During my book tour for Lionheart, we had a discussion of one of the saddest episodes in English history—the tragedy at York in March, 1190. So often anti-Semitic outbursts followed when a crusade was preached; there were bloody pogroms in Germany at the time of the Second Crusade and England was the site of some ugly occurrences in 1190. After the London rioting at the time of his coronation, Richard had sent writs to the major cities of his realm, warning that the Jews were not to be molested, and peace held—until he sailed for Normandy after Christmas. But like a virulent virus, anti-Semitism soon broke out again in East Anglia, spreading to Bury St Edmunds, Stamford, and Lincoln. Mobs rampaged through the Jewish quarters in these towns, forcing the Jews to flee to the royal castles for protection.
Eventually the madness reached York. But the rioting there differed from the violence in the other English cities; in York, the mob was urged on by men of rank, men who owed money to Jewish money-lenders. As in other towns, the Jews took refuge in the royal castle, but apparently they did not trust the castellan, for as soon as he left the castle, they overpowered the garrison and refused to allow him back in.
The castellan panicked and summoned the sheriff of Yorkshire, who happened to be the brother of the celebrated William Marshal. He foolishly decided to assault the castle, and the mob was only too happy to join in, egged on by a demented hermit who assured them they were doing God’s Work. By the time the sheriff and castellan realized their mistake and tried to call it off, it was too late; the mob was in control. The Jews held out for two days, but when siege engines were brought out, they knew they were doomed. Rather than be murdered by the mob, drunk on wine, ale, and blood lust, they chose to commit mass suicide. It is thought that about one hundred fifty men, women, and children died in Clifford’s Tower on the Eve of Palm Sunday. There were a small number who did not kill themselves and sought mercy from the mob, offering to convert to Christianity, and they were promised that their lives would be spared. Instead, they were brutally slain as soon as they emerged. The leaders of the mob then forced their way into York Minster, where the Jewish money lenders kept their debt bonds, and compelled the monks to turn them over. They then burned the bonds right there in the nave of the church.
Richard was in Normandy, making preparations for the crusade, when he heard what had happened. He at once sent his chancellor, Longchamp, back to England, and the latter led an army north. But the citizens of York swore they’d played no part in this atrocity, claiming it had been done by strangers and soldiers who’d taken the cross. Longchamp did what he could, dismissing the sheriff and castellan and imposing such steep fines upon the city that there would be no further outbreaks of violence in England, but the killers escaped the punishment they deserved.
I’ve often discussed medieval anti-Semitism in my books and my blogs, the ugly underside of life in the Middle Ages. It was a bias people breathed in from birth, and the vast majority were infected by it to some degree. But there was something particularly horrifying about the slaughter in York; it haunted me for years and I welcomed the chance to help publicize it in Lionheart. In my discussion with readers on my book tour, I told them how shocked I was when I first learned about it, after moving to York to research The Sunne in Splendour, and said that it has often been called a medieval Masada.
Not all of them were familiar with the story of Masada, and I had to explain that in the first century, nearly a thousand Jewish Zealots had taken refuge upon the mountain fortress at Masada after the fall of Jerusalem. Masada was thought to be impregnable, but the Romans were as skilled as they were ruthless when it came to waging war, and after a siege of several months by the Tenth Legion, the trapped Jews realized defeat was inevitable. Rather than surrender, knowing that meant a brutal death for many and slavery for those who survived, they chose to commit suicide. When the Romans finally entered Masada, they encountered a city of the dead, the bodies of 960 men, women, and children lying in streets dark with blood. Israeli soldiers today take an oath that Masada will not fall again, and it was said that one of the most heroic rebellions of World War II, the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto, was inspired in part by an epic poem about the tragedy of Masada.
When I discussed the medieval Masada with my readers on the tour, I had not yet read The Dovekeepers, a powerful, compelling account of the events in that mountain citadel in the Judean Desert. The author is one I’ve long admired, Alice Hoffman, but this was a departure from her usual work. It is obvious that she did extensive research, but it is her unique talent that brings Masada and its people alive for us. For a story so shadowed by tragedy, it is a remarkably lyrical novel. Alice Hoffman can send words soaring like swallows; her phrases are so vivid, so evocative, that you can feel the scorching desert heat, see the bleached-bone white of the sky over their heads, hear the soft cooing of the birds in their dovecotes. Her characters seem as real as the arid, unforgiving land around them. And therein lies the problem. I came to care about them, and knowing the horror that awaited them, my reading slowed. It took me days to read the last fifty pages, just as it took me three weeks to get Richard III out of his tent and onto the field at Bosworth when I was writing Sunne. But Alice Hoffman was up to the challenge, one of the greatest a writer can face. She manages to make the final tragedy bearable while still staying true to the history of Masada,
Is this a book for everyone? Probably not. A dear friend told me that she did not want to embrace so much pain, however brilliantly it was depicted. I can understand that. But I am glad I was willing to take this journey, to go back in time with these doomed women and their men and share their world for five hundred haunting pages. It is always hard to choose a “favorite,” be it a book, a film, a flower, or even a color. I inevitably want more choices. But when I am asked to name books that have lingered in my imagination years after reading them, books that I need to reread and to remember, I round up “the usual suspects,” to borrow one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite films, Casablanca. To Kill a Mockingbird usually tops the list. I also include Mila 18, Lonesome Dove, Jane Eyre, Angel in the Whirlwind, And No Birds Sang, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Schindler’s List. Now I will add The Dovekeepers.
