Mark Howell's - "Soundings"
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Soundings

What is the Key West-Dick Cheney connection?

In 1991, the Key West environmental group Last Stand sued "Defense Secretary Dick Cheney et al." in seeking injunctive restraint against the Navy's plan to begin construction of a housing project at Peary Court.

Last Stand was represented by attorney Joel Sachs. Although Federal Judge Lawrence King did in fact issue a temporary restraining order against the Navy, ultimately the suit failed.

Today, much of the Peary Court housing is being rented to non-military personnel, but in 1992 the commanding officer at Boca Chica NAS, Capt. Mike Curry, declared, "It is absolutely critical that we support the mayor [Dennis Wardlow] in his bid to pass a resolution supporting the Navy on the Peary Court Housing project -- the very future of the Navy presence in Key West depends on it."

(The resolution was passed by the city commission.)

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We grieve the passing of Ralph Simmons, Jr., a small-press publisher and the life partner of Key West/Fire Island poet Kirby Congdon.

Ralph, who died following a stroke last month at the age of 77, was devoted to Kirby and devoted to the written word. In New York City after military service he became creative head of artwork at Modernismo magazine, then started his own Cycle Press with Kirby, now 85.

"Let my tight heart's hope live on air," wrote Kirby one time. Their relationship proved to be a precious thing between two people whose work together was hardly precious but as manly as can be.

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Losses in the wider world this year include the death of Molly Kool, 93, of New Brunswick, who was North America's first female sea captain (she survived the sinking of three vessels under her command in the Atlantic).

Also Peter Rogers, 95, creative genius behind the "Carry On" series of naughty British screen comedies; for example, "Carry On Up the Kyber" (Kyber is Cockney slang for the word that rhymes with [Khyber] Pass).

Then there's Marilyn Chambers, who died in April at the age of 56. Star of the porno classic, "Behind the Green Door" (1972), Marilyn had begun her career as the fresh-faced blonde beaming at a baby on boxes of Ivory Snow, described by its manufacturer, Procter & Gamble as "99 and 44/100 percent pure."

Not to mention radio commentator Paul Harvey, he of "the rest of the story," dead at 90. And J. G. Ballard, 78, author of "Crash," an exploration of automobile-accident sexual fetishism.

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A newly uncovered intelligence interview with a captured Nazi officer reveals that Adolph Hitler's table manners included gobbling cake and otherwise gorging on food, chewing his fingernails at table and indulging in "severe flatulence."

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According to figures compiled by Coldwell Banker Schmitt, home sales in the Keys are up 19 percent in the first nine months of the year over the same period last year.

The dollar value of all sales Keyswide is down 8 percent. The average sales price in September '08 was $604,476; in September '09 it was $463,447.

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The publisher calls it an important addition to American literature, gender studies, popular culture and the history of publishing.

"All Man! -- Hemingway, 1950s Men's Magazines and the Masculine Persona" by David Earle, just published by Kent State University Press, examines Ernest Hemingway as he was viewed through the lurid eyeball of men's pulp magazines.

During the 1950s, Hemingway survived two plane crashes, won a Nobel Prize, published a best-selling novel and had five movies based on his work. He was a public figure, a celebrity.

Splashed across the pages of men's magazines at the time were articles with titles like "Hemingway, Rogue Male," "Hemingway: America's No. 1 He-Man," "Hemingway: War, Women, Wine, and Words," and "Hemingway: King of the Vulgar Words and Seduction."

These stories appeared in the men's adventure magazines of the '50s and early '60s such as Vagabond, Rogue, Modern Man, Male, Bachelor, Sir Knight! and Gent. Often misogynistic, the magazines captured the hyper-masculinity of the postwar decade and Papa was portrayed as a role model in many of them.

In "All Man!" the author explores the popularity of Hemingway by considering the role that visuality played in the construction of his reputation. These covers, article blurbs and advertisements in full color are a strange new contribution to Hemingway studies and reveal a largely overlooked genre of popular publishing.

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The only battles of World War II that were actually fought in North America were the U.S. landings on the Alaskan islands of Kiska and Attu, which had been taken by the Japanese.

On June 3, 1942, Japanese planes bombed Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands -- west of the Alaskan peninsula and, on the map, not that far from Seattle -- then invaded the two islands.

