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).

Fascinating Rhythm

“Got a little rhythm that pitter-pats through my brain

So darn persistent, the day isn’t distant

When it’ll drive me insane”

         “Fascinating Rhythm,” George and Ira Gershwin (below)

It’s annoying when you can’t get a certain tune out of your head, especially one especially inane such as “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by Baha Men.  Published in 1925, “Fascinating Rhythm” was recorded by countless by vocalists such as Fred Astaire, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, and Judy Garland, as well as Big Bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, and Percy Faith. There are Latin versions (i.e., by Xavier Cugat), country-flavored recordings (Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards), a mellow one by Hawaiian steel guitarist Sol Ho‘opi‘I, and a snappy Motown release by The Four Tops.

Charleston Gazette editor James A. Haught characterized “Fascinating West Virginia” as containing “wild, wonderful episodes – and some not so wonderful.”  “Institute rose from epic love story” traced the antecedents of West Virginia State to the antebellum Samuel I. Cabell plantation located nine miles southwest of Charlestown.  Cabell took slave Mary Barnes as his lifetime mate and eventually freed their 13 children, provided for their education in Ohio, and took elaborate steps to insure they’d have full legal rights and inherit his 900 acres of property along the Kanawha River.  In July 1865, seven neighbors fatally shot Cabell, in all likelihood because, in Haught’s words, “of white resentment toward his integrated family life.” A jury acquitted the perpetrators within minutes.In the 1890s daughter Marina and other Cabell heirs sold 80 acres of land to the state for the creation of West Virginia Colored Institute, forerunner of the present university. In 1970, when Haught published the column about Samuel Cabell and Mary Barnes, he wrote: “Strangely, this story isn’t recorded in any West Virginia history book, even though it was a minor sensation at the end of the Civil War.”

 Belle Boyd, "the Cleopatra of the Confederacy"

Haught wrote that  Civil War Charles Town changed hands four times.  In 1863, the western counties broke off from Virginia, and until 1870 the capital of West Virginia was Wheeling.  Haught mentioned that Shepherd University’s Center for the Study of the Civil War contains information on Martin Delaney, a free black who fled Charles Town and recruited volunteers for a famed Massachusetts colored regiment and that 17-year-old beauty Belle Boyd served as a Confederate spy for fellow West Virginian Stonewall Jackson.  World War II general George S. Patton’s grandfather, a native Mountaineer, was a Confederate colonel under Jackson’s command killed during the Battle of Winchester.

 Wirt bust by Emory Seidel, photo by Steve McShane; below, Jack Tonk, P-T photo by Carole Carlson

Among the 78 William A. Wirt High School items auctioned off on orders from Gary Emergency Manager Peggy Hinckley was a 21-inch bronze bust of the city’s first School Superintendent and school’s namesake by Chicago artist Emory Pius Seidel.  Ron Cohen bought it for $6,800 and has donated the impressive work to IUN’s Calumet Regional Archives.  Post-Tribunecorrespondent Carole Carlson noted that former guidance counselor Jack Tonk paid $75 for a student painting he had purchased 30 years before for his office.  He told Carlson, “I bought it twice.”

 Coach Fisher in 2016 with Brianna Joiner; P-T photo by Jim Karczewski

“Fisher firing fishy” pronounced Post-Tribune columnist Mike Hutton, lamenting the sudden dismissal of legendary Gary West Side girls basketball coach Rod Fisher, 68, who notched 674 wins during a 41-year career, second in the state to Scottsburg’s Donna Cheatham with 699.  Two years ago, administrators tried to terminate Fisher but at that time needed school board approval, and former players rushed to his aid.  Now with the state having emasculated the board’s authority, petty academic officers carried out the dirty deed.  I recall Coach Fisher was a gym teacher at Marquette School during the early 1970s when sons Phil and Dave were in first and second grade (one taught by Linda Bonner, now Fisher’s wife).  He was a hardnose, but Jackie Gipson, who played for Fisher, asserted that he really cared for the players, often buying them meals out of his own pocket. His replacement, Shanee’ Butler, has no head coaching experience, Fisher’s wife claimed.  Envy and nepotism are possible explanations.  Former West Side star Dana Evans, now playing for Louisville, told reporter John O’Malley: 

  It's really horrible. I’m surprised and I’m really upset. It’s just so unfair and it’s not right. He’s one of the best coaches in the area and around the state. He was always willing to work hard and put extra time in with the kids to help make them better.  After everything coach had done, they just should have let him decide when he wanted to give up coaching and retire. It’s really not right. Gary can never have anything good. They try to destroy anything positive in the city, or anything that’s something, that really helps Gary. They (school officials) have been wanting coach Fisher out for years. I saw it, and I never understood that. It makes no sense. Why would you want a person like him out?

