End of the Year Review

I did it! I read fewer books this year than last year! I only read 166 books.

According to Goodreads, the most popular book I read--with  539,159 Goodreads readers--was The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I read it for its ten-year anniversary read-along on the Little, Brown Facebook group. I also read Richard Power's The Overstory with the Read It Now Facebook group sponsored by PBS Newshour and the New York Times Book Review.

It is always exciting when a publisher or author likes my reviews and quotes them in media. I discovered on Indiebound a quote from my review of The Peacock Feast by Lisa Gornick and I received comments from Nicholas Meyer about my review on The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols and from Julie Langsdorf on her novel White Elephant.

NetGalley publishers starred eight of my book reviews including The Vexations by Caitlin Horrocks--who I later discovered had been my son's writing professor!

Books about writers, fiction and nonfiction, always catch my interest. I read biographical fiction novels:
Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts: Mrs. Frank L. Baum and the making of the Wizard of Oz movie
Paris 7 A.M. by Lisa Weiland: poet Elizabeth Bishop's missing weeks in Paris
Love That Moves the Sun by Linda Cardillo: the friendship between Michelangelo and the poetess Vittoria Colonna
The Secrets We Kept by Laura Preston: Boris Pasternak's novel Dr. Zhivago's place in the Cold War and female typists turned spies

Non-fiction books on writers and books including:
Marma and Louisa by Eve LaPlante: Louisa May Alcott's heroic mother
Rilke in Paris: the city's place in the life of Ranier Maria Rilke and the writing of The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge
William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life by Steve Almond: the author discusses his understanding and relationship to John William's novel
Ministry of Truth by Dorian Lynskey: George Orwell's novel 1984 
Mother of the Brontes by Sharon Wright: about the famous sisters' mother
Jane Austen's Inspiration by Judith Cove: Austen's friendship with Anne Lefroy
There's Something About Darcy by Gabrielle Malcolm: the Austen character's impact throughout the arts
The Story of Charlotte's Web by Michael Sims: E. B. White's inspiration and creation of the childhood classic
These Fevered Days by Martha Ackman: Emily Dickinson's life and works through pivotal moments
Cold Warriors by Duncan Wright: how literature was a weapon during the Cold War
Irving Berlin by James Kaplan: about the iconic Jewish songwriter

Literary Fiction I read includes:
A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler; class, race, and values war "can't happen here" happens there
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins: the horrendous story behind one refugee family
Eden Mine S. M. Hulse: the roots of violence and the moral decisions we make
The Dutch House by Ann Pratchett: siblings stuck in the past
Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson: when utopia doesn't work out
Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken: a family+a bowling alley=hilarity
The Night of Memory by Linda LeGarde Grover: Ojibwe sisters disappear into foster care until sought out by family
The Parade by Dave Egger: a parable about war and fake peace
Imagine That by Mark Fins: child in 1950s struggles with faith and life
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam: passed over for the Nobel, a professor tries new values and lifestyle
The End of the Ocean by Maya Lunde: dystopian future with climate refugees and water shortage
The Overstory by Richard Powers: a multilayered exploration of the importance of trees to our survival
Rodin's Debutante by Just Ward; a coming-of-age novel set in Chicago. I read this when I learned of Ward's passing in December.

Women's fiction read included:
Chronicles of a Radial Hag by Lorna Landvik: a woman's legacy in a small town
The Words Between Us by Erin Bartles: books, forgiveness, and romance
Things You Save in the Fire by Katherine Center: female firefighter copes with dying mom and sexism in the workplace
Every Note Played by Lisa Genova: ex-wife cares for concert pianist with ALS
Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid: a reimagining of Austen's classic
By the Book by Julia Sonneborn: Persuasion update about second chances
Unforgettable by Soniah Kamal: Pride and Prejudice update set in Pakistan
The Other Bennett Sister by Janice Hadlow, an imagining of Mary Bennett's story

Thrillers and suspense:
The Holdout by Graham Moore: jurists from a headline trial reconvene and one is murdered
Shadow of the Lions by Christopher Swann: man returns to teach at his boarding school and hopes to solve a mystery
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim: trial hopes to determine responsibility for deaths but secrets abound
The Long Call by Anne Cleeves: detective solves a murder mystery in the community that has shunned him
The Dinner by Herman Koch: masterful plotting about a disturbing crime

YA books:
The Patron Saints of Nobody by Randy Ribay: teenager travels to the Philippines to unravel the mystery of his cousin's death
The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen: teenage girl caught in the class division of resort town

