I'll be signing books at the Deep River Connecticut library on November 14 from 2-4
HERE'S MY LATEST BOOKS.....
This is a book of
short stories taken from the things I saw and heard in my childhood in the
factory town of Ansonia in southwestern Connecticut.
Most of these
stories, or as true as I recall them because I witnessed these events many
years ago through the eyes of child and are retold to you now with the pen and
hindsight of an older man. The only exception is the story Beat Time which is based on the disappearance of Beat poet Lew
Welch. Decades before I knew who Welch was, I was told that he had made his
from California to New Haven, Connecticut, where was an alcoholic living in a
mission. The notion fascinated me and I filed it away but never forgot
it.
The collected stories
are loosely modeled around Joyce’s novel, Dubliners
(I also borrowed from the novels character and place names. Ivy Day, my
character in “Local Orphan is Hero” is also the name of chapter in Dubliners, etc.) and like Joyce I wanted
to write about my people, the people I knew as a child, the working class in
small town America and I wanted to give a complete view of them as well. As a
result the stories are about the divorced, Gays, black people, the working
poor, the middle class, the lost and the found, the contented and the
discontented.
Conversely many of
the stories in this book are about starting life over again as a result of
suicide (The Hanging Party, Small Town
Tragedy, Beat Time) or from a near death experience (Anna Bell Lee and the Charge of the Light Brigade, A Brief Summer)
and natural occurring death. (The Best
Laid Plans, The Winter Years, Balanced and Serene)
With the exception of
Jesus Loves Shaqunda, in each story
there is a rebirth from the death. (Shaqunda is reported as having died of
pneumonia in The Winter Years)
Sal, the desperate
and depressed divorcee in Things Change,
changes his life in Lunch Hour when
asks the waitress for a date and she accepts. (Which we learn in Closing Time,
the last story in the book) In The
Arranged Time, Thisby is given the option of change and whether she takes
it or, we don’t know. The death of Greta’s husband in A Matter of Time has led her to the diner and into the waiting arms
of the outgoing and loveable Gabe.
Although the book is
based on three sets of time (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and the diner is
opened in the early morning and closed at night, time stands still inside the
Diner. The hour on the big clock on the wall never changes time and much like
my memories of that place, everything remains the same.
http://www.amazon.com/Short-Stories-Small-William-Tuohy/dp/1517270456/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444164878&sr=1-1&keywords=short+stories+from+a+small+town
The Valley Lives
By
Marion Marchetto, author of The Bridgewater Chronicles on October 15, 2015
Short
Stores from a Small Town is set in The Valley (known to outsiders as The Lower
Naugatuck Valley) in Connecticut. While the short stories are contemporary they
provide insight into the timeless qualities of an Industrial Era community and
the values and morals of the people who live there. Some are first or second
generation Americans, some are transplants, yet each takes on the mantle of
Valleyite and wears it proudly. It isn't easy for an author to take the reader
on a journey down memory lane and involve the reader in the life stories of a
group of seemingly unrelated characters. I say seemingly because by book's end
the reader will realize that he/she has done more than meet a group of loosely
related characters.
We
meet all of the characters during a one-day time period as each of them finds
their way to the Valley Diner on a rainy autumn day. From our first meeting
with Angel, the educationally challenged man who opens and closes the diner, to
our farewell for the day to the young waitress whose smile hides her despair we
meet a cross section of the Valley population. Rich, poor, ambitious, and not
so ambitious, each life proves that there is more to it beneath the surface.
And the one thing that binds these lives together is The Valley itself. Not so
much a place (or a memory) but an almost palpable living thing that becomes a
part of its inhabitants.
Let
me be the first the congratulate author John William Tuohy on a job well done.
He has evoked the heart of The Valley and in doing so brought to life the
fabric that Valleyites wear as a mantle of pride. While set in a specific
region of the country, the stories that unfold within the pages of this slim
volume are similar to those that live in many a small town from coast to coast.
In
1962, six year old John Tuohy, his two brothers and two sisters entered
Connecticut’s foster care system and were promptly split apart.
Over the next ten years, John would live in more than ten foster homes, group homes and state schools, from his native Waterbury to Ansonia, New Haven, West Haven, Deep River and Hartford. In the end, a decade later, the state returned him to the same home and the same parents they had taken him from. As tragic as is funny compelling story will make you cry and laugh as you journey with this child to overcome the obstacles of the foster care system and find his dreams.
Over the next ten years, John would live in more than ten foster homes, group homes and state schools, from his native Waterbury to Ansonia, New Haven, West Haven, Deep River and Hartford. In the end, a decade later, the state returned him to the same home and the same parents they had taken him from. As tragic as is funny compelling story will make you cry and laugh as you journey with this child to overcome the obstacles of the foster care system and find his dreams.
http://www.amazon.com/No-Time-Say-Goodbye-Memoir/dp/0692361294/
http://amemoirofalifeinfostercare.blogspot.com/
http://www.amazon.com/No-Time-Say-Goodbye-Memoir/dp/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John
William Tuohy is a writer who lives in Washington DC. He holds an MFA in
writing from Lindenwood University.
He is
the author of No Time to Say Goodbye: Memoirs of a Life in Foster Care and
Short Stories from a Small Town. He is also the author of numerous non-fiction
on the history of organized crime including the ground break biography of
bootlegger Roger Tuohy "When Capone's Mob Murdered Touhy" and
"Guns and Glamour: A History of Organized Crime in Chicago."
His
non-fiction crime short stories have appeared in The New Criminologist,
American Mafia and other publications. John won the City of Chicago's Celtic
Playfest for his work The Hannigan's of Beverly, and his short story fiction
work, Karma Finds Franny Glass, appeared in AdmitTwo Magazine in October of
2008.
His
play, Cyberdate.Com, was chosen for a public performance at the Actors Chapel
in Manhattan in February of 2007 as part of the groups Reading Series for New
York project. In June of 2008, the play won the Virginia Theater of The First
Amendment Award for best new play.
Contact
John:
MYWRITERSSITE.BLOGSPOT.COM
JWTUOHY95@GMAIL.COM
AMAZON
REVIEWS
By jackiehon October 13, 2015
After reading about John's deeply
personal and painful past, I just wanted to hug the child within him......and
hug all the children who were thrown into the state's foster system....it is an
amazing read.......
By Jane Pogodaon October 9, 2015
I truly enjoyed reading his
memoir. I also grew up in Ansonia and had no idea conditions such as these
existed. The saving grace is knowing the author made it out and survived the
system. Just knowing he was able to have a family of his own made me happy. I
attended the same grammar school and was happy that his experience there was
not negative. I had a wonderful experience in that school. I wish that I could
have been there for him when he was at the school since we were there at
probably at the same time.
By Sueon September 27, 2015
Hi - just finished your novel
"No time to say goodbye" - what a powerful read!!! - I bought it for
my 90 year old mom who is an avid reader and lived in the valley all her
life-she loved it also along with my sister- we are all born and raised in the
valley- i.e. Derby and Ansonia
By David A. Wrighton September 7,
2015
I enjoyed this book. I grew up in
Ansonia CT and went to the Assumption School. Also reconized all the places he
was talking about and some of the families.
By Robert G Manleyon September 7,
2015
This is a wonderfully written
book. It is heart wrenchingly sad at times and the next minute hilariously
funny. I attribute that to the intelligence and wit of the author who combines
the humor and pathos of his Irish catholic background and horrendous
"foster kid" experience. He captures each character perfectly and the
reader can easily visualize the individuals the author has to deal with on
daily basis. Having lived part of my life in the parochial school system and
having lived as a child in the same neighborhood as the author, I was vividly
brought back to my childhood .Most importantly, it shows the strength of the
soul and how just a little compassion can be so important to a lost child.
