Category Archives: Podcasts

Michelangelo (Volume 2, Number 3) Part 2

September 17, 2016 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Michelangelo, the Eternal Genius

The relationship between Julius II and Michelangelo has been dramatized as a nasty battle of wills between two egocentric men. In actuality, Michelangelo’s issue with the Pope stemmed from the reality that Julius’ main focus was to expand the territory of the Papal States and the ensuing warfare that would be required. Michelangelo’s artistic projects would always be secondary to this fundamental.

As soon as the Last Judgment was completed the Della Rovere clan began agitating for a completion of Julius II’s tomb. Luckily, Pope Paul wished to have Michelangelo focus on his own pet projects, namely a Vatican chapel dedicated in his honor. The pontiff helped negotiate a new agreement that limited Julius’ tomb to three main sculptures, including the Moses.

Julius II Tomb, St. Peter in Vincoli, Rome

This was accepted and the more modest tomb was brought to a anti-climatic conclusion in 1545, with the completion of two statues, Leah and Rachel, placed to the left and right of Moses in a two story facade installed in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli, the parish of Julius II. Although it has been described as the most impressive burial vault in Rome, Michelangelo summed up his perspective with one sentence “I lost the whole of my youth, chained to this tomb.”

Tomb of Lorenzo Il Magnifico, Medici Chapel, Florence

With the ascendance of Giovanni as Leo X, Michelangelo’s brother Buonarotto achieved a prominent position within the Florentine government. Members of the Medici clan clamored for Michelangelo to return to his hometown and begin work on the unfinished facade of their parish church. A commission was formally offered, enormous amounts of marble were selected and ordered and a wooden model of the new facade was constructed. Just as work was to begin, Lorenzo de Medici, grandson of Il Magnifico and the most enthusiastic supporter of the project, died suddenly. Pope Leo X took another look at the probable expenses and cancelled the project, suggesting that a modest tomb be substituted. The tomb would evolve into the Medici Chapels, burial place of four members of the ruling family, including Lorenzo, Il Magnifico. Michelangelo would have to settle on spending the next two years on this project, also sweating out the death of Leo X and a new pope, Adrian VI, a reformer who bandied about the idea of destroying the Sistine chapel murals.

Minos, The Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

When Michelangelo refused new commissions from the Pope claiming his contract with Julius heirs’ forbade it until the troublesome tomb was complete, Paul III interceded and helped renegotiate the agreement. This allowed Michelangelo to work on another project, a fresco on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. Conceptually discussed with Clement VII as a depiction of the Resurrection, Michelangelo reconsidered and focused his creation on the the Last Judgment. Twenty-five years after finishing his previous work on the chapel, Michelangelo presented a different kind of painting. This work contained a wide range of emotion, depictions ranging from the sublime to the grotesque, and a focus on nudity that accentuated sensuality. This groundbreaking depiction of such a religious theme was controversial and at least one church official, Biagio da Cesena commented, “it was mostly disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have depicted all of those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamefully.” He added that the work was more appropriate for a public bath or a tavern. Da Cesena’s reward for his art criticism was his depiction in the lower right corner of the painting, as Minos, judge of the underworld. To underline his contempt, Michelangelo added donkey ears, and a serpent biting Minos’ testicles.

Detail, Sistine Chapel, St. Bartholomew and Likeness of Michelangelo, Vatican City

Michelangelo himself was not above ridicule in this depiction of symbolic judgment. In a central part of the fresco, St. Bartholomew is depicted holding a knife and the skin that represents his death by being skinned alive. This layer of skin has retained a human form and the head adorning this mass is clearly the tortured, gnarled face of Michelangelo. It would not be until the 1920’s that this detail was noticed.

Michelangelo's Tomb, Santa Croce, Florence — Michelangelo’s Tomb, Santa Croce, Florence

Leonardo knew that the current Pope Pius IV would insist that Michelangelo be enshrined at the finished St. Peter’s Basilica and he was determined to return him to Florence, which was his uncle’s wish. Leonardo hired a cart to surreptitiously and unceremoniously transport the wrapped body back to Tuscany, a trip that took eleven days. Michelangelo was interred with great fanfare in the Basilica of Santa Croce, in Florence, in an elaborate vault sponsored by both Cosimo de Medici and Giorgio Vasari.