Nonfiction:
Father of Lions by Louise Callaghan: Mosul citizens caught in the war try to survive--and protect zoo animals
The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt: the women behind Disney
Joe Biden by Jules Witcover: Joe Biden's life and career
Rachel Maddow by Lisa Rogak: first biography of Maddow
Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy: the riveting story of the Greeley expedition to the Arctic
The Winter Army by Maurice Isserman: the 10th Mountain Division in WWII
Falter by Bill McKibben: climate change and humanity's future
Broke by Jodie Adams Kirshner: dysfunctional governance causes housing crisis
Blowout by Rachel Maddow: oil and gas and Putin and politics
We Are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer: changing our lifestyle can slow climate change
Archeology from Space by Sarah Parcak: cutting edge technology reveals our place in the world
American is Immigrants by Sara Novic: foreign-born Americans contributions
Threads of Life by Claire Hunter: women and needlework in history and society
Whose Water is it, Anyway by Maude Barlow: communal vs. corporate control of water resources
Songs of America by Jon Meachem and Tim McGraw: history through music
Grace Will Lead Us Home by Jennifer Berry Hawes: victims of church shooting embody forgiveness
Fault Lines by Kevin Kruse: the 1970s roots of a divided America
The Chronicle of Shipwrecked Books by Edward Wilson-Lee: Columbus's son creates largest collection of books
The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story by Aaron Bobrow-Strain: the true story of an immigrant illustrates the consequences of American policy
The Forgotten Hero: Folke Bernadotte, the Swedish Humanitarian Who Rescued 30,000 People from the Nazis by Shelley Emling: Neutrality allows man to manipulate Nazis and rescue Ravensbruck women
Upheaval by Jared Diamond applies psychology to understand nations
Morality and the Environmental Crisis by Roger S. Gottlieb: systematic consideration of human choices and our impact on the environment
The Last Whalers by Doug Bok Clark chronicles a vanishing culture
Camelot's End: Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight that Broke the Democratic Party by Jon Ward
Thomas Cole's Refrain: The Paintings of Catskill Creek by H. Daniel Peck. Three Sheets to the Wind by Cynthia Barrett: sayings with nautical roots
How to Remove a Brain by David Haviland: stories about the human body

I reviewed three cookbooks!
Amy Cotler's The Secret Garden Cookbook
Wini Moranville's The Little Women Cookbook 
Lincoln in the Kitchen by Katherine Eighmey.
I also read The Anti-Diet Cookbook by Christy Harrison

Memoirs:
Family Records by Patrick Modiano: fictionalized memories of WWII Paris
This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay: British OB/GYN doctor's comic and tragic true stories
Mighty Justice by Dovey Johnson Roundtree: African American lawyer's impressive legacy
Educated by Tara Westover: author escapes horrific childhood
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro: DNA test results drive the search for real father
The Sun is a Compass by Caroline Van Hemert: a 4,000-mile journey across Alaska's wilderness
Legacy by Susan Methot: the lasting legacy of removing Indigenous children from families
The World According to Fannie Davis by Bridgett Davis: the numbers racket gives an African American Detroit family a home and education
Greek to Me by Mary Norris: the author's obsession with all things Greek
A Good American Family by David Maraniss: the author tries to understand why his journalist dad was called before the UnAmerican committee
Maid by Stephanie Land unwed mother's struggles to better herself
A Polar Affair by Lloyd Spencer Davis: author discovers suppressed manuscript detailing sex life of penguins

Historical fiction:
I reread A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: house arrest makes a Former Person the "luckiest man in Moscow"
The Girl in White Gloves by Teri Maher: Grace Kelley's life
The Great Unknown by Peg Kingman: Scientific theories upset Victorian society
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd: eccentric female detective seeks child in Victorian England
Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict: an imagined life of Churchill's wife
The Light After the War by Anita Abriel: WWII refugee Hungarian Jewish women seek a new life
Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain: WPA artist discovers suppressed history in a southern town
Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gapah: David Livingston's remains are returned to England by African servants
The Doll Factory by Elizabeth McNeal: The Great Exhibition is the backdrop to this Victorian gothic thriller
Lost Roses by Matha Hall Kelley: White Russian refugees helped by New York socialite
The Gown by Jennifer Robson: women craft exquisite wedding dress for Queen Elizabeth
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner: Detroit Jewish sisters divergent lives
Courting Mr. Lincoln by Louis Bayard: imagines Lincoln and Joshua Speed in love
The Editor by Stephen Rowley: new author mentored by Jackie O.
The Road to Grantchester by James Buncie: Sidney Chamber's WWI experience drives his calling
The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin: family drama explores how love fails us and saves us
The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith: romance and mystery set in the early French film industry
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake: Racism divides family
Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell: women endeavoring to unionize, based on historical people and incidents in Calumet, MI
This Tender Land by William Kent Kruger: boys escape boarding school and set on a river journey
Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris: woman survives concentration camp and Siberia, helps others
The Book of Science and Antiquities by Thoman Kenalley: ancient and modern Australian men cope with end of life
We Are All Good People Here by Susan Rebecca Wright: sisters divergent paths into a divided America
Make Me a City by Jonathan Carr: vignettes from the history of Chicago
Amy Stewert's Miss Kopp On the March, Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions, Lady Cop Makes Trouble, and Kopp Sisters On the March: based on real female detective, series considers women's struggles in early 20th c
If Anyone Should Ask, Tell Them I Died From the Heartbreaking Blues by Philip Coiffari, inspired by his NYC boyhood

