PROMISED LAND
Houghton Mifflin
1976
Susan Silverman is working as a high school guidance counselor. Much
more clearly than in later novels, Hawk is bad: working as an enforcer, a creature from the dark side.
He does some things which a good person would not do. Plus, everyone is a lot younger. They drink
and eat more, they exercise harder, and they try to do the right thing. Well, okay, some of them try to
do the wrong thing. But that†s why they†re the bad guys!
This is a novel of relationships: Spenser and Susan (just getting started in 1976), Spenser and Hawk
(same), the woman Spenser is hired to find and her over-loving husband. The relationships are live,
in constant action, and filled with risk. The characters think constantly. They talk about why they
think the way they do. They explore each others† lives and try to come to terms with the kind of
people they all are, or were, or might become. The wise-ass repartee is tremendously appealing; it†s
hilarious; it couldn't be better.
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SPENSARIUM'S APHORISMS AND ALLUSIONS
"Never knew somebody knew more stuff that didn't matter."
Hawk to Spenser in Chapter 29 of Taming a Seahose
Chapter 1
My new place was on the second floor of a two story round turret that stuck out
over the corner of Mass Ave and Boylston Street above a cigar store.
Click Here to view a map of the location of Spenser's new office.
Chapter 1
"Oh I get it, Hyannis, hah."
Hyannis: [h'an'is]
A resort village (1990 pop. 14,120), Barnstable co., SE Mass., on Cape Cod; Inc.
1639. It is the business center and shipping point of the area; major industries are
tourism and home construction. Hyannis provides ferry transportation to Martha's
Vineyard and Nantucket island. A conservatory of music and arts is located there.
Nearby Hyannisport is famous as the site of a compound of houses owned by the
Kennedy family.
Chapter 1
I bet Philo Vance never painted his own office.
Philo Vance was a popular radio show originally broadcast in 1945 and was syndicated in 1948-1950.
The show was based upon the character created in the novels written by S.S. Van Dine.
Click Here for a cassette of he radio show
Click Here for the books of Van Dine
Click Here for "The Dragon Murder Case"
Chapter 1
...but he was a good looking guy. Black Irish.
The term 'Black Irish' has more than one meaning.
For example, the term Black Irish might mean "of Mediterranean (Latin-like?) appearance" to a literary
scholar studying how Rudyard Kipling used the term in his writings. A writer tracing the history of
strained relations between Irish Catholics and Protestants would naturally think of a different meaning,
namely Black being sometimes synonymous for Orange. And a genealogist doing research on the
descendants of Irishmen in the West Indies would encounter yet another meaning: during Oliver
Cromwell†s Irish campaigns, thousands of Scots and Irishmen were transported to the West Indies, where
they were called Redlegs and Black Irish. Some of the Irishmen--notably on the island of
Montserrat--married women of African descent, and the communities of their Afro-Irish children are also
known as Black Irish. These are all valid and legitimate meanings of Black Irish (and even more such meanings are
discussed in print and on the Net). But in the sense referred to in the question of Black Irish descended
from the Spanish Armada, the answer--from a popular tradition which modern scholarship has been
unable to either definitively verify or disprove--goes as follows: When the Spanish Armada sank, several bands of Spanish sailors managed to reach Ireland, where they
were stranded. Over time they married into the Irish population, and their descendants, with their
darker or blacker hair, eyes, and Spanish complexion, naturally stood out. They were and are called
the Black Irish.
Chapter 1
"I'm on Ocean Street. 18 Ocean Street."
Surprisingly, there is actually a 18 Ocean Street in Hyannis, Ma.
Click Here for a map.
Chapter 2
"Laurance Rockefeller?"
Modern day Philanthropist and decendant of Nelson Rockefeller, I have only included this info
because of UFO folklore which pops up from time to time.
Click Here for details.
Chapter 2
"Now I'm thinking of Pier 4."
Landmark Boston restaurant offering spectacular views of the waterfornt.
Click Here for the Pier 4 web site.
Chapter 2
"The plane, heading west. Loosing the surly bonds of earth."
Poem: High Flight
by Jon Gillespie Magee, Jr.
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of « wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence; hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew «
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Pilot Officer John G. Magee wrote this in 1942 at age 19.