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Harriet Tubman (Volume 2, Number 2)

July 21, 2016 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Harriet Tubman, righteous heroine

Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross in the eastern shore region of Maryland in 1822. Her exact date of birth remains unknown. Both of her parents were slaves, Harriet (Rit) Green and Ben Ross.

The summer of 1859 also brought a resumption of John Brown’s plan for rebellion. He was already gathering assets in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in anticipation of his planned attack on the Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. His plan was to seize the arsenal and armory, incite local slaves to join his rebellion and spread a slave revolt as effectively as possible. Brown was fanatically opposed to slavery with an opposition rooted in a deep religious fervor. He considered himself a divine instrument intent on imposing punishment on those conducting the sinful practice of slavery. Based on his interaction with Harriet Tubman, Brown fully expected her to join his effort. He repeatedly attempted to contact her to no avail but he did meet with Frederick Douglass in Chambersburg. When Douglass realized that Brown was intent on attacking a federal arsenal he told him that “he was going into a perfect steel trap, once in, he would not get out alive.”

St. Gaudens Panel Commemorating 54th Volunteer Massachusetts Regiment, Monument is situated on the Northeast Corner of the Boston Common.

Harriet Tubman also aided in the celebrated 54^th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment in its participation in the attack on Fort Wagner in Charleston Harbor on July 19, 1863. The 54^th was one of the first African-American regiments assembled during the Civil War. Commanded by a white abolitionist, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the 54^th was in the vanguard of the assault on Fort Wagner, a heavily fortified beachhead that was part of the defensive infrastructure protecting the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. After a lengthy bombardment, the Regiment began a frontal assault on the fort. Despite heavy losses, the 54^th was able to briefly seize part of the south wall but heavy hand-to-hand combat and artillery fire pushed the unit back. Other Union regiments also attempted to breach the fort around its perimeter but were repulsed with terrible losses. An estimated 1,500 hundred Union troops were killed, wounded or captured. The 54^th lost over two hundred and fifty men. Robert Gould Shaw was killed in the initial storming of the fort and buried in a common grave with his fellow black soldiers. While the grave was eventually washed away by storms and the remains of these soldiers disappeared, the heroic story of Gould Shaw and his men has been immortalized in the film “Glory.”

William Seward, US Senator and Secretary of State

Five days after the armistice at Appomattox, President Lincoln was assassinated and Harriet’s benefactor Secretary of State William Seward was incapacitated by an assailant involved in the same plot. Although Seward would survive and even attempt to help Tubman in her attempts to receive back pay, she eventually decided to head back to her home in Auburn, NY.

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Alexander Hamilton, (Volume 2, Episode 1)

May 27, 2016 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Alexander Hamilton, the Zelig of American military and political history.

hamilton portrait — Alexander Hamilton, First Secretary of the US Treasury

The circumstances surrounding the birth of Alexander Hamilton are complicated and even when he was born is a matter of dispute. His mother, Rachel Faucette, was of British and French descent. His father, James Hamilton was a Scot. They met on the island of St. Kitts in the British West Indies where James Hamilton was unsuccessfully attempting to build a career trading sugar and other goods.

Crossing the Delaware, December 25, 1776

Although it only involved a total of less than four thousand men and less than twenty-five artillery pieces, the Battle of Trenton is revered as one of the most important moments in US military history. On Christmas night, 1776, George Washington ordered approximately 2,000 troops to begin crossing the Delaware River, near Trenton, New Jersey. Hamilton and his company, now only thirty men in total were part of this attack. In spite of dreadful weather, the entire American force made it across the Delaware River and as dawn approached, marched a dozen miles to the outskirts of the town. At eight in the morning, a coordinated attack on the Hessian barracks began.

In the summer of 1791, according to Hamilton, a woman named Maria Reynolds knocked on the door of his Philadelphia home and met with him privately (despite the presence in the house of Hamilton’s wife). She recounted a terrible tale of mistreatment at the hands of her husband, claimed she was abandoned and utterly destitute and pleaded with Hamilton for financial help for her and her young daughter. That very evening Hamilton walked over to Maria’s residence and handed cash to the twenty-three year old and impulsively began a physical relationship that would last for two years.

