Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of England.

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Queen Mother portrait

One of England’s most beloved members of the royal family was Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.  Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born on August 4, 1900; her father was Claude Bowes-Lyons, known as Lord Glamis and later the 14th Earl of Strathmore, and her mother was Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck.  There has been some confusion as to her actual birthplace but officially her birth is registered in Herfordshire near the Strathmore’s country house in St. Paul’s Walden Bury.  Her family also had a house in London but their ancestral home was Glamis Castle in Scotland and this was where Elizabeth spent most of her childhood.  Later during World War I Glamis Castle was used as a military convalescent home for wounded soldiers and, even though she was only 14 years old  at the time, Elizabeth was able to help with the war effort by assisting the patients in writing letters home and keeping them company during their hospitalization.

Elizabeth as a young girl

After the war, Elizabeth spent some time in London attending various social events, such as the wedding of Princess Mary in 1922 when she was a bridesmaid, and eventually she became acquainted with Prince Albert, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary.  Prince Albert, known as “Bertie” to his family, was enchanted by the charismatic Elizabeth and he proposed several times over the next couple of years but Elizabeth was hesitant about marrying into the royal family because of the restrictive life that she would have to lead.  Eventually she accepted Prince Albert’s proposal and the couple were married on April 26, 1923 at Westminster Abbey in London.  (For more information about their wedding, please click on the Celebration post link British Royal Weddings – Part Three)

York Wedding

After their wedding the royal couple, now known as the Duke and Duchess of York, undertook a full schedule of public engagements.  Elizabeth performed her duties with grace and proved to be very popular with the crowds charming them with a constant smile and pleasant conversation.  Unfortunately, Prince Albert had a severe stammer and he had great difficult speaking in public but eventually he improved with the aid of a speech therapist named Lionel Logue.  (This situation was beautifully documented in the 2010 film, “The King’s Speech” starring Colin Firth as Prince Albert who later became King George VI, and Geoffrey Rush playing Lionel Logue)

George and Elizabeth 1923

In 1926, the Duke and Duchess had their first child; a girl was born on April 21, 1926 at her parents’ home at 17 Burton Street in the Mayfair section of London.  She was named Elizabeth Alexander after her mother and her maternal great-grandmother who had died six months earlier.  She was christened in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace and her family called her “Lilibet”.  Four years later a second daughter was born named Margaret Rose on August 21, 1930 at Glamis Castle in Scotland.  The two Princesses were raised by their governess Marion Crawford and they also received private lessons in history, language, literature and music.  (Special note: Marion Crawford wrote a book, “The Little Princesses”, about her life as the governess in the royal household.  After it was published in 1950, even though the book did not reveal any scandal or family secrets, the Queen Mother severed all ties with the former governess and she never spoke to her again.  The book is hard to find as it has been out of print for years, but if you can find a copy it is a very interesting read about the royal family)

The Royal family 1

In 1936, King George V died in January and his son, the Prince of Wales, was the heir to the throne.  But before his coronation as King Edward VIII, he confirmed his love for a commoner named Wallis Simpson, and shockingly abdicated the throne.  His brother, Albert, was now the King and he was a very shy and reserved man. He would rise to the challenge with his wife, Elizabeth, by his side he would be able to succeed in his new role as monarch.  The coronation of King George VI with Queen Elizabeth as his consort took place on May 12, 1937 in Westminster Abbey in London.  (Historical note: As a result of this situation, 1936 became known as the year of the three Kings – King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI)

King George and Queen Elizabeth coronation

In the first years of his reign, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth traveled on various diplomatic tours throughout Europe and North America.  Prior to the Paris trip in 1938, Queen Elizabeth’s mother the Countess of Strathmore died and the trip was postponed for three weeks.  The Queen’s dress designer, Norman Hartnell, had been commissioned to design 30 outfits for the upcoming Royal visit to France.  Since the court was in mourning after the death of the Queen’s mother, the clothes were deemed inappropriate and Hartnell came up with an ingenious idea.  As a result, the famous White Wardrobe of Queen Elizabeth was created for the Paris trip and it turned out to be a great fashion success.  (If you are looking for more information about the Hartnell designs, please click on the link above)

In 1939, King George and Queen Elizabeth traveled to Canada and toured the country from coast to coast.  Then they went to Washington, D.C. and this marked the first time in history that a British monarch had ever visited the United States.  The royal couple went to the White House and later spent time with President Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor, at their private Hudson Valley home in New York.  One of the major reasons for the visit with President Roosevelt was to establish a firm political alliance with the United States due to the increasing hostilities in Europe which ultimately lead to World War II.