October 16, 2011
I was just looking at a list of books to add to my Kindle wish list and The Dovekeepers was one of the ones I just added. Then when I checked my Google Reader, this post popped up! Guess all the more I now want to read this! 🙂
Alexis, I hope you’ll let me know what you think of it. I’d love to discuss it with people who’ve read it.
I am going to order it now. I have read Alice Hoffman before and know what a beautiful writer she is. Thank you Sharon, another great post 🙂
The Dovekeepers is an amazing book! From the moment you meet Yael – you can’t look away. At times you want to – but you can’t and you shouldn’t – but it is an amazing tale by an amazing author – almost as good (but not quite) as you Sharon!!!
Beautiful blog, Sharon, although it’s sad to think about all that pain that those innocent people had to go through. On another note, I have read Alice Hoffma’s and honestly not all her books or stories seem to grab my attention. I will have to try The Housekeepers since the story pertains to a time in history that appeals to me. Your referral of the book means a lot so I’m sure it’s very good 🙂
Oops, sorry about the misspelled last name and book title, my cell was playing tricks on me – LOL. I meant Ms. Alice Hoffman’s and The Dovekeepers 🙂
Actually, the term medieval Masada (properly pronounced Metzada) is misleading. Archeologists hotly debate whether the story told by Josephus of the suicide is true. There was no decisive proof of it, and even more disturbing, there was some proof found of a battle being fought. Still, the legend is important, and in that respect, it’s good that people keep it alive and remember it.
Elizabeth Chadwick mentions the tragic events in The Greatest Knight. The ones that had taken place at the time of Richard’s coronation and the ones that followed: in Lynn, Norwich, Stamford, Lincoln and York. The latter are described due to William Marshal’s brother John and the role he played in the whole event. Being a sheriff ‘he was summoned to quell the riot (…) instead he lost control. His own soldiers joined the besiegers (…)’ William tells his wife the tragic story. They are both shocked and William also describes king Richard’s reaction to the news (which is really worth reading as an example of the famous attack of Plantagenet fury, I suppose) and steps he took to quench the fires of riots.
I have been seeing The Dovekeepers around, but was undecided on whether I would read it or not. After your recommendation, I think I will give it a shot.
I agree with Cynthia. After reading this recommendation, I’m going to put The Dovekeepers on my reading list. I have never read Schindler’s List. I put off seeing the movie for some time because of the content. However, when I finally watched the film, I was so touched and moved – especially by the ending. It has become one of my favorite movies. Think I’ll put the book on my reading list as well.
I am surprised that so many of my readers have been to Masada. I’d read that there were questions raised about the accuracy of Josephus’s account, Koby, but I agree with you that the legend is what matters now. Kristina, I highly recommend the book Schindler’s List; I think it was published in the UK as Schinder’s Ark, and if my memory serves, it was published there as fiction!
Sharon–confirmation that DOVEKEEPERS will be the next book that I read after I finish LIONHEART. I had heard about it from a friend who just had mentioned that she had ordered it. Then I noticed it on the New York Times Best Seller list. I don’t necessarily pay any attention to the NYT list but this time I shall!!
I wholeheartedly recommend “Schindler’s Ark” to anyone – it’s not an easy read and it’s one of the very few books to ever make me actually cry. But it will stay with you.
Sharon – your comment about it being published as fiction is interesting. It won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1982 and there was quite a debate over whether it truly qualified as fiction or as historical reporting. Keneally’s comments at the time pointed out that there is dialogue and interpretation of character actions and events which came out of his imagination. In that respect, it’s historical fiction. If you set that book in an earlier time (i.e. well outside the 20th century), I suspect the debate would never occur, but because it was published when there were still living witnesses to the events, it seemed to confuse people as to what genre it was.