ByLNAon July 9, 2015
John Tuohy writes with compelling
honesty, and warmth. I grew up in Ansonia, CT myself, so it makes it even more
real. He brings me immediately back there with his narrative, while he wounds
my soul, as I realize I had no idea of the suffering of some of the children
around me. His story is a must read, of courage and great spirit in the face of
impoverishment, sorrow, and adult neglect. I could go on and on, but just get
the book. If you're like me, you'll soon be reading it out loud to any person
in the room who will listen. Many can suffer and overcome as they go through
it, but few can find the words that take us through the story. John is a gifted
writer to be able to do that.
ByBarbara Pietruszkaon June 29,
2015
I am from Connecticut so I was
very familiar with many locations described in the book especially Ansonia
where I lived. I totally enjoyed the book and would like to know more about the
author. I recommend the book to everyone
ByJoanne B.on June 28, 2015
What an emotional rollercoaster.
I laughed. I cried. Once you start reading it's hard to stop. I was torn
between wanting to gulp it up and read over and over each quote that started
the chapter. I couldn't help but feel part of the Tuohy clan. I wanted to
scream in their defense. It's truly hard to believe the challenges that foster
children face. I can only pray that this story may touch even one person facing
this life. It's an inspiring read. That will linger long after you finish it.
This is a wonderfully written memoir that immediately pulls you in to the lives
of the Tuohy family.
ByDr. Wm. Anthony Connolly
This incredible memoir, No Time
to Say Goodbye, tells of entertaining angels, dancing with devils, and of the
abandoned children many viewed simply as raining manna from some lesser god.
The young and unfortunate lives
of the Tuohy bruins—sometimes Irish, sometimes Jewish, often Catholic,
rambunctious, but all imbued with Lion’s hearts—told here with brutal honesty
leavened with humor and laudable introspective forgiveness. The memoir will
have you falling to your knees thanking that benevolent Irish cop in the sky,
your lucky stars, or hugging the oxygen out of your own kids the fate foisted
upon Johnny and his siblings does not and did not befall your own brood. John
William Tuohy, a nationally-recognized authority on organized crime and Irish
levity, is your trusted guide through the weeds the decades of neglect ensnared
he and his brothers and sisters, all suffering for the impersonal and often
mercenary taint of the foster care system. Theirs, and Tuohy’s, story is not at
all figures of speech as this review might suggest, but all too real and all
too sad, and maddening. I wanted to scream. I wanted to get into a time
machine, go back and adopt every last one of them. I was angry. I was
captivated. The requisite damning verities of foster care are all here, regretfully,
but what sets this story above others is its beating heart, even a bruised and
broken one, still willing to forgive and understand, and continue to aid its
walking wounded. I cannot recommend this book enough.
ByPaul Dayon June 15, 2015
Great reading. Life in foster
care told from a very rare point of view.
ByJackie Malkeson June 5, 2015
This book is definitely a must
for social workers working with children specifically. This is an excellent
memoir which identifies the trails of foster children in the 1960s in the
United States. The memoir captures stories of joy as well as nail biting
terror, as the family is at times torn apart but finds each other later and
finds solace in the experiences of one another. The stories capture the love
siblings have for one another as well as the protection they have for one
another in even the worst of circumstances. On the flip side, one of the most
touching stories to me was when a Nun at the school helped him to read-- truly
an example of how a positive person really helped to shape the author in times
when circumstances at home were challenging and treacherous. I found the book
to be a page turner and at times show how even in the hardest of circumstances
there was a need to live and survive and make the best of any moment. The
memoir is eye-opening and helped to shed light and make me feel proud of the
volunteer work I take part in with disadvantaged children. Riveting....Must
read....memory lane on steroids....Catholic school banter, blue color
towns...Lawrence Welk on Sundays night's.
Byeileenon June 4, 2015
From ' No time to say Goodbye
'and authors John W. Touhys Gangster novels, his style never waivers...humorous
to sadness to candidly realistic situations all his writings leaves the reader
in awe......longing for more.
Bykaren pojakeneon June 1, 2015
This book is a must-read for
anyone who administers to the foster care program in any state. This is not a
"fell through the cracks" life story, but rather a memoir of a life
guided by strength and faith and a hard determination to survive. it is
heartening to know that the "sewer" that life can become to steal our
personal peace can be fought and our peace can be restored, scarred, but
restored.
ByMichelle Blackon
A captivating, shocking, and
deeply moving memoir, No Time to Say Goodbye is a true page turner. John shares
the story of his childhood, from the struggles of living in poverty to being in
the foster care system and simply trying to survive. You will be cheering for
him all the way, as he never loses his will to thrive even in the darkest and
bleakest of circumstances. This memoir is a very truthful and unapologetic
glimpse into the way in which some of our most vulnerable citizens have been
treated in the past and are still being treated today. It is truly eye-opening,
and hopefully will inspire many people to take action in protection of
vulnerable children.
ByKimberlyon May 24, 2015
I found myself in tears while
reading this book. John William Tuohy writes quite movingly about the world he
grew up in; a world in which I had hoped did not exist within the foster care
system. This book is at times funny, raw, compelling, heartbreaking and
disturbing. I found myself rooting for John as he tries to escape from an
incredibly difficult life. You will too!
ByGeoffrey A. Childson May 20,
2015
I found this book to be a
compelling story of life in the Ct foster care system. at times disturbing and
at others inspirational ,The author goes into great detail in this gritty
memoir of His early life being abandoned into the states system and his
subsequent escape from it. Every once in a while a book or even an article in a
newspaper comes along that bears witness to an injustice or even something
that's just plain wrong. This chronicle of the foster care system is such a
book and should be required reading for any aspiring social workers.
BOOK
REVIEW
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
JFK's pardons and the mob; Prohibition, Chicago's crime cadres and the staged kidnapping of "`Jake the Barber'" Factor, "the black sheep brother of the cosmetics king, Max Factor"; lifetime sentences, attempted jail busts and the perseverance of "a rumpled private detective and an eccentric lawyer" John W. Tuohy showcases all these and more sensational and shady happenings in When Capone's Mob Murdered Roger Touhy: The Strange Case of Touhy, Jake the Barber and the Kidnapping that Never Happened. The author started investigating Touhy's 1959 murder by Capone's gang in 1975 for an undergrad assignment. He traces the frame-job whereby Touhy was accused of the kidnapping, his decades in jail, his memoirs, his retrial and release and, finally, his murder, 28 days after regaining his freedom. Sixteen pages of photos.
From Library Journal
Roger Touhy, one of the "terrible Touhys" and leader of a bootlegging racket that challenged Capone's mob in Prohibition Chicago, had a lot to answer for, but the crime that put him behind bars was, ironically, one he didn't commit: the alleged kidnapping of Jake Factor, half-brother of Max Factor and international swindler. Author Tuohy (apparently no relation), a former staff investigator for the National Center for the Study of Organized Crime, briefly traces the history of the Touhys and the Capone mob, then describes Factor's plan to have himself kidnapped, putting Touhy behind bars and keeping himself from being deported. This miscarriage of justice lasted 17 years and ended in Touhy's parole and murder by the Capone mob 28 days later. Factor was never deported. The author spent 26 years researching this story, and he can't bear to waste a word of it. Though slim, the book still seems padded, with irrelevant detail muddying the main story. Touhy is a hard man to feel sorry for, but the author does his best. Sure to be popular in the Chicago area and with the many fans of mob history, this is suitable for larger public libraries and regional collections. Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH
John
William Tuohy, one of the most prolific crime writers in America, has penned a
tragic, but fascinating story of Roger Touhy and John Factor. It's a tale born
out of poverty and violence, a story of ambition gone wrong and deception on an
enormous, almost unfathomable, scale. However, this is also a story of triumph
of determination to survive, of a lifelong struggle for dignity and redemption
of the spirit.
