Chubby Checker: He's still twisting after all these years

". . . in a way, "The Twist" really ruined my life. I was on my way to becoming a big nightclub performer, and "The Twist" just wiped it out . . . It got so out of proportion. No one ever believes I have talent."

- Chubby Checker


"The three most important things that ever happened in the music industry are Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Chubby Checker."

- Dick Clark

The 1960s featured several dance crazes.  There was The Mashed Potato," "The Monkey." "The Watusi" and of course, "The Twist."  "The Twist" was popularized by Chubby Checker who, at the age of 72, is still twisting the night away.

No, "Chubby" is not his real name.  He was born Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941 in Spring Gully, South Carolina, the son of Raymond Evans, a tobacco farmer, and his wife Eartle.  The family moved to South Philadelphia when Ernest was 8 years old and he and his two brothers, Spencer and Tracy, were raised in the projects.  The youngster did a variety of odd jobs such as working as a shoeshine boy.  While in high school, he studied piano at Settlement Music School, a community music school with branches in the Philadelphia area.

As a teen, Chubby Checker worked at Tony Anastazi's Produce Store in Philadelphia and sang in a street-corner harmony group called The Quantrells.  He had a natural talent for doing vocal impersonations and he enjoyed imitating the singing style of Fats Domino, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis for the customers. It was his boss, Tony A., who bestowed him with the nickname "Chubby" due to his portly build.

Chubby later worked in a butcher shop called Fresh Farm Poultry.  The store's owner, Henry Colt, was so impressed by Chubby's performances for the customers that he introduced him to his friend, local recording entrepreneur and songwriter Kal Mann of Cameo-Parkway Records. Through his connection with Mann, Chubby was given a recording contract with Cameo.  His first two recordings for the label, "The Class" and "Dancing Dinosaur," went largely unnoticed.

"The Class," a novelty song n which Chubby performed various impersonations of popular singers, only reached #38 on the charts in 1959.  Mann, however, arranged for the teen singer to do a private recording for Dick Clark, host of Bandstand, a Philadelphia-based television show.  It was at this recording session that Chubby acquired the surname "Checker" from Clark's firs wife, Barbara Mallery. After watching his impression of Fats Domino, she asked him his name. When he replied that he was known as "Chubby," she shot back, "As in Checker?"  That little play on words earned some chuckles and provided the singer with his stage name.

Dick Clark played an instrumental role  in Chubby's early success.  Chubby was just 16 years old when he first met Dick and the two men remained friends for over 50 years, until Dick's death in April of 2012. Chubby first went on Bandstand in 1959 and performed "The Class."  He appeared on the show many more times with "The Twist."  In an April 18, 2012 article, "Chubby Checker, Dick Clark and 'The Twist',' by music critic Dan DeLuca on Philly.com, Chubby commented on the importance of Dick Clark's show to a singer in Philadelphia.   "Being on Bandstand was like getting a Nobel Prize." he declared.  "From 3 o'clock in the afternoon until 5:30, nobody was on the street. They were watching Bandstand."

Chubby Checker with Dick Clark

Despite Chubby's association with "The Twist," the song was actually composed by Detroit rhythm and blues artist Hank Ballard.  Although Ballard and his group, The Midnighters, had recorded several songs for Federal Records, they chose to make a demo of "The Twist" for Vee-Jay Records in 1958.  This caused Federal to issue the tune as the B-side of the group's hit song "Teardrops on Your Letter."

Hank Ballard & The Midnighters

In June of 1959, at the request of Cameo-Parkway Records, Chubby Checker recorded his cover version of "The Twist."  Interestingly enough, Bernie Lowe, president of Cameo, was not taken by the record. According to Chubby's website, Lowe considered it to be a "B" side at best.  Chubby, however, disagreed and worked diligently to promote "The Twist."  For the next 14 months, he made television appearances, gave interviews and performed continually.

Chubby persistence paid off.  Although his version of  "The Twist" was quite similar to the Ballard version, it was Checker's recording that became a huge hit, due largely to the publicity Chubby received on Bandstand.  By September of 1960, "The Twist" was the #1 song in the United States. It was the song that made the kid from Philadelphia a star and it sparked a widespread dance craze.

"The Twist" was fresh and innovative.  Dancers did not touch each other.  Instead, they faced each other, swivelling their hips and dancing in their own fashion.  In the early 1960s, celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Librace flocked to a popular New York City discotheque called The Peppermint Lounge to twist the night away. Chubby himself performed there.

In 1961, Joey Dee and the Starlighters recorded and released "The Peppermint Twist," a song composed by Dee and Henry Glover, an American songwriter, trumpet player and record producer.  "The Peppermint Twist" reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1962, supplanting Chubby Checker's version of "The Twist" from the top spot.

U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was such an enthusiast of  the nightclub that she arranged for a temporary Peppermint Lounge in the White House.  Below is a 1962 photo of Jackie twisting with designer Oleg Cassini in the London home of her younger sister, Lee Radziwill.

1961 proved to be a stellar year for Chubby Checker.  He enjoyed more Top Ten hits such as "Let's Twist Again," "The Fly" and "Pony Time."  On October 22, 1961, Chubby appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. He performed a medley of "The Twist" and "Let's Twist Again" with the Do-Re-Mi Dancers.  He also sang "The Fly."  Other guests on the Sullivan show that night included Wayne and Shuster, Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker.

