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John Irving and Suspension of Disbelief

John Irving has attracted plenty of attention throughout his career with his explosive originality and his fearlessness when it comes to convention — from The World According to Garp to the most recent In One Person. Not all his work is created equal, of course, but when I ran across A Widow for One Year, I didn’t expect to be as intrigued as I was.

by Joan L. Cannon

I recently wrote about reading for entertainment and finding my left brain interfering from time to time. Despite my everlasting admiration for a literature of grammar and formality that has gone out of style (though not out of admirers), I thoroughly enjoy much of contemporary fiction for its irreverence, naturalism, and penetrating psychology. Sometimes a lack of subtlety irritates me, and I do think certain aspects of people’s universal lives that once were glossed over would be better off left at least partially in shadow, but I still am happily caught up in what’s happening, both outside and inside characters’ heads.

John Irving is an author of such antic and fertile imagination that his plots rush along with the momentum of a dodge-‘em car or a runaway horse. I can’t get over how he can manage coincidence, burlesque, and shock to such dramatic effect. I remember reading The World According to Garp (1978) with my jaw figuratively on my chest. I also remember how despite the belly laughs and the satire, Irving was able to capture my sympathy.

A Widow for One Year (1998) manages to engage me even more sympathetically in spite of the constant thread of lust because everyone shown (with a single exception) has something endearing and redeeming about him or her, and because for so much of the time love is the motivation. However, now I find myself tripping over technical tricks in a way I didn’t notice with the earlier books (The Cider House Rules, Hotel New Hampshire). I haven’t decided whether that’s my problem or Irving’s.

It takes a pretty distinguished position in the literary hierarchy to carry off a rather lengthy story with a longer than usual list of main characters that is founded almost entirely on sex — on its command over the characters, and its unexpected consequences.

The most intriguing part for me is that the central character is a novelist — and so are three of her closest contacts, and a fourth is a journalist. Thus, a series of conversations is permitted that reveals many of Irving’s convictions about writing and fiction.

Unlike so many modern writers, Irving relies on a good deal of expository narration. It works for me as a reader because so much of this includes backstory, social commentary, intimate quick reads of characters’ motivations and hints of deeper ones.

In one pivotal scene, the place is described adequately at the beginning: a frame shop in a well-to-do vacation town on Long Island. The scene’s characters enact a drama that follows a farcical disaster for the father of a four-year-old girl who has happened into the care of a sixteen-year-old boy. Together they face a tough middle-aged divorcée who owns the shop. The object is to force the owner to deliver an overdue framing job.

It’s not merely serio-comic conflicts among people from different places with wildly varying private agendas. Those confrontations are emblems of profound struggles among the main characters in the novel. With the scene in the frame store finished, Irving launches into an inventory of significant detail about the store itself that adds even more impact to the action that has just taken place there. The final paragraphs of the chapter reverses the standard practice and increases impact because of where it appears. He uses this ploy more than once in the book, and now, of course, I can’t help noticing it.

Irving as a stylist is, as we all know, one-of-a kind. Because this novel is largely about writers, there’s ample opportunity for him to indicate some of his preferences. The fact that he’s an admirer of Graham Greene resonates, for instance. He puts his analysis of the difference between reportage and fiction into his character’s mouths, along with what appears to be a fairly rigid position against autobiographical fiction.

July 25, 2012
The Beauty of Flight: A survey of those who flew early and often

Editor’s Note: The death of Sally Ride, the first United States female astronaut, and the occasion of Amelia Earhart’s 115 th birthday, led us to this partial history of women who have been pioneers in the aviation field. Though we haven’t been able to factcheck the article, it is complete with fascinating details.

In 1784, before America even had its first president, Madame Élisabeth Thible ascended as a balloon passenger in Lyons, France. In 1909 French Baroness Raymonde de Laroche tried flying – a Voisin Biplane. She learned to manipulate the unstable and unpredictable machine and became the first woman licensed to fly by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. She was killed in an airplane crash in 1919.