King George and Queen Elizabeth with President Roosevelt

During World War II, King George and Queen Elizabeth traveled to the bombed areas of London caused by the Blitz to assess the damage and provide moral support to the victims.  As she visited the East End to view the devastation Queen Elizabeth always dressed in her most elegant and expensive outfits that would normally cause anger in the poor people of that part of the city but she eventually charmed everyone with her gentle manner and constant smiles.  During the most intense period of the Blitz bombings, King George wanted Queen Elizabeth and their children to leave London for a safer place but she refused to leave his side.  A compromise was reached and instead of sending the children to Canada as recommended Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret would go to Windsor Castle just outside of London for the duration of the war and the King and Queen would see them in the evenings and stay with them on the weekends.  The King and Queen continued to work at Buckingham Palace during the week with a minimum staff and very narrowly missed several direct hits during the Blitz that caused extensive damage to the Palace.  At the time, Queen Elizabeth famously stated that now that since she had personally lived through the bombing of her home she could now proudly face the people of the East End knowing that she experienced the same terrors of the war and in making this statement she gained the admiration of the public.

King George and Queen Elizabeth view east End bombing sites

After the end of the war, England started the slow process of recovery, rebuilding the damaged areas of London and adjusting to the economic hardships.  Then in 1947, King George and Queen Elizabeth with their two daughters embarked on an extensive three month royal tour of South Africa.  The royal family traveled from England on a round trip voyage across the Atlantic on the H.M.S. Vanguard which arrived and departed from Cape Town.  To begin their journey the royal family traveled aboard eight custom designed air-conditioned railroad cars that were painted an elegant ivory color, this is the reason it became known as the legendary White Train.  The train transported the royal family across South Africa to destinations such as Victoria Falls.

South Africa royal tour 1947    

King George had been a very heavy smoker and combined with the stress of his royal position in solving the post-war problems of England this caused his health to rapidly decline.  In 1948, a royal tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed due to the King’s medical conditions.  In early 1949 the King underwent a successful operation to improve the circulation caused by an arterial blockage in his right leg.  Later in the year, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent another operation to remove part of his left lung.  Sadly in 1951, a malignant tumor was discovered in his left lung and his health condition continued to decline.  As a result of his health issues and an extended recovery period both Queen Elizabeth and their eldest daughter, Princess Elizabeth, the heir presumptive, fulfilled the King’s public commitments.

The delayed Australia and New Zealand had been rescheduled but Princess Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, would be going in the place of the King and Queen. In January 1952, the young royal couple left England on route by airplane to Kenya in Africa for brief stop before beginning their royal tour.  There is a rather touching film of the King George and Queen Elizabeth waving goodbye to the couple as they board the plane for their trip and the King looks notably pale and extremely thin.  Sadly, King George died on February 6 1952 and Princess Elizabeth immediately returned to England as the new Queen.

Queen Elizabeth at the time of King George's death

With the death of King George VI and the ascension of their daughter to the throne, the widow Elizabeth was given the rather grand title of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother so as not to be confused with her daughter the new crowned Queen Elizabeth II.  The Queen Mother was completely devastated by the death of husband and she briefly retired from public life to spend time in Scotland.  Scotland held a very special place in her heart because of her childhood spent at Glamis Castle in Angus, Scotland.  While staying with friends during her mourning period shortly after the death of her husband, the Queen Mother found the charming but dilapidated Castle Mey located on the coast of northern Scotland with amazing views of the North Sea.  Castle Mey was originally built between 1566 and 1572 as the home of George Sinclair, the 4th Earl of Caithness.  Over the centuries the castle remained within the Sinclair family until 1889 when George, the 15th Earl of Caithness, died unmarried and with no heirs to inherit the estate.  According to the will, Castle Mey was given to his friend, F.G. Heathcote, and eventually his widow sold it to Captain F.B. Imbert-Terry who in turn sold it to the Queen Mother in 1952.  At that time, Castle Mey was in a severe state of disrepair and the Queen Mother had extensive renovations made to the building’s interior and exterior while a beautiful garden was planted on the grounds.  Over the years, the Queen Mother enjoyed spending her annual summer holiday from the months of August to October.

Castle Mey

With the encouragement of the former Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, the Queen Mother came out of her secluded life and brief retirement and returned to public life eager to resume her royal duties.  Over the years, as the family matriarch, she charmed the public with her seemingly mild persona and frequent smiles to become one of the most popular members in the British Royal Family, she was affectionately known now as the “Queen Mum”.  She continued an active life while taking on a full schedule of public engagements and she was also a patron of 300 organizations.