I listened to more audiobooks this year.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid: band propelled to top the charts  unravels
To the Stars Through Difficulties by Romlyn Tilghman: women discover hidden strengths and love
The Secrets We Kept by Laura Prescott: typists turned spies--Olga and Pasternack and Dr. Zhivago--and Cold War intrigue

Short story collections:
This Is Not a Love Song by Brenden Matthew
Maggie Brown & Others by Peter Orner
We Love Anderson Cooper by R. L. Maizes
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout in which the story of Olive Kitteridge continues
I'd Die For You, the uncollected stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Indie authors are gems ready to be discovered and I have been lucky to read quite a few.
Anne Creel Howard's The River Widow (a flood offers a wife an opportunity to escape an abusive husband) and Mercy Road (women ambulance drives in WWI)
Rebecca Rosenberg's historical fiction novels Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor and The Secret Life of Mrs. Jack London
Tidal Flats by Cynthia Newberry Martin; a military marriage under stress
The Fourteenth of September by Rita Dragonette; revisits the Vietnam war protests and first draft lottery from a female perspective
Temptation Rag by Elizabeth Hutchinson Bernard; early Ragtime stars
Wickwythe Hall by Judithe Little; WWII and Operation Catapult provides the historical background for this romance
Northward by Chuck Radda; retired PI returns to Alaska to find a missing woman and stumbles upon environmental catastrophe in the making
And the memoirs Redlined by Lisa Graft about her Chicago childhood neighborhood and racial tensions, Two Minus One by Kathryn Taylor about life after marriage, and Lost Without the River by Barbara Hoffbeck Scoblic, recalling her childhood in rural Dakota

I have discovered Bellevue Literary Press and love their books. This year I read:
Feast Day of the Cannibals by Norman Lock, in which Robling and Melville appear, from his American Novel series
Hap and Hazzard at the End of the World by Diane DeSanders; girl survives dysfunctional childhood
Cesare by Jerome Charyn; Jewish orphan in Nazi Germany rises in power while protecting select Jews
The Bear by Andrew Krivak; father and daughter survive in a post-apocalyptic world
The Welsh Fasting Girl by Varley O'Connor

Best of all I was recognized as a top Amazon reviewer--ranked 927!

Our library book club had Skype visits with Wiley Cash to discuss his novel The Last Ballad, Nefertiti Austin on her memoir Motherhood So White, and Amy Stewart on Girl Waits With Gun.

Quilt books I reviewed:
Art Quilts Unfolding, celebrating 50 years of the Studio Art Quilts Association
Blue and White Quilts
Exploring Your Artistic Voice in Contemporary Quilt Art by Sarah Sider
Lynette's Bet-Loved Stitcheries
Autumn Bouquet by Sharon Keightley
Wild Wool and Cotton  Quilts by Erica Kaprow
Victoria Findlay Wolfe's Playing With Purpose
Blended Embroidery by Brian Haggard
Why We Quilt by Thomas Knauer
Organic Applique by Kathy Doughty
MODA All-Stars On a Roll
Visioning Human Rights in the New Millennium by Caroline Mazloomi
HERstory Quilts by Susanne Miller-Jones
Hidden Treasures: Quilts from 1600 to 1860 by Lori Lee Triplett

*****

I continued toward my goal of completing quilt tops and quilting existent quilt tops. I'm not getting any younger! Time to clean up the backlog!

April Showers Bring May Flowers, hand appliqued and machine quilted

Little Red Riding Hood, hand embroidered and hand quilted

The Bronte Sisters, original quilt, machine quilted

Tweet, hand quilted

Winter Houses, machine quilted
pattern by Anne Sutton

unnamed, machine quilted

1857 Album quilt, hand applique and machine quilted
patterns from Gay Boomers

Unnamed, hand quilted

Vintage quilt block, Freedom of Speech, hand quilted

Cluck Cluck, hand appliqued and hand quilted
pattern from MODA All-Stars On a Roll

Baskets, hand applique and hand quilted
pattern by Anne Sutton

Thicket fabric from Gingiber quilt top

Hospital Sketches quilt top, unfinished
patterns from Barbara Brackman

Wizard of Oz quilt top, hand embroidered original designs

I made a table runner for my son and his girlfriend,
creating an applique to match the print

Its been a great year.

