Do you know Antoine De Saint-Exupery? The picture is your first hint.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a considerable person in many respects but he is most recognized as the author of The Little Prince, one of the best selling and most translated books ever published. This novella has been translated into 361 languages and dialects and has sold more than 140 million copies worldwide.

The book itself has it's own backstory--more of that later.

de Saint-Extupery

But the author, de Saint-Exupery, as he was known, was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist, artist and pioneering aviator.  His full name is Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger comte de Saint-Exupery.  (Those French, they have a different name for everything.) He has the look of a French aristocrat don't you think?

He was good at quite a few things. He wrote nine books and received several of France's literary awards as well as a United States National Book Award. And he was a noted pilot taking his first flight in 1912 when he was 12, back when flying was still in its barnstorming era, not long after the Wright Brothers showed it could be done.

De Saint-Exupery learned to fly in the French military and was forever smitten. He worked in several professions but always came back to flying... and writing and drawing all the while. In 1926 he flew the mail for Aeropostale from Toulouse, France to Dakar, Senegal, not unlike Charles Lindberg. And daring like Lindberg, he tried to set a record flying from Paris to Saigon. The difference is, he and his co-pilot crashed in the Libyan desert where they almost died of thirst before meeting a nomad on a camel. It was during this adventure he conceived the idea for The Little Prince. You may recall, as his book begins, the The Little Prince mysteriously appears to him in the desert on the day after this crash.

He almost lost his life crashing again in 1938 flying from New York City to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Planes then hadn't yet achieved the records for safety of today's air travel. And to disprove an old adage, the third time was not a charm. In 1943, de Saint-Exupery, still suffering emotionally from this second crash, had rejoined his French air squadron and insisted he be given a long reconnaissance flight... a flight from which he never returned. He was 43.

Back to The Little Prince, de Saint-Exupery worked with the idea over time and would often write The Little Prince and his other books until he was content. The Little Prince was actually written in New York where de Saint-Exupery lived for a time up to World War II and was first copyrighted in 1943, the year he died.

He often wrote on a knee-pad strapped to his leg as he flew long distances. His colleagues had visions of him crashing but he proved himself adept in both flying and writing... often at the same time.

Being somewhat severe critic of his own work, he wrote and rewrote until he felt satisfied. He also did all of the book's drawings and artwork, such were his talents.

The Little Prince was/is a most popular children's book, one I had never read until just recently. That's kind of "the thing" with well-written books, they may appeal to all ages on the strength of their stories.

This charming tale is written with the perspective of a child's eyes and mind into the world of what children become... adults. It is fanciful and descriptive of that perspective as to what sadly, some of us have become and how strange it looks to the observing innocent child. It is a rich moral tale in how differently we often let the grown-up world change our lives in a less joyful way. As we see ourselves through the Little Prince's eyes, we are somewhat disappointing. It is a simple wake-up to what is really important and what is lost in the the translation of aging.

de Saint-Exupery's 'Rose'

De Saint-Exupery puts all of himself into this book: his life, his home and his love. Where is his love in the book? It is in the one object that drives the Little Prince, his rose that he left on his small planet. The rose that he tends and cares for, the rose he covers at night so it will be safe from the cold and creatures that might devour it. The rose that is the most precious thing he has and cares for. And not coincidentally, this vain and petulant rose of The Little Prince is the inspiration and center of de Saint-Exupery's life, his Salvadoran wife, Consuelo de Saint-Exupery.

The fantasy of the book is well-told and enjoyed because no matter the reader, there is a lesson to be had in a strange and different way.

Suicide IS NOT painless... as the TV show MASH theme song said. In fact, hanging as suicide seems not always suicide at all, except sometimes, as a cover-up to lynching.

I have a true story to share. It does have a reason for being told.

This is my dad's family. Aunt Ethel is at the far right. I never knew her. She killed by a zealous suitor (boy friend) when she was 25. That youngest sitting boy is my dad. Grandma and grandpa were early 1900 immigrants from Italy. They had five girls, three boys and lived in Chicago.

As kids, we were told Aunt Ethel lived in Italy, but as I grew older, it was little and reluctantly discussed. I needed a better answer. Years later and with the help of the internet which didn't exist until dad and all of his family had died, I searched the Chicago Tribune's records for information thinking her killer would surely have been executed as happened often in those days of Al Capone, Nothing.

The searchable archives didn't go back far enough so on a whim, I emailed the Tribune's obituary editor one evening. Thirty minutes later, I received a copy of a six inch story headlined: "Couple die in a double suicide pact." 

It was the story of my Aunt Ethel and her boyfriend who, one afternoon at a motel, shot her then himself. The police were quick to say it was a double suicide because it seemed possible and that closed the books on anything left to be done. The story also noted that my Aunt Ethel had two bullet wounds. The bullet that killed her passed through her arm, as if held up in defense, before entering her head. She left no note or displayed any such thoughts I learned. It didn't seem to me that this was a mutual act and in fact, it probably was a murder and suicide.

