Charles Lindbergh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born February, 1902
Detroit, Michigan
Died August 26, 1974
Kipahulu, Maui, Hawaii
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 - August 26, 1974), known as "Lucky Lindy" and "The Lone Eagle," was an American pilot famous for the first solo, non-stop flight from New York to Paris in 1927 in the Spirit of St. Louis. In the ensuing deluge of notoriety, Lindbergh became the world's best-known aviator.
In the years prior to World War II, Lindbergh was a noted isolationist, and was a leader in the America First Committee to keep the US out of the coming war. Nevertheless, he flew combat missions in the Pacific Theater as a consultant. In later years, Lindbergh took an active role in the environmental movement.
Introduction to aviation
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan. He spent summers on a farm near Little Falls, Minnesota but also spent time in Detroit and Washington, D.C. His father, Charles Lindbergh Sr., a Swedish immigrant, was a lawyer and later a U.S. Congressman who opposed the entry of the U.S. into World War I. His mother Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh, of English, French, and Irish descent, was a teacher. Lindbergh, for a short time, attended Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California.[1]
Note: Lindbergh was not a junior since his middle name was not the same as his father's. From Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg: "But he [Lindbergh] would be her only child - named for his father, with the addition of a syllable to the middle name: Charles Augustus Lindbergh."
Early on, he showed an interest in machinery (first his family's Saxon Six, later his own Excelsior motorbike and, finally, airplanes). In 1922, he quit the mechanical engineering program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joined a pilot and mechanics training program with Nebraska Aircraft, bought his own plane, a World War I-surplus Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny," and became a barnstormer, the "Daredevil Lindbergh."[2] In 1924, he started training as a pilot with the Army Air Service. During this time he also held a job as an airline mechanic in Billings, Montana, working at Logan International Airport.
After finishing first in his pilot training class, Lindbergh took his first job as the chief pilot of an airmail route operated by Robertson Aircraft Co. of Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri. He flew the mail in a de Havilland DH-4 biplane to Springfield, Peoria and Chicago, Illinois. During his tenure on the mail route, he was renowned for delivering the mail under any circumstances. After a crash, he even salvaged stashes of mail from his burning aircraft and immediately phoned Alexander Varney, Peoria's airport manager, to advise him to send a truck.
In April 1923, while visiting friends in Lake Village, Arkansas, Lindbergh made his first ever nighttime flight over Lake Village and Lake Chicot.
First non-stop flight New York to Paris
Lindbergh drives through a parade in downtown Atlanta where crowds line the street on October 11, 1927.The Orteig Prize, a $25,000 prize offered in 1919 by New York hotelier Raymond Orteig, a Frenchman, for the first non-stop flight from New York City to Paris spurred a great amount of interest worldwide. Either an easterly flight from New York or a westbound flight from Paris would qualify. The first challengers were French war heroes Captain Charles Nungesser and his navigator Raymond Coli. They took off on May 8, 1927 on a westbound flight in the Levasseur PL 8, nicknamed the L'Oiseau Blanc. Their last known contact was when they crossed the coast of Ireland. Other teams including famed WWI "ace" René Fonck, Clarence Chamberlin (who made the second non-stop flight across the Atlantic two weeks after Lindbergh, landing in Eisleben, Germany near Berlin) and Admiral Richard E. Byrd, were also in the race to claim the Orteig Prize. The race had become more deadly when Noel Davis and Stanton H. Wooster were killed when the former's New York to Paris entry crashed while Charles N. Clavier and Jacob Islaroff were burned to death at Roosevelt Field when Captain René Fonck's Sikorsky plane nosed over in taking off(from weight).
Lindbergh gained sudden great international fame as the first pilot to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. He flew from Roosevelt Airfield (Nassau County, Long Island), New York to Paris on May 20-May 21, 1927 in 33.5 hours. His plane was the single-engine aircraft The Spirit of St. Louis. It was designed by Donald Hall and custom built by Ryan Airlines of San Diego, California. (His grandson Erik Lindbergh repeated this trip 75 years later in 2002 in 17 hours 17 minutes.) The President of France bestowed on him the French Legion of Honor and, on his arrival back in the United States, a fleet of warships and aircraft escorted him to Washington, D.C. where President Calvin Coolidge awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross on June 11, 1927.
Lindbergh's accomplishment won him the Orteig Prize; more significant than the prize money was the acclaim that resulted from his daring flight. A ticker-tape parade was held for him down 5th Avenue in New York City on June 13, 1927.[3] His public stature following this flight was such that he became an important voice on behalf of aviation activities until his death. including the central committee of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in the United States. On March 21, 1929, he was presented the Medal of Honor for his historic trans-Atlantic flight.
The massive publicity surrounding him and his flight boosted the aircraft industry and made a skeptical public take air travel seriously. Lindbergh is recognized in aviation for demonstrating and charting polar air-routes, high altitude flying techniques, and increasing aircraft flying range by decreasing fuel consumption. These innovations are the basis of modern intercontinental air travel.
Although Lindbergh was the first to fly solo from New York to Paris non-stop, he was not the first aviator on a transatlantic heavier-than-air aircraft flight. That had been done first in stages by the crew of the NC-4, in May 1919, although their flying boat broke down and had to be repaired before continuing. The NC-4 flights took 19 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
The first truly non-stop transatlantic flight was achieved nearly eight years previously by two British fliers, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in their Vickers Vimy IV modified bomber on June 14-15, 1919. They flew from Lester's Field near St. Johns, Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland (although this was a shorter flight than Lindbergh's) and, in so doing, won the Daily Mail prize of 10,000 pounds sterling presented to them by Winston Churchill. A statue commemorating this first non-stop transatlantic flight is at London Heathrow Airport. A total of 81 people had flown across the Atlantic prior to Lindbergh.
