In this issue: Re: Wicker Man Re: Novels with two endings Conference: Literature, Film and Modernity, 1880-1940 CHAT: Curious Facts Re: CHAT: Curious Facts Re: CHAT: Curious Facts Map of Verne's Mysterious Island Re: Great Expectations, once more Re: CHAT: Curious Facts Re: CHAT: Curious Facts Re: CHAT: Curious Facts Re: CHAT: Curious Facts Today in History -- Dec 18 <FWD> Just wondering Re: <FWD> Just wondering Re: <FWD> Just wondering Older Books & Ghost Stories Today in History -- Dec 19 Re: Today in History -- Dec 19 Query on Elizabeth Walter OBIT: Gloria Caruso Murray 'Old Lady Mary': A Ghost Story Re: 'Old Lady Mary': A Ghost Story -----------------------------THE POSTS----------------------------- Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 01:26:39 -0800 From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: Wicker Man Though I have many good friends who would echo Simon's and others' praise, I found this film silly, stupid, and pointless. Once we know that there's a cult on the isle--and if you can't see that quickly enough, you haven't been watching enough bad films--what the point in seeing the policeman trapped? Very little suspense--the feeble attempt of making him into a religiously sexually repressed authority figure was TRULY ORIGINAL. This struck me as another dubious film in which A ===> A1 is the plot. Jack Kolb Dept. of English, UCLA kolb(at)ucla.edu
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 01:32:40 -0800
From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Novels with two endings
Though I don't want to get into a discussion of this here, there IS no
satisfactory ending to Great Expectations {grin}. Just consider this not
so simple question: does Pip DESERVE Estella at the end of the novel?
Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu
>One of the most famous novels of our era, Dickens's _Great Expectations_,
>has two endings. In the first ending Pip and Estella meet by chance.
>Estella is in her carriage and sees Pip walking along with Joe and Biddy's
>son. She assumes the boy belongs to Pip and that Pip is married. The two
>part, somewhat amiably but with the clear understanding (on the part of
>both readers and characters) that they will not meet again.
>
>Enter Edward Bulwer-Lytton (a writer we know well both for his glory and
>his literary pap). Bulwer-Lytton convinced Dickens that his audience
>would never go for an ending that saw Pip and Estella part for good. So
>Dickens produced another ending in which the two meet at the
>ruins of Satis House, Miss Havisham's old house, where they first met.
>The conversation between them provides for an ambiguous ending, with
>Estella insisting that they "will continue friends, apart" whereas Pip
>says, in what is possibly the most gorgeous concluding line in all of
>Dickens, "...I could not see the shadow of another parting from her." In
>other words, Dickens tries to have his cake and eat it, too--hinting at
>his original ending through Estella and leaving readers with the
>possibility of an eventual union in Pip's last line.
>
>Since _Great Expectations_ is, to a great extent, about partings, the
>first ending makes more sense; but the second ending is one of the best
>pieces of writing Dickens ever did. I have to go with the second, though
>somewhat uncomfortable with it.
>
>The Penguin edition of _Great Expectations_ has both endings (the original
>in an appendix).