Tiny Broadwick, in 1908 at age 15, became the first person to make a parachute jump from a hot air balloon. She made close to a thousand jumps from balloons while traveling with a carnival and then later demonstrated parachuting from aircraft to the US Army.

In the early days of aviation there were several firsts by women. Bessica Raiche built her own airplane in her living room then flew it on Sept. 16, 1910. Blanche Stuart Scott took up flying with the famous Glenn Curtiss, becoming a member of his exhibition team. He declared her America’s first aviatrix on Sept. 6, 1910, though she never obtained a pilot’s license.

Harriet Quimby was officially the first with a license obtained from the Moisant School in 1911. Fellow student Mathilde Moisant became number two and later established an altitude record of 1,500 feet. Harriet Quimby traveled to France where she acquired a Bleriot monoplane to attempt a flight across the English Channel. She had no opportunity to flight-test the aircraft and handled a compass for the first time above the fog in the Channel. She returned to America successful and triumphant. Only three months later she died in the unstable Bleriot over Boston harbor.

Katherine Stinson learned to fly in 1912, becoming famous for precision acrobatics and sky-writing. The much-admired Ruth Law was a cohort of Katherine’s, becoming an expert exhibition flyer and record holder. She established an American long-distance record flying solo from Chicago to New York.

And an African-American woman, against staggering odds, gained renown in aviation. Bessie Coleman, facing race and gender discrimination, found the door locked at flying schools. So she studied French and sailed for Paris to learn to fly. She returned in 1921, the world’s first licensed African-American pilot. “Brave Bessie,” as she became known, became a popular attraction on the air show circuit. For some unknown reason, at an air show in 1926, Bessie had failed to wear her parachute and hadn’t strapped herself in. A wrench jammed her controls. As the airplane rolled over, Bessie fell to her death.

The early years exacted a horrendous toll on aviation’s pioneers. We can hardly comprehend the machines they called airplanes. Nevertheless more eager aviators followed and aviation grew up with women pilots.By 1929 there were over 100 American women (and numerous women in other countries) licensed to fly.

All photographs from Wikipedia.

(1) Raymonde de Laroche in her Voisin aeroplane in 1909

(2) Aviatrix Ruth Law (r) and Mrs. Robert GoeletModel “B” Wright airplane, Daytona Beach, Florida, 1914

July 24, 2012
Invisible Wounds: Examining the Disability Compensation Benefits Process for Victims of Military Sexual Trauma

“Women are the fastest growing population among veterans, making up 8 percent of the Armed Forces. However, the US Department of Defense estimates that one in four women who join the armed services will be raped or assaulted, but that only about 10 percent of such incidents are ever reported,” stated Rep. Jon Runyan, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. “Even more alarming is that of those few who did report incidents of military sexual trauma, over 75 percent stated that they would not make the same decision about reporting the incident again, due to the consequences it had on their military career.”

The US Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that more than half a million men and women have been assaulted during their service in the military. Most veterans seeking treatment and compensation for military sexual assault lack evidence, mainly due to victims’ low reporting of incidents for fear of retaliation, to support their disability compensation claims resulting in 20 percent fewer claims for Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) being approved by VA when compared to combat-related PTS claims.

“This process took me 23 years to resolve, and I am one of the fortunate ones. It should not be this way,” stated Ruth Moore, a Navy veteran, who testified before the Subcommittee regarding the impact of repeated sexual assaults upon her in 1987 while stationed overseas. “If I had been treated promptly and received benefits in a timely manner, back at the time of my discharge, my life would have been much different.”

At the moment, standards for those filing claims for PTS as a result of military sexual assault are different than standards applied to PTS claims for combat-related claims. Furthermore, VA demands collaboration of evidence for military sexual assault, putting the burden of proof on the victim, which in a majority of cases, does not exist.

“There must be zero-tolerance for this behavior in the military, and VA must recognize the immediate trauma inflicted on these men and women,” said Runyan. “This is a system that needs major reform and I am calling on VA to treat these victims with the compassion they deserve and ensure they receive the benefits they are due from their government.”

