tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.comments2012-01-08T16:01:40.517-08:00Imagining the PastNatalie Wexlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03062775931106570850noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-80748582265772153742011-05-05T19:20:56.906-07:002011-05-05T19:20:56.906-07:00I agree, Natalie. People in NYC aren't rushing...I agree, Natalie. People in NYC aren't rushing out in the streets and cheering. They aren't unhappy that he is dead, but his death doesn't mitigate the losses. I think people are nervous about a revenge attack; there was a huge police presence, even larger than usual, before Sunday night, so I wonder if the police and authorities were alerted somehow. I do feel grateful that the Anne Whitehousehttp://www.annewhitehouse.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-7845786652379895172011-03-30T12:41:16.690-07:002011-03-30T12:41:16.690-07:00Thanks, Anne!Thanks, Anne!Natalie Wexlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062775931106570850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-76313679326089825072011-03-30T04:44:53.497-07:002011-03-30T04:44:53.497-07:00I agree with you. I have often thought that we can...I agree with you. I have often thought that we can in some sense know the past better than the present because of the perspectives we can bring to bear on it--looking in both directions from the past event--deeper into the past and forward into the future (that is already our past). Sometimes we take for granted the rights and privileges that those before us have labored so hard to achieve. For annewhitehousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15281498527932944128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-33934236194517736042011-03-30T04:34:29.389-07:002011-03-30T04:34:29.389-07:00I really like the way you connected your own work ...I really like the way you connected your own work as a writer of historical fiction to the conflict between the characters of Bernard and Hannah in Arcadia. As an admirer of A MORE OBEDIENT WIFE, I found it fascinating to learn more about the research that produced your novel.annewhitehousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15281498527932944128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-53716085901307797392011-02-11T05:33:22.163-08:002011-02-11T05:33:22.163-08:00Excellent context here, Natalie. One of the great...Excellent context here, Natalie. One of the great qualities of Burr is EXACTLY that he was willing to talk about the Founders' feet of clay. I'm just appalled that I missed this whole exchange -- my own take on Burr will be released by Simon & Schuster on October 4: "American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America."<br /><br />DavidDavid O. Stewarthttp://www.davidostewart.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-41395243020696073512010-08-11T11:36:47.046-07:002010-08-11T11:36:47.046-07:00Good question. It's hard to be sure how 18th- ...Good question. It's hard to be sure how 18th- and early 19th-century readers saw through the use of pseudonyms, but see through them many of them did. The Federalist essays, for example, were written under pseudonyms, and although modern historians are still not entirely sure of the authorship of all of them, many contemporary readers were apparently in no doubt. All I can say is the country Natalie Wexlernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-68922830406409297602010-08-11T09:11:59.778-07:002010-08-11T09:11:59.778-07:00How was it that everyone seemed to recognize Eliza...How was it that everyone seemed to recognize Eliza Anderson behind whatever pseudonym she used? Did the knowledge of her true identity just leak out into Baltimore society through her close friends?Sam Feldmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02767091942200845933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-71083428722530912492010-07-24T11:28:53.141-07:002010-07-24T11:28:53.141-07:00How interesting that the standard to which Eliza A...How interesting that the standard to which Eliza Anderson compared Baltimore was Athens, considering Athens was at the time nothing more than a few huts at the foot of the Acropolis and probably had even less appreciation for German violinists than Baltimore. I guess it shows the hold that the Classical Era had on American minds at the time.Sam Feldmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02767091942200845933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-77876205976179225062010-07-02T05:18:41.396-07:002010-07-02T05:18:41.396-07:00Not very knowledgeable about human nature, was she...Not very knowledgeable about human nature, was she? I have never met ANYBODY who likes to be set straight. (Yes, I learned the hard way--by trying to set people straight). <br />I am sure Baltimore cannot have been a total cultural wasteland, at least not compared to the small town I come from.<br />Soon, I want to write about your efforts again. It will be in my Letters From Lyonesse blog. You joancampionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18092553369525088788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-68120265401084123012010-06-09T05:34:50.189-07:002010-06-09T05:34:50.189-07:00I am so very sad about Rod. He was an outstanding...I am so very sad about Rod. He was an outstanding young boy in High School who overcame many racial hurdles to become a leader. Most of the world missed out on the gift it was given in Rod. We were lucky for the moments we had to know Rod. Sad, very sad.ibjenihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14381835977048407231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-29543020071766875632010-05-23T02:36:34.834-07:002010-05-23T02:36:34.834-07:00I too had several encounters with Mr.Amis at a com...I too had several encounters with Mr.Amis at a community hospital in SE DC where I work in the ER.I'm sorry to hear that he has passed.I wanted to correct something that offended me as soon as I read it. Mr. Amis did not suffer from any brain defficency nor was he an alcoholic.He simply choose to have freedom and not be chained by the weights of the world.When I first met him I knew right Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-1969927913527718422010-04-07T15:42:35.146-07:002010-04-07T15:42:35.146-07:00I'm so sorry to hear of Rod's death, and I...I'm so sorry to hear of Rod's death, and I only wish I'd been able to do something for him--or get to know him--before he died. But I'm glad that my blog has been able to serve as a venue for people's remembrances of him. He really sounds like an extraordinary person.Natalie Wexlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062775931106570850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-30778609284719285862010-03-25T06:58:49.585-07:002010-03-25T06:58:49.585-07:00He has now died.
