Dumi Senda - "I Am Coming Home"

I first heard this poem in the early 2,000's. And, in spite of the closed captioning there were pieces of two verses I found lacking in clarity. I finally resolved those. 

Dumi Senda is an African of Zimbabwe birth. He is an activist for education and health in Africa. He lives in London. He is an icon of the African Diaspora. The poem deals with the anguish of personal choice, and the decision to leave your Homeland in order to better yourself, and then deciding g to work towards the betterment of your birth land. 

Here is the poem, which is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard. The voice is the poet's, and juxtaposed against the music, is very moving. Not being able to find a printed version I took the liberty of placing it in a Western 4 line verse form. 

So long it has been,

Since I said so long
To my home and left.
So long.

There is nothing left
but to walk that long walk
to my place of birth.
Now that finally I am coming home.

I shall peer at the clouds above
and wonder if they recognize my face.
And stare at the ground on which we walk
Will it feel my pain? I wonder?

And understand that I was lost,
tossed like a coin down the drains
and veins of city sewers. 
Lost, not by choice, lost and denied a voice.

Lost, to the wind that blows without a care
that carries all it can hold
and holds all it can carry
far from the tree of my stock it ferried me,

and damned me on foreign soils
In this place here. A march pre conceived.
A solid doctor not to be,
And much of my dreams it watered and wilted

Oh yes, I had a belly full, and slept on a double bed
and ate a double plate,
enough to feed an African village,
but something I missed still.

*African phrase*

Lost, but now that I am found, will the ground be kind to my step?
The trees and the grass, my predicament understand?
Will the proud mountains lend a hand,
understand; or shrug their shoulders; in dry contemp?

Will the Easterlies and Northerlies,
will they wipe their tears
and years off my face?
Now that finally, I am coming home?

When the tide subsides, and it will,
and the Lion has lost it's bite,
I shall catch that flight,
Release the breeze, release the goats and graze the sheep.

Let the cows confess the grass is sweet.
And the cocks show off on rooftops
My gourd, flowing like a mouth,
Now that finally, I am coming home.

The thought weighs a thousand pounds on my mind
The enormity of it all
Now that finally, 
I am coming home

I shall be filled with peace to the bone,
for I have longed for so long,
for the Sun's warm lips
my skin to kiss.

But now that the ticket to my destiny is booked
dampness shocks my soul and there's not a dry patch left
to which I lay claim,
now that I am finally coming home

A TV appeal comes on, how timely,
only 3 Great British pounds,
it claims boldly,
Can save a family in Africa from starving.

Suddenly, fanciful sounds in my ears of village women undulating
are replaced by the ghostly, ghastly cries of children wallowing,
I am letting down by laying claim to, which by right,
Should be mine.
Now that finally, I am coming home.

I turn off my TV set for the last time,
knowing for the first time it shall be mine.
For the last time, standing on the rug, in my lounge, barefoot.

How I wish I could pack this softness
in a lunch tin,
like food, knowing
that finally, I am coming home.

But somewhere, between the ticking clock,
and the solid wall I call my mind,
is lost life's occupations, I so wish to keep,
and so wish to leave behind.

And the thought of life's turning off a shadow,
and the metal bed registering with a rumble, is hunger.
I halfway wave goodbye in the dusk,
knowing full well that in time

I will bask in the embrace of Mama Africa's arms.
Knowing full well that finally,
I am coming home.
To Mama Africa.

"One Crowded Night" (1949) w/ Gale Storm

 "One Crowded Night" (1940) is a story of pre destination. In 107 minutes of straight drama, this film, in it's low key fashion, brings together the unseeming relationship of all the characters involved.

At a restaurant in the Mojave Desert the daily mail brings a registered letter that affects not only the recipient  but the lives of all who live, work and pass through there. When Brother Joseph, a Patent Medicine man, who barters his elixir for food and shelter, arrives the story begins to unfold.

By the time he leaves, it proves not only the connections which bind us all, but a baby is born, a man is set free, lovers are united and Brother Joseph recovers his former skills as a real physician. And, as a bonus, he shows that, with the addition of a little water, his elixir can indeed, run his vehicle. Remember, this film is a straight drama.

"Man on a Tightrope" (1953)

 "Man on  A Tightrope", directed by Elia Kazan, is one of those films easily lost to the ravages of time. But, thanks to modern technology it was restored beautifully. 

Although based on a short novel, the story is indicative of the fate of so many private enterprises which fell victim to collectivism when the Soviet Union took control of Eastern Europe after World War Two ended. The the film industries there needed a "jump start". Many Western stars made films overseas to help in that endeavor. (Paul Muni in Italy and Peter Lorre in Germany are two of the more notable stars who did just that.) 

