THE NOVEMBER 13, 1997 ROLLING STONE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY
EDITION COVER STORY, "WOMEN OF ROCK", IN THE SECTION
TITLED, "MOTHERS OF INVENTION", REPORTED THE FOLLOWING IN
ITS SUMMARY OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WOMEN IN THE HISTORY OF
POPULAR MUSIC:
"BESSIE SMITH LIVED JUST 43 YEARS, FROM 1894
TO 1937. YET FOR THE NEXT HALF CENTURY, IN LEGEND, PLAYS AND
LINER NOTES, SHE WOULD BE HELD UP AS THE ARCHETYPE OF WOMAN
WRONGED. EVEN HER DEATH WAS SHROUDED IN A MYTH THAT HAD HER
BLEEDING TO DEATH AFTER A CAR CRASH WHEN A WHITES-ONLY HOSPITAL
REFUSED HER ADMISSION. AFTER CAREFUL SCHOLARSHIP AND INTERVIEWS
WITH SMITH'S INTIMATES, (WRITER CHRIS)
ALBERTSON SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. SMITH WAS
REVEALED AS A WOMAN WITH PLENTY OF TROUBLE IN MIND: A SIZABLE
DRINKING PROBLEM, ABUSIVE MEN AND CRUSHING RACISM. BUT SHE WAS
NEVER A PASSIVE VICTIM; IN HER MUSIC AND HER LIFE, BESSIE
SMITH PREFERRED DEALING FROM STRENGTH."
... LATER ON IN THE PORTION OF THE HISTORY LESSON DEVOTED TO
BESSIE SMITH, WRITTEN BY GERRI HIRSHEY FOR JANN
WENNER'S ENDURING PUBLICATION (WHICH I STILL READ REGULARLY,
AS I HAVE SINCE IT STARTED IN THE 1960S, WHEN IT WAS VERY
DIFFICULT, WITH THE FIRST EDITIONS, TO GET COPIES OF IN THUNDER
BAY), IT IS NOTED THAT "SMITH DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT IN
1937."
BUT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT ABSENCE OF ARGUMENT WITH THE "MYTH"
OF MS. SMITH'S DEATH.
I HAVE IN MY COLLECTION A TAPE OF THE 1989 "BESSIE SMITH
COLLECTION".
LIKE, I THINK, ALL OF US WHO SURVIVED OUR HIPPIE PASTS (MY BEST MALE FRIEND
COMMITED SUICIDE IN 1971; ONE OF MY CLOSEST MALE FRIENDS OF THE
FOLLOWING YEAR WAS DRIVING THE CAR I WAS IN THAT WAS INVOLVED IN
THE CRASH THAT PERMANENTLY
DISABLED MY LEFT ARM)--I HAVE 'MY STORIES' TO TELL MY
KIDS AND THOSE WHO ASK ME ABOUT THIS LEGENDARY PERIOD OF
TIME.
IT USED TO EMBARRASS ME WHEN GENXERS WOULD TIMIDLY ENTICE ME TO
TALK ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. I CAN'T TELL YOU THE NUMBER OF TIMES I
WAS ENCOURAGED TO RECOUNT SOME STORY ABOUT THOSE DAYS LONG GONE
BY. I'M GLAD, FROM WHAT I SEE MORE AND MORE THESE DAYS, THEY
HAVE TAKEN FROM THEIR EDUCATIONS, SUCH ENCOUNTERS AS I DESCRIBE
HERE AND THEIR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCE(S), WHAT THEY NEEDED TO FORM
THEIR OWN UNIQUE CORE "VALUES", AND ARE NOW DISPLAYING THEIR OWN
"VIEWS" AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PURSUIT OF A BETTER
SOCIETY.
I HAD THIS EMBARRASSMENT NOT SO MUCH BECAUSE OF ANY LINGERING
REGRETS OR REMORSE ABOUT MY PAST.
ABOUT IT I PRETTY MUCH SHARE MADONNA'S "VIEW" ON
HER PAST: SHE HAS NO REGRETS, AND NEITHER DO I.
AND I'M ADDING THIS PARTICULAR FOOTNOTE JUST TO UNDERLINE THIS
POINT ABOUT 'METHODS'.
