Some of my grandmother’s possessions arrived here the other day. They have been in storage a long, long time and, at last, my brother and sister decided (no surprise this) that I, as an historian, should store these things until they (or my sister’s 2 children) should be ready to take on the task of …
Author’s program note. I knew I would go to Harvard Commencement this year after I read a disconcerting article in The Boston Globe some months ago. It cited the opposition of certain alumni to having Miss Oprah Winfrey as this year’s principal speaker and honorary degree recipient, Harvard’s chief honor. Their argument went something like …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant. Author’s program note. I confess to a naughty obsession. Its name is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Father forgive me, but he’s a truly larger than life phenomenon, talent oozing from every pore. Born March 22, 1948 (thus still — just — on the sunny side of Social Security) he hasn’t space enough …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. 150 years ago, March 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln (born 1809), became 16th president of the United States. And if you do not believe in destiny, fate, or kismet, even you will wonder at the undoubted fact that at the time of its maximum peril, the Great Republic should …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. The American Civil War began April 12, 1861 with the firing of the rebel forces on Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. It officially ended on April 9, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House. In between, 212,938 people …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. I have total recall of this matter. It was1966 and I was about to be a sophomore at alma mater… and my parents were worried… worried that I, their darling, their first-born son, was becoming a wonk… all work, no play, a very dull boy indeed. Sure, I …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. If you’re like me, the first time you heard this bouncy tune, you laughed… then laughed some more. It’s called the “Too fat polka”, with its immediately recognizable opening, “You can have her, I don’t want her, she’s too fat for me.” It came from the mind of …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. This is a story as American as apple pie and hay rides, although its roots go back to Ancient Rome. It’s a story that will remind you of your own youthful days when the livin’ was easy, and you had time enough to waste without a single regret. …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant I am about to open a time capsule. It’s been waiting for me for some years now, and I am, I think, as ready as I shall ever be to look inside — and to be swept away by the strongest and most enduring memories… of mother, deceased, never more alive …
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author’s program note. I first became aware of William McGonagall in 1967 when I was a student at Scotland’s oldest and proudest university, St. Andrews. “You must read McGonagall” people said with a twinkle. “He’s undoubtedly Scotland’s worst poet… indeed, quite possibly the single worst poet who has ever lived.” Every …