in on a candid chat with a historian

"Beg pardon? Did you say 'historian'? Since when do you do things like that? I mean, sure, you once had such chats with your stepdad, Frank, who was an avid history buff. But he's been gone quite a while. So, what gives?"

Funny that you should mention him. He's the main reason I even considered this event from the Georgia Historical Society. I did have two other factors driving my attendance, though. First, GHS was awarding the historian entry into the honors group known as The Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellows Program. You know how I love pomp and circumstance!!! Not that I knew anything about that group, of course. It's just for historians, not scientists.

"Yes, dear. And what was your other reason?"

Well, as I told Joe Buttner when I ran into him afterward, I was curious. To my knowledge, I've never been around a Pulitzer Prize-winning author before, and this man has won that prestigious award twice. Twice!!! The first time was for History in 1996, then he won again for History in 2013.

"How nice to run into Jersey Joe! How is he doing these days? Is he still volunteering for the Savannah Philharmonic?" 

He's fine, thanks, and apparently seeing Amanda Kulkowski from time to time. I saw another volunteer from the Lucas Theater days, too, Julie. Nice! But I hadn't known either of them were there until the end. The event was held at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, at Bull and 31st, and it was packed! I guess a lot of folks took advantage of this USA-250 event to come see someone renowned!

"I just realized that you have yet to say the author's name..."

Oops! The event was "An Evening With Alan Taylor" and the man is almost exactly three years older than I am. He has quite a sense of humor and a penchant for facts. Case in point: in his bio, it was stated that he was "born in Portland, Maine". However, during the interview with Stan Deaton of GHS, Taylor was quick to correct him when he said that Taylor was "from" Portland. After all, Portland is the big town with the two hospitals that service a wide community of smaller towns, so "everyone from that area is born in Portland". As Taylor elucidated, just being born somewhere doesn't mean that's were you're from. Alan Taylor is definitely from one of those small towns, and is sure to acknowledge it as home.

"Hahahaha! That sounded like something Frank would have relished!"

Oh, no doubt. By the way, Taylor is the taller of the two men in the photo above, and Deaton is the shorter. The two women are the widow and the daughter of Vincent J. Dooley.

"Wait a minute... the Georgia Bulldogs football coach??? What does he have to do with all of this???"

Well, the GHS saw fit to honor him as a Georgia Trustee in 2011. Then, in 2018, they established that Fellowship Program in his name, to recognize "senior scholars in the field of history" and to "mentor emerging historians". Alan Taylor, of course, falls into that first category of recipients.

"Wow. Learn something new every day!"

I certainly try! One of the questions Stan Deaton asked was "who he would most like to talk with from the past". Alan Taylor replied William Cooper, the man for whom Cooperstown is named. That's where the National Baseball Hall Of Fame And Museum is located, you know. (smile!) Even though Taylor's book about the politician won him that first Pulitzer Prize, the said there was so much more he would have like to know about him, but there just wasn't that much out there.

"Nice!"

A few minutes later, Deaton asked him how he thought historians were at predicting the future. Taylor said if anyone had asked him twenty years ago to predict where the US government would be today, he would have been completely wrong. So, what was going on back in 2006? Well, the US had been riding a high in world opinion every since the attacks on New York City, the younger Bush was President, and it looked like the USA was going to get its first African-American President. In other words, great strides in progress were occurring back then! Then the rug got pulled out and placed on top of the Blond Man's head and things have been falling backward ever since. Please note that those are all my words, not his.

"So noted, dear. Nice of him to acknowledge that slide backward, though, even without naming names."

Oh, I think he took us for thinkers who could work it out for ourselves. Remember, he's a writer, so if we knew his books, we must be readers. He even gave due thought to questions from the audience. For instance, a woman asked what he deemed a turning point in US history, no doubt expecting "the Revolutionary War" or "the Civil War". Neither of those were his answer. Surprisingly, he said that would have to the the War of 1812. The fledgling USA had declared war on the United Kingdom for restricting its trade with France. The USA then proceeded to lose battle after battle in Canada, while also suffering economically from the British blockade of the US coast. Within three years, the USA was poor, demoralized, and suffering from a failure to enlist more men to fight its losing war not only against the United Kingdom, but also against the Native Americans that were impeding the push westward. If not for England pulling out with the Treaty of Ghent, the USA might have collapsed. As it was, we came out of that with our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", written in August 1814, about six months before that war ended.

"Oh, nice to have some context on that! I bet a lot of folks think that was composed during the American Revolution."

That would not surprise me one bit. I'm really glad that I was there for this award ceremony and interview. Very educational! Plus, it was good to see old friends again... and to be seen as well! (smile!) Now, I'm going to relax with Michael Keaton. That's right, Comcast has rewarded me with "Batman", to have and to hold as long as I have my account with them! So good to be able to see this again!!! I just may get up and dance, too, during the museum scene. Hahahaha!

getting some culture: part 4

Nothing like a bit of history to make me feel like I've been schooled!

Especially on a rainy Sunday afternoon - lol!

"Say Her Name: Susie King Taylor" was a Savannah Black Heritage Festival event, held over at Savannah State University, in a place I knew well: the Kennedy Building, home of so many plays and musicals from Collective FACE in its prime.

The drawing card for me was the screening of the documentary, "The Making Of Taylor Square", about the transition of Calhoun Square into this new one that served two goals: the first named for a woman and the first named for an African American.

