Person, Place, and Thing: January 8 - 15

 Person.

David Robert Jones was born in London on January 8, 1947. As a child he was introduced to American rock through the music of Fats Domino, The Platters, Elvis (same birthday) and Little Richard, to name a few. He later said that when he first heard "Tutti Frutti" he "heard God." An older half-brother also introduced him to modern jazz and the Beat poets. He studied art, music, and design before launching his music career in 1963. He started forming and joining bands at 15.

In 1966, he changed his name to Bowie because another young Englishman named Davy Jones was becoming well known in America as a member of the Monkees. Although he recorded and released singles during the 1960s, he achieved little chart success and recognition. In July 1969, five days ahead of the Apollo 11 launch, he released "Space Oddity" which reached the top 5 in the UK. From there throughout the next five decades, he built a career of highs and lows, with one consistent theme throughout: inconsistency. He became known as chameleon, constantly changing his appearance, his musical style, and developing distinct characters like Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke. He managed to be open and available to the media and to be an enigma at the same time.

His death in 2016 was only the second celebrity death, following Prince in 2015, that had an impact on me personally. While Prince was and is my favorite musician, Bowie was pretty close, and I was only lucky enough to see both live in concert once.

In 2018, music journalist and author Dylan Jones published David Bowie: The Oral History (aka David Bowie: A Life), for which he interviewed 200 people who had some ties to Bowie and added the multiple interviews that he himself had done with Bowie. It's a unique biography which describes the ups and downs, positives and negatives.

Place.

David Robert Jones was born in London on January 8, 1947. As a child he was introduced to American rock through the music of Fats Domino, The Platters, Elvis (same birthday) and Little Richard, to name a few. He later said that when he first heard "Tutti Frutti" he "heard God." An older half-brother also introduced him to modern jazz and the Beat poets. He studied art, music, and design before launching his music career in 1963. He started forming and joining bands at 15.

As a student at Bromley Technical School (now known as Ravens Wood School), Jones (Later David Bowie) fell into the orbit of Owen Frampton, an art and design teacher at the school. Frampton came to be more like a surrogate father than a teacher, and his son Peter Frampton, became a younger brother. Bowie spent a lot of time in Frampton's classroom and home. There must have been something in the water at Bromley, because, years after Bowie and Frampton's time there, Billy Idol and Siouxie Sue (of Siouxie and the Banshees) were students there as well.

In 2018, music journalist and author Dylan Jones published David Bowie: The Oral History (aka David Bowie: A Life), for which he interviewed 200 people who had some ties to Bowie and added the multiple interviews that he himself had done with Bowie. It's a unique biography which describes the ups and downs, positives and negatives.

Thing.

David Robert Jones was born in London on January 8, 1947. He changed his name to David Bowie early in his career and embarked on a successful career spanning decades. He was known as much for his chameleon-like adaptations as his music, changing music genres, styles, and identities numerous times in his career, in addition to taking on film, tv, and stage acting, and producing and writing for other acts like Iggy Pop. He was also ahead of his time when it came to adopting and integrating digital, internet, and video technology.

And don't forget, from 1988 to 1992, he was part of a rock band called Tin Machine, a period which he said reinvigorated his creativity. Tin Machine consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on bass and vocals; and Hunt Sales on drums and vocals.

Person.

On January 9, 1493 Christopher Columbus, sailing near what is now the Dominican Republic, recorded sighting three "mermaids," "not half as beautiful as they are painted." It was the first recorded European sighting of manatees. My grandfather and Columbus have something in common. I've never heard any details, but apparently my grandfather reported seeing a mermaid while he was living in Savannah Georgia and working at a shipyard during World War II.

Manatees are slow moving aquatic mammals that may grow to 10 to 12 feet in length and weigh 800 to 1200 pounds. There are three pieces of manatees (West Indian, West African, and Amazonian) and the East Indian dugong that make up the order Sirenia. Another species, the Seller's sea cow was hunted into extinction by 1760. Today, all four species are threatened because man through loss of habitat, reckless boating, and chemical pollution of their habitat. Many manatees due each year because of collisions with boat propellers; many more carry lifelong scars. In the last few years, Florida's manatees have struggled to find enough food, and the state has initiated feeding programs.

In 2010, noted journalist and author Craig Pittman published Manatee Insanity, becoming the first environmental writer to explore the complex history and science of manatees and their place in Florida culture. In August of 2022, a paperback updated version was released. Pittman also wrote Cat Tale, the story of efforts to save the Florida panther from extinction.