Aunt Ethel was said to be a delight, bringing joy to those who knew her. She was always smiling. Dad's family felt certain that Aunt Ethel knew nothing about such a plan. The boyfriend was not at all liked by Aunt Ethel's family and the two of them may have been separating... or not.

So here's where this story has a 'today' relevance:

Have you noted in this last month that there have been six (6) separate deaths by hanging--four black men, one black woman and a hispanic man--in public areas? All are being initially called suicides. Really? Further evidence and autopsies are still pending. What will they show?

From 1862 and 1968 there were 4,978 lynchings in America, 3,436 blacks and 1,247 whites, mostly made up of those trying to help blacks or for various other similar reasons of the day. The last noted lynching was as late as 1981in Mobile, Alabama. That's within many of our lifetimes!

But really? Six black suicides by hanging in public places to be seen by all in these last few months? That would be an extremely rare and bizarre coincidence, especially by black men at this specific time... if they actually were suicides... or more believable, murders.  When a spokesman for the police, in one of the two hangings of black men this past week, talked about finding "the victim," it didn't seem he was talking about a suicide. A victim takes two people minimum.

So you think we don't have a deep historical background in racism that continues to this day? As late as now we still have no federal law against lynching! State laws yes, but nothing federal.

"Since at least 1900 the House and Senate have repeatedly failed to pass such a bill," said the New York Times. "The bills were consistently blocked, shelved or ignored, and the passage of time has rendered anti-lynching legislation increasingly symbolic. There is now a house bill called the Emmet Till Anti-lynching Act."  It, at long last, has has bi-partisan support, something that hasn't happen until now.

Isn't it odd that the two 'most outcast' (my term) races in the United States are the American Indians from whom we stole this country and the blacks who were brought here against their will to do the bidding of white masters as slaves?

This is all relevant stuff as we come to a newer dawning of Black Lives Matter. Let's pray that sticks or we are doomed as a people of God, or not, and as a country.

BLACK LIVES MATTER!   

L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E : There's a lot of that going around. But I have found a resolve!

The man is actor Robert Mitchum in the 1955 thriller, The Night of the Hunter. Mitchum plays a religious fanatic and serial killer who intends to charm an unsuspecting widow and steal $10,000 hidden by her executed husband. On his right hand he has tattooed his fingers with L-O-V-E, On the left hand, H-A-T-E and that sets the stage for this chilling adaption of a true story.

In 1992 The Night of the Hunter was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.  In 2008. An influential film magazine called it the second best film of all time. First best: Citizen Kane, of course.

But today, L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E is the diametric opposite that seems to prevail most dominantly. The Declaration of Independence (It's a short read) says all men are created equal and a lot more. It seems to wrap around many of the key issues we face as a country and our 'inalienable rights' that the Constitution of the United States of America further defines.

L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E  extremes:

• Are all men created equal or are they not?
• Do black lives matter or do they not?
• Do law enforcement officers sometimes over-react in a biased way or is enforcing to death mostly ok?
• Are demonstrations of anger a human right or are they too dramatically out of control and should be suppressed to acceptance?
• Is it all for one and one for all or I'm doing ok thank you?
• Is it a right to have access to health care or only if you can afford it?
• Is is acceptable some have to live in poverty or I've earned mine and so should everyone else?
• Are there equal opportunities for all or why should there be?

Other key issues that are in conflict include homelessness, education, no limit gun rights (should blacks own AR-15s as is their right?... should anyone own AR-15s as is their right?), and, as said in many ads, more, much more. 

Maybe if L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E had a third possibility, there could be more empathy to other differences. 

Aha! I think I have it! What if the third possibility was U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G? If only we had 14 knuckles to tattoo. Oh, wait a minute. We do! 

Akshat Saxena in India has polydactylism--having multiple digits. As CBS reported in 2011, Saxena not only has 10 toes on each foot, he has 7 fingers on each hand! Perfect for U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G-! See?

Problem solved!

 

    

We lost this great man just a few weeks shy of his 101st birthday. Bet you don't know of him and why he was so renown.

This is the legendary Dr. Thomas Freeman who imprinted so many young and older minds with perhaps the most valuable tool of their lives... how to make a point.

Dr. Freeman joined the staff at Texas Southern University in 1949 and was still at work at age 100 teaching debate. He was hired as a philosophy professor but two years later found his truest talent and greatest joy as debate coach.

In just three months, his largely unrecognized team surprised Harvard and the University of Chicago debaters to win its first national championship, skyrocketing TSU to the forefront of the college debate world. His successes continued throughout his 70 year career as did his reputation and the admiration of his teams and those who knew him.

His most famous pupil was a young Martin Luther King Jr. He also taught Representatives Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland as well as Grammy winning singer Yolanda Adams. But perhaps no notables were more valued in his heart than the thousands of students he taught.

