Today: A pundit lectures; the glory of People Are Talking About
Well, here it is - the Marya Mannes essay we heard about a page ago.
And what has this mind at work produced? The first paragraph:
"When certain words go out of fashion the qualities they describe ebb with them, or -- if they still exist -- no longer seem to rate high in the public favour. Noble, generous, gallant, largehearted -- who is elevated now for these attributes? They have a soft and antique sound, echoing down the corridors of the past."
The last paragraph:
"I would like to think that if we took a cardiograph of the nation's heart we would find it sound -- sounder, in fact than a dollar. But this noble organ needs a campaign for rehabilitation as the prime factor of our greatness, individual and national." Etc., etc., etc.
And a lot of words in between about the nobility of Henry the Fifth, Abraham Lincoln, how nasty and small minded it is to always "look out for number one." And this very nice paragraph:
"I think it is time we reinstated the heart. The head alone can never solve the affairs of men, whether it is the division of race in our own land or the division of power on earth. Man and woman, labour and management, black and white, capitalism and socialism; between each is a no man's land where the only passport is understanding -- not only in the head but in the heart -- and the only safe-conduct is compassion. . . "
But then this:
"But it is easier -- much easier -- to 'stand firm,' not to give an inch Our society is now so organized that we are free to stand on our rights without acknowledging those of others: and here a reader may notice that she might be saying something that could weirdly apply to the Zimmerman trial, but no -
the right of a bus driver to deny a passenger information; the right of a saleslady not to say 'Ma'am'; the right of a stenographer not to punctuate; the right of a worker not to do a full day's work for a full day's pay; the right of a waiter not to wait; the right of a nurse not to smile; the right of a manufacturer to charge more for cheaper products; the right of a wife to demand more than her husband can afford; the right, in all cases, to take and not to give."
Oh, twaddle. Many similarities to David Brooks. The meandering piffle, the bizarre grievance, the harkening back to more noble days when people knew how to behave - not quite separated at birth, but close.
Enough of her.
A quick recap of People Are Talking About (leaving out the scant bit of fashion on these pages) - (* denotes that I am glad to have met)
All together in one place --
People
Nancy Walker, comedienne
Maynard Ferguson, jazz musician
Jacques Lipchiz
Richard Lippold (To be visited - sculptor at San Francisco cathedral)
Giulietta Simionato, opera singer
Antoinietta Stella, opera singer
Jane Fonda, in her hamster fur skirt
Rufino Tamayo
Shelley Berman
Medardo Rosso, forgotten sculptor
Marya Mannes, pundit
Art Carney
Lisa Bigelow, cover girl * (and Alfred Leslie, husband and artist)
Books
The Light of Common Day, Lady Diana Cooper (To be discussed in a longer post.) *
Hawaii, James Michener
You Come Too, poems for children by Robert Frost (To be discussed later - very briefly)
The Mansion, Faulkner (pretty much ignored here)
Dear Beast, Nancy Hale *
Movies
Wild Strawberries, Ingmar Bergman
The Magician, Ingmar Bergman
The Cousins, Claude Chabrol
Broadway
The Gang's All Here - Bert Wheeler as the "Happy Grifter" in the utterly amazing Harding administration
The Sound of Music - the "odd-faced" children singing songs that are "sensible, amused, right."
Take Me Along - Robert Morse as 17 year old provincial stealing the show
Gypsy - Sandra Church
Bayanihan - National Dance Troupe, Philippines
Heartbreak House, Maurice Evans and Pamela Brown
Places
The Guggenheim *
The Four Seasons
Upstairs at the Downstairs, comedy club
Allen's, a bar on Third Avenue - in New York, what other Third Avenue?
The Bowser Garage, NYC
Miscellaney
". . . The voices on the radio summing up their reactions: 'But, Wow!'"
". . . The three letters that spell a certain New York milieu: WAM, for wit, art, and money. . ."
". . . marching bands playing the Peter Gunn music. . ."
If I were really good at this, I'd put in some more photos and links back to the original posts. But we need a video. So, for no reason except that this is Penn Station in 1959 and that Penn Station is no more, and Vogue might as well be called New York Vogue. . .
Tomorrow: suits for all seasons.
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