Southern Bookman

As excitement soars in Paris, heartbroken Taylor Swift fans mourn in Vienna

The joy of the Paris Olympics strikingly contrasts with the sadness of Taylor Swift fans filling the streets of Vienna.

Bereft young "Swifties" mourned the cancellation of three concerts they came to the Austrian capital to revel in.

Officials called off Swift's appearances in Vienna despite the thwarting of a terrorist plot targeting the singer's fans. 

Three adolesent boys were arrested for planning to explode a car bomb or use knives outside 65,000-seat Ernst Happel stadium to "kill as many people as possible" during concerts Thursday or Friday, according to the main suspect, a 19-year-old. The young males reportedly had been indoctrinated by the Islamic terrorist groups ISIS and Al-Qaida.

A crowd of 30,000 onlookers were expected to gather outside the venue during the concerts.

Swift still plans to perform in five concerts at London's Wembley Stadium from Aug. 15-19 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras tour.

While the Swifties commiserated with each other on the Viennese streets, crowds packed the stadiums and arenas for the Paris Olympics.

Under heavy security, the Paris Games have gone on without major trouble, outside of an unsuccessful effort to disrupt train service on the Olympics' first day.

As with the Olympics, the Swifties came from across the globe for an unforgettable experience. Sadly, their joy was stolen by the fantasies of three deranged young males.

 

 

 

 

Rosanna Warren looks back on sunny Breton summers with her parents, Robert Penn Warren and Eleanor Clark

Poet, biographer and literary critic Rosanna Warren in an article in the current Harper's magazine recalls two idyllic childhood summers in France's Brittany region.

Warren and her brother Gabriel lived in local homes with their famous parents, the poet, novelist and critic Robert Penn Warren and the writer Eleanor Clark.

"My Mother's Oysters: Recollections of Breton Summers" gives an intimate glimpse of her family's life, portraying her illustrious father and mother as warm and loving parents.

The family came to the village of Locmariaquer in the summer of 1961 so that Clark could do research on the rustic village's oyster-based economy. The next year, the family lived in the Basque region in the south of France before returning to Brittany.

Rosanna celebrated her eighth birthday and Gabriel his sixth during their first year's sojourn. She remembers receiving a birthday gift of a small plastic carriage drawn by eight miniature horses.

Brittany, unlike other parts of France, was settled by Celtic tribes who migrated from Britain in ancient times and lived among the region's original inhabitants. The region was separate from France until 1532.

Rosanna Warren, interviewed by Southern Bookman in 2009, remembers going to school in Locmariaquer with oyster workers' children. She and Gabriel were taught by nuns who conducted their lessons in French, although she and her brother didn't speak the language.

The trips weren't always blissful: Rosanna broke an arm in a beach accident, and the entire family caught the mumps. When they left France in 1962, they found themselves thrust into the French-Algerian war. Clark tensely drove the family to the airport through Paris streets lined with machine gun-bearing soldiers.

In the article, Rosanna Warren examines Brittany's rich history and special geography. She recalls ancient churches with martyr's bones, and viewing in astonishment the ancient stone monuments known as dolmens and menhirs.

Clark's immersion with the rustic oyster workers resulted in her 1964 book "The Oysters of Locmariaquer," which won the National Book Award.

Rosanna Warren, now 71, says at the end that the region's people, history and oceanic geography remain real to her. Her fondest memory is of her parents, who allowed her to explore childhood wonder.

 

 

Washington Post critic Michael Dirda's "An Open Book" a Proustian memoir

Michael Dirda when growing up often had his nose in a book, upsetting his steel-mill worker father, Michael Dirda Sr.

Dirda's blue-collar upbringing in industrial Lorain, Ohio, gave him little preparation for a literary career, as recounted in his engaging 2003 memoir "An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland."

In its wealth of details and memorable characters, Dirda's book recalls "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust, one of the many writers he mentions along the way. He also loved as a child paperback adventure stories, fantasy and science fiction and comic books, along with 1950s-era TV westerns.

The Washington Post's acclaimed book critic, who won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize, recalls a childhood marred by his father's anger and sense of failure and bolstered by his mother's stoic devotion to her son and his three younger sisters.