What makes this film so special is that it is based on a true story of a Czechoslovakian, Karel Cerník, who  struggles to keep his beloved Cirkus Cerník together, which belonged to his family before and even during the war. 

He is fiercely devoted to artistic freedom, as well as his performers, at a time when even the simple antics of his clowns are being scrutinized for hidden political meanings. His problem is how to leave the Russian occupation, and get across the border to the West, with his circus intact. To that end he devises an ingenious, yet simple, plan. The film has a lethargic feel to it which mirrors those hopeless years. And that's what provides the contrast and the joy of Cernik's sucess. Light illuminates darkness.

Starring Fredric March, Gloria Greene and Terry Moore, the film is a testament to what people will do in order to live free. Richard Boone, Cameron Mitchell and Adolphe Menjou also put in great performances. The film was a contender at the 3rd Berlin Film Festival in 1953.

Voltaire, Zadig, The Queens Dog, Deductive Reasoning

While reading a book about A. Conan Doyle and the real life Gilchrest Murder in Glasgow,  Scotland in 1908 I have been delving into Deductive Reasoning. Doyle became involved in the Marion Gilchrist Case and was able to use Deductive Reasoning to effet the release of Oscar Slater who was falsely accused and convicted of the crime. He served over 17 years before being released, largely based on Conan Doyle's efforts.

If you scratch the surface of Sherlock Holmes you will find A. Conan Doyle, his creator. And if you scratch that surface you will find his Professor at Glasgow University, Dr. Joseph Bell, who was Doyle's model for the fictional Holmes. But if you go even further back you will come to Voltaire and his 1747 novella "Zadig." 

Note: I have taken the liberty of leaving out the part of this narrative which deals with the King's horse, as it is in all manner the same situation which regards the Queen's dog. I hope that this will not offend anyone, especially Voltaire, or the horse! For the full account, including the horse, you can easily Google the full story. Here then is the edited version. 

"One day, as he was walking near a little wood, Zadig saw one of the queen's eunuchs running toward him, followed by several officers, who appeared to be in great perplexity, and who ran to and fro like men distracted, eagerly searching for something they had lost of great value.

"Young man," said the first eunuch, "hast thou seen the queen's dog?"

"It is a bitch," replied Zadig, with great modesty, "and not a dog."

"Thou art in the right," returned the first eunuch.

"It is a very small she-spaniel," added Zadig; "she has lately whelped; she limps on the left fore-foot, and has very long ears."

"Thou hast seen her," said the first eunuch, quite out of breath.

"No," replied Zadig, "I have not seen her, nor did I so much as know that the queen had a bitch."

The first eunuch never doubted but that Zadig had stolen the queen's bitch. They therefore had him conducted before the assembly of the grand desterham, who condemned him to the knout, and to spend the rest of his days in Siberia. Hardly was the sentence passed, when the bitch was found. The judges were reduced to the disagreeable necessity of reversing their sentence; but they condemned Zadig to pay four hundred ounces of gold for having said that he had not seen what he had seen. This fine he was obliged to pay; after which, he was permitted to plead his cause before the counsel of the grand desterham, when he spoke to the following effect.

"I was walking toward the little wood, where I afterward met the venerable eunuch. I observed on the sand the traces of an animal, and could easily perceive them to be those of a little dog. The light and long furrows impressed on little eminences of sand between the marks of the paws, plainly discovered that it was a bitch, whose dugs were hanging down, and that therefore she must have whelped a few days before. Other traces of a different kind, that always appeared to have gently brushed the surface of the sand near the marks of the fore-feet, showed me that she had very long ears; and as I remarked that there was always a slighter impression made on the sand by one foot than by the other three, I found that the bitch of our august queen was a little lame, if I may be allowed the expression."

All the judges admired Zadig for his acute and profound discernment. The news of this speech was carried even to the king and queen. Nothing was talked of but Zadig in the anti-chambers, the chambers, and the cabinet; and though many of the magi were of opinion that he ought to be burnt as a sorcerer, the king ordered his officers to restore him the four hundred ounces of gold which he had been condemned to pay.

The Registrars, the Baliffs, and the Attorneys came to his house with great solemnity to restore him his four hundred ounces of gold; and kept back only three hundred and ninety-eight ounces for legal expenses."

Note: The name Zadig is derived from the Germanic spelling Tzaddik, which corresponds with the Hebrew word for a righteous person. A Tzaddik is someone who not only aheres to ethical and moral standards but also exemplifies these ideals in their daily lives.

"The Sea Captain's Wife" by Tilar J. Mazzeo (2025)

 Before Women's Lib there was Mary Ann Patten, the 16 year old wife of Captain Joshua Patten, both of Maine. She was a product of her time and place, schooled in the art of homemaking and someday becoming the wife of a Sea Captain. When they met he was several years her senior, which was not unusual for the times. But what was unusual was the woman she would become, and the role she would play in her husband's life.