The Queen Mother enjoyed a long life, spending time with her numerous grandchild and even great-grandchildren.  In 1995, she had some health problems requiring two different operations, one was eye surgery to remove a cataract in her left eye and the other was hip replacement surgery on her right side.  In 1998, she fell and broke her left hip requiring another replacement surgery.  In 2000, there was a special reason for celebration as the Queen Mother turned 100 years old.  To mark the occasion, numerous tributes appeared in print, both in the national and international newspapers and also several commemorative books were published, as well as numerous television specials and several public events.  In 2001, the Queen Mother was recovering from a recent blood transfusion but she had recovered in time for her traditional public appearance to commemorate her birthday outside of her London home Clarence House.  At the end of 2001, more health problems occurred when she fell and fractured her pelvis, she was also suffering from a severe cold.  Sadly, Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother’s youngest daughter died on February 9, 2002 and because of her recent medical conditions it was a possibility that she would be able to attend the funeral.  Arrangements were made and she was flown by helicopter from Sandringham House in Norfolk to Windsor Castle to attend the services at St. George’s Chapel but to be respectful of her privacy she was shielded from the press.  After the funeral, the Queen Mother went to her home, Royal Lodge, located nearby where she continued to recuperate from a persistent cold she had since the Christmas holiday.

The Queen Mother died on March 30, 2002 at the age of 101 with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, by her bedside.  Her coffin was draped with the Queen Mother’s personal standard (flag) with a spray of camellias grown in her personal garden on top.  The Queen Mother’s platinum crown set with 2800 diamond and the massive 105 carat Koh-I-Nor diamond which was made for the 1937 coronation of her husband, King George VI, and that she worn many times over the years was also placed on the top of the coffin.   The crown is now on display along with the other British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. (For more information about Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother’s crown please click on the link Crown Jewels of England – Part Two)

The coffin was taken to Westminster Hall to lay in state and over the following three days more than 200,000 people filed past while members of the household cavalry and other branches of the British armed forces stood guard.  On the final day, the Queen Mother’s four grandsons; Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Viscount Linley, stood at the four corners of the catafalque to show their respect.  This was done once before in 1936 by the four sons of King George V prior to his state funeral and it was called the Vigil of the Princes.

Queen Elizabeth death grandsons vigil    Queen Mother funeral

The Queen Mother’s funeral took place on April 9, 2002 at Westminster Abbey, years prior to her death the Queen Mother had planned every detail of her funeral including the symbolic request that after the funeral the floral arrangement from her coffin be removed and laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior which was the same simple gesture that started a royal wedding tradition over 79 years before when Lady Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), then the new bride of Prince Albert (King George VI) placed her bouquet at the same place as a tribute to the brave men lost in World War I.  The Queen Mother’s final resting place is in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where she is buried with her beloved husband King George VI.

Queen Mother in later life

Dave Barry’s Birthday

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Dave Barry

Hello, Jeff again.  Barbara says I have a weird sense of humor and if that is the case, Dave Barry has one too because I have been following him since his humor column was first syndicated and I love his work! While humor is his claim to fame me, he has written / co-written children’s books, had several of his books made into movies and is a member of a band.

David McAlister Barry was born July 3, 1947 to Reverend David Barry (a Presbyterian minister) and a mother whose name is curiously not mentioned in any source I can find on the internet.  His father died in 1984 and his mother shortly afterwards.  I find this curious because I am convinced Dave cared deeply about his mother as can be heard in his record “Mama” and after she died he wrote about her death in “Lost in America”.  Dave was born in Armonk, New York and went to Wampus Elementary School.  He was voted “Class Clown” at Pleasantville High School and went to Haverford College where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1969. Dave has been married three times, to Ann Shelnutt, Beth Lenox and now Michelle Kaufman and has two children, Rob Barry (1980) and Sophie Barry (2000).

After college he worked for the Daily Local News in West Chester, PA and then as a copy editor for the Associated Press before joining the consulting firm Burger Associates.  He then became the Humor Columnist for the Miami Herald in 1983 and that’s when he became famous for articles like “Exploding Whale” and how to make grapes explode in a microwave.  I can’t find a link to the grape article, but here is a related article about Microwave Grape racing.  I particularly like t-what he says before starting the races:  “My son, Rob, and I held some microwave grape races, after taking the standard precaution of making sure that my wife was not home.”  His description of the Potato Gun still makes me laugh, especially comments like: “…a bazooka-sized device that can shoot a potato several hundred yards at speeds up to 1,000 feet per second. To give you an idea of how fast that is, an ordinary potato, on its own, will rarely travel more than four feet per day, even during the height of mating season.”

