More about books

In October, replying to a comment from Bear, I did a search on my blog and found this draft I think I never published, but I'm honestly not sure (such are my technological abilities). I said I would post it the following week, and then immediately forgot. More about books, but I can't help myself. I love them so. Anyway, with very little fiddling, like the introduction, here it is:

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If you haven't read my profile for this blog (to tell the truth, I wouldn't even know where to tell you to look for it on the page, but I know I wrote one), I love books. When I moved from New York to Virginia I brought 32 cartons of them with me, after giving away hundreds, and have added substantially since (and hauled them all back to New York). When I go on trips and lock up my house, it is with the idea in my head that the almost the only thing I am leaving that I really care about in it if the house burns down while I'm gone (Why do I expect this, you ask? Probably my habit of forgetting if I turned the stove off) are my books.

At first, I was intending to just list all my books in this post. Don't think that's crazy. There are actually websites where people do just that. Instead, I decided to do another version of top ten lists, based on books I own or read. As I have also spent a lot of time in libraries reading, and I'm including that as well. As with all top ten lists, of course you are going to disagree. You will be wrong (almost certainly), but that is the point of top ten lists. And, I may have already done one of these lists already, but seriously, do you expect me to remember everything I write here? I treat multi-volume works as either single or multiple, depending on my needs of the moment and if cheat a bit with the whole top ten thingee.

Top Ten WWII histories

This one is really rough for me. So many to choose from.

1) The Second World War, Winston Churchill, particulary the first two volumes, The Gathering Storm and Their Finest Hour. First, Churchill was a great writer. Second, he is one of the main characters in the greatest story of our last century. There were things he couldn't talk about (see no. 3, below) and things he wasn't real clear about. But, there was no one quite like him and it is largely just wonderful.

2) The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes. I've written here a number of times that I think this is the best single volume history I've ever read. I might reverse it with Churchill's multi-volume work mentioned above and give it first prize, but I will give the P.M. the nod as a matter of respect. I do warn people, it is not light reading, but it never lagged in interest for me. Science, adventure, spies, escapes, geniuses, and so on ad infinitum. And, you will almost, but not quite, learn how to make a nuclear bomb. It is on my nightstand and reading it again very slowly.

3) The Ultra Secret, F. W. Wintherbotham. The story of how we broke the secret German Enigma machine codes, long kept a secret after the war.

4) The Liberation Trilogy., Rick Atkinson. An Army at Dawn is the story of the American invasion of North Africa in 1942 and 1943. It could be credibly subtitled - how the Americans learned to fight. The second volume, The Day of Battle, which covers the invasion of Italy and Sicily, was great too. Some might say even better. Atkinson is a great writer who knows his history and how to tell a story. I don't know if there is a title for the scheduled third volume, which should be out next year.

5) The Rising Sun, John Toland. The story of Japan before during and after the war, told mostly from their point of view.

6) Telford Taylor's Munich is an impressive display of scholarship and real history. The title is just the linchpin as it covers many years in leading up to WWII. After Churchill's own effort covering a shorter period of time in a more personal, but less comprehensive way, it is the best of the bunch, and that includes other brilliant efforts, including Donald Cameron Watt's impressive How War Came: The Immediate Origins of the Second World War and A.J.P. Taylor's shorter and more controversial The Origins of the Second World War, which I also own and treasure.

7) The Desert Fox, John Irving. This book is about Irwin Rommel, the great tank commander, and like all of Irving's books, very readable, almost like a novel, and often including previously unpublished memoirs, etc.. John Keegan, one of the dean's of historians, ranks Irving very highly. But, Irving's career has been essentially destroyed by others who believe he has falsified history, and I think maybe unfairly. I've never gotten around to reading the libel trial transcript and doubt I will, but, if I ever do fully research it, I will post my thoughts. I also loved his Churchill's War and Hitler's War.

8) The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940. Learned things here about the man of the century I did not know, particularly about his private life. Writing it must have been fun because the author got to pick and choose from Churchill's parliamentary speeches, which is like reading inspirational poetry.

9) Inside the Third Reich, Albert Speer. Speer was Hitler's architect, then armaments man and probably as close to a friend as Hitler could have. He was spared death because of his heroic behavior at the end of the war to save the Germans and his mea culpas at the trial. But, he participated in using slave labor and knew more than he pretended about what the Reich was doing. Yet, starting in prison, he wrote wonderfull best sellers that in part explore the why Hitler stuff that fascinates me. I'll cheat here and lump in with this book Gitta Sereny's Albert Speer: His battle with Truth, which discusses precisely that. An unusual and riveting biography.

10) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, William L. Shirer. Shirer was an American journalist who was there for the whole rise of the Nazis. Groundbreaking work, if a little hyperbolic at times. It was one of my first.

11) A Man Called Intrepid. William Stevenson. Oddly, this book about William Stephenson, the British Intelligence representative to America, is written by William Stevenson, no relation. According to Ian Fleming, Stephenson was the real James Bond. Other historians find him much less important. I tend to stand closer to Fleming and Stevenson, as he was knighted by Britain (he was Canadian) right after the war. The following year he became the first non-American to receive our Presidential Medal for Merit, the highest U.S. civilian medal and much later on, a Companion of the Order of Canada. The CIA has publicly acknowledged he played a key role in its creation. Only 2 years ago, he became only the third non-American to be made an honorary member of the U.S. Army Intelligence Corp. Somehow, I don't think that would all be done for the made up creation of one author. But anything is possible in politics.

Runner ups: First, two short books. A Thread of Deceit, Nigel West and Piercing the Reich, Joseph E. Persico, both on intelligence aspects of the war. How War Came - speaking of Keegan, I read this one on his recommendation. Hitler and Stalin, Alan Bullock. A dual biography which has led me to masses of new material. Also Watt's book mentioned above. There are so many more books you could choose from, of course, but, since it is a top ten list, I can only cheat so much.

Top ten fantasy novels

I can't explain why I do not really like the fantasy genre very much. I can barely read anything in it. But, for some reason, my favorite fantasy books are among my favorite books period. Go figure.

1) The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien. No explanation necessary.

2) The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien. Ditto.

3) The Once and Future King, T. H. White (""TOFK"). TOFK is first book of White's Arthurian cycle, but the next two volumes are wonderful as well. To read TOFK get it as a single volume as for some reason the collection leaves out a great chapter in it so that the chapter before it seems incomplete. But, do NOT read the fifth volume - The Book of Merlin, published posthumously. It was horrible, just HORRIBLE.

