The Gad About Town

Today in History: September 9

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Mark Aldrich

“Had Mao died in 1956, his achievements would have been immortal. Had he died in 1966, he would still have been a great man but flawed. But he died in 1976. Alas, what can one say?”—a quote attributed to Chen Yun

With his death 40 years ago today, Mao Zedong’s three decades in power in China came to an end. He was 82, had cardiopulmonary issues and probably had ALS along with Parkinson’s. His final appearance in public had come in May 1976. In photos from the event, a meeting with Pakistan’s leader, Mao appears already mummified. (His preserved body has been on public display in a glass coffin since 1976.)

The fact that Mao Zedong existed was one that dominated life in his nation from the 1930s until his death, when he joined the 50 million individual lives he sent to 50 million individual deaths. Theirs were the lives worth mourning.
Read More

Can’t Dance. Ask Me

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Mark Aldrich

“The less expensive the formal wear, the greater the chances the word will be spelled ‘elegante’, be italicized, and be serifed out of legibility.”

* * * *
W. B. Yeats asks at the end of his poem, “Among School Children” this famous question: “How can we know the dancer from the dance?”

Well, if I’m your dancer, you can. My high school prom story:

* * * *
“Tails.” I spoke the word out loud with my indoors voice. I ordered white tails to wear at my high school prom.

For many American high school students, senior year means at least two things: Graduation and Senior Prom Night (and the morning after). With no research, I can tell you that “prom” is short for “promenade,” which is long for “prom.” For naive bookworm me, the prom, far more than graduation or even thecontinuousthinkingofthoughtsabouttheentirerestofmylife, was the source of many anxieties.

(There is an ancient cliché about how native peoples who live in the Arctic have 1000 words for snow because they know snow so intimately that they have 1000 words to describe 1000 unique realities. Replace the word “snow” with “anxiety,” and you have me. A thousand different anxieties.)
Read More