The
story starts with John "Jake the Barber" Factor. The product of the
turn of the century European ethnic slums of Chicago's west side, Jake's
brother, Max Factor, would go on to create an international cosmetic empire.
In
1926, Factor, grubstaked in a partnership with the great New York criminal
genius, Arnold Rothstien, and Chicago's Al Capone, John Factor set up a stock
scam in England that fleeced thousands of investors, including members of the
royal family, out of $8 million dollars, an incredible sum of money in 1926.
After
the scam fell apart, Factor fled to France, where he formed another syndicate
of con artists, who broke the bank at Monte Carlo by rigging the tables.
Eventually,
Factor fled to the safety of Capone's Chicago but the highest powers in the
Empire demanded his arrest. However, Factor fought extradition all the way to
the United States Supreme Court, but he had a weak case and deportation was
inevitable. Just 24 hours before the court was to decide his fate, Factor paid
to have himself kidnapped and his case was postponed. He reappeared in Chicago
several days later, and, at the syndicates' urging, accused gangster Roger
Touhy of the kidnapping.
Roger
"The Terrible" Touhy was the youngest son of an honest Chicago cop.
Although born in the Valley, a teeming Irish slum, the family moved to rural
Des Plains, Illinois while Roger was still a boy. Touhy's five older brothers
stayed behind in the valley and soon flew under the leadership of
"Terrible Tommy" O'Connor. By 1933, three of them would be shot dead
in various disputes with the mob and one, Tommy, would lose the use of his legs
by syndicate machine guns. Secure in the still rural suburbs of Cook County,
Roger Touhy graduated as class valedictorian of his Catholic school.
Afterwards, he briefly worked as an organizer for the Telegraph and
Telecommunications Workers Union after being blacklisted by Western Union for
his minor pro-labor activities.
Touhy
entered the Navy in the first world war and served two years, teaching Morse
code to Officers at Harvard University.
After
the war, he rode the rails out west where he earned a living as a railroad
telegraph operator and eventually made a small but respectable fortune as an
oil well speculator.
Returning
to Chicago in 1924, Touhy married his childhood sweetheart, regrouped with his
brothers and formed a partnership with a corrupt ward heeler named Matt Kolb,
and, in 1925, he started a suburban bootlegging and slot machine operation in
northwestern Cook County. Left out of the endless beer wars that plagued the
gangs inside Chicago, Touhy's operation flourished. By 1926, his slot machine
operations alone grossed over $1,000,000.00 a year, at a time when a gallon of
gas cost eight cents.
They
were unusual gangsters. When the Klu Klux Klan, then at the height of its
power, threatened the life of a priest who had befriended the gang, Tommy
Touhy, Roger's older brother, the real "Terrible Touhy," broke into
the Klan's national headquarters, stole its membership roles, and, despite an
offer of $25,000 to return them, delivered the list to the priest who published
the names in several Catholic newspapers the following day.
Once,
Touhy unthinkingly released several thousand gallons of putrid sour mash in to
the Des Plains River one day before the city was to reenact its discovery by
canoe-riding Jesuits a hundred years before. After a dressing down by the towns
people Touhy spent $10,000.00 on perfume and doused the river with it, saving
the day.
They
were inventive too. When the Chicago police levied a 50% protection tax on
Touhy's beer, Touhy bought a fleet of Esso gasoline delivery trucks, kept the
Esso logo on the vehicles, and delivered his booze to his speakeasies that way.
In
1930, when Capone invaded the labor rackets, the union bosses, mostly Irish and
completely corrupt, turned to the Touhy organization for protection. The
intermittent gun battles between the Touhys and the Capone mob over control of
beer routes which had been fought on the empty, back roads of rural Cook
County, was now brought into the city where street battles extracted an awesome
toll on both sides. The Chicago Tribune estimated the casualties to be one
hundred dead in less then 12 months.
By
the winter of 1933, remarkably, Touhy was winning the war in large part because
joining him in the struggle against the mob was Chicago's very corrupt, newly
elected mayor Anthony "Ten percent Tony" Cermak, who was as much a
gangster as he was an elected official.
Cermak
threw the entire weight of his office and the whole Chicago police force behind
Touhy's forces. Eventually, two of Cermak's police bodyguards arrested Frank
Nitti, the syndicate's boss, and, for a price, shot him six times. Nitti lived.
As a result, two months later Nitti's gunmen caught up with Cermak at a
political rally in Florida.
Using
previously overlooked Secret Service reports, this book proves, for the first
time, that the mob stalked Cermak and used a hardened felon to kill him. The
true story behind the mob's 1933 murder of Anton Cermak, will changes histories
understanding of organized crimes forever. The fascinating thing about this
killing is its eerie similarity to the Kennedy assassination in Dallas thirty
years later, made even more macabre by the fact that several of the names
associated with the Cermak killing were later aligned with the Kennedy killing.
For
many decades, it was whispered that the mob had executed Cermak for his role in
the Touhy-syndicate war of 1931-33, but there was never proof. The official
story is that a loner named Giuseppe Zangara, an out-of-work, Sicilian born
drifter with communist leanings, traveled to Florida in the winter of 1933 and
fired several shots at President Franklin Roosevelt. He missed the President,
but killed Chicago's Mayor Anton Cermak instead. However, using long lost
documents, Tuohy is able to prove that Zangara was a convicted felon with long
ties to mob Mafia and that he very much intended to murder Anton Cermak.
With
Cermak dead, Touhy was on his own against the mob. At the same time, the United
States Postal Service was closing in on his gang for pulling off the largest
mail heists in US history at that time. The cash was used to fund Touhy's war
with the Capones.Then in June of 1933, John Factor en he reappeared, Factor
accused Roger Touhy of kidnapping him. After two sensational trials, Touhy was
convicted of kidnapping John Factor and sentenced to 99 years in prison and
Factor, after a series of complicated legal maneuvers, and using the mob's
influence, was allowed to remain in the United States as a witness for the
prosecution, however, he was still a wanted felon in England.
By
1942 Roger Touhy had been in prison for nine years, his once vast fortune was
gone. Roger's family was gone as well. At his request, his wife Clara had moved
to Florida with their two sons in 1934. However, with the help of Touhy's
remaining sister, the family retained a rumpled private detective, actually a
down-and-out, a very shady and disbarred mob lawyer named Morrie Green.
Disheveled
of not, Green was a highly competent investigator and was able to piece
together and prove the conspiracy that landed Touhy in jail. However, no court
would hear the case, and by the fall of 1942, Touhy had exhausted every legal
avenue open to him.Desperate, Touhy hatched a daring daylight breakout over the
thirty foot walls of Stateville prison.The sensational escape ended three
months later in a dramatic and bloody shootout between the convicts and the
FBI, led by J. Edgar Hoover.
Less
then three months after Touhy was captured, Fox Studios hired producer Brian
Foy to churn out a mob financed docudrama film on the escape entitled,
"Roger Touhy, The Last Gangster." The executive producer on the film
was Johnny Roselli, the hood who later introduced Judy Campbell to Frank
Sinatra. Touhy sued Fox and eventually won his case and the film was withdrawn
from circulation. In 1962, Columbia pictures and John Houston tried to produce
a remake of the film, but were scared off the project.
While
Touhy was on the run from prison, John Factor was convicted for m ail fraud and
was sentenced and served ten years at hard labor. Factor's take from the scam
was $10,000,000.00 in cash.
Released
in 1949, Factor took control of the Stardust Hotel Casino in 1955, then the
largest operation on the Vegas strip. The casino's true owners, of course, were
Chicago mob bosses Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo, Murray Humpreys and Sam Giancana.
From 1955 to 1963, the length of Factor's tenure at the casino, the US Justice
Department estimated that the Chicago outfit skimmed between forty-eight to 200
million dollars from the Stardust alone.
