Brevig Mission

 Brevig Mission is a very small village in western Alaska, bordering on the Bering Straits which separate that state from the Russian Federation.  It is named for the Norwegian Lutheran pastor who served the mission at the beginning of the 20th Century when it was founded.  In the 2010 Census, Brevig Mission had a population of 388 people, 90% of whom were from the Inuit tribe of indigenous people.

In 1918, Brevig Mission had a population of 80 people.  In only five days in November of that year, 72 of them died as a result of the so-called "Spanish flu."  Around the world about 50 million died over a two year period as a result of the deadliest pandemic in modern history.

"Lasting from February 1918 until April 1920, it infected about one-third of the world's population.  The first observations of the illness were documented in the United States in Fort Riley, Kansas and New York City, as well as in France, Germany and the United Kingdom."

"Historian Alfred W. Crosby stated in 2003 that the flu originated in Kansas.  In 2004, Author John M. Barry described a January 1918 outbreak in Haskell County, KS as the point of origin."  

As the USA, France, Germany and the UK were engaged at the time in The Great War (WWI),  their newspapers minimized reports of the influenza to maintain public morale.  However, in neutral Spain, news of the epidemic was so widespread, even King Alphonso XIII was gravely ill, that it gave rise to naming it the "Spanish Flu."

"As there were no antiviral drugs to treat the virus, and no antibiotics to treat the secondary bacterial infections, doctors would rely on a random assortment of medicines such as aspirin, quinine, castor oil and iodine."  

In the USA, between 500,000 to 800,000 people died as a result of the "Spanish Flu."  In Brazil, the number of fatalities was 300,000, including President Rodrigues Alves.  One of those American victims was Frederick Trump, a German immigrant and the grandfather of President Donald Trump.  

    

Betty, Girl Engineer

Growing up, one of my (and America's) favorite TV shows was Father Knows Best, a situation comedy (1954-1960) about the fictional middle-class Anderson family who lived in the fictional town of Springfield, somewhere in the American mid-west.  The title referred to the "head" of the family who seemed to know best or at least the rest of the family let him think he did.  The show was also popular in Brazil, dubbed into Portuguese (Papai Sabe Tudo).

Father Knows Best starred Robert Young (Jim, father, insurance salesman), Jane Wyatt (Margaret, mother, housewife), Elinor Donahue (Betty, teenage daughter), Billy Gray (Bud, teenage son) and Lauren Chapin (Kathy, young daughter).  I especially identified with Kathy as Lauren was almost exactly my age.  

I always wished my family would have been more like the Andersons.  Margaret, my mother's name, was the "voice of reason" who didn't hit her children like my mother, while Jim made time to be with and talk to his children, unlike my father.

Of the 203 episodes of Father Knows Best, the one I remember the most aired on Wednesday, April 11, 1956 (when I was 10 years-old), Betty, Girl Engineer, written by Roswell Rogers, with guest actor Roger Smith, who later starred in the series 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964) and then was married to Ann-Margret (1967-2017).

The story: darling Betty signs up for a vocational program at her high school. Lots of girls are signing up for their chosen careers, and the counselor helps each of them write down "secretary". But Betty writes down "engineer" because she's good at math and did well on aptitude tests... and that's where the chaos begins!

She's assigned to work with a surveying crew for a week. Her family panics and tries to speak some "sense" into her. Her brother asks if she'll need chewing tobacco, her mother worries that she won't know whether to hang up "his" or "hers" towels in the bathroom, her father worries that he's losing his daughter.

At Betty's worksite her boss, Doyle Hobbs (Roger Smith), is an intolerant jerk. Doyle is a young upstart engineer who can't stop asking her what she's running from, or whether she's doing this to get back at her boyfriend. She challenges him, explaining that times change, women can vote now! And he says voting is just fine as long as you're home in time to cook supper, or something like that, and continues belittling her until she gives up and walks home.