Attu was taken back only after a horrible fight. Facing defeat, 500 Japanese soldiers committed suicide with their own grenades. The Dutch Harbor bombing caused fewer than 100 casualties, while U.S. burial patrols at Attu counted 2,351 Japanese bodies.

Total U.S. casualties were 3,829, with 549 killed. Some call it the bloodiest battle of the war.

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The Florence Spottswood Humanitarian of the Year Award, to be presented to Jean Carper at the American Red Cross dinner-dance at the Marriott Beachside on Saturday, Jan. 30, is named in honor of Florence Spottswood, who founded the Key West chapter of the Red Cross in April 1917 when she gathered several leading citizens together to create a chapter here for greater public health and safety; in July of that year, President Taft signed the charter establishing the Key West chapter. (The Red Cross itself was founded by Clara Barton in 1881.)

Florence's grandson, Robert Spottswood, has been a member of the dinner committee since the award's inception in 1995. Previous recipients of the annual award include the Spottswood family; Dr. Herman K. Moore; Wilghelmina Harvey; Anne McKee; Dorothy Sherman; Ed and the late Joan Knight; Frank Romano; Frank Toppino; Ed Block; Joe Liszka; Drs. Mark Whiteside and Jerome Covington; Mary Ann and Roger Westerlund; Edith Amsterdam and My Key West Emergency Relief Fund; Matthew Helmerich and Sarah Fowler; and Lynn Kaufelt.

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Theodore Roosevelt is the only U.S. president to have delivered an inaugural address without using the word "I." Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower tie for second place, using "I" only once in their inaugural addresses.

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Dean Walters is teaching a Learn to Read Music course next term at Florida Keys Community College, ready for registration now. It begins Thursday, Jan. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. and runs for six consecutive Thursdays.

"This is the language of music," said Walters, "and I guarantee that when the six classes are over, you'll be able to navigate your way around the musical page with a lot more ease. It's a class for the complete novice or for brushing up your 'I studied music 50 years ago' skills."

Call the college at 296-9081.

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Now is the time of year to explore our very own local National Wildlife Refuge, when it's cool and dry and you won't be swarmed by bugs.

Take a hike down Big Pine's Long Beach Trail as it winds through a shady hammock and beach area. A stroll into the pinelands can be had on the 2/3-mile Jack Watson Nature Trail. A shorter walk is the disabled-accessible Fred Mannillo Trail with several benches for sitting and listening to the sounds associated with the wetland and pineland habitats. The Blue Hole offers plentiful views of wildlife: fish snapping at dragonflies, turtles gliding by, an alligator sunning on the rocks, a Key deer stopping by for a drink.

Almost all of the lands of the refuge are open for public access during daylight hours.

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Political gadfly George Maurer leaves Key West for his new home in Puerto Rico next week.

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The American Bottom is the name given to the segment of the Mississippi River Valley in Illinois where the Missouri and Illinois rivers flow into the Mississippi. The American Bottom was the center of the Mississippian culture during the 11th century, specifically at Cahokia and its outliers.

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With the powerboat races out of the way, we look forward to that other waterborne activity of the season: The lighted boat parade.

Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. is the Hooray For Hollywood Holiday Boat Parade on Blackwater Sound in Key Largo, located around mile marker 104. Each entry in the parade of decorated musical boats competes for cash, prizes and yearlong bragging rights for Best in Parade, Best Use of Theme, Most Colorful, Most Original, Best Business and Best Boat under and over 25 feet in length. Parade boats will line up at the headpin to Dusenbury Creek and continue north along the shoreline to the tip of Stillwright Point.

On the same day at 8 p.m. is the Schooner Wharf Bar Lighted Boat Parade in Key West. Lighted and decorated rowboats to tall ships proceed around the harbor. George Victory and the Observant Lion Band will welcome spectators. Prizes go to the most creatively bedecked boats.

On Sunday, Dec. 13, at dusk, is the Key Colony Beach Lighted Boat Parade at Key Colony Beach. Christmas lights on outriggers and displays on boat decks light up the Middle Keys starting at the 7th Street canal and winding in and out of neighboring canals.

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Listen carefully: The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways, as follows: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful plough man strode through the streets of Scarborough and after falling into a slough he coughed and hiccoughed."

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Quote for the Week:

"Vote No on Proposition War if you're ever offered the choice, which you won't be."

-- Allen Meece