I remember reading a book about Masada in HS (early 70s); some of the scenes in that book are still vivid in my memory. I heard about this new one and was on the fence – Did I want another story about the horror of that place? But I still will read books on the Holocaust, because I feel I must bear witness to the events and promise ‘never again’. Same thing here. I went to Masada with some friends, we spent the night and watched a glorious sunrise from the top. Remembering that makes me want to read the book more, esp on your recommendation!
Today, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland, Elizabeth of York’s and Henry VII’s [VIII] daughter died.
Here is today’s Facebook Note, Richard’s Little Brother.
On the night of October 18th, 1216, King John paid his mortal debt at Newark Castle, dying during a storm that gave rise to legends that the Devil had come to claim his soul. He was two months shy of his 50th birthday. Strangely, of Eleanor’s ten children, only two lived past 50; Marie, Countess of Champagne, her daughter by Louis VII, was 53, and Leonora, her daughter by Henry who became Queen of Castile was 52. The rest died relatively young. William was just 3, Hal was 28, Geoffrey was a month from his 28th birthday, Matilda was 33, Alix of Bloiis was 46, Richard was 41, and Joanna was a month from her 34th birthday. Eleanor had the bad luck to outlive all but two of her children, and she lost several grandchildren, too, in the course of her long life.
Back to John. I was trying to restore his humanity in Here Be Dragons, for he was so often portrayed in novels and films as this ridiculous stage villain or else as evil incarnate. But I think I may have been too successful, for some of my readers (you know who you are!) seem inclined to give John the benefit of every doubt. John had some serious crimes to atone for: betraying the dying father who’d sacrificed so much on his behalf, putting his nephew to death, starving Maude de Braose and her son, starving some of the lords and knights that he’d captured at Mirebeau, hanging those Welsh hostages, some of whom were children. I also think he needs to be held to account for betraying Richard. Yes, Geoffrey and Hal both were guilty of attacking Aquitaine and trying to usurp Richard’s duchy. But I find John’s betrayal to be worse, for Richard and his other brothers were always at odds, whereas he’d been quite generous with John, forgiving him for his past misdeeds, giving him the rich heiress Henry had only promised, and bestowing lands and money upon him. I doubt that Richard ever felt any brotherly love for John; while he got along well with his sisters, he and his male silblings all seem to have studied at the Cain and Abel school of fraternal rivalries. And one of his recorded remarks indicates that he did not take John that seriously, for when he was a prisoner in Germany and was told that John was attempting to usurp his throne, he said “My brother is not the man to conquer a kingdom if there is even one to offer resistance.” Of course that could have been bravado, for he was definitely very worried about John and Philippe’s plotting while he was in the Holy Land and seriously considered ending the crusade to come home and defend his realm.
So John is no innocent and he does have blood on his hands. He was not Caligula or Nero, though. He was clever and showed some administrative skills and his dramatic rescue of Eleanor at Mirebeau shows he had inherited some of the family military flair. But I think he was the most damaged of the Devil’s Brood, so insecure that it would eventually give way to paranoia. He could not bring himself to trust anyone, and because his barons and lords knew he did not trust them, they found it impossible to trust him, which was a recipe for disaster. It is obvious that John found it dificult to be one of the Angevin fledglings, having two larger than life parents with questionable parenting skills and then being utterly overshadowed by his legendary brother, the Lionheart. It is possible to have some sympathy for the man while deploring the dark side of his nature. I think we have to consider John a failure as a king because that was how his contemporaries judged him. But speaking strictly as a novelist, John is one of my all-time favorites to write about!
For those wanting to explore John’s psyche and reign, I would recommend King John: New Interpretations. It also includes an excellent article about Eleanor in her twilgiht years.
PS Most know John was buried in Worcester Cathedral where he has a magnificent effigy; when his tomb was opened many years later, his skeleton was said to be 5 feet, 6 inches. But many of you may not know that he requested his heart be buried at Fontevrault
By contrast, it appears that Geoffrey was able to trust his Breton barons and they in turn trusted him. I have been hard put to think of a medieval monarch who ruled with the cooperation of his nobility to the extent that Geoffrey did in Brittany, based on the scholarship of Judith Everard. His father may have ruled through consensus early in his reign, but that clearly did not last.
I agree, Malcolm. I think what Geoffrey was able to do in just five years was very impressive. What is sad is that for centuries no one gave him any credit. He was ignored by English historians; one even described his behavior as “mindless malice.” Dr Everhard’s book was such a contribution to medieval Breton history and the history of the Angevin family. Without it, I’d have had to write a very different Devil’s Brood.