This is a book which will have you cheering at times as you learn of her accomplishments and trials. Joshua was the Captain of the last generation of Clipper ships, known as "Extreme" clippers, designed for speed and revenue. They could transport goods from Maine to Liverpool in as little as 13 days, or down around the Cape of South America through Drake's Passage and on to San Francisco in 100 days. These ships could make you rich. Or they could leave you broken and stranded on a foreign shore.

Mary Ann and Joshua had a plan. They would Captain his ship, " Neptune's  Boxcar", and circumnavigate it around the world, from Maine to New York,on to San Francisco, then China and India and back again. If they were sucessful they could retire by age 30 with a farm and the means to live well for the rest of their lives.

But Mary Ann and Joshua were so in love that they would not be parted, and though it was not unusual for a Captain to take his wife with him on a perilous voyage; where convention would see the women confined to the Captain's quarters for much of the voyage; what was unusual was the timber of this particular woman.

Mary Ann had only a rudimentary education, but at age 17, in an age and world dominated by men,  she would teach herself the mathematics necessary to navigate by the stars, read the Nautical Charts, determine ocean currents and everything else necessary to not only assist Joshua, but to take his place when their fortunes turned. And this is the meat of the story, as well as the measure of the woman.

In their planned 2 year voyage she would become the first woman, at age 19 and pregnant, to Captain their ship when Joshua took deathly ill with Tuberculosis and "Brain Fever", brave the perilous voyage around the Horn and through Drake's Passage, nurse her dying husband, put down a Mutiny and bring her man home. It is an extraordinary tale; and true.

Written by Tilar J. Mazzeo; another ten decade native of the area in Maine, as well as an accomplished Mariner and author in her own right; this book will inspire and then anger you when Mary Ann, 8 months pregnant, and suffering from Malaria, is cheated out of her husband's wages on a technicality. As a woman she had no right to accomplish what she had. The ship's owner's took the position that because Joshua had been ill for most of the voyage, he had done little of the work he had been contracted to do. And since there was no contract with Mary Ann, they were owed nothing.

The story of how this 19 year old woman who taught herself to navigate, was able to bring her husband home, have her child and survive is compelling. It is also an infuriating one. Why are there no statues, or Commemorative Coins to honor this woman? And why is there still no Equal Rights Amendment for Women? This book is food for that thought.

The Clock in St. Mark's Square - Venice, Italy

Someday I hope you will all travel to Venice, Italy and see this clock. Built in the 1490's it is one of the most extraordinary in the world. And considering when it was built it is still a marvel of engineering and architecture. In 1998 it was cleaned and all the beauty of the facade was made visible again. Big difference from what it looked like in the 1970's when I saw it.

I was watching an old Italian film called "The Assassins" from 1952 in which the clock is shown. Piqued my memory. I do not recommend the film, only the clock, located in St. Mark's Square in Venice.

There is a great Wikipedia article about this clock and the family who maintained it from 1497 until 1998. 500 years. One family, one clock. They actually lived in the tower! There are 2 different links, both worth reading.

To me one of the most extraordinary aspects of the clock is the astronomical feature, which involves 5 planets and the Sun. This was 40 years before Copernicus proved that the Earth revolved around the Sun. And 100 years before the Catholic Church banned Copernicus! 😂

And here are the 2 "Moors" who actually strike the hours. They are located several stories above the actual clock face.

Also of interest is the fact that this extraordinary clock also pre dated the 1707 Scilly Island disaster, in which a British fleet was lost due to the need for understanding the principles of "arc to time". 

In 1714 Parliment passed the Longitude Act, which offered a big reward for anyone who could solve the problem. Still, it took another 57 years for a man named John Harrison to accomplish this feat. Without his accomplishment it was really an educated guess as to where your ship actually was. Even today's sophisticated Navigation Satellites owe a huge debt to Harrison's H4 timepiece.

"Annie Christie" - Grets Garbo, Marie Dressler and Charles Bickford (1930)

 

Anna Christie (1930) is a pre-Code film of the Eugene O'Niell play. Starring Greta Garbo, this was her first "talkie". The advertisements all said "Garbo Talks!" Directed by Clarence Brown, it is the story of an alcoholic woman with a past in prostitution who reunites with her long estranged alcoholic father. 

She then falls in love with a sailor, which infuriates her father, who is a sailor himself and deserted his family. He fears for her future based upon his own past. With both men holding her up on a pedestal, and both telling her what to do with her life, she is forced to confront her past. 