>
>Bob C.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 18:22:11 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
From: Chris Willis <c.willis(at)bbk.ac.uk>
Subject: Conference: Literature, Film and Modernity, 1880-1940
LITERATURE, FILM AND MODERNITY, 1880-1940
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON INSTITUTE OF ENGLISH STUDIES
13-15 JANUARY 2000
Venue:
Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
Conference Fee:
three days 60 pounds (30) / one day 25 pounds (12.50)
Programme Details:
http://www.chriswillis.freeserve.co.uk/filmconf.htm
PLENARIES:
Giuliana Bruno, 'Atlas of the Flesh: Journeys in Film and Architecture'
Thomas Elsaesser, 'City of Lights, Gardens of Delight: Cinema and the Urban
Space of Utopian Modernism'
Tom Gunning, 'Early Cinema and the Attractions of Modernity'
SESSIONS INCLUDING:
Ian Christie and Deac Rossell on Film Pioneers
Lynda Nead and Lindsay Smith on Art, Photography and Film
Ian Bell on Literary Spectatorship
Steven Connor on Sound and Film
Andrew Gibson on Film and Phenomenology
Ginette Vincendeau on the Cinematic City
Laura Mulvey and Philip Horne on Magic and Memory
Graeme Gilloch on Benjamin, Film and Cultural Memory
Charles Barr on Early Documentary
BOOKINGS: ies(at)sas.ac.uk
ENQUIRIES: d.l.parsons(at)bham.ac.uk
DETAILS AND BOOKING FORM: http://www.chriswillis.freeserve.co.uk/filmconf.htm
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:36:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: CHAT: Curious Facts
Since we're lolligagging around here near the holidays, I thought the
following list might entertain some Gaslighters.
I can't vouce for the validity of the information presented. I'm
especially doubtful about the assertion that the name "Wendy" was made up
for _Peter Pan_. I've always assumed that Wendy is a nickname for
Gwendolyn. Does anyone know for sure?
Bob C. (wondering why any man would _want_ Estella, much less deserve
her!)
> > >
> > >The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." uses
> > >every letter in the alphabet. (Developed by Western Union to Test
> > >telex/twx communications)
> > >
> > >In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
> > >
> > >Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.
> > >
> > >A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.
> > >
> > >The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a
> > >letter is uncopyrightable.
> > >
> > >Did you know that there are coffee flavored PEZ?
> > >
> > >The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of
> > >yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were
> > >stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight
> > >staircases.
> > >
> > >The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie." (Thus
> > >the name of the Don McLean song.)
> > >
> > >Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from
> > >history. Spades - King David; Clubs - Alexander the Great;
> > >Hearts -Charlemagne; and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
> > >
> > >111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
> > >
> > >Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people
> > >without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the
> > >expression "to get fired."
> > >
> > >Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July
> > >4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on
> > >August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
> > >
> > >The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the
> > >Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber
> > >machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being
> > >loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a
target,
> it
> > >got "the whole 9 yards."
> > >
> > >Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes
> > >them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
> > >
> > >The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law
> > >which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider
than
> > >your thumb.
> > >
> > >An ostrich's eye is bigger that it's brain.
> > >
> > >The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
> > >
> > >The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every
> > >five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as
> > >airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
> > >
> > >The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the
> "General
> > >Purpose" vehicle, G.P.
> > >
> > >The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as
> > >is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia
> > >still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities
> > >for blacks and whites.
> > >
> > >Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.
> > >
> >
> > >The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point
> > >in Colorado.
> > >
> > >Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.
> > >
> > >If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have
$1.19.
> > >You also have the largest amount of money in coins
> > >without being able to make change for a dollar.
> > >
> > >No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has
> > >ever won a Super bowl.
> > >
> > >The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To
> > >Beaver".
> > >
> > >The only two days of the year in which there are no professional
> > >sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and
> > >the day after the Major League All-Star Game.
> > >
> > >Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
> > >
> > >The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan."
> > >
> > >In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting
> > >license.
> > >
> > >It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a
> > >year's supply of footballs.
> > >
> > >Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating
> > >are already married.
> > >
> > >Pound for pound, hamburgers cost more than new cars.
> > >
> > >The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola,
> > >and Budweiser, in that order.
> > >
> > >It's possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
> > >
> > >Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of
> > >their hands.
> > >
> > >Ten percent of the Russian government's income comes from the
> > >sale of vodka.
> > >
> > >On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every
> > >year.
> > >
> > >In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the
> > >world's nuclear weapons combined.
> > >
> > >Reno, Nevada is west of Los Angeles, California.
> > >
> > >Average age of top GM executives in 1994: 49.8 years.
> > >Average age of the Rolling Stones: 50.6.