Well, Sharon already mentioned John having died. I held back, because it was actually on the night between the 18th and 19th, so I usually write of it on the morning of the 19th, by which he was surely dead. In any case, I really enjoyed your note, Sharon.
Also, happy Shemini Etzeret (which begins at sundown) to all who celebrate.
I have the details now on the audio book for Lionheart. It will be shipped to all retail, digital, and library accounts within the week. It will be narrated by Emily Grey, and it is unabridged! You can listen to Emily at this link. http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/gvpages/a1571.shtml
Sharon,
I forgot to tell you in the reply to your email, that I was first put on to your books by a Welshman named Bryn Hughes from the Ceiriog valley. I’m glad he told me about Here Be Dragons. It’s always been my favorite, with The Sunne in Splendour/When Christ and his saints slept, tied for second.
Dave.
‘Richard’s Little Brother’ made me think of John and how little I know about the youngest of the Devil’s Brood. Of course Magna Carta, of course First Barons’ War, of course the loss of Normandy, but it’s still all too general.
Reading Sharon’s note I felt a need of refreshing my memory. That’s why
I decided to look through my modest resources and reached for Marion Meade’s biography of Eleanor. I found all the passages concerning John and, to my great surprise, I couldn’t resist chuckling at some points (which is something unusual when it comes to John’s story, I think).
The story I found most entertaining is the one that had taken place on Sunday, April 25, God’s year 1199, with John being proclaimed duke at Rouen. With all respect to solemn rites, the setting (Rouen cathedral) and the person of Archbishop Walter who had been ‘in charge’, I could’t resist laughing. John’s flippancy and his mischievous ways must have been quite charming, I suppose. Of course not in his contemporaries’ eyes. I strongly recommend this particular account. Brief but very vivid and colourful.
So I spent the morning with ‘charming John’ and because today is my birthday I was quite delighted to be accompanied by one of the Plantagenets.
This is a remarkable video, but be prepared to duck! http://www.dogwork.com/owfo8/
Kate, I think John must have had charm; all of the Angevins did. Perhaps the most charming was Henry’s feckless oldest son, Hal, who was a medieval Peter Pan and quite irresponsible, but people seemed to have fallen under his spell left and right.
Hal’s spell works even now, after 900 years. I am among those who have fallen and there sems to be no hope of regaining my balance. But I do not complain. My imagination is constantly in use when it comes to the Young King, his mesnie and their marvellous exploits on the tourney ground. No wonder Hal was so popular in his lifetime.
But I feel sorry for him too. Perhaps I’m too empathic but it’s due to the fact that I find him my alter ego in many respects. His ambitions and his dreams never fullfilled, and such a young life lost… I won’t dwell on the subject any more. I can’t help Hal is my favourite. But I do intend to find out more about Geoffrey. His story seems to be equally intriguing.
‘Medieval Peter Pan’- the best thing I’ve heard recently!
(Last time I came across ‘Peter Pan’ comparison it has been applied to Rupert Brooke and the way he has been depicted in Jill Dawson’s novel The Great Lover. It has nothing to do with Middle Ages but, nevertheless, it’s still worth reading)
I was on our JCC Book Festival selection committee this year — and The Dovekeepers was one of the selections. Unfortunately, it was someone else (not I) who read it for review. It was chosen to be the Book Club Brunch selection and Alice Hoffman will be the featured speaker. I wasn’t sure about attending because the brunch is a bit pricey (though it does include the book) — but your post has changed my mind! (You would think that volunteers on the committee would get a discount given how much time we put into reading books, writing reviews, and working the book fair — you would be wrong. Oh, well.)
I certainly think you deserve a discount, Deb! I’d love to hear about the luncheon if you do go.
I have been asked to post by a friend on behalf of a German Shepherd named Bear, a licensed therapy dog, age 11, in dire need of a new home since his own just died. His photo is on my Facebook page; he is a very handsome boy. And as a therapy dog, he’ll be as well trained as Rin Tin Tin. He needs to be an only child, though; he loves people, but is not that keen on other dogs, at least not in his home. He is in Redbank, New Jersey, and the contact information is below. If you know anyone who might be interested, it would be wonderful if you got the word out about his plight.
——————————————————————————-
Please cross-post to your trusted sources!! This boy is a licensed therapy dog. (See his mommy’s obit, below.) Someone can surely help him feel loved and needed again.
Contact Angelina at 732-299-9178 OR time2walkthedog@aol.com
CONTACT IS : Angelina 732-299-9178 OR time2walkthedog@aol.com
PB GERMAN SHEPHERD – NEEDS TO BE ONLY DOG – LOVES TO PLAY – CERTIFIED THERAPY DOG!