In
1956, while Factor and the outfit were growing rich off the Stardust, Roger
Touhy hired a quirky, high strung, but highly effective lawyer named Robert B.
Johnstone to take his case. A brilliant legal tactician, who worked incessantly
on Touhy's freedom, Robert Johnstone managed to get Touhy's case heard before
federal judge John P. Barnes, a refined magistrate filled with his own
eccentricities. After two years of hearings, Barnes released a 1,500-page
decision on Touhy's case, finding that Touhy was railroaded to prison in a
conspiracy between the mob and the state attorney's office and that John Factor
had kidnapped himself as a means to avoid extradition to England.
Released
from prison in 1959, Touhy wrote his life story "The Stolen Years"
with legendary Chicago crime reporter, Ray Brennan. It was Brennan, as a young
cub reporter, who broke the story of John Dillenger's sensational escape from
Crown Point prison, supposedly with a bar of soap whittled to look like a
pistol. It was also Brennan who brought about the end of Roger Touhy's mortal
enemy, "Tubbo" Gilbert, the mob owned chief investigator for the Cook
County state attorney's office, and who designed the frame-up that placed Touhy
behind bars.
Factor
entered a suit against Roger Touhy, his book publishers and Ray Brennan,
claiming it damaged his reputation as a "leading citizen of Nevada and a
philanthropist."
The
teamsters, Factor's partners in the Stardust Casino, refused to ship the book
and Chicago's bookstore owners were warned by Tony Accardo, in person, not to
carry the book.
Touhy
and Johnstone fought back by drawing up the papers to enter a $300,000,000
lawsuit against John Factor, mob leaders Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo and Murray
Humpreys as well as former Cook County state attorney Thomas Courtney and Tubbo
Gilbert, his chief investigator, for wrongful imprisonment.
The
mob couldn't allow the suit to reach court, and considering Touhy's
determination, Ray Brennan's nose for a good story and Bob Johnstone's legal
talents, there was no doubt the case would make it to court. If the case went
to court, John Factor, the outfit's figurehead at the lucrative Stardust
Casino, could easily be tied in to illegal teamster loans. At the same time,
the McClellan committee was looking into the ties between the teamsters, Las
Vegas and organized crime and the raid at the mob conclave in New York state
had awakened the FBI and brought them into the fight. So, Touhy's lawsuit was,
in effect, his death sentence.
Twenty-five
days after his release from twenty-five years in prison, Roger Touhy was gunned
down on a frigid December night on his sister's front door.
Two
years after Touhy's murder, in 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy ordered
his Justice Department to look into the highly suspect dealings of the Stardust
Casino. Factor was still the owner on record, but had sold his interest in the
casino portion of the hotel for a mere 7 million dollars. Then, in December of
that year, the INS, working with the FBI on Bobby Kennedy's orders, informed
Jake Factor that he was to be deported from the United States before the end of
the month. Factor would be returned to England where he was still a wanted
felon as a result of his 1928 stock scam. Just 48 hours before the deportation,
Factor, John Kennedy's largest single personal political contributor, was
granted a full and complete Presidential pardon which allowed him to stay in
the United States.
The
story hints that Factor was more then probably an informant for the Internal
Revenue Service, it also investigates the murky world of Presidential pardons,
the last imperial power of the Executive branch. It's a sordid tale of abuse of
privilege, the mob's best friend and perhaps it is time the American people
reconsider the entire notion.
The
mob wasn't finished with Factor. Right after his pardon, Factor was involved in
a vague, questionable financial plot to try and bail teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa
out of his seemingly endless financial problems in Florida real estate. He was
also involved with a questionable stock transaction with mobster Murray
Humpreys. Factor spent the remaining twenty years of his life as a benefactor
to California's Black ghettos. He tried, truly, to make amends for all of the
suffering he had caused in his life. He spent millions of dollars building
churches, gyms, parks and low cost housing in the poverty stricken ghettos.
When he died, three United States Senators, the Mayor of Los Angles and several
hundred poor Black waited in the rain to pay their last respects at Jake the
Barber's funeral.
Interesting
Information on A Little Known Case
By Bill Emblom
Author John Tuohy, who has a
similar spelling of the last name to his subject Roger, but apparently no
relation, has provided us with an interesting story of northwest Chicago beer
baron Roger Touhy who was in competition with Al Capone during Capone's heyday.
Touhy appeared to be winning the battle since Mayor Anton Cermak was deporting
a number of Capone's cronies. However, the mob hit, according to the author, on
Mayor Cermak in Miami, Florida, by Giuseppe Zangara following a speech by
President-elect Roosevelt, put an end to the harrassment of Capone's cronies.
The author details the staged "kidnapping" of Jake "the
Barber" Factor who did this to avoid being deported to England and facing
a prison sentence there for stock swindling, with Touhy having his rights
violated and sent to prison for 25 years for the kidnapping that never
happened. Factor and other Chicago mobsters were making a lot of money with the
Stardust Casino in Las Vegas when they got word that Touhy was to be parolled
and planned to write his life story. The mob, not wanting this, decided Touhy
had to be eliminated. Touhy was murdered by hit men in 1959, 28 days after
gaining his freedom. Jake Factor had also spent time in prison in the United
States for a whiskey swindle involving 300 victims in 12 states. Two days
before Factor was to be deported to England to face prison for the stock
swindle President Kennedy granted Factor a full Presidential Pardon after
Factor's contribution to the Bay of Pigs fund. President Kennedy, the author
notes, issued 472 pardons (about half questionable) more than any president
before or since.
There are a number of books on
Capone and the Chicago mob. This book takes a look at an overlooked beer baron
from that time period, Roger Touhy. It is a very worthwhile read and one that
will hold your interest.
"Eight long years locked up for a
kidnapping that was in fact a hoax, in autumn 1942, Roger Touhy & his gang
of cons busted out of Stateville, the infamous "roundhouse" prison,
southwest of Chicago Illinois. On the lam 2 months he was, when J Edgar &
his agents sniffed him out in a run down 6-flat tenement on the city's far
north lakefront. "Terrible Roger" had celebrated Christmas morning on
the outside - just like all square Johns & Janes - but by New Year's Eve,
was back in the bighouse.
Touhy's arrest hideout holds special
interest to me because I grew up less than a mile away from it. Though I never
knew so til 1975 when his bio was included in hard-boiled crime chronicler Jay
Robert Nash's, Badmen & Bloodletters, a phone book sized encyclopedia of
crooks & killers. Touhy's hard scrabble charisma stood out among 200 years'
worth of sociopathic Americana Nash had alphabetized, and gotten a pulphouse
publisher to print up for him.
I read Nash's outlaw dictionary
as a teen, and found Touhy's Prohibition era David vs Goliath battles with
ultimate gangster kingpin, Al Capone quite alluring, in an anti-hero sorta way.
Years later I learned Touhy had written a memoir, and reading his The Stolen
Years only reinforced my image of an underdog speakeasy beer baron - slash
suburban family man - outwitting the stone cold killer who masterminded the St.
Valentine's Day Massacre.
Like most autobiographies tho,
Touhy's book painted him the good guy. Just an everyday gent caught up in
events, and he sold his story well. Had I been a saloonkeeper back then I could
picture myself buying his sales pitch - and liking the guy too. I sure bought
into his tale, which in hindsight criminal scribe Nash had too, because both
writers portray Touhy - though admittedly a crook - as never "really"
hurting anybody. Only doing what any down-to-earth bootlegger running a million
dollar/year criminal enterprise would have.
What Capone's Mob Murdered Roger
Touhy author John Tuohy does tho is, provide a more objective version of
events, balancing out Touhy's white wash ... 'er ... make that subjectively ...
remembered telling of his life & times. Author Tuohy's account of gangster
Touhy's account forced me - grown up now - to re-account for my own original
take on the story.