ABC newsman David Muir did a feature on Freeman's legacy and its most touching moment was to watch him greet and receive admiration from many of his graduated students as they returned at homecomings and special events for him.

So one 'kinda gets' the picture of a teacher that makes a life-changing difference in his student's lives, as David Muir showed in the short tribute of his life, a beloved man that changed many worlds for the better.

Personal aside: I had one of those, and maybe you did too. Mine was Dr. Paul Snider (left), my journalism professor and mentor over those college years. He taught news reporting, editing, etc. as one would expect, but he impressed in us the moral responsibilities of a journalist and how very important is is to get all the verification of the stories you tell because, to paraphrase, "in our field, nothing is more important than the integrity and respect earned by doing it accurately and fairly." 

In his classes, every fact error--Madison Theater instead of Madison Theartre as it was named--received a large red stamp (FACT ERROR) and an automatic F. That was my first... and last FE.

He told a story of how, in his opinion, he lost a Pulitzer Prize when he was a photojournalist for a network news company. He was covering a local story of an auto accident that took the life of a toddler on a tricycle, While other photographers were shooting the scene of a crumpled tricycle and a blanked covering of a small body, he chose to look elsewhere. In a walk around the child's house, he saw through an open back window, the grief-stricken father sitting at the kitchen table with his head buried in his arms not able to reconcile what just happened. "There was my Pulitzer, I thought. But as I raised my camera to get the picture, I realized that this was a photo that was not mine, or anyone's to take. I lowered my camera and walked away." 

In that teaching moment he told us that there are some things that are so personal and profound that the world should not steal. What a deep and lasting lesson. Sadly today, that precept does not seem to exist. 

And we would automatically fail his course if we would ever say "One picture is worth a thousand words." It isn't.

In 2007 Denzel Washington asked Dr. Freeman to coach his young actors for his film "The Great Debaters" a real life story of a 1930 team of unheralded black debaters who upend a highly favored white team to win the championship, a most revolutionary event of those days.

Dr. Freeman modestly saw himself as an "... instrument in the hands of God, working with people on their development. If they are successes, then I am successful.

His motto known by all who knew him and repeated in unison by four of his students for ABC news: "We do well. What we don't do well, we don't do at all."

In today's world there are many points to be made, but many speakers and notably political figures and high office holders believe telling only half the story or over dramatically accusing your opposite of lying or just plain masking the truth are alternative ways . Fake news is an oxymoron that really doesn't exist... however it has gained popular usage to make the dictionary. My, how far we have come... or better said, how low have we fallen.

A confession: I enjoyed this clever 'Lady on a bicycle' impromptu-sculpture in front of an antique shop that I decided it was 'blog-worthy.' So now I have to make up something to say.

This is "Lady on a Bicycle" named by me. She is made of ceramic pots as you may notice.

Usually when I blog--and I have nearly 700 pithy, serious and humorous world-changing posts btw, worth reading, rereading and memorizing for wonderful cocktail party conversation--I have an idea of what to say and I use supporting art/photos to illustrate. For this one, I have to make-up something that goes with the picture. Hopefully you will find it memorable and Pulitzer Prize-worthy. Here goes:

Harry Potter

Obviously this pot sculpture was inspired by the Harry Potter books that have lured readers young and will forever live in our hearts. The sculpture is a testimonial thank you to J.K.Rawling.

Peter Rabbit

Wait a minute! Obviously this sculpture was inspired by Beatrix Potter who gave us such childhood pleasures as "The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle" "The Roly Poly Pudding" and most famously, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit." Of course.

Mrs. Potts and Chip

Or, there is Mrs. Potts in Disney's "Beauty and The Beast." Obviously this was the inspiration without
a doubt. And who could not love little Chip?

Mr. Potts, the rich banker

But of course, it obviously is the money-grabbing banker, Mr. Potter, in "It's a Wonderful Life." Certainly it was a reminder of how the very rich are prospering while those struggling are having difficulty affording food, rent and/or medical care.


So I asked the sculptor,* which 'pots' was your inspiration. And she answered, "It's not for any 'pot,' 'pots,' or 'potter' at all. You are missing the point. Those aren't just pots, they are FLOWER POTS for new growth, as her hair, and life as we know it to be... rich and fragrant and wonderful. Flower pots. Those flowers are where the inspiration lies. I was inspired by how good it made me feel when I saw Walt Disney's Bambi and it was the newborn Bambi that named the skunk Flower, the perfect name.

Disney's Bambi and Flower

I hope you have many flowers in your life, despite the occasional weeds which we can pull and throw away.

*Confession #2: Well, let's just say, IF the antique shop was open, I would have asked her but it was closed because of the CoronaVirus so I had to imagine what she might have said. OK, I won't get  a Pulitzer, for this but you must admit, I did find a good excuse to use that neat sculpture. The Pulitzer prize winning post is the next one.

And seriously, if you view my blog as a web page instead of just an email, you will see quite a large list of topics covered over the 700 or so blogs. Click on any that pique your interest. And thanks for reading.