> > >
> > >Elephants can't jump. Every other mammal can.
> > >
> > >The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
> > >
> > >Five Jell-O flavors that flopped: celery, coffee, cola, apple,
> > >and chocolate.
>
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
The real trouble with walking a long ways is that
you usually have to walk back.
Jim Harrison.
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 14:44:20 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)alice.gloaming.com> Subject: Re: CHAT: Curious Facts > I've always assumed that Wendy is a nickname for >Gwendolyn. Does anyone know for sure? The only nicname I've heard for Gwendolyn is "Gwen". But I have never understood the logic of some nicknames like "Peggy" for Margaret. Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:05:18 -0600 From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu> Subject: Re: CHAT: Curious Facts At least half of these curious "facts" have been debunked at one time or another by my favorite Urban Legends site, http://snopes.simplenet.com Kiwi
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 15:52:30 -0700
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Map of Verne's Mysterious Island
Jack S.,
I haven't read the novel, some I'm only guessing that I've found a map for
you. If you follow the URL below, and you think this is the genuine goods, I'll
see what I can do about getting a better scan mounted on the WWW.
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/images/lincoln.jpg
I took this from a photocopy of an edtion by Librairie Hachette, which was
part of the series: Les Voyages extraordinaires (date?). Even on my photocopy,
the legends aren't very clear. The copious illustrations in the book, and hence
the map of Lincoln Island, we'll assume, are by J. Ferat.
Stephen D
mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
Jack wrote:
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 13:08:09 -0500
From: Jack Skoda <jskoda(at)lucentctc.com>
Subject: A map of 'The Mysterious Island'
Hi folks,
Does anyone have a map of the Mysterious Island from
Mr Verne's novel of the same name? I have been surfing
and searching the Vernes web sites with little luck
- - --
- - -- Jack Skoda <jskoda(at)sover.net>
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 15:10:32 -0800 From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: Great Expectations, once more >Bob C. (wondering why any man would _want_ Estella, much less deserve >her!) But perhaps Pip does, Bob (on the "be careful what you ask for" principle). In another words, final just punishment for his expectations. But (and with this novel's ending there is always a "But" or an "And what about") hasn't Pip been punished enough? And what about Estella: has she been punished justly (or unjustly) for her "sins"? And how can she have possibly changed enough to qualify for redemption, whether alone or with Pip? As I said, there is no satisfactory ending for this novel. Jack Kolb Dept. of English, UCLA kolb(at)ucla.edu
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 18:15:43 -0500 (EST) From: jim010(at)webtv.net Subject: Re: CHAT: Curious Facts At least half of these curious "facts" have been debunked at one time or another by my favorite Urban Legends site, http://snopes.simplenet.com Kiwi One of the most interesting sites I have seen on the internet. Thanks very much. This list continually posts interesting links. Jim in Florida
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 15:37:02 -0800 From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU> Subject: Re: CHAT: Curious Facts >At least half of these curious "facts" have been debunked at one time or >another by my favorite Urban Legends site, http://snopes.simplenet.com >Kiwi > >One of the most interesting sites I have seen on the internet. Thanks >very much. This list continually posts interesting links. > >Jim in Florida "snopes" posts regularly, and always with good insight, to the SKEPTIC list. Jack Kolb Dept. of English, UCLA kolb(at)ucla.edu
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 18:39:19 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: CHAT: Curious Facts
Kiwi sez:
> At least half of these curious "facts" have been debunked at one time or
> another by my favorite Urban Legends site, http://snopes.simplenet.com
Don't just leave it at that, Kiwi. Tell us which half. <g>.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
The real trouble with walking a long ways is that
you usually have to walk back.
Jim Harrison.
