ARCHIVE- MARCH 2017 - LINDBERGH (Extended to the end of MAY 2017)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

"We" - Chapter Nine

And so Chapter Nine begins:

"Summer weather welcomed the Mouette as it cruised up the Long Island Sound; and the honeymooners enjoyed smooth sailing for most of a week, in complete privacy. Their fourth day at sea, the Mouette pulled in the harbor at Block Island for fresh water.

With the world speculating as to where its most famous newlyweds had disappeared, Charles prepared a disguise for coming ashore. A stubbly beard growing in, he pulled a black checked cap down over his eyes and wore a pair of dark glasses. While his costume seemed to have deflected attention, his boat did not. When some fisherman on the wharf asked about his large cruiser, he kiddingly told them that he was Lindbergh. Eavesdropping from behind the green curtains in the cabin, Anne delighted in the cleverness of the ruse.

Within a few days, they reached Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where the press, at last, discovered them. The Lindberghs spent the next four days using their way to the coast of Maine as hard as they could. One morning, a reporter in a launch persisted in circling the Mouette, hoping the chop of his boat would make the Lindberghs seasick enough to come topside. They never gave him the satisfaction. After eight hours, Lindbergh decided to get away by gunning the engine, dragging the anchor until they lost the reporter on the open sea."


1929 38' Elco Marine 38 - Charles Lindbergh Honeymoon Cruiser
More:
http://www.yachtserenity.com/elco.html
http://www.smithmountaineagle.com/new...
http://www.someoldnews.com/?p=842
http://www.seabuddyonboats.com/boats/...

Introductory Discussion Questions for Chapter Nine

(view spoiler)[
1. What did folks think about the boating honeymoon? Was it a good idea from your viewpoint?

2. How about the disguises and the subterfuge? Lindbergh's life was at the whim of the paparazzi - do you think that he was handling the newfound iconic stature well? How about his new bride?

3. Where does Lindbergh demonstrate his sense of humor? (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

By the way Lindbergh (the entire book) appears to be on Erenow free.

It is completely digitized and you can read it free if you cannot get it at your library or cannot find it at your bookstore.

Here is the link:
http://erenow.com/biographies/lindber...

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Readers, I have gotten through the next three chapters which are part of this week's reading and have posted discussion questions and photos - please begin responding and posting.

[Michele]

Reply: Discussion Questions for Chapter Nine

(view spoiler)[
1. What did folks think about the boating honeymoon? Was it a good idea from your viewpoint?

I think it was the only way Charles and Ann could get some privacy. Romantic as you can get.

2. How about the disguises and the subterfuge? Lindbergh's life was at the whim of the paparazzi - do you think that he was handling the newfound iconic stature well? How about his new bride?

It's interesting to see how the 'Cult of Clebrity' got started. Charles could not go anywhere with the press following and he did the best he could to get married and a honeymoon in without the press tagging along. Ann seemed to go along with it. She was the daughter of an ambassador, but I think the attention that Charles got was overwhelming for her, and for him too. (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

@Michelle

(view spoiler)[Yes, I think so too and Lindbergh was very kind to the French people and even offered amounts of money directed his way for the families of the other aviators who were not so lucky. I think he was a pragmatist and maybe saying what he saw or thought at any given moment was taken out of context - you could see how the first article about him from the Times no less really offended him and made him out to be something that he was not. He became quite wary of them after that I believe - people could not just leave him alone - it is almost as if they wanted a piece of him.

Did you ever wonder how he coped? I did. (hide spoiler)]

[Michele]

@Bentley
(view spoiler)[ Disguises, and moving around a lot. I just finished the book, so I won't go any deeper than that. I need to return the book to the library and wanted to do that before hubby and I go on a short vacation. I will be out of town for the Readathon. Thanks to your link to the free online version, I'll still be able to jump in. (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

You are welcome Michelle and we are here. I just found that link and would have told folks earlier if I had known about it earlier But great link.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Folks starting tomorrow we have the Week Three reading assignment:

Part Three - Week Three -MARCH 20TH THROUGH MARCH 26TH - 345 - 461
13. Rising Tides
14. The Great Debate
15. Clipped Wings

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Folks this is an excellent book - it is long but remember the link is always open and you can complete it at any time - just dive in and participate.

[Janis]

I remember a man very much like Lindbergh that made me feel like Anne Morrow felt. He opened doors for me and challenged me to do the things I was most fearful of. I was young then and mesmerized. I understand Anne Morrow Lindbergh's words because I was swept up the the personality of the man. Was it wonderful in the moment, yes! Would it have been wonderful in the long run?? NO! She was looking for a partner as only a twenty year old woman looks. I thank my lucky stars my saga ended after a few years. However I was never afraid or controlled by anyone else after that time.
i>Bentley wrote: "Discussion of Quote:

"The man I was to marry believed in me and what I could do, and consequently I found I could do more than I realized, even in that mysterious outer world that fascinated me bu..."