Dirda recalls his painful relationship with his father with a mixture of regret, compassion and sad humor.

Exacerbating his irritation at Dirda's bookishness, his father erupted in anger at his son when he enlisted his help on ambitious home construction projects that often went awry. A benevolent uncle, his mother's brother, often was enlisted to salvage the disastrous work.

Along with his abusive behavior, Dirda's father displays moments of rough love for his son, including frequent trips to the public library and dispensing folksy advice.

Dirda's Slovakian mother, Christine Burkl Dirda, is portrayed as an exuberant personality who showers her children with affection along with strict discipline. She holds on to her positive spirit, countering her husband's dark moods.

The introverted, nearsighted and unathletic Dirda feels isolated from Lorain, an ethnically diverse industrial city on Lake Erie near Cleveland.

Yet he also expresses affection for Lorain's parks, colorful characters and interesting stores and shopping centers, sharing his mother's pleasure at finding bargains. Dirda also fondly remembers visits to his family's many relatives of eastern European descent.

In contrast to more privileged intellectuals, Dirda eventually worked in hazardous jobs at his father's plant and as a construction worker installing aluminum siding.

Despite his love for reading, Dirda struggles academically until the end of high school. Eventually, he enjoys teen adventures with a close circle of friends and begins to excel in the classroom under the guidance of inspiring teachers.

Accepted to Oberlin College, a progressive liberal arts school near his home, Dirda slowly discovers his literary calling.

After initially struggling with Oberlin's demanding academic regimen, he at his father's life-changing encouragement studies harder and excels. He also finds his first serious girlfriend, a young woman from Nashville, Tenn.

Vietnam protests stir the campus, although Dirda mainly stays on sidelines He's more devoted to literature and classical music.

Dirda finds the model for his literary career when he meets the writer and translator Robert Phelps on his first visit to New York City before an expansive trip to Europe in the revolutionary summer of 1968.

Phelps, the father of one of Dirda's roommates, gives Dirda a decisive glimpse of the bookish life, inviting him to his crammed Greenwich Village study, where Dirda enjoys martinis and sees his first page proofs.

The book closes with Dirda's Oberlin-sponsored trip to idyllic Aix en Provence and Paris, still smoldering from the revolutionary turmoil of May, 1968.

Dirda also enjoys a passionate romantic encounter with a young women he meets at the opera. They take a hitch-hiking trip to Florence, then say farewell forever.

Exciting moments in Aix and Paris glow in his memory, yet Lorain and his childhood shine brighter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gainesville, Ga., square shows contrasts between tradition, new economy

A Confederate monument rises in the center of Gainesville's tree-shaded town square, surviving efforts in recent years to remove the gray-tinged remnant of the Lost Cause.

Erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909, the 28-foot-tall statue of a Confederate soldier called Old Joe stares with weary eyes at a lively restaurant, shopping and entertainment scene.

Hall County, which owns the plot of land where Old Joe stands, a few years ago entered negotiations with the UDC to remove the statue to a "more suitable location." The Confederate daughters hold a lease on the spot for a few more years, and Ole Joe remains.

Near Old Joe, a plaque remembers Franklin D. Roosevelt's visit to the city in 1936 following two devastating tornadoes. Roosevelt often stayed at nearby Warm Springs, Ga., seeking relief from his crippling polio in its healing waters.

On a visit to Gainesville for a couple of days last week, I explored a traditional Southern small town undergoing rapid change and population growth, revealing striking contrasts between the past and future. Everyone I encountered was very friendly, a welcome Southern tradition.

Gainesville's square pulses with the city's thriving economy, based on the poultry industry and a few high-tech ventures, law firms carrying out legal work at the Hall and federal courthouses, and shops catering to homeowners on nearby Lake Lanier.

Along with high-ticket interior-design stores, the square is home to gritty retail businesses like Moe's Records, loaded with bins of used vinyl albums. I was tempted at a live album of the jazz pianist and vocalist Mose Allison, a favorite of my wild youth in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

While the restaurants were packed, the expensive home-furnishing stores had few customers. At one store whose merchandise included pillows with biblical messages, a hymn praising Jesus played. 