The United States finally began to experience peace and prosperity in the first term of Thomas Jefferson and with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Hamilton’s former adversary enjoyed his greatest popularity. Hamilton was reduced to practicing law but political developments in 1804 again involved him in New York State politics. It was clear that Jefferson fully intended to dump Aaron Burr as vice-President in the upcoming presidential election. In the machinations surrounding the Presidential election of 1800, Burr had refused to publically state that he was Jefferson’s Vice-Presidential running mate and even maneuvered behind the scenes to try and win in the House of Representatives. As a result Jefferson completely isolated him from any role in the administration and replaced him on the 1804 ticket with New York State governor George Clinton. Burr then decided to run for Governor of New York. He would be soundly defeated in a bitter campaign marked by personal attacks of all kinds. For this, he and his followers blamed Alexander Hamilton. Burr personally began to obsess about the man who had blocked both his Presidential and gubernatorial aspirations.

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Francis Scott Key and The Star Spangled Banner (Volume 1, Podcast 12)

April 8, 2016 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Francis Scott Key and the National Anthem

Key was a prominent lawyer from Frederick, Maryland who, through a sequence of incidents that occurred during the War of 1812, observed one of the most critical episodes in American history.

In fact, Ross and Cockburn had decided on a coordinated air and sea attack. Ross would land his troops at North Point, Maryland at the tip of the Patapsco Neck and make the short fifteen-mile march to the city. After the sixty-mile march on Washington, Ross reasoned that he would handle this much shorter distance with relative ease. Because the Patapsco was relatively shallow, the larger warships would not be able to enter the inner harbor area. Instead Cockburn would take the smaller frigates and bombardment vessels upriver to attack Fort McHenry and after extinguishing the guns of the fort, to bombard the city itself, hopefully leading to a major conflagration.

Admiral George Cockburn depicted with the burning Washington, DC

The British army regrouped briefly but within hours began marching briskly towards Washington. 1,200 men halted two miles from the Capitol, Ross continued into the city itself with 200 elite infantrymen. There was zero resistance, any remaining civilians remained inside their homes. The only remaining American activity in the city was the deliberate destruction of the Washington Navy Yard, flames visible on the already dark horizon. Several ships, naval equipment, ordinance and other shipbuilding materials were destroyed to keep them out of the hands of the British. Ross and Cockburn had already decided to burn any public buildings in the city and as the Navy Yard glowed a few miles away, Ross’ units took position around the US Capitol building. The Capitol building itself looked nothing like today’s domed edifice, instead it was two square sandstone blocks connected by a wooden passageway. Under construction since 1793, it was a costly and time- consuming process. The British entered the building, ascertained that no one was present and began smearing gunpowder paste on the walls of the South Wing. Once this was lit, paper and wooden furniture was added and within minutes an intense heat drove the arsonists to the North Wing where a magnificent library was quickly put to the torch. The entire building was soon engulfed in flames.

General Robert Ross, the only man ever to capture America's capital — General Robert Ross, the only man ever to capture America’s capital

Next, Ross, Coburn and a column of men set out to what was known as the “President’s Mansion.” They entered the now deserted home and devoured the food and wine that was supposed to have been served to the President and his guests as that afternoon’s supper. After selecting a few souvenirs but nothing of any value as to avoid being charged with “looting”, soldiers quickly began to pile up furniture and soak mattresses with lamp oil. After some flame was acquired from a nearby tavern, an officer walked through the rooms of the mansion, igniting the makeshift kindling in each room. Madison’s former home was quickly ablaze, Ross, Cockburn and troops admiring their work from a short distance.

General George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry, under the command of Major George Armistead, responded with over fifty cannons from the fort itself, as well as shore batteries on both sides of the river. Some of this fire was accurate enough to force Cochrane to move his ships out of range, approximately two miles away. Here he was content to blast away with his mortars, the Americans unable to reach the British ships. Armistead ordered his guns to cease fire, and the gun crews to take cover. British shells and rockets were landing on an average of over one per minute, by noon hundreds of projectiles had landed on or near the fort. The incendiary rockets were essentially harmless but an occasional mortar shell made its way into the fort and detonated with a tremendous explosion. One pierced the roof of the fort’s powder magazine but failed to detonate, had it exploded it would have blown up 300 hundred barrels of gunpowder, the fort and most of its inhabitants.