After his flight, Lindbergh wrote a letter to the director of Longines, describing in detail a watch which would make navigation easier for pilots. The watch was built and is still produced today.
Marriage, children, kidnapping
According to a Biography Channel profile on Lindbergh, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the daughter of diplomat Dwight Morrow, was the only woman he had ever asked out on a date. The couple were married on May 27, 1929, and he taught her how to fly and did much of his exploring and charting of air routes with her. They had six children: Charles Augustus Lindbergh II (1930-1932); Jon Lindbergh (b. 1932); Land Morrow Lindbergh (b. 1937), who studied anthropology at Stanford University and married Susan Miller in San Diego; Anne Lindbergh (1940-1993); Scott Lindbergh (b. 1942); and Reeve Lindbergh (b. 1945), a writer.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh II, 20 months old, was abducted on March 1, 1932, from the Lindbergh home. After a nationwide 10-week search and ransom negotiations with the kidnappers, an infant corpse, identified by Lindbergh as his son, was found on May 12 in Jefferson, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home. More than three years later, a media circus ensued when the man accused of the murder, Bruno Hauptmann, went on trial in New Jersey. Tired of being in the spotlight and still mourning the loss of their son, the Lindberghs moved to Europe in December 1935. Hauptmann, who maintained his innocence until the end, was found guilty and was executed on April 3, 1936.
Pre-war activities
In Europe, during the pre-war period, Lindbergh traveled to Germany several times at the behest of the U.S. military, where he reported on German aviation and the Luftwaffe (air force). Lindbergh was intrigued, and stated that Germany had taken a leading role in a number of aviation developments, including metal construction, low-wing designs, dirigibles, and Diesel engines. Lindbergh also undertook a survey of aviation in the Soviet Union in 1938 and reported to the United States military upon his return from each of these trips.
The Lindberghs lived in England and Brittany, France during the late 1930s in order to find tranquility and avoid the celebrity that followed them everywhere in the United States after the kidnapping trial.
While living in France, Lindbergh worked with Nobel Prize-winning French surgeon Dr. Alexis Carrel, with whom he had collaborated on earlier projects when the latter lived in the United States. In 1930, Lindbergh's sister-in-law developed a fatal heart condition. Lindbergh began to wonder why no one could repair hearts with surgery. He discovered it was because organs could not be kept alive outside the body, and set about working on a solution to the problem with Carrel. Lindbergh's invention, a glass perfusion pump, was credited with making future heart surgeries possible.[4] The device in this early stage was far from perfected, however. Although perfused organs were said to have survived surprisingly well, all showed progressive degenerative changes in a few days.[5] Carrel also introduced Lindbergh to eugenics and scientific racism, which would be one of the main factors in shaping the controversial views on foreign policy he would later divide his native country and eventually ruin his public reputation by advocating.[6]
In 1929, Lindbergh became interested in the work of U.S. rocket pioneer Robert Goddard. The following year, Lindbergh helped Goddard secure his first endowment from Daniel Guggenheim, which allowed Goddard to expand his independent research and development. Lindbergh remained a key supporter and advocate of Goddard's work throughout his life.
In 1938, Lindbergh and Carrel collaborated on a book, The Culture of Organs, which summarized their work on perfusion of organs outside the body. Lindbergh and Carrel discussed an artificial heart[7] but it would be decades before one was actually built.
Since 2002, the annual Lindbergh-Carrel Prize is awarded at a Charles Lindbergh Symposium for an outstanding contribution to development of perfusion and bioreactor technologies for organ preservation and growth.
But his involvement with German aviation brought Lindbergh back into the American limelight once again. In 1938, the American ambassador to Germany, Hugh Wilson, invited Lindbergh to a dinner with Hermann Göring at the American embassy in Berlin. The dinner included diplomats and three of the greatest minds of German aviation, Ernst Heinkel, Adolf Baeumaker and Dr. Willy Messerschmitt. Göring presented Lindbergh with the Service Cross of the German Eagle (the Großkreuz des Deutschen Adlers) for his services to aviation and particularly for his 1927 flight (Henry Ford received the same award earlier in July). Lindbergh's acceptance of the honour later caused an outcry in the United States.
Lindbergh declined to return the medal to the Germans because he claimed that to do so would be "an unnecessary insult" to the German Nazi government. He returned to the United States soon after World War II broke out in Europe.