Dave became a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1988 for Commentary:

Dave Barry of The Miami Herald

For his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns.

 He has published many, many books including some of my favorites:

  • Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: How to Make a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months With Tools You Probably Have Around the Home (1984)
  • Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week (1986)
  • Dave Barry’s Guide to Marriage and/or Sex (1987)
  • Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States (1989)
  • Dave Barry’s Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides (1994)
  • Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys (1996)
  • Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs (1997)
  • Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway: A Vicious and Unprovoked Attack on Our Most Cherished Political Institutions (2001)
  • “My Teenage Son’s Goal in Life is to Make Me Feel 3,500 Years Old” and Other Thoughts On Parenting From Dave Barry (2001)
  • Dave Barry’s Money Secrets (2006)
  • You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty: Dave Barry on Parenting and Other Topics He Knows Very Little About (2014)
  • Dave Barry’s Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-Free Book (1987)
  • Dave Barry is NOT Making This Up (1995)
  • Big Trouble (1999)
  • Peter and the Starcatchers (2004, with Ridley Pearson) series
  • Escape From the Carnivale (2006, with Ridley Pearson)

His book Big Trouble was made into a movie but the release was delayed because of the 9-11 attacks.  Then his Dave Barry Turns 40 and Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits were made into a four season sitcom by CBS which ran 1993 to 1997. The show starred Harry Anderson as Barry and DeLane Matthews as his wife Beth. In an early episode, Barry appeared in a cameo role.  There are rumors that another book written by Barry, Peter and the Starcatchers, will be made into a movie by Disney.

Dave Barry - Rock Bottom Remainders

One thing I did not know about Dave was that he founded a rock band called “Rock Bottom Remainders” composed of other authors including Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, Matt Groening, and Barry’s brother Sam, among many others. The band has raised over $2 million for charity and is described by Dave as “not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud.”  You can find a little more detail on the band on Oprah’s site here:  http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/The-Rock-Bottom-Remainders

Dave retired in 2005 to spend more time with his family, but still maintains a blog at http://www.davebarry.com/ and writes occasional columns for the Miami Herald including his yearly gift guide and his year-in-review feature. In addition to the Pulitzer, Dave was awarded the Fairfax Price and has a sewage processing plant named after him in East Grand Forks, MN. He also can be hired as a motivational speaker for $20,000 to $30,000 per engagement.  To quote Dave himself “I’m not making this up.”

 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Birthday

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Arthur Conan DoyleHello, it’s Jeff again.  I’m here to tell you something about the author of Sherlock Holmes.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born May 22, 1859 to Mary and Charles Doyle. His full name was Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle.   The Doyles were a prosperous family, but Arthur’s father was an alcoholic and never amounted to much and his mother was the big influence in Doyle’s life and gave him a passion for story telling.

When Arthur was nine wealthy relatives offered to pay for his education and in 1868 he was sent to Jesuit boarding school in England.  He hated the harsh punishment and bulling that he suffered in school.  While at school, he started writing his mother regularly, a habit he kept up until her death.   At school he found he had inherited his mother’s gift for storytelling and frequently told stories to the younger students.  In addition to his storytelling he also excelled in sports, particularly Cricket.

The Doyle family was in the art business, but Arthur decided he wanted to be a physician and in 1876 he went to the University of Edinburgh Medical School.  While he was a student at the university he met many soon to be famous authors including James Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson.  He also met Dr. Joseph Bell who was “a master at observation, logic, deduction, and diagnosis”.  During this time he also starting writing short stories.  His first published work was “The Mystery of the Sasassa Valley” in 1879.   Before he graduated he took a job as a ship surgeon on the whaler called the Hope.  He greatly enjoyed that voyage and after he graduated he signed on as medical officer on the steamer Mayumba bound for Africa.  He detested Africa and resigned as soon as the ship returned to England.

Doyle FamilyArthur married his first wife, Mary Louise, in 1885 and they had two children, Mary Louise and Arthur Alleyne Kingsley.  After the death of his first wife from tuberculosis in 1906, he married Jean Elizabeth Leckie and had three additional children:  Denis Percy Stewart, Adrian Malcom and Jean Lena Annette.