To smooth things over, Doyle comes to Betty's house later with a box of chocolates.  He apologizes to her father that Betty seems like a nice girl, but boys want to be engineers so they can work hard and come home to girls that remind them of their mothers, and if girls start becoming engineers then what's the point?  Betty overhears this, runs upstairs, puts on a dress, and comes down to visit Doyle and agrees to go on a date with him.  And the whole family has a good laugh about how "silly" it would be for Betty to be an engineer.

As a ten year-old, this episode made me think.  Should girls be engineers?  That was a man's job...wasn't it?  Girls should be teachers, nurses, secretaries...right?

Gender stereotypes are hard to eradicate.  In the 1950s, there was a Society of Women Engineers.  Today, only about 13% of engineers in the USA are women, although in Brazil the number is closer to 50%.

I remember as an accounting major at Penn, my classmates were all male...or almost all.  One of my professors commented how cute it was that three of us were women.  What they must have felt?

When I started out my career as an accountant 53 years ago, there were almost no women accountants.  Today, 62% of accountants are female, while 50% of the full time staff at CPA firms are women.  That's progress!

A female friend from high school told me how difficult it was for her to become a doctor 50 years ago.  Today, 36% of doctors are women.  

When the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg entered Harvard Law School 64 years ago, she was one of 9 women out of a class of 500.  When my daughter went to the University of Pennsylvania Law School 23 years ago, women made up about half the class.  More progress.       

The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 political thriller, directed by John Frankenheimer, written by George Axelrod and which starred Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury and James Gregory.  Lansbury was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (won by Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker).

In the film, a platoon of American soldiers, including Captain Marco (Sinatra) and Sergeant Shaw (Harvey), are captured during the Korean War and brought to Manchuria (northeastern China) to undergo brainwashing by Russian and Chinese agents.  After three days, all but two of the soldiers (killed by Shaw under Chinese influence) are returned to American lines.  Unbeknownst to Shaw, he has been programmed to act as a sleeper-agent assassin for America's enemies.

Shaw's mother, Eleanor Iselin (Lansbury), is married to U.S. Senator John Iselin (Gregory), a prototype of Senator Joseph McCarthy (see post), who believes there are 57 known communists working in the Defense Department (but won't identify them by name).  He chooses the number 57 after looking at a bottle of Heinz ketchup.

Eleanor is also an American co-conspirator whose job it is to handle her son, the Chinese programmed assassin.  She's angry the Chinese chose her own son for this role and vows revenge.  

Eventually, Senator Iselin is selected as a major party's vice presidential candidate.  He and his wife will be at Madison Square Garden in New York, along with the presidential candidate, on the night the party's candidates will be officially nominated.  

Eleanor programs her son to assassinate the presidential candidate at the above event.  This would automatically make her husband the new presidential candidate with an excellent chance of becoming the next president of the United States and someone under the control of a foreign government.

However, Shaw kills his mother and Senator Iselin instead of what had been planned.  He dies a patriot after committing suicide.  

Is it possible Russia or China could put their own man/woman in the White House as portrayed in The Manchurian Candidate?    

High School, Chapter 10

After school Friday, I hurry home to take a shower.  This will be my first party at a girl's house.  I need to relax, but it ain't gonna be easy.

What to wear?  Don't want to look too nerdy.  Mom makes a suggestion.  Terrible!  Not that!

I have a quick bite to eat.  Not a lot.  Don't want to feel bloated, not starving either.

I pick out a few records to bring.  Hope Ann approves.

I'm on my way.  My stomach's in knots.  

I arrive at her door and knock.  Ann answers.  She's adorable, with make-up, a pretty, short dress and her hair dolled up.  She has a big smile on, warmly greeting me.

I enter her house.  Party's in her family's finished basement.  Nicely decorated for the occasion.  Cool!  

There's 12 of us, six boys and six girls.  I know about half of each and am introduced to the rest.  All the girls are cute, but Ann's the best.

There's pizza and Coke.  I eat a slice and take a sip.  

