WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Nothing but the Night by Greg King and Penny Wilson. Leopold and Loeb, two rich Chicago college students kidnapped and murdered a 14 year old boy, just to see if they could pull off "the perfect crime." Though it happened more than a century ago, this 1924 crime still comes up. My friend Nancy laughingly told me about how she heard Broadway composers Lerner and Loewe (Camelot, My Fair Lady) referred to as Leopold and Loeb by a confused coworker. When I saw Hitchcock's Rope at this year's TCM Film Festival, Professor Jacqueline Stewart introduced the film about a pair of thrill killers and couldn't resist adding that she, Leopold and Loeb all have ties to the University of Chicago.

 

So now I want to learn more about the truth behind the legend. This book, published in 2022, promises to give me a more nuanced look at the first murder to be dubbed "Crime of the Century." I know the original press coverage leaned heavily into the wealth, Jewishness and homosexuality of these two, obviously trying to "other" them. I hope this book examines whether that was a fair depiction.

 

One impression I have thus far is "too much, too soon." They both skipped grades and found themselves at U of C at age 14. They were not emotionally ready for the social and philosophical milieu they were thrust into. I'm not saying this explains what happened, but it didn't help.

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Conversations with Kennedy by Ben Bradlee. The last two words of this book are "warm and kind." I'd say that about sums it up. Ben Bradlee and his wife became the couple that most often joined John and Jacqueline Kennedy for  dinner for four at the White House. The Bradlees also spent weekends with the Kennedys in Palm Beach, Virginia and Camp David. 

 

This gave them a view of the couple, and of life as First Couple, others didn't see. I enjoyed those glimpses. The President liked being teased by his wife, who called him "Bunny." He made bets but didn't honor them. He swore like the sailor he once was (saying "bastard" the way some of us say "shit"). He liked Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence records. It was the dawn of the space program and he loved hanging with the astronauts, just like any other red-blooded American boy. Except for sailing and the occasional game of golf, he was not at all outdoorsy and hated being dirty. His idea of "roughing it" was Bloody Marys on the veranda. Jackie, with her horseback riding, tennis and skiing was the jock of the duo. As I was reading, I found myself hoping that someone could give me a similar view of Abe and Mary Lincoln or Barack and Michelle Obama when they were at home and off the clock.  

 

My favorite part of the book was when the President insisted on including the Bradlees in an on-going argument he and Jackie were having. Apparently, in 1961, Jackie spent $40,000 on "department stores." That would be $400,000 in today's dollars. The President asked her to explain this, and she could not. She was embarrassed and baffled, but unable to make her own case. So her husband brought in Carmine Bellino, the FBI accountant who specialized in organized crime and money laundering, to help his wife budget. It's good to be king.

 

The couples were so close that immediately after the assassination, the Bradlees waited with Jackie at Bethesda Naval Hospital as the President's autopsy was being done. Yet by the time this book was published, Jacqueline Onassis no longer wanted anything to do with Ben Bradlee and cut him dead whenever their paths crossed. At first her behavior confused me, because this book is so affectionate and funny. But it's also very intimate. There's a lot about how they related to their young children and how they were with one another and family members. My guess is that it didn't bother Jackie that this memoir put them in a bad light, because it doesn't, but that as a private person she didn't want these anecdotes published at all. 

3. What will you read next?  Something light!

 

  

 

Walking and talking

My niece sent me the most enchanting video! It was a two-fer: 

1) This was the first time I saw Violet walking. She pulled herself up to standing and then stumbled, gracelessly but purposefully, from the sofa to the chair where her mother was sitting and taping her.

2) Violet is also definitely talking. She said "hi" to the camera! My niece reports that her other word is "baby," spoken when she sees a picture of a baby or when she just feels like saying it.

And to think I was worried! She was so tiny, such a preemie, that I was concerned she'd never catch up. But here she is, weeks before her first birthday, and walking and talking a little ahead of schedule. 

Her first birthday is June 3, but unfortunately I can't make her party. Her grandparents – my niece's in-laws – were nice enough to include me. But my Connie Cat's veterinary adventures were just too expensive, and airfares are too high at the moment, for me to make the trip now. I have a little travel fund set aside for visiting Violet and it has $400 in it, which is just not enough, and until I pay down that Discover card bill, I have to stay put. Maybe the larder will be full enough in the fall.

By Tea Collection

But that doesn't mean I can't shop! I know she is going to the beach this summer, and now she'll dazzle in this little sunsuit. Because the shoulder straps are adjustable and the leg holes elastic, it should take her throughout the summer. I also found her a pair of yellow and pink barrettes to complete the ensemble (though to be honest, she doesn't really have enough hair to need them).

I picked up a souvenir when I was at the TCM Film Festival. It's a little black shirt with HOLLYWOOD in bright pink letters. Violet seems drawn to bold colors, so I think she'll like it.

Everybody reads to Violet, all the time, so I also got her a book. I chose this one because I like the message and because the cover illustration appears toward the end of the book. We know Violet is paying attention at story time because she gets excited when she sees the cover illustration inside on one of the pages.

Yes, you're right, she is brilliant. We are so lucky to have her in our lives.