Witness Testimony of Ms. Margaret Middleton, Executive Director, Connecticut Veterans Legal Center

“Chairman Runyan, Ranking Member McNerney and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before you today and offer my testimony on the highly important issue of military sexual trauma and the VA’s disability compensation benefits process. My name is Margaret Middleton. I am the Executive Director and co-founder of the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center. Our mission is to help veterans recovering from homelessness and mental illness overcome barriers to housing, healthcare, and income. I am also a visiting clinical lecturer co-teaching the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School. In both of these capacities I work with veterans seeking VA compensation for PTSD caused by sexual assault in the military.

“There are several experts at this hearing who have eloquently testified as to the appalling extent of sexual assault in the military and the scope of the VA’s failure to assist those victims. Rather than repeat those statistics I’d like to share some personal experiences I have had in representing veterans to illuminate how the evidentiary standard set forth in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations section 3.304 prevents worthy claimants from receiving compensation they deserve.

Photograph of Marine helicopter pilot cleaning the rotor blade of her aircraft. Wikimedia Commons

July 23, 2012
Before the Games Begin: Is it Discriminatory for There Not to Be Women’s Olympic Canoe Events?

Samantha Rippington, an elite female canoeist from Reading, England has launched an English High Court challenge to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG’s) refusal to carry out an equalities audit of the Olympic sports programme.

Ms Rippington, who has on a number of occasions been selected to represent Great Britain at the canoeing World Championships, wants LOCOG to examine the gender bias in the Olympic sports programme, including the Olympic canoeing programme, which leaves out women’s canoeing events despite featuring a number of men’s canoe events.

Ms Rippington argues in her claim for judicial review that the Equality Act 2010 requires LOCOG to carry out an “equality impact assessment” of the Olympic sports programme, including canoeing. This, she argues, is necessary to demonstrate compliance with the public sector equality duty contained in section 149 of the Equality Act, according to which public authorities must, “in the exercise of [their] functions, have due regard to the need to… eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity… [and] foster good relations between [women and men]…”

She claims that LOCOG’s refusal to carry out the assessment, in a letter to her lawyers in April 2012, is in breach of section 149 of the Equality Act.

Prior to starting her legal action, Ms Rippington said, “All I am asking is that LOCOG answer two simple questions: is it discriminatory for there to be five men’s Olympic canoe events but none for women?; and should that situation continue? As a female canoeist who could potentially compete at the Olympics I know what my answers are, but why won’t the people who are responsible for staging these Olympics give us their answers too? I think that the international bodies who decide the Olympic sports programme also need to bring themselves to address these simple questions. Olympic canoeing, both sprint and slalom, is very technical. It takes years to learn the techniques correctly and both the athletes and coaches require a lot of dedication. Not being an Olympic sport means lower levels of funding, support and training opportunities than the men, which makes progression, both individually and in terms of the sport itself, very difficult.“

Ms Rippington spoke from the Women Canoe Cup, an international women’s canoeing event in Boulogne Sur Mer, France, which is hosted as a focal point for elite and developing female canoeists who have no Olympic event in which to compete.

LOCOG claims that it does not have to comply with section 149 of the Equality Act because it is a ‘private entity not carrying out governmental functions’; because it does not control the content of the Olympic sports programme; and because the assessment would ‘serve no purpose,’ as it is not feasible at this stage to change the Olympic sports programme.

July 22, 2012
Museum Shopping: Noctural and Tide Computer, a Shakespeare Toy Duck, a Mrs. Delaney Pink Botanical Mug,

Since London will be the focus for the Summer Olympics, we thought we’d explore the British Museum Shop’s offerings and, yes, there’s no end of the intriguing and unusual. In addition, items are accompanied by small gems of history-laced commentaries.