AFTER THAT 1972 CAR ACCIDENT, I WOKE UP IN A HOSPITAL WITH A
CAST ON MY LEFT ARM (I'M LEFT-HANDED),
STITCHES TO CLOSE A NASTY GASH OVER MY LEFT EYE (THAT
SUBSEQUENTLY REQUIRED COSMETIC SURGERY), A HAIRLINE FRACTURE TO
A BONE IN MY RIGHT FOOT (A DOCTOR EXPLAINED TO ME LATER), AND A
FUZZY STATE OF MIND. THE LAST THING I REMEMBERED BEFORE THIS
WAS LEAVING FOR A DANCE AT LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY WITH THAT NOW
DECEASED FRIEND OF MINE. THAT WAS FIVE DAYS PRIOR TO THAT
MOMENT OF FIRST FINDING MYSELF IN THE HOSPITAL SMOCK, MY FATHER
EXPLAINED TO ME LATER ON THAT FIRST DAY OF AWAKENING.
MY FATHER ALSO TOLD ME THEN THAT I HAD BEEN VERY VERBALLY
ABUSIVE DURING THOSE FIVE DAYS, CURSING AT THE DOCTORS AND
NURSES SO MUCH THAT THEY EXPRESSED THE WISH THAT I LEAVE THE
HOSPITAL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I DIDN'T RECALL EVEN A MOMENT OF
THOSE DAYS (AND STILL DON'T, THESE 28+ YEARS LATER).
MY FATHER HAD BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED THE YEAR BEFORE WHEN HE WAS
HIT BY A MOTORCYCLE WHILE HE WAS WALKING ACROSS A STREET
CROSSWALK. WE WERE BOTH LUCKY TO BE ALIVE.
BECAUSE OF THE CAST ON MY LEFT ARM, I WAS FORCED TO DROP OUT OF
A COLLEGE COURSE I WAS IN STUDYING FILM PRODUCTION BECAUSE,
BEING LEFT-HANDED, OBVIOUSLY I COULDN'T EVEN TAKE NOTES. (THE
ACCIDENT WAS IN JULY, 1972; THE CAST WAS ON MY ARM UNTIL
OCTOBER, 1972.) THE DRIVER OF THE CAR I WAS IN DIED DURING THIS
PERIOD, HAVING LIVED FOR ABOUT 2-AND-A-HALF MONTHS IN AN OXYGEN
TENT.
I HAD LOST TWO OF MY CLOSEST (MALE) FRIENDS IN LITTLE MORE THAN
A YEAR'S TIME, AND THE WOMAN I CARED MOST ABOUT (AS I POINT OUT
IN "ABOUT THE AUTHOR" FROM
"WHAT LIES BEYOND THIS DOOR", I AM A "MONOGAMOUS
HETEROSEXUAL") HAD RECENTLY MOVED TO CHICAGO TO LIVE WITH HER
MOTHER. TO SAY MY LIFE WAS IN TURMOIL IS SOPHISTIC.
UP TO THIS POINT IN MY LIFE I HAD BEEN A CLASSIC
UNDERACHIEVER.
WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG I HAD ACHIEVED THE SECOND HIGHEST I.Q.
TEST SCORE IN THE HISTORY OF THUNDER BAY (THE FIRST WAS A
DOCTOR), I WAS TOLD. AS A RESULT, THE EDUCATION SYSTEM MADE ME
TAKE GRADES 2 AND 3 IN THE SAME YEAR. (CURIOUSLY, ONE OF THE
THINGS I WAS FORCED TO NOT STUDY AS COMPREHENSIVELY AS
THOSE STUDENTS PROCEEDING BY THE STANDARDS OF THE NORM WAS HOW
TO READ AND WRITE MUSIC. MY EDUCATION OF THIS LASTED ONLY A FEW
DAYS, AS I RECALL. THIS IS IRONIC FOR SOMEONE WHO MAY YET
DEVOTE SOME PORTION OF HIS LIFE AND WORK TO MUSIC.)
AND I WAS PUT IN A SPECIAL CLASS FOR THE 25 BRIGHTEST GRADE 7
STUDENTS IN THE THUNDER BAY AREA (ALMOST ALL OF THEM A YEAR
OLDER THAN I WAS) IN 1963, THOUGH, AS I SAY, CLASSIC
"UNDERACHIEVER" AS I WAS WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I DID BADLY AND WAS
RETURNED TO THE MAINSTREAM FOR GRADE 8. ALL I REMEMBER OF THAT
YEAR IN HINDSIGHT IS THAT, WHEN ASKED THE CLASSIC QUESTION PUT
TO ALL BABY BOOMERS: WHERE WERE YOU WHEN J.F.K. WAS
ASSASSINATED?, I RECALL BEING IN A SCHOOL ASSEMBLY EARLY THAT
MORNING, BEING TOLD OF THE INCIDENT, AND I BELIEVE BEING SENT
HOME FOR THE DAY.