4) The Worm Ouroboros, E. R. Eddison. This is a great fantasy novel in the sword and sorcery vein, lyrically bejewelled and intricately plotted at the same time. The first thirty pages or so are really boring, as it is just the way we get to the planet Mercury where the action takes place. A good editor would have just cut it out. You can skim that part without missing a thing. Even Tolkien thought Eddison a great lyricist, and he was very hard to please.

5) The Face in the Frost, John Bellairs. A small story about magic and two kingdoms. I can't even tell you what I liked so much about it, but in a nutshell, it brought you into a magical little world. Bellairs is a children's author and I could not recommend anything else by him.

6) Silverthorn. John Myers Myers was a historian and novelist who wrote some of my favorite books. This is a rollicking, incredibly fast paced fantasy which flits through innumerable literary characters Myers weaved into his story, usually only hinting at who they are. The ending didn't really satisfy me, but is consistent with the nature of the book.

7) The Arthurian Saga, Mary Stewart. Another King Arthur story, but originally and wonderfully told. How many times can it be redone? I read The Chrystal Cave as a young man and still remember the haunting first chapter.

8) People of the Mist, Henry Rider Haggard. I often mess up his name, but this time I double checked. People is merely my favorite of his novels. She, King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quartermain and many others are also as much fun as a sword fight between Basil Rathbone and anyone else. However, I might have chosen his faux-Icelandic saga, Eric Brighteyes, which includes all the good stuff about that genre and leaves out all the bad. In 30 years, I have finally read a Haggard novel I do not like this year about the Greek hero, Odysseus in Egypt. Won't even tell you the name as chances of you reading it are really slim.

9) Damiano trilogy, R. A. MacAvoy. Three slender fantasies by an otherwise ordinary writer are about a young wizard tutored by the Archangel Raphael on the lute and were especially original and fun. I could not find another book by her that I wanted to read after trying a couple including her well known Tea with a black dragon. Not for me.

10) Glory Road, Robert A. Heinlein. This king of sci-fi writers also wrote this fun sword and sorcery bit.

Runner up: The entire Conan corpus. Robert Howard died young, but created an ancient world almost as rich as Tolkien's without a tenth of his learning. I also love Howard's Road to Azrael.

Top Ten Civil War histories

Another topic that is almost too hard to pick winners. But, like the great Chief Dan George said in character in my favorite Western film, The Outlaw Josie Wales, I shall endeavor to perservere:

1) Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings, I and II, Everyman's Library. This great collection includes everything he wrote of importance. Bear bought me the entire 11 volume collection and I thumb through that too all the time lookin for gems, but, if you aren't a compulsive history reader, you'll do better with the 2 volumes, which include all of the Lincoln Douglas debates.

2) The Eloquent President, Ronald C. White. A simply ground breaking scholarly analysis of Lincoln's writing. I've read so much on Lincoln it is hard for me to find new information I haven't read before, but he taught me a lot. I was very excited to read, but in the end, not as impressed by his one volume biography, A. Lincoln.

3) The Civil War, A History, Harry Hansen. This one volume history of the war may not be the most famous, but it is my favorite.

4) Army of the Potomac trilogy, Bruce Catton. Maybe the best multi-volume work on the subject although Shelby Foote fans will argue the case. A Stillness at Appomattox is my and probably everyone else's favorite.

5) With Malice Towards None, Stephen B. Oates. I am not sure why, but this was my favorite Lincoln biography, although some criticize it, I think unfairly.

6) Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills. Wills is simply one of the greatest living historians. I've learned more from him about American history than probably any other author. Talk about groundbreaking - this book startled everyone with his analysis of the greatest speech in American history (though some, like White, would quarrel). I could see this as high as no. 3.

7) Lincoln's Herndon, David Donald. One of the great Lincoln scholars, this little book went into the life of Lincoln's enigmatic law partner, who was not a great man, but knew one real well. Still, deciphering fact from fiction was Donald's mission, and perhaps you couldn't do it better. I know that Bear will complain here that he likes Donald's Lincoln, and, he may be correct, but I prefer his Herndon.

8) Fighting for the Confederacy, Edward Porter Alexander. General Alexander was just all over the Civil War, including playing a major role at Gettysburg. His memoirs make it sound like he really enjoyed it. I've written about his memoirs in depth before if you look in the archives. It is, in my opinon, the best Civil War memoir period, putting Grant's more famous work to shame.

9) American Brutus, Michael W. Kauffman. Kauffman is one of those guys who is not a professional historian at all, but obsessed with a topic. He took up Booth and set the Civil War author's world on fire. He might not be right about everything, although it is not as radical as he likes to think, but he is very worth reading.

10) The Real Lincoln, Thomas J. DiLorenzo. DiLorenzo just despises Lincoln. I don't. I revere him. But, you can't dispute the evidence DiLorenzo marshalls and he does it well. Other historians would rather dismiss DiLorenzo than deal with his arguments, but that isn't fair.

Runner up: Grant by Jean Edward Smith. Smith was a leader in literally re-writing Grant's history, and shows how his successful presidency (two terms), was undercut by generations of southern authors.

Notes: I am not as big a fan of Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals as many others are. It was a terrific book in a lot of ways, and I am not knocking it, but it was not really original and I didn't learn much. Still, very readable and perhaps a good introduction for those who haven't read a zillion Lincoln or Civil War books already. Obviously, from this list, I admit I like reading about Lincoln and that leaves out a whole lot of great books that don't focus on him. Still, he was the key.
Afternote: Some will complain I left out James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. I know I read it once, right at the beginning of my American history phase starting in the late 80s, but I just can't remember anything about it, so it doesn't make the list.

Top ten books on the founding generation

1) The Adams-Jefferson Letters. For at least two years I slowly hand copied excerpts from the two junior lions of the revolution (Washington and Franklin being the seniors). Friends, then enemies, then pen pals at last, their last 14 years of letters, really more Adams than Jefferson, was just wonderful as their topics ranged everywhere and were revealing, interesting. It was also written for us to read, no doubt about it.

2) The Federalist Papers, Hamilton, Madison and Jay. Really newspaper articles supporting ratification of the Constitution, they are must reads if you are serious about this stuff. But, don't read them unless that describes you. However, it is the great constitutional reference book. Just ask the Supreme Court.