1962 was another banner year for Chubby.  After his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Cameo-Parkway decided to reissue "The Twist." It was re-released and climbed to the top of the charts for several weeks in early 1962, making 'Twist," the only song in modern times to attain the #1 chart position in two separate releases.  That same year, "Let's Twist Again," co-written by Kal Mann, received a Grammy Award for Best Rock 'n Roll Recording

In 1962 and 1963, Cubby continued to popularize new dance crazes with hit records such as "The Limbo" and "The Hucklebuck."  By the mid-1960s, however, his career was on the wane due to the advent of The Beatles and the British Invasion.  Nevertheless, he put together a band and kept on recording and touring.

In January of 1963, Chubby Checker met Catharina Johanna Lodders in Manila, Philippines. Catharina, born in 1942, comes from Haarlem in the Netherlands.  She was then a beauty queen and model who had won the 1962 Miss World contest.  The couple wed on April 12, 1964 at Temple Lutheran Church in Pennsauken, New Jersey and they have three children.  They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Bianca Johanna Evans, on December 8, 1966.  A son, Shan and another daughter, Ilka, followed.

Catharina Lodders in 1963

Shan Evans, also known as Shan Egan and Shan Egan Evans, is the leader singer for Funk Church, a Philadelphia-based neo-soul and rock band.  Ilka Evans is a graphic designer and the owner of Zoet Bathlatier, a small-batch candle, bath and body care company.

Ilka Evans

At 72, the indefatigable Chubby Checker has not slowed down.  He is still very energetic and continues to make as many personal appearances as ever.


END NOTES

* Hank Ballard, who composed "The Twist," passed away on March 2, 2003 in his Los Angeles home.  He was 75 years old and the cause of his death was throat cancer.

* Chubby Checker fathered a fourth child, a daughter named Mistie, with a woman named Pam Bass.  Now known as Mistie Mims, she was born Mistine McCray Bass on December 2, 1983 in Janesville, Wisconsin. Mistie, who stands 6 ft., 4 in. (1.93 m.), is a professional women's basketball player for the Connecticut Suns of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).  In a story published by the Tampa Bay Times on April 4, 2006, Mims told journalist Greg Auman that "I've always had a relationship with my father, and my mother's done a great job of making sure I knew there was always love there.  It's only gotten stronger as I've gotten older."

Mistie Mims

* Chubby Checker appeared in two films featuring "The Twist" craze: Twist Around the Clock (1961) and its sequel, Don't Knock the Twist (1962).  Twist Around the Clock has an identical plot to Rock Around the Clock (1956).  Both films tell the story of a band manager who discovers a new dance sensation while visiting a small town.  Don't Knock the Twist is about twist dancers preparing for a television variety show called "The Twist."

* New York's Peppermint Lounge closed in 1965 after losing its liquor licence.

* In 1969, Chubby's cover of The Beatles' "Back in the U.S.S.R". made the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  In 1988, he recorded a rap version of "The Twist" with The Fat Boys, a hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York.

* In the early 1990s, Nabisco featured Chubby Checker in a popular television commercial for Oreo cookies.

* Chubby played himself in a 1989 episode of Quantum Leap, a time travel TV series starring Scott Bakula.  In the episode, entitled "Good Morning, Peoria, September 9, 1959" (Season 2, Episode 6, Air Date: November 8, 1989). Dr. Sam Beckett (Bakula) has to help find a way to bring back roll 'n eoll to Peoria, Illinois.  He enters a radio station in 1959 and persuades the owner of the station to play "The Twist." In so doing, Beckett finds himself teaching Chubby Checker how to dance to the song.

Chubby also guest-starred as himself in a 2001 episode of Ally McBeal. entitled "Mr Bo"  (Season 4, Episode 11, Air Date: January 22, 2001).

* Chubby's Checkerbar, produced by Chubby Checker, is a checkerboard pattern of dark and milk chocolate squares.

- Joanne

A Visit to Peterborough and Lakefield and Photos

Last weekend, I visited some friends who have recently moved to Peterborough, Ontario.  They gave me a tour of the area.  Above is a photograph of the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent Canal.  On Friday, November 8th, a crisp autumn day, we explored the Trent-Severn Waterway.

The city of Peterborough is situated on the Otonabee River, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) northeast of Toronto.  With a population of around 79,000, it is the largest city on the Trent-Severn Waterway and the regional centre for the Kawartha Lakes cottage country.

On Friday, I also viewed Lakefield College School, just outside of Peterborough, where Britain's Prince Andrew graduated in 1978.

The following day, Saturday, November 9th, was cool and drizzly.  On that day, I toured the Canadian Canoe Museum, one of Peterborough's major attractions.  I saw Pierre Trudeau's canoe and his famous buckskin jacket.

Below are some more photos of the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Peterborough Lift Lock.

Below is the clock tower in Lakefield, Ontario. Construction on the tower began in 1912 and the building served as the Lakefield Post Office for many years.  Lakefield is located just north of Peterborough on the shores of Lake Katchewanooka.

Below is a photo of Queen St., the main thoroughfare in Lakefield.

Below are some photos of Peterborough's Trent University.

Champlain College, Trent University

I went to the Riverdale Park and Zoo. There is no admittance fee as it is funded by the Peterborough Utilities Commission.

Below is a Burmese Python that I saw at the zoo.

- Joanne

An Open Letter to Ford Nation

Dear Ford Nation

Let me be frank.  I am at a loss as to how to get through to you.  On the subject of your hero, Rob Fob, you are so delusional and misguided that it's highly unlikely that anything will ever change your minds.  You seem to think the mayor is just a victim of the evil left-wing media, especially that pinko Toronto Star.  Yes indeed, the left-wing media are out to get Rob Ford.  They are always hounding him.  Why can't they just leave him alone?  It was they who made him go to a crack house.  It was they who made him smoke crack cocaine.  It was they who made him spew racist and homophobic epithets.  They are responsible for his "drunken stupors" and boorish behaviour.

