Author Archive
July 25, 2014 by tomdalzell
Animals from the Woods
We have our share of real-life animals from the woods – deer, raccoons, opossums, skunks, and the occasional fox and the less occasional mountain lion. But that is not what this is about. This is about artistic depictions of woodland creatures, mostly in our yards. The woods. The forest. They conjure up fear. When we […]
July 24, 2014 by tomdalzell
Conny All Photos
July 5, 2014 by tomdalzell
Gabby, Young Emily, and Collections
Here are two passages from Gabby’s memoir that reveal his early fascination with collections. Gabby’s relationship with Young Emily began in the spring of 1970. Gabby was working on the grape boycott in Philadelphia. Tavia was a strong supporter of the boycott, and Young Emily was her daughter. This photo of Tavia is from several […]
July 4, 2014 by tomdalzell
Gabby’s Wise Monkeys Postcards
I asked Gabby if he would send photos of his Wise Monkey postcard collection. He wasn’t as public with this collection as he was with his other collections on account of the special spot that a wise monkey collection held in his heart and history with Young Emily. In the end, thanks in large […]
July 2, 2014 by tomdalzell
Peter and the Wolf Record Album Covers
Gabby, it seems, was especially fond of Peter and the Wolf. More to the point, he was especially fond of Peter and the Wolf record album covers. He did not claim to have listened to each record that he owns, and he was not obsessive about the condition of the albums themselves. Simply put, he was fascinated […]
July 1, 2014 by tomdalzell
Young Pioneers
We learn that Peter in Peter and the Wolf was a Young Pioneer. And we learn that Peter and the Wolf was first performed before an audience of Young Pioneers in a May Day celebration. The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union – aka Всесою́зная пионе́рская организа́ция и́мени В. И. Ле́нина – aka the Vladimir Lenin All-Union […]
June 29, 2014 by tomdalzell
Dogs and Cats
This post deals not with living and breathing dogs and cats, but with artistic depictions of dogs and cats. Two things come to mind for me when I read “dogs and cats” or “cats and dogs.” First, Berkeley Dog and Cat on Haste. Great vets. Caring, smart, smart, diligent. Second, the expression “raining cats […]
June 28, 2014 by tomdalzell
Gabby Decides to go to Delano
In the spring of 1967, Gabby got the blessing of his high school advisor to take a planned one-week trip from his home in Nekoosa, Wisconsin to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to research the melon strike going on there as part of a senior independent study project. In Texas, Gabby met the young […]
June 27, 2014 by tomdalzell
Cambridge, Massachusetts
My family lived outside Boston from 1954 until 1959, first in Sudbury and then in Lincoln. These were great years for my parents. For five years they were not in Pennsylvania, not yet looking after aging mothers. On their own! In Sudbury, we lived hear Longfellow’s Wayside Inn. My parents went to waltzes there. My […]
June 27, 2014 by tomdalzell