Southern Bookman

Farewell Stanley Crouch

Stanley Crouch’s New York Daily News columns excited me in the Internet’s early days.

Like Jimmy Breslin, Crouch wrote with a bracing, combative point of view. His collection “Notes of a Hanging Judge” hit me like a Bebop album full of discordant blasts and wild improvisations.

Crouch, who also wrote for the Village Voice in its heyday, died Wednesday at age 74 after months of declining health.

While stirring controversy with his iconoclastic political, social and racial views, he gained widespread acclaim for his jazz criticism.

Along with the New Yorker’s Whitney Baillet and the Voice’s Nat Hentoff, he set a standard for what might be called the New York school of jazz criticism.

Crouch’s views challenged me, but I found that he at times lost control of his rhetorical flights. His contrary positions could also appear gratuitous, just for the sake of being obstinate.

He also wrote a novel and a well-regarded biography of Charlie Parker. A mentor to Wynton Marsalis, he also was a co-founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Following the path of Breslin and the recently deceased Pete Hamill, Crouch achieved great literature with his newspaper column.

 

 

Massive bird deaths sound alarm about disappearing plant, animal species

Birds dying by the thousands in the American Southwest give tragic confirmation to the latest UN alarm that biodiversity is collapsing.

For centuries, birds have migrated from Alaska and Canada to Central and South America at the end of summer in the northern hemisphere. Now, large numbers of flycatchers, swallows and warblers are falling out of the sky in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona and Nebraska, dying far short of their destinations, according to the Guardian.

That distressing news follows a United Nations report warning that the world is failing to halt the extinction of plant and animal species. Out of 20 goals set in 2010 to reverse humans' destruction of wildlife by 2020, only six have been met, and those partially, according to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The new findings follow an earlier UN report that 1 million plant and animal species are in danger of extinction.

The rapid decline in species since 1970 threaten  human existence, the UN says. Urbanization, the growth of agriculture, the loss of forests, plastic pollution, carbon emissions, climate change and invasive alien species have disrupted natural habitats. Overfishing and industrial wastes spewing into waterways have distressed the earth's oceans.

Climate change, and the wildfires in the Western United States, appear the main cause of the birds' deaths. The fires forced the birds away from pathways where food is plentiful, leaving them too undernourished to complete their journey.

Bird species are also threatened by climate change in Canada and the loss of their South American habitats to deforestation. A similar process is reducing the number of monarch butterflies.

New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert's Pulitzer Prize winning "The Sixth Extinction" warned in 2015 about the threat to humanity from the loss of plants and animals. But even as awareness of climate change grows, the loss of diversity receives little attention.

The UN report contained some good news: deforestation has lessened, more ocean and natural areas have received protection, and progress was made to halt invasive species. But lately, fires have spread across Brazil's Amazon jungle and Pantanal wetlands, as the western United States burns.

As with the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, the world is running out of time to protect species that share the earth with us.

 

 

My heart thanks you, Mr. Marcus

My heartbeat spiked when I visited the cardiologist Tuesday, so now I'm to receive a pacemaker.

Since my heart's chambers no longer do the job, the small wireless device will regulate my heartbeat. My fine doctor expressed optimism that my days of a-fib aggravation will be over.

I will have the procedure done at the new Bernie Marcus Heart Center, a curved futuristic building of blue glass and steel fronting Piedmont Hospital on Peachtree Road.

When I was in the hospital for nine days in September 2019, I watched through the window as construction of the Marcus Center progressed. The workers in their yellow hard hats and orange vests passing back and forth helped the long afternoons go by faster.

While I'm dismayed at Home Depot co-founder Marcus contributing millions to the Trump campaign, I'm thankful for his generosity to Piedmont Hospital. One of those paradoxes of living in Atlanta, I guess.

My heartbeat dropped enough for me to schedule the procedure for next week, rather than going in immediately. As I drove down Peachtree, as I've done countless times since moving to Atlanta, a misty rain fell and the brisk breeze felt like autumn.

The trip down Peachtree brought a flood of memories.

All three of my children were born at Piedmont, and we've been there for many emergency room visits and doctors appointments through the years. We've gone to concerts at Symphony Hall, experienced art exhibits at the High Museum and watched Alliance Theater plays. We've had haircuts and sipped smoothies at the Peach Shopping Center and hung out at the Barnes & Noble.

Now, my  bionic heart will bring a new chapter in my life.

 

 

Watching the NFL, while waiting for the apocalypse

I confess; I watched the NFL.

It was worth it to see the Saints' Drew Brees win the battle of the ancient quarterbacks. Who dat? It was the befuddled Tom Brady, wearing a Bucs uniform whose helmet didn't seem to fit right.