I get it.  You like Rob Ford because you identify with him.  You think he's just like you, flawed and unpolished, the kind of guy with whom you'd like to go out for a beer and talk about football.  His mistakes only endear him to you. - but stop and think!  Does that really make him a good mayor?

I really don't know what it would take for you to withdraw your support for Ford's policies or to persuade you to vote against him in next fall's election - provided he remains in office.  The sad truth is that you, my friends, are as bull-headed as the man himself.  In the faint hope, however, that something will sink in, here are some points for you to ponder.

• Rob Ford is not fit to be mayor of the fourth largest city in North America.  Anyone else who behaved as he has would be promptly fired.  Imagine what would happen to you if you continually showed up for work in a state of inebriation.  Imagine if you refused to admit you had a problem or declined to seek treatment.  Sadly, the mayor is in complete denial, as is his family.  His mother thinks his biggest problem is his weight. His brother Doug wants Toronto's police Chief Bill Blair to resign for doing his job and investigating the mayor's activities.  His sister Kathy, who referred to herself as a "former addict," does not consider Rob to be an addict.  Not one of them believes that their Robbie needs to take a leave of absence to sort out his problems. Not one of them feels he should remove himself from office.

• Mayor Ford claims that he loves Toronto.  I'm sure he does, but not enough to do what's best for the city and its people.  The mayor has become a terrible liability and his problems have become such a distraction that the city cannot move forward as long as he is in office.  He says there is work to be done, but he himself is preventing it from being done.  

• Mayor Ford lied to you.  He lied to the people of Toronto.  He lied to his supporters and non-supporters alike.  The mayor openly denied using crack cocaine and denied the existence of the video showing him doing so.  He finally admitted to partaking of the drug once, about a year ago, when he was in a "drunken stupor." (By the way, drunkenness is not an excuse for all sorts of reprehensible behaviour).  Then he confessed that he had made mistakes and apologized profusely, but only because he had no choice. If the police had not gained possession of the infamous crack cocaine video, he never would have apologized for his behaviour or conceded that, yes, he had smoked crack. He only came clean because he was caught.  Ford also denied being an addict although crack is highly addictive.  If he is not habitually doing drugs, how do you explain all those clandestine meetings with alleged dealer Sandro Lisi?  What was in those bags Lisi was giving the mayor?  Do you really think that he was providing Ford with packages of Smarties or M&M's?  

• Rob Ford's antics have made Toronto the laughing stock of the world.  He has made news around the globe, from Britain to China.  He has provided fodder for U.S. television hosts such as Jon Stewart who referred to Toronto voters as "enablers." Another American host, Jimmy Kimmel, showed a video called "How to Tell if your Mayor is Smoking Crack."  He declared that its purpose was  to "protect other major cities from going through the same kind of embarrassment that Toronto is experiencing right now." Yes, "embarrassment" is definitely the word.  Just think what the world will think of us if Rob Ford manages to be re-elected next October.  The damage he has done to Toronto's reputation is incalculable.

• The circus surrounding the behaviour of Mayor Ford may cost Toronto financially, according to Gabor Forgacs, a professor at the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ryerrson University.  Forgnacs stated that cities "are always striving to align their reputation with their image."  The Ford saga, he said, has damaged Toronto's image as a city of culture and diversity.  This may cause investors to think twice before doing business in our city.

• Mayor Ford's policies, they are simplistic and deceptive.  He mouths catchy slogans such as "No more gravy train," "lower taxes," "subways, subways subways" and "the war on cars."  He repeats those phrases incessantly and you, Ford Nation, nod in agreement like trained seals. Here's what the mayor isn't telling you. The services required by a world-class city have to paid for somehow. Either taxes must be levied or services must be cut.  If important services are cut, then people suffer, especially low income people.  Cutbacks result in lost jobs and if people are unemployed, they don't spend money to boost the economy.  They also pay less income tax, causing the amount of money in government coffers to decrease   When this happens, the quality of life inevitably deteriorates.  The private sector cannot or will not  fill the void.   

• As for Ford's so-called war on cars, let me just say that cities are primarily for people, not automobiles.  We need to improve public transportation in Toronto so that there will be less gridlock and less pollution.  Secondly, Mayor Ford does not seem to know the difference between a street car and light rapid transit.  Here's what Ford and his allies have cost the city with their insistence on subways.  Toronto is already on the hook for $85 million because city council cancelled the fully funded seven-stop Scarborough LRT in favour of a 3-billion, three-stop subway extension  That's not all, though.  The cost of scrapping the LRT will increase further due to the cancellation of a storage facility and payments to advisers.  Does this make any sense whatsoever?  Are Ford's policies really saving you any money?

• Mayor Ford declared that he has nothing left to hide.  I don't think so, not by a long shot.  There will be more revelations and more embarrassment for the city of Toronto as long as this shameless, stubborn man clings to office.  We still don't know the contents of the second video.

• Rob Ford is filled with inner rage, as evidenced by a profanity-laced video  in which he threatens the life of an unidentified person.  I shivered when I watched that video.  It is absolutely chilling to watch. I cringed when I viewed it.  Ford chalked it up drunkenness but it is far more than that.  Drunk or sober, it appears that the man has anger issues and could be a danger to himself and others.  The Ford story is not a comedy.  It is a tragedy.  The mayor is a human time bomb.  Unless he gets help, he is going to explode.  Instead of encouraging him to remain in office, why don't you urge him to get the help he so desperately needs?  

I leave you with this thought.

. . . we need to stop supporting leaders with whom we personally identify, with whom we might want to go out for a pint or 10; we need to insist upon leaders with the self-knowledge and sense of shame that allows them to lead and thereby allows us to get on with our often messy lives.

