Observations — 1953, Eisenhower, Lucy and Good Reading

First Issue of Playboy Features Marilyn Monroe

Korean armistice was signed. Dwight D. Eisenhower assumed U.S. Presidency. He nominee Earl Warren, became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He formed a government contract oversight committee. He condemned Joseph McCarthy’s book-banning proposal, while Georgia approved the country’s first literature censorship board. East Berlin failed in their attempt at insurrection. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed as spies. Charlie Chaplin left the U.S. amidst claims he was a communist.  Fidel Castro began his rebellion against Cuban leader Juan Batista. Winston Churchill was knighted by recently crowned Queen Elizabeth II. The hydrogen bomb was developed. Lucille Ball gave birth to Desi Arnaz Jr., for real while TV Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky. Hollywood developed wide-screen cinemascope in an attempt to separate Americans from their TVs. TV Guide debuted. Samuel Beckett’s En Attendant Godot opened in Paris.  Arthur Miller’s The Crucible opened in New York. First successful open-heart surgery was performed.  Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first climbers to reach the crest of Mount Everest.  Bill Vukovich won the Indianapolis 500.  Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and The Sea received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The Mystery Writers of America didn’t award an Edgar for “Best Novel” until 1954. However they did give an award for a “Best First Novel” in ’53.  It went to William Campbell Gault for Don’t Cry For Me. Other books of note included Junkie by William Burroughs, Plexus by Henry Miller, Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin and The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.  Best sellers that year included The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas, The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain, and From Here To Eternity by James Jones. On the big screen we watched Roman Holiday, Peter Pan, How To Marry A millionaire, Pickup on South Street, Titanic, From Here To Eternity, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Shane, War of the Worlds, and The Wild Ones. We listened to “Song From Moulin Rouge” by Percy Faith, “Vaya Con Dios” by Les Paul and Mary Ford,” I’m Waking Behind You” by Eddie Fisher, “You, You, You” by the Ames Brothers,  “I’ll Waltz Again With You” by Theresa Brewer, “April in Portugal” by Les Baxter, “No Other Love” by Perry Como, and “I Believe” by Frankie Laine. Among those born in 1953 were Tony Blair, Kim Basinger, Pierce Brosnan and John Malkovich. Taking their leave were Joseph Stalin, Eugene O’Neil, Queen Mary, Dylan Thomas, Sergei Prokofiev, and Hank Williams.  If you were around, what were you doing during this year of the water snake?

1953 Nash

Film Pairings — White Heat, Rififi, A Night Of American Black And French Noir

Virginia Mayo and James Cagney in White Heat

I may have to give up my mystery writer’s license for my admission: I’ve never liked watching James Cagney and avoid most of his films. But I see now, it’s been my loss. In White Heat, he plays a macho, mama’s boy, a complex character that Cagney pulls off with aplomb. White Heat is on everyone’s list of great gangster films.  It’s also a heist movie with a reliable supporting cast — Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien, Steve Cochran, and a very convincing  Margaret Wycherly as “Ma.”  We’ve got guns and trains, prison violence, car chases and explosions, and still we don’t lose that sense of noir gloom. Virginia Kellogg picked up an Academy Award for Best Writing, and the 1949 film won the Best Picture Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America.

Jean Servais threatening in Rififi

No doubt an inspirational resource for many American crime films to follow, the word for White Heat is “American.”  In 1955, The French produced Rififi a gangster/heist film that epitomized noir.  In all fairness, the story was realized by American director Jules Dassain who had been banned from Hollywood, blacklisted during the notorious McCarthy era of “commie” hunters. Based on the Auguste Le Breton’s Du Rififi Chez Hommes novel, a recently released, over-the-hill gangster brings together a specialized crew to rob a high-end jewelry store.  The meticulously planned (and filmed) robbery is worth the price of admission alone; but the film is not over.   I suspect that anyone wanting to understand film noir would do well to study this masterpiece, not only for its story, but for the superior cinematography which captures the working streets of Paris in the mid-fifties.

If the diminutive Cagney casts a big shadows on the screen as the manic American tough guy, French actor Jean Servais, does it in reverse.  His depression (ennui) is tangible without being melodramatic.   In White Heat, Cagney is so intense we cannot take our eyes off him.  In Rififi, Servais, the central character, almost doesn’t exist. It’s his immense and cool quiet that astounds. However, the last minutes of the film more than confirm the greatness of all that precede it and create a genuine work of art.