Last Books of the Year

My last books of the year were not review books, but personal choices from my TBR shelf.

When I bought my first Kindle I went wild with 99 cent book sales. It was unbelievable that I could own a book for under a dollar! I discovered some of my favorite books this way, like John William's Stoner. Another was Ward Just's An Unfinished Season, a coming-of-age story about politics and journalism. Later I reviewed Just's last novel, The Eastern Shore, a retired journalist reviews the uses and abuses of journalists and the news.

Learning of Just's passing I pulled his Rodin's Debutante off my physical TBR shelf.

"Tell me this, she said. Has your life worked out the way you thought it would?"~from Rodin's Debutante by Ward Just

A small town is shocked by the violent attack of a teenage girl in the local school and the leaders of society convince the local newspaper editor to bury the story.

Teenage Lee's mother convinces his father to leave the town of his ancestors for a safer neighborhood.

Odgen Hall School of Boys is Lee's chosen school, housed in the private home of Tommy Odgen whose wealth allowed him the luxury of pursuing his love of shooting--and his love of the local cathouse. One of the most chilling scenes I have ever read occurs when a young Tommy, hunting on his father's grounds, sees an interloper hunting. He gets the man in his sights, justifying his intended action. Tommy establishes the school to spite his wife. His lawyer Bert Marks handles the business for him.

Lee helps the school team to have a winning season and is noticed by Tommy, who upon meeting the boy warns that "you don't learn a damned thing by defeat." Tommy then goes on a rage about newspapermen, "They'll take everything if you let them," he growls.

In the house remained a sculpture by Rodin of a Chicago debutante. Lee was enchanted by the sculpture and it impels him to pursue the art of working in stone.

Lee goes to university, renting a South Chicago room for his studio. Resisting a knife attack leaves him with a scar. Lee meets a girl, he becomes successful.

The victim of the attack that drove Lee's family from their home returns, seeking answers. She has no memory of what happened and hopes Lee will prompt her memory.

You mean a thing's better not known than known. 
It depends on what you fear most, the known or the unknown. 
She offered a ghost of a smile. Do you have to choose? I imagine it's chosen for you, Lee said.~from Rodin's Debutante

I love Ward's writing.

When I read the beginning pages of The Secrets We Kept on the First Look Book Club I was enchanted by the narrative voice. I put in a hold on Overdrive and waited patiently. The audiobook was the first available copy.

I wanted to read the book for several reasons: First, because I had read Cold Warriors by Duncan White this year in which I learned how books and ideas were weapons in the Cold War. Second, because I had read Doctor Zhivago in 1968 and was interested in how the novel was secreted out of the Soviet Union.

my 1968 copy of Doctor Zhivago

Preston divides the novel into two fronts--East and West. In the West, female secretaries working for the government face sexism even when some become spies; one helps to clandestinely disseminate Pasternack's novel to Russian readers at the World's Fair in Belgium. In the East sections, we learn the story of Boris Pasternack and his lover Olga who was sent to Siberia for not informing on Pasternack when the government feared what Pasternack's novel contained.

The secrets kept are multiple on both fronts.

I enjoyed the audiobook and the story, but I still prefer to read a book. I could have read the novel in half the time it took to listen to it!

Helen Korngold Diary: December 22-31,1919

Here is the final installment of Helen's diary and the story of what happened to Helen after 1919. 

If Helen had not signed off with her name I would never have known who wrote the diary or learned so much about her life and times and family.

December

Monday 22

Stayed home to rest all day. I certainly needed it. Ruth had some people over in the evening. We had a good time together. Herbert – Ruth – Frances – Arthur & I. We went to bed about 1 a.m.

Tuesday 23

Went out with Mrs. Sessel – to dinner at Garibaldi’s – then we went to matinees at the Rialto – a beautiful house – lighted done 8 – a wonderful symphony orchestra. Evening – Youngs & Rossbach.

Wednesday 24

Out again with Mrs. Sessel to Equarium– Wall Street – Woolworth Bldg to Trinity Cemetery. Home to her shop. A Xmas party & lots of fun. To Moulin Rouge with R.H.A. Edith Cohen & myself. It was wonderful. Broadway is too fascinating for words. This was the day that grandpa died, but I didn’t know of it until I returned. We all felt terrible to lose him. May his soul rest in peace.