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 21:07:14 -0900 From: Robert Raven <rraven(at)alaska.net> Subject: Re: CHAT: Curious Facts Chris Carlisle wrote: > > At least half of these curious "facts" have been debunked at > one time or another by my favorite Urban Legends site, > http://snopes.simplenet.com > > Kiwi Half? Looking down the list, including easily verifiable items like those comprising mathematics and geography, it's hard to believe "half" of these are erroneous. Although I'd like to see a manatee jump. And a fair number of the states in the union qualify as places where the highest point is lower than the lowest point in Colorado (e.g., Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, Minnesota, Wisconsin). As a little known fact, established about twenty years ago, the highest point in the state of Iowa is a hog lot owned (then, at least) by a farmer named Merrill Sterler. Bob Raven
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Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 00:16:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Today in History -- Dec 18
Interesting things that happened December 18th:
Birthdays on this date:
In 1779 Joseph Grimaldi, English pantomimist, "greatest clown in history"
In 1786 Carl Maria von Weber, German Romantic composer
In 1861 Edward MacDowell, composer
In 1879 Paul Klee, Swiss abstract painter
In 1886 Ty Cobb, baseball great (played in 3000 games, batted .367, stole
892 bases)
In 1888 Robert Moses, power broker (built Long Island and NYC parks and
roads)
In 1890 Edwin Armstrong, radio pioneer (invented FM)
In 1910 Abe Burrows, Broadway impresario
In 1913 Willy Brandt (SD), chancellor of West Germany (1969-74) (Nobel '71)
In 1916 Betty Grable (in St. Louis, MO), actress
In 1917 Lynn Bari, actress
+ Ossie Davis
Events worth noting:
In 1787 New Jersey becomes the third state.
In 1813 British take Fort Niagara in the War of 1812.
In 1849 William Bond obtains first photograph of moon through a telescope.
In 1865 13th Amendment ratified, slavery abolished.
In 1898 Auto speed record set -- 63 kph.
In 1899 George Grant wins patent for his golf tee.
In 1915 President Wilson, widowed the year before, marries Edith Bolling
Galt.
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Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 18:21:22 -0700
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: <FWD> Just wondering
Here's a message which unfortunately bounced to me instead of being distributed
to listmembers because it contained the word "Sub/scribe"
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 12:18:15 -0600
From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
Subject: Just Wondering
I have been in full-blown GASLIGHT mode for the last few weeks,
re-reading _Lorna Doone_ and reading for the first time (blush) _Vanity Fair_
and _Henry Esmond_ (which surprised me by being an adventure novel).
This led me to wonder of my fellow Gaslighters....when did you first get
hooked on this period and style? As opposed to more contemporary stuff, of
course. Do you folks distinguish the periods or sub-scribe to the "a good book
is a good book" line of thought? When did you first realize that other readers
were not as comfortable as you in the act of reading Victorian/Edwardian era
popular lit?
James
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Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 20:58:58 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: <FWD> Just wondering
> From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
>
> This led me to wonder of my fellow Gaslighters....when did you first
>get hooked on this period and style? As opposed to more contemporary
>stuff, of course.
For some reason I've _always_ been fascinated with the nineteenth century,
even as a kid when I would read about people like Kit Carson, and later
find myself immersed in the world of Robert Louis Stevenson. For a long
time, however, I put such stories behind me and became involved, with that
teenager's passion that never comes again once one enters adulthood, in
the novels and stories of Thomas Wolfe. It was later in college that I
turned back fully to the nineteenth century.
>Do you folks distinguish the periods or sub-scribe to
the "a good book
> is a good book" line of thought?
Being pretty old fashioned, I definitely note the period and try to bring
to bear on my reading what I know of the time. This is true whether I'm
reading an Elizabethan poem, an eighteenth-century novel, or a
twentieth-century play. I don't, however, belong to that group that says,
"If I like it, it's a good book." I like many things, in books and other
areas of life, that I know aren't the best, and sometimes not even the
good. On the other hand, some of the stuff that's considered very good
indeed is not work that I particularly admire. Perhaps I will eventually
get to the point where I do admire it, as I have with books by many fine
authors whom I first read, and disliked, because I was too young and
naive for the experience.