3) Bolt of Fate, Tom Tucker. I have read almost every recent (20 years plus a few oldies?) biography of Franklin, but I think I like this very focused specialty work on whether Franklin really sailed the kite with the key. Read it and it is very hard not to conclude that Tucker is right on the mark. It probably never happened.

4) The First American, H. W. Brands. I haven't found anything else by Brands I really love, but this is my favorite of all the modern Franklin bios.

5) Alexander Hamilton and Alexander Hamilton. I'm cheating again. One is by Williard Sterne Randall, who has written some great books on the founders, including this one on Hamilton, but can't really crack the top ranks of historians, and the other by Ron Chernow, whose more recent and comprehensive work, was better in some ways, but probably overkill. Randall may have sensationalized some things, but then again, maybe not.

6) The Origins of the American Party System, Joseph Charles. Loved and learned a lot from this hard to find but terrific review of . . . read the title.

7) The Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Fleming. Fleming is another writer who is not quite in the top ranks, but probably should be. His works are fun, iconoclastic, interesting and creative. This was my favorite so far.

8) The First Emancipator, Andrew Levy. Kudos to Mr. Levy for bringing to light this founding generation gazillionaire, peer of Washington and Jefferson, who was far richer, had more slaves than them put together and was even more dependent on his slaves - but freed them all!

9) The Negro President and Inventing America, both by Garry Wills on Jefferson. Wills loves Jefferson, but tells the truth about him.

10) The History of the American Revolution, David Ramsay. This book is incomplete and sometimes in error. But, Ramsay had an excuse. This was published in 1789. Let me say it once more. 1789. A magnificent achievement for an early American historian. I admit that it makes my lists for those reasons, rather than what I learned from it.

Top Ten Noir/Pulp Novels

1) The Glass Key, Dashiell Hammett. Why did I love this one more than all the others of the genre? I can't say. But, it was my favorite.

2) Killer in the Rain, Raymond Chandler. I never read a word of Chandler that did not transport me into an earlier, darker, seedier and haunting world.

3) Anything by Jim Thompson. No particular book here. I love Thompson. He is the godfather of them all. After Dark my Sweet, The Criminal, The Killer Inside Me. All great. Don't miss his short stories either. They may even be better than the novels. There's one, and I just can't remember the title, that opens with the protaganist tied to a bed, his legs spread open, with a snarling pit bull in between. Yikes!

4) The Maltese Falcon, Hammet. You've seen the movie (maybe). The book is just as good or better.

5) The Doorbell Rang, Rex Stout. I have read (long ago) every Rex Stout Nero Wolfe novel and have a few favorites. This, where Archie and Nero take on the FBI, is number 1. Some Buried Caesar (the first), A Family Affair, which really makes you feel like your own family has been affected and The Black Mountain, where we get more than hints of Nero's past are up there. But, not one I didn't love. I have turned a few readers on to him. Try it. You will never feel the same about 34th Street in Manhattan.

6) Anything by Damon Runyon. I don't think I can like you if you can read any Damon Runyon short story and not find it charming. The man who wrote the story that was made into Guys and Dolls had a fascinating life too. But, you can argue it is too comic to be pulp and I won't fight you.

7) Flood, Andrew Vachss. Vachss' Burke series is about as pulpish as you can get, but they are fairly recent. Vachss is really a fascinating guy and I admire him a lot. The first five or six books of this series were great. After that it got a little too sad and painful for me. But highly recommend you try him. Quite creative. Do not read his stab at Batman. Nooooo.

8) The Buddha Book, Abraham Rodriguez. I've written about this remarkable and virtually unknown book before too. What promise this guy had. Unlike anything else I ever read. He may have only written one more, but it doesn't look so hot.

9) Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley. Mosley's Easy Rawlin's novels were to the modern detective novel what adrenalin is to a good workout. Dark, colorful (no pun intended). It is almost impossible to not like and root for Easy (Ezekiel) and even his crazy, murderous friend Mouse.

10) Out on the Cutting Edge, Lawrence Block. One of the many Matthew Scudder novels. Is he original? No. Scudder is a reformed alcoholic, an unlicensed private eye and his girlfriend is a prostitute. All that has been done before. It's just that Block is a great writer. I'm pretty sure I've read everything he has ever written that isn't for the internet only and was only one book I didn't like (A Small Town). Too much icky sex in it. Scudder is the dark New York City version of Robert Parker's Spencer (who I'm sure some think I should have included, but, he is too light hearted to be considered pulp or noirish by me - still, great stuff). Out on the Cutting Edge introduces Mick Ballou, a great character - one of those bad/good guys.

As usual, this has gotten way too long, and I'll have to continue this theme another day.

Tolkien's other stuff

On December 15th we get to experience the film The Hobbit ("TH").  I have some trepidation about it, but not a lot. The same film makers made The Lord of the Rings ("LOTR"),and leaving aside a few scenes they  altered from the book and some things they left out, which I suppose is inevitable in movies -- the casting, acting, production, music, scenery  and other aspects were marvelous.  I've seen them several times and never feel the urge to fast forward.  I am hoping The Hobbit was made with the same scrupulously care.

 J.R.R. Tolkien has been my favorite fictional writer for a long, long time, and the more I have learned about him and his work, the greater my appreciation has become.  I'm hardly alone. Though not the greatest selling author of all time, he is up there. Tolkien scholarship has itself become a cottage industry.  I've written before about him a lot before:

2/21/10 - Would you just finish it already, JRRT  - A trip through the Master's letters while he was writing LOTR (seemingly forever).

5/14/09 Fulfilling Edith Hamilton's prophecy: J. R. R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings, which is one of my most viewed posts, describing why LOTR was the greatest book of the twentieth century. 

4/10/08 -The Greatest Epics Ever Made (in my humble opinion).

7/17/07 - Will the real Tom Bombadil please stand up. Who or what is Tom Bombadil.

I will try not to repeat myself, but not promising anything. Today I will write about some of the "other" stuff he wrote.

It is highly probable that TH would have been the only full length novel we ever saw by Tolkien and that by far fewer of us. It might not even still be being published today.  LOTR took 16 years to write it, and the entire work was completed before the first was published (it was split up for financial reasons).  That includes many stops, starts and frustrations by the Master, who could have easily set it aside forever.   