Lindbergh and the Munich Crisis
Lindbergh went to Germany at the urgent request of the US Military Attaché in Berlin, who was charged with learning everything possible about Germany's new warplanes. Thus Lindbergh traveled repeatedly to Germany, touring German aviation facilities, where the Luftwaffe Chief tried to convince Lindbergh that the Luftwaffe was far more powerful than it actually was. Lindbergh used his prestige to gain far more knowledge of German warplanes than any American. As historian Wayne Cole explains:
"Of particular importance were the Junkers Ju 88 and, again, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. With the approval of Goering and Ernst Udet, Lindbergh was the first American permitted to examine the Luftwaffe's newest and best bomber, the Ju 88. And he got the unprecedented opportunity to pilot its finest fighter, the Bf 109. He was highly impressed by both aircraft and knew "of no other pursuit plane which combines simplicity of construction with such excellent performance characteristics" as the Bf 109. In his visits to Germany from 1936 through 1938, Colonel Lindbergh closely inspected all the types of military aircraft that Germany was to use against Poland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and England in 1939 and 1940. The Bf 109 and Ju 88 were front-line German combat planes throughout World War II. And Lindbergh's findings about those various planes found their way into American air intelligence reports to Washington long before the European war began."[8]
At the urging of U.S. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, Lindbergh wrote a secret memo for the British arguing that if England and France attempted to stop Hitler's aggression, it would be military suicide. Some military historians argue that Lindbergh was basically accurate and that his warnings helped save Britain from likely defeat in 1938. Others say that his actions were beneficial to the Third Reich's war effort. In fact, it is said that Goering intentionally used Lindbergh to keep the French and British at bay while maneuvering in Eastern Europe.[citation needed] There is a case for both of these arguments, as Lindbergh favored a war between Germany and Russia, but deplored the war between Germany and Britain. In Charles A. Lindbergh and the Battle against American Intervention in World War II, Cole explains how Lindbergh was dismayed that pacifism in France had already left that country without a sufficient military and possibly already doomed by 1938, and that Britain had an outdated military still focused on naval power instead of an updated air arsenal to deter the Luftwaffe and force Hitler to turn his ambitions eastward toward a war against "Asiatic Communism." There is some controversy as to how accurate his alarmism concerning the Luftwaffe was, but Cole reports that the general consensus among British and American officials was that it was slightly exaggerated but nevertheless badly needed.
Lindbergh and Nazi Germany
Because of his numerous scientific expeditions to Nazi Germany, combined with a belief in eugenics, Lindbergh was tarred as a Nazi sympathizer. FDR considered him a Nazi and banned him from joining the military. Lindbergh's subsequent combat missions as a civilian consultant restored his reputation after the public found out about them, but only to an extent. However, his much acclaimed and Pulitzer Prize winning biographer A. Scott Berg contends that Lindbergh was not so much a supporter of the Nazi regime as someone so stubborn in his convictions and relatively inexperienced in political maneuvering that he easily allowed rivals to portray him as one, and that in his support for the America First Committee he was merely giving voice to the sentiments of some American people. In 1938, the war had not yet begun in Europe, and the German medal was approved without objection by the American embassy. It did not cause controversy until the war began and he returned to the United States in 1939 to spread his message of non-intervention. His anti-Communism resonated deeply with many Americans, and many of his views were common before World War II (Eugenics and Nordicism enjoyed much social acceptance in the pre-war era. [9] and other notable enthusiasts of such ideas included Theodore Roosevelt,[10] Winston Churchill[11] and George S. Patton[12]).
Many of Lindbergh's views, such as his expressed belief in American democracy[13] and a surprisingly positive attitude toward blacks for the time[14] (something that was scheduled to be fully revealed in an undelivered speech interrupted by the events that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor[15]) were quite inconsistent with the racial and political beliefs of the Nazis. Still, some people strongly dislike him to this day for public remarks that are difficult not to construe as anti-semitic and for clearly stating in numerous articles and speeches that he considered the survival of the white race to be more important than the survival of democracy in Europe: "Our bond with Europe is one of race and not of political ideology," he declared. His detractors created propaganda pamphlets attempting to tie him to alleged Nazi intrigue, pointing out the fact that his efforts were praised in Nazi Germany and including controversial quotes such as "Racial strength is vital- politics, a luxury." They also included pictures of him using the stiff-armed Bellamy salute (which was the standard United States salute until 1942).[16] Berg explains that interventionist propagandists photographed Lindbergh and other America Firsters using this salute from an angle that did not show the American flag, so it would be indistinguishable to observers from the Hitler salute.
Lindbergh was critical of the Nazi Germany's treatment of Jews, which he said in 1941 that "No person with a sense of dignity of mankind can condone."[17] He did not think America had any business attacking Germany and believed in upholding the Monroe Doctrine, which his interventionist rivals felt was outdated. He also feared that destroying a powerful European nation would lead to the downfall of Western Civilization and a rise in Communist supremacy over Europe.
Much of his position had to do with the fact that he considered Russia to be a "semi-Asiatic" rather than European country compared to Germany, and because he found Communism to be an ideology that would destroy the West's "racial strength" and eventually replace everyone of European descent with "a pressing sea of Yellow, Black, and Brown." He believed that race was directly correlated to national success and non-whites were intellectually inferior. Lindbergh admired specific elements from European nations, such as "the German genius for science and organization, the English genius for government and commerce, the French genius for living and the understanding of life." He believed that "in America they can be blended to form the greatest genius of all." His interrupted plan to voice his opposition to the Jim Crow laws was possibly inspired by his belief in black "sensate superiority" as well as an opportunity to expose what he saw as FDR's hypocrisy. Although he considered Hitler a fanatic even before the details of the Holocaust reached him, Lindbergh openly stated that if he had to choose, he would rather see his country allied with Nazi Germany than Soviet Russia. (While he preferred "Nordics,"[18] he also believed Russia would one day be a valuable ally against potential aggression from East Asia after Soviet Communism was defeated.[19])
The American Axis, written by Holocaust researcher and investigative journalist Max Wallace, takes a harsh view of Lindbergh's pre-war actions, agreeing with FDR's assessment that Lindbergh was "pro-Nazi." However, Wallace finds that the Roosevelt Administration's accusations of dual loyalty or treason are unsubstantiated. Wallace considers Lindbergh a well-intentioned, but bigoted and misguided sympathizer of the Nazis whose career as the leader of the isolationist movement had a destructive impact on Jewish people. In his 1999 biography of Lindbergh, A. Scott Berg criticizes Lindbergh's anti-Semitic beliefs but distinguishes between what Berg considers Lindbergh's paranoia about the intentions of most American Jews and the virulent anti-Semitism of the Nazis. Berg also finds that Lindbergh believed in a voluntary rather than compulsory eugenics program but takes his subject to task for basing his view of the war on his "xenophobic thinking" and his assumption that Hitler was not as dangerous as a "Ghengis Khan or Xerxes marching against our Western nations" because the Nazi leader was a European nationalist rather than a Communist or "some Asiatic intruder."
