Patrick Kerin

One of Wendell Berry's first books. JFK---killed in Dallas sixty years ago.

Wendell Berry’s Elegy for John F. Kennedy: “November Twenty Six Nineteen Hundred Sixty Three.” It is fifty-one years now since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. It was one of the greatest shocks the American people have ever experienced, one of those beautiful sunl…

Eugene Debs was born on November 5, 1855 in Terre Haute, Indiana. This piece focuses on a portrait of Debs by novelist John Dos Passos in his "U.S.A" trilogy.

John Dos Passos on Eugene Debs: “Lover of Mankind” The novelist John Dos Passos (1896-1970) gave us one of the great fictional treatments of the United States coming of age during the early twentieth century in his trilogy U.S.A., which consists of…

Eugene Debs was born November 5, 1855 in Indiana.

A Free Soul Bound For Jail: Eugene Debs Speaks in Canton, Ohio–June 16, 1918 June 16, 1918 was a warm summer day in Canton, Ohio. The Socialist Party of Ohio had gathered in the city for its yearly convention. On this day, in Nimisilla Park, the speaker was arguably the bes…

Eugene Debs was born on November 5, 1855 in Indiana.

A Treasure Trove of History: The Eugene Debs House in Terre Haute, Indiana Debs. Eugene Debs, the legend…… Debs the labor leader, rallying the boys to the cause, standing by the men of the Great Northern Railway, the men who built the Pullman cars, the miners in the Color…

A classic piece of autumn Americana by James Whitcomb Riley.

The Mellowness of Autumn: James Whitcomb Riley’s “When The Frost Is On The Punkin” In the past two years I have heard three people reference one of Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley’s most famous poems—“When The Frost Is On the Punkin.” Two were people I know who mentioned …

Sherwood Anderson on autumn from his book "Home Town."

“Autumn” from Sherwood Anderson’s “Home Town” Autumn—the mellow golden time of falling leaves, cider, apples, and pumpkins. The year’s decline and a farewell to summer’s heat and languor. Long hazy days, the time of “mist and mello…

The distinguished American war correspondent Ernie Pyle was born on August 3, 1900 near Dana, Indiana.

“A Long Thin Line of Personal Anguish”: Ernie Pyle on the Normandy Beachhead Ernie Pyle, born in Dana, Indiana on August 3, 1900, was one of the great American journalists of the twentieth century. He is one of the most famous correspondents of the Second World War, a man w…

Ernie Pyle was born near Dana, on August 3, 1900. He was one of the finest war correspondents of World War II.

A Quiet Place of Powerful Tribute: The Ernie Pyle World War II Museum in Dana, Indiana Dana, Indiana is farm country, the kind of Midwestern land where fields stretch to the horizon, where a state route below the blazing summer sun feels like it’s going to roll forever through endles…

Rodger Young of Ohio was killed eighty years ago today in the Solomon Islands during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Rodger Young and the Mystery of the “Common Man” In the McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio, Rodger Young’s grave is a humble kind of space when measured against the monuments to two other military heroes on the same ground. At the cemetery’s entra…

Ernest Hemingway in the First World War.

July 8, 1918: Ernest Hemingway Is Severely Wounded In Italy What a difference a year makes. In June of 1917, Ernest Hemingway had just graduated high school, a kid enjoying the rounds of parties and celebrations and hijinks that marked the conclusion of his…

The one and only James Whitcomb Riley....

Riley passed away 107 years ago today, after complications from a stroke. After 66 years, his life impacted poetry lovers across the world. However, his impact on Indiana cannot be overstated. He represented what a Hoosier was to the world, and was a central figure for the Golden Age of Indiana Literature. While his fame has faded today, his impact and his story still stands though our little museum on Lockerbie Street.

