Author: JWF

Tidy Tidbits: Friends & Family

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Being socially engaged with others is a key to good health and perhaps a longer life.  We entertained very good friends recently and I spent several days inhabiting J. D. Vance’s head in his disturbing and engrossing memoir of growing up in Appalachia.

FRIENDS

As is certainly evident in Vance’s memoir (noted below), we don’t get to to choose our parents or our grandparents.  Some of us are luckier than others.  But, we are able to select our friends.  One of the greatest pleasures of retirement is the gift of time and with that the opportunity to spend more time with good friends Last week our good friends, Mary and Joe, came for an overnight visit.  We’ve known them probably twenty years and, although we hadn’t seen them since the end of last summer, we picked up where we left off and had an easy, delightful time.  We’ve met and are acquainted with each other’s children and grandchildren and we share a common interest in good food, good books, and being by the water.  Conversation flowed effortlessly, and we parted knowing more time together awaits us come summer.

FAMILY

Hillbilly Elegy:  A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance

This is a remarkable book.  Remarkable for its unflinching candor and remarkable for the story it tells.  How J.D. Vance was able to escape from his family’s cycle of poverty, violence, and instability is amazing and riveting.  He describes hillbilly culture:  its mores, values, and attitudes, and both defends it and then holds it accountable for the ongoing problems experienced by this segment of society in Appalachia.  What enabled him to succeed at all was the relative stability provided by his grandparents.  They were strict and, to some of us, would come across as mean, but they loved him and, his grandmother in particular, instilled in him the value of education.  Also key to his survival (and he was surviving rather than thriving) was the protection his older sister Lindsay offered.  For a long time, they were a team, and Lindsay more the adult than his drug-addicted mother with her series of live-in boyfriends and, eventually, five husbands.  

Studies have demonstrated and Vance is evidence that constant disruption in childhood and daily exposure to loud arguments and violence leave scars that carry over into adulthood.  Vance was not only socially and culturally out of step when he went to college, but he lacked the necessary skills for developing a loving, long-term relationship.  He occasionally cites from the literature on poverty, but it offers few solutions.  Ultimately, he believes the answer lies not with the government, but with hillbillies themselves re-evaluating their conduct and facing the fact that it is harmful to their children.  His is a success story fueled by resentment and anger, but success none the less.  He had advantages many children from Jackson, Kentucky and Middletown, Ohio do not.

Published in June 2016, Vance’s memoir has been singled out as describing individuals most likely to be Trump supporters; read with that in mind, it offers an up-close look at lives most of us have little familiarity with.  The book jacket states that after law school, Vance became a principal at an investment firm in Silicon Valley and lived in San Francisco.  I thought this was one of the unlikeliest milieus for him and was puzzled.  My wonderment was partially answered by his op-ed piece in the March 16 New York Times in which he writes about deciding to move back to Ohio, but Columbus, not Middletown.

DIVIDED LOYALTIES

On the small screen, I just finished watching the five-part Netflix series, Rebellion.  Set in Dublin, it focuses on the Easter Rising of 1916 and three women who are caught up in the Irish rebels’ fight against the British government.  While these young women, a government employee, a doctor in training, and an activist, are all involved, two brothers are fighting on opposite sides while an upper class husband and wife have sharply different views on how they should participate or not.  I found it totally engrossing and well done and hope that there will be a second season.

Notes:  Header photo and coloring ©JW Farrington; downtown Middletown, Ohio from Pinterest.

Culture Notes: Music, Politics, Movies

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What follows are paeans to lively performers and great theater (Born Yesterday and The Originalist) along with comments on two challenging films.

MUSICAL RICHES

I swear you’d think we live in a big city given all the musical offerings we have!  In the last two weeks, we had the return of handsome baritone John Brancy (this time with pianist Peter Dugan); an exceptional orchestra concert, Estonian Voices, with the award-winning Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir performing the Mozart Requiem; and then a Monday morning brightened by New York based organist and conductor, Kent Tritle.  On the faculty of both the Manhattan School of Music and Juillard, Mr. Tritle is also organist and director of cathedral music at Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  He was bubbly and delightful in conversation and bounced from his seat down to play the impressive digital organ (we learned a lot about the latest digital organs and how the stops operate) at the Church of the Palms in Sarasota.  Demonstrating his musicality, he played works by J. S. Bach, Franck, and a very familiar sanctuary-filling postlude by Widor  It was a most memorable morning!