Place.

On January 9, 1493 Christopher Columbus, sailing near what is now the Dominican Republic, recorded sighting three "mermaids," "not half as beautiful as they are painted." It was the first recorded European sighting of manatees.

Florida manatees are found throughout Florida and can easily move between fresh and salt water habits. They are found in Florida's rivers, springs, and canals. Crystal River Florida is hosting its annual Manatee Festival this coming weekend TECO, the Tampa Electric Company maintains a Manatee Viewing Center at its Apollo Beach power plant. There, one can see hundreds of manatees (and sharks and rays) gathered around the water pipes returning warmed water back into Tampa Bay on cool winter days.

Thing.

On January 9, 1493 Christopher Columbus, sailing near what is now the Dominican Republic, recorded sighting three "mermaids," "not half as beautiful as they are painted." It was the first recorded European sighting of manatees.

At first glance, one might assume that the closest living relatives of the manatees and dugongs may be seals, sea lions, or walruses. And, according to evolutionary paleontologists, one would be wrong. They claim that the manatees' and dugongs' closest relatives are the elephant, the aardvark, and the hyrax. (A hyrax is a small furry mammal weighing 4 to 10 pounds.) Although not universally accepted, a major theory holds that all of these animals evolved from a large, mostly aquatic, mammals called Tethytheria. In fact, theories about this evolutionary pathways are still debated.

Person.

On January 10, 1883, two silent film stars of the early Hollywood era were born: Florence Reed and Francis X. Bushman. In 2022, Paramount released "Babylon," a big-budget, big-stars movie about the decadent early days of Hollywood. By all accounts, it is a huge box office flop. That, by no means, should imply that there are no compelling stories to tell. The silent film era and the Hollywood studio system were the backdrop to enough scandals and crimes to fill countless more books and movies.

In 2014, William J. Mann wrote Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood. The titular Murder is that of powerful producer and director William Desmond Taylor which still remains unsolved today. Taylor (born Tanner in April 1872) immigrated to the US from Ireland at age 19. In New York, he became an actor and married an actress. In 1908, however, he disappeared, deserting his wife and daughter. His wife got a divorce on the basis of desertion. Little is known about the next few years of his life. He popped up again in San Francisco in 1912, with a new name, on his way to Los Angeles to work in movies. He acted in a few movies before enlisting in the Canadian Army for WWI. On his return to Hollywood, he became a director, directing 59 films in total and eventually serving as President of the Motion Pictures Directors Association.

At 7:30 am on February 2, 1922, his body was found just inside his bungalow in the affluent LA community of Westlake. On his body were a diamond ring, a wallet with cash, a watch, and a silver cigarette case, ruling out the motive of robbery. The ensuing investigation became a media frenzy, uncovering a crazy assortment of characters and enough stories about Holllywood drugs, alcohol, and sexual perversion to titillate the country for months. His murder is just one of the scandals that led to a crackdown in the immorality rampant in the motion picture industry.

If you're a narrative nonfiction fan, a fan of Erik Larson books, you'll enjoy this one.

Place.

On January 10, 1883, two silent film stars of the early Hollywood era were born: Florence Reed and Francis X. Bushman. In 2022, Paramount released "Babylon," a big-budget, big-stars movie about the decadent early days of Hollywood. By all accounts, it is a huge box office flop. That, by no means, should imply that there are no compelling stories to tell. The silent film era and the Hollywood studio system were the backdrop to enough scandals and crimes to fill countless more books and movies.

In 2014, William J. Mann wrote Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood. The titular Murder is that of powerful producer and director William Desmond Taylor which still remains unsolved today. It's a great narrative nonfiction read, reminiscent of the works of Erik Larson.

The first film production in the Los Angeles area began shooting in 1907. Movie directing pioneer D. W. Griffith filmed there in 1909 and 1910. The first studio was built in 1911. Within a year, 16 studios were in operation, and the rest is history.

Why did Hollywood become the home of the motion picture industry?

-Weather allowed for year-round filming outdoors with plenty of sun, little rain, and no winter.

- Within an hour or two of LA, companies could find beaches, deserts, forests, and mountains, farms, and factories.

-Everything was cheaper than in New York. LA was a non-union city.

-In LA, they were far from the Thomas Edison controlled monopoly of New York. Edison strictly controlled all aspects of movie making in New York, constantly threatening and filing lawsuits for infringing on his patents.

Thing.