The same year Berg's Pulitzer Prize winning bestseller Lindbergh was published, a book by Pat Buchanan entitled A Republic, Not An Empire: Reclaiming America's Destiny appeared. The book portrays Lindbergh and other pre-war isolationists as American patriots, who were smeared by interventionists during the months leading up to Pearl Harbor. Buchanan suggests that the backlash against Lindbergh highlights "the explosiveness of mixing ethnic politics with foreign policy."[20] The views expressed in the book caused considerable controversy that eventually led to Buchanan's departure from the Republican Party.[21]
Lindbergh had always preached military strength and alertness.[22][23] He believed that a strong defensive war machine as well as his controversial ideas about race would make America an impenetrable fortress and defend the Western Hemisphere from an attack by foreign powers, and that this was the U.S. military's sole purpose.[24] Many respect Lindbergh for helping to keep American public opinion isolationist until 1941 and advancing the movement to keep America out of the war for as long as possible. Supporters of Lindbergh say the policy he supported helped to bleed Josef Stalin's military. The war was devastating for the Soviets, and with a pre-war population of over 168 million, over 13% of its population perished. By comparison, with a population of 132 million, the United States lost 418,500 and fought essentially the entire war outside of its continental borders (with the exception of a few Japanese attacks on the West Coast). At the same time, some praise Lindbergh for his prediction that an Iron Curtain would descend upon Europe; many of the predictions Lindbergh made about the war came before Hitler violated his non-aggression pact with Stalin and launched Operation Barbarossa.[25] Berg reveals that while the attack on Pearl Harbor came as a shock to Lindbergh, he did predict that America's "wavering policy in the Philippines" would invite a bloody war there, and, in one speech, he warned that "we should either fortify these islands adequately, or get out of them entirely." Cole, Wallace and Buchanan all believe Lindbergh was highly influential in ensuring that Hitler's war machine would advance toward the Eastern Front and inflict the most devastation there, but their opinions differ as to whether or not this is something to be proud of.
Outbreak of war
As World War II began in Europe, Lindbergh became a prominent speaker in favor of non-intervention, going so far as to recommend that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Germany during his January 23, 1941 testimony before Congress. He joined the antiwar America First Committee and soon became its most prominent public spokesman, speaking to overflow crowds in Madison Square Garden in New York City and Soldier Field in Chicago.
In a speech at an America First rally on September 11, 1941 in Des Moines, Iowa entitled "Who Are the War Agitators?" Lindbergh claimed that three groups had been "pressing this country toward war: the Roosevelt Administration, the British and the Jews" and complained about what he insisted was the Jews' "large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government." Although he made clear his opposition to German anti-Semitism, stating that "All good men of conscience must condemn the treatment of the Jews in Germany," other comments seemed to suggest that he believed that Jews should expect trouble for supporting the war: "Instead of agitating for war, the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way for they will be among the first to feel its consequences. Tolerance is a virtue that depends upon peace and strength. History shows that it cannot survive war and devastation."[26]
There was widespread negative reaction to the speech. It seemed to echo Adolf Hitler's infamous speech of 30 January 1939, predicting "the destruction of the Jewish race" if they started a world war. Lindbergh was forced to defend and clarify his comments by noting again that he was not anti-Semitic, but he did not back away from his statement. Lindbergh resigned his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps when President Roosevelt openly questioned his loyalty (which did severe damage to his reputation at the time). After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Lindbergh attempted to return to the Army Air Corps, but was denied when several of Roosevelt's cabinet secretaries registered objections.
World War II
Charles Lindbergh went on to assist with the war effort by serving as a civilian consultant to aviation companies, beginning with Ford in 1942, working at the Willow Run B-24 production line. Later in 1943, he joined United Aircraft as an engineering consultant, devoting most of his time to its Chance-Vought Division. As a technical advisor with Ford, he was deeply involved in trouble-shooting early problems encountered in B-24 production. As B-24 production smoothed out, he devoted more time to Chance-Vought. The following year, he persuaded United Aircraft to designate him a technical representative in the Pacific War to study aircraft performances under combat conditions. He showed Marine F4U pilots how to take off with twice the bomb load that the aircraft was rated for and on May 21, 1944 he flew his first combat mission. It was with VMF-222 on a strafing run near the Japanese garrison of Rabaul[27].
In his six months in the Pacific in 1944, Lindbergh took part in fighter bomber raids on Japanese positions, flying about 50 combat missions (again as a civilian). His innovations in the use of P-38s impressed a supportive Gen. Douglas MacArthur.[28] Despite the long range exhibited by the P-38 Lightning leading to missions such as the one that killed Admiral Yamamoto, Lindbergh's contributions included engine-leaning techniques that he introduced to P-38 Lightning pilots. These techniques greatly improved fuel usage while cruising, enabling the aircraft to fly even longer-range missions. On July 28, 1944 during a P-38 bomber escort mission with the 475th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force, in the Ceram area, Lindbergh is credited with shooting down a Sonia observation plane piloted by Captain Saburo Shimada, Commanding Officer of the 73rd Independent Chutai[29][30]. The US Marine and Army Air Force pilots who served with Lindbergh admired and respected him, praising his courage and defending his patriotism regardless of his politics.[31][32]
Later life
After World War II he lived quietly in Connecticut as a consultant both to the chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and to Pan American World Airways. Much of Europe having fallen under Communist control, Lindbergh believed most of his pre-war assessments had been correct all along. But Berg reports that after witnessing the defeat of Germany and the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand shortly after his service in the Pacific, "he knew the American public no longer gave a hoot about his opinions." His 1953 book The Spirit of St. Louis, recounting his non-stop transatlantic flight, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1954. Dwight D. Eisenhower restored Lindbergh's assignment with the Army Air Corps and made him a Brigadier General in 1954. In that year, he served on the congressional advisory panel set up to establish the site of the United States Air Force Academy. In December 1968, he visited the crew of Apollo 8 on the eve of the first manned spaceflight to leave earth orbit.
