Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soul was he. But in December of 1957 his namesake, Nat King Cole, was anything but merry. Nat was a superstar singer whose records were selling in the millions all around the world. That stardom had landed him his own television variety program, which had been broadcast nationwide… Read more →
The national anthem controversy currently roiling our body politic has a longer history than we may be aware of. I just ran across a story that I think provides some comically prescient insight regarding what’s really behind some (not all) of the outrage that’s been expressed in our society at the refusal of some African American football players to stand… Read more →
I just saw a headline in a WW2-era Southern newspaper that caught my attention. It was carried in the November 16, 1945 edition of the San Antonio Register, and said: Mob Threatens White Officer for Blocking J. Crow Major Insists All GIs Be Fed Together in Mississippi Cafe To me, the account that followed illustrates the utter irrationality of racial… Read more →
Roger C. Terry (1921-2009) was a U. S. Army Air Forces officer in World War II. In his short military career, Terry compiled a record most people would classify as miserable: he was court-martialed for shoving a superior officer, convicted, fined, reduced in rank, and kicked out of the service with a dishonorable discharge. But Roger Terry was proud of… Read more →