Star Spangled Banner Sheet Music from the 1800's — Star Spangled Banner Sheet Music from the 1800’s

Although “The Star-Spangled Banner” remained popular during Key’s lifetime, it did not achieve official status for many years. Other songs, including “Hail, Columbia”, “America, the Beautiful” and “My Country, Tis of thee.” would be sung at public events and ceremonies, all achieving unofficial status. It would not be until a congressional resolution, signed by President Herbert Hoover in 1931 that the Star Spangled Banner would officially be named the national anthem.

key stamp copy — US commemorative stamp of Francis Scott Key

Key would return to his prestigious law practice in Washington. Thirty-five years old when he wrote “The Star Spangled Banner” he had already argued cases in front of the Supreme Court. He would represent many clients in some of the era’s most prominent legal cases. Key had close political ties to Andrew Jackson and would eventually be named the US Attorney for Washington, DC, a post he held until 1841. He died on January 11, 1843, aged 63.

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Amelia Earhart (Volume 1, podcast 11)

February 22, 2016 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Amelia Earhart, Lost Heroine

Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. Although her mother came from a wealthy family, her father was an attorney but also an alcoholic with an erratic work history that lead to an unstable childhood for both Amelia and her sister, Muriel. Amelia would attend six high schools before graduating from Hyde Park High School in Chicago.

The iconic photograph of Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra 10E

Although Amelia dismissed speculation about a global flight, George Putnam began corresponding with Lockheed during the mid thirties about the potential purchase of their latest and most sophisticated aircraft; the Lockheed Electra 10E.

It was suggested by Paul Mantz that because Howland Island, at two miles long and one half mile wide would be a navigational challenge, that Fred Noonan an experienced navigator who had mapped many of Pan American World Airways’ American Clipper routes in the Pacific handle this responsibility. Noonan had left Pan American and was intent on starting a navigational school as his next commercial venture, an endeavor that would certainly be helped by the publicity generated by Amelia’s flight.

The US Air Mail stamp taken from the famous photo.

Amelia Earhart 1963 US commemorative stamp.

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Paul Gauguin (Volume 1, Podcast 10)

January 12, 2016 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Paul Gauguin, the Bitterness and the Beauty

From his very first days, Gauguin’s life was filled with a volatile instability that must have affected his development. He was born in Paris on June 7, 1848. His father, Clovis, was a journalist, his mother, Aline, the daughter of Flora Tristan, a seminal feminist writer of the early nineteenth century. Aline’s father had been imprisoned for the attempted murder of Flora, an indication of the chaos surrounding Gauguin’s immediate family. Flora Tristan died in 1844, and in 1847 Aline married Clovis and soon settled down to married life and the birth of a daughter in 1847 and Paul in 1848. But the political unrest of Paris forced the young family to think about heading into exile.

It was at the home of Gustave Arosa that Gauguin, in November of 1872, met two female guests, travelling from Denmark. One of these woman, Mette-Sophie Gad, was immediately attracted to Gauguin and a yearlong courtship began. Mette was no great beauty, but all accounts indicate that she had a great deal of personality and a practically masculine outlook that could handle the rough edges of an ex-sailor. A year later the couple would be married and Mette would rapidly become pregnant, Paul’s stock market employment providing a comfortable lifestyle.

Gauguin's iconoclastic "Vision After the Sermon." — Gauguin’s iconoclastic “Vision After the Sermon.”

With the death of Theo Van Gogh and the realization that none of his compatriots would leave France for the exotic destinations that he continually fantasized about, Gauguin became fixated on a newer and even more remote destination: Tahiti. Again he held out for a major sale and a large check that would get him out of France. He had maintained this fantasy for decades but this time his growing reputation and a newspaper article published the day before a planned sale at the prestigious auction house at the Hotel Druout insured that his paintings would generate a substantial sum. In all thirty paintings were sold on February 23, 1891, including “Vision After the Sermon” and the portrait “Beautiful Angela” which was purchased by Degas.