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Janis - I think you meant to put this into spoiler quotes which I think we need on this one:

(view spoiler)[I remember a man very much like Lindbergh that made me feel like Anne Morrow felt. He opened doors for me and challenged me to do the things I was most fearful of. I was young then and mesmerized. I understand Anne Morrow Lindbergh's words because I was swept up the the personality of the man. Was it wonderful in the moment, yes! Would it have been wonderful in the long run?? NO! She was looking for a partner as only a twenty year old woman looks. I thank my lucky stars my saga ended after a few years. However I was never afraid or controlled by anyone else after that time.
i>Bentley wrote: "Discussion of Quote:

"The man I was to marry believed in me and what I could do, and consequently I found I could do more than I realized, even in that mysterious outer world that fascinated me bu..." (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Response to Janis:

(view spoiler)[Some women I guess are looking for someone who directs and others are looking of co-partners - men have their preferences too - is it possible that both Lindbergh and Morrow changed over time due to the life events that they were subjected to and realities of Lindbergh's fame which had distressing results? Anne could have matured and come into her own - Lindbergh predominantly a loner from youth might have yearned for that freedom and aloneness. My feeling is that she always loved him even to the end. Living together might have been something else and in each other they might have reminded each other of the pain they suffered. (hide spoiler)]

[Betty]

Response to Bentley

(view spoiler)[This is a very insightful response Bentley, and I agree on all counts. People change and grow over time, but it's the rates at which we grow, that cannot be predicted, as well as circumstances which cause us to make decisions we would never have predicted. When you first enter into a marriage, everything is sparkley new, and it's also a new start. You often don't know everything about a person, since there are many things you don't even know about yourself when you are young. That's all with living an average life. When you add fame and attention to the mix, it can be a life changer, and I believe that is what happened here. (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Response to Betty

(view spoiler)[That is very true Betty - some folks mature faster or slower; some folks have more happen to them in the outside world. Some handle stress better or worse - some folks are forgiving and others hold things in. At the beginning of the marriage everything looks golden and you think you know everything there is to know about each other - good and bad but you only see the good. Then events happen -life happens and how you react separately and together effects each one of you in different ways as well as your relationship. Look at what Lindbergh had to endure, look at what Anne Morrow witnessed and suffered. I think the constant barrage of the press, the scrutiny and examination of every word or spoken thought resulted in the pressure and pain that they both must have felt and endured. They both became a constant reminder of the pain they suffered with the murder of their baby son and at some level I think that Anne Morrow blamed Lindbergh and maybe he knew that - even though he of course would never have wanted anything to happen to his beautiful baby. Maybe he blamed himself for the fame. They reminded each other of their pain I think. (hide spoiler)]

[Glynn]

Bentley wrote: "General Discussion Question

1. What are your initial thoughts on this week's reading. What surprised you? "

I am just beginning Chapter 11, "Apprehension." In Chapter 9 "We" (view spoiler)[ I had no idea that Lindbergh had such a strong influence in the development of spaceflight, backing Goddard's work (pgs 210-214); Also, I was really surprised at the whole of Chapter 10 "Sourland" and the whole convoluted mess with the kidnapping and subsequent discovery of the deceased baby. What a tragedy. I had only read vague things about this. Also, I read the name Schwarzkopf and vaguely recalled the Shwarzkopf of the Gulf war, but this Schwartzkopf was that ones father! (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

That is fine - everybody can go at their own pace. (view spoiler)[Yes, they were both from that neck of the woods - an absolute horror - that must have taken its toll on both of them and their marriage (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

This is the fourth week - please move along at your own pace and post as you read but this is the assignment for the fourth week as we move towards the end of the book.

Part Four - Week Four - MARCH 26TH THROUGH APRIL 1ST - pages 462 - 544
16. Phoenix
17. Double Sunrise
18. Alone Together
19. Aloha

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Folks I suspect some of you are behind - I will not stop this discussion at months end so that all of you can get caught up and will add more to the discussion - just let me know where you are in the reading and if you are still reading the book - I will extend this read for one more week right now until I hear from more of you - up through April 10th. I will be starting a parallel book for April but will still hang in there with you. This was a long book but worth it.

PS and if I have to extend it further - I will - we always do that for our readers.

[Glynn]

Bentley wrote: "Folks I suspect some of you are behind - I will not stop this discussion at months end so that all of you can get caught up and will add more to the discussion - just let me know where you are in t..."

Just finished part 2. I am enjoying this book and will read it till the end whether or not the discussion is still open so no worries :)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

We will stay open for you - just keep us posted and keep posting with your thoughts. It is a great great book - we have tackled some good ones lately but this is so well researched and put together don't you agree?

[Glynn]

Yes. Definitely agree.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Chapter Ten: Sourland

And so Chapter 10 begins -

"Give the Lindbergh baby a chance!" blared a recent article in the National Affairs section of Time. The clarion call came in response to a widespread rumor in late 1931 the Charles Lindbergh Jr., was deaf and had not learned to talk. "Cause of the affliction was supposed to have been the prenatal drumming of airplane motors in his ears, causing a drama, while his mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, continued to fly during her pregnancy," the article explained."


Charles Lindbergh Jr - May 2, 1932

Discussion Questions:

1. Can you imagine the scrutiny that the Lindberghs were under with even false rumors about their baby?

2. Fake news - it appears even in 1931 - theories abounded that were not true. What is there about human nature and paparazzi that makes these rumors which are totally false embraced by the public without an ounce of proof.