Though TH and LOTR  are virtually of a piece, both being a part of his Middle-earth creation - a pre-European continent created mainly from Northern European mythology and a little bit of the Bible, among other sources, but they are different in tone.  TH is a children's story and LOTR for adults.  And, frankly, there is a difference in quality. Though TH is merely a great book, it is not the masterpiece LOTR is, and wasn't really expected to be.  In fact, LOTR made TH in more than one way.  I can even forgive him,  in his second edition of TH, from altering the tale, if in a minimal but significant part of the story to fit the larger scheme created by LOTR.

Even together, they are certainly the most significant, but not the most part of the writings Tolkien left behind.  You would be surprised how many poems and songs he wrote alone.  I have not read everything he wrote by a long shot and will not. But, I have read all of the important ones and many of the not so important ones. Many were edited by his son, Christopher, a scholar of his father's work, for which we should be grateful.  Some are okay, some very good and some wonderful.  Don't be surprised that I am not giving them all great raves.

If I were giving advice to a reader, it would be to read his three main works as they came out, TH followed by LOTR, followed by The Silmarillion, which is a much less well developed history of Middle Earth before the days of LOTR. Reading them chronologically in Middle Earth years would just be puzzling for many people, as The Silmarillion was crafted together by his son Christopher (with some help) in 1977after his father's death, but it is not very readable for all its own success. In fact, even after reading LOTR once, many readers would still be bored and confused by The Silmarillion. Though I can't recommend it enough to those who are fascinated by Middle Earth, as it takes you from creation until the age of man, I would never say to anyone - you must read this.  In fact, for most people I'd say skip it.

There is a good shot you've never heard of Roverandom. It is a silly children's book written before TH but not published until the late 90s, when I read it. There is nothing really special about it at all, and it is only interesting for two reasons. First, because he wrote it - for his kids.  But, more so, second, because he has a wizard in it who it is very easy to see as an early child-like version of Gandalf.  You can read the book in a few minutes, so it is not much of an investment in time. I'd say read it, if it comes into your hand, maybe standing in a library or on your Nook while sitting in Barnes & Noble.

Another children's story, but a little more entertaining for adults, is Father Giles of Ham, which I found charming. It was written the same year he published TH but it was not itself published until after WWII.  Would I remember it - or have even read it - had he not authored it? Probably not. But, it's a fun little book, really a novella. It also includes a few little tidbits that are recognizable themes in his greater works that make it interesting. The hero is not a hobbit, but he is slow and comfortable Englishman - he practically shouts out hobbit, even if he isn't one. After sort of scaring off a giant, he is sent to confront a powerful if comical dragon, and does so reluctantly. Sound familiar? Like some hobbits we know, he eventually carried a magical sword. But, the Master loved dragons and swords, so it is no surprise. It is more a surprise that at initially the Master Giles used a rather unusual blunderbuss - rather modern for Tolkien.

Smith of Wootton Major, sometimes published with Father Giles of Ham, is another children's story and, in my opinion, not quite as good. I don't remember when he wrote it, but it was published after LOTR was a success, the first time in a magazine.  The hero swallowed a magic star and was able to travel to faerie. There is an element of melancholy and loss though that I found reminiscent of LOTR and that is enough to make it work for me.

His short story Leaf by Niggle is also published in collections. Though some make analogies with it to his own life, I'd say read it only if obsessed by him.

But none of those children's works are tethered to Middle-earth or are translations of classics he has written. Some of the works he wrote were published much later, very recently in fact, being edited by Christopher.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is a translation of a medieval poem concerning one of the knights of the round table and published after his death.  Many others have translated it too. If you are interested,  you want the modern English version, not the middle English text he and another scholar published when Calvin Coolidge was president and Hitler was just a failed revolutionary.  For us, it's most interesting feature is the beheading game, which challenge the Gawain accepted.  Basically, Gawain was allowed to strike the Green Knight a blow, but in turn, had to submit to the Knight returning the favor the following year. So, Gawain, no dummy, cuts his head off. Unfortunately, the Green Knight merely picked it up and walks away. Uh oh. If you want the rest, you have to read it (although my guess is, you can find online summaries).

The Children of Húrin is probably the best of his works published posthumously, just a few years ago in 2007. It is part of his history of Middle-earth and actually written, at least largely so, back in 1910 and re-written a number of times. Christopher put them together and provided commentary. And, it is really good. If you are only going to read any of these, it is the one I recommend most.  It takes place long before Bilbo's and Frodo's days, back when Sauron was only a henchman to the satanic god (hat is, a Vala to Tolkien), Morgoth.  It is based, at least in part, on the Finnish poem, The Kalevala, which Tolkien revered, and also the Germanic heroes in the Volsunga Saga.  But, it will remind you much of LOTR which also is derived from the saga. Húrin tale is partly told in The Silmarillion but much better here.  I would go as far as to say, if you are a Tolkien-phile, you really should read it.

Somewhat different, but perhaps equally good is Sigurd and Gudrún which is Tolkien's own narrative retelling of the Volsunga Saga written in his 20s and 30s. As interesting as his version is, it is made more so by the excellent work done by Christopher in notating it. However, where I can recommend The Children of Húrin to the Tolkien lover, this I would probably recommend only to someone who loves medieval sagas as well. Not all Tolkien is easy reading like his great works.   And if you really like Sigurd and Gudrún , I am happy to recommend to you The Nibelungenlied and William Morris' (a fascinating man, multi-talented, who was sort of a Tolkien before there was Tolkien) own version of the saga - The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs. All of these brought me as much joy in my youth as did Wagner's Ring cycle - also, the same story.

On the non-fiction side, Tolkien's  1936 lecture, Beowulf: The Monster and the Critics (you can find another version as Beowulf and the Critics) revolutionized the field before TH was even published. I've read it a few times and it is very worthwhile. My favorite paragraph quote from it:

"A dragon is no idle fancy. Whatever may be his origins, in fact or invention, the dragon in legend is a potent creation of men’s imagination, richer in significance than his barrow is in gold. Even to-day (despite the critics) you may find men not ignorant of tragic legend and history, who have heard of heroes and indeed seen them, who yet have been caught by the fascination of the worm. More than one poem in recent years (since Beowulf escaped somewhat from the dominion of the students of origins to the students of poetry) has been inspired by the dragon of Beowulf, but none that I know of by Ingeld son of Froda."

