http://oldtimewriter.gather.com Recent Articles on Gather by herbert l. en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:18:49 GMT 2009-12-31T09:18:49Z en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 http://www.gather.com/images/header/logo_gather.gif http://www.gather.com/ http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977867250 Because of her age, Miss Magill would leave the room for a few minutes from time to time. When she did, she brought in one of her former students, now in the upper grades, to serve as monitors. (This . . . Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:07:46 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977867250 herbert l. 2009-10-23T20:07:46Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977855646 “First, children must want to read,” Miss Anna F. Magill would tell the teachers who came from all over the United States to learn her methods. “And second, they must have something . . . Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:54:51 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977855646 herbert l. 2009-10-15T23:54:51Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977826469 One day when I came home from school, a woman who didn’t speak English was in our living room sewing a dress on my mother’s sewing machine. My mother spoke to her by using the dictionary . . . Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:27:28 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977826469 herbert l. 2009-09-25T19:27:28Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977803476 After card eighteen the compositions of the Horrors of War cards seemed to open up and grow less crowded. In addition, the subject matter expanded from the Sino-Japanese War to the Spanish Civil War . . . Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:35:26 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977803476 herbert l. 2009-09-07T23:35:26Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977789022   The pastel-colored scenes on the front had a yellowish tint and depicted so much death and violence some parents forbade their children to buy them. The first twenty in the series were as lacking . . . Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:42:00 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977789022 herbert l. 2009-08-26T19:42:00Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977775910 Part 2—The Coquillages I left the café, strolled up the boulevard, took a table in a seafood restaurant and ordered mussels, a green salad and a bottle of Rhone red. As I finished Camus’ . . . Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:03:44 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977775910 herbert l. 2009-08-16T18:03:44Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977765193 Part 1-Camus And Lincoln A couple of months ago, I was sitting in a cafe on Boulevard du Montparnasse, having a drink before dinner, rereading THE REBEL, half-hoping to be interrupted by some intellectual . . . Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:32:47 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977765193 herbert l. 2009-08-06T17:32:47Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977736238 The two best series of trading cards were the Play Ball Cards and the Horrors of War Cards, both produced in the late 1930s and early ‘forties by Gum, Inc. of Philadelphia, PA. Play Ball Cards had . . . Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:04:33 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977736238 herbert l. 2009-07-13T19:04:33Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977723807 When you walked into Ma’s Junk Shop on west Eighty-Ninth in Manhattan, you saw a small soda fountain with three stools to your left, and then a long glass display case filled with the hundred different . . . Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:55:32 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977723807 herbert l. 2009-06-28T20:55:32Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977714016 I love the game of baseball, be it sandlot, Little League, minor league, women’s softball, or best of all, Big League. At the same time, I do not love the business of baseball or the way the new . . . Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:42:03 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977714016 herbert l. 2009-06-17T23:42:03Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977703783 Charles O. Finley abandoned Kansas City in 1968 and moved his Athletics to Oakland where their fortunes, but not their attendance, quickly improved.  (They were replaced by the Kansas City Royals, . . . Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:51:12 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977703783 herbert l. 2009-06-07T04:51:12Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977703449 Charles O. Finley abandoned Kansas City in 1968 and moved his Athletics to Oakland where their fortunes, but not their attendance, quickly improved.  (They were replaced by the Kansas City Royals, . . . Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:15:50 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977703449 herbert l. 2009-06-06T19:15:50Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977700938 During baseball’s golden years, the teams were owned by men who treasured the game and dabbled at the business. In the 1950s the teams got bought by corporations whose executives treasured the business . . . Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:01:39 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977700938 herbert l. 2009-06-04T05:01:39Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977691642 After the Giants and Dodgers abandoned New York City and moved to California in 1958, the changes in Major League baseball accelerated. In 1961 the original Washington Senators moved to Minneapolis, took . . . Tue, 26 May 2009 00:12:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977691642 herbert l. 2009-05-26T00:12:15Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977682591 During baseball’s golden years, the season ran from mid-April to the end of September and each team played symmetrical twenty-two game series against all seven other teams in its league, eleven at the . . . Thu, 14 May 2009 18:29:41 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977682591 herbert l. 2009-05-14T18:29:41Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977673510 When I saw my first Major League game, baseball was known as “America’s Favorite Game,” and “The National Pastime.” The year was 1940 and there were sixteen Major League teams, all in the Northeast and . . . Mon, 04 May 2009 16:51:00 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977673510 herbert l. 2009-05-04T16:51:00Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977638628   Baseball record books are filled with statistics on home runs, runs batted in, earned run averages, etc. but there’s nothing in them on the intangible factors of the game. For example--in . . . Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:32:41 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977638628 herbert l. 2009-03-27T05:32:41Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977617661 Eddie Stanky and Alvin Dark complemented one another in the field, just as they did at bat and on the bases. In 1950, with them at second and shortstop, the Giants executed 181 double plays in 154 games, . . . Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:24:25 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977617661 herbert l. 2009-03-08T20:24:25Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977610161 Eddie Stanky was quoted as saying that if it meant being safe on a close play, he’d spike his own mother. I’m not certain he ever really said that. Or if he did say it, whether he truly would have spiked . . . Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:44:14 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977610161 herbert l. 2009-02-28T21:44:14Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977600194 As leadoff batter, Stanky steps into the batter’s box at the start of a game, and just as the pitcher begins his windup, Stanky throws up his hand, steps out of the batter’s box, asks for a time out. . . . Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:46:40 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977600194 herbert l. 2009-02-19T21:46:40Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977587581   After nine years making enemies of Giant fans as manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Durocher replaced Mel Ott as manager of the New York Giants halfway through the 1948 season. To rub the . . . Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:08:32 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977587581 herbert l. 2009-02-08T00:08:32Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977581963 (Originally appeared in Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2009) Karl Rove’s “Bush Was Right When It Mattered Most”   (op-ed, Jan. 22) did not appear balanced to this disappointed Republican. . . . Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:59:32 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977581963 herbert l. 2009-02-02T04:59:32Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977574892 When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, and the British declared war, my aunts Johanna and Margareta contributed money and clothing to British War Relief, willingly gave up their shipments of Darjeeling . . . Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:09:04 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977574892 herbert l. 2009-01-26T05:09:04Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977567705 The boycott my Aunts Johanna and Margareta conducted against the British Empire always reminds me of my father’s story about the mouse making love to an elephant underneath a coconut tree. A coconut . . . Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:32:19 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977567705 herbert l. 2009-01-19T06:32:19Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977546547 Just as the history of the United States has been tied to the geography of North America, so the history of  New York Giants baseball was tied to the asymmetrical bathtub shape of the Polo Grounds. . . . Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:27:13 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977546547 herbert l. 2008-12-28T01:27:13Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977541472 The week after my father bought me my first mitt, he took me to the Polo Grounds to see my first ballgame and to see how Major Leaguers played. I was hooked by the sheer beauty of the place before the . . . Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:23:53 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977541472 herbert l. 2008-12-21T05:23:53Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977517533 For my eighth birthday my father took me to Davega’s on Broadway near 86th for my first baseball mitt. I picked a glove signed by Steve Sundra, and my father took me down to Riverside Drive to play . . . Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:44:42 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977517533 herbert l. 2008-11-25T18:44:42Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977502349   (Continued from The Way Things Used To Be 27--JoeLouis—Young) Right after the Youth Forum ended I ran outside and caught Joe Louis in the hallway. He was wearing his army uniform and he . . . Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:59:18 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977502349 herbert l. 2008-11-10T00:59:18Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977492087 The current projected base deficit is $487 billion for 2009, but that does not cover the second half cost of the war. That cost will raise the deficit to  $562 billion. Senator Obama has advocated . . . Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:30:32 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977492087 herbert l. 2008-10-29T19:30:32Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977483756 Toward the end of the War, my school sent me down to the Hotel Astor on Times Square as P.S.6’s representative to the Herald Tribune Youth Forum. The main speaker was Sergeant Joe Louis with whom I . . . Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:11:47 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977483756 herbert l. 2008-10-20T22:11:47Z