If you take in this double feature some night, consume with glasses of champagne or Pernod (if you’re the moody type) because the French are slightly victorious in the match of these two great films.

Observations — 1974, Ted Bundy, Thomas Pynchon & David Cassidy

India became the world’s sixth nuclear power.  Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency. Gerald Ford assumed the position and pardoned Nixon.  A fire in Argentina destroyed 1.2 million acres.  5,000 died from Honduras hurricane “Fifi.” Ayatollah Khomeini called for an Islamic Republic in Iran. Genetic engineering was banned.  Patricia Hearst was kidnapped. People Magazine debuted. Barbara Walters was picked to co-anchor “The Today Show.” Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from Russia.  Ted Bundy was captured after committing at least 30 homicides.  “Love, American Style” went off the air. 55 m.p.h. speed limit was imposed nationally. Nolan Ryan threw a fastball at 100 m.p.h., didn’t get a ticket. Oscar Robertson retired. Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s homerun record. George Foreman knocked out Ken Norton. David Cassidy was trampled at a concert. Paul McCartney formed Wings, released “Band on the Run.”  Patti Smith released “Hey Joe,” credited with being the first punk rock record. Joan Jett formed The Runaways, Top Billboard Hits were:” The Way We Were” by Barbra Streisand, “Seasons In The Sun” by Terry Jacks, “Love’s Theme” by The Love Unlimited Orchestra, “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone, “Dancing Machine” by the Jackson 5, “The Locomotion” by Grand Funk Railroad, “MFSB” by TSOP (you’ll know it when you hear it), “The Streak” by Ray Stevens, “Bennie and The Jets” by Elton John, and “One Hell Of A Woman” by Mac Davis.  Though Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon was all the rage, picking up all sorts of book awards, some members of the Pulitzer Prize Committee were offended by a passage on necrophilia.  No Pulitzer Prize for Literature was awarded in 1974. The Mystery Writers of America awarded The Edgar, their top prize, Tony Hillerman for Dance Hall of the Dead. Those on the Bestseller List included: Centennial by James A. Michener, Watership Down by Richard Adams, Jaws by Peter Benchley, Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy by John LeCarré, Something Happened by Joseph Heller, and The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth. We watched Chinatown, The Godfather 2, Day for Night, Blazing Saddles, Towering Inferno, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Death Wish, Man With The Golden Gun and Murder On The Orient Express. Among those born to become notable this year were: Michael Shannon, Amy Adams, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Penelope Cruz, Joaquin Phoenix, and Hillary Swank. Those who left us included Bud Abbott, Dizzy Dean, Charles Lindbergh, Ed Sullivan, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Brennan, Richard Long, Jack Benny, Tex Ritter and Cass Elliot. If you were around, what were you doing during this year of the wood tiger?

Book Notes — Faraway Places

I want to thank the person who came up with the concept of “crime fiction.”  I’ve always thought that the term“mysteries” was misleading for many books in which there was no mystery, but where crime was central to the story. Now if someone would clear up “literary” crime fiction.

Author Tom Spanbauer

I traipsed around the Internet to find some sort of definition from dictionaries to book discussion groups.  What I found was more confusion. Even so, the term continues to be bandied about by reviewers and readers. During a recent interview with Omnimystery News, James Lee Burke said, “I try to write a book or short story that has literary merit.”  I’m not sure what that means either, though I would imagine that if any of the more popular crime writers fall in the so-called literary category Burke would be one of them.

I don’t believe there is a definition on which we can all agree.  Perhaps it is similar to what has been said about obscenity.  We can’t define it, but we think we know it when we see it. Again, if there is “literary" crime fiction, Faraway Places qualifies.

I suspect that author Tom Spanbauer neither intended to write nor would he now consider his first book, Faraway Places, a literary crime novel or a crime novel at all. Certainly none of the rest of his highly regarded novels has a crime as a central plot point. But this one does, and I believe the powerful story would appeal to many crime fiction readers, especially those who seek a high-quality, out-of-the ordinary read.

Thirteen-year-old Jake Weber lives in an isolated area in the remote state of Idaho. He is a sensitive boy.  Every sensor in his adolescent being is working over time. His mind and pen register the smell of the river when it is full and flowing and the scent of the river when it is shallow and unmoving.  He is aware of the feeling of the wind, the movement of the clouds, the flight of the birds and the sound everything makes.