From 1957 until his death in 1974, Lindbergh had an affair with a woman 24 years his junior, German hat maker Brigitte Hesshaimer who lived in a small Bavarian town called Geretsried (35 km south of Munich). On November 23, 2003, DNA tests proved that he fathered her three children: Dyrk (1958), Astrid (1960) and David (1967). The two managed to keep the affair secret; even the children did not know the true identity of their father, whom they saw when he came to visit once or twice per year using the alias name "Careu Kent." Astrid later read a magazine article about Lindbergh and found snapshots and more than a hundred letters written from him to her mother. She disclosed the affair after both Brigitte and Anne Morrow Lindbergh had died.
It is speculated that Lindbergh may also have fathered two children by Brigitte's sister Marietta (Vago [1962] and Christoph [1966]), and two more children with his private secretary, Valeska (a son in 1959 and a daughter in 1961).
Environmental causes
From the 1960s on, Lindbergh became an advocate for the conservation of the natural world, campaigning to protect endangered species like humpback and blue whales, was instrumental in establishing protections for the "primitive" Filipino group the Tasaday and African tribes, and supporting the establishment of a national park. While studying the native flora and fauna of the Philippines, he also became involved in an effort to protect the Philippine eagle. In his final years, Lindbergh became troubled that the world was out of balance with its natural environment; he stressed the need to regain that balance, and spoke against the introduction of supersonic airliners.
Lindbergh's speeches and writings later in life emphasized his love of both technology and nature, and a lifelong belief that "all the achievements of mankind have value only to the extent that they preserve and improve the quality of life." In a 1967 Life magazine article, he said, "The human future depends on our ability to combine the knowledge of science with the wisdom of wildness."
In honor of Charles and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh's vision of achieving balance between the technological advancements they helped pioneer, and the preservation of the human and natural environments, every year since 1978 the Lindbergh Award has been given by the Lindbergh Foundation to recipients whose work has made a significant contribution toward the concept of "balance".
His final book, Autobiography of Values, was published posthumously.
Lindbergh spent his final years on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where he died of cancer on August 26, 1974. He was buried on the grounds of the Palapala Ho'omau Church in Kipahulu, Maui. His epitaph on a simple stone which quotes Psalms 139:9, reads: Charles A. Lindbergh Born: Michigan, 1902. Died: Maui, 1974. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. ?- CAL
Legacy
The Lindbergh Terminal at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport was named after him, and a replica of The Spirit of St. Louis hangs there. There also is a replica of his plane hanging from the ceiling of the great hall at the recently rebuilt Jefferson Memorial at Forest Park in St. Louis where the definitive oil painting of Charles Lindbergh by St. Louisan Richard Krause entitled "The Spirit Soars" has also been displayed. He also lent his name to San Diego's Lindbergh Field, which also is known now as San Diego International Airport. The airport in Winslow, Arizona has been renamed Winslow-Lindbergh Regional. Lindbergh himself had designed the airport in 1929 when it was built as a refueling point for the first coast-to-coast air service. The airport in Little Falls, Minnesota, where he grew up, has been named Little Falls/Morrison County-Lindbergh Field.
In 1952, Grandview High School in St. Louis County was renamed Lindbergh High School. The school newspaper is the Pilot, the yearbook is the Spirit, and the students are known as the Flyers. The school district was also later named after Lindbergh. The stretch of U.S. 67 that runs through most of the St. Louis metro area is called "Lindbergh Blvd." Lindbergh has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Lindbergh is a recipient of the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest adult award given by the Boy Scouts of America.
The controversy surrounding his involvement in politics (and to a lesser extent, his personal life) sometimes overshadows the fact that he was an important pioneer in aviation from the 1920s to the 1950s. His 1927 flight made him the first international celebrity in the age of mass media, and literally changed the world overnight. In the late 1940s, when he was inspecting U.S. Air Force bases to evaluate the capability of American air power in relation to the emerging Cold War (of which he was a staunch supporter), one general remembers Lindbergh's critical view of his own legacy. "I think my flight to Paris came too soon for the civilizations of the world," he commented, "They were suddenly thrown together by air travel and they weren't quite ready for it."[33]
Awards and Decorations
Lindbergh was given many medals. Most were given to the Missouri Historical Society and are on display at the Jefferson Memorial, Forest Park, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Legion of Honor {French}
Medal of Honor {USA}
Distinguished Flying Cross {USA}
Service Cross of the German Eagle {German}
Pulitzer Prize (USA)
Silver Buffalo Award {USA}
Official Royal Air Force Museum medal
Lindbergh in pop culture
Shortly after Lindbergh made his famous flight, the Stratemeyer Syndicate began publishing the Ted Scott Flying Stories (1927- 1943) by Franklin W. Dixon wherein the hero was closely modeled after Lindbergh.
Charles A. Lindbergh (1927) was a UK documentary by De Forest Phonofilm based on Charles A. Lindbergh's landmark flight.
