Elvis Approves 50s Car Show in St Paul

Thanks to a sweet passerby who volunteered to take this picture we can establish that Elvis is still in the house, resting in the trunk of a gaudy 61 Ford Galaxy at the worlds biggest classic car show, Back to the 50s in St. Paul.
I was inches from world renown rock DJ Wings Callahan who hosts the Hot Rod Radio Show heard here on WDGY 740. Wing’s wife was taking cash for the wonderful t-shirt that I promptly purchased.
Highlights of the show: Packard convertible for sale, ‘51 Henry J compact car (Abbott and Costello had one in “Jack in the Beanstalk”).
The ‘56 Dodge Royal Lancer in purple and lilac was gorgeous and I chatted with the owner. I love the oldies.

Jack Malone Reunion, Spokane News

I recently wrote my grade school, high school and college buddy Jack Malone of Spokane and now Longview, Wash. for making the a mini-reunion last week in Seattle great and we need to do this again before another 50 years slip by. The fact that he could remember the names of all those Roosevelt teachers is remarkable. The aging Southern Belle spinster Lou Eckhardt was my favorite in third grade and she abandoned us for a mink coat, Cadillac and diamond ring to marry a decrepit former governor named Martin. Never forgave her.
Jack recalled that his family was one of the first to get TV in 1952 since his dad owned a hardware store. It was an Emerson and like most kids at that time he watched the test pattern on KHQ with easy listening music providing audio. On the other hand our family may have been the last to get TV and it was an Arvin (Google that one). Jack’s brother, Jerry, who lives in the family’s Spokane Wall St. home, is planning a Roosevelt Grade School reunion, although the school was torn down and replaced with an ugly modern building.
I hoped that his daughter Jennilee wasn’t too bored with our tripping down memory lane but she is a treasure with her super electronic devices, like the GPS that talks to her from the heavens. How creepy is that but it sure eases travel anxiety. It’s a given that young people are on the cutting edge of everything electronic. On the other hand Jack doesn't do computers or DVDs. I can’t use an IPOD, detest my cell phone and still have a turntable and LPs that I bought in Spokane at the Music Box or the Crescent in the 50s.
In the 80s after Mt. St. Helen’s erupted, Jack produced and was a creative force behind an LP that paid tribute to Harry Truman who did not leave home during this catastrophe. I can identify with that because moving is way too much of a hassle -- bring on the flood or hot lava. I have played his wonderful LP and the music is reminiscent of Garrison Keilor’s show. I have framed the album and it is now on my living room wall.
Former Spokanites will be happy to know that the historic State Theater is being restored and renamed the “Bing” after Spokane’s favorite son, Bing Crosby. Twin Cities film archivist and historian Bob DeFlores is my authority on this and Bob is helping Gonzaga University with its Crosby collection and will be on hand for the State’s grand reopening.

The Financier Book Review by Zarkin

A brash, handsome whiz kid makes it big as an investment banker, appropriating embezzled taxpayer money to buy stocks. His corrupt deeds are uncovered when this house of cards scheme collapses after a stock market crash triggered by a natural disaster.
It could be today’s headlines, but this is basic U.S. finance history as told by Theodore Dreiser in his subversive 1912 novel “The Financier” set in Philadelphia in post Civil War years. Dreiser paints a very grim picture of capitalism run amok amidst a world of hypocritical corrupt government elected officials and an aggressive banker on the make. You could dismiss this as growing pains of a new country trying to find its way but it’s more than that. It’s the same old story -- only the names change in today’s headlines. Mortgage derivative schemes paid for Caribbean islands for several Wall Street sharks who left us with a mess as we try to dig our way out of a huge world recession.
The central character in this fictionalized drama is Frank Cowperwood. Born in humble circumstances, he rose to prominence in post Civil War Philadelphia with his force of will and a laisez faire attitude, The author’s narrative is thus: “Life is a dark inhuman, unkind, unsympathetic struggle Life was war, particularly financial life.” Furthermore “with strength he could protect himself”. Weaker characters in the book are described by their critics as lacking “force and brains; not morals.” And that was the “primary crime” of the Philadelphia city treasurer Stener who was complicit with Cowperwood in the embezzlement scheme.
The young banker Cowperwood was shunned and punished by a corrupt operative, Edward Butler, whom he befriended and then totally alienated. Although the misappropriation of the city funds was surely a factor, the brash Cowperwood, a married man, was having an affair with the young daughter of his mentor, Butler, a politician. Cowperwood was incredibly brash and stupid to think he could sustain his illicit love affair with Butler’s daughter, given Butler’s staunch Catholic beliefs on the sanctity of marriage and the sin of adultery. All this was quite hypocritical given the graft and corruption commonplace in Philadelphia where Butler was a central player.
Dreiser’s view of Cowperwood is: “A prince of a world of dreams whose reality was disillusion” and who makes a living by “great subtlety” --- “living a lie.” He compares Cowperwood to a black grouper with “remarkable ability to adapt to conditions.” Social Darwinism is the central theme here with the strong vanquishing the weak. These are the characters that make for enjoyable reading.
All things considered I am somewhat attracted to the Cowperwood character who cuts a romantic pirate-like figure; a swashbuckler with lots of swash who flaunts society’s behavior code and makes up the rules as he goes along. In more sober moments I am reminded that these self-centered egotists cause enormous damage that the rest of society must deal with while they enjoy their ill-gotten gains.
As my son Mike reminded me, we need capitalism to work so that more than just the upper one percent have buying power in this country and if that means spreading the wealth, then “so be it” as local banker Bill Cooper might say. And Mike adds that we can’t let banks fail.