The woman was Susie King Taylor, who had been 13 years old when she found herself serving as a nurse for the Union Army in South Carolina.

That was in 1861, when the American Civil War caused her mom to send her and her siblings to that state to stay safe.

Taylor could read, write, and count, so she made sure to teach that to others over there, both children and adults.

She served in the position of nurse and teacher for three years, but never received any financial benefits from those jobs.

Five years ago, a grass-roots movement began to gain recognition for her.

The woman who started that movement, Patt Gunn, was a tour guide who always shared Taylor's story on her tours.

That's her, second from the left, beside the college student asking the questions during the post-film Q&A.

The documentary's director, Caroline Josey Karoki, is on the far right.

I didn't catch the names of the other two women, but they were part of the group that was instrumental in getting the square renamed.

Some folks may think all the squares downtown have the same names given to them by James Oglethorpe when he laid them out, but that's incorrect.

For instance, Telfair Square, home of two museums I love, was originally called St. James Square. 

Upper New Square was renamed Oglethorpe Square in honor of our city's founder.

Then there are squares lost to road construction - like Liberty Square and Elbert Square - and new squares added in the 21st century, like Yamacraw Square and Washington Square, where a park and a garden once stood..

In other words, Taylor Square follows a long history of changes with our walkable green spaces downtown, squares that have long welcomed peoples from other lands to our fair seaport.

I know the folks involved with this five-year project hope others will follow the blueprint for change which is modeled quite well in the documentary.

Who knows what structure, or road, or park, may be renamed in the future?

good for Savannah!

The headline in yesterday's local newspaper proclaimed the latest concerning my lovely boys of summer.
City seeks Gnats' 2016 plans
Would Hardball Capital, owner of the Savannah Sand Gnats, be making use of Grayson Stadium for their spring and summer season in 2016?

You may be wondering why there would even be a question about that. After all, the Gnats have held court in that historic place in Daffin Park for... well... as long as they have been in existence. And before them, the Savannah Braves and Savannah Cardinals played baseball there within its walls.
Many other teams have held their sports competitions there, too. It's even played host to wrestlers and Willie Nelson and beer fests, too.
But, back to the Sand Gnats.
Their current owner (of the past two or three years), maker of the money, is John Katz. He wanted the taxpayers of Savannah to build a new baseball stadium for him and has been lobbying for that ever since he arrived here.
Ludicrous, right?
And he wanted the stadium to be built downtown, to draw in more tourists.
Even more ludicrous.
And the cost of this new stadium would be greater than $10,000,000.
Most ludicrous of all.
For one, organized baseball has better than one hundred years of history here and much of that has occurred at Grayson Stadium. If he were truly interested in having baseball on the agenda of history buffs, then what better location could be dreamt of than this one?
For two, the Truman Parkway has made access from downtown to midtown very easy. Tourists can pop onto the Parkway from several places downtown (Bay Street, Liberty Street, and President Street) and be at the ballpark within twenty minutes or so, thanks to the Victory Street exit. Parking would be a cinch, too, and absolutely free.
For three, the majority of attendees at the baseball games are locals, such as myself. Why steal funds from my pocket to build a new locale when I am already supporting these boys of summer?
Sure, the stadium needs some renovations, like new locker rooms, for one. But, as I recall, those were on the list of items to be addressed several years ago, when the City of Savannah approved the needed funds. Only some of those improvements were actually performed. Why not complete the repairs and changes?
A new stadium, located downtown, is not the answer.
My gratitude to my representatives in the Savannah City Council for not caving to the demands of this man.
Now the ball is in his hands.
Will he choose to keep the team here? Or will he opt to sell it, as have those other owners of the past two decades, who fled Savannah after they were denied a new stadium?
Same dilemma, new people.
It can hardly be called "news", can it?
Real news would be if the owner were to build a new sports complex out of his own pocket and then move the team to that new locale. Would fans follow?
But that isn't going to happen. Spend their own money???
No fat Katz do such things.
Meanwhile, I plan to enjoy my boys of summer this year.
We'll see about the summer of 2016 when it gets a bit closer.

history lesson

This evening, the bfe and I did something completely different! The Georgia Historical Society had a famous author in town to give discourse on one of Georgia's famous bastard sons. No, really. Actually, I'm not quite sure they were aware that was how the biography would be presented, especially as the talk was held in one of the old churches downtown. Then again, maybe that was deliberate, too.
The author, who had made Forrest Gump as well-known as Huckleberry Finn once was, had taken on a real Southern character for his latest tome. The book concerned the taming of the American West in the mid 1840's and featured the exploits of John C. Fremont amidst its pages. Fremont, the "Pathfinder", was in his mid-30's when he and Kit Carson led expeditions toward the Pacific Ocean, charting safe passage through snow-laden mountains and arid plains.
Today, a famous tourist attraction in Las Vegas bears his name. The first paved road in Las Vegas, and home of the Golden Nugget, Fremont Street now hosts a moving light show in the ceiling over the paved road and has concerts to get feet tapping while eyes are heavenward. I wonder what old man Fremont would think of that? Would he think it a becoming legacy?
No way to know those answers, so maybe I'll make up my own tale to tell.
Answers or not, the lecture in the old church was a nice way to close out an evening that included a trip to the vet for one of the bfe's dear cats and a fairly quiet dinner at one of my favorite Mexican joints.
A definitely nice Tuesday for me.
And it wasn't even raining.