Thursday 25

Xmas day. Fooled around with the boys at home. Ruth did some general household tasks. We had lunch and went out for a long walk. Saw the city college. Grant’s tomb, Columbia and a variety of other things. Walked home along Riverside. Kings came over.

Friday 26

Spent the day with Minnie Young – went over to Newark – home to dinner with Mr. Butbaum & Arthur as guests. Pawlingers came over in evening. We had a nice time, but I didn’t feel very well. Slept overnight with Youngs.

Saturday 27

Visited Lord & Taylors – Altmans – Macy’s – etc. Went to the Capitol matinee in the afternoon. They have a beautiful promenade. Went to Tiffins for lunch. Home & to Rusenweber’s with Rossback, Ruth & co. It was wild.

Sunday 28

Fooled around. Out with Jul in afternoon – then to Brooklyn with Lenore Rosenson. Dinner & reception for Junior Aux. of Council of Jewish Women to which I was a delegate. Alvin & Lenore are dears. [illegible] & mother & daddy too. Very fine & wealthy people.

Monday 29

Convention meeting. There was a lovely crowd there. Luncheon at Unity Club – meeting. Found dance at Elks Club in the evening. I was with Lenore’s uncle. Alvin & he & Lenore were darling to me, I had such a wonderful time. Pop, Herb & Arthur came over to see me.

Tuesday 30

Convention has been very interesting. Luncheon & last meeting. Home to N.Y. Saw “Monsieur Beaucaire” with Herb & Ruth & Pop. It was very good lyric opera. Lunch at Gertners. Very nice place – Saw Times newspaper being printed.

Wednesday 31

Climbed statue of Liberty with cousin Minnie. Heard ‘Forza del Destino’ with Caruso & Ponselle as leads in evening. It was wonderful. Spent remainder of week seeing & visiting museums, bought a hat – pop gave me a seal coatie – went to Sorbers & Roof Garden, visited all hotels – had lunch in some exclusive places – in short, had a glorious old time. This certainly has been a most exciting and pleasant year for me. If grandpa had only lived it would have been perfect. Wishing myself & all those I love happiness –

Helen Korngold

*****

Notes:

Dec 22

Herbert, Ruth, Frances, Arthur Pawliger of 1915 Broadway. Herbert Lincoln Pawligerwas a commercial salesman who had visited with the Korngold family when in St. Louis. 

December 23

Mrs. Sessel may be Nathalia Sessel, married to Samuel Sessel who had a millinery shop and was born in St. Louis. The 1920 census shows Sam and Nathalia (1886-1951) had a daughter, Fern.

the Rialto

The Rialto was the 'Temple of the Motion Picture, in 1916 on Broadway near 42nd St. in Manhatten. It seated almost 2,000 and had a fine orchestra. The photo-play was Red Hot Dollars starring Charles Ray. “As a laborer, and later as the adopted son of a wealthy man, as a rough youngster being polished down for society, and as the suitor for the hand of a workingman’s daughter, Ray has the part varied enough to please all his admirers.” From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Dec 28, 1919. 

Ray was one of the biggest box-office stars of his time. For a biography of Ray: http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/charlesray.html or http://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/the-coward-1915/

Charles Ray

A Fox movies Sunshine Comedy called Chicken A La Cabaret was ‘the chaser.’ The Sun of December 28, 1919, reported, "Also showing was ‘a kindergarten’ of wild Alaskan bear cubs, Bizet’s Pearl Fisher sung by tenor Sudwarth Frazier and baritone Edward Albano, and ‘ecstasies by the orchestra over List’s First Rhapsody ‘will fill the chinks in the program." 

December 24

The Moulin Rouge Cafe at Broadway and 48th St. offered dance reviews of all sorts, and the Moulin Rouge Orchestra under the direction of Ben Selvin offered ‘dance music and impromptu entertainment’ according to The New York Herald of December 7, 1919.

The New York City Aquarium

Equarium or New York Aquarium opened in December 1896 at Castle Garden at the Battery in Manhattan. In 1919 it attracted 5,000 attendees daily.

http://placesnomore.wordpress.com/tag/new-york-aquarium/

The Woolworth Building in 1919

The Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway in Manhattan was completed in 1913 and is one of the oldest skyscrapers in the world. http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC019.htm

Trinity Church

Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan goes back to 1697 and is the resting place of personages such as John Jacob Astor, inventor Robert Fulton, General Horatio Gates of the Revolutionary War, and Alexander Hamilton. Its steeple was once where people went for the best overview of the city. Munsey's Magazine.  November 1899. http://www.digitalhistoryproject.com/2012/06/hotels-of-new-york-waldorf-astoria-park.html

Helen's maternal grandfather David Joshua Frey died on Dec. 24, 1919, in a tragic accident. 