- Daniel Baird

Toronto Star column

November 10, 2013

Sincerely,

Joanne

Rob Ford: Should he resign?

Rob Ford's politics are repugnant to me.  I've made no secret of my distaste for Ford's ideas.  I abhor his ultra-conservative ideology and his good ol' boy approach.  Yet, as much as I wish he weren't Toronto's mayor, the man was democratically elected by the people of this city. Although I disagree with almost everything he says and does, I have never wanted him removed from office unfairly. My hope has been that he would be voted out of office in next year's municipal election.

Now, however, I think Mayor Ford has crossed the line.  Given yesterday's extraordinary events, he should resign or at least take a leave of absence until he sorts out his problems.  It appears that the mayor is in need of professional help and I am not the first person to express those sentiments.  Even though Ford is in denial, he has shown many of the signs of someone with a substance abuse problem.  Toronto is sorely in need of leadership and Ford is incapable of providing it.  His antics have become a distraction, preventing this great city from moving forward.

Yesterday was a Halloween to remember (or forget) for Canada's largest city.  Toronto is receiving world-wide attention for all the wrong reasons.  Rob Ford has simply become an embarrassment and a liability to the city he professes to love and wishes to serve.  Unfortunately, the mayor has no intention of leaving office and claims that there is no reason for him to resign.  He acts as if it's business as usual  and that all the dirt can be swept under a rug.  It can't, as Mr. Ford will eventually discover.  The chickens will come home to roost and he will be held accountable for his behaviour - if not by the law then by the electorate.

Yesterday, Toronto police Chief Bill Blair confirmed that Mayor Ford has been under police surveillance for some time.  The Chief also revealed that the infamous video tape in which Ford appears to be smoking crack cocaine and allegedly spouting racist and homophobic remarks, exists and that the police have it in their possession.

Blair stated that Alexander "Sandro" Lisi,  Mayor Ford's friend and sometime driver, was charged with extortion related to the video.  Lisi, 45, is an alleged drug dealer. According to police documents, Ford and Lisi had more than 100 seemingly clandestine meetings.  Police surveillance succeeded in capturing the two men with a mysterious package of which the contents remain unknown - for now.

None of this will change the attitude of Ford's loyalists, they will stand by their man through thick and thin.  It doesn't matter that he has lied to them and to the other citizens of Toronto.  As Toronto Star columnist Royson James put it, "A hardcore subset of residents, dubbed Ford Nation, care only that Ford is intent on keeping taxes down and care nothing about his moral compass."

In the eyes of Ford Nation, the mayor is quite a guy.  He arm wrestles with Hulk Hogan and, oh yes, he hosts great barbecues.  Don't forget, by golly, that he's going to ensure that the Scarborough subway is built. Just don't ask how it's going to be done without raising taxes.  No! No! No!  Don't go there! Leave the mayor alone. Rob's a regular guy, not some aloof intellectual. He's not one of those snooty downtown elites. You won't catch him riding a bicycle or reading Canadian literature.  

Ford Nation believes that the media has been hounding their man, especially the Toronto Star. Although Mayor Ford has nothing but disdain for the Star, the paper's investigative reporters deserve high praise for bringing the story of the "crack cocaine" video to light.  It was due to their diligent work that the police investigation into Ford's activities was undertaken.  Accused of having a vendetta against Mayor Ford, the news organization went before the Ontario Press Council and stated its case calmly and clearly. Yesterday, the paper was vindicated.

Sadly, Toronto's chief magistrate is his own worst enemy.  It's about time he took responsibility for his own actions and stopped blaming the media for all his woes.  Mayor Ford should note that all four daily newspapers have called for his resignation, including the Ford friendly Toronto Sun. Thank goodness for a free media.  Without it, how would people learn the truth about their elected representatives?


- Joanne

Robert Louis Stevenson, Lighthouses and Fanny

Robert Louis Stevenson

Lighthouses have always fascinated me.  I had the opportunity to visit many of them when I toured Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula  in the summer of 2001 and I also visited the famous lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia back in the 1990s.  It was, therefore, interesting for me to learn that Robert Louis Stevenson, author of such classics as Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, came from a family of lighthouse designers.  In fact, 14 lighthouses dotting the coast of Scotland were built by Stevenson's ancestors.

Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on November 13, 1850, the only child of Margaret Isabella Balfour, the daughter of a minister of the Church of Scotland, and Thomas Stevenson, a prominent lighthouse engineer.  Thomas's brothers, Alan and David, were also lighthouse builders.

Thomas Stevenson was an expert in optics as applied to the illumination of light houses.  He designed many lighthouses in and around Scotland with his brother David and with David's son, David Alan Stevenson.  A man of great accomplishment, Thomas was also a meteorologist.  He invented the Stevenson screen, an enclosure that shelters meteorological instruments from rain and heat radiation.

Thomas Stevenson (1818-1887)

Robert's paternal grandfather (also named Robert Stevenson) was a civil engineer and the designer of the Bell Rock Lighthouse on the Inchcape, off the coast of Angus, Scotland.  The Bell Rock Lighthouse has the distinction of being the world's oldest sea-washed lighthouse.  The quality of the masonry work on this lighthouse is of of such high standard that it has not been replaced in more than two centuries.  Since 1988, the operation of the Bell Rock Lighthouse has been automated.  Canadians should note, however, that its lamps and reflectors were replaced in 1843 and are now in display in the lighthouse at Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland.

Bust of Robert Stevenson (1772-1850)

Bell Rock Lighthouse

                                                                   Attribution: Derek Robertson


Robert Louis Stevenson was a thin, sickly child.  He suffered from lung ailments and nearly died of gastric fever in 1858.  Despite his ill-health and weak constitution, he frequently accompanied his father on official visits to the lighthouses on the Scottish coast.