A song called "Lucky Lindy" was released soon after the 1927 flight. Tony Randall, not particularly known for singing, but a fan of old songs, revived it in the 1960s in a collection of jazz-age and depression era songs that he recorded.
The dance craze, the "Lindy Hop" became popular after his flight, and was named after him.
40,000 Miles with Lindbergh (1928) was a documentary featuring Charles A. Lindbergh.
The Agatha Christie book (1934) and movie Murder on the Orient Express (1974) begin with a fictionalized depiction of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
The 1942 film, "Keeper of the Flame," starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, features Hepburn as the wife of a Lindbergh-like national hero who is secretly a fascist. He intended to use his influence, especially over America's youth to turn the country into a fascist state and eliminate inferior races. It appears have been inspired by the controversy surrounding Lindbergh, but is much-exaggerated from the views Lindbergh actually held.
Verdensberømtheder i København (1939) was an English/Danish co-production starring Robert Taylor, Myrna Loy and Edward G. Robinson featured Charles A. Lindbergh as himself.
James Stewart played Lindbergh in the biographical The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), directed by Billy Wilder. The film begins with events leading up to the flight before giving a gripping and intense depiction of the flight itself.
An alternative history novel, Robert Harris' Fatherland, published in 1992, has Lindbergh as the American Ambassador in 1964 Nazi Germany.
The American Experience - Lindbergh: The Shocking, Turbulent Life of America's Lone Eagle (1988) was a PBS documentary directed by Stephen Ives.
British Sea Power wrote, recorded and released (2002) a song in his honor entitled "Spirit of St Louis", a live favorite.
A fictional version of Lindbergh is a major character in Philip Roth's 2004 alternative history novel, The Plot Against America. In Roth's narrative, Lindbergh successfully runs against Roosevelt in the 1940 US presidential election and aligns his country with the Nazis. This portrayal engendered great controversy.
Ida Lupino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born February 4, 1918
Camberwell, London, England
Died August 3, 1995
Los Angeles, California, USA
Ida Lupino (February 4, 1918 - August 3, 1995) was a film actress, director, and a pioneer in the field of women filmmakers.
Early life
She was born in Camberwell, London, England, (allegedly under a table during a World War I zeppelin raid), the daughter of actress Connie O'Shea (aka: Connie Emerald) and music hall entertainer, Stanley Lupino, whose distant Italian ancestry can be traced to 17th century Italian immigrants to England.
Career rise
Encouraged to enter show business by both her parents and an uncle, Lupino Lane, Ida Lupino made her first film appearance in 1931, in The Love Race and worked for several years playing unsubstantial roles.
It was after her appearance in The Light That Failed in 1939 that she was taken seriously as a dramatic actress.
Her parts improved during the 1940s and she began to describe herself as "the poor man's Bette Davis". While working for Warner Brothers, she would also refuse parts that Davis had rejected, and earned herself suspensions.
During this period she became known for her hard boiled roles and appeared in such films as They Drive by Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941). She acted regularly and was in demand throughout the '40s without becoming a major star.
In 1947, Lupino left Warner Brothers to become a freelance actress. Notable films around that time include Road House and On Dangerous Ground.
Directing
It was during a suspension in the late 1940s that she began studying the processes behind the camera. Her first directing job came when Elmer Clifton became ill during Not Wanted, a 1949 movie which she co-wrote.
Lupino often joked that if she had been the "poor man's Bette Davis" as an actress, then she had become the "poor man's Don Siegel" as a director. From the early '50s she began directing films, mostly melodramas and was one of the few women of her era to achieve success in this field.
She directed Outrage in 1950, and tackled the extremely controversial subject (at that time) of rape. In addition to acting in many films noir, she also directed The Hitch-Hiker (1953). The film was the first film noir directed by a woman.
She continued acting throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and her directing efforts during these years were almost exclusively television productions such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Donna Reed Show, Gilligan's Island, 77 Sunset Strip, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Untouchables, The Fugitive, and Bewitched.
After guest starring in popular TV shows, she retired after making her final film appearance in 1978.
Awards
The second woman to be admitted to the Director's Guild (following Dorothy Arzner), Ida Lupino has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the fields of television and motion pictures. They are located at 1724 Vine Street and 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.
Personal life
Ida Lupino was born in 1918 (and not 1914 as other biographies have it) as per her birth reference.
She married and divorced three times:
Louis Hayward, actor (November 1938 - 11 May 1945)
Collier Young, producer (1948 London-1951)
Howard Duff, actor, (October 1951 - 1984)
one daughter, actress Bridget Duff (b. April 23, 1952)
Lupino was never a public figure, and kept her private affairs separate from her work.
Ida Lupino died from a stroke while undergoing treatment for colon cancer in Los Angeles, California. She is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
The face currently featured on the Columbia Pictures Statue of Liberty logo at the beginning of each of their movies for the past several years looks exactly like Lupino's, although the studio insists that it's a composite of several actresses. A model named Jenny Joseph posed for the body but a different face was substituted.
Gary Conway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gary Conway (born February 4, 1936) is an American actor. He was born Gareth Monello Carmody in Boston, Massachusetts.
Conway was the youngest artist to win a major prize at the LA County Art Exhibition and, before age sixteen, was awarded full scholarships to the three most prestigious art schools in the country. As well as being a recognized portrait painter at a very young age, Gary was preoccupied with music, performing as a violinist at the Hollywood Bowl and throughout California. But for this filmmaker and artist, the creative road began in earnest as an art student at the University of California at Los Angeles. While moonlighting at the UCLA drama department he was spotted by a scout and landed a contract with Warner Brothers. He was soon featured in Maverick and Sunset Strip and most of the other Warner shows of that era. Gary also starred in cult classic movies such as I was a Teenage Frankenstein and How to Make a Monster. During that period he also starred in regional theater and even on Broadway in productions of Beauty Part with Bert Lahr and Anita Loos' Happy Birthday.