And he has transformed more peopl...He has now died.<br />And he has transformed more people than you would think. Transformation probably is as wrong a description as transmutation; let me thus be simpler and plainer. He had a unique gift - never before have I met such a person - of identifying talent from all corners of the world, of developing it and making it shine. Many writers owe to him, and I daresay that he had the touch Alexander Eichenerhttp://www.g21.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-74609229942089610402010-03-18T14:41:36.146-07:002010-03-18T14:41:36.146-07:00hi, I'm a friend of Rod's too, an English ...hi, I'm a friend of Rod's too, an English woman living in France. I used to write for his G21.net international journal and he came to stay with me for a few weeks in London, a decade or so ago. I heard from a mutual friend just now that Rod passed away on tuesday 16th march, at 2pm. He was not in pain. He basically slept from Sunday until the day he passed. He will be cremated and his Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-21913405348973194932010-03-09T23:02:10.574-08:002010-03-09T23:02:10.574-08:00"Lucubrations"--there's a word that ..."Lucubrations"--there's a word that got lost somewhere in its journey through the ages. But couldn't the editor of the Observer have edited out Bickerstaff's mention of her gender if she so chose?Sam Feldmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02767091942200845933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-53844602538673813332009-12-12T09:45:42.785-08:002009-12-12T09:45:42.785-08:00DC -- thanks for letting me know. I have a call in...DC -- thanks for letting me know. I have a call in to a local homeless organization in hopes that they'll be able to do something for Rod, especially now that winter is upon us. But obviously, from what you say, effecting a change in his situation is probably not going to be easy.Natalie Wexlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062775931106570850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-72543014375315768742009-12-12T06:56:02.916-08:002009-12-12T06:56:02.916-08:00Natalie, Rod was in an assisted living place close...Natalie, Rod was in an assisted living place close by DC in Maryland. He kept running away. Finally, a year ago about this (Christmas) time, he ran away from the locked portion of the place and his sister decided that if that is what he truly wanted, they would let him be. I sorely miss his blog and his frequent emails (we've been net friends since the late '90's when he was a tech DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01248713708951896415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-76929831791767048352009-04-28T13:38:00.000-07:002009-04-28T13:38:00.000-07:00Very good point about the need of historical ficti...Very good point about the need of historical fiction writers to create characters who are believable and true to the context of their time and at the same time sympathetic and understandable to contemporary readers. I suppose that is because historical fiction implicitly offers a comparison to and a comment upon the time in which it is written.Anne Whitehousehttp://www.annewhitehouse.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-25388883308774627762009-04-01T14:14:00.000-07:002009-04-01T14:14:00.000-07:00Yes, that's the one.Yes, that's the one.Natalie Wexlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062775931106570850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-37886207138759689262009-03-31T05:50:00.000-07:002009-03-31T05:50:00.000-07:00I know this feeling, though it was late indeed bef...I know this feeling, though it was late indeed before I ran across people who had heard of Gisi Fleischmann. I also encountered a couple of people who had actually KNOWN my subject, which can't happen to you. At least, not short of a seance.<BR/>I think I was briefly a neighbor of the Maryland Historical Society. The one on Park Avenue, right? Near the Walters and the Peabody and the original Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-54290612197692285522009-02-09T06:58:00.000-08:002009-02-09T06:58:00.000-08:00Dear Natalie,It is hard to really understand compa...Dear Natalie,<BR/>It is hard to really understand comparisons across time and space. I face problems conveying such to my students when they are reading Sholem Aleichem.<BR/>Miriamme amazonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08320226745031969694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-22022327316107625152009-02-07T13:12:00.000-08:002009-02-07T13:12:00.000-08:00He wrote the letter in French, and I translated it...He wrote the letter in French, and I translated it. The only specimen I've seen of his written English indicates that he wasn't exactly fluent! Actually, he sometimes even makes mistakes in French.Natalie Wexlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062775931106570850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-69902604578038716572009-02-07T10:23:00.000-08:002009-02-07T10:23:00.000-08:00How fascinating. Is that letter from Jerome to Bet...How fascinating. Is that letter from Jerome to Betsy translated, or did he write it in English?Sam Feldmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02767091942200845933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-76137070868147296032009-02-05T08:27:00.000-08:002009-02-05T08:27:00.000-08:00It occurs to me that my mother, Rae Miller Heneson...It occurs to me that my mother, Rae Miller Heneson, was blogging before her time. Nearly all the letters she wrote to the Baltimore Sun (the old one, when it was a real newspaper) got published, and she sometimes got responses from other readers. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for launching this blog-in-full. I look forward to reading more.kitty literatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00631606022575100129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4742370086672689078.post-83044162812527122632009-02-05T06:54:00.000-08:002009-02-05T06:54:00.000-08:00Yes, I have heard of Goddard -- according to a 193...Yes, I have heard of Goddard -- according to a 1934 article in the Maryland Historical Magazine ("Maximilan and Eliza Godefroy," by Carolina V. Davison), she was the second known female editor in Maryland, editing the "Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser" from 1775-1784. Before her, there was Anne Catharine Green of Annapolis, who took over the "Maryland Gazette" for eight years after her Natalie Wexlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062775931106570850noreply@blogger.com