When did you first realize that other readers
> were not as comfortable as you in the act of reading Victorian/Edwardian era
> popular lit?
>
I've never noticed it particularly, though most people who don't like the
popular writings during this period don't like the books in the period's
literary canon either. It wasn't until I got into college and saw the
results of specialization that I began to realize that some folks much
prefer the Middle Ages or the twentieth century.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
The real trouble with walking a long ways is that
you usually have to walk back.
Jim Harrison.
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 21:00:44 -0500 (EST) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: <FWD> Just wondering In a message dated 12/19/99 1:24:05 AM, James writes: << Do you folks distinguish the periods or sub-scribe to the "a good book is a good book" line of thought? When did you first realize that other readers were not as comfortable as you in the act of reading Victorian/Edwardian era popular lit? >> Think I'm in the "good book" tribe, since most of what I read is contemporary, especially SciFi/Fantasy... First realized that everyone didn't read Victorian lit for pleasure when a book-seller from whom I had bought a paperback edition of Vanity Fair asked me for coffee when he discovered I was reading it for pleasure (as opposed to a school assignment). Was a nice romance, too. smiling, phoebe
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Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 22:55:54 +0001 From: Ellen Moody <Ellen2(at)JimandEllen.org> Subject: Older Books & Ghost Stories I'll answer the question from another perspective and say it was not until I was in my twenties that I discovered that to many people it is odd to read books which are older, books not written in this century or in the last fifty years. I never knew that before I began graduate school and started to teach. When I was young I had a way of assuming my tastes must be just like everyone else's -- and I always loved to read older books. Maybe nowadays I do prefer older fictions to very recent (post World War II) 20th century fictions, though again not all. I am an A. S. Byatt fan. I like Bobbie Ann Mason. And other recent novelists. Still for the 20th century I often like non-fiction best (essays, travel books, books of letters, historical narrative). I have just finished teaching a course in which I assigned more than half the stories that appear in J. A. Cuddon's _Penguin Book of Ghost Stories_. I would say most of these are older stories: about half are Victorian, another quarter Edwardian and pre World War II. I have assigned this anthology before, and once again I discovered that many students could read these older ghost stories and enter into them more easily than they can older more realistic stories of the same length; they can write about them more easily too. On the other hand, fewer students write well about ghost stories. They have this rooted tendency to write about stories as if they were moral lessons: we learn here this [socially-upright lesson]; we learn here that [morally upbeat-lesson]. They have learned that will do, pass muster with most teachers, for realistic stories, which lend themselves to these exegeses. But ghost stories don't, and it jars to read about how we learn to control our temper when we read Ambrose Bierce's 'The Moonlit Road'. To see them go at ghost stories this way and with such ease, points out the absurdity of the way people often talk about fiction, whether realistic or fantastic. Not that all the students did this: some did talk about atmosphere, some about what I'll call metaphysical issues (I can't think of a more casual word just now). Some talked about the dark nature of ghosts, how the human beings were victimised maliciously, playfully by the ghosts (or the author), about ghost stories as an internal struggle, as about isolation and seclusion from others. Cheers to all, Ellen Moody
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Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 01:28:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Today in History -- Dec 19
Interesting things that happened December 19th:
Birthdays on this date:
In 1790 Sir William Perry, British Arctic explorer
In 1821 Mary Ashton Livermore, American reformer, women's suffrage leader
In 1849 Henry Clay Frick, industrialist; worked for Carnegie
In 1865 Minnie Maddern Fiske, American stage actress
In 1906 H. Allen Smith, author
+ Leonid Brezhnev (in Ukraine), Soviet statesman
Events worth noting:
In 1842 United States recognized independence of Hawaii.
In 1861 Battle of Black Water.
In 1889 Bishop Museum founded in Hawaii.
In 1907 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Penn.