At about the age of 18, Stevenson dropped his baptismal names of  "Lewis Balfour" and began referring to himself as "Robert Louis."  His close friends and relatives, however, addressed him as "Louis."  In 1867, he entered the University of Edinburgh with the intention of following the family tradition and becoming a lighthouse engineer.

In 1868, as a student engineer, Robert Louis Stevenson travelled to the Scottish coastal villages of Anstruther and Wick.  Prone to ill health since childhood, Robert was not the most robust fellow. Although he tried to be an engineer, he didn't have the stamina required for the outdoor work. More importantly, his heart was not in it.   His preference was for a career in literature.  He could no longer ignore his passion and his great talent for writing.  Around 1870, much to the disappointment of his father, Stevenson abandoned lighthouse building in order to become a writer.

In Underwoods, his 1887 poetry collection, Stevenson reflects on his decision to turn away from the family tradition.

Say not of me that weakly I declined
The labours of my sires, and fled the sea,
The towers we founded and the lamps we lit,
But rather say: In the afternoon of time
A strenuous family dusted from its hands
The sand of granite, and beholding far
Along the sounding coast its pyramids
And tall memorials catch the dying sun,
Smiled well content, and to this childish task
Around the fire addressed its evening hours.

It is obvious from the these line of poetry that Stevenson did not make light of his decision to leave the family profession.  He even wrote a book called A Family of Engineers in which he chronicled the Stevenson family tradition.  Thomas Stevenson, for his part, accepted his son's wishes with sadness and resignation.

According to Life of Robert Louis Stevenson by Alexander Harvey, "Thomas Stevenson, after his first outburst of natural and profound regret, countenanced the literary ambitions of his only son, and gave up with a sigh his one paternal dream.  Nevertheless, the notion that his Louis should grow into maturity without even a nominal profession - literature being inconceivable as the avowed calling of a respectable person - was opposed to a strict Calvinist’s sense of duty to a son."

In order to placate his father and have a "nominal profession," Stevenson reluctantly switched his area of study to law.  Although admitted to the Scottish bar in 1875, he never actually practised law or became involved in the legal profession.  Instead, he went to France.

It was in Grez-sur-Loing, an art colony south of Paris, that Robert Louis Stevenson met the love of his life. She was an American named Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne whom Alexander Harvey describes as "a small, dark young woman with clear-cut delicate features, and endless sable hair. Indianapolis-born Fanny was the wife Samuel Osbourne, a veteran of the American Civil War. They had married when Fanny was just 17 and had three children, although their son Havey died of tuberculous in Paris on April 5, 1876.  The family eventually settled in Virginia City, Nevada where Samuel began cavorting with saloon girls.

Angry at the repeated infidelities of her husband, Fanny had come to Grez with her two young children, Isobel and Lloyd, to study art.  Stevenson became enamoured with the American. Against the advice of friends and without the knowledge of his family, he urged her to leave her philandering spouse and pursued her relentlessly.  Fanny eventually divorced Osbourne and she and Stevenson wed in San Francisco in May of 1880.  For years, the couple searched in vain for a place to settle that would be conducive to Robert's health.  In 1890, they finally purchased a large estate in Upolu, one of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific.

Fanny 

Robert Louis Stevenson passed away on December 3, 1894 at his home in Vailima, Samoa. While opening a bottle of wine, he collapsed and then died of a probable brain hemorrhage.  He was 44 years old at the time of his death.  His wife Fanny passed away in Santa Barbara, California on February 10, 1914. She was 73 years old at the time of her passing.

Below is s photo of Stevenson's home in Vailima, Samoa, showing him on the veranda.

END NOTES

* Robert Louis Stevenson's stepdaughter Isobel (known as Belle) became a successful playwright. She died in 1953.  His stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, was an novelist who died in California on May 22, 1947 at the age of 79.

* Although Stevenson did not remain in the family profession, he remained deeply affected by lighthouses as is evidenced by the following poem he wrote.

The Light-Keeper
by Robert Louis Stevenson

The brilliant kernel of the night,
The flaming lightroom circles me:
I sit within a blaze of light

Held high above the dusky sea.
Far off the surf doth break and roar
Along bleak miles of moonlit shore,

Where through the tides the tumbling wave
Falls in an avalanche of foam
And drives its churned waters home
Up many an undercliff and cave.


* Author Bella Bathurst has written a book about Robert Louis Stevenson and his family's lighthouse building.  It is titled The Lighthouse Stevensons: The extraordinary story of the building of Scottish Lighthouses by the ancestors of Robert Louis Stevenson.  The hardcover edition was published in 1999 by HarperCollins.  A paperback version came out in 2007.

- Joanne

John F. Kennedy's romance with Danish journalist Inga Arvad

Inga Arvad

Jack saved Inga's letters through the war.  He saved them when he was in Congress.  He saved them when he married Jackie, when he entered the White House, when he had his children.  Inga obviously meant more to him than any other woman he had known, and he visited her with some frequency long after they had broken up.

          - Barbara Gibson and Ted Scharz
          From The Kennedys: The Third Generation


As the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination on November 22, 1963 approaches, the life of the 35th President of the United States is becoming increasingly topical.  I've been reading a book titled The Kennedys: The Third Generation by Barbara Gibson and Ted Schwarz.  Gibson was Rose Kennedy's personal secretary and was privy to the goings-on of three generations of the storied Kennedy clan.  Until I began reading her book, I was completely unaware of JFK's relationship with a suspected Nazi spy named Inga Arvad.  I found myself intrigued and decided to delve further into the story.

