Eric Hanson's Blog, page 11

The Good War

Seventy years ago today Germany invaded Poland, assuming Britain and France wouldn't care about it any more than they had cared about Czechoslovakia. They did care this time. Neville Chamberlain was soon on his way out and Churchill, that irresponsible war-monger and back-number, was in Number 10 within the year. War would make him the man of the century.

But it's hard to call any war that killed 70 million people a good war. The heroes were heroic, mostly, and the villains were recognizable as

The Early Career of Martha Stewart

In August 1968 Martha Stewart got her stockbroker's license and went to work for the firm of Perlberg, Monness, Williams and Sidel. She was 27. She appears five times in A Book of Ages. She was already very self-possessed as a high school student in Nutley, New Jersey in 1959. She went into modeling, then stockbroking, then started a catering business, and you sense she already knew where the business was going. Thirty-four years later she would be on the board of directors of the New York Stock

Cleopatra and her asp

Cleopatra and Marc Antony killed themselves on this day in 30 BC. She used an asp, which is a kind of snake. The date on the death certificate is said to be August 30, but that is doubtful because the month's namesake Caesar Augustus hadn't renamed it yet. Cleopatra was 39; Antony was 53.

Hello I Must Be Going

Animal Crackers opened in New York on August 29, 1930. In the film Groucho Marx sang "Hooray for Captain Spaulding", "Hello I Must Be Going" and also bragged about shooting an elephant in his pajamas. He was 39. Groucho Marx appears 11 times in A Book of Ages; Karl only appears twice.

Alice at Chez Panisse

On August 28, 1971, Alice Waters opened a restaurant in Berkeley, California. She named it Chez Panisse. The set menu that first night was pâté en croûte followed by duck with olives, a salad and an almond tart; $3.95. The kitchen wasn't finished yet and they ran out of silverware, but Berkeley was charmed anyway. Waters was 27. She appears five times in A Book of Ages.

Charlton Heston Unarmed

In August 28, 1963, Charlton Heston took part in Martin Luther King Jr.'s March On Washington. In the photographs it appears the 38 year-old actor was unarmed.

Elvis and the Beatles

On August 27, 1965 Elvis Presley received a visit from the Beatles at Graceland. Because he couldn't tell them apart and didn't know their names he addressed each of them individually as "Beatle."

At age 30, Elvis was the elder statesman of Rock 'n' Roll, the King, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, the Maharishi of Pop. One pictures the youngsters kissing the hem of his garment and only half ironically. Elvis appears nine times in A Book of Ages, John and Paul several times each.

Ted Kennedy

I nearly titled this post "The Last Kennedy" because Ted was the last of the legendary brothers. Some called him the least of them, but his legacy is far greater than JFK and RFK's. A less glamorous, less tragic figure. Unlike them he isn't forever young. Ted's record in the Senate improved the lives of ordinary Americans enormously, in less noticeable ways, expanding safety nets and protecting rights. Ted and Jack led more conspicuously by being activist and photogenic, but Ted did the long wor

Freud

The last entry in Freud's diary, for August 25, 1939, reads: "War Panic." He died a month later, in London, a few weeks after war was declared with Germany.

On the cover of Rolling Stone

Bruce Springsteen appeared on the August 24, 1978 cover of Rolling Stone magazine. He was 28, and had finally made it. Pop stars are routinely baptized as such on the iconic cover of the magazine. Britney Spears made her first appearance at the experienced age of 17. In 1971, 11 year-old Michael Jackson appeared under a provocative question about how late his bedtime was. As rock legends die of various excesses, the Rolling Stone cover treatment has become a valediction and validation. John Lenn