A DAY WITH THE DEAD
My friend Paul Buckhout invited me to tour Brooklyn’s venerable Green-Wood Cemetery with him. How could I say no?
History
LOOKOUT
Last Thursday Ginny and I visited Kykuit, the spectacular, art-stuffed Rockefeller residence in Pocantico Hills. High on a hill above the Hudson–Kykuit is a Dutch name for lookout–the 1913 house is an amazing combination of Gilded Age splendor muted by the Baptist reticence of its first builder and resident John D. Rockefeller, then adorned first …
RED TAPE
Buzz Aldrin’s Travel Voucher for his trip to the moon in 1969
THE HORROR
These are hardly the most terrible pictures that emerged from 9/11, not by a long shot. And yet for images that live at that messy nexus between culpability and helplessness, it’s hard to beat these images that were taken at the White House on that awful, awful day.
THE LOST CAUSE, AT LONG LAST LOST
This morning, South Carolina finally removed the Confederate flag from the grounds of its statehouse. At long last, he rebel flag has finally fallen. Not everywhere, of course. But to see it go down here, in the cradle of rebellion, means one thing: it has lost its power to enthrall and intimidate. The cause is …
THAT WAS THE VERY LIBERAL WEEK THAT WAS
Sometimes it seems as though weeks go by without nary an event worth introducing into conversation. And then sometimes news–and not merely news, but huge historical events–come rolling in like thunder. One such period occurred during the last week in June. On Monday the 22nd, responding to the murder days before of nine people who …
TONIGHT! FINAL AREA APPEARANCE!
Until we can set up another. . .
GERMANY 1919
The internet is full of the most extraordinary treasures. Here is an extraordinary photograph, taken in Germany in 1919, showing a young communist a moment before his execution. Such poise! Such defiance! Amazing.
WOLF HALL WEEKEND
Neither Ginny nor I are prone to tout our own abilities, but there are some things we can do, and that’s all there is to it. As it happens, one of them is sitting. Like Will Sonnet, the old TV character played by Walter Brennan put it. “No brag, just fact.” Not that we won’t pee …
“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED”
Thanks to Patrick E. Purcell, who gave Commander Will Cushing a terrific review in Civil War News. “With a skillful account of the Cushing brothers’ careers,” says Purcell, “Jamie Malanowski has created a well-written and often thrilling story that is as engaging as an action novel. His book is highly recommended.” Thanks, too, to Rea Andrew …