Magee, an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force, was based
in England at the time and enclosed a copy of this poem in a letter
to his mother. Several months later he was killed when his Spitfire collided
with another aircraft inside a cloud. The poem quickly became a favorite with
aviators all over the world. Colonel Robert L. Scott quoted it at the end of
his autobiography God is My Co-Pilot. Decades later, President Ronald
Reagan quoted its last line in his speech honoring the Challenger crew.
Chapter 2
"The way to a man's remorse," she said, "is through his stomach."
Sarah Willis
1811-1872
Writing under the pseudonym of "Fanny Fern," Sarah Willis
was one of the most successful newspaper columnists of her day.
Between 1851 and 1872, Willis published a weekly column in several
newspapers, as well as six collections of her columns, two novels, and three books for children. Willis's writing
brought her both income and fame. Within a year of its publication in 1853, almost 100,000 copies of Fern Leaves
from Fanny†s Port-Folio were sold in England and America, and Willis earned 10 cents per copy in royalties, enabling
her to buy a house in Brooklyn, New York, and live comfortably. For her column in the New York Ledger, she
earned $100 a week, more than any other columnist was making in 1855.
The above referenced quote refers to her oft quoted proverb from 'Fern Leaves'
"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
Click Here for a script to the play "Genuine Article" which is based upon her life.
Chapter 2
"Better late than never," she said.
Commonly attributed to English dramatist John Heywood
(see Godwulf Manuscript) this actually originates with
Roman historian Titus Livus,"Livy" (59 B.C.«A.D. 17). It appears in his
'History of Rome" in Book IV-23.
Potius sero quam nunquam
(Rather late than never).
Click Here for more on Livy
Chapter 3
If Bartholemew Gosnold had approached the cape from this direction he'd have kept on going.
Bartholemew Gosnold
English explorer and colonizer.
In 1602 he commanded the Concord on a voyage of exploration
in which he navigated the coast from Maine to Narragansett Bay, naming
Cape Cod and several islands and building a small fort
on Cuttyhunk, westernmost of the Elizabeth Islands.
He named it for the abundant codfish found in surrounding waters.
In 1606 he commanded the God Speed, which carried some of the
first settlers to Virginia. Gosnold protested against the site of
Jamestown but was overruled. He died there of malaria several months later.
Chapter 3
"Ah'm over amongst de ofays at de Holiday Inn, Marse Spensah"
Ofay was a Swing Era (1920's) colloquialism used by African-Americans
when referring to a White Person which originated
from pig latin for "foe". It was most commonly used in
Harlem and in new Orleans. "Fay" was also used as an abbreviated
form of expression. In 1966, author Earl Shorris published a controversial book entitled
"Ofay" about a Black-White love affair.
Chapter 3
"And you don't do that Kingfish dialect any better than you used to."
Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll introduced the popular radio show AMOS †N† ANDY
on January 12, 1926. Some of the best remembered expressions are: ‹I† se regusted!Ê,
‹Ow wah! Ow wah!Ê, ‹Buzz me, Miss Blue.Ê and ‹Check and double check.Ê
Amos †n† Andy ran the Fresh-Air Taxi and belonged to the Mystic Knights of the Sea of which George Stevens was ‹The Kingfish.Ê
Since Gosden and Correll were white, new cast member had to be found when the show was
brought to television.The Kingfish became so popular
that he eventually became more predominant on the series than Amos, who was relegated to a
supporting character and narrator. The show also featured many other
supporting characters, such as Kingfish's wife Sapphire; Shorty, the stuttering barber; Lightning, the slow janitor; and Gabby, the fast-talking lawyer and
later a politician. Civil rights groups such as the NAACP had long protested the series as fostering
racial stereotypes.
If you have
Real Audio installed, you can
CLICK HERE to listen to a recording of the show's introduction.
Chapter 3
"Maybe not, but you should hear me sing 'Shortnin' Bread,' babe."
"Mama' li'l baby loves shortnin', shortnin'.
Mama's li'l baby loves shortnin' bread.
Sent for the doctor, the doctor said,
'Feed that baby some shortnin' bread'."
Chapter 5
Hyannis is part of Barnstable Township. I know that but I never did know what a township was and I never found anyone else who knew.
townüship
Pronunciation: (toun'ship), [key] -n
1. a unit of local government, usually a subdivision of a county, found in most
midwestern and northeastern states of the U.S. and in most Canadian provinces.
2. (in U.S. surveys of public land) a region or district approximately 6 miles
square (93.2 sq. km), containing 36 sections.