A replica of a Nocturnal and Tide Computer from 1570, signed by Humphrey Cole, that can be found in the British Museum’s collection. One of its faces is a nocturnal clock and the other is a tide computer. The nocturnal or star clock is an artifact that is used to obtain the time at night using the fixed stars in the sky. The abacus or tide computer is used to figure the time of the tides, that greatly affect navigation both in harbors and for fishing. This reproduction was made as faithful as possible to the original but, at the same time, updated and furnished with certain essential elements that make it useful in present times.

The decorative Nautical Compass “has a traditional lace pattern on the lid. The first written references about the use of the navigation needle by Mediterranean navigants date to 12th century, but it is likely that they were being used from even earlier times. This sophisticated “lace” top compass has a Compass Rose of 32 divisions which correspond with each of the 32 rhumbs (each equivalent to 11.25º) and it is provided with an external ring divided in 360 º.”

The Procopius metal bookmark “was inspired by the Royal Gold Cup, one of the British Museum’s most precious objects in the medieval collections. The cup is made from solid gold and decorated with translucent enamels which depict scenes of the martyrdom of St. Agnes, who refused the advances of the pagan Procopius and was subsequently imprisoned. Although they were reconciled after Agnes miraculously raised Procopius from the dead, she was accused of witchcraft and condemned to burn. When the flames refused to burn her, Agnes was put to death by a spear.”

“The story decorates the surfaces of the Royal Gold Cup, commissioned by the French prince, Jean duc de Berry between about 1370-80, as a gift to Charles V of France. It was passed down through royal hands until it disappeared into obscurity in 17th century Spain. During the Hundred Years War, it came into possession of John, Duke of Bedford, and in the 16th century it was recorded in the household of Henry VIII. It remained in English Royal hands until James I presented it to the Spanish ambassador who negotiated peace between Spain and England in 1604.”

The Campaign Lap Desk features a French finish distressed look, with bronze hinges, secret hiding spots, special place for inkwells, styluses and lots of papers. Accessories include two belle epoque styluses and bottle of black ink.

July 20, 2012
Gold, Jasper, and Carnelian: Johann Christian Neuber, Master Craftsman and Court Jeweler

Johann Christian Neuber: Box decorated with an enamel miniature of an unknown woman by Christian Friedrich Zinke, circa. 1775–80. Photo: © Éditions Monelle Hayot. Photo: Thomas Hennocque

by Val Castronovo

Museum-goers can catch a rare glimpse of the spectacular work of 18^th century Dresden goldsmith Johann Christian Neuber (1736-1808), now through August 19, 2012, at The Frick Collection on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The one-of-a-kind exhibit of one-of-a-kind objects showcases some 35 gold and bejeweled snuffboxes (steinkabinetts), candy boxes (bonbonnieres), chains, buttons and other accessories decorated with colorful, Saxon gemstones (agate, carnelian, jasper, lapis lazuli), each rimmed in gold and numbered. Neuber, master craftsman and court jeweler to Friedrich Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, was catering to the elites’ taste for luxury and the growing interest in the natural sciences in the age of the Enlightenment. In a 1786 ad for his little gold boxes, the copy reads, “The stones are numbered and none appears twice, while a small booklet provides their scientific names.”

Known most of all for his cleverness and ingenuity, Neuber added Meissen porcelain plaques, portrait medallions and cameos to his highly stylized gemstone mosaics, which were typically intricate depictions of flowers, landscapes and geometric shapes. The boxes, some bearing a miniature portrait of the Elector of Saxony himself, were gifted to foreign diplomats and dignitaries by the royal court and were prized as much for their beauty as for their craftmanship.

The exhibit’s highlight, and centerpiece, however, is a piece of furniture — the Breteuil Table (1779-80) — which sits grandly on a platform in the Oval Room of The Frick and looks remarkably like a giant snuffbox on legs (which is what it is intended to look like; Neuber patterned it after a snuffbox, making it ten times the size of a typical box). Regarded by the museum’s curators as “one of the most extraordinary pieces of 18^th-century furniture ever made,” the table has never been seen before in the US and “never before crossed the Atlantic.” In fact, it has rarely been seen outside the Chateau de Breteuil, located just outside Paris. The table remains in the hands of the family that originally acquired it.