David was born Oct. 18, 1840, in Rzeszów Galacia, Austria to Benjamin and Yittel Kressel Frey, and immigrated at age 24 to the United States. He married Sophia Herz, born in 1847 in Lörzweiler, Hessen, daughter of Abraham Mendle and Sarah Herz, and immigrated to the United States at age 20.

Dec 25

City College of New York in Manhattan was established in 1847.

Riverside Drive follows the Hudson River. Columbia University and Grant’s Tomb are on Riverside Drive.

Helen was touring all the must-see places of New York City.

Justus George Frederick wrote in his 1919 guide Adventuring in New York:

In our hurrying American way we do not often give time to the aesthetic outlook but who has not paused as he came upon Madison Square of a winter's evening at 5 or 6 o clock when a thousand points of light glimmer through the trees from a thousand towered windows in particular from the wafer-like Flatiron Building or the giant toy the Metropolitan Tower?

Who has not of a summer's balmy evening in Riverside Drive Park gazed out upon the broad bosom of the stately Hudson illumined with the binnacle lamps of battleships and yachts the stateroom lamps and searchlights of steamers the dim home beacons on the other shore of dwellings upon the Pallisades?

 Who has not stood at the Battery and swung his eyes upon the ever-changing spectacle of the fairy port of the new World? 

Who has not sniffed the October air from the top of a Fifth Avenue bus through the endless pomp and panoply of the most famous street in the world?

 Who has been atop a great skyscraper by day or night and failed to fall into a gargantuan reverie?

It is a challenge to feeling and thought to gaze out from the windows of the Bankers Club in the Equitable Building from the Whitehall Club roof garden or from the topmost windows of any large building but especially from the stately vantage point of the Woolworth or Metropolitan Tower?

What human ant though he be cannot add a cubit to his stature from his feelings at such an adventure? 

Dec 26

Later in the diary, Helen refers to "cousin Minnie." Helen's father's mother was Joacha Young and Minnie may be related to that family. I do find a Minnie Young married to Max Young who was a tailor born in Russia and by 1915 had his own clothing /dry goods store. The census shows they had children Louis, Nathan, and Helen.

I find several marriage licenses in New York City for Butbaums and also a WWI Draft Card for David Butbaum, born Sept. 15, 1894, in Austria. He was an operator for Greenfield and was of medium height and weight with brown eyes and hair.

December 27

Helen visited the premier New York department stores, including Lord & Taylors, Altmans, and Macy’s. 

John Rusenweber appears on the 1880 New York City Census as a liquor dealer from Bavaria. He and his wife Fredericka were 28, and their children included Emma, age 7, Barbara, age 5, and Lizzie aged 2. They lived on 8th Avenue.

 

The Capitol Matinee was on Broadway at 51st St. and was advertised as ‘The World’s Largest Theater.’ Matinee seats cost 30 cents to a dollar. 

According to The New York Sun of December 27, Marie Doron in 12.10 was playing, with ‘Eminent Baritone David Bispham’ also performing. Bispham was a Philadelphia Quaker who studied opera and had sung at the Royal Opera and the Met. You can hear him sing on Youtube.

David Bispham

The newly formed Capitol Symphony Orchestra was to play Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien and an ‘elaborate score’ to go with the featured motion picture. An article on Bispham (1857 – 1921),  America’s first internationally known opera singer, is found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bispham 

December 28

Jul was first mentioned in the diary on January 2! He was one of the soldiers at the barracks who Helen met and corresponded with; he sent her a pillow top from Asheville, NC. Jules Koloditsky was a salesman living in the Brox.

Lenore and Alvin Rosenson appear with parents Hyman B. and Mame on the January 1915 New York State Census. Lenore was aged 19 and Alvin was 16 years old. They lived on Rodney in Brooklyn. Hyman was from Prussia and worked as a liquor wholesaler. The 1910 census shows Hyman immigrated in 1883. Also on that census appear his son Theodore, age 19, his brother Isaac and sister Belle, and a servant.

The Junior Council of Jewish Women article in The Brooklyn Daily, Dec. 29, 1919.

December 29

Unity Club is the name of an organization out of the Unitarian church. 

Leonore’s uncle Isaac Rosenson

December 30

Gertner’s was at 1446 Broadway and advertised “a la carte all hours.”

Andre Messager’s lyric opera “Monsieur Beaucaire” is based on a book by Booth Tarkington. The opera was first performed on April 7, 1919, in London and later opened on Broadway. An advertisement in The Sun of December 31 shows it was playing at the New Amsterdam Matinee at $2.00 for the ‘best seats.’ 

