More on Propaganda for Preemies

I am very jealous of Dawn Raffel for having written The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How A Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies. It’s a book and topic that has been in my head, hard drive and in a file of papers now on a bookshelf for about seventeen years.
After my son was born premature, I looked at a lot of books about premature babies and read about an Infantorium where the babies were hospitalized on Coney Island. Wait, what? Was my reaction and I immediately began searching online for any and all information on Dr. Couney. There was not much in 2002. I found Dr. William Silverman’s work from the 70’s and 80’s, a few scattered articles and little else.

I tried to find out more on the Doctor, his patients and ran into many dead ends. I did have a single email from one of his former patients which was great but did not lead to anything further. I spoke on the phone to one of the organizers of the Coney Island History Museum. He told me there was at least one person working on a book and when I asked if he had any idea where Dr. Couney’s papers were he said, “No, do you?”

While reading Ms. Raffel’s excellently researched book I saw that she had the same discoveries and dead ends that I did. Like her, I wanted to contact Dr. Silverman, but was unable to as he had died. But she had the ability to dig further, deeper and the talent to write it down beautifully. She was also unable to find his papers, and found out a lot more about his daughter than I was able to, with added speculation about her history. I always thought she was the key to a lot of his story, but most of that died with her.

Where I was able to find one of his former patients, Ms. Raffel was able to find several, and it led to a joyful reunion of some of them.

There is a great mystery to Dr. Martin Couney’s life, which is what compelled me to look into it for more than several hours a year over the past seventeen. It’s ability that I lacked in writing it down and Dawn Raffel has written a wonderful book that leaves a lot of questions open, but also provides many answers and unlocks more than a few doors about the profound life of a very enigmatic man.

Fenders and Gibsons, Gibsons and Fenders

For research purposes, I went to a local guitar show today. I expected a modest crowd, with mostly dudes like me and got that. People were mostly polite and more than willing to answer questions. Went there to see if there were any Hofner guitars and was completely shut out. But there were a few lovely Rickenbackers, including an original 1958, which I think was fairly priced at a whopping ten grand.

No, I did not bring it home with me. I did buy a leather pick, which probably adds too much bass to my tone, but I did buy something amid all the guitars, straps, accessories and even a few record crates.

A vast majority of what was being shown were various models of Fenders and Gibsons, which is what people are looking for now days I guess. I have nothing against them, but they're not really on my radar. For sale was a decent mix of acoustics, electrics and one table devoted to left handed guitars. Gretsch is becoming a make I may look into and the more I play Epiphones the more I lose interest. There was an old Greco, a brand that I never heard of that I asked the dealer about. It was a reasonable $375 and I asked to play it. When I had it in my hands the guy said he could go down to $325. I still was not buying today. Besides, the neck was an awful mess. And if a novice like me could tell...

I was wearing my Mod styled British Royal Air Force shirt, which received two compliments. One of them was from a guy asking if I owned a Waterstone guitar. Another brand I had never heard of. It seems the logos are a close match, and now I'm on the hunt for a Waterstone guitar myself, they seem affordable and have a decent look to them that is in my interests.

There's another show in Chillicothe later this year I will probably be headed to. Again, it's about some more research.

Three things I am trying to find.

Most of the time, I have mad research skills. I can find things, it is part of what I do for a living, and I'm good at it. Most of the time. There are times where I am fallible. When google fu evades me. These are the things I've been trying to research. Three things that frustrate me to no end every few months when I go back to them. These are my Holy Grails.

1) The family of Dr. Martin Couney. Cristin O'Keefe Aptowitz  got me back on this case after she gave a talk about her book last week. Couney was the doctor of the Coney Island Infantorium for many years in the early 20th century. His work was sound, and it was said he saved many premature babies. Just how many, and who they were is not exactly known. His papers have not been found, and his only family, his daughter Hildegarde, is untraceable. I'm sure she's dead, but where and when did she die. She is said to have never married and I cannot find her. I'm also a few hundred miles from some where I can find potential leads. Drives me nuts!