OCT 15, 2011
This poor dog named Bear’s adoption FELL THROUGH…landlord would not approve!
Just found this out today!
We need to repost for BEAR!!!
PLEASE CROSS POST Precious Time Was Lost!
ORIGINAL POSTING For Bear…
REDBANK, NJ
OCT 6, 2011
Senior Shepherd “BEAR” ( 11 Years Old)
BEAR’s MOM is GONE NOW…She Wanted NOTHING More to KNOW then He’d Be Safe…Sadly, He is Not!!
CONTACT IS : Angelina 732-299-9178 OR time2walkthedog@aol.com
Trudie Poole, Bear’s Mom’s Tribute is Below…
“Today Bear’s Mom passed away. Bear is currently being boarded at a vet hospital until I find him a good home. His Mom’s wish was to make it home to see her Bear one last time but unfortunately she wasn’t able to.
Bear is a wonderful, 11 year old dog that loves people but not other animals. If anyone would like further information about Bear please contact me on my
cell phone at any time.”
732-299-9178
time2walkthedog@aol.comBear
Thank you for your kindness and help.
On Behalf of Bear, Angelina
UPDATE:
OCT 2
From Angela:
“I visited Bear at the hospital.
He was so excited to see us. We sat with him in a private room and the hospital was very kind to let me do so.
Still no home but a women emailed me today and offered 100 dollars to his new home and I will also have his food shipped to him the 1st 3 months. I’m still hoping someone will give him a good home. It just broke my heart leaving him yesterday. I think he thought I was driving him home.”
732-299-9178
time2walkthedog@aol.comBear
And today, Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV of Toulouse, began the Siege of Antioch, Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (Matilda Plantagenet’s and Henry the Lion’s son) was crowned by the Pope, George, Duke of Clarence (brother to Edward IV and Richard III) was born, Robert Beaumont, Earl of Leicester (whose estates and title were partly inherited by Simon de Montfort) died, and Alix of Thouars, Duchess of Brittany (Constance’s daughter with Guy of Thouars) died.
@cindyash–“I remember reading a book about Masada in HS (early 70s); some of the scenes in that book are still vivid in my memory. I heard about this new one and was on the fence – Did I want another story about the horror of that place?” Me too. I think I read the same book. At least the one I’m thinking of is “Masada” by Yigael Yadin, and this is about the archeological finds. If I remember correctly, there was evidence of a mass suicide in the remains.
I still have my copy and the dust jacket shows an aerial view of the site, and it is reminiscent of Tuzicoot, a Sinagua peublo about 30 miles east of Sedona, AZ.
The Dovekeepers sounds fantastic and I have added it to my list. Another book about anti Semitism – in a much more recent age – is The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn – the best book I have ever read about the Holocaust. Truly wonderful.
Today, William IX ‘the Troubadour’ of Aquitaine, Eleanor’s infamous grandfather was born. And although unconnected, the great Charles ‘the Hammer’ Martel died.
Koby, I wouldn’t call William the Troubadour infamous. On the contrary, his independent and bellicose spirit, his poetic flair and personal charm appeals to many of us today. And I am grateful to him for Elaeanor, just the way she was. Without such a colourful grandfather she might have been another meek queen consort ignored by historians and forgotten by the future generations. And what about troubadours? And the whole course of western poetry? You have to agree that we owe much to him.
But, still, I would like to thank you for the information. Without your note I wouldn’t be aware of the anniversary.
Joan, are you in Sedona? One of my favorite places in the world. And yes, there is much of that area of our state that reminds me of the Masada region.
I read the Yadin book, but the book I am thinking of was a novel, and had a young girl as the narrator. She was at the scene of Masada, who managed to survive (with two other children). The scene that I vividly remember is when she is telling her tale to Josephus, the Roman historian. She was so strong against the insinuations of that man in the book, and that scene was so powerful, that when I think of Masada, I often think of that.
Ah. Well, I called him infamous because I tend to think he was mostly remembered for hi scandalous behavior, such as Dangereuse, and the irreverent poems he wrote. I did not mean to say he was bad man; simply that I think he was famous fore his scandals and blasphemies rather more than his actual poetry. But I too enjoy and respect his poetry and charm.
Koby, I know what you mean. Calling him infamous you’ve meant he was actually very famous but mostly due to his amorous exploits and relations with the Church.
I have to agree with you that his poetry cannot be compared to the work of Bernard de Ventadour and later troubadours. It seems that he was more interested in physical rather than platonic. As Marion Meade puts it:
‘The duke was a down-to-earth man whose passionate pursuit of a lady ended happily with ‘my hands beneath her cloak’.
