In Ireland, on April Fools’ Day, it was traditional to entrust the victim with an “important letter” to be given to a named person. That person would read the letter, then ask the victim to take it to someone else, and so on. The letter when opened contained the words “send the fool further.”
At breakfast this morning, I asked Lianna if her mom (my Caitlin) told her yet that they were moving to Philadelphia. She has been used to my nonsense for years, regardless of the date, and just looked at me with dead eyes and went back to her phone. But she enjoyed the French toast I made for her, so it goes in the victory column.
The writer with the wonderful name Francine Prose was born on this date in Brooklyn in 1947. She was working on a nonfiction book in France years ago and a friend noted she’d have to spend a long time in the Bibliothèque Nationale documenting all of the facts. Prose said the French equivalent of “f*ckit,” called the book a novel, and didn’t document a damn thing.
She’s not this young anymore, but so what?
This poem by Jack Ridl is called “The Neighbors.” It’s from today’s Writer’s Almanac and is from his collection called Practicing to Walk Like a Heron, which might be worth looking into.
The Neighbors
Sometimes they
go outside, maybe
move a rosebush
to the back yard or
clean a window.
Usually they
simply stand,
under a maple
or in a snowfall.
And this is often
when they see
a nuthatch on its
dizzy route down
a trunk, or
the quick flick
of a chickadee
across the yard
and onto a branch.
They don’t do
much. That’s for
others. They know
how to take things
for granted, know
what to miss.
Every morning
they make breakfast.
And when the sun
sets, they let it go.
I figured out the trick in today’s puzzle pretty early from 9D, the clue for which was “Lunar omen in a 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, literally?” The omen, of course, was “bad moon rising,” and the trick was to enter it “rising” (starting down and writing up) as NOOM DAB. Similarly, at 48D, “Former N.S.C. staffer at the center of the Iran-Contra affair, literally?,” was REVILO — for Oliver, but heading North. (Get it?)
Speaking of Ollie, remember his gorgeous secretary Fawn Hall? (BTW, this photo is an excellent illustration of “bedhead,” put to brilliant use.)
Look, nobody’s perfect. But when you look like that you can really be not perfect. She once transposed the digits of a Swiss bank account number, resulting in a contribution of ten million dollars from the Sultan of Brunei to the Contras being credited to a private businessman’s account instead. Hall offered to cover it by having $25 taken out of her paycheck bi-weekly. (No she didn’t.)
Regarding the Iran-Contra scandal, she was granted immunity and testified to sneaking documents out of the office in her boots and under her clothing, which every man in America found very exciting to think about. She was also caught on camera shredding documents, see below.
Hall received six-figure offers from Playboy and Penthouse for photospreads but rejected them. She dated actor Rob Lowe for a while — he saw her testify on TV, was smitten, and called her.
But in 1993 Hall married Danny Sugarman, former manager of The Doors. Danny died in ’05. As of 2012, Hall was living a quiet life, working in a bookstore, and staying out of the public eye. About her time in the limelight with Ollie, she said, “People are strange.”
Here’s JM, behaving for a national TV audience. Too bad.
The CEO of Boeing Corporation, Dave Calhoun, was trapped in his office for over an hour today when the knob on his office door came off in his hand. Calhoun’s personal secretary Amanda and security personnel were unable to pry the door open and had to summon maintenance. The Director of Maintenance was able to free Calhoun by sliding a credit card along the side of the door, releasing the latch.
Let’s close with a beautiful smile. We had a rare visit from “Oscar winner Hathaway” at 39D. Hi ANNE! Brooklyn girl, right? Big fan of Rachel Getting Married. Devastating. The dishwasher scene with the dad — unforgettable. George! — stop gawking and get the girl a Fresca! The GS cookies came in — you like Thin Mints?
See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 