Van Gogh's jade self-portrait dedicated to "Mon Ami Paul", sold by Gauguin to raise money for Tahiti, auctioned by the Nazi's as "degenerate art", today it hangs in Harvard's Fogg Museum. — Van Gogh’s jade self-portrait dedicated to “Mon Ami Paul”, sold by Gauguin to raise money for Tahiti, auctioned by the Nazi’s as “degenerate art”, today it hangs in Harvard’s Fogg Museum.

Vincent Van Gogh had spent the summer writing to all of the artists of Pont-Aven, imploring them to participate in a “colony” in Arles, where he had already relocated. Gauguin repeatedly put him off by claiming that he would have to wait until he sold some paintings and raised the money to pay off his debts in Brittany. But when Theo Van Gogh sent him some money and promised more if he would merely agree to join Vincent in the south of France, Gauguin acquiesced. The overjoyed artist sent him a remarkable, jade green self portrait dedicated to “mon ami Paul” and typically began to fixate on when Gauguin would arrive or if he would even show up at all. Thus the stage was set for one of the most notoriously tragic incidents in art history.

Gauguin's painting of Vincent painting sunflowers which caused their final row. — Gauguin’s painting of Vincent painting sunflowers which caused their final row.

A sequence of events in late December brought about Gauguin’s inevitable departure. As the weather kept them painting indoors, Van Gogh returned to his familiar motif of sunflowers, Gauguin painted a portrait of Vincent at work. The result horrified and angered Van Gogh. “It is certainly I, but it’s I gone mad!” That night at a cafe an argument culminated in Van Gogh throwing a glass of absinthe at Gauguin, who dragged him home and put him to bed. Although Van Gogh tried to apologize, Gauguin responded by saying he could no longer stay because he might respond to such future outbursts by strangling Vincent.

The "Yellow House" in Arles, France. It was destroyed in 1940, rebuilt and repainted in cement to resemble the original building. — The “Yellow House” in Arles, France. It was destroyed in 1940, rebuilt and repainted in cement to resemble the original building.

A terrible rainy season insured that Gauguin and Van Gogh would spend most of their time shut up in the Yellow House, unable to paint outside. They spent much of their time in philosophical discussions that ultimately became hostile, Gauguin condescendingly dismissive towards all of Van Gogh’s opinions especially when it came to art.

Gauguin's "Two Women" — Gauguin’s “Two Women”

Gauguin’s deteriorating health affected his productivity but he still would produce some of his greatest works during this time period, especially, “Two Tahitian Women”, now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Gauguin's "Where Are We Going?" — Gauguin’s “Where Are We Going?”

He also produced the allegorical “Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? that is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

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Jack Johnson, Heavyweight Champion of the World, (Volume 1, Podcast 9)

January 9, 2016 Phil Gibbons 1 Comment

Jack Johnson, the Real Deal

Jack Johnson was born on March 31, 1878 in Galveston. Very little can be verified about his early life. Most historical information about him comes from autobiographies that he published himself. Had he not gone on to achieve boxing notoriety, both he and his family would have been completely forgotten.

Jack Johnson knocks out Jim Jeffries, July 4, 1910, Reno, Nevada.

By the end of the fourteenth round Jeffries could barely see, his nose was broken and face and upper body streaked with his own blood. He lumbered gamely toward Johnson at the beginning of the fifteenth round, attempted to clinch but was too exhausted to avoid Johnson’s repetitive combinations. Finally, perhaps attempting to avoid punishment, Jeffries turned away from Johnson and lurched awkwardly along the ropes. Johnson responded with a string of rights and lefts that put Jeffries on the canvas for the first time in his pro career. The stunned crowd watched as Jeffries got to his feet, literally with the help of spectators, but was immediately knocked down by a more direct punch that put him back on the canvas. Boxing rules at that time allowed a fighter to stand over a fallen opponent and hit him as soon as he got up. Rickard attempted to shield Jeffries for a brief moment but when the defenseless fighter staggered to his feet, Johnson draped him on the ropes with another succession of brutal punches. Jeffries corner men stormed into the ring, one tossed a towel in Jeffries direction. The fight was over.

