Irving Berlin, New York Genius by James Kaplan

I sped through this delightful biography of Irving Berlin in two days.  From the Preface to the end, I was totally captivated.

James Kaplan presents the iconic composer's nine-decade contribution to the Great American Songbook through Berlin's work, personal experience, and as a Jewish immigrant. It's a rags-to-riches story based on Berlin's intense work ethic, but he was also helped along by friends and peers.

Everyone knows Berlin's God Bless America. It was written during WWI but was set aside until WWII when Berlin dusted it off and finally shared it with the world.  It was the right song at the right time. White Christmas is another well-beloved Berlin song that matched its time, resonating with WWII troops across the world.

Berlin was criticized for his patriotic song--because he was an immigrant. The Beilin/Baline family fled Russia's pogroms to settle in New York City. Berlin's father was a cantor, usually unemployed. After his father's early death, Berlin left home to fend for himself. The story of Berlin's years on the street, selling newspapers and busking Tin Pan Alley songs, exemplifies his life-long work ethic, pluck, and luck. 

Unable to read or write music, Berlin worked with a series of pianists who brought what Berlin heard in his head to the page.

As a Jew, Berlin encountered the rampant anti-Semitism leading up to WWII.

Berlin created a Christmas song without religion and his Easter Parade brought a secular vision of the most important Christian celebration. 

I was familiar with many of Berlin's hits because I have been a sheet music collector for forty years. 

1909

I wrote about My Wife's Gone to the Country Hurrah! Hurrah!; read it here.

1911

Berlin revived Rag Time with his megahit march Alexander's Ragtime Band which George Gershwin considered "the first real American musical work."

1911

1912

1913

WWI found Berlin conscripted, supporting the troops with a traveling revue, Yip Yip Yaphank. Actual soldiers performed. His song Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning resonated with millions. I wrote about it previously here.

1918

The musical revue was Berlin's favorite venue to write for.

1920

Berlin opened the Music Box Theatre to present his revues.

1921

1928

1928

Berlin wrote for Hollywood, including the music for the Marx Brother's first film The Cocoanuts. 

1929

1930

1937

During WWII, Berlin revived his revue Yip Yip Yaphank, taking the show on the road to soldiers at both fronts of the war. A movie version of the revue was released as This Is The Army.

During the war, other songwriters had successful shows on Broadway. Berlin chose to support the troops over advancing his career. He was exhausted and personally broke by war's end, struggling to adapt to peacetime.

1942

Berlin came to write Annie Get Your Gun after the death of Jerome Kern and he was offered to replace his dear friend.

Berlin was exhausted from taking his revue across the world. He was worried about writing for a Western, female character. It was his biggest challenge and he excelled, creating his best work.

1946

Berlin did the remarkable: he asked for a lower share of royalty percentage and that the show's producers Rodgers and Hammerstein and librettists Dorothy and Herbert Fields share equal billing with him on all publicity and sheet music. 

His later work never met with the same success.

1950

Berlin lived to be 101 years old.

1952

Berlin's friends and peers populate the biography as well, including Harold Arlen, a fellow wordsmith and cantor's son. (Read my review of Arlen's biography, The Man Who Got Away by Walter Rimler, here.)

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

All sheet music pictured is from my personal collection.

Kaplan's book is a part of Yale University Press's series on Jewish Lives.

Irving Berlin: American Genius
by James Kaplan
Yale University Press
Publication November 5, 2019
Price: $26.00
ISBN: 9780300180480

from the publisher:

Irving Berlin (1888–1989) has been called—by George Gershwin, among others—the greatest songwriter of the golden age of the American popular song. “Berlin has no place in American music,” legendary composer Jerome Kern wrote; “he is American music.” In a career that spanned an astonishing nine decades, Berlin wrote some fifteen hundred tunes, including “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “God Bless America,” and “White Christmas.” From ragtime to the rock era, Berlin’s work has endured in the very fiber of American national identity.