The film was a huge success, and was also released in a German-language version with Garbo in both, and is notable for its gritty and powerful performances. Garbo and Marie Dressler were exceptional, as well as Garbo's would be lover, played by Charles Bickford.

The film garnered 3 Academy Award Nominations including Best Actress for Garbo in her riveting performance. All doubts about her ability to act in "talkies" disappeared with this fim.

3 Books: "George Washington", "Charles Sumner" and "Midnight on the Potomac."

 

I don't post as often as I used to. But these 3 books, which Sue picked for me at the library, are the 3 I read this past month. And they are well worth reading. I chose to read them in the order in which the events occurred, beginning with the one about George Washington. An extraordinary book, considering how many books have been written about the Father of Our Country. It deals with Washington's time between the War and his return to Politics, the years when he was a Plantation owner. The Shay's Rebellion is what made his countrymen call him back into service. This was our first Insurrection and the event which highlighted the weaknesses in our Articles of Confederation. And the 10 months which followed were the time in which our Constitution was created. A fascinating time in our early history, as well as a view of what a real Insurrection looks like.

The next was the book on Charles Sumner, which encompasses the years leading up to, and after the Civil War. It includes an illuminating chapter on the Roberts vs Commonwealth of Boston trial (1846) and it's appeal two years later. Roberts was the first African-American attorney in our country. The case involved his daughter being denied admission to an elementary school 900 feet from her home on what was known as "Nigger Hill". She had to pass 5 whites only schools to get an education. 

When Roberts appealed Charles Sumner argued the case for Roberts. He lost, but not before being the first person to use the term "Equality Before the Law." That phrase later became associated with the Emancipation Proclamation. Sumner was a rabid Abolitionist in a town like Boston, which gave much "lip service" to the cause. But in actual practice it was like many other Northern states. You just didn't see the chains.

He later argued for the Defense on the case of a runaway slave named Sims. This had national repercussions in connection to the Fugitive Slave Laws. It also exposed the hypocrisy of the North when Sims was returned to his Masters in a slave state. The Fugitive Slave Laws were an abstract before this trial. But when the citizens in the North saw this miscarriage of Justice acted out in their own Courts, it heightened the Abolitionist cause.

Sumner then became involved in the case of 70 odd slaves who escaped from Washington, D.C. aboad the Pearl in 1850. After quickly being captured, they were found quilty of Violating the same Fugitive Slave Laws as in the Sims case. They were then returned to bondage in Washington, D.C., where slavery was legal. At the time slave trading took place right in the shadow of our Nation's Capitol.

As if this all were not enough he then took on the Trent Affair. The Trent Affair was a major crisis in the opening days of the Civil War. In 1861 the U.S. Navy illegally captured two Confederate diplomats from the RMS Trent, a British vessel. The incident nearly caused war between the Union and the England, as Britain deemed it a violation of it's neutral rights. We lost that case as it was in direct contradiction to our own complaints which caused us to fight the War of 1812. We seized the diplomats, in effect "impressing them", while leaving the documents they carried, which were the actual "contraband" we intended to seize, behind on the vessel. Had Britain declared war on the Union the Civil War would have been lost even as it had just begun.

The Sumner book reads like poetry. Masterfully written and well documented, it was a sheer pleasure.

And the third book was another home run, concerning itself with only one year during the Civil War. We often think of 1863 and Gettysburg as being the turning point of the war for the Union, when in fact it was the Victories in 1864, and the capture of Atlanta which really turned the tide. This book was also a shining example of history in the hands of a skillful author.

And all 3 books had connections to some of today's most pressing issues, as we again battle internally over State's Rights. As such, they are well worth the time to read.

"Roliah Kaliazami" - A Dream

 In my travels across Turkey over 45 years ago, I saw, and experienced, many strange things. Some were good, and some were bad. Perhaps this one is only a dream, but I will state it as the truth. For only something grounded in reality could come back to me with such clarity, as this did early this morning as I slept.

I had lost my passport and was wandering, stateless, and wondering how I was to free myself of this predicament. I came upon a seaside village built upon a cliff, a walled city, very similar to  Dubrovnik, in Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists, but can be found on old maps and globes of the time.

Much like Dubrovnik, this city was rife with ceramic arts and crafts, pottery and the like. But in contrast to it's Yugoslavian counterpart, there were no sellers hawking these wares. They were merely placed along the inside of the parapets, seemingly for the taking, and with intermittent receptacles where you could leave an offering if you had it.

Some of these artifacts were broken, or in some ways imperfect. But if you looked hard enough you could find some beautiful creations. I was browsing through these things and taking the ones I considered interesting and perhaps even worthy for sale, for I was in need of financial aid to bribe my way out of the country. I was, in fact, praying for deliverance.

It was then that I first heard the music, a light airy melody of guitar and flute that seemed to be playing a melody that sounded like "Roliah Kaliazami", a name I had never heard of before, or even since.