Roosevelt athletic director said the decision was a terrible way to end something so special for so many people. Unfortunately, this continues a trend, following shabby treatment of other Gary coaches, including Marvin Rea, Ted Karras, Jr., and Renaldo Thomas

In “Rabbit Remembered” Harry Angstrom’s son Nelson met half-sister Annabelle for lunch at the upscale (for Brewer, PA) Greenery (Salads, Soups and Sandwiches)and described their Dad as a narcissist who never grew up, nor did he seek to, and, like many men of his generation, was scared of his homoerotic side. He was better with grandchildren than his own son, though Nelson recalls them playing catch in the back yard and going to a Flyers ice hockey game in Philadelphia. The son claimed the only job he ever cared about was working the linotype at The Blast, next to his Old Man, Earl Angstrom (1905-1976).  When the family brought Rabbit’s ashes back from Florida in a square urn and stopped at a Comfort Inn, 9-year-old granddaughter Judy insisted that they bring it in from the trunk and had wanted to open it and look inside.  Next morning, Nelson drove off without the urn until Judy remembered it two exits up the road. Author John Updike wrote: “Afterwards, with schooled hindsight, Nelson saw that there had  been a certain unconscious vengeance in their leaving Dad behind, as he had more than once left them behind.”  Nelson’s Aunt Min, upon hearing she had a niece, replied, “Life is wild.  When it isn’t, a total bore.”

above, Jamrose Band; below, Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Over the weekend, Jamrose Band rocked out at Miller Pizza and Soul Asylum at Valpo Popcorn Festival.  Ron Cohen met Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame conference and concert honoring Woody Guthrie.   The Cubs sat through ten hours of rain delays.  The Friday game lasted a mere inning, wasting a start by ace Jon Lester.  Saturday they lost a twin bill, with rain interrupting a performance by pitcher Cole Hamels.  Sunday they cooled their heels at the D.C. ball park for over 4 hours before it was cancelled. That night, the Bears blew a 20-point lead against Green Bay in the final 18 minutes with QB Aaron Rodgers directing the comeback on a gimpy knee and girlfriend Danica Patrick in the family box.  Old friend Terry Jenkins attended last week’s Phillies game when the Cubbies beat Aaron Nola on Home Runs by Baez, Rizzo, and Murphy. We’re both huge Eagles fans, and I mentioned that when Falcons QB Matt Ryan threw into the end zone on the final play of Thursday’s contest, I wanted it to be incomplete but if caught, by Julio Jones, who’s on my Fantasy team.  It was an incompletion, but Jones still got me 17 points, enough, combined with 19 by Todd Gurley, to allow Jimbo Jammers, to easily beat Pittsburgh Dave’s Bruisers.  

At bridge on Saturday Toni finished first, 90 points ahead of Brian and Connie Barnes, who tied for second.  Beforehand, I had a burger at Bulldog Restaurant in Ogden Dunes, which I couldn’t finish after eating a salad and rolls.  I wish that, like Toni, I’d just ordered the bacon-wrapped scallops appetizer. Monday night, Connie and Brian attended the Gino’s book club talk on “Valiant Ambition.” Beforehand, on the bar stool next to me, Bill Walton was discussing IU professor Peter Guardino’s new book, “The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War.”  Centering on the experiences of ordinary Mexicans and American soldiers, this social and cultural study claims that the United States underestimated the strength of Mexican nationalism and ferocity of their resistance to being conquered, resulting in thousands of American casualties and at least twice as many Mexican combatants and civilians. Evidently, young Irish recruits endured buggery and rape and witnessed atrocities inflicted by U.S. troops on Mexican civilians. (Guardino below)