Quickie News Digest

You might say this is cheating as a blog post, but I really enjoyed these articles from the NYT this week and wanted to share them, in case you missed out.

• Ralph Waldo Emerson.  His house, a National Historic Landmark in Concord, Massachusetts, has lucked out in having dedicated, long-term caretakers.  This article looks at the young couple that have recently taken over the job and wonders about generations, gender roles and the future of dusting.  Keeping Mr. Emerson’s House – Sept 19, 2010
• John Steinbeck.  I remember reading Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and dreaming of someday having a dog of my own and setting off to travel the country.  He wrote the book at this Sag Harbor bungalow, where you can still find a doorframe marked with the height of anyone who came to visit (including the dog Charley), Steinbeck’s scrawl in cement (“To my Ladye, In thee I have myn erthly joye”) and fading handwritten labels on drawers of tools (“Knives, Chisels, and Bladey Things,” “Glory! Nails, In Excelsis”).  How poignant when the longtime caretaker says “I wish there was some way to preserve this.”      At Steinbeck’s Getaway as Heirs Feud Revives – Sept 23, 2010
• Bing Crosby. Crooner, song and dance man, movie star, the pipe-smoking dad who launched a thousand Christmas specials….. and avid baseball fan who was part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bing Crosby buried treasure in the wine cellar of his California home.  The perfectly preserved, five-reel print of The Greatest Game of Baseball Ever Played (Game 7 of the 1960 World Series; Yankees vs. Pirates) was made for Crosby who was afraid of jinxing the game if he watched it live.  In Bing Crosby’s Wine Cellar – Vintage Baseball – Sept 23, 2010