Type in the phrase “books about JFK assassination” into Google and within .71 seconds it returns a list of 1.9+ MILLION results. Login to The Kennedy Catalog at http://kennedy-books-videos.blogspot.com which lists books about his assassination in alphabetical order and it lists fifty-nine books just under “A”! Although John F. Kennedy himself may have “only” written three books (Why England Slept (1940), Profiles in Courage (1957), and A Nation of Immigrants (1958) – all before he became president) his life, or more accurately and sadly, his death has inspired thousands of people to put pen to paper and write books about potential conspiracy theories. And the list will undoubtedly continue to grow now that the government has released another batch of once-classified documents. Why tell you this? Just prior to the release of these documents, which coincidently coincides with JFK’s centennial celebration, I had just returned from a trip to Dallas, TX where I toured the infamous Sixth Floor Museum of the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza – the place where supposedly Lee Harvey Oswald alone shot and assassinated President John F. Kennedy. And although the museum itself hosts a plethora of information about the Kennedy’s in general, the social and political atmosphere of the time, and a timeline down to the minute detail of events on November 22, 1963, really one cannot help but take in the reverence of the entire block before even stepping into the museum – even amongst the derelict that seem to overrun the entire downtown area. Standing on the corner of Houston Street and Elm Street you can’t help but peer up at the sixth story window that has a small box in the corner of it to make it easily identifiable as “the” window. And peering left across the street you see the “grassy knoll” – which in person appears much smaller. How can such a postage-stamp sized area possibly be associated with the assassination of an American president?! In the middle of Elm Street three large green Xs mark the locations of shots fired at John F. Kennedy’s motorcade as he rode that last 100 yards of his 10-mile route between the Lovefield airport and the Dallas Business and Trade Mart. Three green Xs that forever changed the course of American history. After peering at the window, standing on the grassy knoll, and kneeling beside the fatal X, it strikes me (almost) speechless that the American public still does not know all the answers surrounding the who and why of this tragic event some 50+ years later. And even though our government has just released more documents and President Trump has promised to release all the documents within the next six months, we may never piece together all the loose puzzle pieces to make sense of it. But we will undoubtedly continue to try. But why? After so many years, why do we still care? We care because wanting and needing answers to the unknown is part of our human nature. So anytime a tragedy strikes, (e.g.: the assassination of a president, a terrorist attack, the sinking of a passenger cruise ship, the massacre of innocent concert-goers) we as humans want answers. We want answers to feel safe. We want to know how to prevent the unthinkable from happening again. But unfortunately, although we may initiate new procedures and new safe guards, nothing is 100% fail-safe. And that scares us even more. So while thousands may seek refuge behind conspiracy theories which focus on mistrust and blame, I hope that going forward we instead seek solace by focusing on understanding and empathy by helping each other gain our footing after tragedy strikes with a helping hand and a supportive shoulder… and that is what we can do for our country.
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From the looks of it, 2017 will go down in history as producing the most high-category hurricanes in one season. With still two and a half months to go, we’ve already seen the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, and before residents of the afflicted areas could even come up out of the water for a bit of fresh air, Hurricane Irma quickly followed suite with Hurricane Maria on its tail.
