N. Scott Momaday

N. Scott Momaday was born on February 27, 1934 (a birth date he shares with Ralph Nader) in Oklahoma. One of America's foremost poets, he's best known for The Way to Rainy Mountain, which is probably my single favorite long poetical work. The family name (adopted in his father's day) was originally Mamedaty, as NSM records in his memoir The Names:

At four o'clock in the morning of February 27, 1934, in the Kiowa and Comanche Indian Hospital at Lawton, Oklahoma, near the old stone corral at Fort Sill, where my ancestors were imprisoned in 1873 for having fled to the last buffalo range in the Staked Plains, I was delivered into the world by an elderly Indian Service doctor who entered my name on the Standard Certificate of Birth as Novarro Scotte Mammedaty ("Momaday" having first been entered, then crossed out).

Momaday quotes the wording of his birth certificate, which duly observes that he is "of 7/8 degree Indian blood", and which cites the 1924 Act by which the US Congress generously extended American citizenship to the descendents of the country's early inhabitants.

Momaday is interviewed in the current issue of The Seattle Review. The interview was conducted in 2003, at the poet's family home in New Mexico. Momaday recalls that he wanted to be a writer from childhood: "I said, 'Mom, I'm going to be "a writer"'". As a young adult he hung out with other literary people and admired Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, D. H. Lawrence, and Wallace Stevens.

In the interview he doesn't express a lot of political anger as an Indian, but he is

alarmed by the loss of that cultural identity. The loss of language, the loss of ceremonies, the loss of relationship with elders. All of that is happening very suddenly, and the move to urban centers, all of that is costing the Indian his cultural identity. So the Buffalo Trust was created to do something about that, to reverse that trend.

Momaday speaks of his visit to the Athabascan communities near the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge:

Small village, subsisting ... 80 percent of their diet is caribou. And what we're doing up there is upsetting the balance of nature, and interfering with the migrations of the caribou, so things are changing.

Momaday's shorter poems are collected in volumes like In the Presence of the Sun, which is also illustrated by the poet. (NSM is also - like his father Al Momaday - an artist.) Some of my favorites include "New World" (written entirely in disyllabic lines), "The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee" (a reference to NSM's Kiowa name), "Nous Avons Vu la Mer", "Rainy Mountain Cemetery", and "Prayer" (which invokes the name of his grandmother, Aho). The book also includes a series on Billy the Kid, and some delightful light poems and epigrams.

The Way to Rainy Mountain was first published in 1967-1969. Inspired by NSM's own pilgrimage, it tells the story of the Kiowas' historic migration from their original homeland in western Montana to the southern Plains. The Introduction recounts a legend surrounding Devil's Tower, Wyoming; it explains why "the Kiowas have kinsmen in the night sky" and is, I think, rather more compelling than "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". The poem itself consists of a braid of three interwoven strands of mythical, historical, and personal narrative, which gradually converge on the burial of the poet's grandmother. "If you stand on the front porch of the house and look eastward towards Carnegie, you know that the woman is buried somewhere within the range of your vision. But her grave is unmarked."

When my mother passed away almost two years ago, I went back to Connecticut to pay a last visit to the green suburban house that I grew up in. I read the first, sixteenth, and twenty-fourth cantos of The Way to Rainy Mountain aloud as a tribute to her. One of the things I love about literature is its power to remind us of the parts of our own lives, of our own selves, that we must keep alive - the almost-forgotten places, the hidden landscapes,

the glare of noon and all the colors of the dawn and dusk.

Morning Report: February 27, 2005

Arrests, condemnation follow Tel Aviv bombing. A Friday night terrorist bombing at the nightclub "The Stage" in Tel Aviv claimed the lives of four victims. The Jerusalem Post reports: 'Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Sunday that Islamic Jihad was behind the suicide bombing on Friday night in Tel Aviv. Issuing a short statement at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting in response to the attack, which cost the lives of four people and wounded some 50, Sharon said: "The orders came from Islamic Jihad in Syria. We know this for a fact."' Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz added that 'Islamic Jihad was directly responsible for the attack, taking its orders from Syria, and that its intent was to disrupt the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel.' Debka reports: 'Israeli police on maximum terror alert. From Sunday, roadblocks at town entrances, special patrols at schools at crowd centers, transport terminals against at least 50 attacks known to be planned by Palestinian terrorists.' A Washington Post article (appearing here in the San Francisco Chronicle) says: 'Palestinian and Israeli security forces arrested seven Palestinians on Saturday in connection with a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv the night before, while leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Syria asserted responsibility for the attack. Among those arrested were two brothers of the presumed bomber and the man who allegedly drove the bomber to the nightclub where he detonated explosives, killing himself and four others and wounding about 50 people, Israeli security sources said. Most of the casualties were young Israelis waiting in line to enter a karaoke bar called the Stage. Israeli security sources identified the bomber as Abdullah Badran, 21, an observant Muslim and university student from the West Bank village of Deir al- Ghusun, northeast of Tel Aviv on the so-called Green Line between the West Bank and Israel.' Arutz Sheva reports: 'Syria said Sunday afternoon that the suicide bombing Friday night in Tel Aviv "contradicts Syrian policy," harms peace efforts and "gives Israel a pretext to bash the peace process."' A news bulletin from Stratfor (subscription) says, 'Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Feb. 26 condemned the Feb. 25 Tel Aviv nightclub bombing, saying that "the Palestinian Authority will not stand silent in the face of this act of sabotage."' (various)

