Very cool article. I knew that a couple of the original Alice Cooper band's members were from Akron, but I'd forgotten which ones. (The other was lead guitarist Glen Buxton). Happy birthday today to Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith, born in Medina, OH on September 23, 1947! They were macabre but they were an exceptionally well-produced band, as this article indicates. I still play songs from "Killer" quite a bit.
Saturday, September 28, 2024
T. S. Eliot in St. Louis
Goodness, how I pored over his poetry at one time in my life! Poet, essayist, and playwright T. S. Eliot was born in St. Louis on September 26, 1888. Where did he go to high school? LOL. The answer to that famous, judgmental local question, is that he attended Smith Academy, a downtown school that operated in 1879-1917. (Soon after it closed, community leaders established the St. Louis Country Day School, part of a movement to have schools in rural areas.) Eliot studied poetry at Smith Academy. I read somewhere else that there was a Prufrock Furniture Co. in St. Louis in around 1900, perhaps a source of that surname for his famous poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."
Here is Smith Academy: https://www.builtstlouis.net/blewett01.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawFlfQJleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHX7lu_m66sLW4k__N310lI2vLuw8s9cN85_47x5kskDWfKsEa0lTqbNEQw_aem_rCXdqFuXG-g2sltKnX9_Pg
Here is the Prufrock company: http://postcardparadise.blogspot.com/2010/01/prufrock-litton-st-louis-missouri.html
The Little Rock Nine
Sixty-seven years ago, nine African-American children entered an all-white high school in Little Rock, after the Supreme Court had declared separate schools for blacks and whites unconstitutional. The children were protected by federal troops.
Victor Jara
Chilean teacher, poet, singer-songwriter, theater director, and political activist Victor Jara was born September 28, 1932. Through his art he sought political change and supported the administration of President Salvador Allende. During the U.S.-backed 1973 coup that overthrew Allende in support of Augusto Pinochet, Jara was tortured and then shot and killed while detained, along with thousands of others, inside the Estadio Chile. Arlo Guthrie wrote a VERY moving song called "Victor Jara," telling his story.
"Right Here on Our Stage..."
Born September 28, 1901, Ed Sullivan was a TV host, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. His Ed Sullivan Show ran from 1948 to 1971, the longest-running variety show in TV history. Many of us looked forward to the show on Sunday evenings! His stiff, ready-for-parody personality was part of his charm. The Beatles' 1964 appearance was one of the show's many significant milestones. https://www.edsullivan.com/about-ed-sullivan/
Happy Birthday, Caravaggio
Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was born September 29, 1571. This is a portrait by another artist, but we see this face in several of Caravaggio's paintings, including Medusa, Dionysus, the beheaded Goliath, an onlooker in "The Taking of Christ," and others. Our family always enjoys seeing his paintings in museums that we visit.
Happy Birthday, Mike Post
Goodness, I so associate his music with certain periods of my life. Happy 80th birthday to composer Mike Post (Leland Michael Postil), born September 29, 1944. He wrote SO many famous TV themes: Law & Order and its several spin-offs, The A-Team, NYPD Blue, The Rockford Files, L.A. Law, Quantum Leap, Magnum P.I., Hill Street Blues, and others. (Photo from his website)
Anniversary of the Chicago Tylenol Poisonings
On September 28, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, IL told her parents that she had a sore throat. They gave her an extra-strength Tylenol capsule. She died the following morning of poisoning by potassium cyanide. The next day, six others in the Chicago area died the same way. Three took Tylenol from the same bottle: Adam Janus (27), Stanley Janus (25), and Theresa Janus (20). Mary McFarland (31), Paula Prince (35), and Mary Reiner (27) also died from contaminated Tylenol. No killer and thus no motive were ever discovered, although the contamination likely happened after the bottles were already in stores, rather than at the factory. The tragedy revolutionized packaging of pharmaceuticals with the addition of tamper-proof bottles and other precautions.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982?fbclid=IwY2xjawFleMlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZnjzBGVzdNzFAyg0Ux84mNuNZ8-OnsY3z4oQyk4cCf193vLvSMvmrYKuQ_aem_eAwLRjhmuIMJheensbg8pA
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