Inga Arvad was born Inga Maria Petersen on October 6, 1913 in Copenhagen, Denmark.  In 1931, she changed her last name to Arvad.  The tall, blond journalist was selected a beauty queen by a Danish newspaper and, according to Barbara Gibson, she also "won a beauty contest in France, which she apparently entered for the fun of it."  A well-educated woman, Arvad studied in Brussels, London and Paris.  

Inga was married and divorced before she reached the age of 20.  She wed her first husband, Egyptian diplomat Kamal Abdel Nabi, in 1931 when she was only 17 years old.  Her second husband was Hungarian film director Paul Fejos whom she met while playing a small role in a movie being filmed in Denmark.  They married in 1936.  Inga was still married to Fejos when she travelled to the United States in 1939 and during her affair with John F. Kennedy in 1941 and 1942.  She did not divorce Fejos until June of 1942.

Prior to World War II, Inga Arvad accepted a job as the Berlin correspondent for a Danish newspaper.  As a young journalist, she interviewed Nazi leaders Hermann Göring and Josef Goebbels.  Inga scooped her colleagues by reporting that Göring was soon to wed German actress Emmy Sonnemann.  Inga was a guest at the nuptials which took place on April 10, 1935 and she was introduced to many high level Nazis.  She was even granted interviews with Adolf Hitler.  In 1936, Inga attended the infamous Berlin Olympics and sat in in Hitler's private press box and was photographed with the Nazi leader.  The Führer was reported to have described her as a perfect example of Nordic beauty.  Of Hitler, Inga wrote, "You immediately like him . . . The eyes, showing a kind heart, stare right at you."

Hitler with Inga Arvad

When war broke out in 1939, Inga left Europe and immigrated to the United States.  She first settled in New York where she enrolled in the graduate program at the Columbia University School of Journalism.  She then relocated to Washington, D.C. where she found employment as a syndicated columnist for the Washington Times-Herald profiling government officials.  JFK's elder sister, Kathleen, was also a reporter at the Times-Herald and assisted Inga with her "Did You Happen to See . . ." column.  It was through Kathleen that Jack met the alluring Inga Arvad.

Jack Kennedy was a 24-year-old U.S. Navy ensign and Inga, at 28, was four years his senior. They began a romantic relationship around November of 1941.  When the FBI discovered that Arvad was involved with an American naval officer who was a member of the Kennedy family, they stepped up their investigation of the Scandinavian journalist through wiretapping her telephone, tracking her movements, intercepting her mail and entering her apartment.  At the time, Captain Seymour A.D. Hunter, JFK's superior officer, was quoted as saying that the U.S. Navy regarded Inga Arvad as a Mata Hari.

Inga may have been a Nazi spy but there is no concrete evidence that that was the case.  While it is true that Hitler and his henchmen lavished her with a great deal of attention, Arvad was a society writer and never overtly expressed agreement with Nazi politics.  In fact, she claimed that she despised Hitler's policies and only met him for interviews.  It is possible that the Germans had hoped to persuade her into performing acts of espionage for them and that she refused. According to Barbara Gibson, Inga immediately fled when the Nazis approached her to retrun to Paris and spy for them and that she temporarily left journalism because she feared that her credibility as a reporter was at risk.

The affair between Inga Arvad and Jack Kennedy cooled after January of 1942 when Kennedy was reassigned to a desk job in South Carolina.  By March, when he was sent to active duty in the Pacific with a PT-boat squadron, the writing was on the wall.  They had no chance of a future together.  The Kennedy clan would never accept Arvad as a suitable wife for JFK.  She had already been married twice and was not of the Catholic faith.  Jack required a spouse who would be an asset to his future political career.  That woman, of course, turned out to be Jacqueline Bouvier, who had also worked at the Washington Times-Harold as an "inquiring photographer," snapping on-the-street photos of people and asking them questions about current happenings.

By 1945, Inga had moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a screenwriter for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and occasionally filled in for Hollywood gossip columnist Sheilah Graham.  In May of that year, she became engaged to Robert Boothby, a British Member of Parliament whom she had met in L.A.  Arvad, however, broke off the engagement because she did not want to harm his political career due to her past association Nazis and Hitler's complimentary words about her.

Inga Arvad eventually became a citizen.of the United States and married 55-year-old American cowboy actor Tim McCoy in February of 1947.  McCoy was also an U.S. Army intelligence officer and an authority on American aboriginal folklore and customs.  They met in 1946 when Inga was a fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar magazine.  The couple had two sons, Ronald and Teremce, and remained together until Inga's passing.  

Inga Arvad steadfastly refused to write a book detailing her relationship with John Kennedy. After working with Tim McCoy's travelling rodeo and wagon show, she helped her spouse run a horse farm near Nogales, Arizona. Inga died of cancer at their Nogales ranch in 1973.  She was 60 years old at the time of her death. Her husband, Tim McCoy, passed away on January 29, 1978 at the U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Arizona.  He was 86.  

Inga Arvad and Tim McCoy

END NOTES

* John Kennedy's nickname for Inga Arvad was "Inga Binga."  She called him "Honeysuckle."

* Coincidentally, the full name of Inga Arvad's third husband was Timothy John Fitzgerald McCoy.

* The letters between Inga and JFK are housed in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum just outside of Boston.  Check out the link below.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPP-004-052.aspx


- Joanne

Joanne's Journal: October 6, 2013

JOANNE'S JOURNAL
Edition No. 13


QUOTE OF THE DAY

October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”   

- Rainbow Rowell
From Attachments



ON THIS DAY

The great English novelist, Charlotte Brontë, published her masterpiece, Jane Eyre, on October 6, 1847. The eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived childhood, Charlotte was born on April 12, 1816 in Thornton, West Yorkshire, England.  Her sisters, Anne and Emily, were also novelists and their father, Patrick Brontë, was an Anglican cleric.