Rodger Young and the Mystery of the “Common Man” In the McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio, Rodger Young’s grave is a humble kind of space when measured against the monuments to two other military heroes on the same ground. At the cemetery’s entra…

In Autumn, In Ohio, Long Ago: Walt Whitman’s “Come Up From The Fields Father” I was leafing through the “Drum-Taps” section of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass a few years ago and reread many of the poems in this section, including “Come Up From The Fields Father.”…

“A Long Thin Line of Personal Anguish”: Ernie Pyle on the Normandy Beachhead Ernie Pyle, born in Dana, Indiana on August 3, 1900, was one of the great American journalists of the twentieth century. He is one of the most famous correspondents of the Second World War, a man w…

A Quiet Place of Powerful Tribute: The Ernie Pyle World War II Museum in Dana, Indiana Dana, Indiana is farm country, the kind of Midwestern land where fields stretch to the horizon, where a state route below the blazing summer sun feels like it’s going to roll forever through endles…

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Like a lot of other voracious readers, I also have a love for the art of the book. I've always liked the montage style cover design for these two Thomas Wolfe novels. These are Harper Perennial editions. The date is 1973. I purchased them ten years later at a mall bookstore.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 17: PANMUNJOM

Anyone who watched MASH for any length of time likely recognizes this reference. Panmunjom is a Korean border village that was the site of truce talks and POW negotiations between 1951 and 1953,

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 16: SUGAR RAY

In their sixth and final matchup, Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Jake LaMotta in a brutal fight that ends with a technical KO on February 14, 1951. This fight was nicknamed "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre." They had a legendary series of fights beginning in the early 1940s that were notoriously tough. Robinson won five out of six of the fights.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 14: H BOMB. In 1951 the United States began developing a hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb. This famous photo is of the "Castle Romeo" test from the Operation Castle series of tests in the South Pacific in 1954.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 14: THE ROSENBERGS.

In 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage against the United States, specifically passing on nuclear secrets and other classified scientific information. They were executed in 1953. Some protested their treatment, but there is plenty of evidence regarding the crimes they committed. They were American agents serving Joseph Stalin.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 13: Marilyn Monroe.

By 1950 Marilyn was well on her way to becoming one of the biggest stars of the postwar era. She appeared in a number of films in 1950, including "All About Eve" and "The Asphalt Jungle." Here she is as she appeared in "The Asphalt Jungle." This movie was based on a 1949 novel by Springfield, Ohio native W.R. Burnett, who also wrote "Little Caesar," which was also adapted for the screen and starred Edward G. Robinson (1931).

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 12: North Korea-South Korea

I'm getting back to this little history series I started a few weeks ago based on Billy Joel's song. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, and what we now know as the Korean War was underway. The war deserves to be better known, especially as we're still dealing with the aftereffects of this time.

Have you ever wondered what Riley's voice sounded like? Check out this 1912 recording of him reciting "Little Orphant Annie." Riley made this recording as part of a series for the the Victor Talking Machine Company. Although around twenty recordings made during five days of readings, only four of the discs were ever issued by Victor. When this recording was made, Riley had already suffered his first stroke, which paralyzed the right side of his body and forced him to lay down his pen. While the sound quality is poor, this is one of only a few recordings of Riley reciting poetry.

from Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anniecomp.ogg

For more recordings of Riley

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 11: TELEVISION. People in the United States and Europe begin to gather around a different kind of hearth as television becomes more widespread. We used to be so concerned about the effects of television, and had good cause to be concerned, but the Internet and social media are what ails us now.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 10: STUDEBAKER. This famous automobile manufacturer, which began in the mid 1800s as a company manufacturing carriages, wagons, and buggies, began to decline around 1950. The company long had a reputation for quality and reliability. It merged with Packard several years later and limped along through the mid 1960s, but in the immediate postwar era it was clear that a company associated with vibrant earlier years of the American Century had entered the twilight time that foreshadowed the end. Studebaker was based in South Bend, Indiana, and there is a Studebaker museum there today.