3. Eng. Hist.
a. one of the local divisions or districts of a large parish, each containing a village or small town, usually with a church of its own.
b. the manor, parish, etc., itself.
c. its inhabitants.
4. (in Australia)
a. a small town or settlement serving as the business center of a rural area.
b. the business center of a town or suburb.
5. (in South Africa) a segregated residential settlement for blacks, located outside
a city or town.
Chapter 5
The manu said lingui°a on a crusty roll. My heart beat faster. I'd forgotten about lingui°a since I'd been down herelast. I ordered two.
linüguiü°a
Pronunciation: (ling-gwE'su; Port. lin-gwE'sÓ, -su), [key] ìn.
a highly spiced Portuguese garlic sausage
Click Here for photo's and more info.
Chapter 5
They'd probably never heard of Johnny Hartman here.
Best known for the 1962 recording John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, Hartman had a long career that began
with Earl Hines and Dizzy Gillespie in the '40s. But there were relatively few opportunities to record and little
public recognition for a singer held in such high regard by other musicians.
Click Here to hear Johnny Hartman and for more on the album.
Chapter 6
"It's because my heart is pure," I said."
Spenser's motto. This is a recurring theme throughout the series.
Source: Sir Galahad
by Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson
My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.
Chapter 7
I spent most of the night dreaming about phone bills and charge receipts and woke up feeling like Bartleby the Scrivner
Herman Melville's dark and riveting story tells the tale of Bartleby the Scrivener, and his descent down the rungs of the ladder of sanity into darkness.
It was written during one of the lowest points of Melville's life, and reflects his own depression over his apparently
failed career. Published anonymously in 1853 in Putnam's Monthly Magazine. the story is narrated by a successful Wall Street lawyer, who hires Bartleby to transcribe legal
documents. Although Bartleby begins as a dedicated employee, he one day responds "I would prefer not to"
when asked to do a proofreading job. From there he slips steadily, "preferring not to" do more and more
things that are asked of him. He gradually withdraws from the living, to a world unfathomable by others. He
loses his job, refuses help from those around him, and eventually dies destitute in prison, unable or unwilling
to help himself in any way.
Click Here for more on this work by Mellville
Chapter 7
I read 'Dondi' and hated it.
Irwin Hasen was one of the originals in the field of comics. In 1955, he co-created the
popular and tenuous comic "Dondi" with Gus Edson. "Dondi" was about a war orphan
coming to America. It was widely received, winning numerous awards and was also made
into a feature length film.
Chapter 9
Protests, excursions and alarums followed Pam Shepard's decision....
Defined:
1. (esp. in Elizabethan drama) military action, as representative fragments of a
battle, sound effects of trumpets, or clash of arms: used as a stage direction.
2. any noisy, frantic, or disorganized activity.
Chapter 9
Jane and Rose stood alertly across the roadway on the other side of the bridgeand watched my every move. Semper paratus.
Latin. "Always ready." This is the motto of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Chapter 9
"I'm trying to find out how your head is. And I think it's a mare's nest."
Mare's Nest: To find a mare's nest is to make what you suppose
to be a great discovery, but which turns out to be all moonshine.
‹Why dost thou laugh?
What mare's nest hast thou found?Ê
Beaumont and Fletcher: Bonduca, v. 2.
‹Are we to believe that the governor, executive council, the officers,
and merchants have been finding mare's nests only?Ê- The Times.
N.B. In some parts of Scotland they use instead a skate's nest.
In Gloucestershire a long-winded tale is called a Horse-nest.
In Cornwall they say You have found a wee's nest, and are laughing over the eggs.
In Devon, nonsense is called a blind mare's nest. Holinshed calls a gallows a
foul's nest (iii.).
In French the corresponding phrase is
‹Nid de lapin; Nid d'une souris dans Voreille d'un chat. Ê This French phrase is the translation of a line in Wynkyn de Worde's Amusing
Questions, printed in English in 1511.
‹Demand: What is that that never was and never will be?
Response: A mouse's nest in a cat's ear.Ê
Chapter 10
"You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod."
Old Cape Cod
Patti Page
Written by Claire Rothrock, Milt Yakus, and Allan Jeffrey
Peaked at # 3 in 1957
If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air
Quaint little villages here and there
(You're sure)You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
(Cape Cod, that old Cape Cod)
If you like the taste of a lobster stew
Served by a window with an ocean view
(You're sure)You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
Winding roads that seem to beckon you
Miles of green beneath a sky of blue
Church bells chimin' on a Sunday morn
Remind you of the town where you were born
If you spend an evening you'll want to stay
Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
(aah, aah)
If you spend an evening you'll want to stay (on Cape Cod Bay)
Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
You're sure to fall in love
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
Click Here for more on the music of Patti Page
Chapter 10
Home's where you can go and they have to take you in.