Exploring the interplay of Berlin’s life with the life of New York City, noted biographer James Kaplan offers a visceral narrative of Berlin as self‑made man and witty, wily, tough Jewish immigrant. This fast‑paced, musically opinionated biography uncovers Berlin’s unique brilliance as a composer of music and lyrics. Masterfully written and psychologically penetrating, Kaplan’s book underscores Berlin’s continued relevance in American popular culture.

Helen Korngold Diary: October 27-November 2, 1919

Helen Korngold, December 1919, New York City

Helen's father has been ill for some time. After graduating from Washington University, Helen quit one teaching position and was a temp at a school she loved. She has been home doing housework and worrying about her father. He is finally rallying.

October
Monday 27
Up & around

Tuesday 28
May get up tomorrow

Wednesday 29
Up & around quite a bit. I don’t like this housekeeping.

Thursday 30
Pop is much better

Friday 31
Up for the most part

November
Saturday 1
Junior Council meeting – Pop is all right. We went to grandma’s today.

Sunday 2
We all feel relieved Pop ate dinner with us.

*****

In the news:

An army surplus store was opened in the city.

The coal workers have gone on strike and the newspapers report limited supplies at local dealers.



GOMPERS SAYS INJUNCTION ONLY INCREASES BITTERNESS President of Federation Asserts Court Order Raises New Issues and Won't Fill Empty Stomachs. By the Aneiated Press, WASHINGTON, Nov. 1.
Samuel Gompers, speaking for organized labor last night, declared the injunction in the coal strike case "can I'nly result in creating new and more disturbing issues, which may not be confined solely to the miners."

The statement, issued jointly by Gompers, Vice President Woll and Secretary Morrison of the Federation, after they had protested to Attorney-General Palmer against the-action of the Federal Court at Indianapolis, follows: "Throughout the period of the war and during the nation's time of stress the miners of America labored patiently, patriotically and arduously, in order that the principles of freedom and democracy might triumph over the forces of arbitrary authority, dictatorship and despotism.

"When armed hostilities ceased to undertake to suppress the legitimate last November the miners found themselves in the paradoxical position where their intensive labors were being used to further enrich the owners of coal mines and merchants dealing in coal by the immediate reduction of the mining of the coal."

Of course, the mine owners readily conceived that an overabundance of mined coal would seriously disturb the high prices of coal and endanger their large margin of profits.

On the other hand, the miners found that with the constantly rising cost of necessaries of life and with their income reduced more than 50 per cent because of idleness, they had reached the limit of human endurance.

Orderly and improved processes were invoked to negotiate a new understanding with the mine owners and which would enable the miners to work at least five days during each week throughout the entire year, and allow them a wage sufficient to enable them to live decently and free from any of the pressing uncertainties of life.

In attempting to negotiate this new understanding and relation, the miners found that their plea for continuous employment would destroy the mine owners' arrangement to curtail the mining of coal so as to continue exploiting the public with high and exorbitant prices.

The mine owners very cleverly met the Issue by appearing willing and anxious to negotiate, but only if the miners would first throw aside the only power at their command to gain a respectful hearing and fair consideration the decision to strike whenever it was demonstrated fair dealings did not prevail.

We are now faced with a coal strike of vast magnitude. The Government now proposes to intervene because of a possible coal shortage. Apparently, the Government is not concerned with the manipulation by the mine owners which has made for present coal shortage and undue unemployment of the miners for the last 11 months.

Instead of dealing with those responsible for this grave menace to the public welfare, it now proposes to punish those who by force of circumstances have been the victims of the coal barons' exploitation. The miners are now told the war is not over and that all war legislation is still in force, and if reports received here are correct the Government intends to apply existing war measures, not against the owners of the coal mines, but against the coal miners.

The Government has taken steps to enforce war measures by an injunction and it lias restrained the officials of the United Mine Workers from counseling, aiding or in any way assisting the members of this organization for relief against previous conditions of life and employment.