That place up there in the stand of twenty-two cottonwood trees smelled like the wind  — a hot smell full of dry June grass and sagebrush and big round crusty cow pies and horse turds all mixed ….  Under those trees that sound the leaves made made you feel like you were having secrets whispered to you, and I whispered secrets back — like my secret name that I said aloud there.

One hot summer day and against standing orders from his emotionally distant father, Jake goes for a swim. He witnesses a brutal murder, as brutal as I’ve ever read.   This is only the beginning, however. Secrets are exposed. Nature, human and the rest of it, will have its way. It was particularly grotesque as murder stories go, a hellish epiphany, and a particularly rough rite of passage for young Jake out there in the middle of nowhere, where a crime like this could easily go unnoticed.

Observations — 1978, “Drinking The Kool Aid” And The Bee Gees

908 followers of People’s Temple Leader Jim Jones voluntarily drank lethal Kool Aid. Jimmy Carter convinced Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’ Menachem Begin to join him at Camp David to discuss a framework for peace. Carter said “no” to neutron bomb.  A former Italian premiere and his bodyguards were slain. U.S. agreed to turn over the Panama Canal to Panama. Carter doubled the size of U.S. national parks. The Supreme Court ruled women need not pay more than men for health insurance.  Carl Sagan won a Pulitzer Prize. Hustler publisher Larry Flynt was shot. Charlie Chaplin’s coffin (with Chaplain’s remains) was stolen. Ted Nugent autographed a fan with a knife. First “test tube baby” was born.” Balloon angioplasty was developed. Sony released its first Walkman. Velcro was introduced to the marketplace. “Dallas” premiered on TV. One of the Flying Wallendas slipped off the high wire to his death.  Leon Spinks defeated Mohammed Ali. Ali returned the favor before the year ended.  Pete Rose reached 3,000 hits. Al Unser won his 3^rd Indianapolis 500.  Bjorn Borg won the French Open and Wimbledon. China lifted its ban on Shakespeare, Aristotle and Dickens.  Isaac Bashevis Singer received the Nobel Prize for literature.  The Pulitzer for literature went to James Alan McPherson for Elbow Room.  The Mystery Writers of America gave its top award to William H. Hallahan, for Catch Me If You Can. We also read And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, The World According To Garp by John Irving, The Snow Leopard by Peter Mathiessen, War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. We watched Grease, Superman, Animal House, Every Way But Loose, Heaven Can Wait, Hooper, Jaws 2, Dawn of the Dead, Revenge of the Pink Panther, and The Deer Hunter.   We listened to “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb, “Night Fever” by the The Bee Gees,  “You Light Up My Life” by Debbie Boone, “Kiss You All Over by Exile,  “Baby Come Back” by Player, “How Deep Is Your Love.” By The Bee Gees, “Thicker Than Water” by Andy Gibb, “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by A Taste of Honey and “Three Times A Lady” by the Commodores.  Among those born in 1978 were Kobe Bryant, Usher, James Franco, Ashton Kutcher and January Jones. Pope John I died after only 33 days in office. Others who departed include Norman Rockwell, Hubert Humphrey, Robert Shaw, Bob Crane, Charles Boyer, Louis Prima, Gig Young, Keith Moon, Dan Dailey, Oskar Homolka, Keith Moon and Edgar Bergen.  If you were around. what were you doing during this year of the earth horse?

Commentary — The Brood Reunion, From 17 To 70

Fifty years ago, or so, seven of us who went to the same high school in the mid-sixties decided we would not lose touch with each other as time marched or meandered on. What we had in common was a lack of interest in sports, the marching band or math club.  Most of us were interested in debate, speech, radio, or theater.  We were an opinionated group and still are.

The Brood In The Beginning

Being too young to drink legally, we met after school at a neighborhood diner for coffee or in Rob’s basement. We hung out together talking politics, ethics, religion and sex, almost all of this in theoretical terms. Especially the sex part.  “What if” games were also popular.  You know, what if you were to be stranded on an island, what three things would you bring along?   I think that our desire to get together  again and again was not so much the loyal warrior brother mentality that some boys engage in, but mere curiosity — a “what if” game realized.  What if we were 70? What would we be like?  How might we have changed?  Would we still be alive?

