dave’s family came over for dinner Saturday and then we had Tom Wade over to teach him Russian Trains after an Amun Re game that I lost on a tie breaker, finishing with the same number of points as Tom but with two fewer pyramids.