3. What did you think about Will Rogers having to write a column in order to squelch the fake news?

4. Was there a bit of misogyny in the rumor as if Anne was not being a careful and proper mother to be gallivanting around in airplanes during her pregnancy when obviously she should have been at home with her feet up?

5. At the beginning Anne seemed encouraged by her husband to write and follow through on some of the projects that he did not have time to do like a book about their recent trip to the Orient?

Was Anne a different person at the beginning of the marriage?

6. What details that night that the little baby disappeared seemed strange to you. With the notoriety that Lindbergh received - did you think that it odd that the warped windows had not been secured?

7. Did that event change their marriage - "it was the first time she realized he was not a god but a mortal"

8. What did you make of the images of the tulips and the second more chilling image to Anne - her husband crying?


Will Rogers poses with Speaker when in Washington

More:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime...

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Folks let us know how you are doing on the Lindbergh book and I am giving folks more time to complete. Please post your thoughts as you read the book.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Chapter Eleven - Apprehension

And so Chapter Eleven begins:

"There was an outpouring of sympathy -- some said the greatest public display of grief since the assassination of Lincoln. Others, such as Henry Breckinridge suggested that the sentiments cut deep and wider than that because "Lindbergh's popularity knew no boundaries. This touched everybody -- the most famous baby in the world had been brutally killed."

a) Who was Henry Breckinridge? How many of you knew who he was when mentioned in the book? A Princetonian and a Harvard man as well as an Olympian.


Henry Skillman Breckinridge - Charles Lindbergh's attorney during the trial and only serious opponent of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 Democratic primaries. He was the United States Assistant Secretary of War from 1913 to 1916.

More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_S...
http://usfencinghalloffame.com/wp/bre...

b) Was Lindbergh more popular than Abraham Lincoln was? Would you have believed that a regular citizen no matter how famous - would receive telegraphs and messages of sympathy from the leaders of the world - Presidents - Kings and Princes and from every mayor of a major city in the United States? As well as every civic organization. What tributes of grief did you find most surprising?

c) Anne wrote - "We have an intense yearning for a quieter life, free from publicity-- at any price." How do you think Anne was holding up, the death of her father 6 months before, her son murdered three months after her father died and her mother and then she had to endure Elizabeth having a bad heart. Did you wonder with Lindbergh's notoriety - why they did not have the gates and security guards that Englewood had?

d) Did you think that Violet Sharpe (the English maid) or the butler had anything to do with the kidnapping.

e) What were your thoughts on Thor and getting a police dog?


Anne Lindbergh, her son Jon, dogs Thor and Skean at North Haven, Maine

f) Do you believe what Charles and eventually Anne thought that were it not for the press attention that surrounded them , 'we might still have him?"

g) What were your thoughts about his son's ashes? And how was Anne's faith reborn? And Charles healed. I am not sure how you felt but what they went through was one of the saddest accounts.

h) How did their frequent air trips help them find peace? Were you surprised by some of these trips or the frequency? Did you think they were risky? How many of you remember TWA and Pan American?

I) What were your thoughts about Charles Lindbergh's trip back to visit his ancestral home? Were you surprised that he wanted to do this. What were your thoughts on this experience?

j) Anne and Charles ran into Jean Monnet - a old Morrow friend when their travel took them to London and he spoke of his fears about America under the new president: "Roosevelt is trying to bring about social reforms in a period of reconstruction," the French economist said, "and that is fatal." Did you smile when you read it or did you agree with Monnet (smile)? Were you as surprised as the Lindberghs were that their new president had this interest in their trip? And did Roosevelt act rashly in canceling all of the mail contracts? And was he one of the first people to start giving Lindbergh a bad rep because Lindbergh stood up for the airlines.

Consider this quote by the author: " The Air Mail Fiasco" as Lippman referred to it had deep repercussions for the President. For the first time since he had taken office, his authority had been effectively challenged, making him appear both fallible and impenitent. Neither Roosevelt nor Lindbergh would ever forget the other's behavior during that skirmish, not would either forgive."

More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Mai...
http://www.efootage.com/stock-footage...

k) Did you wonder how the Lindberghs could have ever gone back to live in the Hopewell home? How did Arthur Koehler who was a wood technologist help crack the case?


Arthur Koehler carefully studied the ladder’s wood to trace its origin to the kidnapper. Photo by Forest Products Laboratory.

More:
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/20... (excellent old article from the Saturday Evening Post)

Source: Wikipedia, Saturday Evening Post,

[Glynn]

Bentley wrote: "Chapter Eleven - Apprehension

a) Who was Henry Breckinridge? How many of you knew who he was when mentioned in the book? A Princetonian and a Harvard man as well as an Olympian.."

(view spoiler)[The only Breckinridge I had heard of before this book is the Ski Resort and town in Colorado, which was named after a different Breckenridge (John Cabell Breckenridge, youngest man in history to become vice president (1857-61.) Pretty sure the two are related. (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Me too Glynn - that is why I asked (lol). They are - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breckin...