After graduating from medical school Arthur became a partner in a medical practice in Plymouth, but the partnership was difficult and extremely challenging and he soon set up his own practice in Southsea.  While waiting for his clientele to build he wrote more stories.  Initially he struggled to find someone to publish his works, but in 1886 he was able to publish “A Study in Scarlet” which introduced the world to his most memorable characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.  Sherlock Holmes was patterned after his former professor, Dr. Bell.  At the time, what we call forensic science was just starting to develop and the general public was amazed at Sherlock’s abilities and scientific process in solving crimes and Sherlock quickly became a world celebrity.

As the Sherlock Holmes stories became popular and Author’s medical practice started to take off he had trouble balancing being both a good doctor and satisfying his passion for writing.  After a near death experience with influenza in 1891 he decided to give up his medical practice and focus on his writing full time.

Interestingly enough, Arthur considered the Sherlock Holmes stories “commercial” and felt they took too much time away from what he liked to write.  This is why in the story “The Final Problem” he killed off the character of Sherlock.  The public outcry over the death of Sherlock Holmes was so great that he eventually brought him back in 1901 in a flashback story called “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and finally permanently in 1903 in “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”.  In 1902 King Edward VII knighted Arthur, for the contribution of his book “The Great Boor War”, but rumor has it that the King wanted to persuade Doyle to write more Sherlock Holmes stories.  In the end he wrote 56 Sherlock Holmes stories and plays.  Many movies and television series have been made about Holmes over the years, including the popular BBC series “Sherlock” staring Benedict Cumberbatch and the American television show “Elementary” with Lucy Lu.

Sherlock

Arthur was a staunch supporter of the criminal justice system and he personally investigated a number of cases which exonerated the accused and eventually led to the set up of the Court of Criminal Appeal in England which was formed in 1907.  He also ran unsuccessfully for a house seat in Central Edinburgh.

ghosts

Probably the most controversial aspect of Arthur was his belief in Spiritualism the started after the death of his wife, son and several other close relatives.  He debated Joseph McCab on the claims of spiritualism at Queen’s Hall in London.  He was friends with Harry Houdini until he tried to convince Arthur that his “powers” were only tricks and illusions and became an opponent of Spiritualism.

Over the last year I have written posts for this bog about several different authors that lived at the same time and I didn’t know much about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle other the fact that he had written some of my favorite books.  After researching his life he appears to have been a truly good person who cared about his family and society in general. He died on July 7, 1930 surrounded by his family.   If you are looking for a more in depth biography, please check out the following website:  http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/

J.M. Barrie’s Birthday

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J.M. BarrieToday’s post is in honor of J.M. Barrie (born: May 9, 1860  died: June 19, 1937) who was the famous author of the classic children’s story “Peter Pan”.  Growing up as a child my first exposure to the story was the 1953 animated Disney version of “Peter Pan” and over the years I have seen several productions of the wonderfully staged “Peter Pan” play.    I enjoy the story about Peter, the boy that never grew up, and his band of Lost Boys that lived far away in Neverland and I’m sure everyone also remembers the other wonderful characters, such as the sinister Captain Hook and his comical sidekick Smee, sweet Wendy Darling and her two brothers and of course the magical pixie named Tinkerbelle.

James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Angus in Scotland.  His father, David, was a local weaver and his mother, Margaret Ogilvy, had a large family of ten children.  Tragedy was to strike the family when Barrie’s brother, David, died in an ice skating accident just before his 14th birthday.  Barrie’s mother was devastated by the loss of her son but strangely she found comfort in the fact, that in her memories, David would remain a young boy forever and that he would never to grow up and leave her.

As a child, Barrie went to several different local schools and at the age of 14 he was sent away to the Dumfries Academy where his older brother and sister, Alexander and Mary Ann, were teachers.  During Barrie’s childhood he had developed a love of reading and he read everything from classic literature, such as “Robinson Crusoe”, to the inexpensive adventure stories of the time known as “penny dreadfuls”.  While Barrie was away at school, he enjoyed spending time with the other boys and one of their favorite games was playing swash-buckling pirates.

While in school, Barrie formed a drama club with his fellow students and he was very good at storytelling and even wrote several of the plays for them to perform.  As he grew older, Barrie knew he wanted have a career as a writer.  His family was unhappy with this decision and pressured Barrie to continue his education at university.  A compromise was reached and Barrie would enroll at the University of Edinburgh and he would study literature.  He went on to graduate and received his M.A. degree in 1882.