As a kid back then, Touhy seemed almost
a Robin Hood- ish hood - if you'll pardon a very lame pun. Forty years on tho
re-considering the evidence, I think a persuasive - if not iron-clad convincing
- case can be made for his conviction in the kidnapping of swindler scumbag
Jake the Barber Factor. At least as far as conspiracy to do so goes, anyways.
(Please excuse the crude redundancy there but Factor's stench truly was that of
the dog s*** one steps in on those unfortunate occasions one does.)
Touhy's memoir painted himself as
almost an innocent bystander at his own life's events. But he was a very smart
& savvy guy - no dummy by a long shot. And I kinda do believe now, to not
have known his own henchmen were in on Factor's ploy to stave off deportation
and imprisonment, Touhy would have had to be as naive a Prohibition crime boss
- and make no mistake he was one - as I was as a teenage kid reading Nash's
thug-opedia,
On the other hand, the guy was
the father of two sons and it's repulsive to consider he would have taken part
in loathsomeness the crime of kidnapping was - even if the abducted victim was
an adult and as repulsively loathsome as widows & orphans conman, Jake
Factor.
This book's target audience is
crime buffs no doubt, but it's an interesting read just the same; and includes
anecdotes and insights I had not known of before. Unfortunately too, one that
knocks a hero of mine down a peg or two - or more like ten.
Circa 1960, President Kennedy
pardoned Jake the Barber, a fact that reading of almost made me puke. Then
again JFK and the Chicago Mob did make for some strange bedfellowery every now
& again. I'll always admire WWII US Navy commander Kennedy's astonishing
(word chosen carefully) bravery following his PT boat's sinking, but him
signing that document - effectively wiping Factor's s*** stain clean - as
payback for campaign contributions Factor made to him, was REALLY nauseating to
read.
Come to think of it tho, the
terms "criminal douchedog" & "any political candidate"
are pretty much interchangeable.
Anyways tho ... rest in peace
Rog, & I raise a toast - of virtual bootleg ale - in your honor:
"Turns out you weren't the hard-luck mug I'd thought you were, but what
the hell, at least you had style." And guts to meet your inevitable end
with more grace than a gangster should.
Post Note: Author Tuohy's
re-examination of the evidence in the Roger Touhy case does include some heroes
- guys & women - who attempted to find the truth of what did happen.
Reading about people like that IS rewarding. They showed true courage - and decency
- in a world reeking of corruption & deceit. So, here's to the lawyer who
took on a lost cause; the private detective who dug up buried facts; and most
of all, Touhy's wife & sister who stood by his side all those years.
Crime
don't pay, kids
Very good organized crime book. A
rather obscure gangster story which makes it fresh to read. I do not like these
minimum word requirements for a review. (There, I have met my minimum)
Chicago
Gangster History At It's Best
ByJ. CROSBYon
As a 4th generation Chicagoan, I
just loved this book. Growing up in the 1950's and 60's I heard the name
"Terrible Touhy's" mentioned many times. Roger was thought of as a
great man, and seems to have been held in high esteem among the old timer
Chicagoans.
That said, I thought this book to
be nothing but interesting and well written. (It inspired me to find a copy of
Roger's "Stolen Years" bio.) I do recommend this book to other folks
interested in prohibition/depression era Chicago crime research. It is a must
have for your library of Gangsters literature from that era. Chock full of
information and the reader is transported back in time.
I'd like to know just what is
"The Valley" area today in Chicago. I still live in the Windy City
and would like to see if anything remains from the early days of the 20th
century.
A good writer and a good book! I
will buy some more of Mr. Tuohy's work.
Great
story, great read
ByBookreaderon
A complex tale of gangsters,
political kickback, mob wars and corrupt politicians told with wit and humor at
a good pace. Highly recommend this book.
One
of the best books I've read in a long time....
If you're into mafioso, read
this! I loved it. Bought a copy for my brother to read for his
birthday--good stuff.
CYBERDATE
An award winning full length play by John William Tuohy
"Cyberdate.Com is the story of six ordinary people in search of romance, friendship and love and find it in very extraordinary ways. Based on the real life experiences of the authors misadventures with on line dating, Cyber date is a bittersweet story that will make you laugh, cry and want to fall in love again." Ellis McKay
OTHER PLAYS BY JOHN WILLIAM TUOHY
So,
I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most
of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we
can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try
to feel okay about them. Stephen Chbosky
THE BEAT POETS
Beat
poetry evolved during the 1940s in both New York City and on the west coast,
although San Francisco became the heart of the movement in the early 1950s. The
end of World War II left poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence
Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso questioning mainstream politics and
culture. A Brief Guide to the Beat Poets | Academy of American Poets https://www.poets.org/poetsorg
1965:
Cracking Down on Beatniks
Youths may be sent to the barber first and then back to their
families, police warned.
ROME —
Rome police today [Nov.3] threatened a major crackdown on the unwashed,
unshaven, unruly beatnik bands which have made Rome’s stately Spanish Steps
their rallying point. Foreigners in the ranks of the Spanish Steps loafers may
be expelled from the country and Italian youths copying the shaggy style may be
sent to the barber first and then back to their families, police warned.
Climaxing a summer-long series of small incidents there, the Spanish Steps were
the stage yesterday of a violent free-for-all tussle between the beatniks,
soldiers and police. — New York Herald Tribune, European Edition,
November 4, 1965
MISH MOSH....
Mish Mash:
noun \ˈmish-ˌmash, -ˌmäsh\ A : hodgepodge, jumble
“The
painting was just a mishmash of colors and abstract shapes as far as we could
tell”. Origin Middle English & Yiddish; Middle English mysse
masche, perhaps reduplication of mash mash; Yiddish mish-mash, perhaps
reduplication of mishn to mix. First Known Use: 15th century
"As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist."
300 quotes from Emerson
To view more Emerson quotes or read a life background on Emerson please visit the books blog spot. We update the blog bi-monthly emersonsaidit.blogspot.com
Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame. Henry David Thoreau
Who, being loved, is poor? Oscar Wilde
Finland planning basic income for all
Plans for a nationwide
guaranteed basic income to all people, including the jobless, is being hammered
out in Finland by the country’s social insurance institution Kela.
As reported by the
online news site ZME Science, the concept of basic income is universal – a
system of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country
regularly receive an unconditional sum of money from the government or a public
institution.
In its initial phase,
the income will be €550, but in its full form, it will reach €800.
According to the
report, several pilots have already been done over the past decades. Even in
the United States, back in the 1970s, Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) was a goal
of US President Richard Nixon and the House even successfully passed a bill for
it. Large-scale pilots were implemented in Seattle and Denver, finding that
hardly anyone stopped working.
Kela says it will
prepare the basic income proposal by next year, and it could revolutionise
their entire social system. Hopefully, it will work – and inspire other
countries in turn.
AND NOW, LETS HEAR FROM THE BARD HIMSELF
The audience was closest to the commentators, and the commentators spoke directly to them. In Richard III Richard opens the play crouching at the stage edge and speaking in soliloquy to the crowd at his feet. He tells them the truth about his feelings, with intimate frankness.
The other characters when they come on speak from centre-stage, and the audience literally backs Richard as they watch him fool them with his acting. His wooing of Lady Anne in the third scene is a bravura display of his arts of deception.
That role and that position he sustains until he has the crown. Once he is king, though, he has to occupy the centre of the stage. That is when he loses his proximity and his intimacy with his audience. From then o he is the victim, acted on rather than acting, and he loses the audience’s subconscious alliance with him. Andrew Gurr, “The Company’s Work,” The Shakespeare Company, 1594-1642
TWELFTH NIGHT, ACT V, SCENE 1
ANTONIO:
Antonio never yet was thief or pirate,
Though I confess, on base and ground enough,
Orsino’s enemy. A witchcraft drew me hither:
That most ingrateful boy there by your side,
From the rude sea’s enraged and foamy mouth
Did I redeem; a wreck past hope he was:
His life I gave him and did thereto add
My love, without retention or restraint,
All his in dedication; for his sake
Did I expose myself, pure for his love,
Into the danger of this adverse town;
Drew to defend him when he was beset:
Where being apprehended, his false cunning,
Not meaning to partake with me in danger,
Taught him to face me out of his acquaintance,
And grew a twenty years removed thing
While one would wink; denied me mine own purse,
Which I had recommended to his use
Not half an hour before.