On January 10, 1883, two silent film stars of the early Hollywood era were born: Florence Reed and Francis X. Bushman. In 2022, Paramount released "Babylon," a big-budget, big-stars movie about the decadent early days of Hollywood. By all accounts, it is a huge box office flop. That, by no means, should imply that there are no compelling stories to tell. The silent film era and the Hollywood studio system were the backdrop to enough scandals and crimes to fill countless more books and movies.

In 2014, William J. Mann wrote Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood. The titular Murder is that of powerful producer and director William Desmond Taylor which still remains unsolved today. It's a great narrative nonfiction read, reminiscent of the works of Erik Larson.

In 2012, to mark the 140th anniversary of his birth, The William Desmond Taylor Society, in his home town of Carlow, Ireland, established Taylorfest, an annual arts and film festival honoring Ireland's most prolific filmmaker and celebrating the contribution of the Irish to silent film. The festival still takes place annually.

Person.

On the night of January 11, 1961, about a thousand University of Georgia students, Athens Georgia citizens, and KKK members staged a riot on campus in protest of the registration of black students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes, the first black students registered on campus.

Both students graduated from the all black Turner High School in Atlanta and had applied for admission in 1959. Holmes was the class valedictorian and class president, and Hunter was editor of the school newspaper and also at the top of the class academically. Admission was denied on claims that there was no dorm space, and the two matriculated at other colleges for the fall. They petitioned the state Board of Regents and initiated an injunction request for admission to UGA. The Board of Regents again denied admission on the grounds that the pair had not filled out the admission form properly.

A federal trial began on December 13, 1960 and lasted several days. The judge ruled in Holmes' and Hunter's favor, and they were officially admitted in January 9, 1961, surrounded by security in the face of angry, yelling mobs. That weekend, there were demonstrations along with effigy and cross burnings on campus. On the 11th, following a basketball game, students began a planned demonstration outside of Hunter's dormitory, alongside invited Ku Klux Klan Members, throwing bricks and bottles through her window. Athens police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Riot planners had notified state legislatures and the Lieutenant Governor of their plans, and they had received assurances of immunity from school and legal punishment.

Hunter and Holmes were suspended over "safety" concerns, but national pressure and pressure from the UGA faculty forced the school to drop the suspension, and they began attending classes on January 14. Four white students were suspended, 18 placed on probation: two Klan Members and four students were arrested.

UGA professor Robert Pratt wrote We shall Not Be Moved, the story of the struggle.

Place.

On the night of January 11, 1961, about a thousand University of Georgia students, Athens Georgia citizens, and KKK members staged a riot on campus in protest of the registration of black students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes, the first black students registered on campus.

Today, on the University of Georgia campus, one will find an historical marker and the Holmes/Hunter Academic Building, marking the location where the two students registered for their classes. In 2021, a $30 million renovation was approved. The building actually consists of two buildings joined together in 1905, Ivy Hall built in 1831 and the library built in 1860. It houses the Financial Aid, Institutional Diversity, and Registrar's Offices, and a few others.

Thing.

On the night of January 11, 1961, about a thousand University of Georgia students, Athens Georgia citizens, and KKK members staged a riot on campus in protest of the registration of black students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes, the first black students registered on campus. Following a basketball game, a mob staged a demonstration outside Charlayne Hunter's dormitory, throwing bricks and bottles through her window before being dispersed by Athens police using tear gas

UGA professor Robert Pratt wrote We shall Not Be Moved, the story of the struggle.

But it's not just National Championships and integration that cause UGA students to hold mass demonstrations on campus. In 1954, Artist-in-Residence Abbott Pattison created a 2-ton abstracted metal sculpture of a horse to stand in front of Reed Hall, but modern art wasn’t welcomed to campus. UGA students immediately shoved hay into the Iron Horse’s mouth, scattered manure on the ground behind it and set a mattress on fire underneath it. It didn’t stay on campus long. An employee of the University's horticulture department offered to allow the statue to sit on his farm just outside of town, where it remains.

Person.

If you've read anything about the rise of American gangsters during Prohibition or you're of a certain age and are old enough to watched reruns of The Untouchables or the 1987 film of the same name, you know the name Eliot Ness - the fearless and incorruptible American hero who singlehandedly brought down Al Capone and went after "the Mob." During his lifetime and following his death, Ness was an American icon. Unfortunately, almost everything Americans though they knew about Ness was wrong, and he was, in reality, just a man, a man with feet of clay.