50 Year Perspective: High School Was Fun

After 50 years, I finally came to terms with my hometown, Spokane, and my teen years. In the 50s, I thought it was life in hell. Reading the Lewis and Clark High School “Tiger Tales,” the 50-year reunion book, I came to the realization that I had friends and fun at LCHS for the first time in my life. I dithered over the trip to Spokane for the reunion but decided against it. I wrote the best biography in the reunion publication. It would have cheered my freshman English teacher Mrs. Watrous who probably thought I was an idiot when I showed up late on the first day of class (lost in the hallway).

Here’s the names that jumped out at me as I became totally consumed by the book:

Judy Eash, who along with her sister Margy, lived across the street from the Zarkins on 29th Street. Her grandmother, Mrs. Koss, was our baby sitter and we looked forward to her visits because she would always leave candy for us. Judy’s mother hosted a Halloween party one year for the neighborhood kids which was the only time I ever bobbed for apples. Quite messy but a Halloween tradition in the 40s and 50s.

Jack Malone, who listed his complete work history, was a Roosevelt grade school buddy and the most wonderful kid on the planet, at least I thought. I once went to his house. He writes poetry now and he apparently played the piano at one time. I recall running into Jack at the University of Washington where he was involved in the College Republicans. Aging comic actress Zsa Zsu Pitts gave a rather uninspiring endorsement for Tricky Dick at this event.
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Trini Lopez, Me Party in Palm Springs in '05

It's been almost three years since my trip to La Quinta to visit cousin Jan but I need to thank her again for inviting me to Ruth Gibson's 85th birthday party where 60s pop star Trini Lopez sang "Besame Mucho" and Jan took our photo.

Ruth, like all the other matrons in Palm Springs looked great and no doubt avail themselves of some nips, tucks here and there. Save your pension checks for Palm Springs retirement.

Interest in River Rewarded

Beautification of the urban landscape was a goal of the Johnson Administration when I was a local government reporter at the Idaho Statesman in Boise in 1964-69. As an eager boy reporter I was quite committed to the cause and reported extensively on urban renewal and plans for a Boise River Greenway that came to pass years later. It’s beautiful unless the river floods and then it’s every man for himself. A year ago my former Statesman reporter comrade Dave Frazier took me to the river interpretive center that provides an educational experience on rivers.

As I drove into Minneapolis from Boise in 1969 on my way to UM Graduate School, I heard on the car radio tuned to KUOM that the University was offering an Urban River symposium at he Minneapolis Art Institute. During the symposium we took a boat trip on the mighty Mississippi where we witnessed the sad state of affairs including junk yards and other blight,

The river over a period of years has become a crown jewel in our Twin Cities landscape as you can see from the photo above with the new park at St. Anthony Main that actually extends into the river and offers a breath taking panorama of this magnificent body of water, On the south side near the Guthrie Theater, a beautiful green park is the latest addition to the river renewal story.

With the river drives in both cities that extend from the University campus to the Ford plant in St. Paul you could get close to the river. Now that Ford is coming apart, the land will probably be marketed for high buck condominiums overlooking the river.

Sadly access to the river is difficult since it is many treacherous feet below street level. That didn’t stop a group of us from hiking to the river’s edge every year for a summer solstice late night gathering. With the new parks in downtown Minneapolis, the river is now quite accessible.

Post War Beer Hall Babies Recall Spirit Lake, Idaho

(Cousin Jan and me)
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In post World War II America at an Idaho Lake near Spokane, the Zarkins and Barers would gather for a week or more of fun in the sun, sharing magic moments as five year olds in the beer hall at Settelmeyers Resort amidst the stench of stale beer and cigarettes. Collection bottlecaps from Olympia, Rainier and Bohemian bottles was a favorite pasttime.
Spirit Lake was the start of the lake adventures and the memories linger today.
Feeding nickels into the Wurlitzer jukebox at the saloon we would listen to ”Rum & Coca Cola” or “Beer Barrel Polka” with the Andrew Sisters or the annoying Woody Woodpecker song. "Across the Alley form the Alamo" by Hoagey Carmichael was a big jukebox hit (remember this was before Top 10 radio was known. "My Happiness" by Connie Stevens and Jonny Raye and
"The Little White Cloud that Cried"are other lake jukebox favorites but from other lakeside beerhalls Spirit Lake marks the start of my life-long fascination with cars and I could tell a Chevrolet from a Plymouth, even then.
There ws a guy named Kenny who was either retarded or drunk who swigged Pepsi continuously but it may have been at Loon Lake.