"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."
Visit our Shakespeare Blog at the address below
http://shakespeareinamericanenglish.blogspot.com/
It’s much better to do good in a way that no one
knows anything about it. Leo
Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved. George Eliot
Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star… E.E. Cummings
The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love. Henry Miller
“Love is . . . Being happy for the other person when they are happy, Being sad for the person when they are sad, Being together in good times, And being together in bad times.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF STRENGTH.
Love is . . . Being honest with yourself at all times, Being honest with the other person at all times, Telling, listening, respecting the truth, And never pretending.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF REALITY.
Love is . . . An understanding so complete that you feel as if you are a part of the other person, Accepting the other person just the way they are, And not trying to change them to be something else.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF UNITY.
Love is . . . The freedom to pursue your own desires while sharing your experiences with the other person, The growth of one individual alongside of and together with the growth of another individual.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF SUCCESS.
Love is . . . The excitement of planning things together, The excitement of doing things together.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF THE FUTURE.
Love is . . . The fury of the storm, The calm in the rainbow.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF PASSION.
Love is . . . Giving and taking in a daily situation, Being patient with each other's needs and desires.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF SHARING.
Love is . . . Knowing that the other person will always be with you regardless of what happens, Missing the other person when they are away but remaining near in heart at all times.
LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF SECURITY.
LOVE IS . . . THE SOURCE OF LIFE!”
Susan Polis Schutz
MUSIC FOR THE SOUL
Earl Hines
AND NOW, A BEATLES BREAK
DON'T YOU WANT TO SEE THE ENTIRE WORLD?
I DO
Entrance to the causeway that leads to Castillo de San Sebastian, La Caleta, Cadiz, Spain
Erfurt, Germany
Évora - Portugal
The Beat Goes On: Exploring the West Coast's Literary Haunts
Chris Flavell
WRITER Jack Kerouac in his seminal novel On the Road wrote of the fabulous white city of San Francisco and her eleven mystic hills framed by the blue Pacific with its advancing wall of potato-patch fog.
Those haunting words fresh in my mind began a trip to explore the homes, haunts and inspirations of writers of the West Coast of America. From its bustling cities, small towns and mesmerizing coastline, each has offered some of the world’s greatest writers a place to work, play and create. Kerouac, Allan Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and many others that made up the Beat Generation of writers all have links to San Francisco. Jack London and Mark Twain also spent time wandering its hilly terrain on route to penning some of history’s classic literature.
A short ride down the coast brings you to John Steinbeck country. Land that helped forge such classics as Of Mice And Men, Cannery Row and East of Eden.
Further still brings you to the refuge of Henry Miller in Big Sur. Then, as you begin to cut in-land and head to the hot, dusty roads leading to America’s party city of Las Vegas, you don’t have to look far before Hunter S. Thompson’s crazy journey in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas begins to take shape.
This particular part of the world created iconic moments in literary history and fed the minds of writers, poets and musicians who gravitated towards each other. Not only did they take inspiration from their surroundings, but they successfully immortalised them on the page.
My trip down the West Coast began in San Francisco. My wife and I had three days before we picked up our rental car and were determined to take in the city’s unique character.
Jack Kerouac, author of On the Road, Big Sur and Dharma Bums, hitchhiked his way to the Pacific regularly in the late 1940s and early 50s to gather with friends and fellow writers. They included poet Allan Ginsberg and author William S Burroughs.
After happily wandering the streets of the city’s China Town we eventually found City Lights Bookstore, a popular meeting place of the group, though it is hard to know if the bookstore or the bar next door, called Vesuvio, was the real draw - the latter now offering tourists a Karouac cocktail. The drink is packed with different spirits, apparently in homage to the unfinished drinks the novelist would mix together to consume at the end of the night.
A short walk from City Lights took us to the door of the Beat Museum. Here we were lucky enough to meet its founder Jerry Cimino.
A clear passion for those now running the attraction, the two-floor museum offers a collection of rare books, donated items of clothing, and brilliant displays on individual writers and the role they played to help mould a different social attitude that would eventually grow into the Hippie movement of the 60s.
Seminal to this was Alan Ginsberg’s work Howl and the trial of its publisher, City Lights owner and still city resident Lawrence Ferlinghetti, for breaching obscenity laws. The subsequent legal victory that ruled in favour of the work proved a massive step in altering censorship laws while also reflecting changing attitudes across the nation.
That trial, the women that inspired the group and Kerouac’s biggest muse, friend Neil Cassidy, all have sections devoted to them in the museum. Cassidy’s later links to Ken Kasey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, also helped link the Beats to the Hippies and other counterculture movements that followed. A newer attraction is the car featured in the recent film version of On The Road starring Kristen Steward, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Riley.
Our other days in the city were spent cycling the Golden Gate Bridge, visiting the island prison of Alcatraz and strolling around the piers at Fisherman’s Warf.
A particular highlight proved the North Beach neighbourhood that is still packed with bustling bars and simple diners. Artists display their work in Washington Square and the area’s characters still roam the warm nights.
After our time in this unique location we pick up our car and quickly headed out of the busy city and began our drive down the coast.
Soon the freeway is replaced by a smaller road, the tall tower blocks replaced by breaking waves and misty coastline.
Our next stop was Monterey, this time to embrace a part of California that inspired Steinbeck.
After arriving in Monterey we quickly headed to Cannery Row, the long, sea-front street that was once a hive of industry as fishing operations delivered their haul to be canned for distribution across the globe.
Though the buildings now play host to upmarket restaurants and independent stores, a few remnants of a different time still remain.
It was here in the 1930s that proved the inspiration for Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday novels.
His close friend Ed Ricketts formed the basis of marine biologist Doc while the people he met living around the fishing hub also lent themselves to Steinbeck’s other characters.
The buildings mentioned in the book still stand to this day and it near these where we met Cannery Row historian and tour guide Tim Thomas.
He walked us from one end of the road to the other, from the stunning sea front to the adjacent street as he explained the areas remarkable past.
Soon after we head to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and marvelled at the wide array of sea life.
Large tanks for sharks and tuna are complimented with shoaling fish, penguins, jelly fish and more. It’s a place that takes pride in educating visitors on the wildlife that lives along the conservation area along this coastline.
After spending the afternoon discovering the changing fortunes of the region - from early settlers, big business and eventual overfishing all the way through to today’s thriving marine life - we headed for food at Schooners Kitchen and Bar as the sun begins to set.
Schooners offers diners award-winning seafood with panoramic views of the ocean.
We devoured an octopus starter before tucking into tuna and scallop dishes. The meal was enjoyed with a delicious, locally-produced white wine.
Surely there can be no better place to eat in Monterey. It perfectly captured the town in one delightful sitting. Fresh seafood and local wine all served overlooking the splendour of this seafront haven.
That night we checked into our accommodation at the Asilomar Conference Centre a short drive from Cannery Row in Pacific Grove. Here the Steinbeck link continued as the grounds were home to his family's cabin where he penned his 1941 work Sea of Cortez.
The hotel was just a few minutes from the beach and offered the perfect base for exploring not just Cannery Row but also the nearby Big Sur coastline.
The next morning we got up early and began to drive what is often described as the most beautiful stretches of coast in the world. It’s fair to say we weren’t disappointed.