But his poems are important due to his new approach to woman and her freedom of choice. A man could not demand a woman’s love, she must freely decide whether to endow him with it or not.
Indeed, Kate, I cannot agree with you more. And William certainly seems to have let his women have freedom of choice, though the same cannot be said for all others who were, well, ‘inconvenienced’ by his dalliances, including spurned husbands and his own wives. Still, I smile every time I think of his daring and charm with Dangereuse. I really wish someone would write of it…
Let us hope that Sharon will read the exchange of our ideas and seriously consider writing a new book. I’m thinking about the title…
Cindy, I was in Sedona a couple of years ago when I attended an annual general meeting of the Richard III Society that had been held in Las Vegas. After the meeting, Ed and I rented a car and toured some of the national parks such as Bryce Canyon and Sedona was the last stop before returning to Vegas and flying home to Connecticut.
My friend Owen sent me this, and I have to share it with you all. I don’t think anyone can read it without smiling. So without further ado, I give you No Left Turns.
This is a story of an aging couple
Told by their son, who was
President of NBC NEWS.
This is a wonderful piece by Michael Gartner, editor of newspapers large and small and president of NBC News. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. It is well worth reading, and a few good chuckles are guaranteed. Here goes…
My father never drove a car. Well, that’s not quite right. I should say I never saw him drive a car.
He quit driving in 1927, when he was 25 years old, and the last car he drove was a 1926 Whippet.
“In those days,” he told me when he was in his 90s, “to drive a car you had to do things with your hands, and do things with your feet, and look every which way, and I decided you could walk through life and enjoy it or drive through life and miss it.”
At which point my mother, a sometimes salty Irishwoman, chimed in:
“Oh, baloney!” she said. “He hit a horse.”
“Well,” my father said, “there was that, too.”
So my brother and I grew up in a household without a car. The neighbors all had cars — the Kollingses next door had a green 1941 Dodge, the VanLaninghams across the street a gray 1936 Plymouth, the Hopsons two doors down a black 1941 Ford — but we had none.
My father, a newspaperman in Des Moines , would take the streetcar to work and, often as not, walk the 3 miles home. If he took the streetcar home, my mother and brother and I would walk the three blocks to the streetcar stop, meet him and walk home together.
My brother, David, was born in 1935, and I was born in 1938, and sometimes, at dinner, we’d ask how come all the neighbors had cars but we had none. “No one in the family drives,” my mother would explain, and that was that.
But, sometimes, my father would say, “But as soon as one of you boys turns 16, we’ll get one.” It was as if he wasn’t sure which one of us would turn 16 first.
But, sure enough , my brother turned 16 before I did, so in 1951 my parents bought a used 1950 Chevrolet from a friend who ran the parts department at a Chevy dealership downtown..
It was a four-door, white model, stick shift, fender skirts, loaded with everything, and, since my parents didn’t drive, it more or less became my brother’s car.
Having a car but not being able to drive didn’t bother my father, but it didn’t make sense to my mother..
So in 1952, when she was 43 years old, she asked a friend to teach her to drive. She learned in a nearby cemetery, the place where I learned to drive the following year and where, a generation later, I took my two sons to practice driving. The cemetery probably was my father’s idea. “Who can your mother hurt in the cemetery?” I remember him saying more than once.
For the next 45 years or so, until she was 90, my mother was the driver in the family. Neither she nor my father had any sense of direction, but he loaded up on maps — though they seldom left the city limits — and appointed himself navigator. It seemed to work.
Still, they both continued to walk a lot. My mother was a devout Catholic, and my father an equally devout agnostic, an arrangement that didn’t seem to bother either of them through their 75 years of marriage.
(Yes, 75 years, and they were deeply in love the entire time.)
He retired when he was 70, and nearly every morning for the next 20 years or so, he would walk with her the mile to St. Augustin’s Church.
She would walk down and sit in the front pew, and he would wait in the back until he saw which of the parish’s two priests was on duty that morning. If it was the pastor, my father then would go out and take a 2-mile walk, meeting my mother at the end of the service and walking her home.
If it was the assistant pastor, he’d take just a 1-mile walk and then head back to the church. He called the priests “Father Fast” and “Father Slow.”
After he retired, my father almost always accompanied my mother whenever she drove anywhere, even if he had no reason to go along. If she were going to the beauty parlor, he’d sit in the car and read, or go take a stroll or, if it was summer, have her keep the engine running so he could listen to the Cubs game on the radio. In the evening, then, when I’d stop by, he’d explain: “The Cubs lost again. The millionaire on second base made a bad throw to the millionaire on first base, so the multimillionaire on third base scored.”