Russia, Iran conclude nuclear deal. Iranian regime and Russian interests found common ground in Tehran on Sunday, with the signing of a long-planned deal for the completion of the Bushehr nuclear facility. From Debka: 'Iran, Russia sign nuclear fuel deal in Tehran Sunday. DEBKAfile reports: Signing delayed 24 hours over Iran’s insistence on schedule for delivery which Moscow wanted to avoid. Russians now undertake to complete Bushehr reactor core by end of 2005. This was main point at issue in Bush-Putin summit.' (Debka)

Mubarak calls for election reform in Egypt. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has called for multiparty elections. '"The election of a president will be through direct, secret balloting, giving the chance for political parties to run for the presidential elections and providing guarantees that allow more than one candidate for the people to choose among them with their own will," Mubarak said in a televised speech at Menoufia University in the Nile Delta. Mubarak, 76, said the decision was rooted in his "full conviction of the need to consolidate efforts for more freedom and democracy."' Big Pharaoh is astonished. 'I never imagined what President Mubarak said today. He asked the parliament to amend the Egyptian constitution to allow multiple candidates to run for the presidency. This means that Muabark will have opponents running against him. Now, I am not stupid nor am I living in la la land. Mubarak's decision today came after immense pressure from the US and the current earthquakes (the purple revolution in Iraq and the Hariri revolution in Lebanon) that shook the region days ago. However, I credit US pressure as the number one reason. Condoleezza Rice cancelled a trip to Egypt scheduled for next week because of the arrest of Ayman Nour and Mubarak's failure to "change". Well, it seems that Bush turned out to be bloody serious about this democracy in the Middle East thing. ... ' Read the full post at the link. (Washington Post, Big Pharaoh)

Morning Report: February 24, 2005

It's all about oil. In a series on "The Second Front" (i.e. Southeast Asia), Wretchard explores the role of Saudi money in anti-US operations, including projected Cole-like naval operations and the recently discovered plot to assassinate President Bush: 'As Little Green Footballs notes, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the US citizen charged with conspiring to assassinate President Bush, was not simply "a former Virginia high school valedictorian" the regular newspapers make him out to be. The "high school" he attended was a Saudi funded madrassa called the Islamic Saudi Academy.' (Belmont Club)

Fatah legislators approve new cabinet. Debka reports: 'After two rejections, Palestinian legislature finally confirms PM Qureia’s third cabinet lineup by majority of 54 to 12 with 2 abstentions. All 17 ministers are new faces unassociated with Arafat’s corrupt administration.' (Debka)

Syrian terrorism in Iraq. Hammorabi provides details on the Syrian regime's involvement in terrorism against Iraq, citing captured terrorists Adam Doma and Anis al-Essa: 'Some were arrested in Mosel and Baghdad including Arabs from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen and others. Adam Doma (42 years) from Sudan confessed that he received training in Syria under the supervision of Syrian Intelligence officers. He confessed that he beheaded 10 Iraqi civilians by his own hands. ... Anis Al-Essa is a Syrian who works as an officer in the Syrian Intelligence Security. He was arrested with Doma ...' (Hammorabi)

Robert Lawrence: Space pioneer's memory honored. Astronaut selectee Maj. Robert Lawrence would have been the first African-American astronaut to fly in space, had not a tragic training accident cut short his career in 1967. MSNBC features his story. Like the thirteen women originally selected for service in the Mercury program (collectively known as the Mercury 13), Lawrence is a name that deserves to be better known. (MSNBC)

Hundreds Dead in Iran Earthquake

The known death toll continues to rise in an earthquake that struck near Zarand, Iran. CNN reports:

Rescuers in central Iran searched for survivors Tuesday after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake flattened villages and killed at least 270 people.

Iranian officials told state-run television that at least 950 people were injured in the quake, which struck near Zarand, a city of about 135,000 people in Kerman province.