While at university, Barrie found work writing drama reviews for the Edinburgh Evening Courant and after graduating he became a journalist for the Nottingham Journal.  He worked there for almost two years and then returned to Kirriemuir to concentrate on writing original stories which were inspired by his mother’s childhood and set in a fictional town of Thrums, the stories also depicted the Auld Lichts, which was a strict religious sect that Barrie’s grandfather had belonged to.  Barrie submitted the stories to a London newspaper and they were published by the St. James Gazette.  Eventually these stories served as the basis for Barrie’s first novels, “Auld Licht Idylls” (1888) and “A Window in Thrums” (1890).  The stories proved to be popular, sold reasonably well and helped to established Barrie as a successful writer.

1904 newpaper Advertisment for the first Peter Pan playBarrie also wrote theatrical plays, the first few turned out to be critical failures but he continued to write.  His third play featured a young actress named Mary Ansell and Barrie quickly fell in love, proposed and they were married on July 9 1894.  Barrie bought Mary a Saint Bernard puppy and he wrote this furry character into one of his novels, “The Little White Bird”, later known as “Adventures in Kensington Gardens”.  “The Little White Bird” was published in 1902 and featured the memorable character of Peter Pan.  Eventually, this popular novel became such a critical and financial success for Barrie that it soon lead to the theatrical stage production of “Peter Pan” which premiered on December 27, 1904.

Unfortunately, during this time the Barrie’s marriage had proven to be an unhappy one and Mary had an affair.  To avoid the scandal of a divorce, Barrie offered her a legal separation if she agreed to sever ties with the other man.  Mary refused and Barrie sued for a divorce on the grounds of infidelity and it was granted in October 1909.

1911 Peter and Wendy bookBarrie found solace in his work and in 1911 he wrote another novel entitled “Peter and Wendy” that told the story of the “forever young” boy, the adventurous Peter, who meets Wendy Darling and her brothers.  Peter teaches the trio how to fly across the night sky of London to the island of Neverland where he lives with his band of Lost Boys, some of the other characters in the story include the fairy TinkerBelle and the pirate Captain Hook.

Barrie had created the story of Peter Pan for the sons of his close personal friend Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, who was a recent widow.  The name of the character of Peter Pan came from Peter for one of Llerelyn Davies’ sons and Pan was for the mischievous Greek God of the woodlands.  It has been said that the character of Peter Pan was also inspired by Barrie’s brother David who had died when he was a child and remained forever a young boy in the memory of his devastated mother.  Sadly, Mrs. Llewelyn Davies herself died a few years after meeting Barrie; he was named as one of the guardians of her boys and he unofficially adopted them.  Deeply affected by these personal events and his deep affection for children that he would never be able to have himself, in 1929 Barrie gave the copyright of the Peter Pan book and play to the Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is a children’s hospital located in London.

Throughout his life Barrie had many famous literary friends and acquaintances, such as H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Bernard Shaw, Rudyard Kipling and he corresponded from several years with Robert Louis Stevenson although they never meet because Stevenson was living in Samoa at the time.  Barrie was also friends with the Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott; he was the godfather to Scott’s son, Peter.  In his final hours before he died during his South Pole expedition, Scott wrote several letters to his family and relatives, and Barrie considered his letter from Scott one of his most cherished personal mementos and carried it with him for the rest of his life.  One of Barrie also met and told stories to the young daughters of the Duke of York, who was the future King George VI and the father of Princess Margaret and the present Queen Elizabeth II.

Barrie died of pneumonia on June 19,1937 and is buried at Kirriemuir next to his parents and two of his siblings.  The birthplace and childhood home is now a museum maintained by the National Trust of Scotland.

Honors and awards

Over the years Barrie received many awards and honors.  In 1913 he was made a baronet by King George V and in 1922 he was made a member of the Order of Merit.  In 1919 he was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews for a three year term and several years later Barrie served as Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh from 1930 to 1937.

Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, LondonA lasting memorial to the character of Peter Pan stands in an area of London’s Kensington Gardens located near Hyde Park.  At the time, the character of Peter had appeared in his book, “The Little White Bird”, Barrie was living in London and used the location as the setting for his story.  He wrote that Peter flies out of his nursery, out into the city and he lands in the Long Water area.  Magically overnight and with no advanced publicity, a statue of Peter Pan appeared on the same exact spot on May 1, 1912.  Barrie had commissioned Sir George Frampton to create the bronze statue and he worked on it in secret until it suddenly appeared as a surprise for the children of London.  The almost 10 foot high statue features Peter standing at the top of a tree trunk with several fairies, squirrels, rabbits and mice gathered around.

