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Don’t judge a book by its cover, nor a movie by its initial reception. It’s A Wonderful Life was initially a flop. It came out in 1946 just after WWII ended and unlike Frank Capra’s earlier films, for which he won 3 Oscars, it was not a success originally. However in later years people, including film critics took another look and it skyrocketed in approval and became one of those films you watch every year, usually at Christmas time.

Why? I think part of the reason might be that touching on the Depression-era struggles was too soon. After all, it was released less than two decades after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and after coming out of the Depression in part by WWII buildup maybe people didn’t want to be reminded of those dark days. Movie watchers often just want an escape when they go to the theatre, not a reminder of the dark.

But the movie had timeless themes of family, sacrificing for others, and the importance of even one solitary soul. We often do not realize the importance of our presence and actions. Every one of us can make a difference in other’s lives often just by being there. Little things can be turning points that send someone in a better direction, or stop them from making big mistakes.

Of course, having Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in the lead roles was great casting. There have been discussions about how much of Jimmy’s acting was not just lines on a page. He had gone through traumatic experiences in his military service and in some ways mirrored the feelings of George Bailey. His experience with acting in the film helped in his recovery.

This is the anniversary of the death of the director of the film – Frank Capra. It is good to remember that time can bring changes to our initial reactions to books, movies, and people. I can think of several artists that I have come to admire after they were gone more than when they were alive. Time has been good to Frank Capra and “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

Yes, on this day we reflect on the passing of a legend – J.R.R Tolkien – the author of The Hobbit – and what was originally intended to be its sequel – The Lord of the Rings. He also authored many other books about Middle Earth, his own creation, like the daunting Silmariion (I have made a third of the way through). He came up with Elvish and told of Dwarves and Orcs and Men and Elves, and Hobbits of course.

I think he might have liked this day being National Blueberry Popsicle Day, though they might have made it something else in Britain. After all he came up with the concept of Second Breakfast, and lembas (crumbs on his jacket1). You never saw rings the same way after reading his work. He loved nature and hated war, having been a participant in WWI.

His opus was completed just a short time before I was born in the mid-50’s What he would say about today’s world I can’t imagine. He died when I was almost in my senior year of high school, and I remember the chaos and the relative primitiveness least for computers- of those days.

He had a way with words and bringing life to a land nobody ever knew. I remember the trepidation everyone felt about the effort at the turn of this century to convert his words to images and motion. I think he would have been pleased with Peter Jackson’s work and the cast he gathered to make it so.

He was a legend and an inspiration to many. I particularly embrace the vision and works of a local Seattleite – Terry Brooks – with his world of Shannara. Nobody can duplicate a master, only reflect the genius and invite us to share his imagination. Steven Donaldson, in a darker realm, also was a world creator inspired by Tolkien.

And he brought a lot of us together to enjoy his vision and stories. We do that, to a lesser degree, even now. And we share a lot of great memories – and quotes, of course.

Thank you, Professor, for inspiring us. We will never be the same.

Most people know that today, September 1^st, is the anniversary of the start of WWII. Nazi Germany invaded Poland and England and France declared war on Germany because of a commitment they made to defend Poland. But most people would not know there were multiple “start of the war” dates. For some, it was long before. In the Far East war had been going on for years. Just ask the Koreans. Japan invaded Korea in 1910 and occupied it until the end of WWII. Ask the Chinese. Japan invaded the Chinese Manchurian province in 1931 seeking raw materials since Japan is resource-poor and dependent on imports.

Ask the Czechs. The Sudetenland was annexed by Germany in 1938. Ask the Austrians. The Anschluss by which Austria was taken over by Germany also happened in 1938. The argument was that the population of these areas was largely ethnic German and so Germany was just expanding the area of Germanic people.  But still, it was war in other terms and arrangements.

And ask the Ethiopians. Italy came under the control of an original Fascist – Mussolini – in 1924. In 1935 Italy occupied Ethiopia, the last country in Africa to be colonized, operating from their base in Eritrea, a long-time Italian colony. The emperor, Haile Selassie, was forced to flee and appealed to the League of Nations for help. But the League was a failed international organization and thus war came to the nation.