In between these devastating storms, we’ve all seen the pictures of total loss, the pictures of homes and lives in ruin and wonder how will they recover? I personally have never experienced such a loss, but I can only imagine that they persevere through these hardships with determination, goodwill, love, and a little common sense. Determination because they have no choice really. Life will continue and so must they, and so they wake each morning and place one foot in front of the other, and accomplish what they can to return their lives to a sense of normalcy. They cannot do this alone however; and so they rely on the goodwill of others. Why suffer alone? If you need the equipment, so too does your neighbor. Why not share? You have an abundance of one item but lack another; others have the opposite. Why not trade? This giving and receiving makes us human. It portrays our strength as a community. And that community involves love. Love of an area, love of a house, or love of the memories keep us rooted to that location. It keeps us coming back after tragedy strikes; otherwise people would look at that devastation and move, determined to never experience it again. But of course, one cannot persevere without a little dose of common sense too. Before the storms even hit, people used their common sense and prepared. Some boarded up, packed up, and left with fingers crossed. Others boarded up, stocked up, and stayed with fingers crossed. But all knew they had to take measures for their own safety. We also see this common sense in the rebuilding of the community after the devastation. When a chance for improvement unfolds, we grasp it. We build with stronger material and better barriers in hopes of a better outcome should a storm strike again. So with these four character traits in mind, as I scour news reports I came across one from the Washington Post declaring “Six-toed Cats Survive Irma, Still Have Nine Lives,” that I suddenly remembered those polydactyl friendly felines that reside at the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida. A few years ago, I ventured down there to Key West on vacation (and I say ventured because it involved a ride-share with a few hitchhiking cockroaches in the car that enjoyed scurrying across the dashboard before diving into the vents – needless to say I spent the entire commute trying to drive while holding my pant-legs clinched around my ankles so the little devils couldn’t crawl up my pants. I thought the drive would never end!). Once I shook off the cockroach induced heebie-jeebies, I set about touring the southernmost point of the continental United States and discovered the beautiful two-storied house with a walk-around upper-level veranda and summery yellow window shutters at 907 Whitehead Street. This was Ernest Hemingway’s beloved house he shared with wife number two for roughly the entire 1930’s decade. This house marvels me not just because Ernest Hemingway penned seven note-worthy short stories, six award-winning novels and one very cynical poem titled “Advice to My Sons” while living here, but the actual architecture itself has remained standing after almost THIRTY hurricanes since the house’s construction in 1851! In the mid-1800s as a marine architect and salvage wrecker, Asa Tift knew the cataclysmic effect of a whirling sea crashing into land, and so as builder of this house, he chose the highest elevation – still only 16 feet above sea level, but then excavated fourteen feet of limestone from beneath the house’s location to build the foundational walls of the house. With a five-foot backfill, this nine-foot deep basement literally anchors this house to the ground. It may appear that he used individual stones for the walls, but the builders actually carved lines into the solid limestone to give it this appearance. In addition to this apparently ever-lasting formula which withstood the test of four major storms in Tift’s lifetime alone, today tourist can still see another reminder of his influence on the home in the marine vessel-like planter leading up to the front steps of the house. He built it as a reminder of his days supervising the construction of the ironclad warships he designed for America’s Civil War. Tift lived out the remainder of his days in this house, and died in 1889. Fortunately, for Hemingway at least, the house fell into disarray after Tift’s death, and upon visiting the area for the first time Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline voiced an interest in the house. Pauline’s uncle purchased the house at a tax auction for $8,000 and gifted it to the couple as a belated wedding present. At the equivalency of $112,000 today - that was one expensive wedding gift! Stepping up to the house, and looking at that beautiful open veranda, images of southern movies crossed my mind. I wanted to sit there on that veranda with the butter-colored shutters bookending each large window and practice a lady’s Southern drawl while fanning myself from the region’s oppressive humidity - but I didn’t; instead I continued towards the old carriage house that Hemingway transformed into his writing alcove. Painted in a soft blue hue, lined with over-flowing bookcases, and windows thrown open to invite a small breeze, this room obviously provided Hemingway with a respite from his partying life. I could easily imagine Hemingway sitting at the small non-distinct wooden table off the center of the room pecking away at the keys on his vintage typewriter developing his famous short stories “The Snows of Kilimenjaro” (1936) and “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber” (1936). And as I observed the taxidermic deer, antelope, and fish mounted on the walls of this room, a sense of envy washed over me, for they witnessed Hemingway in his element. Did these animals’ stares encourage his writing or add to the pressure of creating another American-writing masterpiece? I hope that they reminded him of his adventures. What else reminded him of his travels? To find out, I ventured to the main house. When I entered through the front doors, I could immediately tell that Ernest and Pauline had added their own flair to the house with furniture and decorations from their European travel, including the custom-made