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Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 07:45:58 -0500 (EST) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: Today in History -- Dec 19 In a message dated 12/19/99 6:29:04 AM, rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu writes: << In 1865 Minnie Maddern Fiske, American stage actress >> A most under-appreciated actress. She did a lot for the American theatre -- did Ibsen when it wasn't particularly fashionable, fought against the syndicate when it was gobbling up theatres/wrecking careers. She spoke out against the killing of birds to adorn women's hats (egrets especially, since the nuptial plumage was used), and the wearing of furs. Normally a rather private person, her crusade against the egret slaughter helped to bring up legislation that protected migratory birds. So she is partly to thank for the fact that the USA still has the snowy egret. best phoebe
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Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 12:20:35 +0001 From: Ellen Moody <Ellen2(at)JimandEllen.org> Subject: Query on Elizabeth Walter Before I put my notes away on my course called The Emergence of the Gothic from the Realistic and Romantic (until this coming summer when I am scheduled to teach it again), I thought I'd ask the members of this list if they know anything about Elizabeth Walter -- or if she is another writer whom I can find out about in _The Penguin_ or _St James's_ guides. There is a small amount of information on her available on a CD-Rom compilation on 'Contemporary Authors' (Gale Research). From that I learnt Elizabeth Walter was born England, worked for a publishing firm, Harper Collins in the 1960s, and has been a publisher editor of a mystery series called _Collins Crime Club_. She translates from the French and was awarded a coveted prize for her translation of Claire Gallois's French novel, known in English as _A Scent of Lillies_. Her last publication was in 1991 a collection of short stories called _Homeward Bound_. With my class I read 'Come and Get Me' a memorable and chilling piece in an old-fashioned vein: it is set in a haunted house; the experience of the ghost is corroborated, not something which could be psychological (it ends on an embrace between the ghost as a skeleton and the man he claims destroyed his existence in life); it presents a paradigm of evil, guilt and justice which is shot through with doubt because the ghost could be lying and malicious. This is a throw-back to pre-World War One stories, is far more 'Victorian' in its explicitness than anything in M. R James. It is set up as a detective story (one of the characters takes it upon himself to investigate the strange phenomenon). It came out in 1973 in a volume called _Come and Get Me and Other Uncanny Encounters (showing someone understood the power of this story). Other volume names by her include _Snowfall, and Other Chlling Events_, 1965; _Dead Woman, and Other Haunting Experiences_, 1976; _In the Mist, and Other Uncanny Encounters_, 1979. She is not mentioned in any of the good scholarly books on ghost and other gothic stories I have read. Ellen Moody
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Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 16:07:48 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: OBIT: Gloria Caruso Murray
Below is a recent obit that carries us back to the second decade of this
quickly fading century.
Bob C.
Gloria Caruso Murray
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Gloria Caruso Murray, a visual artist who was
the last surviving child of opera tenor Enrico Caruso, died Dec. 5 of
cancer. She was 79.
As a child, Gloria Caruso tried to live up to the musical world's hopes
that she had inherited her father's vocal abilities. Her mother was
Dorothy Benjamin, the daughter of a wealthy New York attorney, who created
a stir by marrying Caruso in 1918.
Only hours after his daughter's birth on Dec. 18, 1919, Caruso tossed the
girl into the air, peered into her mouth and announced, ``Ah, she has the
vocal cords, just like her Daddy!'' according to a New York Times report
at the time. Caruso died 1 1/2 years later.
His daughter made her first record at the age of 8, then, as an
11-year-old, made a test recording for the RCA Victor label and took
singing lessons from renowned tenor John McCormack.
Over the years, though, it became apparent that Mrs. Murray did not have
the voice to follow her father. In 1942, she told a reporter that she was
studying art at the Art Students League in New York and that she had come
to prefer the visual arts to music.
``I've always been torn between art and music,'' she said. ``Daddy drew
and sculptured as a hobby.''
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
The real trouble with walking a long ways is that
you usually have to walk back.