Within days of signing the contract, Jack Johnson would attend Long Island’s Vanderbilt Cup auto race. Although he would barred from the finish line reviewing stand where he was told that no blacks were allowed, he would meet Mrs. Etta Terry Duryea, an elegant, very attractive Caucasian female currently separated from her socially well connected husband. Mrs. Duryea was clearly a cut above the usual women in Johnson’s entourage. While the two promised to keep in touch, Johnson spent the interim between his fight with Jeffries on a vaudeville tour of the Midwest and northeast.

Jess Willard knocks out Jack Johnson in the 26th round, April 5, 1915, Havana, Cuba.

By the twenty first round, Johnson was still scoring but he had not hurt Willard and his usually confident demeanor had disappeared. There were no smiles or taunts as Johnson’s thirty-seven years and grueling lifestyle seemed to be catching up with him. In the twenty-fifth round Willard landed a punch to the body that made Johnson gasp audibly and the challenger was visibly the quicker, fresher fighter. When the bell rang for the twenty-sixth round Willard quickly hit Johnson with another right to the body that had Johnson desperately trying to clinch but the challenger shrugged him off and feinted for a few seconds before unleashing a pulverizing right that landed flush on the jaw. Johnson began falling to the canvas and tried to grab Willard unsuccessfully. He landed on his back, both of his arms extended over his face as the referee counted him out. The fight was over, the heavyweight championship of the world had changed hands.

On Monday, June 9, 1946 Jack Johnson was returning to New York by automobile from a stint in a Texas tent show. These were the types of appearances that he essentially survived on in the last twenty-five years of his life. He was near the town of Franklinton, North Carolina, driving his Lincoln Zephyr at over seventy miles an hour when he lost control and hit a telephone pole. His assistant was thrown from the car and survived, Jack Johnson died in a hospital three hours later.

The graves of Jack Johnson and Etta Duryea, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois

Jack Johnson’s funeral was held in a Baptist church in his mother’s old neighborhood and attended by twenty-five hundred spectators and thousands more milling outside. He was buried next to Etta Duryea in Chicago’s Graceland Cemetery, resting place of some of the city’s most prestigious citizens including Potter Palmer, Cyrus McCormick and Marshall Field.

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King Ludwig II of Bavaria, (Volume 1, Podcast 8)

October 22, 2015 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

King Ludwig II of Bavaria, a Beautiful Madness

Wonderful Atlantic Monthly Photo Essay on Ludwig II

Ludwig II was born on August 25, 1845. His father, Maximillian, was then the Crown Prince of Bavaria. His grandfather, Ludwig I, was the King of Bavaria and a member of the House of Wittlesbach, the ruling dynasty that had governed the Kingdom of Bavaria, for over six hundred years.

Upon Maximilian’s death, Ludwig became Ludwig II at the age of eighteen. His childhood had not been particularly happy, raised by governesses and without interaction with or affection from either of his parents, he spent much of his time in emotional isolation. He also developed a hostility toward his younger brother Otto, feeling that because he was the heir and expected to reign eventually as the king, he was held to a much higher standard.

Ludwig and his fiancee, Sophie of Bavaria

Unfortunately, Ludwig immediately had misgivings and began to realize that moving forward with the marriage would be a disaster. Publicly, he initially attempted to maintain an appropriate veneer of enthusiasm and affection, privately the courtship featured nothing more than an occasional furtive kiss on the brow. Ludwig spent much of the summer arriving at Sophie’s family’s palace at Possenhoven at all hours of the night where the couple would engage in awkward small talk and interact without any real passion. By the end of the summer and the impending August wedding date, Ludwig decided to postpone the event. His explanation was that the wedding would be rescheduled for October 12, the anniversary date of his grandfather, Ludwig I, and father, Max II. But when Ludwig also cancelled the wedding on this date, Sophie’s parents demanded that he either set a permanent date or call it off for good. Ludwig chose to characterize this demand as impertinent and informed Sophie that as a result, the engagement was officially ended.