Casting my eyes heavenward I saw colored wisps in the cloudy skies. These quickly morphed into the words I was hearing, which soon revealed the image of a large, rotund man who seemed to be some sort of Turkish Pasha. It was through this appearance that it came to me that I was, indeed, to gather the better of the artifacts and hawk them to raise the funds I desperately needed. And so I did.

Soon, there were people helping me. All I had to do to gain their trust was to mention the Pasha's name and it seemed as if I had been the recipient of a Divine vision. For although all knew his name, no one had ever seen him!

I was guided to the top of the wall, where the sun was shining, and before long word spread of my presence and my Benefactor. I was given sustenance, coin, and even some medicinal help. And all the while, above me in the sky, was Roliah Kaliazami, smiling in Benevolence, revealed for all to see!

I have searched my journals from this period of my travels, and I find no mention of this episode. But even now, hours after the dream, I would swear it to be true. For how else would I have been able to travel from the town of Iskenduran, in the South, through all of Turkey, to Istanbul and then home?

If true; it is a miracle. If not; it is a beautiful dream. In any event, it is a testament to the power of Roliah Kaliazami. Even now I can see Him and hear the melody of His flute.
In my travels across Turkey over 45 years ago, I saw, and experienced, many strange things. Some were good, and some were bad. Perhaps this one is only a dream, but I will state it as the truth. For only something grounded in reality could come back to me with such clarity, as this did early this morning as I slept.

I had lost my passport and was wandering, stateless, and wondering how I was to free myself of this predicament. I came upon a seaside village built upon a cliff, a walled city, very similar to  Dubrovnik, in Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists, but can be found on old maps and globes of the time.

Much like Dubrovnik, this city was rife with ceramic arts and crafts, pottery and the like. But in contrast to it's Yugoslavian counterpart, there were no sellers hawking these wares. They were merely placed along the inside of the parapets, seemingly for the taking, and with intermittent receptacles where you could leave an offering if you had it.

Some of these artifacts were broken, or in some ways imperfect. But if you looked hard enough you could find some beautiful creations. I was browsing through these things and taking the ones I considered interesting and perhaps even worthy for sale, for I was in need of financial aid to bribe my way out of the country. I was, in fact, praying for deliverance.

It was then that I first heard the music, a light airy melody of guitar and flute that seemed to be playing a melody that sounded like "Roliah Kaliazami", a name I had never heard of before, or even since.

Casting my eyes heavenward I saw colored wisps in the cloudy skies. These quickly morphed into the words I was hearing, which soon revealed the image of a large, rotund man who seemed to be some sort of Turkish Pasha. It was through this appearance that it came to me that I was, indeed, to gather the better of the artifacts and hawk them to raise the funds I desperately needed. And so I did.

Soon, there were people helping me. All I had to do to gain their trust was to mention the Pasha's name and it seemed as if I had been the recipient of a Divine vision. For although all knew his name, no one had ever seen him!

I was guided to the top of the wall, where the sun was shining, and before long word spread of my presence and my Benefactor. I was given sustenance, coin, and even some medicinal help. And all the while, above me in the sky, was Roliah Kaliazami, smiling in Benevolence, revealed for all to see!

I have searched my journals from this period of my travels, and I find no mention of this episode. But even now, hours after the dream, I would swear it to be true. For how else would I have been able to travel from the town of Iskenduran, in the South, through all of Turkey, to Istanbul and then home?

If true; it is a miracle. If not; it is a beautiful dream. In any event, it is a testament to the power of Roliah Kaliazami. Even now I can see Him and hear the melody of His flute.

"Father is a Batchelor" with William Holden (1950)

Johnny Rutledge (Wiliam Holden) is a Minstrel in a traveling Medicine Show but finds himself stranded in small town when the owner is jailed temporarily for fraud. When he meets a group of siblings named January ("Jan"), February ("Feb") along with twins March and April and their little sister May (Jane Saunders). Jan and Feb  are the only ones who knows the truth that their parents have been killed in a Riverboat accident 6 months ago. Little May is still waiting for her Mom and Dad to return. The children are fending for themselves over the summer, but with school approaching things will come to a head.

When Jan tells Johnny the secret he starts to help them out for just a few weeks until the Medicine Show can continue. But somehow he becomes their de-facto  father. This arouses the Mayor's daughter Prudence (Coleen Grey) to wonder where the parents are. Fearing that she will send the children to an orphanage Johnny must pull off several little scams, or miracles, to avoid this. And he gradually warms to the task. There are a few silly songs involved, with William Holden's singing is overdubbed by Buddy Clark, whose voice is almost a dead ringer for Bing Crosby. Unfortunately Buddy Clark passed away just a few months before this film was released.