I haven't touched upon all of his writings, but merely discussed ones I liked a lot or loved, and some others I have read. I would not recommend, even for parents, his Letters from Father Christmas, though I own it. I would not recommend his Finn and Hengist, except for someone who is interested in Anglo-Saxon as a language. It is a scholarly work about a fragment and very esoteric. Tolkien, obviously, could be a great writer, even his non-fiction.  But he was not always trying.    

Enjoy TH. I will likely give some kind of non-spoiler review.

Movie quotes

I know, I know. All of you are getting antsy waiting upon the 2012 Holiday Spectacular. But, you will have to wait a little longer. Today's sort of a who said it day, but only with movie quotes. You can find all these quotes online, so don't cheat if you can help it. The right answers are only from movies I've seen and I like them, but they are not necessarily famous ones so that you will instantly know. The wrong answers are, I hope, from some character or actor you can picture saying it too. It's a short post today, which I'm sure will not make anyone cry.

1.  "We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed...But we're going back again in a couple of weeks."

a) Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers b) Bob Hope in Road to Morocco c) W.C. Fields in My Little Chickadee d) Red Skelton in Ocean's 11

2. "Dad always used to say the only causes worth fighting for were the lost causes."

a)  Randolph Scott in Buchanan Rides Alone b) Humphrey Bogart in The Harder They Fall c) Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washinton d) Clint Eastwood in Pale Rider

3. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that - he's gone."

a) John Travolta in Phenomenon b) Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday c) John Wayne in True Grit d) Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects

4. "Did you ever reach a point in your life, where you say to yourself: 'This is the best I'm ever going to look, the best I'm ever going to feel, the best I'm ever going to do,' and it ain't that great?"

a) Billy Crystal in City Slickers (1991) b) Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally c) Billy Crystal in Throw Momma From the Train d) Billy Crystal in Rabbit Test

5. "Look, you shoot off a guy's head with his pants down, believe me, Texas ain't the place you want to get caught."

a) Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men  b) Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise  c) Glen Campbell in True Grit d) Robert Duvall in Joe Kidd

6. "You know, not many people knew it, but the Führer was a terrific dancer. That is because you were taken in by that verdammte Allied propaganda! Such filthy lies! They told lies! But nobody ever said a bad word about Winston Churchill, did they? No! "Win with Winnie!" Churchill! With his cigars, with his brandy. And his ROTTEN painting! Rotten! Hitler, THERE was a painter! He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon! TWO COATS! Churchill. He couldn't even say "Nazi". He would say "Nooooozeeehz, Nooooozeeehz!" It wasn't NOSES, it was NAZIS! Churchill! Let me tell you THIS! And you're hearing this straight from the horse - Hitler was better looking than Churchill. He was a better dresser than Churchill. He had more hair! He told funnier jokes! And he could dance the PANTS off of Churchill."

a) Peter Falk in The In-Laws  b) Woody Allen in Play it Again, Sam  c) Christopher Walken in Pulp Fiction  d) Kenneth Mars in The Producers

7. "And I don't need any of this! I don't need this stuff, and I don't need you. I don't need anything - except this, this ashtray, and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need, too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this! The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. Well, what are you looking at? What do you think I am, some kind of a jerk or something? And this! And  that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair."

a) Diane Keaton in Annie Hall  b) Walter Matthau in The Odd Couple c) Steve Martin in The Jerk d) Bill Murray in Stripes

8.  "I'm the Dude! So that's what you call me. You know, uh, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or uh, you know, El Duderino - if you're not into the whole brevity thing."

a) Dean Martin in Rio Bravo b) Ashton Kutscher in Dude, where's my car? c) Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski d) Matthew McConaughey in Surfer, Dude.

9. "You know what's wrong with you, Miss Whoever-you-are? You're chicken, you've got no guts. You're afraid to stick out your chin and say, "Okay, life's a fact, people do fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that's the only chance anybody's got for real happiness." You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself."

a) Rosie O'Donnell in Sleepless in Seattle b) Joan Cusack in Runaway Bride c) Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly d) George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany's

10.  "I never get nervous. I'm very self-reliant."

a) Shirley Temple in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm b) Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street c) Kim Darby in True Grit d) Doris Day in Pillow Talk

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1. "We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed...But we're going back again in a couple of weeks." a) Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers. Not even near the list of my favorite Marx Bros. movies though.

2. "Dad always used to say the only causes worth fighting for were the lost causes." c) Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. An okay movie. Typical Stewart, but not as good as a number of other ones he was in.

3. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that - he's gone." d) Kevin Spacey in a great movie that will never get played enough - The Usual Suspects.

4. "Did you ever reach a point in your life, where you say to yourself: 'This is the best I'm ever going to look, the best I'm ever going to feel, the best I'm ever going to do,' and it ain't that great?"  a) Bill Crystal in City Slickers. I never saw (and never will see) Rabbit Test, but I can picture the other Crystal characters saying it.

5. "Look, you shoot off a guy's head with his pants down. . . ." b) Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise. First time I ever saw Brad Pitt. He was actually the best part of the movie other than the canyon scene.   

6. "You know, not many people knew it, but the Führer was a terrific dancer. . . ."  d) Kenneth Mars in The Producers. Not one of my favorite Brooks' films either, though it's done well enough on Broadway.

7."And I don't need any of this! I don't need this stuff, and I don't need you. . . ." c) Steve Martin in The Jerk, one of his two great movies, the other one being . . . what?

8. "I'm the Dude! . . . ."  c) Bridges in one of my favorite movies, The Big Lebowski. If you haven't seen it, you should. Unless, of course, you have never seen a golden age detective movie or have no interest in them. Rio Bravo is one of my favorite Westerns. Dean Martin played Dude, a gunfighter who got his heart broken and became a drunk. Great Role. He sings a duet with Ricky Nelson that is one of my favorite songs in moviedom.  I will never see Dude, where's my car? or Surfer, Dude. I can't believe they actually made Surfer, Dude.

9) "You know what's wrong with you, Miss Whoever-you-are?. . . ." d) Peppard. I don't know why people like that movie. It was so sad.  But, all of the other choices would have fooled me if I didn't know the answer.