I'M FAIRLY CERTAIN IN THIS RECOLLECTION. THERE REMAINS A
FIERCE, OFTEN INEXPLICABLE (IN ITS FIERCENESS) DETERMINATION IN
THE MINDSETS OF MOST CANADIANS TO DISTINGUISH OURSELVES AS
DIFFERENT THAN OUR SOUTHERN NEIGHBOURS, BUT ONLY SINCE THE LATE
SIXTIES HAS IT TAKEN ON THE PROPORTIONS TYPIFIED IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP
HERE. BUT I THINK THAT IN 1963 THE SUDDEN AND TRAGIC DEATH
OF JOHN KENNEDY WAS ENOUGH TO SEND US HOME.
BACK WITH MY NEIGHBOURHOOD FRIENDS AT THE AREA PUBLIC SCHOOL, I
RESUMED MY STATUS IN THE TOP FIVE OF THE GRADE IN MARKS (AS WAS
MY HISTORY DURING ALL OF MY PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION, I
BELIEVE).
IF YOU'RE WONDERING ABOUT THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: YES. MY
FATHER, OF COURSE DISAPPOINTED WITH MY LIFE AT THAT TIME, ONCE
TOLD ME I HAD THE POTENTIAL TO BE A RHODES SCHOLAR, HE SAID ONE
OF MY PRINCIPALS HAD TOLD HIM, BUT I WAS "NOT LIVING UP TO MY
POTENTIAL."
BUT ENOUGH ANCIENT HISTORY.
I'VE ALREADY STATED MY "VIEW" ON THE
SUBJECT OF HISTORY, AND I INCLUDE MY OWN FOR THE MOST PART.
I HAVE 'MY STORIES FOR MY KIDS' AND I DON'T MIND TALKING ABOUT
THIS IF THERE IS APPROPRIATE RESPECT FOR MY PERSONAL
CONCERNS.
BUT, YOU SEE, THERE IS A POINT TO THIS EXTENDED FOOTNOTE, MOST
OF ITS CONTENTS COVERED IN EQUIVALENT DETAIL IN MY 1978
DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED FOR THEN-U.S. PRESIDENT JIMMY
CARTER AND THEN-UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL KURT
WALDHEIM AS PART OF THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO ENABLE
THEM TO CONSIDER OUR REQUEST FOR CONTINUATION OF THE AUTHORITIES
IN MY NAME FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND UNITED NATIONS. (IF YOU
HAVEN'T BEEN THERE YET, TAKE A
BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE AND HERE).
AND THAT REQUEST FOR CONTINUATION, OF COURSE, CAME, AS WE THEN
EXPLAINED/DOCUMENTED, ON BEHALF OF THEN-PREMIER OF BRITISH
COLUMBIA WILLIAM BENNETT AND HIS GOVERNMENT...THE
CONSERVATIVE ROMAN CATHOLIC PREDECESSOR TO THE CONSERVATIVE
ROMAN CATHOLIC WILLIAM VANDER ZALM, WHO SENT ME WHAT YOU
SEE IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP
HERE.
MY FAMILY HAS A RULE OF CONDUCT (IF YOU WILL) THAT WE DON'T FEEL
THE OBLIGATION TO SHARE WITH THE PUBLIC OUR PRIVATE LIVES. WE
BELIEVE THAT THE RELATIONSHIP THAT TOOK 48 (AND COUNTING) YEARS TO ACHIEVE THE
LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE IT HAS--IN THE CASE OF MINE WITH MY PARENTS,
FOR INSTANCE--CAN'T BE IMPROVED UPON BY RANDOM MEETINGS WITH
STRANGERS ON THE STREET WHOSE ONLY JUSTIFICATION FOR THEIR
MEDDLESOME ATTITUDES IS THAT THEY ARE OLDER.*
THE POINT IS THAT AFTER THE 1972 CAR ACCIDENT AND MY WAKING UP
IN A HOSPITAL BEWILDERED AND FUZZY HEADED, I WENT OF MY OWN
VOLITION TO A PSYCHIATRIST I HAD MET WITH BRIEFLY DURING
THAT PERIOD IN THE SPECIAL GRADE 7 CLASS (NO, I DO NOT
HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS). I HAD BEEN LAID
UP NURSING THE ARM AND THE FOOT FOR MONTHS.
*-ALSO ON THIS SUBJECT, TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.