It is almost, inconceivable that a Government which is proud of its participation in a great war to liberate suppressed peoples should now undertake to suppress the legitimate aims, hopes, and aspirations of its own people. It is still more strange that a nation which may justly be proud of its Abraham Lincoln should now reverse the application of the great truth be enunciated when lie said that as between capital and labor, labor should receive first and foremost consideration.

The injunction against the United Mine Workers bodes for ill. An injunction of this nature will not prevent the strike, it will not fill the empty stomachs of the miners, it may restrain sane leadership, but will give added strength to unwise counsel and increase bitterness and friction. This injunction can only result n creating new and more disturbing issues, which may not be confined solely to the miners.

These views were presented to Attorney-General Palmer in a conference lasting nearly two hours by President Gompers. Secretary Morrison and Vice President Woll, of the American Federation of Labor.

Palmer said he told the union men that they were at liberty to say to either side in the strike that the President is ready to act immediately to have the controversy settled amicably whenever the strike is called off.

"I explained the necessity for the action," Palmer said, "and the manner in which this case must be differentiated on its facts from all other cases in which injunctions have been used. I have been opposed and the administration has been opposed to government by injunction, were by employers might use the processes of the courts on an ex-parte hearing to force their employees into submission.

This is the Government itself, using its own courts to protect itself from paralysis. It is not an injunction obtained by employers, not for the benefit of employers, not to settle the controversy, but to save the people of the entire country from disaster. It doesn't affect the right of a man to work when he pleases.
CLIPPED FROM
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, Missouri
01 Nov 1919, Sat  •  Page 2

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 2, 1919



St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 2, 1919
My husband owns this machine!

Things I Never Understood #1: Clothed Lawn Geese

On my walks around the 'hood I think about all kinds of things. Today it was those concrete geese that people dressed up back in the early 1990s.

I never understood why women were making fancy dresses and bonnets for concrete geese. There were all over! Often the geese had an old fashioned dress and a poke bonnet. I haven't seen one in a long time.

I did a quick Internet search and learned that the fad actually began in the 1980s in the area from Pittsburgh south to Kentucky and spread from there.

I found an Atlantic article from 2018 "Nothing Says Midwest Like a Well-Dressed Porch Goose" by Julie Beck that informs the demand for clothes was met by start-ups like Goose Clothes Galore. Then the pattern companies caught on.

Simplicity pattern for lawn geese clothes

Turns out outfits for lawn geese are still a hot commodity. You can order Christmas and even Halloween outfits on eBay,  Etsy and at Miles Kimball.

Miles Kimbal geese outfit

Apparently, there is a 'hipster' revival as a new generation inherits those concrete geese!

I found a Prairie costume along with all kinds of dresses at The Depot that felt like the classic clothes I recall seeing.

clothes from The Depot

At least one person is making dresses for their real geese, with patterns at House Goose.

If you have a goose and don't want to dress it you can learn how to repaint it at Petticoat JUNKtion.

Our little two-square-mile suburban town is writing ordinances for fowl keeping, so I guess this is the new trend: why have a fake fowl when you can get the real thing? We will have a limit of four hens per household and strict rules for housing and cleanup.

Now I wonder if they have patterns for chicken dresses...

The History of Goose Lawn Ornaments
https://www.ehow.com/info_8059753_history-goose-lawn-ornaments.html

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout's Olive, Again only confirms her as one of my favorite contemporary writers of literary fiction.

The temperamental Olive in her later decades demonstrates qualities that only come with experience and self-reflection, enabling her to be an instrument of grace to others. She is still a straight-shooter who sees things unvarnished, her truthfulness sometimes abrasive.

The stories in this book revisit characters from Strout's fictional world of Crosby, Maine. 