Jim Harrison.
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
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Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 17:42:15 +0001 From: Ellen Moody <Ellen2(at)JimandEllen.org> Subject: 'Old Lady Mary': A Ghost Story I am taking the liberty of cross-posting this on Gaslight. On Trollope-l we are reading stories for Christmas and I thought people on this list might like to know about this one and its relation to Dickens's _A Christmas Carol_. I include a full descripton of the above wintry ghostly story. *IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ITS ENDING, DON'T READ ON*. The ending is the point of the piece and I cannot describe it rationally or comment on it without telling the ending*. ************************************ 'Old Lady Mary' could be seen as a reversal of Dickens's _A Christmas Carol_. In brief a very old lady, 'Old Lady Mary', who is very rich and alone, takes the daughter of a distant cousin, nearly a child, without anyone else to turn to, into her house, is all that can be loving and tender and good to her as she brings her up. She is told that she must make a will out which will leave her money to young Mary, but cannot get herself to do it. She cannot, however, face the reality she will die, has always herself been sheltered, resents advice, is playful. So she writes a codicil and hides it away. She dies, and the young girl is left desolate. The story takes us through the young girl's fear, loss, humiliations at the hands of the family who takes over her guardian's house -- they don't mean to hurt her, but they put her in her place. The action of the story is that eventually the codicil is found, but that is not what the focus is on; in fact the finding of this codicil is not dramatised, something we hear of as an epilogue to the story. What is effective is the story is told from the point of view of Old Lady Mary before and at length after she has died. Her presence is felt but the human beings act towards her frivolously, foolishly; Oliphant has some fun gently mocking the way ghosts are treated in stories. The curious effect is to make us believe in Lady Mary as a ghost; to take her seriously. This is no silly story for people who want titillation or reassurance. These are besides the point to Lady Mary. It is poignant because the woman wants more than to compensate; she wants to retrieve, to make up for past mistakes, and finds she cannot make genuine contact in the way she wishes. The climax of the story is in a obscure but precisely described vision of the young girl. From all her troubles and the disquiet and upset the young girl experiences, she grows ill, and for a split second thinks she sees Lady Mary who thinks she is seen. In that moment the girl holds out her hand and Lady Mary feels she has been forgiven, and need no nothing more. That's it. A sense they were face to face. The last line of the story is 'Everything is included in pardon and love'. It's very delicately done. I hadn't noticed all the wintry imagery before. Scenes of snow, of darkness, ice abound. I simply thought the weather appropriate, but now realise this was a story written for Christmas. The movement of Lady Mary's consciousness as she realises she is dead is grave and real; throughout we are in a woman- centered point of view. As we all know the ghosts make contact with Scrooge, and it is not a matter of chance that he retrieves himself, is re-formed and the story ends in pardon and love. Dickens in comparison lays it on thick, and the parable is comforting. This one much less so. The point is made by throwing away the finding of the codicil and not connecting it all Lady Mary's sometimes comical efforts that one cannot depend on any retrieval of what's lost, any justice. Old Lady Mary' was itself not printed in a December/January number -- as were 'The Open Door', 'Lady's Walk', 'Portrait', 'Land of Darkness' (a powerful description of the worlds of the afterlife), and 'The Library Window'. It was first printed with these after a couple of them had been somewhat revised and expanded in a collection called _Stories of the Seen and Unseen_. I have not read them all, but 'The Open Door' and Earthbound' make a strong use of the world of winter: ice, snow, and the natural world outside the warmth of the probable and society are important to the effect of the tales. Nonetheless 'Old Lady Mary' seems to me clearly to belong to the set as a story for winter and Christmas even if Margaret Oliphant never did place it on its own. Cheers to all, Ellen Moody