2) Information about my Great Uncle Edward A. Plunkett, who served in the 45th division Company A in World War 2 and was killed in action in March 1945. I received his individual death file a couple of years ago. What I'm trying to find are people alive who knew him during the war. Those chances are dying by the day, if they're not already gone. I'm in a Facebook group about the 45th, which is informative but I have hit nothing directly. There's also a strong possibility he had a child, and it's been one dead end after another.

3) Elton John, August 5th, 1982. This was a show I saw at Madison Square Garden and it was a really good concert. Been trying to find a bootleg of it, but have never found one from that specific date. I'm pretty sure it was taped because someone was playing part of the show on the train ride home after the concert. I'd also like to know if the setlist is as I remember. The link says he did The Bitch is Back after Empty Garden, I'm pretty sure it was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I wonder if the death crush I went with would remember?

I rotate these items, occasionally I find a small nugget, a name, an extra link to bookmark. Concrete conclusions and evidence has been hard to come by though. So I plod on, knowing that life would not be complete when I find the information, but a path for more mysteries.

Taking on an opportunity

A friend of mine posted a picture of an Alex Gard portrait on Facebook last week and wanted to know if any of us knew who he was. I'd post the picture, but it's not mine to post. Gard was the artist whose portraits lined the walls of the famed New York City restaurant Sardi's.

I did some quick work on my end and found that the library owned a few of Gard's books, and they were only available for viewing at the newly opened Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. I contacted a colleague asked how to set up an appointment to view these books, got the information I needed and had a time set in the reading room.

I knew it was a long shot, but it gave me an opportunity to see the new library, which is a very important collection of comic book art. The amateur researcher in me was stoked.

Arrived at the room and was told we had to put most of our belongs in a locker, all we could have at the desk was a laptop, pencil and paper. The Ipad came in handy.



There were four books total and I was allowed to view only one at a time, but this was not a big deal as the books were not very long. Gard did some very cool work, and it was also quite topical. A couple of his books were based on his military experience.



But he's noted for his celebrity portraits, and this one of Veronica Lake was quite foretelling.

How could I not resist posting this one?



It is a bit heartbreaking that he is listed as a mere gag man.

The visit proved futile, but it did not matter because this type of research is my idea of fun!

The museum section of the library is also worth a visit. All kinds of cartoon art and memorabilia is on display. I especially liked this Al Hirschfeld self portrait, complete with one Nina.



The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum is an additional asset to the University and a substantial base of cartoon research that scholars from all over the world will be able to use.

My Bunker’s better than Gaddafi’s

We watched Blue Valentine the other night. A realistic, but completely depressing film about a couple who meet, get married and split up. I thought the leads, played by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling were terrific. A lot of it hit very close to home in the ‘hey this shit really happens to people’ theme. My problem with the film is that the script ignored the middle period of the brief marriage, in which the rot set in and the death spiral began. Their marriage itself seemed to be built on a lie and a sense of duty by one of the couple. We’re never shown scenes in which they are truly happy.

The film seemed to trigger me. Maybe it was a combination of that and the "You were at SUNY Fredonia in the 80's" Facebook group which added to my baggage of moroseness.

Anyway, it put me in an unsettled but safe mood and has made me think too much.
My first wife is in that group, and it's weird seeing people naming her in threads and me not being able to see it. She's blocked me. She requested four years ago that I no longer contact her. I have not crossed those boundaries. It's petty and bizarre all at once and I know there are people reading this who still have contact with her, which is expected.

I bear her no ill will, never have.

Closure's a myth and social media is a really fucked up place sometimes.

Busy week ahead as we prepare for the trip to the old country. Sending out the itinerary to some, a spare key and phone numbers go to others. Have some immigration forms to fill out and send. Bills need to be paid. What to pack? The temperature will be about twenty five degrees cooler. Do we go to the concert on Friday or Tuesday?

Also have to start promoting and get ready for a feature I will have in late September. It will be in Mount Vernon at Sips Coffeehouse. Mark, the man who runs the show up there has been asking me a few times and it’s time to finally take him up on that offer. I’ll be joined by Joe Suarez. Not sure if the CD will be done by them as it has some production issues and the inevitable delays of life. Mark September 27th on your calendars to take a little road trip up north.