This was a hard story to read. At age 67, my husband and I have undergone several surgeries this year. I am all too aware of the brevity of life and how we allow ourselves to be propelled through the years impassively until some change in our abilities stops us up short. We reconsider our mistakes; our view of the past and its relationships become torqued with new understanding. We wonder how we could have allowed love to become a battleground, fear to fence us from our dreams. We become invisible, an unwanted portend to others of their own inevitable future. We recognize that we are strangers to each other--and are incomprehensible even to ourselves.

What kind of life can we live in these ever-shortening days? The answer is in the line that had me in tears: "I think our job--maybe even our duty--is to--" Her voice became calm, adultlike. "To bear the burden of the mystery with as much grace as we can."

Life is a mystery. People are a mystery. There are no answers, no easy to follow instructions to guarantee success and happiness. 

Like Ranier Maria Rilke wrote in his Letters to a Young Poet, we must "be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked doors and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."*

I don't know if Olive's story is completed. And I am not sure I want to follow her to her end. It's all too close to home. Strout is a fearless writer who dares to confront us with things that disturb our equilibrium. We recognize ourselves in her characters. 

I read a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Olive, Again
by Elizabeth Strout
Random House Publishing Group - Random House
Pub Date 15 Oct 2019
ISBN 9780812996548
PRICE $27.00 (USD)

* excerpted from Letters to a Young Poet by Ranier Maria Rilke, translation by M. D. Herter Norton, W. W. Norton & Company

Mini-Reviews: Things We Save In A Fire and Shadow of the Lions

Non-review books, people! A romance and a mystery--

Human connection had its upsides, but it sure was a lot of work. The risk-reward raion was low, at best.~ from Things We Save In A Fire by Katherine Center

A cute, page-turner romance with darker themes of forgiveness and overcoming challenges, this was an enjoyable distraction, the kind of book I pick up between heavy, demanding books. I read my husband's ARC provided to him by the publisher.

From the publisher:
Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s a total pro at other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew—even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping . . . and it means risking everything—the only job she’s ever loved and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.

Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

Things You Save In A Fire
Katherine Center
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781250047328
Publication Date: August 13, 2019

*****

"We weren't brothers; we were beyond that. He was perhaps the one person whose counsel and opinion I held higher than my own."~Shadow of Lions by Christopher Swann

They were waiting for the future in the form of an acceptance letter from UofV when Matthias' best friend Fritz disappeared from the grounds of the Blackburne School. Their last encounter had been contentious and Matthias never got over the guilt or the loss.

Over the nine years since then, Matthias had reached the pinnacle of success with a published book, a girlfriend, loads of cash, and a movie contract--and lost it all. When Blackburne offered him a teaching job Matthias had to accept it, even if returning meant reopening wounds he had sought to bury.

As Matthias grapples with his new job, surrounded by ghosts of the past, he determines to follow any trail to find Fritz.

"Everybody searches for something," ex-cop Briggs says to Matthias. "You telling me Fritz isn't your white whale?"

Shadow of the Lions is a great read with wonderfully drawn characters, unexpected twists, and terrific writing.

from the publisher:
How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? That is just one question that Christopher Swann explores in this compulsively readable debut, a literary thriller set in the elite—and sometimes dark—environs of Blackburne, a prep school in Virginia. When Matthias Glass’s best friend Fritz vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past—guilty, responsible, alone.

Almost ten years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies, and buried secrets—and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.

A sharp and moving tale full of false leads and surprise turns, Shadow of the Lions is also wise and moving. Christopher Swann has given us a gripping debut about friendship, redemption, and what it means to lay the past to rest.

Shadow of Lions
by Christopher Swann
Algonquin Books
ISBN-10: 1616205008

ISBN-13: 978-1616205003

Helen Korngold Diary: October 20-26, 1919

Helen Korngold, Dec. 1919, New York City

Helen and her family have been distraught over her father's illness.

October
Monday 20
A trifle better

Tuesday 21
Still in bed, but he is very sick yet.

Wednesday 22
Improved.

Thursday 23
Lots of guests – Mr. Sigler, Lipshitz, Russack, Steiner, Thurmond. Grandma – Mrs. Levy

Friday 24
Pops still in bed.