December 31

Seal Coatie- a short coat of seal fur. Perhaps her father bought it at the August fur sales

‘La Forza del Destino’ by Verdi was performed by Enrico Caruso and Rosa Ponselle. A synopsis can be found at http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?customid=126

The Waldorf Astoria would have been the original Waldorf hotel on 5th Avenue and 33rd, built in 1893 by William Waldorf Astor. In 1897 it was joined to the adjacent Astor hotel, built by John Jacob Astor. The Waldorf=Astoria was rebuilt on Park Avenue in the 1920s, and the Empire State Building was built on the site.  http://www.newyork.com/articles/hotels/secrets-of-the-waldorf-astoria-hotel-63985/

Roof Gardens were hugely popular and most of the premier hotels offered them. Justus George Frederick in Adventuring in New York offered a list:

One of the special delights of New York because of its high buildings is the increasing vogue of the Roof Garden, so cool and remote from the fetid pavement in Summer. Most of the large hotels open their roof gardens early in June a few by the end of May and here one can dine and dance comfortably in the open as far from the bustle and heat of the city as if a hundred miles lay between. Here are a few of the popular or newest hotels also some specialized hotels and apartment hotels. 

Astor 44th St & Broadway also Roof Garden

 Biltmore 43rd St & Madison Ave also Roof Garden

 Majestic 72nd St and Central Park West also Roof Garden McAlpin 33rd St & Broadway also Roof Garden

 Pennsylvania 33rd & 7th Ave also Roof Garden

 Ritz Carlton 46th St & Madison Ave also Roof Garden

 Waldorf 33rd St & Fifth Ave also Roof Garden

 Plaza 59th St & Fifth Ave also Roof Garden

 Commodore 42nd St & Lexington Ave also Roof Garden 

*****

Helen's Later Life:

Helen had a career as a teacher at Normandy High School in St. Louis, her

photo appearing in the 1924, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1937 yearbooks. 

1932 newspaper notice

1936 Normandy HS yearbook

1937 Normandy HS yearbook

Her degrees included A.B. Washington University, M.A. Columbia University, and the University of Southern California. She worked in Commercial Subjects in the Guidance Department. 

1936 newspaper article

Teacher’s College at Columbia University added a Ph.D. in Education in 1934. The school was established in 1897 and was the premier institution for teachers. http://library.tc.columbia.edu/edd.php (My grandfather received a teaching degree from Columbia a few years previous, along with his college friend Roger Blough who became the head of U. S. Steel).

In 1936 Helen appears on the census as a teacher at Normandy High School in St. Louis. 

She wrote an article, Guidance in Action: A High School Program in St. Louis, which appeared in “The Vocational Guidance Journal."

1922 newspaper notice that Helen and her sister Otilia vacationed in Michigan

Helen made at least one trip abroad. A September 3, 1926, Passenger List shows that Helen and her younger sister Otilia, age 22, arrived in New York City on the SS Rotterdam out of Southampton, England. Their address was 5253 Waterman, St Louis, MO. The St Louis City Directory of 1932 shows Helen and Otila were both teachers, living with Jacob and Eva at 5253 Waterman St.

Fritz Herzog

Helen married Fritz Herzog. The wedding announcement read,

Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Korngold, 5253 Waterman Boulevard, have announced the marriage of their daughter. Miss Helen, and Fritz Herzog. which took place Tuesday, Sept. 21. The bride received her M. A. degree from Washington University, University, and now is employed as head of the commercial department and director of vocational guidance at the Normandy High School. Mr. Herzog received his Ph. D. degree from Columbia University, New York, and at present is a member of the staff of Cornell University.

Fritz Herzog was born December 6, 1902, in Poland and died November 21, 2001, in East Lansing, Michigan. 

Fritz was an American mathematician known for his work in complex analysis and power series. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1928 to 1933. Anti-Semitism under Hitler forced him to emigrate. On July 27, 1933, he arrived at New York City on the S.S. Washington out of Berlin. The Passenger List states that he was 30, a student from Poznan, Poland and was Hebrew. 

Fritz received his Ph.D. degree at Columbia University with a thesis entitled Systems of Algebraic Mixed Difference Equations advised by Joseph Ritt (1934). 

He worked for the Smelting & Refining Company for two years as a statistician.

From 1938 to 1943 Herzog was an electrical engineering research associate at Cornell University working with Michel G. Malti on dynamo research. Together they solved an important electric power problem on balancing dynamos, which had remained open since the days of Michael Faraday a century before. 

The 1939 Ithaca, NY City Directory shows Helen as Mrs. Fritz Herzog, working at Cornell University as a “research elec. Assn.”  