The road winds its way south while offering breathtaking views of the vast ocean out to the right. Here are plenty of spots to pull over and enjoy watching the waves crashing angrily against the grey rocks. All the while the coast juts out ahead and mist settles at the base of each fjord-like peninsula.
After driving for an hour we came to the main village of this area and pulled over to enjoy a Greek-style kebab at Big Sur Roadhouse. It was a great lunch spot and came just at the right time after the drive.
Quickly after lunch we arrived at the Henry Miller Memorial Library, a bookstore set up in tribute the controversial author of the Tropic of Cancer, another famously banned book due to its sexually explicit content.
Big Sur not only hosted Miller but also linked many of the writers of the region.
Kerouac came here often, most famously when penning his late book whose title bears the name of the area. He came to this part of the coast and hiked in its wooden hillsides as he battled the alcoholism that would eventually play a part in his early death at the age of just 47 in 1969.
Later writer Hunter S. Thompson, himself now a firm cult icon for his raucous writing and no-nonsense journalism, once worked as a caretaker for a nearby Spa resort.
The area offers blustery beaches, nature parks and brilliant waterfalls for anyone wanting to get closer to the natural wonders this part of the world has to offer.
As we pull over at the side of the road and hike the short distance to McWay Falls, a thin waterfall that cascades upon the beach below, we suddenly catch a glimpse of a Humpback Whale passing by close to the shore, pushing above the surface as it quietly makes its way up coast.
Our next stop a day later took us further into Steinbeck’s world. We headed in-land to Salinas where he was born and where now hosts the National Steinbeck Centre.
The rolling farmlands where he set Of Mice and Men soon begin to rush past, great swathes of open space bursting with crops of all kinds are framed only by distant hills. The great landscape that proved his inspiration, second only perhaps to the people that inhabited it, opens out and welcomes you quickly away from the usual tourist routes.
First, a must-visit location for any fans of the popular writer is surely the home where he was born that is now a beautiful eatery offering guests home-made cuisine.
We were greeted at the door by two of the many local volunteers that help maintain the home and serve those that come to enjoy food made with the wide array of local produce.
Patterned carpets and floral wallpaper adorns each room. We see Steinbeck’s old bedroom and enjoy old family photographs on the walls.
The house has been lovingly restored to match the period and a host of simple yet delicious dishes are soon served after we take our seat.
Fully fed, just a short walk takes us to the National Steinbeck Centre that showcases his work with well laid out sections devoted to each publication.
The two attractions complement each other perfectly. If his home is about the man himself and his family, the museum turns the spotlight onto his work.
That night we make the short drive to Vision Quest Ranch B&B.
Guests can meet all sorts of wild animals here and our room for the night is a big cat-themed hut overlooking the elephant enclosure. The place aims to give guests the feel of being on a safari and it very nearly manages the illusion as we fall asleep with the roar of the nearby lions.
Perhaps the biggest treat was when our breakfast arrived the next morning being delivered by elephant.
Five of them, all rescued some years before from a circus, are now the star attraction here. They help educate the many schoolchildren that visit.
Two of them accompany their keepers as they drop off our breakfast basket before we are given the chance to return the favour by feeding them ourselves. Each majestic animal takes turns to delicately pluck a piece of carrot from our hands.
We soon pack up our things once more and head south again. This time our destination is Cambria, our chosen destination to rest up for the night before attempting the long drive east into Las Vegas the following morning.
The drive gives us chance to savour the coastline once again, this time without stopping we push the car on and enjoy letting the landscape roll by.
Cambria was to be the calm before the Las Vegas storm and it didn’t disappoint. If there is a more beautiful and scenic stopover point in this stretch of coast, I’d love to see it.
We pull up to our accommodation for the night, Squibb House B&B, and are soon marvelling at the beautiful setting. As we enter our room we are instantly calmed by piano music being played on speakers near the door. A balcony, complete with two rocking chairs, offers another place to rest and relax.
Though it is hard to pull ourselves away, we head to the nearby Moonstone Beach and stroll along its beautiful boardwalk as the sea crashes away to our left and the daylight starts to slip away.
Before the sun sets completely we head for the main street and walk among its independent stores and quaint cafes.
In the town’s East Village, we stop off for wine tasting at Fermentations. We sample the region’s famed tipple one after the other and chat to locals and visitors alike as we sit at the bar. It was a perfect way to end our stay in California before turning our sights to the desert.
The next morning we leave early and head to Las Vegas - our final stop.
Soon the hilly, green coastal landscape is replaced with arid dusty roads. We power on, air conditioning cranked up as the temperature reaches 100 degrees.
I imagine ‘Fear and Loathing’ protagonists Raoul Duke and his attorney on their crazy ride and soon our persistence is rewarded as Sin City rises up, glowing in the distance.
We drop off the car and hit The Strip. It’s an attack of the senses. Outside bakes, the casinos are cool, music is everywhere, gambling key. We visit each hotel to marvel at their unique theme. We win at roulette, lose at poker.
That night we choose to venture away from the flashing lights and crowds slightly and head for an Italian restaurant just off The Strip.
Now run by Gino Ferraro, Ferraro’s is well-known for its authentic Italian dishes. The waiters talk about the family links here and we listen to a live pianist as we look over the massive wine list and menus.
Soon we are tucking into lamb and pasta dishes as the tables continue to fill around us. This place is clearly a favourite among the locals here and it’s easy to see why.
Early the next morning we are collected from our hotel and taken to a nearby airfield where we can be transported by air to see the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.
The Papillon tour company has been ferrying people in helicopters to see these wonders, both natural and man-made, since the 60s.
Soon we are swooping over the dam then heading onward still to the canyon. Even from up high it’s hard to capture the scale of such a place. It’s a must-see attraction and there really is no better way than from the air.
Our pilot cuts in from time to time to talk us through the history of the region and explain some of the small towns we see along the way and the fascinating stories on how people came to make this isolated part of the world their home.
That night we head to Fremont Street, the place that started it all. The first hotel was here, the first paved street and the first gaming license. Now this party street in Downtown Vegas makes The Strip look quiet in comparison.
Street performers wow the crowds, bars separate the casinos and it all takes place under a flashing canopy high above.
For a birds-eye view of the action the brave can pay for a zip line ride from one end to the other.
The Slotzilla zip line is 114 feet high and launches riders in a horizontal position, as if they are Superman, flying 1,700 feet at speeds faster than 35 miles per hour.
It’s a crazy and unique end to a beautiful journey.
So, be it the South Coast Beats that played together among San Francisco’s streets, the isolated party paradise of Vegas that Thompson feasted on, or the winding, foggy roads of Big Sur high above the sea along Highway 1; each writer shared a common element, no matter the era, of being able to flourish among the freedom that this part of America once offered them.
And though, indeed, those times are long changed, a taste of that freedom, that creative energy, that passion, can still be had even today for anyone willing to take the time, walk the streets, rent the car, and just go.
However, on this occasion, perhaps leave the guide book behind and replace it with a novel or two, because no-one quite captures this part of the world like those writers who once made it their home.
Travel Facts:
Accommodation at: Asilomar Conference Centre, Pacific Grove (www.visitasilomar.com), Vision Quest Ranch, Salinas (www.visionquestranch.com), Squibb House, Cambria (www.squibbhouse.net).
Food at: Schooners Coastal Kitchen and Bar (www.schoonersmonterey.com), Big Sur Road House (www.glenoaksbigsur.com/roadhouse), The Steinbeck House (www.steinbeckhouse.com), Ferraro’s Restaurant (www.ferraroslasvegas.com).
Also see – The Beat Museum (www.kerouac.com), Waterfront Cannery Row Tours (email timsardine@yahoo.com), Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org), National Steinbeck Centre (www.steinbeck.org), Papillon Flights (www.papillon.com), Slotzilla (www.vegasexperience.com/slotzilla-zip-line).