We were white.  We had no friends of color because there were no students of color in our high school or in our neighborhood.  I remind you this was 50 years ago. We were middleclass white kids, probably somewhat unaware of our privilege, but also pretty much unaware that there were those with even greater privilege. We referred to our little group as “the brood” for practical purposes. This was the name we used among ourselves. However word got out that there was this exclusive club and kids we didn’t know wanted to join.  Join what? We weren’t a club or a fraternity, just a group of guys with common interests who got together to discuss subjects most kids our age weren’t interested in.  There was no application form because there was nothing to join. If we were smarter, perhaps we could have charged a membership fee and sold tee-shirts.  But no doubt we would have been found out and the allure would have returned us to the anonymity we had when it all began.

When high school was over, we began to disperse. College, marriage, and military service, as well as jobs took us in different directions.  Among us are two attorneys, two who did public relations, one a business executive, another a truck driver, and another with a career in the grocery business. Two live in Indiana (Indianapolis and Evansville).  Other hometowns include Springfield, Illinois, Grand Rapids Michigan, Atlanta, San Francisco and a lovely, historic town in Tennessee. Two are gay. There are tons of grand children, great grand children, and more than a few ex-wives. None of us are in poverty, though there is not a Bill Gates or Warren Buffet among us. Three are still gainfully employed. The rest of us are at least semi-retired.

At San Francisco's Magic Flute Restaurant

I am certain that we seven are not the only group that has set out to do this — have our own private reunions.  And probably others have succeeded as well.  I’m not suggesting this is news, merely rare. 

Over the years we have met in Indianapolis (several times), Atlanta, Biloxi, Miami and last week in San Francisco — 50 years since all of this “brood” stuff began.

I do draw a few conclusions.  The main one is that after several days together, it is clear to me the essence of each individual has not changed one iota.  We are merely old 17-year-olds.

As a murder-mystery writer, though, I cannot let this go by without using this set up as grist for the mill. There is a story here. Unfortunately, it presents me with a dilemma: Whom do I kill?

Observations — 1971, Great Books And Movies

Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

U. S. Apollo landed on the moon. Idi Amin took over Uganda. The Democratic Republic of Congo became Zaire.  President Richard Nixon oversaw the arrest of 13,000 anti-war protesters.  He lifted the U.S. trade embargo of China. China replaced Taiwan at U.N. Okinawa was returned to Japan.  A tidal wave and cyclone off the Bay of Bengal killed 10,000. The voting age in the U.S. was lowered from 21 to 18.  The Libertarian Party was formed. The U.S. Supreme Court approved bussing to achieve desegregation. The “Pentagon Papers” were published. The Kennedy Center opened with Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. National Public Radio began broadcasting.  Intel introduced microprocessors. Cigarette ads were banned on TV. “All in the Family,” “McMillan and Wife” and “Cannon” premiered.  “Benny Hill” was the top TV show. Charles Manson was convicted of murder. Vice President Spiro Agnew injured two onlookers with two, separate wild swings during a golf outing. Frazier won over Ali.  Satchel Paige was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Oh Calcutta opened in NYC.   Patton won the Academy Award.   We also watched A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection, The Last Picture Show, Fiddler on the Roof and McCabe and Mrs. Miller.  In Books & Literature, Chilean Pablo Neruda received the Nobel. The Mystery Writers of America gave its top Edgar to Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö for The Laughing Policeman.  We also read Maurice by E. M. Forster, The Tenants by Bernard Malamud, and Angles of Repose by Wallace Stegner. Ernest Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream, Wheels by Arthur Hailey and The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles were best sellers.  Simon & Garfunkel picked up three Grammys with Bridge Over Troubled Water. We also listened to “Joy To The World” by Three Dog Night, “Maggie May” by Rod Stewart, “It’s Too Late” by Carole King, “One Bad Apple” by The Osmonds, “How Can You Heal A Broken Heart” by The Bee Gees, “Indian Reservation” by The Raiders, “Go Away Little Girl” by Donnie Osmond, and “Take Me Home Country Roads” by John Denver. The music world lost rock legends Jim Morrison and Duane Allman. The bell also tolled for J. C. Penny (the man), Igor Stravinsky, Audie Murphy, Van Heflin, Harold Lloyd, Pier Angeli, Spring Byington, Louis Armstrong and Edie Sedgwick. Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dog took their first breaths, as did David Tennant, Idina Menzel, Mark Wahlberg, Jared Leto and Mary J. Blige.  If you were around, what were you doing during this year of the metal pig?