If you've got about 90 minutes to spare, this film is a forgotten little gem.

"Christmas Must Be Tonight" - The Band

 This is one of the most overlooked Christmas songs of all time. Rick Danko's vocal is excellent and the whole Band is wonderful. First recorded in 1975 it wasn't released until their 7th album, "Island", which was released in 1977. 

Re-recorded several times by Robbie Robertson on solo projects, and though Robertson wrote the song, none of those versions ever quite recreated the beauty of Rick Danko's voice on the original track. Merry Christmas everyone, everywhere......❤

My Great Great Grandmother - Sweet Shop

My Great, Great Grandmother on my Dad's paternal side had a sweet shop. I believe it was in Rhye, North Wales. As part of the trade she wore a conical black hat, similar to the popular depiction of a pointed Witches hat, but flat at the top. You can see an image of this in the 1948 film "How Green Was My Valley".

These hats, the pointed ones, had been worn for centuries by women who sold ale in busy market places so they could be seen more easily. They were known as "alewives." They brewed their ale in large black cauldrons and kept a broom, made of sticks, outside the door of their shops. It was, for reasons unknown to me, a sign of their trade. The black cats were kept to help ward off the mice who ate the grain meant for the ale. 

As the ale business became more centralized in the 1600's, the larger companies, owned by men, tried to run off their independent, smaller competitors by spreading rumors of witchcraft. At the time sorcery, or witchcraft, was punishable by banishment and even death. Many of these "Alewives" particularly in Wales, went into the sweets business. The tools of the trade were similar. The black cauldron now held sugar and water for making rock candy, which made the black cat still indispensable for warding off the mice. 

By the late 19th century the look of the Aleswife and Sweet Seller had been altered for good. In 10 more years, thanks to novels and then film, the history of their trade had been completely co-opted. And Frank Baum wrote "The Wizard of Oz". 

"The Last Angry Man" - Paul Muni (1959)

 "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away". This phrase from Thoreau accurately describes Physician Dr. Samuel Abelman of Brooklyn in the film "The Last Angry Man." It is, in fact, the central theme of this extraordinary film.

Dr. Abelman is the polar opposite of his friend and colleague Dr. Vogel, who writes on Dr. Abelman's Death Certificate under "Cause of Death: Coronary Occlusion/ Fighting Other People's Battles." A truly remarkable film and Paul Muni's last.

"The First Legion" (1951) w/ Charles Boyer, William Demarest, Leo G. Carroll

I am not just recommending this film. I am pontificating upon it's message, as I see it. 

Father John Fulton is a Jesuit instructor in a seminary school, who feels he has lost his faith and desire to continue in his role. A talk with his friend Father Marc Arnoux, played by Charles Boyer, is of no help.

The Head of the Order wants to throw him out. But an issue of theology arises which can make or break the whole outcome. Father  Arnoux is supportive of his decision, but also sensitive to the needs of the Rectory. He is marvelous in this  role.

The issue is finally decided by H. B. Warner as Fr. Jose Sierr, who has been in a coma for three years. He is expected to die soon and his body is completely atrophied from being bed bound for so long. It would take years of physical therapy to get him to even sit up in bed, let alone walk again. In short, it would take a Miracle. 

On the eve of the young Priest's departure the other Priests and the Monsignor, played by William Demarest, are all gathered for dinner in the ground floor dining hall. Father Sierr is upstairs in bed. He cannot possibly know of the situation concerning Father Fulton leaving the Order.

Suddenly, alone, he awakens from his coma and miraculously rises from his bed as if he has just taken a nap. He is crying. From his bed chamber he goes to the stairway and comes down the stairs to the dining hall. 

All of the Priests, the reigning Monsignor and even the secular Doctor are astonished to see him. They rush to his side, but he doesn't need their help. They ask why him why he is crying. He, in turn, completely and rationally explains what he cannot possibly know. 

If the Brother is leaving he is breaking God's will, but it is God who has also implanted Self will within each of us. The dilemma, as he sees it is this;

If God saw fit to lead the young Priest to the Jesuits, he must stay. But if God also gave him Self will, then he must be allowed to leave. The others argue that God surrounded the Brother with a mission in life to serve a higher cause than his own. 

The older, formerly comatose Father Sierr reasons back that God has also now called upon Father Fulton to honor his Self will, and he must be permitted to leave in order to follow that call.

When asked why he weeps he replies that he is weeping because they are losing a brother who can help them all in fulfilling God's will. But at the same time, Father Fulton may have now been called upon to answer another, even higher calling. Who is to say what is right or wrong? Who is qualified to speak for God?