Who said that? I couldn't remember.
Cynical bastard though.
Death of the Hired Man
Robert Frost
"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in."
Click Here for the complete text.
Chapter 11
"You also can't do a great deal about famine, war,pestilence, and death."
"A great backfield," I said.
Depicted in Revelation (Revelation 5:1-7, 6:1-8) as representing the first
four seal events which are referred to by Jesus in
His Olivet Discourse as "the beginning birth pangs",
these are the Rider on the White Horse (the giving of the Holy Spirit),
the Rider on the Red Horse (War/Murder),
the Rider on the Black Horse (Famine/Rationing), and the Rider on the
Gray Horse (Death with Hades following with him).
The first mention of the Four Horsemen is in Zechariah 6:1-8.
Chapter 12
"That explains why you brought Eric the Red along. You knew Susan was with me
and you didn't want to be outnumbered."
In about AD 982 a brawny, red-bearded Norseman named Eric set sail from the
northwest coast of Iceland. After killing a neighbor in a quarrel, he had been banished
from Iceland for three years. He intended to sail his Viking ship west to a land he had
heard of but never seen.
About 100 years before, a mariner named GunnbjÒrn had been blown off his course
from Norway to Iceland. Sailing back, he had sighted a bleak, snow-covered land. Men
told tales of his discovery, but no one ventured to explore the unknown country.
Into an open boat Eric loaded his family, servants and slaves, and friends. After sailing
for days in the North Atlantic, they reached the coast of a huge island, which he named
Greenland.
Eric and his people found the country much like their own Iceland. They fished and lived
as they had before. At the end of his exile, Eric returned to Iceland to persuade others to
live with him in Greenland. In 986 he returned with about 500 new settlers. They built
two colonies.
Eric had three sons--Thorvald, Thorstein, and Leif. Leif was the first European to set
foot on the North American continent.
Chapter 13
"Gestalt," Susan said.
Very briefly stated, Gestalt theory proposes the notion that
human beings are viewed as open systems in active interaction
with their environment.
Chapter 13
"You mean love and marriage, they go together like a horse and carriage?"
Track Title: Love And Marriage
Album Title: Frank Sinatra: The Reprise Collection, Disc 2
Prime Artist: Frank Sinatra
Arranger: Nelson Riddle
Written by: Sammy Cahn
Written by: immy Van Heusen
From: Our Town 1955 (TV)
Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell ya, brother, you can't have one without the other.
Click Here for the complete lyrics.
Click Here to hear it on the album 'Best of the Capitol Years.'
Chapter 14
"You wanta go to Plimoth Plantation?"
If you're a skeptic about re-creations of historic communities ì
complete with actors speaking from centuries past ì Plimoth Plantation
is the one attraction in New England that might win
you over. Just will yourself to suspend disbelief for a few minutes,
strike up a conversation with one of Plimoth's time-locked inhabitants,
and you'll get an inkling of the genius of the place.
When you go, pick the day by the weather. True to history, most of what you'll want to see at
Plimoth and aboard its companion exhibit, Mayflower II, is very much exposed to heat, cold
and wet. Pick a relatively dry day with moderate temperatures ì unless you really want to
sample the rough life of the Pilgrims. Try to arrive close to the 9am opening time and proceed
directly to the chief attraction, the Pilgrim Village, before it's swamped with school groups or
weekend visitors.
Click Here to visit the Plimoth Plantation site.
Chapter 14
A few years back I had been reading Samuel Eliot Morison's big book of American History.."
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1887-1976), U.S. historian, born in Boston, Mass.; professor of
history Harvard University 1925-55: won 1943 Pulitzer prize in biography for `Admiral of the Ocean
Sea', shortened and revised as `Christopher Columbus, Mariner' (`History of United States Naval
Operations in World War II', 15 vols.; `The Story of the "Old Colony" of New Plymouth, 1620-1692' ;
`John Paul Jones', 1960 Pulitzer prize in biography; `The Caribbean as Columbus Saw It'; `The
European Discovery of America'); 1963 Balzan Prize; 1964 Presidential Medal of Freedom
The book that Spenser refers to is likely 'A Concise History of the American Republic'
Click Here for more on this book.