TODAY'S ALLEGED MOB GUY
THE PURPLE GANG
Sculpture this and Sculpture
that
New Hydrostone Sculptures by Daniel Arsham Isolate Human Gestures
DON'T YOU JUST LOVE POP ART?
DON’T WORRY-BE HAPPY
GOOD WORDS
TO HAVE………………..
Gannet (GAN-it) 1. A large seabird known for catching fish by diving from a height. 2. A greedy person. From Old English ganot. Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghans- (goose), which also gave us goose, gosling, gander, and gunsel.
HERE'S PLEASANT POEM FOR YOU TO ENJOY................
Nightclub
by
Billy Collins
Nightclub
You are so beautiful and I am a
fool
to be in love with you
is a theme that keeps coming up
in songs and poems.
There seems to be no room for
variation.
I have never heard anyone sing
I am so beautiful
and you are a fool to be in love
with me,
even though this notion has
surely
crossed the minds of women and
men alike.
You are so beautiful, too bad you
are a fool
is another one you don't hear.
Or, you are a fool to consider me
beautiful.
That one you will never hear,
guaranteed.
For no particular reason this
afternoon
I am listening to Johnny Hartman
whose dark voice can curl around
the concepts of love, beauty, and
foolishness
like no one else's can.
It feels like smoke curling up
from a cigarette
someone left burning on a baby
grand piano
around three o'clock in the
morning;
smoke that billows up into the
bright lights
while out there in the darkness
some of the beautiful fools have
gathered
around little tables to listen,
some with their eyes closed,
others leaning forward into the
music
as if it were holding them up,
or twirling the loose ice in a
glass,
slipping by degrees into a
rhythmic dream.
Yes, there is all this foolish
beauty,
borne beyond midnight,
that has no desire to go home,
especially now when everyone in
the room
is watching the large man with
the tenor sax
that hangs from his neck like a
golden fish.
He moves forward to the edge of
the stage
and hands the instrument down to
me
and nods that I should play.
So I put the mouthpiece to my
lips
and blow into it with all my
living breath.
We are all so foolish,
my long bebop solo begins by
saying,
so damn foolish
we have become beautiful without
even knowing it.
HERE'S SOME NICE ART FOR YOU TO LOOK AT....ENJOY!
Georges de La Tour,
born in 1593, seem to be heavily indebted to the work of Caravaggio (1571-1610)
and his followers in Rome, based on his bold use of light and dark. His
paintings—largely austere genre scenes structured by dramatic effects of day
and candlelight, such as the Gallery's “The Repentant Magdalen”—demonstrate
powerful introspection and intense spirituality
Time flows away like
the water in the river. Confucius
Whenever you feel like
criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this
world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had. The Great Gatsby
Have fun, even if it’s
not the same kind of fun everyone else is having. C.S. Lewis
Ireland to decriminalize
drugs including heroin and cocaine
Since our war on drugs isn't working and costing us trillions, maybe we should try this
Ireland will move
towards decriminalizing substances including heroin, cocaine and cannabis as
part of a “radical cultural shift”, the country's drugs minister has said.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, the chief of Ireland’s National Drugs Strategy, told a
lecture at the London School of Economics on Monday that drug users will be
able to inject in specially designated rooms in Dublin from next year.
The minister said attitudes to drugs needed to
move away from shaming addicts to helping them and emphasized there was a
difference between legalization and decriminalization.
It would remain a
crime to profit – from either the sale or distribution of illegal drugs – but
drug takers would no longer be criminalized for their addictions.
If you have the guts
to be yourself, other people’ll pay your price. John Updike
Margaret Atwood was at
a cocktail party when a surgeon walks over and says, "You know when I have
time, I'm going to write." Atwood smirked, and then said, "You know
when I have time, I'm going to take up brain surgery."
I LOVE BLACK AND WHITE
PHOTOS FROM FILM
This image of a Rhesus monkey was the Picture of the Week in the January 16, 1939 issue. Hansel Mieth
Ernest Hemingway
seemed to feud with most of the prominent male artists of his time, from
Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot to F. Scott Fitzgerald. He had a “very strange
relationship” with Orson Welles—the two came to blows at least once—and he
reportedly slapped Max Eastman in the face with a book. All his bluster and
bravado makes his warm friendship with James Joyce seem all the more
remarkable. They are a literary odd couple if ever there was one: Joyce the
labyrinthine thinker of Byzantine thoughts and creator of symbolic systems so dense
they constitute an entire field of study; physically weak and—despite his
infamous carnal appetites—intellectually monkish, Joyce exemplifies the artist
as a reclusive contemplative. Hemingway, on the other hand, well… we know his
reputation.
Hemingway’s 1961
obituary in The New York Times characterized Joyce as “a thin, wispy and
unmuscled man with defective eyesight” (perhaps the result of a syphilis
infection), and also notes that the two writers “did a certain amount of
drinking together” in Paris. As the narrator of the rare film clip of Joyce
informs us above, the Ulysses author would pick drunken fights, then duck
behind his burly friend and say, “Deal with him, Hemingway. Deal with him.”
(That scene also gets mentioned in The Times obituary.)
Hemingway, who
convinced himself at one time he had the makings of a real pugilist, was likely
happy to oblige. Joyce, writes Hemingway biographer James R. Mellow, “was an
admirer of Hemingway’s adventurous lifestyle” and worried aloud that his books
were too “suburban” next to those of his friend, of whom he said in a Danish
interview, “he’s a good writer, Hemingway. He writes as he is… there is much
more behind Hemingway’s form than people know.”
Joyce, notes Kenneth
Schyler Lynn in Hemingway, realized that “neither as a man nor as an artist was
[Hemingway] as simple as he seemed,” though he also remarked that Hemingway was
“a big powerful peasant, as strong as a buffalo. A sportsman. And ready to live
the life he writes about. He would never have written it if his body had not
allowed him to live it.” One detects more than a hint of Hemingway in Joycean
characters like Dubliners‘ Ignatious Gallaher or Ulysses’ Hugh “Blazes”
Boylan—strong, adventurous types who overawe introverted main characters.
That’s not to say that Joyce explicitly drew on Hemingway in constructing his
fiction, but that in the boastful, outgoing American, he saw what many of his
semi-autobiographical characters did in their more bullish counterparts—a
natural foil.
Hemingway returned
Joyce’s compliments, writing to Sherwood Anderson in 1923, “Joyce has a most
god-damn wonderful book” and pronouncing Joyce “the greatest writer in the
world.” He was “unquestionably… staggered,” writes Lynn, “by the multilayered
richness” of Ulysses. But its density may have proven too much for him, as “his
interest in the story gave out well before he finished it.” In Hemingway’s copy
of the novel, “only the pages of the first half and of Molly Bloom’s concluding
soliloquy are cut.” Hemingway tempered his praise with some blunt criticism;
unlike Joyce’s praise of his writing, the American did not admire Joyce’s
tendency towards autobiography in the character of Stephen Dedalus.
“The weakness of
Joyce,” Hemingway opined, was his inability to understand that “the only
writing that was any good was what you made up, what you imagined… Daedalus
[sic] in Ulysses was Joyce himself, so he was terrible. Joyce was so damn
romantic and intellectual.” Of course Stephen Dedalus was Joyce—that much is
clear to anyone. How Hemingway, who did his utmost to enact his fictional
adventures and fictionalize his real life, could fault Joyce for doing the same
is hard to reckon, except perhaps, as Joyce certainly felt, Hemingway led the
more adventurous life.
WHY THE WORLD NEEDS EDITORS.....................
THE ART OF PULP
THE ART OF WAR...............................
Photographs I’ve taken
I love this shot
These two birds, Doves, a mother and her chick, live in the fake tree on my back porch
ALBUM ART
AND HERE'S SOME ANIMALS FOR YOU...................
The Observation and Appreciation of Architecture