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Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 17:53:58 -0800 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: 'Old Lady Mary': A Ghost Story In what books can you find "Old Lady Mary" today? Marta Ellen Moody wrote: > > I am taking the liberty of cross-posting this on Gaslight. > On Trollope-l we are reading stories for Christmas and > I thought people on this list might like to know about > this one and its relation to Dickens's _A Christmas > Carol_. I include a full descripton of the above wintry ghostly > story. *IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ITS ENDING, > DON'T READ ON*. The ending is the point of the piece and > I cannot describe it rationally or comment on it without > telling the ending*. > > ************************************ > > 'Old Lady Mary' could be seen as a reversal of Dickens's _A > Christmas Carol_. In brief a very old lady, 'Old Lady Mary', > who is very rich and alone, takes the daughter of a distant > cousin, nearly a child, without anyone else to turn to, > into her house, is all that can be loving and tender and good > to her as she brings her up. She is told that she must make > a will out which will leave her money to young Mary, but cannot > get herself to do it. She cannot, however, face the reality > she will die, has always herself been sheltered, resents > advice, is playful. So she writes a codicil and hides it away. > She dies, and the young girl is left desolate. The story > takes us through the young girl's fear, loss, humiliations > at the hands of the family who takes over her guardian's > house -- they don't mean to hurt her, but they put her in > her place. The action of the story is that eventually the > codicil is found, but that is not what the focus is on; in > fact the finding of this codicil is not dramatised, something > we hear of as an epilogue to the story. What is effective > is the story is told from the point of view of Old Lady Mary > before and at length after she has died. Her presence is > felt but the human beings act towards her frivolously, foolishly; > Oliphant has some fun gently mocking the way ghosts are > treated in stories. The curious effect is to make us believe > in Lady Mary as a ghost; to take her seriously. This is > no silly story for people who want titillation or reassurance. > These are besides the point to Lady Mary. It is poignant > because the woman wants more than to compensate; > she wants to retrieve, to make up for past mistakes, and > finds she cannot make genuine contact in the way she > wishes. The climax of the story is in a obscure but precisely > described vision of the young girl. From all her troubles and > the disquiet and upset the young girl experiences, she grows > ill, and for a split second thinks she sees Lady Mary who > thinks she is seen. In that moment the girl holds out her > hand and Lady Mary feels she has been forgiven, and need > no nothing more. That's it. A sense they were face to face. > The last line of the story is 'Everything is included in pardon > and love'. > > It's very delicately done. I hadn't noticed all the wintry > imagery before. Scenes of snow, of darkness, ice abound. > I simply thought the weather appropriate, but now realise > this was a story written for Christmas. The movement > of Lady Mary's consciousness as she realises she is > dead is grave and real; throughout we are in a woman- > centered point of view. > > As we all know the ghosts make contact with Scrooge, > and it is not a matter of chance that he retrieves himself, > is re-formed and the story ends in pardon and love. Dickens > in comparison lays it on thick, and the parable is comforting. > This one much less so. The point is made by throwing > away the finding of the codicil and not connecting it all > Lady Mary's sometimes comical efforts that one cannot > depend on any retrieval of what's lost, any justice. > > Old Lady Mary' was itself not printed in a December/January > number -- as were 'The Open Door', 'Lady's Walk', > 'Portrait', 'Land of Darkness' (a powerful description of > the worlds of the afterlife), and 'The Library Window'. It > was first printed with these after a couple of them > had been somewhat revised and expanded in a > collection called _Stories of the Seen and Unseen_. I have > not read them all, but 'The Open Door' and Earthbound' > make a strong use of the world of winter: ice, snow, > and the natural world outside the warmth of the probable > and society are important to the effect of the tales. > Nonetheless 'Old Lady Mary' seems to me clearly to > belong to the set as a story for winter and Christmas > even if Margaret Oliphant never did place it on its own. > > Cheers to all, > Ellen Moody - -- Marta "The Graveyards of Omaha" http://members.xoom.com/martadawes "The New Twilight Zone" http://members.xoom.com/newtwilzone ------------------------------ End of Gaslight Digest V1 #123 ******************************