If she were going to the grocery store, he would go along to carry the bags out — and to make sure she loaded up on ice cream. As I said, he was always the navigator, and once, when he was 95 and she was 88 and still driving, he said to me, “Do you want to know the secret of a long life?”
“I guess so,” I said, knowing it probably would be something bizarre.
“No left turns,” he said.
“What?” I asked.
“No left turns,” he repeated. “Several years ago, your mother and I read an article that said most accidents that old people are in happen when they turn left in front of oncoming traffic.
As you get older, your eyesight worsens, and you can lose your depth perception, it said. So your mother and I decided never again to make a left turn.”
“What?” I said again.
“No left turns,” he said. “Think about it.. Three rights are the same as a left, and that’s a lot safer. So we always make three rights..”
“You’re kidding!” I said, and I turned to my mother for support.
“No,” she said, “your father is right. We make three rights. It works.”
But then she added: “Except when your father loses count.”
I was driving at the time, and I almost drove off the road as I started laughing.
“Loses count?” I asked.
“Yes,” my father admitted, “that sometimes happens. But it’s not a problem. You just make seven rights, and you’re okay again.”
I couldn’t resist. “Do you ever go for 11?” I asked.
“No,” he said ” If we miss it at seven, we just come home and call it a bad day. Besides, nothing in life is so important it can’t be put off another day or another week.”
My mother was never in an accident, but one evening she handed me her car keys and said she had decided to quit driving. That was in 1999, when she was 90.
She lived four more years, until 2003. My father died the next year, at 102.
They both died in the bungalow they had moved into in 1937 and bought a few years later for $3,000. (Sixty years later, my brother and I paid $8,000 to have a shower put in the tiny bathroom — the house had never had one. My father would have died then and there if he knew the shower cost nearly three times what he paid for the house.)
He continued to walk daily — he had me get him a treadmill when he was 101 because he was afraid he’d fall on the icy sidewalks but wanted to keep exercising — and he was of sound mind and sound body until the moment he died.
One September afternoon in 2004, he and my son went with me when I had to give a talk in a neighboring town, and it was clear to all three of us that he was wearing out, though we had the usual wide-ranging conversation about politics and newspapers and things in the news.
A few weeks earlier, he had told my son, “You know, Mike, the first hundred years are a lot easier than the second hundred.” At one point in our drive that Saturday, he said, “You know, I’m probably not going to live much longer.”
“You’re probably right,” I said.
“Why would you say that?” He countered, somewhat irritated.
“Because you’re 102 years old,” I said..
“Yes,” he said, “you’re right.” He stayed in bed all the next day.
That night, I suggested to my son and daughter that we sit up with him through the night.
He appreciated it, he said, though at one point, apparently seeing us look gloomy, he said:
“I would like to make an announcement. No one in this room is dead yet”
An hour or so later, he spoke his last words:
“I want you to know,” he said, clearly and lucidly, “that I am in no pain. I am very comfortable. And I have had as happy a life as anyone on this earth could ever have.”
A short time later, he died.
I miss him a lot, and I think about him a lot. I’ve wondered now and then how it was that my family and I were so lucky that he lived so long..
I can’t figure out if it was because he walked through life,
Or because he quit taking left turns. ”
Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
So love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the one’s who don’t.
Believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance,take it & if it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it.”
ENJOY LIFE NOW – IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!
And today, William Clito, son of Robert Curthose was born. Stephen of Blois, King of England died. So did Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, who was an important noble and married to Isabella Marshal. And of course, the Battle of Agincourt took place, where among the deaths were Charles d’Albret, Count of Dreux and Constable of France, John I of Alençon, Antoine, Duke of Brabant, Frederick of Lorraine, Philip II, Count of Nevers, Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk, and Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York.
I love the “No Left Turns” story. My husband sent it to me some time back. Mr. Gartner’s parents are our role (roll?) models for aging gracefully (we’re in our forties), although in our case my husband drives and I don’t.
Just wanted to say that I’m doing a grand reread of all of your novels, Sharon, in preparation for Lionheart. The previous Grand Reread was all the books in chronological order; this time I’m doing them in order of publication. I first read Sunne in 1984 when I was sixteen and doing my own Richard Tour of northern England. The history was very fresh in my mind, and I was (still am) a Yorkist partisan, so reading the book as a teenager was something like attending a passionate sports event. Now, I find I’ve forgotten much of the history, so events come as more of a surprise to me, and I’m reading on a deeper level. I find I understand the character motivations much differently as an adult. Johnny Neville’s tragedy, in particular, breaks my heart.
As always, thank you so much, Sharon, for sharing your passions and gift with us. It’s been a pure pleasure.
