NewMexiKen

Today is the birthday

… of Elmore Leonard. He’s 86. Elmore Leonard’s western stories are as good if not better than his detective novels.

… of Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates. He’s 65.

… of former 49ers Hall of Fame QB Steve Young. He’s 50. Young was the first left-handed quarterback inducted into the Hall. He is a great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, whose eponymous university he attended.

… of Joan Cusack. The actress is 49. She’s been nominated for the best actress in a supporting role Oscar twice, Working Girl and In & Out.

… of Michelle Wie, 22.

If they rated first ladies like they rate the presidents, the one who would surely be at the top, Eleanor Roosevelt, was born on this date in 1884. (She died in 1962.) The following is excerpted from the White House Biography of Eleanor Roosevelt:

A shy, awkward child, starved for recognition and love, Eleanor Roosevelt grew into a woman with great sensitivity to the underprivileged of all creeds, races, and nations. Her constant work to improve their lot made her one of the most loved–and for some years one of the most revered–women of her generation.

She was born in New York City on October 11, 1884, daughter of lovely Anna Hall and Elliott Roosevelt, younger brother of Theodore. …

In her circle of friends was a distant cousin, handsome young Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They became engaged in 1903 and were married in 1905, with her uncle the President giving the bride away. Within eleven years Eleanor bore six children; one son died in infancy. …

From [Franklin’s] successful campaign for governor in 1928 to the day of his death, she dedicated her life to his purposes. She became eyes and ears for him, a trusted and tireless reporter.

When Mrs. Roosevelt came to the White House in 1933, she understood social conditions better than any of her predecessors and she transformed the role of First Lady accordingly. She never shirked official entertaining; she greeted thousands with charming friendliness. She also broke precedent to hold press conferences, travel to all parts of the country, give lectures and radio broadcasts, and express her opinions candidly in a daily syndicated newspaper column, “My Day.”

Betty Noyes was born on this date in 1912. You probably don’t know her, but you must know her voice. She sang the Debby Reynolds songs in Singin’ in the Rain.

Harlan Fiske Stone was born on October 11th in 1872. He was Attorney General under President Coolidge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court 1925-1941, and Chief Justice 1941-1946.

Jean-Baptiste Lamy was born in Lempdes, Puy de Dôme, in France on this date in 1814. He came to Santa Fe as bishop in 1850. Among other things he was responsible for the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, and was buried under its floor 1888. (Lamy was succeeded by Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, from the same area in France and for whom my high school in Tucson was named.) Lamy was the subject of Willa Cather’s novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop.

October 10th is the 283rd day of 2011. How you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions?

Thelonious Monk was born on this date in 1917.

Thelonious Monk, who was criticized by observers who failed to listen to his music on its own terms, suffered through a decade of neglect before he was suddenly acclaimed as a genius; his music had not changed one bit in the interim. In fact, one of the more remarkable aspects of Monk’s music was that it was fully formed by 1947 and he saw no need to alter his playing or compositional style in the slightest during the next 25 years.

All Music

A must-have jazz album is Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. The tape had been lost for decades.

Monk died in 1982.

October 10th is the birthday

… of Peter Coyote, the actor. He’s 70. Coyote does a lot of voice-over and narration. He’s the one that sounds a lot like Henry Fonda. He’s appeared in more than 100 films and television shows (including recently in “Commander in Chief”), though he began acting only at age 39. He tested for the part of Indiana Jones.

… of actor Ben Vereen, 65.

… of singer John Prine, 65.

… of David Lee Roth of Van Halen, 57.

… of Tanya Tucker, 53.

… of Bradley Whitford. He’s 52.

… of Brett Favre. He’s 42.

… of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He’s 37.

… of Tulo. Troy Tulowitzki is 27.

Novelist and screenwriter James Clavell was born in Sydney, Australia, on this date in 1924; he died in 1994. Among Clavell’s films, The Great Escape and To Sir, with Love. His most famous novels are King Rat and Shōgun.

Helen Hayes was born on October 10th in 1900. Hayes won two acting Oscars — leading in 1932 and supporting 39 years later in 1971.

Long regarded as “the First Lady of American Theater,” Helen Hayes earned international esteem and affection during a career that spanned more than eighty years on stage and in films, radio, and television. As a screen actor she won two Oscars, as a stage actor she won a prestigious Drama League of New York award, and in 1988 President Ronald Reagan presented her with the National Medal of Arts. Deeply in love with her profession, Hayes enjoyed playing a variety of roles, from Amanda Wingfield in Tennesse Williams’s “The Glass Menagerie” (1948) to a little old lady stowaway in AIRPORT (1970). Both the charm of her comic roles and the depth of her tragic ones made Hayes one of the most respected and beloved American actors.

American Masters

Robert Gould Shaw, the Union officer commanding the 54th Regiment, portrayed in the movie Glory by Matthew Broderick, was born on October 10th in 1837. He died leading an attack on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, in 1863.