Of gods and generals

by chuckofish

There was a small earth quake in central Illinois yesterday morning, but it didn’t amount to much and there was no damage reported. The magnitude 3.8 quake, we are told, struck at 1:27 a.m. Central Time, about 3 miles north-northeast of Ohlman, Illinois. The shallow tremor was felt across parts of Christian and Sangamon counties. According to daughter #2 they didn’t feel a thing in nearby Champaign County.

Today we toast General Ethan Allen (1738-1789) on his birthday, who is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War. Fun fact: A descendant of Ethan Allen, Ethan Allen Hitchcock Shepley, was the chancellor of our flyover university from 1953-1961, following Arthur Holly Compton. I always liked the story my mother told of the time our Labrador Retriever ran away and she got a phone call from the chancellor’s wife saying they had our dog. So she walked over to their house across campus and picked him up. She said Mrs. Shepley was very nice and said Teak was a good dog. My memory may be off–it might have been Mrs. Eliot, the wife of a later chancellor, who was nice, but whatever. It’s a good story.

We also toast Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863), Confederate general and military officer, on his birthday. He has always been a favorite of mine, even though he fought on the wrong side.

And speaking of generals, it is also the birthday of J. Carrol Naish (1896-1973), the character actor who memorably played General Phil Sheridan in Rio Grande (1950) which starred John Wayne.

Naish, although of Irish extraction, was one of those capable film actors who played an array of ethnically-diverse characters during his long career, including Sitting Bull twice.

Yes, Naish played lots of Italians, Hispanics, Native Americans, Jews, Irishmen, and even Wasps–because it is after all, called acting.

The world is more than we know.