How do you know when the violist is playing out of tune?
ANS: The bow is moving.
But it was not a violist’s bow in the puzzle this morning, it was a CELLO BOW, and not just any cello bow — the bow of the great Yo Yo Ma.
Ma was quite a child prodigy. At age 3, he was playing the violin and piano. He settled on the cello at the ripe old age of 4. By 7 he was brilliant enough to perform for Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy.
Even more remarkable, in the womb, on the morning of his birth, he strummed “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” on his mother’s umbilical cord.
In addition to his many musical accomplishments, it was interesting to learn that in 1999 he collaborated with landscape architects to design a Bach-inspired garden. It interprets Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major for unaccompanied cello, with the garden’s sections designed to correspond with the suite’s dance movements. It was built in Toronto’s Harbourfront neighborhood.
Here’s a shot of the garden, followed by one of Ma himself, upon learning that he’d be featured in owl chatter today.
Both of Yo Yo Ma’s children, Emily and Nicholas, studied at Julliard and are accomplished cellists in their own right. Here’s dad with Emily.
One of our favorite actors, John TURTURRO, popped into the grid at 24D: “John of ‘The Big Lebowski.’” He was born in Brooklyn and still lives there, in Park Slope. He’ll be 66 at the end of next month.
His first role was non-speaking, as an extra in Scorsese’s “Raging Bull.” Spike Lee is such a big Turturro fan that he’s used him in nine of his films, more than any other actor. If you were a fan of the TV show “Monk,” you may recall his portrayal of Monk’s reclusive brother, Ambrose, for which he won an Emmy. Ambrose made Monk seem normal. In all, JT has appeared in over 60 films. An owl-chatter favorite was “A Box Of Moonlight,” with Sam Rockwell (1996).
He is married to Katherine Borowitz, a former actress, now a social worker. They have two kids. Here he is as Jesus in Lebowski.
And here is he, with the missus.
Anybody hear of JUDITH HEUMANN? She wheeled herself right across the center of the puzzle today at 35A with the clue: “Leading disability rights activist in the 2020 documentary ‘Crip Camp.’” She spearheaded the rights movement for the disabled. It’s a terrific movie.
Heumann turned 75 last month. She lives in Washington DC with her husband, Jorge Pineda. She contracted polio when she was 18 months old and has been wheelchair bound since. It hasn’t slowed her down.
In 1977, Heumann took on HEW Sec’y Joseph Califano who was refusing to implement laws protecting the rights of the disabled. She staged a sit-in with 125 disabled folks in the HEW federal building in Washington DC. Califano ordered no food or medicine be brought into the building, but the protesters found ways to circumvent the order, including the receipt of help from the Black Panthers who had a disabled member in her group. The protest lasted 28 days and ended with Califano capitulating. It remains the longest protest ever to take place in a federal building.
Heumann has held positions in the World Bank, the State Department, the Clinton Administration, and the Ford Foundation. In her younger years, she fought discrimination that she faced personally by filing lawsuits. For example, in 1970, Heumann was denied her NYS teaching license because the Board did not believe she could get herself or her students out of the building in case of a fire, so she sued. With FDR in mind, a local newspaper ran the headline “You Can Be President, Not Teacher, with Polio.” The case settled without a trial, and Heumann became the first wheelchair user to teach in New York City.
Thank goodness for Judith today. Otherwise it would be all men. CONAN O’Brien popped in too. Here are some of his quotes:
“When all else fails, there’s always delusion.” (Amen to that, CO.)
“Starbucks says they are going to start putting religious quotes on cups. The first one will say, ‘Jesus! This cup is expensive!’”
“My favorite comedy is comedy where nothing is achieved and there is no point.” [Me too.]
Here’s a poem by Kooser that is not from Winter Morning Walks. It’s from Delights & Shadows and is in his collection Kindest Regards. I am so glad I was able to track it down because it’s especially appropriate for today:
A Rainy Morning
A young woman in a wheelchair,
wearing a black nylon poncho spattered with rain,
is pushing herself through the morning.
You have seen how pianists
sometimes bend forward to strike the keys,
then lift their hands, draw back to rest,
then lean again to strike just as the chord fades.
Such is the way this woman
strikes at the wheels, then lifts her long white fingers,
letting them float, then bends again to strike
just as the chair slows, as if into a silence.
So expertly she plays the chords
of this difficult music she has mastered,
her wet face beautiful in its concentration,
while the wind turns the pages of rain.
The Wellington Files 