between books these days, I'm reading one about Harold Ross - founder of The New Yorker magazine..
written by his wife Jane Grant..
a few excerpts - - - - from chapter where she lays out a biography..
* note, his hair grew straight upwards - as can see here:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/NewYorker/rosshome2.html
* context - his Dad (a miner in Colorado) decided to move (with wife and young child) to Salt Lake City Utah to find work.
"En Route to Salt Lake the stagecoach ran into a snowstorm, slid off a mountain road, killing one and injuring most of the other passengers. Little Harold was battered. In later years, Ross attributed scars on his face to that accident. He maintained, too, that his hair started standing on end from that moment." . . . .
in school his teachers "tried to interest him in algebra, geometry, physics or languages, but without success. Yet, he read avidly and indiscriminately - historical and romantic novels, biographies, books on travel and adventure thrillers, and by the time he was sixteen Ross had a self-taught education in philosophy."
also ".. he took a boyish interest in mechanics. He tinkered at carpentry and with electrical equipment, and built a sort of Rube Goldberg contraption in his room which amazed his fond mother. With it he could open and close his window without getting out of bed, could do tricks with lights and cause furniture to rise or fall at the touch of a spring."
from Ross, The New Yorker and Me by Jane Grant
now maybe bear a new perspective in head next time pick up a New Yorker mag -
* great article in this week's on Noah Webster - who had a "custom-made desk, built in the form of a hollow circle, on which he placed dictionaries of some twenty languages. Standing in the opening at the center of the table, Webster spent his days turning around in the circle, following the roots of words from one language to the next, his heart racing at the pursuit. (He liked to take his pulse: when he made a discovery, it rose from 60 to 80 or 85 beats in a minute.)" . . . .
while in his study one day "Webster found Jesus: 'A sudden impulse upon my mind arrested me, and subdued my will. I instantly fell on my knees and confessed my sins to God, implored his pardon, and made my vows to him that from that time I would live in entire obedience to his commands.'"
"Webster's dictionary was a Christian catechism. It isn't only the just-so, evangelical etymologies. Webster's faith shines through on nearly every page, even under the most unlikely bushels:
Instrument, n. 2.. The instrument of a vastly extensive reformation in morals and religion.
Meritorious, a. . . . We rely for salvation on the meritorious obedience and sufferings of Christ.
Love, n. 1. The love of God is the first duty of man. . . v.t. . . . The Christian loves his Bible."
from The New Yorker November 6, 2006
written by his wife Jane Grant..
a few excerpts - - - - from chapter where she lays out a biography..
* note, his hair grew straight upwards - as can see here:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/NewYorker/rosshome2.html
* context - his Dad (a miner in Colorado) decided to move (with wife and young child) to Salt Lake City Utah to find work.
"En Route to Salt Lake the stagecoach ran into a snowstorm, slid off a mountain road, killing one and injuring most of the other passengers. Little Harold was battered. In later years, Ross attributed scars on his face to that accident. He maintained, too, that his hair started standing on end from that moment." . . . .
in school his teachers "tried to interest him in algebra, geometry, physics or languages, but without success. Yet, he read avidly and indiscriminately - historical and romantic novels, biographies, books on travel and adventure thrillers, and by the time he was sixteen Ross had a self-taught education in philosophy."
also ".. he took a boyish interest in mechanics. He tinkered at carpentry and with electrical equipment, and built a sort of Rube Goldberg contraption in his room which amazed his fond mother. With it he could open and close his window without getting out of bed, could do tricks with lights and cause furniture to rise or fall at the touch of a spring."
from Ross, The New Yorker and Me by Jane Grant
now maybe bear a new perspective in head next time pick up a New Yorker mag -
* great article in this week's on Noah Webster - who had a "custom-made desk, built in the form of a hollow circle, on which he placed dictionaries of some twenty languages. Standing in the opening at the center of the table, Webster spent his days turning around in the circle, following the roots of words from one language to the next, his heart racing at the pursuit. (He liked to take his pulse: when he made a discovery, it rose from 60 to 80 or 85 beats in a minute.)" . . . .
while in his study one day "Webster found Jesus: 'A sudden impulse upon my mind arrested me, and subdued my will. I instantly fell on my knees and confessed my sins to God, implored his pardon, and made my vows to him that from that time I would live in entire obedience to his commands.'"
"Webster's dictionary was a Christian catechism. It isn't only the just-so, evangelical etymologies. Webster's faith shines through on nearly every page, even under the most unlikely bushels:
Instrument, n. 2.. The instrument of a vastly extensive reformation in morals and religion.
Meritorious, a. . . . We rely for salvation on the meritorious obedience and sufferings of Christ.
Love, n. 1. The love of God is the first duty of man. . . v.t. . . . The Christian loves his Bible."
from The New Yorker November 6, 2006
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