In Plain Engel-ish

Shakesp-Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Perhaps this month’s 9-11 twentieth anniversary made you also remember those other Defining Moments and recall exactly what you were doing at a time of shocking historical change. For my generation, it was President Kennedy's assassination; for my parents' generation, it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor; for my grandparents it was more the Great Crash of the stock market in 1929.  Does it seem odd that these defining moments, which we remember as personally as we do nationally, are all catastrophic—planes flying into skyscrapers, the assassination of a young president, the sudden sinking of our Pacific naval fleet? Are we ever asked to recall...

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Latin Lover

I have always had a fascination with Ancient Rome. When other boys were playing with their toy American soldiers, I had scores of tiny Roman legionnaires. G.I. Joe I found boring; G.I. Julius, however, enthralled me. And I still remember my childhood glee at “decoding” the I, V, X, L, M, and D’s on the cornerstones of downtown buildings to reveal their construction date in cool Roman numeral cipher. In fact, I just had a friend turn 50 last month so in my Roman-numeral inspired birthday card I congratulated him on going straight to “L.”  As a youngster, I loved everything...

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The Bear Facts

I have often been told by those of you who listen to my lectures in person or on recordings that you tend to remember the trivia I mention in passing at least as vividly as you do some of the major themes of my talks. I’m always happy to hear this since I admit to spending at least as much time researching and organizing the supporting trifles as I do on my most important biographical or analytic points.  I always felt that my ultimate triumph would be if I could pass on some trivia concerning the word “trivia” itself. And,...

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Thunder and Enlightening

You may remember that I began these twice-monthly essays in March of last year when the pandemic brought an immediate end to my lecture travels. Quite simply, I didn’t want you to forget me. Even though I could no longer speak to you in person, I realized that I could still write to you regularly and keep my strange and, I hope, unique voice in your eyes if not in your ears. I so appreciate those of you who often write Darian your responses to these mini-compositions. Those of you who do email her know that I personally answer all of...

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My Victorian Train Of Thoughts

Many of us think of summer as the ideal season to catch up on our reading and, when hearing the word beach, immediately think of the best umbrella-shaded ocean spot to bask in paperback fiction. And so it is depressing to discover what Hollywood considers to be the best ingredients for summer movies — violence and sensationalism. But before we bookworms cast aspersions on the lowbrow mentality of popular entertainment today, we need to remember the original source of violent movies. Surprisingly, that source was Victorian England.   In 1886, the earliest films were being shown in London auditoriums—yes, that’s “auditoria” for all...

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