The empty Superdome was spooky, although I didn't miss the guys wearing bishops' hats and those dressed like Elvis.

It was also strange to see Jameis Winston in a Saints uniform on the sidelines, looking like he'd eaten some bad crab legs.

At the same time, I switched to watch rookie Joe Burrow, 20 years younger than Brees and Brady, deliver a sterling debut, giving the woeful Bengals a shot of energy despite a couple of bonehead plays. 

After LSU's national champion quaarterback and Heisman Trophy winner led a thrilling last-minute drive, the Bungling Bengals' bad karma bit them again.

I've never seen a kicker get hurt kicking until the Bengals' Randy Bullock came up lame in missing a game-tying field goal with seconds left. Maybe he was rattled by the silence of the stadium.The Chargers escaped with a 16-13 win.

Along with getting rid of the ball sooner, Joe can work on his beard.

Meanwhile, the Falcons again didn't seem to understand that the point of football is to win. Matt Ryan threw for mega yards, Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley made catches, and Todd Gurley was OK, but it was like watching meaningless maneuvers.

Leading the Seahawks to victory, Russell Wilson showed that only Patrick Mahomes is a better quarterback.

As the afternoon progressed, I found myself seeking the results from around the league. Hey, I've loved NFL opening day since the days of Vince Lombardi and when the Colts were still in Baltimore.

The Washington team with no name upset the Eagles. The heat was hot and the ground was dry, and the air had no sound.

Cam Newton took to Belichick. The early leader for comeback player of the year. Looks like the Pats will survive without Brady.

Gardner Minshew's Jags beat Philip Rivers' Colts. And I thought Rivers was still with the Chargers.

The Arizona Cardinals knocked off the 49ers, as smoke filled the air.

Mike McCarthy continued the Cowboys coaches' tradition like no other.

Jon Gruden's Las Vegas Raiders edged Christian McCaffrey and the Panthers.

And I'd wanted Teddy Bridgewater to lead the Saints and for Brees to retire. Hope they like football in 100-degree heat.

The Packers' Aaron Rodgers also made a bid for the best quarterback sweepstakes, but I didn't notice any Allstate commercials.

The Vikings are one of those NFL teams that always seem spinning around. The curse of Fran Tarkenton? Ask your grandfather, kids.

Speaking of spinning, the Jets fell to the Buffalo Bills, whom I thought had joined the Canadian Football League. 

The Rams' futuristic stadium looked like something from a sci-fi movie as wildfires burned throughout the West. Jared Goff showed he's better than Carson Wentz, who again made Eagles fans wince.

The Browns and Baker Mayfield bombed again as Lamar Jackson excelled with passing more than the run.

The Bears kept the Lions' tradition of futility going. Trubisky! Where have you gone Dick "Night Train" Lane? Not to mention Alex Karras.

Perhaps this is what the NFL has wanted all along: games without fans, as if played in a TV studio.

Is there a 12-step program for the NFL?

Farewell, Diana Rigg

British culture was the epitome of cool in the 1960s.

The Beatles, the Stones and other groups. Monty Python. James Bond, books and movies. Roger Moore's "The Saint."

No British import was cooler than "The Avengers," the TV show starring Patrick Macnee as the dapper spy John Steed and Diana Rigg as  his partner, the gorgeous, acrobatic Emma Peel.

With its gray English scenes, self-referential humor and campy plots, the show possessed a subtle British irony.

Among all of Britain's pop icons who dazzled its long lost colony, no one personified the swinging London panache more than Rigg's portrayal of the daring Mrs. Peel, although the show played a relatively minor role in the British invasion and she appeared for only a couple of seasons.

Rigg, who had a long and distinguished stage, film and TV career, died at age 82 Thursday of cancer, according to media reports.

The super-heroic Mrs. Peel (who was her husband?), the first TV crush of millions, carried out her incredible feats wearing a skin-tight jumpsuit.

Her insouciant wit, golden smile and winsome gaze were welcoming, not intimidating. She was a cool Mom who happened to be expert at martial arts and leaping from high walls.

While Sean Connery's Bond exuded glamour with his clothing, automobiles and ease with women, Macnee exemplified understated class with his bowler, three-piece suits and umbrella. His Steed was a droll, understated partner to Rigg's flamboyant Emma.

Rigg was a classical actress acclaimed for her roles in British theater and on Broadway. She also starred in a number of TV shows and films, including a James Bond movie in which she was the only Bond girl to ever marry the spy.

It was fitting that one of her last triumphs was portraying Oleana Tyrell in "Game of Thrones."