As Ludwig became more isolated from day to day reality, his preoccupation with architecture and building became more prominent. As early as 1868 he had written to Wagner of his desire to build a castle in the style of German folklore, something that might be occupied by one of the heroic figures of a Wagnerian opera. Having thoroughly explored the area surrounding Hohenschwangau, Ludwig selected a dramatic location on a raised plateau known as the Pollat Gorge. Sketches were composed by architects after consultations with Ludwig II about his vision for the building. Construction began in 1869, it would not end until after Ludwig’s death. Initially called New Hohenschwangau Castle it would ultimately be named Neuschwanstein, or “New Swan Stone” Castle.

During Ludwig’s lifetime, the public was forbidden to enter the palace grounds. Only servants or an occasional expressly invited visitor were permitted. This was in line with the ever more reclusive life that Ludwig began to pursue in the 1870’s. He spent his days sleeping and nights reading obscure literature frequently from the era of Louis XIV. He commissioned plays and operas to be performed privately in large theaters in Munich for his benefit with no other audience. He would take evening rides in his gilded carriage or sleigh in winter, his footmen dressed in the manner of the court of Louis XIV, the king drawn by white horses that made a spectacular impression on the rural inhabitants of backwoods Bavaria.

ludwig II lying in state — Ludwig II lying in state

The death of Ludwig II was met by shock and grief throughout Bavaria. The king’s body was conveyed to the capital where it would publically lie in state for three days in the chapel of the Residenz. An immense funeral procession would convey the king to St. Michael’s Church and his burial place in the church crypt, a procession that would take over two and a half hours. The funeral of Ludwig is believed to be the largest state occasion in the history of the city of Munich.

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Billie Holiday (Volume 1, Podcast 7)

October 21, 2015 Phil Gibbons 1 Comment

Billie Holiday, Lady Day

Sometimes the most remarkable artistic genius can emerge from the humblest of beginnings. Sarah Julia Harris was born on August 16, 1895 in Baltimore, MD. Disowned by her father, she was raised by her mother, who ultimately married another man and had two more children. Like her siblings, Sarah, nicknamed “Sadie”, began working at cleaning jobs at an early age, a lack of education rendered her virtually illiterate. She was employed on the railroad trains that operated between Baltimore and Philadelphia. When she became pregnant at age nineteen, she was kicked out of her family’s home and fired from her job. With few options, she agreed to be admitted into the Philadelphia General Hospital, performing menial tasks in exchange for shelter and care. Her child was born on April 7, 1915. This child had several versions of her first name listed on official documents, various approximations of the name Eleanora. Although she started life as Eleanora Harris, eventually the world would come to know this illegitimate daughter of an unemployed domestic by a different name: Billie Holiday.

Billie Holiday, performing in the forties.

Fortunately, addiction had not yet seriously diminished her talent. Performing mostly in New York, her trademark gardenia in her hair, 1943 and 1944 would be the high point of her live career.

Billie Holiday, backstage with her dog "Mister." — Billie Holiday, backstage with her dog “Mister.”

This behavior would come to public attention when Billie Holiday and Joe Guy were arrested by federal narcotics agents in New York City for possession of heroin. Drugs and hypodermic needles were found in a search of a room that both individuals had occupied in Philadelphia. Despite a flimsy case, Billie disdained legal advice and plead guilty and was sentenced to a year and a day in a federal reformatory in Alderson, West Virginia.

Despite her legal problems and her lack of any recently recorded hits, Billie remained immensely popular. Her persona, which had been that of someone “unlucky in love,” was now changing towards someone unlucky in life. It didn’t take long for her to lapse back into addiction, which became the cause of cancelled recording sessions and missed concert dates. If she did show up she would seem disinterested, would play a short set and disappear. Clearly, her lifestyle was beginning to affect her performance.

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Edgar Allan Poe (Volume 1, Podcast 6)

August 26, 2015 Phil Gibbons Leave a comment

Edgar Allen Poe: Life Sucks and Then You Die

Edgar Allan Poe, only days after his suicide attempt, 1848

Poe was born Edgar Poe on January 19, 1809, in the city of Boston. His parents, David and Eliza were actors that travelled a circuit along the Eastern seaboard. His mother performed a week before his birth and would return again to the Boston stage a month later, which is indicative of the economic stability of Poe’s family. David Poe had abandoned a career in law to try and achieve his wife’s level of dramatic success. That he was unable to do so became a source of frustration and anger that eventually ended the marriage. He disappeared and was dead by 1811. Eliza took her three young children to Richmond where she would contract tuberculosis and also die in 1811, on December 8.