It was in television where he became an instant worldwide celebrity, first with a starring role in the TV series Burke's Law. While on this classic series he had the rare opportunity to work with a grand array of legendary stars of the silver screen, from Mary Astor, to Bette Davis, to Gloria Swanson, to ZaZu Pitts.
He followed Burke's Law with Land of the Giants, considered the most successful program ever produced on a worldwide basis. Today, many years after its initial release on television, there are highly active clubs and societies around the world devoted to Gary and the series on a full time basis. His show has been seen in every nook and cranny that possesses a television set. Remarkably, Land of the Giants was the number one show recently on Channel Four in England. Gary participated in a satellite special on Channel Four commemorating the series' incredible accomplishment and fan following.
Besides starring in series and a multitude of episodic television shows, movies and pilots for all of the networks, he was very active in motion pictures. He went on to starring roles and even production credits in The Farmer, Black Gunn, Once is Not Enough, to name a few.
Gary also became very successful as the screen-writer for such popular films as Over the Top, as well as the highly successful American Ninja series. He also originated films scripts for such stars as Laurence Harvey, Catherine Dueneve and Eddie Murphy.
As active in films as he was, Gary's artistic pursuits did not languish, especially his architectural skills, also leading him into early success. He designed and constructed many exquisite homes in Southern California as well as a Design West awarded multi-family project in Universal City. His design work has been featured in several magazines, and a current landscape and architectural project will be highlighted in an upcoming issue of Country Living.
It was in the late 60s when Gary discovered and fell in love with a broken down ranch on 320 acres in the remote Westside of Paso Robles near San Simeon. Arriving-safely-via helicopter crash landing, Gary set foot in the midst of a stunning landscape, which would eventually take him on an extraordinary country sojourn. That story has been published by the prestigious Journey Editions of the Charles E. Tuttle Company. Besides authoring Art of the Vineyard, the book includes over a hundred of Gary's brilliant landscapes which are indicative of his outstanding reputation as an artist. Art of the Vineyard has received overwhelming praise from all quarters of the country. Connie Martinson on her television show Let's Talk Books, said, "Gary's Art of the Vineyard would be a wonderful book on its own let alone an extraordinary book of art." In a review in New Times and on PBS, his work was described as "magnificent, exhilarating, vibrating, and extraordinary." In the review in Booklist, perhaps the most significant in the publishing industry, his book and its art was referred to as "vivid, nearly neon color palette...the images demonstrate the human capacity to love, desire, create, and persevere...a rendering of Conway's passion."
This Jeffersonian odyssey also resulted in Gary's planting a 160-acre vineyard (on the ranch where he crash-landed) and designing and building a winery, which now produces the ultra-premium wines of Carmody McKnight (http://www.carmodymcknight.com/). His finely crafted wines are winning world class awards while setting new standards from California's Central Coast.
The SLO art critic, Glen Starkey, voiced the opinion shared by many others, when he commented in his review of Gary's art that "his work is heavily influenced by the landscapes of Richard Diebenkorn, although Gary's palette is much brighter. His vineyard series features verdant greens, wild magentas, shimmering yellows, rich blues, warm reds and oranges . . . even the palette of the French impressionists were perhaps not as bright as Conway's. His paintings are positively dazzling with color. And his compositions are simple yet effective." All of Gary Conway's art is now represented internationally for gallery showings, museum exhibitions, and limited edition publications.
Gary wrote and directed the film Woman's Story. Woman's Story is already being heralded as: an extraordinary film... a stunning filmmaking achievement... with such artistry that it becomes a genuine work of art. The look of the film is much like a great painting. For Gary the film is indeed an extension of his painting as well as articulating a vital social message. Woman's Story is a film which focuses most of his talents in one significant project. Woman's Story is about a breakup of a long and seemingly successful marriage, confronting basic issues that women face today in their most fundamental relationships.
Woman's Story is in a unique premiere release around the country where not only is the film reaching theatrical audiences usually unable to see such artistic films but also has been raising much-needed funds and awareness for major museums, schools, universities, and other organizations dedicated to the community's welfare. The film and the exciting premiere events - great cuisine & wine dinners and art & wine auctions -- following the screenings have had even the leaders of the communities calling the premiere events "amazing," "a shining moment," "tremendous," "awesome," "fantastic."
Gary's current work as a painter is being displayed on both coasts with a gallery in Georgetown, Washington D.C. which represents his work exclusively (Susan Calloway Gallery), and he is considered one of the foremost landscape painters in the U.S. He is developing a television show with a magazine and satellite radio counterpart which will encompass his vast experience as a Jeffersonian farmer and winemaker. He is also developing a motion picture to be filmed in the Central Coast that will also call upon his writing and directing talents.
Clint Black
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962 in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA) is a neotraditional country music singer, songwriter, producer and occasional actor.
Biography
Growing up in Katy, Texas as the youngest of four brothers, Black took a passionate interest in music at age 13 teaching himself to play the harmonica and then guitar and bass. He dropped out of high school to play in his brother's band and played the local club circuit around Houston, Texas as he also ventured into songwriting. Soon, he and Hayden Nicholas began playing and writing songs together, soon signing with Bill Ham (manager of ZZ Top, among others) at RCA Records. To date Black has sold several million albums worldwide.