Her Emma Peel set the standard for the HBO hit's fearless women played by Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Lena Headey and Gwendoline Christie.

More and more wealthy Americans dodge taxes

Many wealthy Americans no longer bother to file tax returns, knowing the IRS is too depleted to nab them.

Rich tax cheats cost the United States $45.7 billion from 2013-16, reporter David Cay Johnston found in an analysis of tax data.

The wealthy are doing great in the Trump era, but other Americans are sinking.

The United States has fallen to 28th among 163 countries on the social progress index, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reports. The index's ratings are based on 50 metrics of well-being such as nutrition, safety, freedom, the environment, health and education.

Only the United States, Hungary and Brazil, all ruled by autocratic clowns, have declined since the first index in 2011. America then ranked a not so robust 19th.

Norway ranked first on the index, followed by countries like Finland and New Zealand. At the bottom were poor African nations.

"The index now puts the United States behind significantly poorer countries, including Estonia, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Greece," Kristof said.

Amid the drumbeat of apocalyptic news: wildfire smoke blots out the sun in San Francisco, Covid 19 deaths still soaring, species extinction, rich Americans retreat into their castles and pull up the drawbridge.

They have no concern about the suffering of poorer Americans.

The Trump tax cut bestowed huge benefits on the wealthy, but gave little or nothing to middle class Americans, Johnston found.

But the working class still supports the big orange fraud.

 

Temperatures quickly approaching threshold set by climate change treaty

As wildfires rage across the globe and heat records tumble, high temperatures are soaring rapidly toward the apocalyptic zone.

The world is pushing toward a 1.5-degree Celsius increase in temperatures over pre-industrial averages, the strictest limit set for this century by the Paris climate change agreement in 2015, according to a new report issued by the United Nations World Meterological Organization and other groups.

There's a 25 percent chance that the world will exceed the limit of 2.7 degrees Farenheit in the next four years, the Associated Press reported in an article published on the Huffington Post news site. The Paris treaty also set an upper goal of 2 degrees Celsius for the world to avoid climate change's worst effects.

Temperatures this summer reached 130 degrees in Death Valley, Calif., and 100 degrees in Siberia. As another heat wave pushes temperatures higher, wildfires continue in California, Washington and Oregon.

In Brazil, not only is the Amazon burning with worst fires than last year. Wildfires are also devastating Brazil's Pantanal, the world's largest wetlands, the New York Times reported.

Rising temperatures also bring worst hurricanes. Most of Lake Charles, La., remains without power after Hurricane Laura struck Aug. 27. The hurricane was the most powerful to ever strike the state, frequently ravaged by hurricanes.

Without major emissions reductions, temperatures could blaze far above the 1.5 Celsius threshold, making much of the world unlivable.

 

 

 

 

 

Revisiting Mark Twain's vision of racial healing in "Huckleberry Finn"

Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" is one of those frequently banned American classics, perceived by black readers as racist despite its anti-racist message.

Published in 1884, seven years after the end of Reconstruction and the restoration of white supremacy, Twain's novel relates the friendship of the adolescent white boy, Huckleberry Finn, and the runaway slave Jim before the Civil War. The two travel upon a raft down the Mississippi River, meeting a host of characters along the way.

For years, "Huckleberry Finn" was a staple of high school and college reading lists, until black objections over Twain's use of the "N-word" to describe Jim led to its removal. Some also viewed Jim as stereotypical, and his black speech as demeaning.

Written in several dialects of the American South and mid-South, "Huckleberry Finn" was the first novel written in the American vernacular, departing from the proper British English to which earlier American writers conformed.

Ernest Hemingway said that all American literature derived from Twain's book. It established American language, comparable to what Dante did for Italian with "The Divine Comedy" and Chaucer for English with "Canterbury Tales."

With scenes rich in comedy and fictional irony, "Huckleberry Finn" exposes the hypocrisy and mediocrity of the antebellum South, skewering the Lost Cause mythology's pretensions. As Jim Crow laws and racial violence spread, Twain stands for racial brotherhood.

Huck at first sees Jim as inferior, but comes to realize his humanity.  A caricature at the beginning of the book, Jim grows more complex as the novel progresses.

Raised in mid-South Missouri, Huck during the book grows closer to Jim, rejecting the pro-slavery mores of his antebellum upbringing. When Jim is captured by two despicable con-men, Huck decides to free his friend, although he's been conditioned to believe this is morally wrong.

In one of the great moments of American literature, Huck follows his heart instead of his culturally formed conscience, declaring, "I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself, Alright then, I'll go to hell."