In June of 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate.  Soon after the wedding, she became pregnant and her health quickly declined.  She experienced severe nausea and fainted frequently. Charlotte Brontë died with her unborn baby on March 31 1855.  She was 38 years old.

 Charlotte Brontë

Congratulations to country music stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw as they celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary.  The couple were married in Louisiana on October 6, 1996.  They are the parents of three daughters: Gracie Katherine McGraw, Maggie Elizabeth McGraw and Audrey Caroline McGraw

Faith Hill

Hollywood film star Carole Lombard was born on October 6, 1908 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Her real name was Jane Alice Peters.  She is best known for her roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s and for her marriage to Hollywood leading man Clark Gable.  The couple wed on March 29, 1939 during a break from the filming of Gone with the Wind in which Gable starred as Rhett Butler.

If Lombard were still alive, she would be celebrating her 105th birthday today.  Sadly, she died in a plane crash at the age of 33.  The accident occurred on January 16, 1942 while the actress was en route home to California after attending a World War II rally to raise defence bonds in her home state of Indiana.  Her aircraft crashed into Potosi Mountain in Nevada, 32 statute miles (51 km) southwest of Las Vegas.  All passengers on board were killed, including Carole, her mother, Bessie Peters, and Clark Gable's press agent and friend, Otto Winkler.  After Lombard's death, a distraught Gable enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces.

Carole Lombard

Another Hollywood great, Janet Gaynor, was born on October 6, 1906 in the Germantown neighbourhood of northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Her birth name was Laura Augusta Gainor and she became one of the most popular actors of the silent film era.  In 1928, Gaynor earned the distinction of winning the very first Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: : Seventh Heaven (1927), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans(1927) and Street Angel (1928).  She is best known for her starring role in the original 1937 version of A Star is Born opposite Fredric March.

Janet Gaynor was severely injured in a 1982 traffic accident in San Francisco when her taxicab collided with a van driven by a drunk driver.  Gaynor's husband, Paul Gregory, and her friend, actress Mary Martin, were also passengers in the taxicab but were not as seriously injured. Another passenger, Mary Martin's manager Ben Washer, was killed in the crash.  Janet never fully recovered from the accident and died on September 14, 1984 in Palm Springs California at the age of 77.

Janet Gaynor

Famed Victoriann poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson died on October 6, 1892 in Lurgashall, Sussex, England at the age of 83.  Tennyson, the fourth of the twelve children of a clergyman, wrote poetry as a child.  In 1827, he left home in Somersby, Lincolnshire to study at Trinity College, Cambridge University.  At Trinity College, he became involved with an undergraduate literary club called "The Apostles."  The club was led by Arthur Hallum, with whom Tennyson struck up a close friendship.  When Hallam died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage  in 1833, Tennyson was so strongly affected, that he paid tribute to his friend in a lengthy poem called In Memoriam A.H.H.   

In Memoriam A.H.H. was written over a period of 17 years and was completed in 1849.  The poem was a favourite of Queen Victoria and provided great comfort to her after the passing of her husband Prince Albert.  It contains the oft-quoted line, "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all."  

In 1850, after the death of William Wordsworth, Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland.   That same year, he married Emily Sellwood and they had two sons, Hallam and Lionel.

Tennyson

Baseball great Cy Young pitched his final game on October 6, 1911 when he was 44, ending his illustrious 22-season career as a member of the Boston Rustlers.  The game took place at Washington Park in Brooklyn, New York and Young lost the game to the Brooklyn Dodgers.  It was his third loss in a row.

During the span of his career, however, the legendary right-hander recorded an impressive 511 wins.  His 511th and final win took place at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.on September 22, 1911.  He threw a 1-0 shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cy Young died on November 4, 1955 at the age of 88.  Born Denton True Young on a farm in Gilmore, Ohio, Cy played his first professional game for the Cleveland Spiders on August 6, 1890, leading the Spiders to victory over the Chicago White Sox.  Hie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.

Cy Young

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists in Cairo on October 6, 1981 at the annual victory parade.to commemorate Egypt's crossing of the Suez Canal. Fundamentalist army officers dismounted from a troop truck during the parade and three grenades were thrown at Sadat.  Additional assassins dismounted from the truck  and fired their assault rifles into the stands.

The soldiers were carrying out a fatwa approved by Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was later convicted in the United States for his role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  The Egyptian leader was targeted for agreeing to a peace agreement with Israel.

Anwar Sadat won the 1978 Nobel Peace, along with Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin, for negotiating peace agreements between the two nations at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David just outside of Washington.  The Camp David Accords were signed on September 17, 1978 and witnessed by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Born on Christmas Day 1918, in Mit Ab al-Kawm, Egypt, Anwar el-Sadat served in the military before participating in the 1952 military coup that led to the overthrow and exile of King Farouk. He held the office vice president of Egypt before becoming the country's president in 1970.

Sadat

William Keith Kellogg, founder of the W.K. Kellogg Company, the maker of breakfast cereal, died on October 6, 1951.  Kellogg died of heart failure in Battle Creek, Michigan, the place of his birth. He was 91 at the time of his passing.  During the last years of his life, his eyesight failed due to glaucoma.

The son of early Seventh-Day Adventists, young Will quit school at the age of 14 and found employment as a stock boy.  He became a travelling broom salesman in his late teens,  As a young man, he went to work at the Battle Creek Sanitarium (known as the San), where his older brother, John Harvey Kellogg, was physician-in-chief.  Will acted as bookkeeper and manager of the hospital and was in charge of non-medical tasks.