Clint's first single, "A Better Man", landed him a #1 country hit, as did the next three singles off his debut album, Killin' Time; the album itself was also #1 in album sales. He swept the Country Music Association's awards in 1989, winning in six different categories. Black's second album, Put Yourself In My Shoes, did not meet with as much critical acclaim as his debut, but nonetheless still included several hit singles. He began touring with Alabama and soon married actress Lisa Hartman. A royalty-lawsuit with Bill Ham was ongoing while Black recorded his third album, The Hard Way, which received mixed reviews but became almost as successful as the previous two. His next albums were popular within the country music scene, although his neo-trad approach to music would become less popular over time. Despite being one of the most popular acts of the 1990s, he would land only one Top 5 hit in the 2000s, a duet with his friend Steve Wariner.
After parting ways with longtime record label RCA, Clint started his own record label, Equity Music Group, in late 2003. Clint has released two mainstream records on his own label, as well a Christmas album. Besides Clint himself, four other acts are on the Equity label: Little Big Town, Carolina Rain, Kevin Fowler, and Laura Bryna.
Alongside his musical career, Clint has also tried his hand in acting. He has appeared in TV shows such as King of the Hill, Hope and Faith, and Hot Properties. He has also had roles in movies such as Maverick, Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack, Going Home, and Anger Management.
A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile. The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering,
while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing. Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing. Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1
assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the "Rowing Team Quality First Program", with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The next year the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.
Welcome back, hawkman. We knew you could still fly. Your humorous story reminds me of this origin:
Paddle Your Own Canoe - Sarah Bolton, 1851
Voyager upon life's sea,
To yourself be true,
And whatever your lot may be,
Paddle your own canoe.
Never, though the winds may rave,
Falter or look back;
But upon the darkest wave
Leave a shining track.
Paddle your own canoe.
Nobly dare the wildest storm,
Stem the hardest gale,
Brave of heart and strong of arm
You will never fail.
When the world is cold and dark,
Keep your aim in view;
And toward the beacon work,
Paddle your own canoe. ...
..Would you crush the giant wrong,
In the world's free fight?
With a spirit brave and strong,
Battle for the right.
And to break the chains that bind
The many to the few
To enfranchise slavish mind,-
Paddle your own canoe.
Nothing great is lightly won,
Nothing won is lost,
Every good deed, nobly done,
Will repay the cost.
Leave to Heaven, in humble trust,
All you will to do:
But if succeed, you must
Paddle your own canoe.
dj, your Hank song gave me some fond memories of an Irishman that I once knew. Thanks, Canada.
Once again we will wait for our Raggedy to put names to visages.
yesterday afternoon thhe wind started blowing from the south-west - off lake ontario - and by 8 pm we had about a foot of snow on the ground .
so i went out to shovel the driveway ... and by 10 pm quiet a wind started to blow ... so i had the pleasure of shovelling again this morning
:wink:
looking into the backyard it's like a christmas scene !
and quite cool too , daytime HIGH
of minus 12 C , overnight it'll go down to minus 22 C - windchill about minus 30 C !
so , i've decided to 'warm things up a bit' and listen to the irish rovers .
they seem to have the right remedy
.
hbg
Artist: IRISH ROVERS
Song: Wasn'T That A Party
Could've been the whiskey
Might've been the gin
Could've been the three or four six-packs,
I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in
My head is like a football
I think I'm going to die
Tell me, me oh, me oh my
Wasn't that a party
Someone took a grapefruit
Wore it like a hat
I saw someone under my kitchen table
Talking to my old tom cat
They were talking about hockey
The cat was talking back
Long about then every-thing went black
Wasn't that a party
I'm sure it's just my memory
Playing tricks on me
But I think I saw my buddy
Cutting down my neighbour's tree
Could've been the whiskey
Might've been the gin
Could've been the three or four six-packs,
I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in
My head is like a football
I think I'm going to die
Tell me, me oh, me oh my
Wasn't that a party
Billy, Joe and Tommy
Well they went a little far
They were sittin' in my back yard, blowing on a sireen
From somebody's police car
So you see, Your Honour
It was all in fun
The little bitty track meet down on main street
Was just to see if the cops could run
Well they run us in to see you
In an alcoholic haze
I sure can use those thirty days
To re-cover from the party
Could've been the whiskey
Might've been the gin
Could've been the three or four six-packs,
I don't know, but look at the mess I'm in
My head is like a football
I think I'm going to die
Tell me, me oh, me oh my
Wasn't that a party
watched a very good biographpy of ray charles tonight, and then a second viewing of "walk the line"
You Don't Know Me
Ray Charles
You give your hand to me
And then you say, "Hello."
And I can hardly speak,
My heart is beating so.
And anyone can tell
You think you know me well.
Well, you don't know me.
(no you don't know me)
No you don't know the one
Who dreams of you each night;
And longs to kiss your lips
And longs to hold you tight
To you I'm just a friend.
That's all I've ever been.
Cause you don't know me.
(no you don't know me)
For I never knew the art of making love,
Though my heart aches with love for you.
Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by.
A chance that you might love me too.
(love me too)
You give your hand to me,
And then you say, "Goodbye."
I watched you walk away,
Beside the lucky guy
I know you'll never ever know
The one who loved you so.
Well, you don't know me
(But I never knew the art of making love, )
(Though my heart aches with love for you. )
Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by.
A chance that you might love me too.
(love me too)
Oh, you give your hand to me,
And then you say, "Goodbye."
I watched you walk away,
Beside the lucky guy
Oh, you'll never ever know
The one who loved you so.
No, you don't know me
(you don't love me, you don't know me)