And then there were those for whom the war started later like the US. President FDR tried to help -there were deals with England where US pilots aided the English RAF in fighting off German bomber attacks. There was the Lend-Lease deal where China and the Soviet Union received military equipment. But there were strong isolationist voices in the US, including America First’rs like Charles Lindbergh who opposed US entry into the war. Lindbergh admired the German air force capability and was sympathetic to their cause, much like the abdicated Duke and Duchess of Windsor in exile from Great Britain.

So the US remained neutral during the early years, even with the fall of Paris in June 1940. We only got into the war because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. And only entered the European phase of the war because Germany declared war on us when we declared war on Japan, their ally. We really should not fault the French for sometimes being upset with US not just because of our standing by while France was occupied but also because it was still two and a half years after Pearl Harbor (Dec 1941- June 1944) before in D-Day and the liberation of France was begun.

The Soviet Union’s entry into WWII was also delayed -it began in the summer of 1941. They had negotiated a treaty – the Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, whereby both nations agreed to not attack the other. As part of this, they divided Poland between themselves, so the Soviets were fighting earlier but not against the Nazis. Hitler got greedy and thus invaded the Soviet Union, repeating Napoleon’s error in 1812 and so in June 1941 WWII came to the Russians.

Three major nations remained neutral in the war – hard to imagine you could remain neutral? Sweden has had its share of wars over the centuries but chose to remain neutral this time. This was an aid to refugees and escapees from Nazi atrocities and kept Sweden from the occupation its neighbor Norway endured. Switzerland maintained neutrality and performed some of the same assistance that Sweden did, yet it was also complicit in providing financial aid to Germany and hiding stolen Jewish assets. And Spain was neutral in WWII. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco had received support from Nazi Germany in the Spanish Civil War but he chose to remain nominally neutral and yet allowed Axis ships to use Spanish ports. So, for these nations they had no WWII start date.

History is complex and not cut and dried as many people might think. It is interesting to note the dates, like today, but it is important to understand the context. War involves flesh and blood people who are affected by the events. For me this is personal. My grandfather was in the military- Coast Artillery on the Pacific Coast -during WWII, so far from the conflicts but probably aware of the fears of Japanese invasion. He had served with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during WWI, so he had faced his share of hostilities. My dad was classified 4-F because of bad eyesight, so could not serve and had to suffer the accusations that were spewed at all able-bodied non-enlistees of that era. My uncle Phil was a casualty of the war – though far from the battlefield training pilots to fly.

Many were born and many more died on this date in history, but largely we remember few of their names. And that’s how it was 84 years ago today.

In 1565 Pedro Menedez de Aviles – sighted land near St Augustine, FL and founded the oldest continuously occupied European city in the continental US1845 first issue of Scientific American magazine was published. In 1898 Caleb Bradham’s beverage “Brad’s Drink” was renamed Pepsi-Cola. In 1917 ten suffragists, members of the Silent Sentinels, were arrested while picketing the White House. And in 1963 in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Martin Luther King Jr gave his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I remember standing on that spot years ago and feeling the weight of history.

Notables who were born on this date include German novelist, poet, playwright and diplomat Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749), former Mariners manager Lou Pinella (1943), science fiction writer Vonda N McIntyre (1948) noted for several Star Trek novels and novelizations, LOTR actor Billy Boyd (Pippin 1968), and three US Olympic athletes – swimmer Janet Evans (1971) and skaters Scott Hamilton (1958) and Todd Eldridge (1971).’

Notables that passed on this date include Spanish priest Junipero Sierra (1784)who founded 8 of the 21 missions in California, American journalist and architect Frederick Law Olmstead (1903) who co-designed New York’s Central Park, Civil War historian Bruce Catton (1978), actor, director and screenwriter John Huston (1987) and actor Chadwick Bozeman (2020) known for playing Black Panther in film of the same name, and justice Thurgood Marshall in Marshall.