The San was founded on Seventh-Day Adventist principles, one of which is vegetarianism.  For many years, Will assisted his brother in research to improve the vegetarian diet for the patients. One of their goals was to find a digestible substitute for bread.  They accidentally discovered a method of processing cooked grain into flakes when Will, who was experimenting in the San's kitchen, let stand a batch of boiled wheat.  When he returned, the wheat had transformed into flakes.  It was a "eureka" moment.  Wheat flakes and corn flakes were then introduced at the health spa where they proved very popular.

The Kellogg brothers marketed their corn flakes but had a bitter falling out when Will  expressed a desire to add sugar to the flakes to improve their taste.  John Harvey adamantly disagreed because he felt that the sugar was unhealthy.  As a result, the brothers parted ways and Will left the sanitarium at the age of 46.  He entered the cereal business on his own in 1906 when he founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. The company initially produced only toasted cornflakes but eventually branched out into other products.

Kellogg,, a philanthropist, established the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1930 with millions of dollars of his own money.  The foundation donates large amounts to social causes, particularly child welfare,

ROSES AND THORNS

ROSE:  To Bob Newhart, one of my favourite television comedians, for winning his first Emmy Award at the age of 84.  After seven nominations spanning 51 years, Bob finally took home the prize in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Congratulations, Mr. Newhart!

THORNS

THORN: To University of Toronto professor David Gilmour for his remarks during an interview with Hazlitt, an online magazine by Random House Canada. Gilmour told Hazlitt that "I’m not interested in teaching books by women. Virginia Woolf is the only writer that interests me as a woman writer, so I do teach one of her short stories. But once again, when I was given this job I said I would only teach the people that I truly, truly love. Unfortunately, none of those happen to be Chinese, or women."  He also declared that he hasn't found any Canadian literature worth teaching.

Gilmour later apologized for his comments, saying he was joking and that his remarks were taken out of context.  He also claimed that he did not give the interviewer, Emily M. Keele, his full attention because he was talking to a colleague in his office at the same time.  Hazlett, however, has indicated that it stands by Keele's work.

Gilmour's excuses don't cut it.  If he were joking when he made his ridiculous comments, why did he wait until he was under fire to explain and apologize. Furthermore, why would he allow himself to be interviewed while speaking to a colleague at the same time?  The man should know better. He is a Governor General's Awarding-winning author (He won in 2005 prize for English language fiction for his novel A Perfect Night to Go to China).  It is unfortunate that Professor Gilmour has embarrassed both U of T and himself.

THORN: To Texas Senator Ted Cruz and his fellow Tea Party Republicans for leading the disastrous charge to shut down government services in the United States over the debt ceiling. Cruz is on a crusade to prevent Congress from funding the Affordable Health Care Act, which Republicans have dubbed "Obamacare."  Perhaps he and other hard line Tea Partiers are afraid that President Obama's health care initiative will prove to be popular with Americans and that they will not want to give it up.

Cruz, 42, is the son of a Cuban oilman and an American mother, was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Perhaps he should look to the country of his birth.  He should ask Canadians if they would be willing to give up their provincial health cards, especially those who can't afford to pay for hefty medical bills.  Rest assured that not very many would want to expose themselves to financial ruin if they or or a family member should suffer from a debilitating illness or injury.

Ted Cruz is apparently eyeing a 2016 bid for the presidency.  If he should ever win, our neighbour to the south will find itself in dire straights.

Ted Cruz

RIDDLE ME THIS

What did the bull say to his child as the boy left for school?

ANSWER:

Bye, son.

HOCKEY

Patrick Roy is sure stirring things up as the new coach of the Colorado Avalanche.  Roy had a tremendous career as a goalie for the Montreal Canadiens and the Avalanche.  If he's going to a successful NHL coach, however, he's going to have to control that legendary temper of  his.  Otherwise, he's going to be facing many fines and suspensions in the future.  The hall of famer doesn't have to give up his passionate nature. He just has to modify his behaviour somewhat.


BASEBALL

I only wish the Toronto Blue Jays were in post-season play this year.  It was however, another lost year for my favourite baseball team.  I don't know how the marketing strategists will sell this team for the 2014 season.  Fans feel disappointed and let down.  The Jays have not been in postseason  play since 1993 - 20 long years.

To his credit, GM Alex Anthopoulos tried wheeling and dealing to produce a winning team.  He tossed the dice and threw snake eyes.  I don't question A.A.'s effort.  I question his judgement.  He should be allowed one more season to get it right.  As for his trades last winter, I wish he had stopped after the Miami deal.  The Jays would certainly be a better team with Travis D'Arnaud as their catcher than the newly betrothed J.P. Arencibia.  I wish J.P. the best with his coming marriage to country singer Kimberly Perry but I hope he winds up with another team.  A fresh start closer to his Tennessee home would probably invigorate his career and allow the Blue Jays to find a replacement.

* What's with the long beards on so many baseball players, especially those on the Boston Red Sox?  I guess it's a gimmick or a way to draw attention to themselves.  I can't believe that they genuinely think the Smith Brothers - ZZ Top look is attractive.

* Who do I want to win the World Series this year?  I'm cheering for the Detroit Tigers.  They haven't won the Fall Classic since 1984 under then-manager Sparky Anderson.

*  It's no wonder that Major League Baseball is falling behind in popularity to NFL and college football in the United States.  In order to accommodate television, the postseason games finish so late that children can not stay late enough to watch the later innings of the games.  If there are extra innings, some of the most exciting moments are lost to youngsters.  Baseball may be making a great deal of revenue from television advertising but it is forfeiting the next generation of fans.


- Joanne