In 1781 Friedrich Augustus III gave the table to Baron de Breteuil, the Frenchman who helped negotiate the Treaty of Teschen, which halted the War of Bavarian Succession. The table’s top is lavished with an elaborate semiprecious stone inlay (128 stones were used), and displays five Meissen porcelain plaques “depicting scenes that celebrate peace and the glory of Baron de Breteuil,” The Frick’s curators gush. The table is of such quality and distinction that it is believed to be the very same “famous mosaic table” immortalized in Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past.

As was his custom, Neuber prepared a document listing each and every stone he used on the table. Viewers at The Frick can call up his original catalogue of materials on an iPad in the Oval Room, or go to www.frick.org to see it. And if you want to see samples of the stones he used in his little gold boxes, rock specimens — cool slabs of agate, jasper, red jasper and amethyst, a gemstone primer of sorts — are on display at the gallery’s entrance, courtesy of The American Museum of Natural History.

To view the virtual tour of the show, click here.

Image above: Oval box decorated on the top with a hard stone medallion featuring a relief of fruit, and on the bottom a Meissen porcelain plaque (view of top), Dresden, c. 1775–80. L: 3½ inches, W: 2 inches, H: 1 1/3 inches. Private collection. Photo: © Éditions Monelle Hayot /photo Thomas Hennocque.

©2012 Val Castronovo for SeniorWomen.com

July 19, 2012
Were You Considering Testing Your Genetic Makeup for Disease Prediction? “The road to efficient genetic risk prediction is likely to be long.”

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have found that detailed knowledge about your genetic makeup — the interplay between genetic variants and other genetic variants, or between genetic variants and environmental risk factors — may only change your estimated disease prediction risk for three common diseases by a few percentage points, which is typically not enough to make a difference in prevention or treatment plans. It is the first study to revisit claims in previous research that including such information in risk models would eventually help doctors either prevent or treat diseases.

“While identifying a synergistic effect between even a single genetic variant and another risk factor is known to be extremely challenging and requires studies with a very large number of individuals, the benefit of such discovery for risk prediction purpose might be very limited,” said lead author Hugues Aschard, research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology.

Scientists have long hoped that using genetic information gleaned from the Human Genome Project and other genetic research could improve disease risk prediction enough to help aid in prevention and treatment. Others have been skeptical that such “personalized medicine” will be of clinical benefit. Still others have argued that there will be benefits in the future, but that current risk prediction algorithms underperform because they don’t allow for potential synergistic effects — the interplay of multiple genetic risk markers and environmental factors — instead focusing only on individual genetic markers.

Aschard and his co-authors, including senior author Peter Kraft, HSPH associate professor of epidemiology, examined whether disease risk prediction would improve for breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis if they included the effect of synergy in their statistical models. But they found no significant effect by doing so. “Statistical models of synergy among genetic markers are not ‘game changers’ in terms of risk prediction in the general population,” said Aschard.

The researchers conducted a simulation study by generating a broad range of possible statistical interactions among common environmental exposures and common genetic risk markers related to each of the three diseases. Then they estimated whether such interactions would significantly boost disease prediction risk when compared with models that didn’t include these interactions since, to date, using individual genetic markers in such predictions has provided only modest improvements.

For breast cancer, the researchers considered 15 common genetic variations associated with disease risk and environmental factors such as age of first menstruation, age at first birth, and number of close relatives who developed breast cancer. For type 2 diabetes, they looked at 31 genetic variations along with factors such as obesity, smoking status, physical activity, and family history of the disease. For rheumatoid arthritis, they also included 31 genetic variations, as well as two environmental factors: smoking and breastfeeding.

But, for each of these disease models, researchers calculated that the increase in risk prediction sensitivity — when considering the potential interplay between various genetic and environmental factors — would only be between 1% and 3% at best.