In 1859 petroleum was discovered in Titusville PA leading to the world’s first commer1883 four enormous explosions almost completely destroy the island of Krakatoa and cause world wide climatic change for yearscially successful oil well. In 1883 four enormous explosions almost completely destroyed the island of Krakatoa and cause world wide climatic change for years. In 1928 61 nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war. Oh, like that did a lot of good.:( In 1955 the first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was published in Great Britain. And in 1956 the nuclear power station at Calder Hall in the UK is connected to the national power grid becoming the world’s first commercial nuclear power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale.

Two US VPs were born on this date: Hannibal Hamlin (1809)who was Abraham Lincoln’s first VP and Charles G Dawes (1865) who served as Coolidge’s VP. There was also a president born this date – Lyndon Johnson (1908) as well as two novelists – American novelist and journalist Theodore Drieser (1871) and British novelist C. S. Forester (1899) author of the 12 volume Horatio Hornblower series.

Those who left us on this date include the Italian painter and educator Titian (1576), the 11th US Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes (1948), American sociologist, historian, and activist W.E.B Du Bois (1963), and Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (1975).

In an early demonstration of the need for the wall of separation of church and state in 1218 Pope Innocent III (ironic name) issued a papal bull ruling the King-and-barons negotiated Magna Carta as invalid. And in 1662 the Book of Common Prayer was legally enforced as the liturgy of the Church of England, forcing many dissidents out. Most likely the 1349 massacre of six thousand Jews in Mainz over ridiculous accusations of being responsible for the bubonic plague had its origins in clerical minds.

This day saw the beginnings of British influence in India, with the first “official representative” of the Crown arriving in Surat in 1608. It saw the end of Spanish influence in Mexico with the signing of the Treaty of Cordoba officially ending the Mexican War of Independence in 1821. And the official arrangement of trans-Atlantic alliances came with the 1949 signing of the NATO treaty. Meanwhile during the War of 1812 British troops invaded Washington DC and burned the White House in 1814 and Ukraine declared their independence (which they are still fighting for) from the Soviet Union in 1991. Oh, and on this date in 2006 Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomers Union, due to the revision of the definition of “planet”.

Notable figures born on this date include English philosopher, politician, and reformer William Wilberforce (1758)- responsible for the outlawing of slavery in the British Empire, American historian and activist Howard Zinn (1922), R2D2 – that is, Kenny Baker (1934), Classical Gas composer Mason Williams (1938), and triple amputee veteran and former Georgia Senator Max Cleland (1942), It’s also birthdate for movie stars Marlee Maitland (1965 Children of a Lesser God), and Rupert Grint (1988 Harry Potter friend Ron Weasley).

We bid farewell to actor E G Marshall (1998), psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (2004) who taught us all the stages of grief, and long-time British actor, director, producer, and politician Richard Attenborough (2014).

It is Independence Day in Ukraine and Nostalgia Night in Uruguay

It is interesting how an examination of history can bring insights. On this date in 1968 the Prague Spring reforms in Czechoslovakia were crushed an invasion of the nation by Warsaw Pact armies. It was one of the notable reform movements in Eastern Europe which was a preview of the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989/1991, along with the 1956 Hungarian uprising and the success of Poland’s Solidarity movement. But I find it interesting that the Czechs were a significant part of the Russian Civil War and the earlier resistance to Bolshevik rule. The Czech Legion was formed to continue assistance to the Allies after the withdrawal of Russian forces from the war after the Russian Revolution. They continued to fight, partly to get out of the Russian Empire and partly because they found a common cause with the White Russian forces fighting the Bolsheviks. Their efforts ultimately failed but many made it home, only the be absorbed by the Soviets following WWII. I wonder how many in the Prague Spring remembered those revolutionary days.

In other news of the day, Russian composer Tchaikovsky’s often-performed 1812 Overture, commemorating the Russian victory over the invading forces of Napoleon Bonaparte, was performed for the first time in 1882 in Moscow. And exiled Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky was fatally wounded in an assassination in Mexico City in 1940, to die the following day. And in 1866 President Andrew Johnson formally declared the American Civil War ended.

In 1778 the Chilean liberator Bernardo O’Higgins was born. Our 23rd US President and former Union general Benjamin Harrison was born in 1833. Others who shared this date as their birthday include German-American philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich (1886), American horror story author H.P.Lovecrarft (1890), singer-songwriter, pianist, composer, and actor Isaac Hayes (1942), English painter and illustrator (known for his Lord of the Rings work) Alan Lee (1947), and Robert Plant (1948) English singer-songwriter, lead singer and lyricist for the band Led Zepplin.

