Today is the birthday
… of Willie McCovey. “Stretch,” the baseball hall-of-famer, is 74.
Although Willie McCovey played hurt throughout much of his 22-year career, the Giants first baseman used a sweeping swing to belt 521 homers and collect more than 2,200 hits. He led the National League in homers three times and in RBIs twice, also pacing the circuit in slugging percentage for three consecutive years (1968-70). McCovey earned National League MVP honors in 1969, 10 years after earning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1959.
… of Scott McKenzie. So “if you’re going to San Francisco” wish Scott a happy 73rd birthday.
… of William Sanderson. The character actor (E.B. Farnum in “Deadwood,” Larry on “Newhart,” Lippy in “Lonesome Dove”) is 68.
… of Rod Stewart. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 67.
Rod Stewart can be regarded as the rock generation’s heir to Sam Cooke. Like Cooke, Stewart delivers both romantic ballads and uptempo material with conviction and panache, and he sings in a warm, soulful rasp. A singer’s singer, Stewart seemed made to inhabit the spotlight.
… of George Foreman. The boxing hall-of-famer and cook is 63. Foreman has five daughters and five sons and has named all of the sons George — George Jr., George III, George IV, George V, and George VI.
… of Patricia Mae Andrzejewski. Pat Benatar is 59. She won four consecutive Grammy awards in the 1980s for “Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.”
… of Shawn Colvin. The singer is 56.
Shawn Colvin is one of the bright spots of the so-called “new folk movement” that began in the late ’80s. And though she grew out of the somewhat limited “woman with a guitar” school, she has managed to keep the form fresh with a diverse approach, avoiding the clichéd sentiments and all-too-often formulaic arrangements that have plagued the genre. In less than a decade of recording, Colvin has emerged as a songcraftsman with plenty of pop smarts, which has earned her a broad and loyal following.
Jim Croce was born on this date in 1943. Croce released just 11 singles, but “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle” made it to number one, the first in July 1973, the second posthumously after Croce died in a plane crash at age 30 in September of that year.
In the music industry, arguably the worst tragedy that can befall an artist is to die in their prime, when he or she is just beginning to break through to the mainstream and reach people on a national level. One such artist was Jim Croce, a songwriter with a knack for both upbeat, catchy singles and empathetic, melancholy ballads. Though Croce only recorded a few studio albums before an untimely plane crash, he continues to be remembered posthumously. Croce appealed to fans as a common man, and it was not a gimmick — he was a father and husband who went through a series of blue-collar jobs. And whether he used dry wit, gentle emotions, or sorrow, Croce sang with a rare form of honesty and power. Few artists have ever been able to pull off such down-to-earth storytelling as convincingly as he was.
Linda Susan Boreman was born 63 years ago today; she died in 2002 from injuries sustained in a traffic accident. Her stage name was Linda Lovelace. The 1972 film Deep Throat, starring Lovelace, was one of the first pornographic films to have a plot, certain acts, decent production values and mainstream success. It was arguably the first porn film to become part of pop culture. Lovelace/Boreman at first celebrated the film and her fame but later became anti-porn and claimed she had been exploited and abused.
Had he not smoked, the historian and author Stephen Ambrose might have been 76 today; he died in 2002.
A pre-med student, he was annoyed when his state university requirements compelled him to take an American history class the second semester of his sophomore year. It was called, “Representative Americans,” and was based on biographies of individuals throughout the country’s history; the first class focused on George Washington. The professor said that the students would be completing their own biography of an unknown Wisconsinite, which they would have to use primary research from the state historical society to write. The result, the professor promised, would add to the sum of the world’s knowledge.
“And that just hit me like a sledgehammer,” Ambrose later said. “It had never before occurred to me that I could add to the sum of the world’s knowledge.” He changed his major to history, and at the end of the term wrote a 10-page biography of a Civil War-era one-term Wisconsin Congressman named Charles Billinghurst. Ambrose marveled that he was now the world’s leading expert on Charles Billinghurst. “Now what I soon learned was, the reason for that was that nobody else cared about Charles A. Billinghurst,” Ambrose laughed. But his next epiphany was what transformed him from a historian to a world-class storyteller: “But I can make ’em care if I tell the story right.”
He became the biographer of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, he wrote a best-selling book about the Lewis & Clark expedition titled Undaunted Courage (1996), and wrote multiple books on WWII, like Citizen Soldiers (1997) and Band of Brothers (1992).
I had lunch with Ambrose and his wife thirty or so years ago when he was working on the Nixon book.
Roy Edward Disney was born on January 10th in 1930; he died in 2009. His father was Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle was Walter Elias Disney. Roy E. was the last member of the family to be involved in the management of the company.
Max Patkin was born on this date in 1920; he died in 1999. Patkin, the Clown Prince of Baseball, played before crowds at ballparks big and small for more than 50 years. He played himself in Bull Durham.
Ray Bolger was born on January 10, 1904. He’s best known, of course, as Hunk in The Wizard of Oz.
Dumas Malone was born in Coldwater, Michigan, on this date in 1892. Professor Malone, who died in 1986, was a historian, biographer and editor. His foremost work, the six volume Jefferson and His Time, is the most authoritative biography of the William and Mary alumnus who became author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia. The last volume, Sage of Monticello was completed when Malone was 89 years-old. Dumas Malone was presented the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan in 1983.
“Pa” Charles Ingalls was born on this date in 1836. Daughter Mary was born on this date in 1865.