“Overall, our findings suggest that the potential complexity of genetic and environmental factors related to disease will have to be understood on a much larger scale than initially expected to be useful for risk prediction. The road to efficient genetic risk prediction, if it exists, is likely to be long,” said Aschard.

“For most people, your doctor’s advice before seeing your genetic test for a particular disease will be exactly the same as after seeing your tests,” added Kraft.

Still, Aschard and his co-authors recommend further study of gene-gene and gene-environmental interactions because it can provide important clues, if not about disease risk, at least about disease causes — which could in turn lead to improved treatment and prevention strategies.

Marilyn Cornelis, research associate in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH, was also a co-author on the study.

Graphic: United States, National Institutes of Health

July 18, 2012

The Marketing of the American Beauty

American Beauties: Drawings from the Golden Age of Illustration; An Online Exhibition

Katherine Hepburn, ca 1937

Jaro Fabry (1912-1953)
Katherine Hepburn, ca. 1937
Published as cover of Cinema Arts, 1937
Watercolor and gouache on paper
Swann Fund purchase

The unprecedented success of the “Gibson Girl” in the 1890s unleashed a visual barrage of American beauties which lasted throughout the Golden Age of American Illustration and continues to this very day. The different types of women presented in this exhibition demonstrate not only a nationally evolving ideal of beauty, but also a concentrated effort on the part of publishers, advertisers, and the artists themselves to develop an easily identifiable, aesthetically pleasing product.

It is no wonder the marketers increasingly turned to the allure of the American female; in the early part of the twentieth century women were thought to control 80 percent or more of the consumer dollars expended in the United States. Accordingly, advertisers turned to images of feminine mystique to which consumers could aspire (and hopefully emulate) through the purchase of goods and services. Men were also charmed by these images, however, and magazine publishers used the attraction of pretty faces on their covers to boost impulse buying for their all-important newsstand sales.

Edward Penfield 1866-1925)
Young woman sitting beside table
holding umbrella, 1910-1925
Watercolor, gouache, and ink over graphite on paper
Advertisement for Hart,
Schaffner, & Marx clothes

But the ideal of beauty that was being sold in the ads and on these covers was quite narrowly focused. It is not by coincidence that most of the works in this exhibition, from the Gibson Girl to Fabry’s Cinema Arts cover of Katherine Hepburn portray women of the upper or upper-middle class. Women of color or of the working classes did not have the disposable income to be targeted, and so are rarely, if ever, seen in these illustrations. Advertisers instead used various tableaux of wealth and modernity, which the middle-class consumer could then enter through purchase of a given product. Visual repetition also played a part in these scenarios: the trappings of the “Holeproof Hosiery Girl” (whom Coles Phillips helped to create) and the aloof style of McClelland Barclay’s “Fisher Body Girl” could be recognized at a single glance. In the advertisement shown above, the consumer is invited to share the risqué modernity of Edward Penfield’s beauty, shown wearing a man’s overcoat at what appears to be the breakfast table, with the familiar Hart, Schaffner, & Marx emblem on the wall behind her.

John Held, Jr.

(1889-1958)
The Girl Who Gave Him
the Cold Shoulder, ca. 1925
Gouache on illustration board
Cover of Life

Magazine publishers were also quick to see how the American beauty could enhance their packaging. But beyond the aesthetic attraction of the pretty faces, art editors used these images to establish an instantly recognizable product that would attract a particular demographic to a given magazine. The sophisticated dress and elongated lines of the women portrayed on Vanity Fair covers directly appealed to the modern taste of that magazine’s urban, upper-class patrons, while the exotic appeal of the “Benda Girl” proved a better fit with the middle-class masses who read Hearst’s International. Repetition served its purpose in covers as it did in ads — in what became the predecessor to today’s “Cosmo girl,” William Randolph Hearst used Harrison Fisher’s drawings on virtually every cover of his Cosmopolitan magazine from 1912 until the artist’s death in 1934. Likewise, a mere glance at a John Held flapper alerted the readers of the 1920s that they were probably looking at an issue of either Life or Judge magazine.