SUPERB THEATER

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we are blessed with fabulous live theater locally.  Recently, we saw the 1946 play, Born Yesterday, presented by the Asolo Repertory Theatre.   Set in Washington, D.C. it’s about politics and wheeler-dealing, but more significantly about the transformation of junk dealer Harry Brock’s mistress Billie from a so-called dumb blonde to a self-confident assertive young woman.  It starts out a bit slow, but then catches fire and Billie (Christina DeCicco) is wonderful and her evolution both hilarious and poignant to watch.    Beautiful set, great cast—everyone from the leads to those playing maids and doormen was top notch—with a story line that faintly echoes some of the political concerns of today.

Next up was the third of the political plays this season, The Originalist, a three-character drama focusing on Antonin Scalia and two of his law clerks.  Scalia engages in an ongoing sparring match with one of them, Cat, a liberal black lesbian, which is occasionally enlivened by a competitive card game.   Edward Gero has the look and walk of Scalia and when he first takes the stage I felt for sure we were seeing Scalia himself.  This is great drama that is even more relevant as we await the hearings on Judge Gorsuch.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING FILMS 

We didn’t see them in the theater so we watched two notable films at home on our biggish small screen.  One was Jackie.  Natalie Portman (nominated for best actress) is most convincing as Jackie Kennedy, but for those who idolized the woman, this film will not necessarily endear her to you.  Contained, reserved, and always smoking, this Jackie is unto herself ever mindful of her image and that of her now late husband.  The film focuses on the short period of time right after Kennedy’s assassination when Jackie gives a key interview and re-lives the events of that horrible day.  If you accept, as I do, writer Barbara Leaming’s theory that Jackie was suffering from PTSD (something not yet identified in 1963), then her behavior is more understandable.  Not an easy film to watch.  

Moonlight won best picture—much to the surprise of everyone, especially the creators of La La Land who were winners for an instant—and we felt we ought to see it.  It is a raw and powerful film that I think I kept on appreciating after it was over.  Chiron’s story is the maturing of a poor black boy wondering about his sexuality.  It unfolds in three chapters from his grade school years as he is bullied for his difference, to his teen years and his fragile friendship with Kevin, to his adult life alone working the mean streets of Atlanta.

His mother is a drug user and mostly unavailable to him.  As a kid, Chiron is rescued by Juan, a drug dealer.  Juan and his partner, Theresa, offer Chiron warmth and stability and regular meals.  The interactions between these three individuals are some of the brightest spots in the film.  Years later, Kevin surfaces and prods Chiron into a bit of reflective conversation.  For more on what this intimate film achieves, I highly recommend this review in The New Yorker by Hilton Als.

Notes:  Header photo from Asolo Repertory Theatre; Moonlight image from www.indiewire.com

Tidy Tidbits: Just Books

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BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS.  You’ll find fun with a favorite children’s book here along with Edna O’Brien’s sobering novel followed by a fast-paced thriller.

THAT CAT

I had the unexpected pleasure of reading The Cat in the Hat to a kindergarten class the other day—with some non-verbal assistance!   It was Dr. Seuss Day and the Chief Penguin and I were at the Community Day School in Sarasota.  This faith-based school is an inclusive place open to kids of all nationalities, flavors, and religions with a focus on preparing them to be global citizens and to have a positive impact on the world.    

Dr. Seuss Day celebrates the noted author’s birthday (March 2) and is a time when many schools invite volunteers in to read one of his books.  In the Sarasota-Manatee area, the event is also sponsored by the organization, Embracing Our Differences.

EVIL AND INNOCENCE

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien.  O’Brien is a noted Irish writer of stories, novels, and a memoir, and this is her latest novel.  Her first novel, which I have not read, but know of, The Country Girls, was published in 1961.  She was so severely castigated for its frank sexual content (mild by today’s standards) that she left Ireland for London and has been estranged from her home ever since.

The Little Red Chairs is a strange book but, despite my initial doubts, I ended up finding it worthwhile.  The early chapters present a bunch of characters in a small town in western Ireland and are somewhat confusing.  Eventually, things sort themselves out after Fidelma, a married woman who desperately wants a child, becomes the focal point.  She is attracted to the charismatic stranger and healer, Dr. Vlad, and ultimately seduces him.

But, Dr. Vlad is not who he pretends to be and is arrested for war crimes associated with the Bosnian War.  Horrific revenge is visited upon Fidelma for her actions and she must leave and forge a new life for herself in London.  Echoing throughout the early part are memories of and references to the massive slaughter in Sarajevo in 2002.  This is a dark novel of hate and evil based on the real war criminal, Radovan Karadzic (tried and convicted at The Hague), ending with a glimmer of hope for Fidelma’s salvation.