Those who left us on this date include the co-founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth (1912), Oakland Raider Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw (2008), comedienne Phyllis Diller (2012), and slapstick comedian and Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser Jerry Lewis (2017).

One of the traditions for me growing up was going to our neighbor’s house up the street to watch the annual showing of The Wizard of Oz. We (all the neighborhood kids) went there because they were the only house on the street to have a color TV (early 60s). On this date back in 1939 the movie had its premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in LA. Two other musical events and one technological event also occurred on this date. In 1965 the Beatles performed in front of 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, and four years later – in 1969 – the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in rural upstate New York. The estimated attendance over the four-day festival was 500,000. And in 1998 Apple introduced the iMac.

Two world events occurred on this day. After 190 years of East India Company and British crown rule the nation of India (with a current population of over 1 billion people) gained its independence in 1947. And the first republic of Korea (South Korea) was established in 1948.

Quite a number of notable individuals claim or claimed this date as their birthday. French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica in 1769. English author Sir Walter Scott was born in the British Isles in 1771. 31st First Lady Florence Harding was born in the States in 1860. Chef and part-time spy Julia Child was born in 1912. And future former US Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer was born in 1938. This birthdate was also shared by composer Jimmy Webb (1946), British royal lady Princess Anne (sister to current King Charles III -1950), philanthropist and ex-wife of Microsoft founder Bill, Melinda Gates (1964), and Hunger Games actress Jennifer Lawrence.

The combo of part-Native American social commentator Will Rogers, and pilot Wiley Post both left us in 1935 in a plane crash over Alaska. And civil rights activist and politician Julian Bond exited the world stage in 2015.

In 1859 the American Dental Association was founded in Niagara Falls NY. One can wonder what kind of techniques they employed back then and how much the sound of falling water distracted patients from the pain. Germany declared war on France in 1914 and WWI was full on for real. In 1958 the USS Nautilus became the first submarine to complete a submerged circumnavigation of the geographical North Pole. In 1972 the world got a little bit safer as the US Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missle Treaty. And in 2004 the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was reopened to the public after the attacks of 9-11.

The man who helped us go up and down in buildings – Elisha Otis – who founded the Otis Elevator Company, was born in 1813. One of the authors who took our minds far far away in space, Clifford D Simak, was born in 1904. Leon Uris, who wrote about Ireland in Trinity and Israel in Exodus, joined the Earth’s population in 1924. This was also the birthdate of the recently passed singer Tony Bennett (1926), Angolan general Joseph Savimba (1934), and actor, director, producer, and screenwriter John Landis (1950).

Two notable writers ceased penning their works on this date – Polish-born British author Joseph Conrad (1924) whose Heart of Darkness inspired the Vietnam War era film Apocalypse Now, and Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (2008) who opened our eyes to the Soviet prison system in the Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

In 762 AD the city of Baghdad was founded. Almost a millennium later and half a world away the city of Baltimore Maryland was founded. In 1945 the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese sub while heading for the Philippines after having just left the island of Tinian where it had delivered the uranium and other materials for Little Boy, the 2nd atomic bomb that was subsequently dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th.

In 1956 a joint Congressional resolution was signed by President Eisenhower to change the US national motto to “In God We Trust” from the previous “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many one). And in 1965 President LBJ signed the Social Security Act of 1965, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

Some notable birthday babies for this date include English novelist and poet Emily Bronte (1818), American automaker Henry Ford (1863), chef and producer Alton Brown (1962), American director, producer, and screenwriter Christopher Nolan (1970) responsible for the current hit Oppenheimer, and actress Hilary Swank (1974).

Those who left us on this date include Pennsylvania founder William Penn (1718), father of Mexican independence Miguel Hidalgo y Castilla (1811), leader of the failed last charge at Gettysburg, General George Pickett (1845), the Iron Chancellor – 1st Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck (1898), and the incomparable Nichelle Nichols (2022) Uhura of Star Trek.