10)  "I never get nervous. I'm very self-reliant."   a) Shirley Temple. What? You never saw Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?  My daughter loved Shirley Temple movies. Great role model and you know what? I watched them over and over again with her. I picked up a weird tic from it - saying "See you folks in church" or "See you in church," instead of goodbye. But, it cracked me up when her rotten if oddly lovable uncle, played by William Demarest before Father Knows Best days, said it in the movie, and I just started repeating it until it became a habit. Nowadays, I think more people say it to me than I do to them.

1968

Some years are just more chock filled with newsworthy stuff than other years. I always think that in my lifetime 1968 was the most eventful year. If there is another year that is comparable someone tell me about it.  I was just a kid, turning 10 exactly in the middle of the year when it was all going on, but I still knew that a lot of stuff was happening. There are timelines online recording each little thing, but no point in re-doing that, so I only want to talk about a few of them that loomed large in my mind at the time and other things that I've learned about since, being oblivious to them when I was young.

The Pueblo. I was vaguely aware when the Pueblo was taken by the North Korean  Navy. The rest of it I learned much later. The whole thing is somewhat lost in history now, and I'm sure that some people who read this would say - "what?" or just have the vaguest notion about it. At the time, it was briefly quite the big deal. And, though swamped by other events, it kind of lasted a lot longer than most people think.

There are a lot of misconceptions about it even among people who were alive at the time. In fact, in one sense, you might say that the "event" is still ongoing today in that the ship, still commissioned by our navy, is also still held captive. It is a museum in North Korea, much like we display The Intrepid as a museum in New York. From time to time the Koreans offer it back in exchange for normalization of relations or to have a high ranking official come to North Korea, but no deal yet.

It was not an innocent ship. It was a spy ship used by the Navy and the National Security Agency to gather intelligence. The question will remain, was it in North Korean waters, as they claim, or international waters, as we claim? Given what we know about North Korea's habitual lying and incompetency today, it is hard to believe them anymore than we believed Iran when they took a British ship more recently. But, as far as the Pueblo is concerned, we can't really know with much reliability. At least nowadays we can look at real or doctored satellite photos in the papers. The crew and Navy insist that it was outside the territorial limit.  We do know that it was spying on North Korea (and the Soviet Union), whether or not in her waters.

There was never a chance for a fight. The ship was chased down by two sub-chasers, two Migs and four torpedo boats. Though weaponized, almost everything that could be used for combat was stored away and only one crew member aboard was trained to use them. They never fired a shot. Though they delayed two hours before surrendering and had another hour after that to destroy sensitive material, the ship was a bit of a mechanical nightmare in steering, communications (even between decks) and so on. There was virtually no way to destroy their materials and in the end, they managed to destroy very little of it.

The intelligence loss was quite severe. Materials were immediately flown to Moscow by Korea and it is estimated that 3-5 years of intelligence advantage was lost. The military was gung ho to retaliate, but Johnson refused, caring more for the safety of the crew. By the time he was awake, the ship had already been taken. With one man killed while carrying boxes to be destroyed, the remaining 82 member crew was tortured, some brutally so, and mainly they co-operated with their captors. They signed confessions and made recordings for them. On camera and in their letters they made a few puns and attempts at telling us that it was all a pack of lies. I don't think they needed to do that, and it did get them in more trouble when they were found out, but it is probably human nature to try to communicate with your hoped for rescuers. The crew was held eleven months before the U.S. admitted to spying, apologized to the Koreans and promised to be good in the future and they were released into South Korea. As soon as they were free, the admissions were renunciated, but that was actually was part of the negotiations. The North Koreans already knew it when they signed. Silly, but that is how these things are done.

Serving in the forces can be tough when you lose a battle, and there was actually a court of inquiry for the crew. A court martial was recommended for the Commanding Officer and head of research, but the Secretary of the Navy refused it. 

At the time, the belief was that the action was as a result of Soviet prodding, but, apparently along with the opening of the Eastern bloc, it was learned that it was all North Korean. Though a huge event when it occurred, the incident was dwarfed by the ongoing Vietnam War, which I cover next.

Vietnam

And it's 1, 2, 3, 4, what the hell are we fighting for?. . .

I want to be an air force ranger; I want to go to Vietnam. . .

Those are songs, or in the second case, a chant I remember from the Summer of '68, when I was in summer camp. Possibly the second one has been garbled in my mind. I have read that "air force," is wrong and "airborne" correct. There is no such thing as an air force ranger. But, I'm pretty sure that was what was being sung. I was not a singer myself, but other kids sang those lyrics all the time. The first one is an actual recorded song. I'm not sure about the second.  I do recall one summer day when the counselors asked the kids not to sing them,as a friend of theirs, a pilot, had just perished in the war.

Vietnam was in the air that year. News and images in your head of fighting in jungles and dogfights with jet planes, napalm being dropped. The Tet Offensive came at the end January, but I am not sure I knew it at the time, or if I did, attached any importance to it. It was, though, one of the most critical battles in the war, probably more psychologically than practically.

The next day, a photographer caught the image of a South Vietnamese officer executing a Vietcong. The image is still in my mind, though I don't think it meant to me what it did to some others - that the South Vietnamese were no better than their adversaries. The Vietnamese complained that that was an unfair judgment, but it stuck. The government announced the greatest military casualties of the war to date for a month - over 500 dead and 2500 injured. It cannot be imagined what totals like that in a war would mean to us today, where even the death of a few makes us want to flee any war. While I was in camp that summer, there were over 540,000 military personnel in Vietnam - the peak. The Paris Peace talks started in May. Later that year Johnson announced we would no longer bomb the north. Eventually, of course, we left and barely supported our allies, while China and Russia fully supported theirs. A couple of years after that, the North was victorious, and the feelings of failure pervade our military and national conscience to this day.

I've written here before of my interest in the events leading up to WWII. Of those, there is little doubt that the Munich Agreement, a peace treaty later widely considered a craven and foolish act of appeasement that led almost directly to the war, is most important, and had its 30th anniversary in '68. No doubt American policy makers had that in their heads when it determined to become involved in and then escalate the action in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it seems that in '68 we nevertheless sought negotiations against a relentless and merciless foe with greater will than we had.

Assassinations                

Martin Luther King, Jr., now almost universally respected, but was a divisive figure in those days - a hero to some and a louse to others. Not in my house. We knew which side was right in the civil rights disturbances going on in the south. Though I later questioned most of the political beliefs I was taught then, I do not question that.  