Chapter 14
At least they didn't feature things like the John Alden burger, or Pilgrim Soup.
William Bradford wrote, in his history Of Plymouth Plantation: John Alden was hired for a cooper [barrel
maker] at Southampton where the ship [Mayflower] victualed, and being a hopeful young man was much
desired but left to his own liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed and married here." and later
wrote "John Alden married Priscilla, Mr. Mullin's daughter, and had issue by her as is before related."
John Alden was an assistant for the Plymouth colony for many years, and was deputy governor for two years.
His marriage to Priscilla Mullins was the subject of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, "The Courtship
of Myles Standish", which although a classic has little factual basis. John and Priscilla were among the
founders of the town of Duxbury.
Click Here for the John Alden historical web site.
Chapter 14
I wondered what flotsam was. I'd have to look that up sometime when I got home. And jetsam.
flot÷sam (fltsm) n.
1. a.Wreckage or cargo that remains afloat after a ship has sunk.
b.Floating refuse or debris.
2.Discarded odds and ends.
3.Vagrant, usually destitute people.
[Anglo-Norman floteson, from Old French floter, to float,
of Germanic origin; see pleu- in Indo-European Roots.]
jet÷sam (jtsm) n.
1.Cargo or equipment thrown overboard to lighten a ship in distress.
2.Discarded cargo or equipment found washed ashore. See Usage Note at flotsam.
3.Discarded odds and ends.
[From earlier jetson, alteration of Middle English jetteson, a throwing overboard; see jettison.]
Usage Note: Flotsam, in maritime law, applies to wreckage or cargo left floating on the sea after a
shipwreck. Jetsam applies to cargo or equipment thrown overboard (jettisoned) from a ship in distress and either
sunk or washed ashore. The common phrase flotsam and jetsam is now used loosely to describe any objects
found floating or washed ashore.
Chapter 14
"Sweets for the sweet my love."
Shakespeare
Hamlet
Act V Scene 1
"Sweets to the sweet: farewell!"
This phrase is often used when giving candy as a romantic gift, but that
would have a chilling effect on anyone who remembered that Queen
Gertrude spoke the words when scattering flowers on Ophelia's grave:
"I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; I thought thy
bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, and not have strew'd thy grave.'
Chapter 15
Across the way a movie was running an action packed double feature:
'The Devil in Mrs. Jones' and 'Deep Throat.' They don't make them like
they used to. What ever happened to Ken Maynard and his great horse, Tarzan?
Obviously, the first two titles were infamous adult features in the early 70's.
Ken Maynard was a trick rider with the Buffalo Bill Wild West
Show and later with Ringling Brothers and
was also a champion rodeo rider. His movie debut, "The Man Who Won" (1923),
was the first of many for the this early cowboy movie superstar. He was famous
for the stunts he could enact with his horse Tarzan. Maynard was the first singing
cowboy in the movies. During the 1930s he dropped out of movies and went back
to rodeo work. He did a few more low-budget films in the early '40s, then retired
for good except for bit parts. His last years were miserable; poor and
unremembered, he lived alone in a trailer, an alcoholic who at his death was a
victim of serious malnutrition.
Chapter 15
"But I believe most of that nonsense that Thoreau was preaching."
Henry David Thoreau
1817 - 1862
Most readers remember Thoreau as a naturalist. His most famous
book, Walden (1854), records the two years he spent living in a self-crafted cabin beside
Emerson's Walden Pond. The Walden experiment reflected the greater philosophy of Thoreau's
life: an eloquent, detailed,passionate refusal of materialism and of emerging American
middle-class values and a celebration of a rigorously simple life in harmony with nature.
Chapter 15
I did my David Frye imitation. "I am not a crook," I said and looked shifty.
David Frye is a comedian that has based his career primarily on
strong presidential impersonations. At the time of the Watergate scandal,
it was not uncommon to find comedian him impersonating Nixon ("I am not a crook!")
on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other such variety shows of the period. This impression
was based upon the now famous press conference of November 11, 1973.
Click Here if you have Real Audio installed to hear
various David Frye political routines.
Chapter 15
"Promised Land." I whistled. "Cu-ute. Were you aiming at an exclusive Jewish Clientele?"
Biblical reference to the concept of Jewish Zionism.
