Lenora Rogers's Blog, page 28
July 24, 2017
The Forgotten Abstractions of Ana-Eva Bergman
On the 24th of July 1987, Norwegian painter Ana-Eva Bergman, wife of Tachiste abstract artist Hans Hartung, died in Grasse, on the French Riviera. Whilst Bergman’s talent was recognized during her lifetime, she held a marginal position in the European avant-garde during her life.
Anna-Eva Bergman had a turbulent and difficult childhood. Shortly after she was born in Stockholm, her parents divorced, and she moved with her Norwegian mother to Norway. While her mother was studying i...
BARBRA STREISAND: On the Couch: A Book Review
In the introductory remarks, author Alma Bond noted that of the twenty-some books she has written during her long career, Barbra Streisand: On the Couchis her favorite. This is easy to understand. Dr. Bond, psychoanalyst with scores of years’ experience, is as natural as pie, with an unerring ear for style, cadences and voices. It is an enjoyable and easy read!
As with her other “On the Couch” series of books, Dr. Bond, aka Darcy Dale, invents a thin ruse to bring...
Edith Picton-Turbervill
When I lived in Wellington Shropshire during the 90s I learnt that Edith Pargeter ( better known as Ellis Peters ), had lived in the area. But it was only by chance that I found out about another Edith – Edith Picton-Turbervill . I discovered that she was by far the most important Edith. However, there wasn’t one plaque or memorial to her and she seemed all but forgotten. I read about her in a biography of Jennie Lee. My Edith had been a very early Labour Member of Parliament for the area a...
July 22, 2017
Johanna Barry: The Story of an Emigrant Domestic in Ireland & America, 1836-1916
Irish in the American Civil War
On 17th September 1862, 27-year-old tailor Denis Barry from Dunmanway in West Co. Cork ventured into Antietam’s West Woods with the 19th Massachusetts Infantry. He never came out again. One of the legacies of Denis’s death is the extraordinary detail it has left us about the life of his wife Johanna, covering her time in both Ireland and the United States across more than half a century. His death also allows us to examine the close links that many Irish emigr...
The case for youth leadership: why our next President should be under 40.
In November 1960, John F. Kennedy, then a Senator from Massachusetts, was elected the 35th President of the United States. Born in 1917, he was then 43, the youngest person ever elected to the White House. More than fifty years before him, the youngest person ever to serve as President, Theodore Roosevelt, ascended to the office after the assassination of William McKinley in September 1901. He was 42 at the time. Both men went on to serve with wisdom and distinction, and both...
18th Century ‘Flying Machines’
No, not aeroplanes – coaches. The concept of flying coaches seems to date back to the late 1600s when there were advertisements in the newspapers for lengthy journeys being undertaken by means of these. Looking at these adverts there must have been coaches crisscrossing the country all day every day, so we thought we would share a few with you.
City Mercury, Monday, July 4, 1692
Post Man and the Historical Account , June 21, 1698
Nottingham Flying Coach in two days twic...
July 19, 2017
10 JULY 1543: Archbishop Cranmer’s License for the Marriage of Henry & Kateryn
The actual Marriage Certificate of King Henry VIII and Kateryn Parr. The certificate was on display in 2012 at Hampton Court Palace where they were married on 13 July 1543.
ARCHBISHOP THOMAS CRANMER’S LICENSE FOR THE MARRIAGE OF KING HENRY VIII AND KATHERINE PARR LATIMER, INCLUDING DISPENSATION OF THE REQUIRED PROCLAMATION OF BANNS, JULY, 10, 1543
To the most excellent and most invincible prince on a throne, and our supreme lord Henry VIII, by the Grace of God King of England,...
Structure of the Knights Templar
One of the interesting features of the Templar’s was their emphasis on discretion. From their founding to liquidation, they never compromised on their need for secrecy. If they were truly devoted to the Catholic Church, there was no need for secrecy, as all of Europe came under the sovereignty of the Papacy.
If they were merely following the true Christian teaching, then they had nothing to hide, and no need for secrecy.
Then why did they adopt secrecy as a fundamental pr...
July 17, 2017
A Walk in the Woods in June
With June comes summer, and the forest pretty much goes on cruise control. Everything that was happening keeps happening, and not much new happens.
American basswood (Tilia americana) is a late bloomer, literally. It blooms in the early part of June:
I had a hard time getting a photo; this is about the best I could get. (The light kept changing, and the breeze kept moving things in and out of the shadows and in and out of focus.) You can see a tongue-like bract above each clu...