London black writer Desiree Baptiste in the Aug. 21-28 Times Literary Supplement discusses re-reading "Huckleberry Finn" during the Covid-19 quarantine.

After the George Floyd slaying and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests across the globe, Baptiste finds "Huckleberry Finn" relevant to today. "Is Huck Finn, I wondered, American fiction's first white ally?"

It's doubtful that many of Baptiste's contemporaries would give "Huckleberry Finn" such a sympathetic reading. Many blacks consider Twain's language as hurtful, negating his message of racial tolerance.

Baptiste shows why the still revolutionary novel lights a path to healing America's legacy of racism.

 

New York Times special section gives dramatic new perspectives on World War II

The Sunday New York Times' special section commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II was truly overwhelming.

Reading "lesser known stories" about the war that illuminated larger themes moved me emotionally the way movies or music do.

Tom Hanks' excellent introduction emphasized the sacrifices average Americans made to win the war. During the Depression and war years, U.S. citizens coped with diminished prosperity and limited consumer goods.

Countering nostalgia about "the good war," Hanks also evokes the horror of battle. One of our finest actors, Hanks shows that he's also an outstanding writer.

The section looked at the liberation of the Nazis' concentration camps, the firebombing of Tokyo, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan's colonization of Korea, the heroism of Indian and Nepalese soldiers in Britain's war effort, the horrible racism that black U.S. soldiers encountered when returning home, and the sickening internment of Japanese-American citizens.

Wonderful photos accompany the stories, and document the war's end and other major events.

My favorite stories were two uplifting ones: Ace Times sportswriter Jere Longman's profile of the Dutch track star Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold medals at the 1948 Olympics in war-ravaged London, and writer Christina Brown Fisher's story about the Six Triple Eight, an American battalion of black women who diligently performed the duty of sorting mail for troops on the battle lines.

I've been a fan of fellow Louisianian and LSU alum Longman's work for years, especially when he's returned to his native state for stories.

A veteran of covering the Olympics, he displays his historical grasp of the Games in his piece on Koen, who dominated the first Olympics held since the 1936 Games in Hitler's Berlin. She competed in those Games too, drawing inspiration from U.S. star Jesse Owens, who also won four gold medals.

After the deprivations of the German-occupied  Netherlands during the war, the 30-year-old Koen, the mother of two children, won the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints, the 80-meter hurdles and anchored the Netherlands' gold-medal-winning 4x100 relay team.

Fisher's story focuses on the Six Triple Eight's dynamic leader, Charity Adams, and her skill in organizing the battalion's mail-sorting mission. The article highlights Adams' successful battles against racism and sexism. She truly is one of the war's unsung American heroes.

Another of my favorite Times writers, Tokyo bureau chief Motoko Rich, contributed a moving story about the 88-year-old  Katsumoto Saotome, a survivor of the Tokyo firebombing.

Saotome, who has devoted his life to documenting the horror of the bombings, carries no bitterness toward Americans. Rich's profile is a testament to the human spirit.

Rich, like Longman, is one of the veteran Times writers who have distinguished the newspaper's coverage for years. I first enjoyed Rich's stories when she covered the New York publishing industry before she moved on to general news. Rich is one of those rare reporters who can cover a range of stories, with outstanding writing ability as well as in-depth reporting.

The editor's introduction to the section says "these are tales that debunk the myths that have usurped the conflict's history, stories that haven't yet been enshrined in our collective memories."

That's overstated; the articles don't so much debunk myths as give deeper perspectives. And while stories like Koen's and the Six Triple Eight's are new, others re-examine well-known events, such as the fire-bombing of Tokyo.

While the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have received more attention, the fire bombing of Tokyo and other Japanese cities has received extensive coverage through the years.

The Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks have been castigated as morally questionable, but the bombing of Tokyo hasn't received the same moral scrutiny, even seen as heroic.

Serious moral questions are raised in the Times' re-examination of the bombings, particularly the American strategy of incinerating civilian areas.

Gen. Curtis LeMay's "Operation Meetinghouse" campaign shifted from the previous strategy of dropping high-altitude bombs targeting war-production facilities. 

In the revised campaign, American bombers dropped low-level devices loaded with napalm on residential neighborhoods of mainly wooden residences. LeMay later led America's bombing of Vietnam, an echo of the campaign against Japan. 

Another myth undermined is that American soldiers gave beneficial treatment to Jewish Holocaust victims. An article by Jennifer Orth-Veillon documents mistreatment of Jewish concentration camp survivors by U.S. troops.

The most heart-rending articles uncover the terrible abuses of Japanese-American citizens not only during their wartime internment, but after the war's end.

