tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post9142773737606710123..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Fame, death and shock 2Denis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-61027095877250993292012-09-10T10:22:48.131+10:002012-09-10T10:22:48.131+10:00I must add to this something you emailed to me whi...I must add to this something you emailed to me which I did not know, and which adds to my estimate of Robert Kennedy's character: <br /><br />"FYI - Both Frank Mankiewicz, Kennedy's press secretary, and speechwriter Adam Walinsky drafted notes immediately before the rally for Kennedy's use, but Kennedy refused Walinsky's notes, instead using some that he had likely written on the ride over; Mankiewicz arrived after Kennedy had already begun to speak."<br /><br />Extraordinary, given the power of RFK's speech that it was virtually off the cuff.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-44958887394068741742012-08-26T09:32:33.944+10:002012-08-26T09:32:33.944+10:00As an icon for the age, it would have to be Bob. D...As an icon for the age, it would have to be Bob. Dylan Thomas just gets into the beginning of the age of my existence, but anyone who hasn't heard Richard Burton read <i>Under Milk Wood</i> hasn't quite lived. :) Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-46936684110093819862012-08-25T11:14:09.951+10:002012-08-25T11:14:09.951+10:00Dylan. Would that be Thomas or Bob? Anyway, it'...Dylan. Would that be Thomas or Bob? Anyway, it's a good line, but both Dylans would have an equal claim to 'the ages' I think.<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-50528772560764067962012-08-25T10:03:07.558+10:002012-08-25T10:03:07.558+10:00Thank you, Ninja, for finding that really beautifl...Thank you, Ninja, for finding that really beautiflly written article about John Lennon (by Ravindran Veloo). He quotes at the beginning from the Lennon song 'Things we said today' these words, that make me weep:<br />'You'll be thinking of me, somehow I will know'<br /><br />and he says, "Dylan wrote for an age. Lennon wrote for the ages'.<br /><br />Julie M xxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-31593964931952879582012-08-25T00:28:47.960+10:002012-08-25T00:28:47.960+10:00You are amazing! You know, I had this feeling, som...You are amazing! You know, I had this feeling, somewhere in the back of my mind, that someone was going to come up with this. Thank you so much.<br /><br />It also shows how something dragged from 30+ year old memory can also be skewed. For one thing, it is written by an Indian man, but because it mentioned the Singaporean Chinese woman, I transferred the memory to her. "Referred memory", rather like referred pain, I guess. The story itself rings totally true, and the date two days later I now understand.<br /><br />The tenor of the story leaves no doubt that it's the one that stuck in my mind. Utterly remarkable. The moral of this is the twists that memory can give to reality when the indisputable evidence is right there.<br /><br />Much appreciated. Are you my Ninja friend who drives trucks, or another shadowy figure?Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-68909277267186037532012-08-24T02:23:06.224+10:002012-08-24T02:23:06.224+10:00Is this the article?
http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digi...Is this the article?<br /><br />http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19801211.2.139.14.aspx<br /><br />NinjaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-58144434636060647112012-08-23T07:39:38.717+10:002012-08-23T07:39:38.717+10:00I didn't know she said that, but it's a ve...I didn't know she said that, but it's a very human thing. "It is better to travel than to arrive." I guess that's another way of putting it, though I'm not sure the Buddhists would quite agree with it in that form!Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-45237871587266542282012-08-22T22:26:55.718+10:002012-08-22T22:26:55.718+10:00It's a beautiful poem, and totally appropriate...It's a beautiful poem, and totally appropriate as a requiem for a man like Martin Luther King. Thank you, and Aeschylus, and I daresay, a very good speechwriter to help RFK.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-83141950274323579852012-08-22T12:06:53.584+10:002012-08-22T12:06:53.584+10:00"The things we want, when we get them, we no ..."The things we want, when we get them, we no longer want them."<br /><br />A famous Buddhist philosopher you might think said this, but no, it was Marilyn Monroe.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-33715572537683020312012-08-21T21:49:22.632+10:002012-08-21T21:49:22.632+10:00" My favorite poem, my -- my favorite poet wa..." My favorite poem, my -- my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:<br /><br /> Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget<br /> falls drop by drop upon the heart,<br /> until, in our own despair,<br /> against our will,<br /> comes wisdom<br /> through the awful grace of God. "<br /><br />Robert F. Kennedy -<br /><br />Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.<br /><br />delivered 4 April 1968, Indianapolis, INDRKWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10974920542410321055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-48954966565139014442012-08-21T21:41:02.693+10:002012-08-21T21:41:02.693+10:00Thanks Denis for the quotation: "The function...Thanks Denis for the quotation: "The function of the historian is to turn legends into real people." A timely reminder for me. I have, for a couple of years now, been researching an aspect of history that interests me - and which I thoroughly enjoy. When writing, however, I now realise that I have been in danger of neglecting to "... turn legends into real people." <br /><br />That's your good deed for the day!<br /><br />G'night.<br />Bob Lakenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-53602601353583329552012-08-21T19:29:09.379+10:002012-08-21T19:29:09.379+10:00I must give the credit for that last entry to Trac...I must give the credit for that last entry to Tracey, Bob.<br /><br />As to JFK, we now know much more about the Kennedys and the blighted lives of that family and some who came into contact with them, but his image was built up to reflect a perfection that he never quite matched. His contribution to the world in the Cold War era is open to much debate, and justly so, but it was certainly a 'I remember exactly what I was doing' moment. That would have been a good criterion, I think. Was the death of a heroic figure one of those moments?<br /><br />Damodar used to say, "The function of the historian is to turn legends into real people." I never forgot that when I wrote biography. It doesn't necessarily mean 'bring them down' but it does mean to give them flesh and blood. That means acknowledging weaknesses, as Gandhi did about himself, and were often used in evidence against him.<br /><br />This subject seems to beckon every cliche out of me. Tragedy, blight, anguish, outpourings... and a few others I wince at using but can't conjure up suitable alternatives. Sometimes they're justified – or maybe I need a good sub-editor. Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-8406890153039394632012-08-21T17:54:06.323+10:002012-08-21T17:54:06.323+10:00You got it right Denis - even to the end when I wa...You got it right Denis - even to the end when I was thinking "What about Steve Irwin?" <br /><br />For me, the death that stands out above all others was JFK. At that time the young, charismatic president seemed to offer new hope to a troubled world. That morning I was standing looking out of my dining room window - it was about 7.30. My house was on the banks of a river in the low-veldt of what was then, Rhodesia. Hippo were splashing around in a deep pool, in a wide river that was slowly drying up. The early morning sun was shining. The world was a wonderful place to be. We had the radio on on. As I ate my toast and marmalade the music stopped. A pause, and then: "The president of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, has been assassinated". For a moment the world stood still. And that moment, for me, remains frozen in time ... every detail of it.Bob Lakenoreply@blogger.com