Simply stated, the return, or the various returns, of the Jewish people to Zion,
to the land of Israel; to the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants
forever. These promises are sprinkled throughout the whole of Scripture, but we find the first
one in Genesis 12:1-3; enlarged by Genesis 15:7:
"God said unto Abraham, I am the LORD who brought
you out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees to give this land
to you to inherit it. And Abraham said, Lord God, how shall
I know that I will inherit it?"
Genesis 15:18-21, "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with
Abraham saying unto thy seed have I given
this land from the River of Egypt unto the great river,
the River Euphrates." (Description of Palestine)
Chapter 18
Susan was sitting in a chaise in her red flowered one-piece suit reading
'The Children of the Dream,' by Bruno Bettelheim.
Bettelheim was one of the most respected psychologists in the nation, celebrated for
the compelling accounts he wrote of his work with autistic children at the
Orthogenic School he headed in Chicago. With rare exceptions,
Bettelheim's writings drew effusive praise from all sides, in psychological
journals as well as in general highbrow publications. From the middle 1960's
until his suicide in 1990 at the age of eighty-six, he was a celebrity, one
of the few psychologists whose name was well known outside the
profession. The great change took place only after his death. Several
former residents of the Orthogenic School began to publish articles or
letters that portrayed Bettelheim not as a saint and a wise man but as a
monster and a brute. 'The Children of the Dream' discusses the communal
child with-in the kibbutz.
Chapter 18
"Cogito ergo sum, I said.
Oh absolutely," she said. "You've always been sicklied over with the pale cast of thought."
Cogito ergo sum
Renª Descartes
Le Discours de la Mªthode
[1637], IV
"I think, therefore I am"
Stated by Descartes as the first principle in resolving universal doubt.
"...sicklied over with the pale cast of thought."
William Shakespeare
Hamlet famous speech in Act 3: Scene 1
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
Chapter 18
He was wearing a black T-shirt, and on his right forearm he
had a tattoo of a thunderbird and the words FIGHTING 45TH.
45th Separate Infantry Brigade
Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: a yellow "Thunderbird" on a red square,
displayed and wings inverted, the square to be worn point up.
Symbolism: The predecessor of the brigade (the 45th Division)
was composed of Army National Guard troops from Colorado, Oklahoma, New
Mexico, and Arizona. As the territory was originally explored and settled
by the Spanish, the insignia is gold and red, the Spanish colors. The
"Thunderbird" is an Indian symbol meaning sacred bearer of happiness
unlimited. The four sides of the insignia represent the four states
comprising the former division.
Motto: SEMPER ANTICUS (Always Forward)
It is likeley that the McDermott was involved in the
Korean War in which the 45th participated in campaigns during the Second Korean Winter,
Summer-Fall 1952, Third Korean Winter, and Summer 1953.
Chapter 20
Couldn't we talk over the transports of delight in which we soared last evening?"
A Journey in Other Worlds
John Jacob Astor
1894
What transports of delight, what
ecstatic bliss, was theirs! Men had discovered and mastered
the secret of apergy, and now, "little lower than the angels,"
they could soar through space, leaving even planets and comets
behind.
Chapter 21
"Into each life some shit must fall?
The Rainy Day
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1842
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and deary.
My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and deary.
Chapter 21
"Several kites danced above us, one of them shaped like a large bat.
"That's auspicious," I said, and nodded at the bat.
In ancient China, the bat (pian-fu) was universally recognized as a
symbol for good luck and happiness,
as the word for bat "fu" is identical in sound with the
word for good fortune. When a bat was
carved on an ancient coin with a hole, it meant fortune was at hand.
When many bats were put with birthday peaches, they referred to
fortune and longevity. If bats were mixed with sika, birthday peaches
and magpies, they also had a good meaning. All these reflected the
ancient Chinese people's yearning for a happy life and revealed the
essence of China's traditional culture.
Chapter 21
And the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know."
The Crock of Gold
by James Stephens
1912
Originally published in 1912, this classic of modern Irish literature
was written by an Irish poet and mystic, James Stephens. The story is
a fairy tale about leprecauns, a beautiful maiden, a Celtic god, a
distressed and displaced Pan, a philosopher, and others.
Most fiction can be read in either of two ways - either analytically as
"literature" or just for fun, following the story without deeper
thought. While this book can, with a little concentration, be read either
of those ways, it is very difficult to avoid reading it in yet a third way.
Stephans, like many Irishmen, has a musical sense of language.
He uses his sense of rhythm and other poetical skills to induce
an altered state of consciousness in the reader.