Saturday 25
Guess he can’t get out so soon.

Sunday 26
He is much better. Mrs. Waldman & Aunt Jennie came

Notes:

Oct 26
Aunt Jennie Frey Rosenblum (1873-1953) was Helen's maternal aunt.
Jennie married Jonas Rosenblum. Jonas and Jennie were granted a divorce on November 29, 1898. Jonas remarried in 1904.

Like her sister Beryl, Jennie was a music teacher. The 1910 US Census for St. Louis shows Jennie and her son Irl living with her parents. Irl became an attorney.

Feb. 22, 1911, from St. Louis Post-Dispatch:


July 9, 1953 death notice in St. Louis Globe-Democrat:

*****

The Frey family history:

Benjamin Frey b. 1816 in Rzeszow, Galacia, Austria, immigrated in 1865.

He married Yitel Kressel and they had child David Joshua Frey b. 1840 in Rzeszow.

David married Sophia Hertz (b. 1846 in Germany and d.1929). The 1880 US Census for St. Louis shows he ran a clothing store; in 1900 he was a traveling salesman. David tragically died in December 1901 as this St. Louis Globe-Democrat article reports:



David and Sophia had children Beryl and Jennie, music teachers; Abraham Benjamin, lawyer and judge; Helena; Joseph who was a druggist; and Eva, Helen's mother.

Sophie died in 1929.


December 19, 1928, St. Louis Globe-Democrat newspaper article of Judge Frey's retirement:


"Judge A. B. Frey was the guest of honor at a testimonial dinner given last night at the Hotel Coronado, in recognition of his record on the bench from which he will retire the first fo the year. The dinner was attended by 500 of his friends. most of them attorneys, and the members of the St. Louis bench. Former Mayor Henry W. Kiel acted as toastmaster at the dinner. at which addresses bearing on the service of Judge Frey during his tenure of office were given by a number of his associates. Judge Frey himself spoke in appreciation at the conclusion of the program. Walter J. G. Neun, attorney and president of the Board of Aldermen made the first address in which he spoke of the reputation and standing Judge Frey has admired among his fellow members of the bar. When Judge Frey retires, Neun said he will leave a clean record and will retain the regard of his fellow lawyers as a man who has worked hard and who deserves every tribute and praise which can be paid to him. Judge Frey displayed an unusual amount of fairness and consideration in all the cases brought before him, Neun said, and always assisted lawyers In their problems. Judge Henry A. Hamilton did great work for the instruction of his successors in the profession. and that his relations to the other judges were always indicative of a great desire to co-operate. and to carry out the dictates of justice. Judge Hamilton praised his practical knowledge and willingness to give considerable time to research." 

April 21, 1930 article The St. Louis Star and Times on Joseph Frey assuming editorship of The Modern View newspaper:

Dec. 15, 1931 article in St. Louis Star and Times:

****

In the news this week in 1919:

