Henry Louis Mencken, H.L to his followers, US critic, born today in 1880, a man I only discovered when I spent a year in his hometown, Baltimore in Maryland, in 2012 and 2013; but oh how I wish I had known about him younger. Famously the birthplace of Edgar Allen Poe, it transpired the town had produced two men of literary genius, and I could not resist noting in my diary, when a most unlikely candidate for the US Presidency began to bully his rivals and abuse his critics, Mencken's prediction that:
"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of this land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
Who could imagine that such an appalling prophecy would actually come true!
"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under"
which provides the perfect follow-up to the previous quote.
"A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin."
And written separately, though they belong together:
"An idealist is one who, noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."
"Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood."
"Criticism is prejudice made plausible"
Amber pages
Alfred A. Knopf, publisher, born today in 1892
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens, US olympic athlete, born today in 1913
Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, English poets, secretly married, today in 1846
Peter Mark Roget, English physician and author of the thesaurus that bears his synonym, died, today in 1869. I would like (prefer, be more partial to, favour, tend towards) not to include this here, as it his death date, but then I wouldn't be able to point out (note, observe, hypothesise, speculate) that he didn't actually die, he simply "became a euphemism".
Germany annexed the Sudetenland, today in 1938
Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia and founding deity of Rastafarianism, deposed today in 1974
Steve Biko, a man I always associate with Donald Woods, because really I knew nothing about him, or at least appreciated nothing about him, until I came to know Donald in the 1980s, and then saw Richard Attenborough’s ‘Cry Freedom’, based on Donald’s book. After that amazing escape, Donald went to the Commonwealth Institute for help, and it was Debbie who organised his national tours, talking to any audience who would listen about apartheid in general and Biko in particular. One of those audiences was the students at Lancaster University, where I was Vice-President i/c International Affairs during my MA year and arranged with Debbie to bring him. Wendy came too, and I added a fourth side to the square of that friendship which continued until the rĂ©gime collapsed and they went back. Though Donald always played himself down, arguing that a middle class white man’s heroics could never be compared with a Bantu’s; but heroism is heroism, and Biko would have been forgotten without him.
As to the events themselves. Biko was arrested at a road-block on September 6th, and suffered such a severe beating that he died while being driven from one prison to another. Suicide was claimed, but of course they knew who their prisoner was, and no one was higher on their wanted list. Nonetheless, no one can be charged for suicide!
Addendum, October 7th 2003: S African Justice Ministry officials today announced that the five policemen accused, by Donald in his book and by others, of killing Biko, will not be prosecuted, for lack of evidence, lack of witnesses, and because the time-frame for a prosecution has expired.
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