I just finished reading American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper, published in September of 2022. After Ness' days in Chicago, his dream was to join the FBI, and maybe head up the Chicago office. Contrary to what people may think they remember, Ness was never a member of the FBI; he was a Prohibition Agent, employed by the Department of the Treasury, a G-Man yes, but never FBI. J. Edgar Hoover refused to consider him for the FBI because he was afraid Eliot's good looks, personality, and favorable press and public personas would overshadow him.

Denied his dream, Ness accepted a job as Safety Director of the city of Cleveland, in charge of the police, fire, and traffic safety departments. Unfortunately, his tenure coincided with the Cleveland Torso Killings. During the 1930s, Cleveland citizens, usually children out playing or exploring, discovered at least a dozen dismembered bodies, with some experts attributing up to twenty victims to the killer or killers. They all had one thing in common: legs, arms, and heads were hacked off the torsos. Each part was then wrapped up or boxed up and often disposed of separately; some parts were never found.

As Safety Director, Ness took the lead and was the focus of the press. No one was ever prosecuted for the crimes. In American Demon, Daniel Stashower takes the reader through the investigation and through Ness' life, revealing the real Ness. Great book!

Place

If you've read anything about the rise of American gangsters during Prohibition or you're of a certain age and are old enough to watched reruns of The Untouchables or the 1987 film of the same name, you know the name Eliot Ness - the fearless and incorruptible American hero who singlehandedly brought down Al Capone and went after "the Mob." During his lifetime and following his death, Ness was an American icon. Unfortunately, almost everything Americans though they knew about Ness was wrong, and he was, in reality, just a man, a man with feet of clay. Denied his dream of heading up the Chicago FBI office, Ness accepted a job as Safety Director of the city of Cleveland, in charge of the police, fire, and traffic safety departments. Unfortunately, his tenure coincided with the Cleveland Torso Killings.

During the 1930s, Cleveland was hit as hard as any other American city, with crime, unemployment, homelessness, and poverty rampant, and the area of Cleveland hit worst of all was known as Kingsbury Run, on the southeast side of town. It was notorious as an area rife with prostitution, drug addiction, and shantyvilles of hobos, sometimes numbering in the hundreds.

Kingsbury Run became ground zero for the Cleveland Torso Murderer(s), with several victims disposed of, and perhaps selected from, the area. In one desperate raid in hopes of finding evidence of the killer(s), Safety Director Ness and his men evicted some 300 men and set fire to a 100 or so shanties, ultimately turning up no leads.

Thing.

If you've read anything about the rise of American gangsters during Prohibition or you're of a certain age and are old enough to watched reruns of The Untouchables or the 1987 film of the same name, you know the name Eliot Ness - the fearless and incorruptible American hero who singlehandedly brought down Al Capone and went after "the Mob." During his lifetime and following his death, Ness was an American icon. Unfortunately, almost everything Americans though they knew about Ness was wrong, and he was, in reality, just a man, a man with feet of clay. Denied his dream of heading up the Chicago FBI office, Ness accepted a job as Safety Director of the city of Cleveland, in charge of the police, fire, and traffic safety departments. Unfortunately, his tenure coincided with the Cleveland Torso Killings.

During the 1930s, forensics was not really much of a thing in crime solving. The idea of maintaining records of fingerprints and mugshots had only been around for a few decades, but Cleveland did have a collection of materials and was one of the first 10 cities in America to use the Bertillon System, designed by French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon. It was a technique of using photos and measurements of multiple specific physical characteristics to identify criminals. A room in the Cleveland police department was devoted to keeping files on hundreds of individuals. However, it was of little use in identifying the Torso Murderer(s) or victims. Of the 12-13 widely accepted victims, only three were ever identified. The others were John and Jane Does.

Person.

Horatio Alger was born on January 13, 1832 in Massachusetts and died in 1899. Few 19th century authors was as prolific or as influential as Alger in American History.

After excelling at Harvard, he tried editing and teaching for a living while writing. His first published work came in 1857. In 1864, he became a Unitarian minister, and he continued to have some minor publishing successes. In 1866, he was confronted with accusations of sexually molesting boys. He denied nothing, left the ministry, and left town; the church took no further action. Moving to New York, he was inspired by the numerous poor, sometimes orphaned, street boys to start writing his "rags to riches" novels, eventually numbering about a 100 titles. They were practically all the same: poor young boy living a desperate life until his hard work and/or heroic deed gets recognized and he begins a successful and prosperous life.