In the midst of everything else, I’ve been researching the action of my Great Uncle’s WW2 unit, to varying degrees of success. It is a lot of work that takes up plenty of time with a lot of dead ends and dead veterans. I’ve found a book though interlibrary loan that has a history of the unit’s activities. There are some pictures and the names of his fellow soldiers are listed. Now comes the task of trying to find out if any members survive.

We both took the day off on Friday. My wife waited at the house for the gas company to install a new meter while I got the oil changed in the car. She wanted to play mini golf, in a continuation of the International Mini Golf Series, and blew me out by four strokes. I think she has a three to two lead now.

I have a couple of days off early in the week coming up. My son finished day camp on Friday and his first day of school is on Wednesday so I’m watching him until then. Third grade, how did that happen!?!

The final qualifying slam for IWPS is this Wednesday at Kafe Kerouac. I will be out of the country for the finals (which I have most likely qualified for) so this is my game seven sudden death there’s no tomorrow last slam of the season. I will not only be swinging for the fences, but at them.

Sign Up!

Busy with poetry slams, finding new pizza places, watching Eccelston Doctor Who and generally trying to find time to rest. It’s write up your evaluation at work time, too.



Today is July 1st, also known as Canada Day, or Dominion Day. I’m not sure what the correct term is any more. I’ll just call it Rock on Canada Day and go from there. Free agency starts in hockey at noon. The Blue Jackets are offering up small fortunes to anyone who will come and play here. It’s hard to find takers. The Buffalo Sabres are doing the same, and if they sign Brad Richards, there will be a lot of talk about them potentially winning the Stanley Cup.

I’m going to be getting updates via Twitter, which is pretty useful for this kind of day.

This could be a great season for hockey if the NFL and NBA seasons are delayed by the owners and players unable to reach an agreement on how to share hundreds of millions of dollars.

Also via John Buccigross’ Twitter; Jose Reyes in June-45 hits, 29 runs scored, seven triples and 11 SB's in 26 games. Only Ty Cobb has bettered that in 100 years. The guy is on fire this season. I guess being healthy while in your contract year can bring out the best in a player.

We’re less than two months from our trip to Scotland. Time to start developing some sort of itinerary. We do plan on going to Edinburgh for a night. But which one? Unless other gigs are booked, and they will be, a P.J. Harvey concert in Glasgow is looking like a possible entertainment option.

Been researching my Great Uncle’s WW2 record. Contacting the National Archives and have received some promising leads. Information will come to me, I just have to wait until they’re retrieved and sent. My Aunt has been trying also. The reunion for his division is happening in September. Problem is that it’s in Oklahoma City and she has no solid information that anyone left alive who will be attending knew him. If it were closer one of us would be doing this.

We’re not traveling this holiday weekend. Going to get out of the sprinkler and set up the sandbox. If you are on the move, have a safe one.

These were brave men, all of them

This is the time of year we remember our soldiers the most. In my family there have been cousins in the Coast Guard and Marines, parents and step parents in the Navy and Army, an Uncle who served in the Army.

The only one I know of who saw the horror of combat and paid the ultimate price was my Great Uncle, who I am named after.

I've done some research on his service and have found very little. My Aunt has his basic information, the unit he served in and company. She also gave me a photograph of him and two of his army buddies (names unknown) that was found in his wallet when he died. I also have a photograph of his grave in France.

Today I hit the mother-lode, a Yahoo group dedicated to his division. He was in the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, Company A. I posted an inquiry and within minutes (23 to be exact) I had a response then a copy of the then classified document of his unit's action during the last weeks of his life, and a list of names from his unit who earned infantryman badges.

It's a stunning document, with sketched in maps and detailed descriptions of the unit's activities. I can't thank the gentleman (the moderator of the group?) enough for the information he gave me, and the leads he showed me to get even more information. I've sent out a request for the daily log of the company, and will mail out a formal request for his Individual Deceased Personnel File. That file should have some gruesome but very descriptive details as to what happened to him.

Looking at the action file, it seems he was probably killed while his company was crossing the Rhine River, possibly around three in the morning. I do not know much about him. I posted in the hope that I'd find someone else in his unit who knew him, a long shot as soldiers are dying by the day. This information is something though, more than I knew this time yesterday, and why I continue to dig.