October 20, 1919, article from the St. Louis Star and Times



WIDE HIPS AND HIGH COLLARS PARIS has many ways of obtaining the new silhouette. So clever are the methods of producing It that they sweep away every objection to things that suggest panniers and hoopsklrts. The straight, narrow little frocks that have been so dear to feminine hearts appear uninteresting' beside the new arrivals. In a most Ingenuous manner they have eliminated all the undesirable features of the wide hip silhouette, leaving only what is charming. These new things make a clever psychological appeal for permanent success, not only through the adding of something new which every woman loves, but through the expression of youth in their lines. There is also a change in the waistline of our newest clothes. Now it has been dropped to Just below the normal, which we have always considered a trying point at which girdle the figure. So this is only- further evidence of the cleverness j expressed in our new clothes, because the longer waistline tends to flatten the figure from back to front when the sides are extended, so that there is absolutely no curve in spite of the so-called hip draperies. The bodice appears as curveless as a child's figure, thus bringing a great deal of youth into these designs. We may, therefore, dismiss the fear of making cur figures appear older which made us so loathe to abandon the straight chemise dress. Every woman is interested in knowing some of the ways In which this new silhouette is obtained. One French designer makes a straight black satin dress of chemise type and girdles it about two inches below the normal curve at the waist; then, on either side of the dress, she places narrow panels which support ever so many frills of beige colored lace, billowing one over the other from the waistline down to about eight inches above the hem. The black underdress Is very skimpy, so that the frilled panels In no way take away from the close outline of the figure. In coats the hip extension is attained both through the cut of the garment itself and through stiffening devices. Many coats have actual crinolines Introduced in their interlining. A model from Premot has sling-like pocket arrangements through which slips a girdle of fur. The bodice of the coat is cut to a very low waistline and a high Diretcorie collar bordered with fur is added. This may be said to be one of the most interesting coats to appear at the recent French openings. Many of the new dresses have high muffling collars. Some are of the Directoire type; others arc. of the straight, round, wrinkled style. Judged from a standpoint of beauty and becomtngncss they add nothing to the new dresses. Many of them are detachable, permitting them to be easily removed if desired.

Lynette's Best-Loved Stitcheries

Four Seasons Wall Hanging, 27" x 24", is on the cover

Lynette Anderson offers stitchers a new book filled with country cottage ambiance, with sweet bungalows and blooming gardens, angelic gardeners and adorable four-legged friends. She is inspired by the British country village of her childhood.

Lynette's Best-Loved Stitcheries: 13 Cottage-Style Projects You'll Adore includes
projects perfect for gifting and quilts to enhance your home's walls. Lynette loves to make projects that can be used every day.

Meadow Cottage Tote, 14" x 14". The tote includes inside pockets.

Sunshine and Flowers Pillow, 15 1/2" x 15 1/2"

I so love the use of applique and buttons and embellishments incorporated into the designs.

Lynette shares her techniques for transferring and marking embroidery designs, how to prevent thread shadowing, and includes a stitch guide. She explains how to use variegated floss successfully.

Count Your Blessings Mini-Quilt, 9 1/2" x 14"

Prairie Points enhance Lynette's needlecase holder and the scissors holder has a tassel cord, seen below. You learn so many techniques in this book!

Springtime Needle Case and Scissors Holder

Lynette shares her technique for giving fabric a vintage look by speckling, seen below in the Redwork pillows.

Redwork Pillows, 8 1/2" x 10"

Lynette offers a tutorial on her favorite applique techniques, turned-edge and Apliquick. The patterns are reversed so fusible applique can also be used.

I enjoy needle-turn applique myself but was interested to learn about Apliquick which uses semi-water-soluble paper and special rods to hold and roll turned edges of the applique pieces. Every stage of the process is shown in photographs and instructions.

One-Stitch-At-A-Time Sewing addy, 8" x 6" x 3 3/4"

The sewing caddy, above, has a hexagon back! Lynette includes English Paper Pieced hexagon instructions with photographs.

Potting Shed Journal Cover, 6 3/4" x 8 3/4", and Pencil Case, 8" x 5"

I love the oval insert on the Potting Shed Journal Cover, above. The lighter background for the embroidery makes it pop and the darker fabric frames it beautifully. The Hexie Pencil Case could also hold your needlework tools and threads!

Home Sweet Home Redwork,  3" x 6 1/2"

The book is sold as softcover and ebook with patterns available online to print.

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Visit Lynette's blog to keep up on her latest designs and news:
https://lynetteandersondesigns.typepad.com/
Lynette owns the Little Quilt Store in Australia where you can purchase her patterns and the tools, threads, and embellishments shown in the projects.
https://www.littlequiltstore.com.au/collections/all

Lynette's Best-Loved Stitcheries
by Lynette Anderson
Martingale
ISBN: 9781683560128
$27.99 softcover (-$8 ebook)
Publication Date: July 1st, 2019