Alger's books resonated perfectly with the ideals of the Gilded Age. The Protestant Work Ethic was strongly promoted as an American virtue, especially by those wealthy captains of industry who justified their wealth by cutting their own piety and dogged determination. You too can achieve success if you work hard and do as you're told. Sales and his income declined in the 1890s, and he suffered what he called "a breakdown." He was forced to move in with his sister, and he died in her home, largely unnoticed by the public and press. By 1926, he had sold about 20 million copies of his books.

Place.

Horatio Alger was born on January 13, 1832 in Massachusetts and died in 1899. Few 19th century authors was as prolific or as influential as Alger in American History.

At 16, Alger passed the Harvard entrance examinations and was admitted to the class of 1852. The 14-member, full-time Harvard faculty represented a Who's Who of America's elite academics of the day, including Louis Agassiz and Asa Gray (sciences), Cornelius Conway Felton (classics), James Walker (religion and philosophy), and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (belles-lettres). Edward Everett served as president. Alger's classmate Joseph Hodges Choate described Harvard at this time as "provincial and local because its scope and outlook hardly extended beyond the boundaries of New England; besides which it was very denominational, being held exclusively in the hands of Unitarians".

Thing.

Horatio Alger was born on January 13, 1832 in Massachusetts and died in 1899. Few 19th century authors was as prolific or as influential as Alger in American History.

From Wikipedia:

"The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to honor the achievements of outstanding Americans who have succeeded in spite of adversity and to emphasize the importance of higher education. The association is named for Horatio Alger, a 19th-century author of hundreds of dime novels in the "rags-to-riches" genre, extolling the importance of perseverance and hard work.

The association gives the annual Horatio Alger Award to exemplars of its ideals. It also grants scholarships, and describes itself as the largest provider of need-based scholarships in the United States. All scholarships are funded by the generosity of the members of the Horatio Alger Association."

Person.

English American author Hugh Lofting was born on January 14, 1886. He's most famous for creating the veterinarian that talked to the animals and had fantastic adventures, Dr. Dolittle. He published 9 Dolittle books, and two more were edited posthumously.

Lofting studied as a civil engineer before enlisting in the British Army in WWI. By that time, he had married and had children, but he refused to write home about the war. Instead he created Dr. Dolittle, set in early Victorian England, and filled his letters home with stories and illustrations. Wounded in the war, he emigrated to the US in 1919 and the first Dolittle book was published in 1920.

Place.

English American author Hugh Lofting was born on January 14, 1886. He's most famous for creating the veterinarian that talked to the animals and had fantastic adventures, Dr. Dolittle. He published 9 Dolittle books, and two more were edited posthumously.

In today's Person post, I said that Lofting and his family emigrated to the US following WWII. That was a little imprecise. Lofting actually had spent time in the US prior to the war, as a graduate engineering student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1904. In 1906, he returned to London Polytechnic where he completed a degree.

He practiced architecture briefly, then he prospected for gold and worked as a surveyor in Canada. During the next couple of years he traveled to West Africa and Cuba, where he served as a railway engineer. By 1912, he was back in the States, having decided engineering and architecture weren't for him after all. He moved to New York and married Flora Small that year. He also began sending manuscripts of articles and short stories to magazines. Flora bore him his first two children, Elizabeth and Colin. Eventually, he had two more wives and one additional child. Despite taking up residence in the U.S the rest of his life, Lofting never became a naturalized American citizen. He remained a British subject until his death.

Thing.

English American author Hugh Lofting was born on January 14, 1886. He's most famous for creating the veterinarian that talked to the animals and had fantastic adventures, Dr. Dolittle. He published 9 Dolittle books, and two more were edited posthumously.

"Victory for the Slain" (1942), Lofting's only work for adults, consists of a single long poem in seven parts about the futility of war, permeated by the refrain "In war the only victors are the slain." It; originally appeared only in the United Kingdom. Lofting's WWI experiences made him a committed pacifist. He opposed war not only for humanity's sake, but he was also traumatized by the war's impact on animals. People often don't realize that an estimated 8 million horses and mules were killed along with thousands of dogs and carrier pigeons.

"Lofting would become an internationalist as a result of his experiences stemming from World War I and advocated “Peace Preparedness” between nations. He would also, at least implicitly, become an anti-imperialist who stressed international cooperation. This spirit of cooperation is evident in his children's books. For instance, in The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle, the title character defends a smaller tribe of “Indians” from a larger tribe. Eventually Dolittle helps the two tribes forge a pact of cooperation. This is just one of many examples of his pacifist philosophy in his children's literature." (Wikipedia)