Into this altered state, he introduces philosophical concepts and
archetypal images so thick and fast that the conscious mind (which hasn't
realized that Stephans is really not talking to it) bounces blithely
along having fun with the story, thinking about some of the ideas, and laughing
at the humor. Meanwhile, the unconscious is thoroughly stirred and stimulated.
He speaks to these deeper levels of consciousness of
compassion, love, loneliness, sorrow, pity, godhood, joy, temptation,
fate and free will, life, death, magic, courage, and the mystical
experience.
"Well, I'd sooner he had her than the other one, for
he's one of ourselves anyhow, and the devil you know is
better than the devil you don't know.
Chapter 21
On the walls of the observatory, mostly in spray paint, were grafitti.
Mostly names, but also a pitch for gay liberation, a suggestion that blacks be bussed to africa
and some remarks about the sister of somebody named Mangan.
Araby
The Dubliners
James Joyce
Joyce's function in Dubliner's is to equate mundane experiences with
the heroic and to propose that the potential for one's
realization of a certain truths -- is not exclusive to saints
alone, but exists in all people. In order to so, Joyce declares a
relationship between the ordinary and the sublime.
The ordinariness of the story of the boy in 'Araby' is apparent. On one
level, it is a simple story about the kind of unrequited "puppy love"
that strikes most boys of his age. The details of the setting come from real
Dublin--North Richmond Street and Westland Row Station--and depict the
day-to-day existence of common Dubliners. But there are strong
elements of myth in the story. For one thing, the boy undergoes his own
heroic quest, of sorts. Armed with a florin held "tightly in his hand",
the boy embarks on his "journey" to the bazaar, his self-assigned mission
being to purchase a gift for his beloved. The gift is to be a gestured to
liberate Mangan's sister--in spirit if not in body--because she will be
with a retreat that week at her convent. The journey for him becomes a
passage from relative safety and gregariousness into a place of darkness
and isolation. It is only there that he comes to a realization--an epiphany.
Chapter 22
"When I was a kid, I remember being out in western Mass some and they used to advertise Utica
Club with a little character made out of the U and the C. I think he was called Ukie."
He remembers correctly. See image to right.
Chapter 22
Ah-ha, the old puckish charm. I must use this power only for good.
In Germanic folklore, Puck was a generic name for various malevolent spirits. The medieval
English pouke was often identified with the devil. However, the Puck of
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is a mischievous but friendly fairy.
Chapter 22
"Tough but oh so gentle"
Motto for Hastings Steel Vent Piston Rings
Click here to see one of their ads from the February 1947 issue of Hastings.
Chapter 22
"But they might be quite useful in helping you to get over defining yourself in
in your husband's terms, or helping your husband get over defining himself in
Cotton Mather's terms."
Cotton Mather
1663«1728
An American Puritan clergyman and writer, it was principally by his indefatigable writing that
he became one of the most celebrated of all New England Puritan ministers.
Today he is generally pictured unsympathetically as the
archetype of the narrow, intolerant, severe Puritan, and his part in the Salem witch
trials in 1692 is often recalled. In Puritan America, Cotton Mather spearheaded the
call for a return to the "Old New England Way." He was responding to the
acculturizing trends of 18th century rationalism.
Chapter 22
"Al dente," I said. "His brother Sam used to play for the Red Sox."
Sam Dente was indeed a left handed batter who played third base for the Sox in 1947-48.
Chapter 24
"Death before dishonor," she said.
Unofficial motto of the US Marine Corps.
When Marines get tattoos, they do it to express
their solidarity, and choose bull dogs,
'death before dishonor,'and USMC.
Chapter 24
"What's that Frost line, 'He will not go behind his father's saying'?"
Mending Wall
Robert Frost
1914
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors.
CLICK HERE for the complete text of this poem.
Chapter 24
Off somewhere to the right, inland, someone
was playing an old Tommy Dorsey album and a group
was singing "Once in a while.""
Once In A While
Tommy Dorsey
Written by Michael Edwards and Bud Green
Peaked at # 1 for 7 weeks in 1937
Competing version charted by Horace Heidt (#2)
Charted again in 1938 by Louis Armstrong (# 15)
Charted again in 1952 by Doris Day (#9)
Charted in 1961 as "Once In Awhile" by The Chimes (#11)
Once in a while will you try to give one little thought to me
Though someone else maybe nearer your heart
Once in a while will you dream of the moments I shared with you,
Moments before we two drifted apart.