Virginia Clemm Poe, the only likeness of Poe's wife that exists. — Virginia Clemm Poe, the only likeness of Poe’s wife that exists.

On May 16, 1836 Poe married Virginia Clemm. The groom was twenty-seven, the bride, fourteen. The specifics regarding when and if Poe enjoyed a physical relationship with his young cousin is a matter of dispute. It is widely believed that initially Poe and his wife’s relationship was platonic in nature but as she grew older their relationship became more typically romantic. That they were emotionally close and that Virginia Clemm practically idolized her husband has never been disputed.

Poe and Maria Clemm remained in the Bronx, and 1847 started off reasonably well when he prevailed in a libel suit that provided a few hundred dollars. But Poe would write very little in 1847, depressed, distracted and his own health now deteriorating.

As if Poe had not suffered enough in life, upon his death, his literary estate and even personal reputation came under immediate attack. Rufus Griswold was a prominent anthologist who published the very popular “The Poets and Poetry of America.”, throughout the 1840’s. Wanting to be included in this anthology Poe naturally attempted to cultivate Griswold and Griswold, wanting Poe’s critical approval included occasional poems and corresponded with Poe. At best this was merely a business relationship, at times Poe lashed out at Griswold, both in criticism and lectures, that Griswold was the purveyor of the type of mediocre literature that Poe routinely would savage in his critical columns. Poe must have felt that their occasional disputes were behind them late in life because in his final years he is alleged to have appointed Griswold the executor of his literary estate. Unfortunately, Poe could not have been more mistaken in underestimating the deep animosity that Griswold still harbored for him. Within two days of Poe’s death, Griswold, using the pseudonym “Ludwig” published a lengthy obituary in the prominent New York Daily Tribune which disparaged Poe’s professional criticism, mentioned his wife’s death amidst extreme poverty and included such personal descriptions as “he walked the streets, in madness or melancholy, with lips moving in indistinct curses.” Because of his reputation as a Baptist minister and respected anthologist, Griswold’s slanderous profile gained traction with the press and public and severely damaged Poe’s reputation.

With his professional life at a dead end, Poe turned to another alternative to resuscitate his economic fortunes: marriage. With celebrity, Poe became the object of female attention that continued throughout the decade of the 1840’s. Poe became quite friendly with some of these women and now, he decided that one of them, Sarah Helen Whitman, six years older than Poe at forty-five, was worthy of more serious pursuit. A widow, Helen Whitman lived in Providence, Rhode Island and travelled within literary and intellectual circles. In 1848, Poe and Helen Whitman exchanged correspondence and Poe showed up in Providence without notice on September 21 and within days hastily proposed marriage. Poe had literally begged her to rescue him and reinvigorate his genius but Helen said that she would have to think it over. Ultimately, aware of the rumors of drunkenness and instability, Helen turned him down.

While in Richmond, Poe attempted to rekindle a very old relationship. This time it was with Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton, his former next-door neighbor and fifteen-year old sweetheart. Elmira’s husband, Alexander, a wealthy businessman had died in 1844, leaving behind a large estate. Although the will stipulated that Elmira would lose three quarters of the bequest upon remarriage and her family was hostile, Poe quickly proposed and insisted upon an immediate response. It is unclear whether Elmira Royster Shelton ever agreed to marry Edgar Allan Poe but on September 27, Poe left by steamer for New York. There he intended to settle his affairs, fetch his aunt and return to Richmond, where he at least believed his marriage would eventually take place.

Edgar Allan Poe Tomb, Westminster Cemetery, Baltimore, MD, (Philip D. Gibbons photo)

Following the distraction of the Civil War, a group of Baltimore public educators began a campaign within the school system to appropriately memorialize Edgar Allan Poe. It took ten years but the pennies and nickels collected by students as well as a sizable donation from a Philadelphia newspaper owner eventually provided the funds for a suitable monument. The impressive memorial was dedicated with great fanfare on November 17, 1875. Poe and his Aunt Maria Clemm were exhumed and reburied within an impressive marble structure.

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