The April 1940 Ithaca, NY City Directory shows Helen married to Fritz Herzog. Helen was 42 years old. The 1940 U.S. Census for Ithaca, NY shows Friz was a college professor with a four-year college degree, living in rented housing, and married to Helen Sarah Herzog. Fritz earned $1650 a year and had worked 11 hours the previous week. Helen worked as a clerk at the university earning a salary of $0 a year and had worked 63 hours the previous week.

In 1941 and 1942 Helen appears in the Ithaca, New York city directory as a clerk. 

The mystery of how Helen's diary showed up in a Lansing, Michigan resale shop was made clean when I learned that Fritz spent the remainder of his career teaching at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI. He was a visiting professor in 1943 and an associate professor in 1946. Along with Michel G. Malti, he solved an important problem in dynamo research. 

A footnote in the May 1971 Vol. 78, No. 5 The American Mathematical Monthly states, “Fritz Herzog received his Columbia University PhD. under J.F. Ritt. His first position was at Cornell, and he has been at Michigan State since 1943, except for visits to Washington University and the University of Michigan. He is a recipient of a Michigan State Distinguished Faculty award. His principal research interests are complex function theory and power series.”

This gave me a clue as to how Helen and Fritz met! It had to be while Fritz was teaching at Washington University in St. Louis--Helen's Alma Mater.

Fritz was also known for his involvement in undergraduate education.  The Michigan State University’s Fritz Herzog Prize Endowment Fund competition honors Fritz, who “devoted significant efforts at undergraduate education and helped successfully prepare students of the Putnam exam” according to a June, 2010 MSU press release. 

Fritz and Helen appear in the 1945 East Lansing, MI City Directory. The 1984 Directory show they lived at 1532 Cahill Dr, East Lansing.

In 1956 and 1959 Helen appears in the East Lansing city directory working as a clerk at Michigan State University and Fritz as a professor at MSU.

Fritz was a member of the American Mathematical Society and published Some Properties of the Fejer Polynomials, by Fritz Herzog and George Piranian, in 1955.

In 1969 Fritz was awarded the Past Distinguished Faculty award in Natural Science. A footnote in the May 1971 Vol. 78, No. 5 The American Mathematical Monthly states, “Fritz Herzog received his Columbia University PhD. under J.F. Ritt. His first position was at Cornell, and he has been at Michigan State since 1943, except for visits to Washington University and the University of Michigan. He is a recipient of a Michigan State Distinguished Faculty award. His principal research interests are complex function theory and power series.”

In his autobiography, Enigmas of Chance, Mark Kac wrote, "At Cornell, only a fellow instructor, Fritz Herzog, was not a native American. He was a refugee from Germany who tried to speed up his process of Americanization by reading the comics. He gave up the struggle when he first came across Popeye the Sailor's "I yam what I yam" and discovered that a yam was a sweet potato."

Rings And Things And A Fine Array Of Twentieth Century Associative Algebra by Carl Clifton Faith quotes Fritz Herzog saying, "Teaching is a calculus thing--you have to minimize." 

Helen passed on July 25, 1988. Fritz died of prostate cancer on November 21, 2001. Helen’s diary from 1919 ended up in a South Lansing, MI flea market shop where I discovered it.

In 2018 I received a surprise phone call from a woman who began, "I believe you have my aunt's diary." Chills ran up my spine! I finally had contact with someone from Helen's family!

Helen's sister Lorine Esther Korngold married Harry Mendleson. His son David Frey Mendleson married Mary Ann and their daughter was Lorine, my contact.

Fritz Herzog's brother Paul Herzog wrote a book about their family history, Three Generations: The Dispersion of a German Jewish Family. Lorine told shared the genealogy pages with Stars of David marking those family members lost in the Holocaust.

Lorine sent me copies of the Herzog genealogy, marked with stars for the people who perished in the Holocaust.

Helen and Fritz were disappointed when they had no children but loved Helen's nieces and nephews. I was told that they were well-beloved visitors.

Helen bathing Lorine at Helen's home in Michigan, 1957

Helen, Fritz and baby Lorine, 1957

Lorine and her Aunt Florence, Helen's youngest sister

Lorine Korngold Mendleson, Helen's sister, is on the left

Later I also heard from Anne Nathan, whose grandfather was Karol Korngold, Helen's brother, and from John Reichman, Florence Korngold's son. 

I had sent Helen's diary to Lorine who shared it with her mother and cousins.

I had made a quilt that included scans of Helen's diary pages. It appeared in a quilt show at the Women's Historical Center in East Lansing, Michigan. I sent Lorine the quilt as well.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Helen Korngold and a glimpse into St. Louis in 1919.