Brenau University, with three locations in the city, is a major economic generator. The university's students fill the streets surrounding the square, swarming the bars and pizza restaurants. Local residents, the men wearing beards and baseball caps and the women summer dresses, join the crowd.

Ninth District Congressman Andrew Clyde, an ultra-right wing ally of Marjorie Taylor Green who voted against legislation authorizing aid for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel, runs an office on Washington Street adjoining the square. A few blocks away is the headquarters of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, closed on Friday afternoon.

Along with pizza places and Avocados, a popular spot serving tacos, sandwiches and brunch dishes, the square offers fancy dining at the excellent Italian restaurant Cotto and old-style steaks and seafood at The Stag - Chophouse.

On a walk down a desolate street outside of the square, I discovered the ultramodern Hall County Library, with a huge collection of books, a well-stocked children's section and computers and printers. An impressive local history room provides archives for family genealogists and other researchers. I read the informative Gainesville Times, glad to see the local paper still putting out a daily print edition.

Leaving, I was amused at a communal jig saw puzzle sitting unfinished on a table. Library patrons can pause and help complete the puzzle.

Hall County's politics and economy are also challenging to piece together.

In the 2020 election, Donald Trump received 70 percent of the vote in Hall County. Yet the country's poultry-based economy depends on immigration.

While disapproval of President Biden and inflation runs deep, every restaurant on the square had waiting lists of up to 40 minutes Friday night.

 

Capsized Golden Ray an ominous environmenal threat to St. Simons Island

Like a long-running horror movie in which the monster never dies, the capsized ship Golden Ray keeps despoiling St. Simons Island.

In the latest attack, a massive oil spill from the Korean cargo ship ruined marshland and beaches on Georgia's coastal jewel.

Environmental workers have collected and bagged 35,000 pounds of oil-soaked sand, according to local reports. Volunteers and state officials are trying to soak up the oil with sphagnum moss and chemicals. The cleanup is expected to last for days, unless another spill occurs.

Saturday's oil leak came after the separation of the sixth of eight sections of the ship, which capsized in September 2019 in St. Simons Sound after leaving the port of Brunswick laden with 4,200 new cars.

At high tide Saturday, the oil escaped beneath a protective barrier surrounding the ship. The failure to prevent such a disaster is puzzling and disturbing.

Hampered by Covid and a fire aboard ship, the U.S. Coast Guard, Georgia Environmental Protection Division and Gallagher Marine Systems have been working to dismantle and remove the 650-foot long ship.

Environmental groups have been monitoring the removal. Sections of the unsalvageable ship are being sent to a Louisiana landfill.

Much of the oil on the ship had been removed before Saturday's spill, but as much as 44,000 gallons were estimated to have remained. Several other oil spills have occurred during the ship’s removal, but Saturday's was reportedly the worst.

The oil spill is sickening for Georgians for whom St. Simons is a beloved vacation spot and favorite place for second homes and retirement.

While distressing, the long delay in removing the ship and the inability to prevent environmental catastrophes have shown the importance of local news.

The severely decimated Brunswick News and the new online venture the Current, staffed with several former AJC stalwarts, have been steadfast in reporting on the disaster, which has belatedly received The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's attention. Alas, the local coverage has not prevented the series of debacles.

After pulling back from Georgia coverage for years, the AJC has renewed its commitment to state news.

Recently installed political columnist Patricia Murphy has traveled around the state to talk to local officials and voters, although the series has been disappointingly superficial.

The AJC has also entered into a partnership with the Savannah Morning News to provide coastal coverage, so far emphasizing cultural features and human interest stories more than "hard news."

The Golden Ray disaster deserves an extensive examination from the state's major newspaper. A coastal jewel beloved by Atlantans is threatened by economic and environmental devastation if more oil escapes from the hulking ship. Oil also reached nearby Jekyll Island.

Along with the AJC, major newspapers like The New York Times and Washington Post should step up reporting on what’s turning into a major national environmental disaster.

