When I was starting high school (yes, I can remember that far back!) my darling Aunt Rosie gave me and her daughter, Shirley, a five-year diary. As she handed it to us she said that her Shirley would write in it every day but she wasn’t sure that I would. Well, I did — and my cousin didn’t! So there! In addition, I purchased another five-year book and, as a result, I have a clear record of my thoughts and deeds through college. Admittedly, I sound dumb — especially in the early years. At Ohio U. because I was pre-med I was required to take a course called “Greek Words in English.” I used Greek script in my diary to prevent my roommate from reading it. Frankly I’ve forgotten how to translate the Greek script. All of the above came to my mind because last March I celebrated thirty years of writing “In Tune With June!” and I have every column stored in scrapbooks. Recently my treasured companion agreed to read each one aloud of course a few at a time. It’s been a revelation since, along with my activities, it includes a history of Bayonne since March 1984 when ours was a vibrant, booming city filled with fine shopping, fine restaurants (like Luciano’s San Vito), and many cultural activities. So I’m writing this in the hope that Mayor Davis reads my column and is inspired to restore our Broadway. Hopefully, once again one can shop, eat, and enjoy without heading for a mall.
I couldn’t believe my eyes! That same cousin, Shirley, was on the front page of The New York Times — a picture, story, plus a video on the Internet. The title was “When Mr. Ghana Met Mrs. Friedman: A Fitness Story for the Ages.” Shirley enjoyed the story even as I did despite the fact that she is Miss Freedman. What really bothered her was that “everybody now knows my age.” At 90 I guess it’s good to be vain. In his Manhattan gym Martin Luther King Addo (Mr. Ghana) helps frail seniors like my cousin restore their balance, mobility, and strength. In The Times story Shirley is described as his most loyal client. She has private training sessions twice a week, attends a suspension training class, and even more. Shirley thought she was “too old” to work out but Mr. Addo made her feel comfortable and her improvement is remarkable. We met for lunch and, guess what, Shirley walked without a cane! So keep moving. You don’t have to go to Manhattan. Here’s a plug for a class called “Healthy Bones” that is available every Monday at our beautiful library. It starts at 10 a.m. and there’s no charge.
Joanne Rowling — is the name familiar to you? Perhaps! Joanne Rowling is author J. K. Rowling but her publishers thought that a woman’s name would not appeal to the target audience of young boys so they added “K” for Kathleen, her paternal grandmother’s name. Boy — hah! were they wrong! Children and adults have delighted to the world of Harry Potter thanks to the wondrous imagination of its author. Harry Potter is the best-selling book series in history. It also became the highest grossing film series in history. Rowling’s life story is wondrous too. It’s a “rags to riches” one. She progressed from being on state benefits in England to multi-millionaire status within five years and the amazing gal is still going strong, this time writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. She has published a novel for adults, “The Casual Vacancy,” and two detective thrillers under that pseudonym, and the lady still whets the appetite proving once again that when she lets loose everyone, including her fans, her treasured characters, and even herself have a good time. Ms. Rowling-Galbraith novels have little of the ambition or sweep of her Potter tales. It is clear though that two narrow genres of literature have been the source of inspiration: the old-fashioned detective story with its careful parsing of evidence and the Jacobean play, renowned for its biting satire and dark fascination with betrayal and revenge, death and cruelty, and corruption. But don’t despair, Harry Potter is back in a fifteen hundred word story. J. K. Rowling has given fans a glimpse of the grown-up boy wizard. It describes Harry about to turn 34, mysterious, married, and going gray. But, take heart, he still wears the distinctive round glasses that some might say are better suited to a style-deficient twelve-year-old. Rowling has long said that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” would be the last Potter novel but she has produced other Potter-related material. Currently we’ll be looking for her detective thrillers under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. If I learn of any updates I’ll keep you posted.
More than four years after the death of J. D. Salinger, fascination with him remains undimmed. Caught up in the hoopla I became very interested in re-reading his landmark novel, “Catcher in the Rye.” After all, despite his slim body of work and reclusive life style, the iconic author set a new course for literature in post-World War II America and vaulted Salinger to the height of literary fame. Well, it wasn’t easy to catch “Catcher in the Rye” (forgive me!). I couldn’t purchase it on my Kindle but our library had three moth-eaten copies browned by time and a great strain on the eyes — so I strained away. It was worth the effort. I found it mostly entertaining and humorous. The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a deeply unsatisfied depressed prep-school boy with a heart of gold. Over the course of three days the plot takes Holden, a rich kid who can’t stop getting expelled from every school he attends, wandering around Manhattan trying (1) to get drunk and (2) to get “lucky.” “Catcher in the Rye” includes a lot of attitude and a lot of dated profanity. I wondered about the metaphoric title so I Googled and learned that the sixteen-year-old wants to be the person who keeps children from falling off the cliff. That cliff symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood and Holden wants to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults. Now there’s a new biography and documentary plus the revelation that J. D. Salinger’s unpublished works may soon be released. And, in case you’re wondering, J. D. stands for Jerome David. What’s with literary giants and initials?
You can e-mail June Sturz at intunejune@optonline.net