Of course, throughout the years, the story of Peter Pan and the other wonderful characters of the enchanted Neverland have held the imagination of the public since the book and the first theatrical production was performed.  There have been several versions of the play performed around the world, one of the most famous actresses to play Peter was Mary Martin on Broadway.  Probably the version that most children have seen is the 1953 Walt Disney animated film which features a magical adaption of Barrie’s play.  In 1991, Steven Spielberg produced the movie “Hook” (starring Robin Williams as Peter and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook) which tells the story of the older grown-up Peter who seems to have forgotten his childhood and his memories of living in Neverland.  Another great movie is the 2004 Warner Bros. film “Finding Neverland” (starring Johnny Depp playing J.M. Barrie and Kate Winslet playing his friend Sylvia Llewelyn Davies) which tells the story of how Barrie came to write the tale of Peter Pan.

John Muir’s Birthday

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John Muir 1

Visiting Yosemite for the first time in the 1980s I was enjoying our week long stay and stopped in the bookstore/gift shop to pick up something to read in the evenings.  When I am visiting a place I always like to read something about the local history, so the book that I purchased was “Son of the Wilderness – The Life of John Muir” by Linnie Marsh Wolfe.  Until that time I never really knew anything about John Muir (born: April 21, 1838  died: December 24, 1914) and I became fascinated with the life story of the Scottish-born naturalist, author and wilderness preservation activist.  He seemed to be such a simple man that was filled with such joy and wonder on his treks into Yosemite and other places of natural beauty throughout the country.  To honor his birthday today, this post tells the story of his life and will discuss his many accomplishments that changed the way many of us view our natural surroundings and our desire to save those special places for future generations.

John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland and was the third child of Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye who had a large family of eight children.  Muir was raised in a very strict religious home and this is probably the reason he was constantly in trouble for his mischievous adventures.  He was a curious child exploring the countryside around his home where he developed his love of nature early in life.  But his idyllic life in Scotland was soon to change in 1849 when the Muir family immigrated to the United States and settled on a farm located near Portage, Wisconsin.

Muir’s father was a very strict and dominating parent who required his children to work hard on the farm and adhere to his deep religious beliefs.  When he was 22 years old, Muir finally found some freedom from his difficult life when he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin located in Madison.  Muir took his studies very seriously and was proud to pay his own expenses working several different jobs.  He was a good student and soon developed a life-long friendship with Professor Ezra Carr who became an important mentor to Muir by inspiring an interest in chemistry, botany and geology and also his wife, Jeanne, who encouraged Muir in his future career as a naturalist author.

Muir never completed his college education and instead followed his brother to Canada in 1863 to avoid military service.  While in Canada he spent the spring and summer exploring the area around Lake Huron but when his money started to run out he rejoined his brother in Ontario and soon found work at a local sawmill.  In 1866, Muir returned to the United States and settled in Indianapolis, Indiana and started work in a local factory making wagon wheels.  He proved a valuable employee and was very inventive in improving the factory’s machines and manufacturing process.  Unfortunately in March 1867, Muir had an accident that was to dramatically change his life.  While working at the factory a tool slipped and struck him in the eye requiring his confinement in a darkened room for six weeks while he recovered from the injury. During his convalescence, Muir re-evaluated his life and decided that he needed to pursue his dreams of exploration and the study of nature which he felt this was his true purpose in life.

In September 1867, Muir set out on a trip from Indiana to Florida that he later wrote about in his book, “A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf”.  His plan called for no specific route, just to wander through the wilderness across the country until he reached his destination.  He ended up in Cedar Key, Florida and quickly found work at the Hodgson’s sawmill.  Muir traveled briefly to Havana, Cuba to study the flowers and shells of the island and then later traveled by boat to New York to connect with another ship traveling to California.

Arriving in San Francisco, Muir soon made plans to travel to a place he had recently read about and was very anxious to see.  On his first visit to Yosemite, Muir was overwhelmed by the beauty of the high granite cliffs, abundant waterfalls and meadows filled with flowers.  He eventually found seasonal work as a shepherd in the valley, then at a local sawmill and he built a cabin along the Yosemite Creek where he lived for two years.  Muir later wrote a book about his experiences in “First Summer in the Sierra”.  While living in Yosemite, Muir would take frequent hikes into the backcountry with a tin cup, a small supply of tea, a loaf of bread and a worn copy of a book of essays by the naturalist author, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Fatefully in 1871, Emerson came to Yosemite while on a tour of the Western United States and Muir was able to meet the author that he so greatly admired.