The federal government should also boost efforts to remove the ship as soon as possible, and prevent any further oil spills.

 

Europe closes gates on American visitors

Europe is free from American tourists this summer.

Following World War II, hordes of Americans descended on European cultural sites and attractions, packing old-world cities each spring and summer. Europeans despised the "ugly Americans" for their obnoxious behavior and lack of respect.

This year, Europe has struck back with a ban against American travelers because of surging coronavirus cases in the country formerly known as the leader of the free world.

Trump wants to destroy NATO, and condescends to European leaders. Now, they mock him for his bungling. As Covid-19 ravages the American heartland, our once deferential European allies pity the country that saved them in World War I and World War II.  At last, that American smugness is over.

No more packs of college kids clutching their Eurail passes and "Europe on $10 a day" guides. No tour groups lining up and gawking at Michelangelo's David. The Spanish Steps won't be filled with young Americans seeking to hook up. The Sistine Chapel won't be deluged by visitors from the U.S.A.

Maybe European citizens can go back to restaurants that had been overrun by tourists. They can walk down uncrowded sidewalks, and spend time appreciating art in museums without jostling from vulgar groups from Iowa and Nebraska.

Yes, Europe will be back open this summer. Americans won't be welcome.

 

Headed back to New York City

Gearing up for a weekend trip to New York City, my longtime love.

The city has changed dramatically through the years, while its energy and frantic chaos remain the same.

As The New York Times documented in a special section recently, the Manhattan skyline looks far different now then it did even five years ago.

Resembling War of the Worlds aliens, monstrous skyscrapers have risen, blighting street life below. The soaring towers' owners, Mideastern and Eastern Europe billionaires, buy the high-rise apartments as money-laundering vehicles. The ghostly units above the clouds mostly stay vacant. Below the buildings' shadows, small retailers flee, leaving empty storefronts even on Fifth Avenue.

New York's soul shines at the New York Public Library,the Frick, Broadway and off Broadway theaters, the Morgan, the Museum of Modern Art and other places. They too are beset by plans and new directions, while their essence survives.

With rising seas, dominance of the ultra-rich and destruction of the middle class, the city's future looks troubled. At certain moments, when the light softens at Central Park or the curtain rises on a new show, New York's magic feels eternal.

 

Goodbye to New York, once again

New York City in early April. Each day is its own season.

The snow is a different snow from winter's. The rain doesn't feel like spring. A few blossoms shiver on trees growing from the small squares of earth cut into the sidewalk.

Cold, but not that cold. Except in the shadows of the buildings. Or when the wind blows from the Hudson River. Women in short skirts and black stockings. Stocking caps. The British girls with their English voices. 

Young teens in the hotel lobby. Girls from Utah in blue evening gowns. Yes, one says on the elevator, they performed at Carnegie Hall. Proving the old joke correct. 

Tourists with foreign accents crowd the streets, walking by abandoned storefronts. Fish and giant pretzels at sidewalk stands. Hot nuts. Lunch at the Algonquin. 25 W. 45th St. Joseph Mitchell. The Gotham Book Mart. 

Peter Hujar's photos at the Morgan. Peggy Lee. Susan Sontag. Young gay men, killed by Aids. Candy Darling on her deathbed.  Tennessee Williams manuscripts. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Elizabeth Ashley.

Dutch master drawings. The crystal elevator. Cafe tables. The ladies who lunch. 

New York public library. Rose reading room open again. Readers at tables, lit by lamps with silver shades. Down the hall, Shelley and his circle. Portraits from the days of Edith Wharton. 

Revolution exhibit. Situationists. Bob Dylan. Herbert Marcuse. 

Central Park. That day I saw Jackie Kennedy...The Strand's sidewalk kiosks. 

The homeless in their blankets. Crayon messages scribbled on cardboard. Can you spare some change? 

Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Village Vanguard. Feinstein's 54 Below. Carnegie Hall. Yankee Stadium.

Bebe Neuwirth. Renee Rosness. Steve Nelson. Andras Schiff. Aaron Judge. 

The Yankees outfield, standing at attention in their pinstripes behind the pitchers mound during the national anthem. NY caps held to their hearts. 