Today, Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, who married Joanna Plantagenet was born, and so was Catherine of Valois, who married Henry V [VI] of England, and was mother to Henry VI [VII].
Thanks, Koby, for reminding me about Raymond’s birthday. I am totally dependent upon you to prod my flagging memory!
Here is today’s Facebook Note.
The UK is changing its law that gives preference to royal sons over daughters. So if William and Kate’s first child is a girl, she will be a queen one day, and I’d say the odds are good that she’d be Elizabeth III. Somewhere the Empress Maude must be smiling. They are also scraping the law that prohibits a British monarch from wedding a Catholic. Somewhere Charles II must be smiling, too. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45073553/ns/world_news-europe/#.TqqbGJsr2so
PS I had second thoughts about Queen Elizabeth III. Maybe the first Queen Diana?
The (odeesa-file) is a good cry!..the Book!Lionhart was Good Sharon, thank-you! I half Expected Justin de Quincy!, rushing into a castle! too give Richard a Message from his Mum?? (Joke)……Those Horse;s Were Good Eh?(Arabian Stalions Etc??I thought they just Had Camels in the Deserts. (:Why change, Laws ?…….Tha;ly be Canging The Declaration of Independance Next).
I’m thinking a Queen Mary is in the making. Or another Victoria…
Brenna, I think Victoria is a good guess. Readers on my Facebook page seem to think they might go with Diana for a second name, but not for the first name. The royals always have names to spare.
I agree with you about the horses, James. I thought it was nice that a 12th century Cypriot stallion earned himself some immortality because Richard and the chroniclers were so smitten with him. He must have been a beauty, as as fast as Secretariat.
You’ve all been so careful about avoiding spoilers for Lionheart–thank you! So I figure the least I can do is show my readers what Joanna’s cirnecos or Sicilian hounds looked like. http://www.google.com/search?q=cirneco+dell%27etna&hl=en&biw=1152&bih=773&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=7QyrTpHpOubq0gGoxeCfDw&sqi=2&ved=0CCUQsAQ
We’ve been discussing this unusual dog on my Facebook page and several people suggested they resemble pharaoh hounds. Then a friend sent me this, so I am sharing it, too.
Cirneco dell’Etna
Pharaoh hound
A number of other breeds that are similar to the Pharaoh Hound exist in different regions of the Mediterranean. One is the Cirneco dell’Etna from neighbouring Sicily, which is very similar in structure and appearance, but somewhat smaller (43–51 cm/17-20in). Other similar breeds include the Ibizan Hound, Podenco Canario, Podengo Português and other local breeds from the Mediterranean—each breed is slightly different with physical characteristics that match the terrain the dogs hunt on. It is not clear whether those breeds have descended from the same ancestral lines, or whether their similarities have developed due to similar environmental conditions
Here is an excellent review of the new film Anonymous, which claims Shakespeare was not whom we think, written by an eloquent and irate Shakespeare scholar. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/wouldnt-it-be-cool-if-shakespeare-wasnt-shakespeare.html?_r=2 He makes some very interesting points about history vs entertainment and the dangerous influence of films like this. Want to bet there are a fair number of people who think William Wallace is Edward III’s father?
Very good article, Sharon. It is sad, but having worked in television marketing for a non-profit, I know that media gears everything they show for a 12 year old mentality. Alot of people accept this sort of thing because they simply aren’t well read enough to discover the truth. As a lover of Shakespeare, I think it is really far fetched. He makes a good point comparing the Da Vinci Code.
If I were to choose who possibly wrote under Shakespeare’s name I would be torn between Christopher Marlowe and …. Aemelia Lanier. Of course, it is safe to be so sure and convinced that Shakespeare actually is the author of his works but, on the other hand, it’s so exciting to dwell on different possibilities.
A.D.Wraight’s new evidence and her research on Marlowe seems quite convincing.Still, we will never know for sure.
And despite the historical inacurracy I would love to see the film. I will probably take it as a sheer fantasy but it’s quite promising (costumes, actors, settings, light, textures, colours, etc). And film on Shakespeare- such a rarity.
Today, Henry VI [VII] returned to throne for his second period of kingship, this one lasting less than a year, and Henry VII [VIII] was crowned.
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Books that have lingered with me long after I’ve read them:
A Thousand Splendid Suns (agreed)
The Bronze Horseman (all those mental images of Russian forests)
The Tea Rose (but I was living in East London at the time)
and of course
Sunne in Splendour (read it when I was 16 and it made me study history)
and Here Be Dragons (lead me to Chester, and the beauty of North Wales and to Fontevraux Abbey to pay my respects to Eleanor)
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