Memory can be funny. I was four when JFK was killed in 1963, yet I remember it well, at least images of it.  My main concern was that they would take my cartoons off the air while they covered the assassination. I know my memories cannot be accurate as it is not possible that I watched the bullet fly through the air in a newscast, but I do remember something. Yet, I was almost ten when King was killed and have only the slightest memory of it happening at all.

What is often not recounted today is that his murder caused riots throughout America, apparently well over 100 of them.  JFK's brother, Robert Kennedy, then a U.S. Senator and presidential candidate himself, is sometimes credited with preventing it from happening in Indiana where he gave a speech announcing the murder and dealt with the issue of retribution directly. He asked the audience to reject savagery and violence, and instead show compassion for each other. He quoted from a Greek playwrite, which somehow transformed it for many into a great speech. It was not his translation, but one he had read in a book by the great recorder of Greek myths for the English speaking world, Edith Hamilton, and he certainly bolluxed one word of it, though perhaps making it better. New York Mayor John Lindsay has been credited with similarly preventing a riot with a speech in Harlem, New York. I know that many people died as a direct result of the riots, but can't recall how many. I want to say 56, but that may not be accurate. There is only so much I will research for these posts.

King's assassin was James Earl Ray, a career criminal on the lam and supporter of segregationist Governor George Wallace. He was seen running from the scene where his fingerprints were found on the rifle he had left behind. He was later caught as he headed for white minority dominated Rhodesia in Britain and was extradited here. He pled guilty to avoid the death penalty but recanted his confession a few days later. He tried repeatedly to get a trial during his life, proclaiming his innocence or at least partial innocence. In fact, he even convinced members of the King family of it. At one point, he even escaped from jail, but was quickly caught.

Two months after King, it was Kennedy's turn. He was campaigning for president and stood some chance of winning (he was behind Hubert Humphrey, but had just won the California primary). His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was a young Palestinian from Jordan. Sirhan, still alive today at 68 years old, was caught red-handed. The most astonishing part to me is that though he was twice punched in the face by a security guard and then pinned to a table by at least five men including the huge professional football player, Rosie Greer, and Olympic decathlete, Rafer Johnson, he somehow managed to wrest himself free and pick up the gun again. Fortunately, he had already emptied it.

Although Sirhan was a Christian, he was anti-Zionist, and killed Kennedy over his support for Israel.

"Bobby" was a complicated person. He could be ferociously angry and vindictive, but, also fiercely loyal and compassionate. Robert Caro, LBJ's biographer, sees him as a project in development, a vastly different person from the Attorney General in his brother's administration. His death immortalized him, not quite to his brother's or King's degree, but immortal is immortal.

The Music

I didn't know anything about music in 1968. I didn't even know the words to Happy Birthday. My family was very non-musical. The only one who seemed to care about it at the time was my oldest brother, who, though not quite a hippy, certainly liked their music. I remember most him playing The Animals' I'm Henry the Eighth, I am and Tiny Tim's bizzare Tiptoe through the Tulips over and over again. Tiny's song was from '68 when he became a media sensation, as strange in real life as he was in performance. The Animals' hit was already a few years old when my brother seemed to discover it. Both were actually covers of hit songs from much earlier in the century.

Despite my own lack of musical knowledge, I do remember knowing that music was vastly important to most young people, particularly rock & roll, and I knew that the Beatles and The Monkees were big deals since 1964. Music was actually at something of a crossroads, with the Beatles recording very new music the year before with Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, still on the charts in '68, while The Monkees, a made up tv band that somehow became real, actually outsold them in '68 with hits like Daydream Believer. The same year Mason Williams' Classical Gas, foreshadowed the progressive rock era (Williams, still alive, was a renaissance man, being a poet and comedian as well as talented guitarist).  This following list, hardly comprehensive for a year of iconic music, is not music I liked at the time (which was nothing), but what I liked from it a few years later when I became interested in music.

HEY JUDE, REVOLUTION and LADY MADONNA - The Beatles, (Sittin' On) THE DOCK OF THE BAY - Otis Redding, MRS. ROBINSON - Simon & Garfunkel,  HARPER VALLEY P.T.A. - Jeannie C. Riley, MONY MONY - Tommy James & the Shondels, HELLO I LOVE YOU - The Doors, YOUNG GIRL, WOMAN, WOMAN and  LADY WILLPOWER - Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, DANCE TO THE MUSIC - Sly & the Family Stone, JUDY IN DISGUISE - John Fred & his Playboy Band, LOVE CHILD - Diana Ross & the Supremes, ANGEL OF THE MORNING - Merrilee Rush & the Turnabouts, THOSE WERE THE DAYS - Mary Hopkin, BORN TO BE WILD and MAGIC CARPET RIDE - Steppenwolf,  CLASSICAL GAS - Mason Williams, GREEN TAMBOURINE - The Lemon Pipers, JUMPING JACK FLASH - The Rolling Stones, I'VE GOTTA GET A MESSAGE TO YOU - The Bee Gees, SCARBOROUGH FAIR/CANTICLE - Simon & Garfunkel, MIGHTY QUINN - Manfred Mann and SUSIE Q - Creedence Clearwater Revival.

And, of course, Arlo Guthrie' rambunctious Alice's Restaurant, which stands in a category by itself and makes me smile merely to write the name. When I hear it - which is rare, it brings back to me the sights, sounds, smells and feeling of that era.

Politics

This was an exciting year for politics too. Nixon, Eisenhower's VP, was running for the Republicans and the Democrats. But, just like  Mitt Romney this year had to fight off a few challenges, so did Nixon. First it was Romney's father, George Romney, who was the former Governor of Michigan. He had a shot, but blew it with comments about the war. Then Nelson Rockefeller, later Ford's VP after Nixon resigned, took a run at it and failed. Finally, another guy you may have heard about named Ronald Reagan also made a run at it. Reagan would not win the nomination for another 12 years, but it is mostly forgotten about him that in '68 he won the California primary (he was the only one on the ballot) and by doing so slightly edged Nixon in the nomination process's popular vote, while losing the delegate vote.