Young black woman, yelling in her New Yawk accent, "Hot chocolate, hot chocolate." Peanut bag tossed like a double-play ball. 

Yankees fans, who know the game. Commentaries in Jimmy Breslin voices.

The New Haven train from Grand Central. Fog and rain. Connecticut towns, where once the great cartoonists lived. Ghostly trees. Cemeteries. South Norwalk station. Long Island Sound. 

First Avenue from a certain apartment window. We spoke in the same way then, but who remembers where or when? Country music on the stereo. 

The Chrysler Building from a Fifth Avenue office tower. New York Life. "That used to be the Pan Am building."

Back to Atlanta on a Delta plane. Azaleas and dogwoods in full bloom. The green lawns of home.

 

Atlanta might lose again to Boston

Will Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology edge out Emory and the Georgia Institute of Technology?

The home of the Kennedy Library beat the home of the Carter Library?

Boston has emerged as the favorite to land Amazon's second headquarters, according to Bloomberg News. Atlanta and every other U.S. city with any trace of a digital economy are competing to win the site.

The Seattle-based Amazon said the $5 billion investment would bring 50,000 jobs to the winning city. That would be a lot of beans for Beantown.

A Boston victory in the Amazon sweepstakes would be bitter for Atlanta after its football team lost to Boston's in the Super Bowl, blowing a huge lead.

Atlanta has stiff competition for the Amazon deal. Fellow Sunbelt wonder Denver recently was named the leading contender by The New York Times, ignoring that Denver's in the West and Amazon wants to come East.

Rocky Mountain High? Atlanta has the world's busiest airport. And folks don't wear cowboy boots to business meetings. Coors? Might as well drink water. 

Boston had the tea party. The Georgia Bulldogs play each year in the World's Biggest Cocktail Party.

Atlanta snared the Braves, who once played in Boston. Boston has the Green Monster. Atlanta has.....the Chop House?

Oh well, even if Atlanta loses out on Amazon, it still has Coca-Cola and Delta. And 23 streets named Peachtree.

 

 

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill give inclusive message as Soul 2 Soul Tour comes home to Nashville

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Soul 2 Soul tour swung home last weekend to Nashville.

The Music City power couple filled downtown's Bridgestone Arena, where the Predators only a month or so before had electrified the old river town with a run at the Stanley Cup, losing in the finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The hockey afterglow remained bright, with a beaming Hill shouting "Hello Smashville" to the adoring crowd.

McGraw and Hill's blend of pop, rock and country, Vegas glitz and Nashville friendliness, packed the big bowl for two shows. Strained vocal chords had led Hill to cancel a preceding show in Little Rock, but she was in full voice in Nashville, dancing around the stage, hitting all the notes in performing her pop confections, and dazzling the crowd  with  her costumes: a gauzy white number, a silver cocktail dress, and, in a sultry encore with McGraw, a hot pink robe.

Displaying his laid-back big hat macho, McGraw made do all evening with a tight T-shirt and thigh-straining blue pants over his cowboy boots. His good-natured humorous dialogues with Faith about their married life  came off well.

Among those singing along, dancing and cheering was the governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, a business-oriented Republican whose efforts to extend Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act was blocked by the hard-right state legislature.

Haslam's presence was notable because McGraw and Hill are known as active Democrats who supported Barack Obama. McGraw is mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate, although he seems fine for now earning millions touring, singing duets with his gorgeous wife and living on their suburban farm with their three daughters.

McGraw excited the crowd with his anthem "Live Like You Were Dying," and also issued what could be read as an anti-Trump message with his beautiful new song, "Humble and Kind." As he sang, giving voice to what used to be considered All-American virtues of humility, honesty, hard work and tolerance, the huge video board flashed with portraits of people of all ages, races and religions. 

 

The video's diversity contrasted with the virtually all-white crowd, which surely included a number of Trump supporters, although Nashville is considered a liberal island in conservative Tennessee. 

Before their steamy encore, McGraw and Hill circulated through the crowd, slapping hands and hugging fans. They're country royalty who keep the common touch.