The music starts and everybody's hesitant at first.  Then, Ann says the girls should pick their partners for the first dance.  After, it will be the boys turn, but it can't be with the same partner.  Good idea.  By evening's end, I danced at least once with all the girls.  Ann's the best.  

After many records, we're all tired and we stop, eat, drink some more...and talk...and laugh.  Everybody's real nice...made some new friends...great party.

At night's end, when we're all leaving, Ann asks me to stick around for a minute.  What for, I don't know.  When we're finally alone, she puts her arms around my neck and gives me a kiss on my lips.  Holy cow!  

Something in my heart told me I must have you.    

Puerto Rico

Since the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493 on behalf of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I, the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain.  However, that changed as a result of the Spanish-American War.

After antigovernment rioting broke out in Cuba (another Spanish colony) in January 1898, U.S. President William McKinley sent the battleship Maine to Havana harbor to protect American interests there.  On February 15, 1898, the Maine blew up under mysterious circumstances.  Of a crew of 355 officers and sailors, 261 were killed.  Influenced by "yellow journalism," the American public blamed Spain for the loss of life.  

On April 19, 1898, "the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution (signed by McKinley) recognizing Cuban independence and demanding Spanish withdrawal from the island.  The president was also granted the power to use military might to enforce the resolution.  Spain officially broke off relations with the United States on April 21, enabling Congress to declare on April 25 that a state of war existed between the two countries."

American troops landed in Cuba in June 1898.  The following month the Spanish fleet there was destroyed.  

McKinley then demanded the transfer of control over Puerto Rico as a condition for peace.  On July 25, 1898, some 18,000 U.S. troops landed in Guanica Bay in Puerto Rico.  On August 13, Spain agreed to all U.S. terms. 
   
On October 18, 1898 (122 years ago today), American soldiers raised the American flag in Puerto Rico, formalizing U.S. control of the island.

Since then, Puerto Rico has been a territory/commonwealth of the United States.  In 1917, as a result of the Jones Act (signed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson), all Puerto Ricans born on or after April 25, 1898 were granted U.S. citizenship.  

In 1947, the U.S. Congress passed a law, signed by President Harry Truman, allowing Puerto Ricans the right to elect their own governor.  In 1948, Munoz Marin became the first popularly elected governor.  

On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate President Truman.  One was killed and the other served 29 years in federal prison before having his sentence commuted by President Jimmy Carter.

In a 2017 plebiscite, 97% of voters on the island chose for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state of the USA.  Its population is 3.2 million, larger than the states of Iowa, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.  

I am a supporter of Puerto Rican statehood (along with that of the District of Columbia).  Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina opposes statehood because it would dilute GOP control of the United States Senate.  A good enough reason?    

    

Bill Mazeroski

Bill Mazeroski was born September 5, 1936 in Wheeling, West Virginia, but grew up in Rush Run, Ohio.  At seventeen years-of-age, he signed a professional baseball contract.  After two years playing in the minor leagues, Mazeroski was promoted to the majors and played sixteen years with the Pittsburgh Pirates before retiring in 1972.

However, let's go back to the afternoon of Thursday, October 13, 1960.  I was a sophomore at Oswego High School (OHS).  In the middle of the afternoon, I was scheduled to have a study hall.  At the same time, the seventh and deciding game of the World Series was being played at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.  

The OHS administration placed a black-and-white TV set on the stage in the school auditorium tuned to the World Series.  Any student with study hall was permitted to watch the game instead.  What a break!  

When I arrived in the auditorium, the game was in the fifth inning with the Pirates leading 4-1.  However, the Yankees quickly went in front (5-4) with the help of a Yogi Berra three-run homer (which TV announcer Mel Allen originally called a foul ball).  They added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning to give New York a 7-4 advantage needing only six outs to win their nineteenth World Series Championship.

Then in the bottom of the eighth, magic happened.  First, pinch hitter Gino Cimoli singled to center.  Next up, Bill Verdon hit a sure double play ground ball to shortstop Tony Kubek.  But, just before the ball arrived in his glove, it hit a pebble and ricocheted off his throat, causing (1) blood to fill his mouth and (2) difficulty for him to breathe.  The bottom line was two men on instead of two men out.