electric Murano glass chandelier they shipped in from Venice, Italy. The upstairs bathroom with running water impressed me even more, considering the area did not have running water piped into until 1944. So in order to accomplish this tall feat, Hemingway had two cisterns installed to collect rain water: one outside on the grounds and one on the roof of the house. The one on the roof directly fed the upstairs bathroom. I’m sure they became very water conscious if more than a few days passed without rain! After jumping the running-water hurdle, Hemingway decided to task construction workers with another hurdle … build a swimming pool – a first for the area. And then left Pauline in charge while he left on assignment to cover the Spanish Civil War as a correspondent. When he returned, he received the $20,000 bill – which has the same buying power as $335,000 today! Supposedly, upset at the exorbitant cost, he threw a penny down on the unfinished patio and yelled, “Pauline, you’ve spent all but my last penny, so you might as well have that!” That penny remains there encased in cement but visible for tourists like me to see and chuckle at as the guide told the story. So then I wondered, if they relied on rain water for their bathing and cooking necessities, where did they get the water for a swimming pool? During construction, the workers installed a water pump to retrieve salt water from below which took three days to fill the pool. Unfortunately, this water only lasted a few days in the warmer weather before algae overtook it, and they would have to drain the pool, scrub it, and then restart this tedious cycle. I enjoy swimming, but with the ocean only a few blocks away, why go through all that trouble for a swimming pool? Although Pauline and Hemingway enjoyed their pool, he now had to go a few blocks away to throw a few punches in his boxing ring that he had removed from his property in order to make room for the pool. But Hemingway often visited the local stomping grounds anyways to drink and visit with friends Charles Thompson, Joe Russel, and Eddie Saunders, whom the locals nicknamed “The Mob.” Rumor has it that after drinking at Sloppy Joe’s for years, he joked with friend and owner Joe Russell that he deserved a piece of the property after it went through renovations. Joe agreed… and gave him a urinal. Imagine carrying that home to your wife! I don’t know how Pauline initially felt, but the urinal ended up outside… refinished and tiled as a water cistern for the cats, which seemed to suite them fine since cats around the world still to this day drink water from toilets. And the urinal remains in the small courtyard beside the house. Sitting in the patio seat beside the urinal, I really had to use my imagination to envision it in its prior glory; it simply looked like a very large vase that they turned into a small fountain with water running over its smooth beautifully marbled sides. And sure enough, as I stood there, a mellow-tempered grey cat swaggered up to take its fair licks of the refreshing water during the humid afternoon. Reminiscing about these cats, reminds me of those four survival characteristics that people have when faced with life’s devastating challenges because these cats exhibit the same survival qualities when faced with a natural disaster like a hurricane bearing down on their home. They must have determination. These six-toed felines that scamper about the property today descend from Hemingway’s original kitty, Snow White, which he received as a good luck gift from sea captain Stanley Dexter. In order to persevere through the decades, each descendant of Snow White had to have determination to prosper and multiply, which they did for now they litter the area. They have also received an abundance of goodwill and love. Even after Hemingway’s death and the property fell out of his descendants’ hands into the hands of local jewelry store owner Bernice Dixon for the whopping price of $80,000 at a silent auction, through the museum funding, she has made sure that the cats receive superb care including food, veterinary care, and shelter, which from what I could tell meant anywhere in the house they felt like snoozing including Hemingway’s bed, anywhere on the property and even a cool two-storied cat house that looked just like the main house. As you can imagine, these cats love their home; and people love these cats. The museum has received thousands of inquiries into the cats’ well-being as each hurricane wreaks havoc in the Keys. And they are safe but not because the caretakers herd them to safety during each storm (although they would if they had to – but they don’t). The cats have an abundance of common sense. When the winds pick up and debris starts to fly, the cats quickly make their way back to the main house where the caretakers remain on staff to provide food and lots of cuddles while they all ride out each storm. So along with thousands of others, I released a sigh of relief that the kitties remain safe and hope that in the future they continue to rely on these four survival characteristics for their safety because I think everyone – literary lovers, architecture lovers, and yes animal lovers – should visit this home that proves that all three (literature, architecture, and cats) can withstand the test of time, including a few hurricanes. |
AuthorLet me introduce myself. I am Julie Blasofsel. While teaching high school English for the past dozen years, my appreciation for works of literature increased after visiting several locations associated with the authors and their texts. You can't help but feel the presence of Ralph Waldo Emerson as you stand on the shores of Walden pond, the despair of Henry Longfellow as you stand in his house, the loneliness of Edgar A. Poe as you descend into his walled basement, the candor of Samuel Clemons as you reach his men-only study. My goal is to gather information and relate my experiences about these places of literary significance in this literary hive. Please add your literary travel experiences and recommendations. Together we can bring these authors to life and light the flame of passion for reading in others. Enjoy! Archives
October 2018
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