John Muir 2

While living in Yosemite, Muir became known locally for his vast knowledge the natural history of Yosemite and visiting scientists, artists and other distinguished people would hire him as a guide. When he was not working, Muir would often wander about the Yosemite Valley and the surrounding area to learn more about the botany and geology of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  He soon formed an interesting theory that the ancient glaciers “sculpted” the valleys and the granite surfaces of the mountains which was contradictory to the accepted scientific theory at the time.  Eventually Muir proved that his theory was valid through his observations of an active glacier near Merced Peak and encouraged by his friend, Jeanne Carr, Muir had his findings published in local and national newspapers.  Over the years, Muir continued travels in Yosemite and he also ventured to the state of Washington and then into the Alaskan territory of the United States.  (Remember, during this time in history Alaska was not officially a state until 1959)

By 1878, Muir’s friends were starting to encourage the constant wandering 40 year old bachelor to finally settle down.  Returning to the San Francisco area, his close friend Jeanne Carr introduced Muir to Louisa Strentzel, the daughter of a prominent physician named Dr. John Strentzel.  The Strentzel family lived northeast of Oakland on a 2,600 acre ranch filled with fruit orchards in Martinez, California. Then, in 1880 after returning from a trip to the Alaska territory, Muir and Louisa were married.  Shortly afterwards, Muir went into partnership with his father-in-law and for the next ten years Muir managed the property and the large fruit orchards.  (Travel Note: the Martinez house and a portion of the ranch are preserved by the National Park Service as the John Muir National Historic Site.  For more information, please see their website at www.nps.gov/jomu)

John Muir home

Muir and Louisa had a happy marriage and they had two daughters, Wanda and Helen.  While living at the house in Martinez, Muir gradually he began to spend an increasing amount of time writing about his experiences not only in Yosemite but also his past trips into the Alaska territory and the state of Washington where he climbed Mount Rainer.  For a man that enjoyed spending his time exploring the natural world around him, Muir soon found himself developing a successful career as a naturalist author.

John Muir - family

Over the years, Louisa began to fully understand that her husband was becoming more restless in his stationary life at the ranch and he needed to return to his travels.  Muir frequently returned to his beloved Yosemite, this time bringing his daughters with him but sadly he began to see the disastrous damage caused by the overgrazing of sheep in the meadows and the effect of the extreme logging of the Giant Sequoia in Mariposa Grove during his absence.  It was while on a Tuolumne Meadows camping trip in 1889 with an influential editor of “Century” Magazine, Robert Underwood Johnson, that Muir convinced the editor of the need to bring the Yosemite area under federal protection.  Muir and Johnson lobbied Congress and the Act to create Yosemite National Park was passed on October 1, 1890.  Unfortunately, the State of California still controled the areas of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove but Muir was successful in persuading local officials to prohibit livestock grazing in the Yosemite backcountry to stop any further damage.

Meanwhile, Muir was approached by Professor Henry Senger of the University of California at Berkeley to attend a meeting that was being held to form a group that was to become known as the Sierra Club.  That first meeting was held on May 28, 1892 and Muir was soon elected to be the club’s first president, a position that he held for 22 years.  Muir and the Sierra Club continued the efforts to lobby the federal government to include the areas of Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove into a proposed expanded Yosemite National Park.  During a visit to the California in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt traveled with Muir to Yosemite where they camped near Glacier Point for three days.  During that trip, Muir was able to convince Roosevelt about the need to bring those areas under federal control to protect them from further damage.  In 1906 Roosevelt signed a bill increasing the size of Yosemite Park to include both Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove.

Muir and Roosevelt

Unfortunately, Muir and the Sierra Club were not successful in saving another area of Yosemite.  The population and urban growth of the nearby San Francisco area caused a desperate need for an additional water source.  Political pressure was mounting to dam the Tuolumne River in the Hetch Hetchy Valley to create a large water reservoir.  Muir was very strong in his opposition of the project and united with his fellow members of the Sierra Club, Muir wrote to President Roosevelt about his concerns.  Then, President William Taft suspended the Hetch Hetchy dam project temporarily.  Muir and the Sierra Club keep the pressure on the federal government and a national debate went on for years regarding the project.  Eventually, President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill authorizing the construction of the dam and it became law on December 19, 1913.  Muir was greatly affected by the decision and he was deeply saddened by the loss of the Hetchy Hetchy Valley.

Within in a year of the defeat, Muir died in Los Angeles, CA on December 24, 1914 after a brief bout with pneumonia, he was 76 years old.  Muir is buried next to his wife’s grave near their former home in Martinez but until recently the burial site was privately owned with limited access.  Currently the National Park Service has acquired the grave site and there are plans to include it into the nearby John Muir National Historic site.

John Muirs grave