In love's smoldering ember, one spark may remain,
If love still can remember the spark may burn again.
I know that I'll be contented with yesterday's memory,
Knowing you think of me once in a while.
Chapter 24
Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers sang "There Are Such Things"
and the waves washed around our legs.
There Are Such Things
Writer(s): Stanley Adams, Abel Baer, George W Meyer
A heart thats true, there are such things
A dream for two, there are such things
Someone to whisper Darling youre my guiding star
Not caring what you own but just what you are
A peaceful sky, there are such things
A rainbow high where heaven sings
So have a little faith and trust in what tomorrow brings
You'll reach a star because there are such things
So have a little faith and trust in what tomorrow brings
You'll reach a star because there are such things
Chapter 24
By the time that we had finished, the late night listener
had put on an Artie Shaw album and we were listening to "Dancing in the Dark."
Dancing In the Dark
Artie Shaw
Music and Lyrics by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz
From The Band Wagon
Dancing in the dark,
Till the tune end
We†re dancing in the dark,
And it soon ends.
We†re waltzing in the wonder
Of why we†re here;
Time hurries by,
We†re here and gone.
Looking for the light
Of a new love
To brighten up the night.
I have you to love,
And we can face the music together;
Dancing in the dark.
What though love is old?
What though song is old?
Through them we can be young.
Hear this heart of mine
Make yours part of mine.
Dear one, tell me that we†re one!
Dancing in the dark!
Chapter 24
"Deborah Kerr," I said.
"Burt Lancaster," she said.
"From Here to Eternity," I said.
"That far at least," she said.
An obvious reference to the famous, erotic lovemaking scene in the
Hawaiian beach surf, part of the secretive affair between Sgt. Warden
(Lancaster) and Karen Holmes (Deborah Kerr)in From Here to Eternity (1953).
Chapter 25
...and watched the late movie, 'Fort Apache,' one of my favorites.
Fort Apache
Main Cast: John Wayne
Henry Fonda
Shirley Temple
Victor McLaglen
Directed by John Ford.
The first of Ford's cavalry trilogy,(She Wore a Yellow Ribbon & Rio Grande are the other two)
pits the easy-going Wayne against
Henry Ford, who arrives at the Arizona fort from the East.
Fonda represents the man who lives only by the rules, even
when they are not appropriate. Their conflict is only resolved when Fonda,
leading a disastrous charge against the Indians, is killed, but dies
valliantly at the head of his regiment.
Chapter 25
It was an ungainly place...
An oft quoted description of Stormont Castle in Ireland, Residence of the Prime Minister.
It was first occupied as such by PM Sir James Craig whose biographer, St John Ervine, described it
as "an ungainly place, so well built that it might have been intended to resist
an everlasting siege; a house, covered with turrets, in what is called the castellated style: a hideous
house." He described Craig returning from business in central Belfast to find his wife "engaged in argument
over furniture by a man from the Office of Works who had two adjectives: elegant and choice, and
almost went out again to meet the Republicans who were, he thought, the lesser evil."
Chapter 27
"Thoreau said something once about judging the cost of things in terms of how much life he had to expend to get it.
This is not a reference to an exact quote by Thoreau, but rather to the general concept of
"thrift" and "economy" as it is set forth in Walden and especially as it is defined in the
first chapter. The general concept is that the concept of "economy' should be redefined
as a thrift which revalues money, placing time, as calculated in terms of living fully, as superior.
Click Here for a picture of Walden Pond.
Chapter 28
"Songs unheard are sweeter far," I said.
John Keats'
Ode to a Grecian Urn
Section II
'Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone'
Click Here forthe complete text of Ode to a Grecian Urn
Keats published his first volume of works in 1817 to several harsh reviews.
In 1818, Keats began taking care of his brother, Tom, who had TB.
In December of 1818, Tom succumbed to the disease and Keats was soon
diagnosed as having contracted it himself. During 1819, at age 23,
Keats wrote "Ode on a Grecian Urn,"
in which he describes a particular Greek
vase that he enjoyed looking at in a British museum.
He expresses his desire to capture a moment like one that is
painted on the vase and live there forever--in one moment of pure joy and delight.
Spenser's Libations
Heineken
(He's pining for an Amstel though...)
Harp
Utica Club Cream Ale
Schlitz Draught
Wine
Vodka Gimlets
Cream soda
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