And that is the message of this film, as I see it. There are other subplots going on as the town becomes a magnet for hucksters and lost souls. There is even the question of arguing for recognition of Father Sierr's recovery as a genuine Miracle, to be recognized by the Vatican. But to me that is all just stuff and nonesense.

This film is not for everyone, but the message is. I hope that others will find it as meaningful as I have. 

"The Juggler" with Kirk Douglas (1953)

 

This was my first time seeing this film. I had never heard of it before today. It was posted on You Tube 5 days ago. Kirk Douglas plays Hans Müller, a displaced German freed from the Concentration Camps. It is 1949 and he arrives in the newly formed State of Israel.

Before the war he was a famous juggler and ventriloquist in Germany. He thought his fame would shield him from the Nuremberg Laws and all that followed. So he stayed. And paid the price. 

Now, in Israel, and in a Camp for newly arrived Refugees, he initially mistakes a woman for his deceased wife. He doesn't adjust well to the camp, or the attempts to assimilate him into society. He flees the camp and sets off to see the outside. 

What happens next is the story of a man who has been traumatized and now becomes hunted in a new land where he is supposed to be accepted. It is a gripping film. And Kirk Douglas is perfect in his role, along with all the rest of the cast. I highly recommend this film.

"Teddy and Booker T." by Brian Kilmeade (2025)

 

This is a remarkable book about two remarkable men. Born within 2 years of one another, Booker, born a slave; and his birthdatdate has never really been established; while Teddy was born a child of great privilege in 1858. But from that point onward both were on parallel courses and each would have an impact on the nation as a whole, as well as upon their individual races, and one another.

Booker is most remembered for founding Tuskegee Institute, while Teddy is remembered for his charge up San Juan Hill. But these are both narrow views of each of their lives. They were friends and colleagues who both worked to bring the nation forward in an attempt to bridge the gap between their races. And both were battling their own races in their attempts to do that. (Booker was the first African-American to have dinner with the  President and his family in the Executive Mansion, as it was called back then. The reaction, from both sides, was enormous. And controversial.)

The author alternates the story, with a chapter about one following a chapter on what the other was doing during the same period. As the book progresses that story becomes one.

You will find this an informative and well paced read. And several popular images of both men will be shown to be surprisingly different than what we have previously been taught.

"Launching Liberty" by Doug Most (2025)

This is an outstanding book about the Liberty ships which were so important to winning the Second World War. This will become known as the definitive book on the subject. A cast of real life characters you'll never forget.

Henry Kaiser was a key player in taking the simple design plan proferred by the British government and turning it into reality.  Britain was losing more ships to the U-boats than she could build and turned to America to deliver 60 ships in 1941/42. Kaiser, known for such projects as 200 miles of highway in Cuba during the 1920's, and 3 major dams in the U.S. during the 1930's, delivered 200. By the 3rd year his partnership with Todd Shipyards and others on both our East and West Coasts, he was delivering 200 and finally a ship every 7 days. 

Working with President Roosevelt, Admiral Land and a host of others, they first had to build the shipyards to handle the job. He brought every project in under budget and ahead of schedule. He built cities to accommodate the workers, transforming the land in order to help win the war. 

Best anecdote in the book is when his mother asked him what he wanted for Christmas. He was 8 years old at the time and said he wanted a baby sister. It was already Thanksgiving and his mother told him there wasn't enough time between then and the holiday to do that. He told her that his dad always said, "You can do anything if you put enough men on the job...." And that is how he and others, too numerous to mention here, approached the task of building these ships which President Roosevelt called "the ugly ducklings." 

Two of these Liberty ships are still around and operational, including the S.S. John Brown, ported in Baltimore. My Dad went to Maritime High School aboard her when she was berthed in Manhattan just after the war. 

A fascinating story of resolve and determination, this book will keep you turning the pages, racing with the same rapidity as the men and women who built these ships.

"Driftwood" (1947) with Natalie Wood and Walter Brennan

Here's a gem of a film which has great application to the ongoing debate about vaccinations. In this case the disease is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which is spread by tics. Until the 1920's the disease killed about 10% of those infected. After the vaccine was discovered that rate was pretty much cut in half. With the advent of anti biotics  the vaccine is no longer necessary, and is treated with Doyxcelin, or other forms of the Tetracycline family. If caught in time the rate of mortality is the same as using the vaccine. 

This is a fictional story, but it carries quite a wallop. Natalie Wood plays a little girl who lives with her Great Grandfather, played by H.B. Warner, a preacher who lives a long way from any town. When he dies she travels by foot to the nearest town all alone. Halfway there she witnesses a plane crash. Alone in the woods, surrounded by coyotes and mountain lions, she encounters a seemingly stray dog, who is burned. They quickly become close and continue on the journey together.