The Democrat side though was by far more exciting. Johnson decided not to run and made a Shermanesque speech about refusing to spend one hour campaigning when the war was ongoing. He had won the election by over 60% in '64, probably the greatest landslide since Washington, but definitely since 1824 when they started counting the popular vote and greater even than FDR's '36 re-election (and, in the future, Nixon's '72 re-election). But the war had hurt him and he was secretly concerned about living out the term. As it turned out, he barely did, and quite possibly the stress of campaigning and governing again, had  he won, would have killed him earlier. Robert Kennedy was, of course, murdered, leaving the front-running northern liberal, Hubert Humphrey, the anti-war Eugene McCarthy and the future '72 nominee, George McGovern, as the other main contenders. Former Democrat and segregationist George Wallace ran on the American Independent Party ballot.

The matter was still undecided at the convention, which was marred by bloody riots between the Chicago police and anti-war demonstrators. It is quite possible that the spectacle of the riots and the tension in the Democrat Party later cost Humphrey the election, as it was exceedingly close. In fact, had Humphrey won California, or Ohio and Illinois it would have, thanks to Wallace's third party effort, went to the House of Representatives to decide. Humphrey would have won easily there, as the Democrats controlled it.

The Olympics

Actually, none of the above was too important to me in those days. I was just a kid and I mostly liked sports. The thing that was by far most important to me that year was the Summer Olympics held in Mexico City. And what an Olympics it was. America had an awesome team. Perhaps the highlight was a political message from two American Sprinters, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, who, at an awards ceremony for the 200 meters raised blacked gloved fists to promote, we were told, Black Power. Later Smith claimed the gesture stood for human rights, but right after getting off the stand, he had mentioned being proud of being black. Smith had set a world record in the 200 meters and the silver medalist, Peter Norman, a sympathetic white man from Australia, like Smith and Carlos, also wore a human rights badge, but did not raise his fist, which adds to the idea that their gesture was about black power. Carlos wore his black glove on his left hand because he had forgotten his glove, and at Norman's suggestion, wore Smith's other one.  Smith and Carlos were banned from the Olympics for life. Norman was not technically punished, but was left off the Australian 1972 team.

But, political drama aside, Bob Beamon jumped 22 inches further than anyone else ever had, 29 feet, two and a half inches in the long jump, a record that lasted 23 years. Lee Evans set a record in the 400 meters that lasted for almost 20 years and was on the 4 X 400 meter relay team that set the world record for about 24 years. Everyone on the relay team was also capable of a world record, but the last time Evans had lost in that event was actually to Tommie Smith, a world record holder in it, but his specialty was actually the 200 meters.  The two were close friends, but extremely competitive with each other. Smith, sometimes described as superhuman, might have even been better than Lee at that time it if he had continued to concentrate on it. Dick Fosbury not only won the high jump, but changed the event forever with his Fosbury Flop.  Jim Hines broke the 10 second barrier in the 100 meters. He and three other Americans broke the 4 X 100 meter relay record. Willie Davenport set the Olympic record in the 110 meter hurdles, Randy Matson in the shot put and Bob Seagren in the pole vault. Bill Toomey set it in the decathlon.

As for non-Americans, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia won the marathon and came in second in the 10,000 meters. Viktor Saneyev of the Soviet Union set a world record in the triple jump, after it was broken 4 times earlier in the same competition. Kipchoge Keino, a Kenyan police officer, beat the amazing Jim Ryun in the 1500 meters. Ryun would never win the gold at the games. Vera Čáslavská, a Czech, dominated women's gymnastics with 4 golds and 2 silvers, but her protest of the Soviet invasion of her country by looking away while the Soviet anthem was played, a barely noticeable gesture, got her ousted from future competition by the Czechs. She was made persona non grata until the 1980s when life in Czechoslovakia changed and she was resurrected from a political graveyard. My prejudice makes me leave out the swimmers, but we had some good ones.

What else?

There were some other things at the time of which I was aware of that I'll just briefly mention:

Planet of the Apes came out. I never saw it to this day, but I felt like the only one at the time. I did not see The Lion in Winter until many years later, but it was some movie and in my belated opinion, should have won the Oscar.  Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey did win, but, when I saw it later on I found it a little boring, if an exciting idea and the effects were revolutionary until Star Wars made them seem old fashioned. The film was based on a short story, The Sentinel, and the novel with the same name as the movie actually came out afterwards. Night of the Living Dead, perhaps the best horror movie ever made, came out too.

Hair made its Broadway debut. I wonder if most kids have even heard of it today.

Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers won 31 games, the last time any pitcher wins more than 30. But, Bob Gibson, a prickly pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals did something I thought even more remarkable - he was 22 and 9, but had a 1.12 ERA. Even more remarkable, from June 2nd to the end of July, just short of two months, he had an inconceivable 0.20 ERA. The Tigers beat the Cardinals in a close World Series where the pitching star was actually another great Tiger pitcher, Mickey Lolich, who was overshadowed during the season by McClain, but won 3 complete games in the World Series.

I do remember that Jackie Kennedy got remarried to a billionaire named Aristotle Onassis, and thinking how sad it was that she would marry for money. I did not realize then how common it was. Why I thought I knew that about them then I'm not sure, but apparently it was largely true. Ari was seeking advice on divorce when he sickened and died, and Jackie had a long and bitter inheritance contest with his daughter.

And, though the landing on the moon wasn't until the next year, the Apollo program was a big deal in actuality and in my mind. I looked this up, but Apollo 7 orbited the earth 163 times and Apollo 8 orbited the moon.

I really have no memory of the following, but, just to show you what a busy year it was -

Andy Warhol was shot in his apartment.

Czechoslovakia had its Prague Spring (from which the name for the Arab Spring and other springs sprung - it it hard to say who used it first, but it might simply stem from a music festival known as Prague Spring) and the Soviet Union pounded them into submission.
 

Some books I never heard of then, but loved later on - Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, John Irving's Setting Free the Bears, John LeCarré's A Small Town in Germany, Lloyd Alexander's The High King, and, of non-fiction, William Manchester's masterful The Arms of Krupp: 1597-1968 and Erich von Däniken's silly, but wonderfully fun, Chariots of the Gods.

The Yippies (Youth International Party) was hardly a party but a group of young protesters and adventurers, particularly Jerry Rubin and Abby Hoffman (whose Steal this Book a few years later made even this unconventional weirdo dislike hippies and yippies even more than I had). The Yippies' biggest moment was inciting the riots at the Democrat's Chicago convention.

The My Lai massacre occurred, but no one knew it yet.

That should do it. A very eventful year. It would be hard to beat.