Dick Groat singled, scoring Cimoli, making the score 7-5.  Bob Skinner made a sacrifice bunt advancing Verdon to third base and Groat to second base with one out.  After Rocky Nelson made the second out, Roberto Clemente beat out an infield single, scoring Verdon from third.  The score was now 7-6, with two runners on base and two outs.  

Up came catcher Hal Smith who hit a dramatic three run home run to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead.  Pittsburgh was now three outs away from their first World Series championship since 1925.

Bobby Richardson led off the top of the ninth with a single.  Ex-Pirate Dale Long singled as well.  After Roger Maris made the first out, the great Mickey Mantle singled scoring Richardson, cutting the Pirate lead to 9-8.  Long went to third base and was replaced by Gil McDougald.  

Then Yogi Berra hit a sharp ground ball to first baseman Rocky Nelson who stepped on the bag to retire Berra for the second out and then attempted to eliminate Mantle to end the game and the World Series.  However, Mantle, in an amazing athletic move, avoided Nelson and returned to the safety of first base, allowing McDougald to score and tie the game at 9.  

In the bottom of the ninth, up came the previously mentioned Bill Mazeroski.  On the second pitch from Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry, he hit a home run over the left field wall giving the Pirates the championship.  

It was the first time a World Series ended on a home run.  It has happened only one other time since, Joe Carter for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993.

It was also the only time in my life I cut a class.  I stayed past the end of my study hall.  I was not about to miss watching the end of the greatest baseball game ever played.  

  

          

Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt is a 1943 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and which starred Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotton.  It received one Academy Award nomination, Thornton Wilder (author of Our Town) for Best Original Motion Picture Story (won by William Saroyan for The Human Comedy).

In the film, Charlie (Wright) is a young woman living with her parents and younger siblings in the beautiful town of Santa Rosa, CA, 55 miles north of San Francisco with a population then of about 13,000.  She anxiously awaits the visit of her Uncle Charlie (Cotton), for whom she was named and whom she adores.

We learn early on that Uncle Charlie is suspected of being a serial killer, known as the Merry Widow Murderer.  A police detective tells Charlie what he knows, causing her to doubt her uncle.

Charlie notices Uncle Charlie's suspicious behavior, such as his cutting out an article about one of the murders from her father's newspaper.  Uncle Charlie gives Charlie an emerald ring with one of the murder victim's initials inside.  In addition, Uncle Charlie says the following:

 

"Women keep busy in towns like this. In the cities it's different. The cities are full of women, middle-aged widows, husbands dead, husbands who've spent their lives making fortunes, working and working. Then they die and leave their money to their wives. Their silly wives. And what do the wives do, these useless women? You see them in the hotels, the best hotels, every day by the thousands, drinking the money, eating the money, losing the money at bridge, playing all day and all night, smelling of money. Proud of their jewelry but of nothing else. Horrible, faded, fat, greedy women."

Charlie responds, "They're alive! They're human beings!"

Uncle Charlie retorts, "Are they? Are they, Charlie? Are they human or are they fat wheezing animals, hmm? And what happens to animals when they get too fat and too old?"

Charlie is afraid to say anything to her mother who also adores her brother.  However, she confronts her Uncle who then confesses he is a murder suspect, asking for Charlie's help and promising her he will soon leave Santa Rosa.  

Charlie agrees to help, but instead Uncle Charlie tries to kill her.  First, he cuts away some wooden steps on an outdoor staircase causing her to almost fall.  Then, Uncle Charlie traps his namesake in the family's garage with a car's motor running.  Finally, when he is leaving town,  Uncle Charlie tries to push his niece in front of an oncoming train.  Luckily, Charlie fights back and Uncle Charley becomes the victim.

Hitchcock considered Shadow of a Doubt to be his favorite film.  His daughter, Pat, said, "he loved the thought of bringing menace into a small town."  And not only into the town, but right into his own family's home as well.