I read this novel for my book group here.  Everyone found it challenging, and responses to it were mixed to negative.  Some found there to be too much descriptive writing and others did not find themselves engaged with or caring about the characters, especially Fidelma.  Many of the book reviews I read consider it O’Brien’s masterpiece.  Particularly helpful for context is an interview with the 85 year old O’Brien which appeared in Smithsonian Magazine.  Had I read it before tackling the novel, I would have appreciated sooner what she was attempting.

CHANGE OF PACE THRILLER

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.  I had put off reading this thriller since it deals with a plane crash, but once I started it, I raced through it.  It was gripping.  A private plane leaving Martha’s Vineyard crashes a a short time later, and of the eleven people on board, only two survive, a man and a small boy.  Why did the plane crash and what are the back stories of the passengers and crew?  Hawley’s novel is a fast-paced account of the TSA investigation, the role of the press, the lives of the victims before the crash, and the effect of the crash on the two survivors.  If you’re looking for a quick escape into another realm, this could be it!

FOOTNOTE

Following up on my mention of  Colson’s novel, The Underground Railroad, most of the NY Times’ Travel section this past Sunday (February 26) was devoted to museums and historic sites related to the Underground Railroad.  Many of them in Maryland.

Images:  Red chairs from the Web (litstack.com); photos courtesy of L. Hershorin.

Down Memory Lane: Betsy’s Travels

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BON VOYAGE!

Before the age of 50, my mother, Betsy, had made one trip to Europe (25th wedding anniversary to England and Portugal) and several to Ontario, Canada, but that was it for foreign travel.  In college, she studied Spanish and Portuguese and aspired to be an archaeologist in South America.  That was before her good friend Marie introduced Betsy to her brother Erich.  She married Erich, my father, and most travel, except visiting relatives in the Midwest, was shelved while they together raised four kids.

Widowed at 49, Betsy spent the next twenty-five years making up for lost time.  She and my Aunt Lee, also a recent widow, traveled to Puerto Rico together—the first of Betsy’s many jaunts.  In the early years, she routinely booked trips with the Smithsonian and bravely signed up to share a room (she was not a wealthy woman).  These well-curated trips took her to much of South and Central America—Brazil, Peru, Santo Domingo, Haiti, and Guatemala—and then to Spain, the Netherlands and Egypt, enabling her to experience Machu Picchu, Dutch tulips, and the Pyramids.  And to satisfy her curiosity about other cultures while feeding her keen interest in architecture.  Later on, her trips were more domestic as she explored Seattle and Vancouver, New Orleans and Cajun Country, Baltimore and the Walters Art Museum, Santa Fe and the Southwest, and the art museums of the greater LA area.  Wherever she traveled, she took photos.  These were the days of film cameras and slides and more slides. 

The last remnant of my mother’s memorabilia of more than 90 years of life is carousels and cartons of slides.  I’ve been reviewing these slides, carousel by carousel, box after box.  Those of weddings, graduations, and family reunions call up happy memories of my childhood and young adult years and good times with siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. Recently, I sent a big box of these slides off to a scanning service in California and, some weeks from now, my siblings and I will each receive a DVD of this precious snapshot of the past.

Going through the travel slides, most of which have no personal significance for me, I have been reminded of the extent of Betsy’s journeys and how much pleasure she gained from these trips.  She read some of the suggested books beforehand, she kept notes, and she took pictures.  Frequently, she used these slides as material for the talks she gave to Roundabout, a women’s study club she belonged to for more than 50 years.  

I share some of my mother’s thirst for new horizons and new experiences.  I was fortunate to begin my international travel in my 20’s with a 3-week trip to England, Germany, France, and Switzerland with my then newish husband.  Thanks to the Chief Penguin’s scientific career, we two, and then three with our son, got to Europe and Asia a number of times for his commitments and once to Jerusalem for a library conference for me.

In retirement we have continued to travel to new venues (Vietnam and Valencia, for example) and old favorites (London, in particular).  About every six weeks, I get itchy feet; it’s time to go someplace!  It can be a weekend away, four weeks in NYC, a long trip, whatever, just a change of scene to mix things up.  I understand my mother’s pent-up need to see the world.

 

Notes:  Header photo of Machu Picchu and Kodak Carousel both from the web; flag globe from dreamtime.com