While sleeping by the side of the road she is found by a doctor from the town where she is headed. Doctor Steve, played by Dean Jagger, takes her to the town and the Sheriff, whom her Great Grandfather always told her to see if/when he should pass away.

Doctor Steve, who has been working with tics in order to find a cure for Spotted Fever, is about to leave for San Francisco where he hopes to find work conducting research for a cure. The town he comes from doesn't even have a hospital. And the people there are not interested in trying the vaccine he has not yet perfected. That all changes when one of the children in the town dies from the disease.

The little girl has a secret. The dog, whom she calls Hollingsworth, actually comes from the plane she watched crash. And that dog is immune to the Fever. For how all this plays out you will have to watch the film. Beautifully written, acted and directed, this film, which also stars Walter Brennan and even Margaret Hamilton as the lovable town spinster, will capture your heart.

"Without Getting Killed or Caught" - (Guy and Suzanna Lark, Townes Van Zandt.) A Love Story.

 

A wonderful film about American singer-songwriters Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and their love of the same woman, Suzane Clark. It is also the story of the early years of the Independent Music scene in the 1970's. And probably one of the greatest love stories ever told.

The film encompasses the impact these two men, and one remarkable woman, had on the shift of mainstream country music and it's shift from Nashville to Austin. It's a uniquely American story, told by the people involved, through film and also the words of those involved. 

Happy Birthday Uncle Irving

Today my Uncle Irving would be 127 years old; if he were physically here. Perhaps because I was denied the opportunity to pay my respects when he passed away 47 years ago, he is still very much alive to me. Anyone who knows me well knows of Uncle “I” and the high regard in which I hold him. He is eternal.

One of the strangest things which happened; and pre-ceded his final illness by several years was the time he didn’t die. I was about 17 and was at a house when I got a call from my Mom. This in itself was an indicator that something bad had happened.

She had gotten a phone call from one of Uncle I’s circle of old friends; old as in age; who had not seen him at breakfast that morning in the restaurant where they all ate; the Stage Delicatessen on 7th Avenue where Max Asnas reigned supreme as the owner and was somewhat of a celebrity himself. The walls there were covered with autographed photos of everyone of any consequence who had ever eaten there. Legendary comedian Jack E. Leonard once bought me a 12 cent bottle of ginger ale when I was sick on the sidewalk outside. (Note: My upset stomach had nothing to do with the food.)

Anyway, this friend had set about calling everyone who knew my Uncle and told them that he was dead; simply on the basis of having not seen him that morning; setting off a chain of events which ended a friendship that was twice as old as I was at the time. Uncle “I” went on to live several more years until his death in 1978. He was about 80 years old when he passed away. I have never visited his grave. And, consequently, he is still very much with me.

I had no Grandfathers, but Uncle “I” filled those 4 shoes and still had several feet left over as far as I’m concerned. He was small in stature but his heart was as expansive as the universe, and he had a mind as deep as space. And as far as his personality was concerned, if you have ever seen William Demarest on screen or TV, then you have known my Uncle. He was that kind of guy, but with a Yiddish accent. He worked in the Garment District as a Furrier, from 1921 until about 1976 when he became ill. 

We called him Uncle "I" because it was easier than saying Irving when we were so small. But as we got older we took a secret delight in calling him Uncle "I" simply because it sounded like we were saying Uncle "Lie", in reference to some of the tall tales he told.

Irving lived alone in the "city", which meant Manhattan. He also lived in a hotel! This was so strange to me that it was almost shocking. He had lived with my Grandmother Dorothy (his sister) and their father, Max, along with my parents, until they got a place of their own. When Dorothy moved to California after Max passed away, Irving was left with no place to go. So, in 1957 he got a room in a hotel and lived that way for the next 21 years, until he passed away. It wasn't until years later, when I was bouncing around the world and staying in a lot of hotels myself, and wishing that I were somewhere else, did I come to realize the singular loneliness of Uncle I's existence. He was kind of like a prisoner in a prison with no bars. He could roam at will, all over the city, but where did he will to roam? Our apartment in Brooklyn to see me.

Uncle "I" colored every aspect of my life as a kid. I couldn't wait for him to come over every Friday night, and we'd go to Rockaway every Sunday. I would pepper him with questions about the old days, and he would regale me with stories, some of which were true, about his youth on the Lower East Side, his exceptional athletic achievements and his wit and cunning in the Garment Industry. And later; politics. He was a Socialist.

Every visit would end the same way. We would walk together on Avenue R to East 16th Street and then to the Quentin Rd. entrance of the Kings Highway Station, where he would catch the BMT back to Manhattan and his little hotel room. Then he would belong to the rest of the world until next week's visit.

Happy Birthday Uncle "I" from your "Little Sputnik." You gave so much, and asked nothing in return. ❤