A memorable encounter

Our readers may remember the treacherous trip up the Mount Washington Carriage Road, which my Deering High School classmate, Alden Bennett, and three of his high school friends made. Because of heavy snow along the way, they were all fortunate to make it to the Weather Station at the summit, but not all at the same time. They were fortunate to stay there overnight. We printed an account of their trip in this column.

Alden went on to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. At the time of his next trip I’m writing about, he was working for Booz, Allen, the management advisory firm, and was on assignment in Havana, Cuba. He was then an associate for that firm. He wrote:

“It was during one of the later assignments when three or four of us decided to make a late afternoon visit to La Floridita. That was, and may still be, a downtown bar, popular among both tourists and Cubans. It was also, at that time, sort of a second home for Ernest Hemingway. He could be found there almost every afternoon and evening and, sure enough, he was there when we arrived, seated with three or four other men.

“I am not proud of my behavior shortly thereafter. Like too many tourists in the presence of a celebrity, I acted on a rude impulse. I walked over to his table, extended my hand and said, ‘I want to thank you for many hours of pleasant reading.’ (I had rehearsed it, mentally, on the way to his table). Hemingway had no choice, I suppose, but to take my hand. But he did give it a cordial shake and thanked me for my ‘kind words,’ or something like that. I went away with a mixed feeling of success and embarrassment.”

I say, “Good for you, Alden.” But I do not agree that Alden should be embarrassed for speaking to Hemingway. I have the feeling that one of the United States’ best-known and world-famous authors must have been pleased to hear that praise.

I am quite proud that at our house we have a 1940 copy of Hemingway’s greatest novel, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and it is autographed.

I read in the Britannica that Hemingway (1899-1961), U. S. novelist and short-story writer whose succinct and lucid style exerted a powerful influence on American and English fiction, was winner of the Nobel prize for literature in 1954. He was born in Oak Park, Ill. Educated in the local public schools, he skipped college to begin writing as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star.

He entered World War I with a U.S. ambulance unit, and was attached to the Italian infantry until severely wounded by shrapnel near Piave in northern Italy. After recuperation in Milan, he returned to the U.S. and continued writing in Michigan, and then was a foreign correspondent in France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Greece.

He next wrote many of his short stories and novels. His short novel, “The Old Man and The Sea,” (1952), is the heroic story of an aged Cuban’s lone expedition after a great marlin in the Gulf stream north of the island. That novel won the Pulitzer prize in fiction in 1953.

His death, which took place at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. After such a busy and rewarding career, that did seem surprising and upsetting.

An unforgettable game

I was very pleased last week when the Patriots won the game, taking them to San Diego on last Sunday, to face the San Diego Chargers. TV commentators were saying that the Chargers were such a powerful team, and some of the spectators had expressed their opinions that surely the Chargers would win.

Well, well, what a surprise – 24-21 was the final score, and that team from New England, the Patriots, were the victors. It was a very exciting game for us New Englanders to watch. Of course we’ll all be watching again this Sunday, when the Patriots head for Indianapolis. That game will be broadcast again for us to watch, at 6:30 p.m. Wasn’t it nice to see the Patriots’ coach, Bill Belichick, smiling, two weeks in a row?

A lasting impression

Anna Netrebko, the Russian soprano opera singer, played the female lead, Elvira, in the opera “I Puritani” at the Metropolitan Opera Jan. 6. She has often been called “the Russian Maria Callas,” the Italian soprano who was renowned for her singing. Netrebko is very modest about the comparison, and the compliments for her lovely voice.

According to Anthony Tommasini, in his New York Times Dec. 29 music review, the applause after her Act II mad scene in “I Puritani” threatened to stop the performance.

I heard the performance on the Saturday afternoon radio broadcast, and wondered if the applause would ever end.

The Times article, which printed a picture of the 35-year-old Russian soprano, said that she doesn’t speak of her voice in tones of hushed reverence. “In fact, she is unimaginably down-to-earth for a very beautiful young woman who happens to be world famous.” Mr. Tommasini also called her “glamorous.”

I look forward to hearing her soon in opera productions. I am grateful for the Met’s Saturday broadcasts, too.

An overdue book

The Jan. 8 Boston Herald had an Associated Press article that was quite unusual.

In Hancock, Mich., a library book, “Prince of Egypt,” due in 1960, was passed in 47 years later by a man who handed the library clerk the tardy book and a check for $171.32. Years ago, his mother had set the book aside while cleaning, and the borrower recently found it in a box in the attic. Robert Nuranen, who borrowed the book in 1960, now lives in Los Angeles where he teaches seventh-grade social studies and language arts.

The library had long ago lost any record of the book, said the librarian.

What an honest man Nuranen is!

A date with squares

This recipe, printed on a package of chopped dates, was a treat, and easy to prepare.

DATE OATMEAL SQUARES

1 cup of coarsely chopped dates

1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup sifted flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup melted margarine or butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, butter an 8 x 8 x 2 pan. Simmer together the dates and water until thickened. Stir in vanilla, set aside. Combine brown sugar, oats and flour. Add margarine and vanilla while stirring. Press half of the oat mixture in bottom of pan. Cover with date mixture, then sprinkle with remaining oatmeal mixture. Pat gently. Bake 20 minutes. Cool completely. Enjoy.

Ramblings

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