July 17, 2012

MADE IN THE USA (from now on): Waiting For the 2014 Olympics

by Julia Sneden

Isn’t it amazing what a little outrage on the Senate floor can accomplish? Bowing to bad publicity, and at what will no doubt be of considerable expense to his company, Ralph Lauren has announced that his designs for the 2014 Winter Olympics will be made in the USA. It’s too late to re-do the uniforms he designed for this year’s Olympics, of course, but apparently he won’t again make the mistake of farming them out to China.

Of course no one has mentioned that the great American public is every bit as guilty as the Ralph Lauren Company. We buy items made out-of-country all the time. We’re in hard economic times, and who doesn’t shop for the best bargain? It’s a global economy these days, and American companies save millions contracting out production to countries where workers are paid pittances and often work long hours in sweatshops to boot. Countries in Asia and South America and Central America and Europe provide goods to us all the time. Just examine the labels on that new package of sheets (Sri Lanka?), or inside your new sneakers (Mexico?), or on a tag sewn into the seam of the sweater (People’s Republic of China?) you give your husband for his birthday.

These days, one occasionally reads about people in this country who object vociferously to the terrible conditions of workers in foreign lands, but I don’t know why anyone expects Big Business to be sensitive to their plight. If Big Business were sensitive, or anything but profit-based, it wouldn’t have moved those jobs abroad in the first place, leaving American workers to fend for themselves in a downward-drifting economy. That’s not a pretty thought, is it.

It’s great that at least an honest-to-God American designed the outfits for our Olympians. Mr. Lauren has once again made them look snappy for opening and ending parades, although one of the women’s outfits includes high-heeled sneakers that look perilous for any athlete who depends on her legs to carry her to glory. One misstep and it’s goodbye medal!

In all the brouhaha of the past few days, we have been reminded that the US Olympic Committee is a privately funded organization. It is not run by the government. The theory seems to be that it is therefore out of reach of its critics in this matter. Of course it does look to the citizens of this country when it sets out to raise money, and it might be wise to be a bit more responsive to its supporters’ disapproval.

For Mr. Lauren, however, it seems likely that this is a one-time mistake on the part of his corporation, and not an insidious plot to enrich the Chinese and humiliate America.

What distresses me far more than this Made-In-China flap is the fact that while the right shoulder of the uniforms bears an Olympic patch, on the left breast is a large, RL Polo Player logo.

Photo: The Rhinelander Mansion in New York City housing Ralph Lauren’s flagship store. Wikipedia

July 14, 2012
Fireflies And Summer Rain

by Julia Sneden

Summer has many wonderful things to recommend it: long hours of daylight; fruits and vegetables fresh from the garden or a Farmers’ Market; swimming outdoors in ocean, lake or pool; the distinct lack of formality in dress; outdoor sports like tennis and golf; comfort in one’s loose-fitting clothes; and a chance, perhaps, to enjoy a bit of vacation at home or away.

For children, of course, there is that delicious anticipation of the last day of school, and the thrilling first moments after the final bell when the whole beautiful summer spreads itself before you in your imagination, not one minute of the precious time yet squandered. For teachers, too, it’s a buoyant moment, followed shortly by the exquisite treat of going to bed and NOT setting the alarm clock.

Growing up in northern California, I loved to spend idle summer hours sitting up in the top of my special live oak tree, or playing wild games of Monopoly or Canasta with my best friend from next door. Once a week my mother would take us to the library and we’d stock up on books, three or four at a time. I can still recall the scent of that library, and see in my mind’s eye the wooden card catalogue and metal shelving in the children’s section. The name and face of the librarian are long gone from memory, but she was a beloved resource who kept tabs on everyone’s special interests and level of proficiency, and could suggest books that were an appropriate next step.

Read the rest of Julia’s essay

July 13, 2012