With the "Unsung History" section, the Times fulfills its promise to show how lesser-known stories give greater understanding of the war. The dramatic photos and typography demonstrate that print can have dramatic power unmatched by an online screen.

The section proves the validity of Hanks' message, "We are still living the legacy of World War II."

 

 

Farewell, Tom Seaver

Among the momentous events of 1969, Tom Seaver leading the "miracle Mets" to an unexpected World Series championship showed that sports could still unite a fractured nation.

The stocky, photogenic 24-year-old pitcher won 25 games to lead the Mets to the title, upsetting the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. Seaver sparked the Mets' late season surge to win the pennant, and their victory over Henry Aaron and Phil Niekro's Atlanta Braves in the National League championship series.

In the World Series, Seaver lost a pitching duel to the Orioles' Mike Cuellar, but bounced back to throw a 10-inning complete game for a 2-1 win over the American League champions, led by Frank and Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Paul Blair and Jim Palmer. The Mets took the series four games to one, and Seaver was named the national sportsman of the year.

Seaver died Monday at age 75 from Lewy body dementia, the same disease that led to Robin Williams' suicide, and Covid-19. The Hall of Famer and three-time Cy Young winner withdrew from public appearances in 2019. It was not reported how he contracted Covid-19.

Known for ineptitude since their start in 1962, the Mets won the 1969 title under manager Gil Hodges with old-fashioned teamwork, strategic baseball, defense and pitching.

Along with the dominant Seaver, they won with good but not great players like Tommy Agee, Ed Kranepool, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson and Cleon Jones. Their pitching was stellar, with Jerry Koosman, Tug McGraw and a raw Nolan Ryan supporting Seaver.

Baseball still held the top spot in American sports over rising pro football, and a star pitcher like Seaver was nationally admired. Over the years, baseball has declined in popularity, and even standout players are relatively unknown outside of their local fan bases.

The Mets' triumph matched the New York Jets' unexpected win over the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl. Seaver, along with his attractive wife, Nancy, was a New York celebrity on the same level as Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

A former member of the Marine Reserve and a committed family man, Seaver presented a wholesome image in contrast to the hedonistic Namath, who relished his swinging bachelor life, frequenting New York clubs and bragging about his sexual exploits. Despite his all-American image, Seaver generated headlines opposing the Vietnam War.

Those sports miracles came in the same year that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, and the Woodstock Music Festival brought thousands of counterculture youth to groove in the mud at Yasgur's Farm in upstate New York.

It was the year Richard Nixon began his presidency, the Beatles broke up, the Charles Manson murders shocked the nation, the Vietnam War dragged on and violence marred the Rolling Stones' Altramont Festival. The Knicks would continue New York's sports dominance by winning the NBA title in the spring of 1970.

Newspapers remained powerful; Bruce Weber's obituary of Seaver in The New York Times related how the malevolent New York Daily News sportswriter Dick Young's derogatory columns so upset Seaver that he rejected a contract extension offer from the Mets, bringing his 1977 trade to the Cincinnati Reds, outraging Mets fans.

Seaver's autobiography was co-written by another New York City newspaper legend: Dick Schapp, who moved on to TV fame.

A power pitcher when young, the right-handed Seaver was known for his strategic pitching, extending his career when he lost speed on his fastball in his later years.

He was also a late bloomer; Weber's obituary noted that Seaver was not an overpowering pitcher in high school. He was not even considered a college prospect until success in an Alaskan independent league brought a scholarship from USC. Rather than following a scientific weight-lifting regimen, Seaver strengthened his body slinging crates for his father's food distribution company.

After signing with the Mets at a relatively old age, he advanced to the Mets fully formed after one year in the minors. He was not a teenage phenom like the Mets' later sensation Dwight Gooden, but he built a more durable career.

Seaver gave the Mets New York baseball glamour, stealing the spotlight from the lordly Yankees, then in a period of decline.  In an era when starting pitchers are lauded for going six innings, his endurance is amazing, although not that out of the ordinary in his day.

During the 1969 pennant chase, Seaver's record was 10-1 in August and September. He pitched eight complete games in a row in the closing weeks of the season. During September, he compiled a 6-0 record with an 0.83 earned run average, allowing five earned runs and throwing two shutouts.

As a non-playing member of the Boston Red Sox, Seaver witnessed the Mets' World Series win in 1986. With Seaver on the mound, the Sox might have overcome Bill Buckner's infamous error.

Seaver was an old-time baseball hero, tossing thunderbolts when kids still listened to the World Series on transistor radios brought to school and the games were played in the darkening shadows of daylight.