On this day in 1845, American poet Will Carleton poet was born. A native of rural Michigan, Carleton wrote poetry about rural life in the Midwest and helped pave the way for Riley's own career as a poet. Like Riley in his younger years, Carleton wrote at a time when easterners generally looked down on Midwestern poets. Carleton gained prominence as the first Midwestern poet to have a national audience. After graduating from Hillsdale College in 1869, Carleton started out as a journalist, but soon began reciting poetry on the lecture circuit. His 1872 poem “Over the Hill to the Poor House” explored poverty throughout the country and made him instantly popular. While he was never as well-remembered as Riley, his early success as a Midwestern poet helped put the region on the map so that future poets like Riley could prosper.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 9: RICHARD NIXON. Richard Nixon--Vice President under Eisenhower, President, Congressman, U.S. Senator, Quaker, World War II Navy veteran, lawyer, elder statesman trying to rebuild his reputation. One of the most fascinating and mercurial figures during the American Century. He was elected to the Senate in 1950, hence his mention in Joel's song. The photo at left below is of Nixon on the campaign trail in 1950.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 8: JOSEPH MCCARTHY. Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. Senator (R) from Wisconsin famous--notorious, rather--for his over-the-top anti-Communist crusade during the 1950s. He was eventually censured by the U.S. Senate and died at the age of 48 in 1957.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 7: JOE DIMAGGIO.

The great New York Yankee hitter and center fielder Joe DiMaggio signed a $100,000 contract in 1949 with the Yankees. This is equivalent to more than one million today. Joe DiMaggio is especially well known for his 1941 56 game hitting streak. He is also remembered for being married to Marilyn Monroe and for his Mr. Coffee advertisements in the 1970s and 1980s. An American baseball legend.

65 YEARS AGO TODAY:

On October 11, 1957, Johnny Cash's first album--"Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!"--is released on the Sun label. It includes some of his best known songs, such as "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk The Line." Here's JR during his Sun Records days.

Cheever is an incredible writer. I just watched the film adaptation of his famous short story "The Swimmer," and it was amazing--I had a feeling it would be intense, but it was way more intense than I expected.

“There is something universal about being stood up in a city restaurant between one and two—a spiritual no-man’s-land, whose blasted trees, entrenchments, and ratholes we all share, disarmed by the gullibility of our hearts.”

― John Cheever, The Stories of John Cheever

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/26648/the-stories-of-john-cheever-by-john-cheever/9780375724428

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 6: WALTER WINCHELL

Walter Winchell was a famous newspaper gossip columnist and radio commentator. He was also controversial. He became particularly notorious for public campaigns of character assassination against public figures he disliked. In the years 1948-1949 he began writing and speaking about Communism being the main threat facing the United States--hence his appearance in Joel's song. By the early 1960s his reputation had begun to fade.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 5: SOUTH PACIFIC. "South Pacific," one of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals and one of the gems of America's Golden Age of Musical Theater (mid 1940s through the mid 1960s), opened in 1949. It's based on the book "Tales of the South Pacific" by James Michener. Famous songs include "Bali Ha'i," "Younger Than Springtime," and "Some Enchanted Evening." The photo below is of the soundtrack album from the 1958 film. An interesting note about the book---in the first chapter Michener mentions "Admiral McCain." That would be Admiral John S. "Slew" McCain, Sr., the grandfather of the late Senator and 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain. 'tStartTheFireLyrics

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

― Albert Camus
© Silena Lambertini

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 4: JOHNNIE RAY

Oregon-born proto rock and roll singer Johnnie Ray, known for his highly emotional performances, signed with Okeh Records in 1949.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 3: RED CHINA.

The People's Republic of China was established in October of 1949, and the entire world has been dealing with the consequences of this since then. One of the twentieth century's most depressing developments.

"We Didn't Start The Fire" Day 2: DORIS DAY. The popular singer and actress Doris Day was born Doris Kappelhoff in April of 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She had originally trained to be a dancer until an accident put an end to those dreams, but she discovered she could sing. She made her film debut in "Romance On The High Seas" in 1948.