AP via Fox News reports:

A powerful earthquake toppled mud-built homes and flattened villages in central Iran on Tuesday, killing at least 270 people and injuring 950, officials and state-run television said. A senior official said the death toll could top 350. TV footage showed residents frantically digging through piles of debris looking for loved ones following the 6.4-magnitude earthquake, which struck at 5:55 a.m. While homes made of mud collapsed, buildings of cement appeared not to sustain heavy damage. Survivors pleaded for help finding the buried: "What a catastrophe. Please help us," one said. Rain was hampering rescue efforts. The quake's epicenter was on the outskirts of Zarand, a town of about 15,000 people located 35 miles northwest of Kerman ...

More information and discussion is posted on this thread at Free Iran.

Bush on Iran: "The Time Has Arrived"

"The results of this approach now depend largely on Iran," Bush said. "The time has arrived for the Iranian regime to listen to the Iranian people and respect their rights and join in the movement toward liberty that is taking place all around them." - President Bush, in an AP story quoted at Free Iran

Iranian freedom activists have been anxiously watching the political scene for signs that the President will support their struggle. Now, it seems increasingly clear that Washington's policy will turn toward the promotion of a free and democratic Iran. Most observers and activists agree that an Iraq-style invasion is neither necessary nor desirable in the case of Iran; rather, regime change in Tehran can be achieved through other means. There is strong, and growing, resistance to the regime. Diplomacy, of course, is always the first recourse: diplomatic pressure should be brought to bear against the islamist entity to allow a referendum on the current rulers. However, it is unlikely that any amount of persuasion will convince the mullahs to accede to a referendum, or to quietly step down in the event of a "no confidence" vote from the Iranian people. In that eventuality, other methods - such as economic sanctions and support for internal resistance movements - may be enough to bring down the regime's house of cards. In that event, what will be needed for the post-IRI era will be humanitarian aid, security support, and guidance in the establishment of liberal, democratic institutions.

Like so many things these days, this should be high on the agenda of America's so-called "liberals" - but it is not.

Campaign to Save Terri Schiavo

Fifteen years ago, Terri Schiavo became mentally incapacitated when her heart stopped beating. Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, now wants to end her life support; in essence, as Terri's parents and supporters explain, allowing her to die of starvation and dehydration.

There's a campaign underway to save Terri Schiavo. Sherri at Straight Up With Sherri has been working very hard on putting together some information on the Schiavo case, and organizing people to take action. There's also the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation and Terri Schiavo News. Terence P. Jeffrey at the Washington Times and Nat Hentoff at the Village Voice are on the case. Go visit Sherri's blog, and find out what you can do.

Michael Rubin: Will Washington Support Democracy in Iran?

Writing at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Michael Rubin asks whether the Bush Administration will support democracy in Iran. Read the article at the link - also check out the discussion at the Free Iran forum.

Morning Report: February 20, 2005

Iraqi police arrest suspected Zarqawi ally. On a day marred by deadly terrorist attacks against Iraqis, Iraqi police arrested a man believed linked to terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. 'Iraqi police arrested Haidar Mulaqatah during a raid in the Maffaraq area of western Baquba, about 30 miles north of Baghdad in Diyala province', according to this CNN report. In a separate raid, another suspected terrorist was captured: 'Harbi Abdul Khudier Hammudi, who served as a colonel in the old Iraqi air force, is a leader of the Salafist Jihadist terrorist group and is believed to have been involved in several attacks against coalition forces, including the bombing of an Iraqi national guard convoy last year, police said. Another leader in Hammudi's group, Faris Addula Younis, was also captured in the raid, police said.' The arrests came amid a string of homicide attacks on Irai Shi'ites timed to coincide with the Shi'a festival of Ashoura. (CNN)

Syrian allies and foes headed for showdown in Lebanon. In the wake of the Valentine's Day assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the Syrian-backed regime in Lebanon appears to be heading toward a major confrontation with its opponents. Debka reports on recent developments, including Syria's distribution of weapons and a call by Walid Jumblatt and others for the pro-Syrian regime to step down. 'The resignations of president Emil Lahoude and the Karame government were forcefully demanded by the opposition leader, Walid Jumblatt, head of the Lebanese Druses who speaks for a rare multiethnic coalition made up of his own community, Christian factions endorsed by Maronite Catholic Archbishop Nasrallah Sfeir, and Sunni Muslims led by the dead billionaire’s oldest son, Bahaa Hariri, with the blessing of the Sunni Muslim Mufti of Lebanon.' Debka predicts: 'The sparks will fly in earnest when government and Syrians move into aggressive mode to crush the opposition, which will become increasingly inflamed by multiplying leads to Syria and its Lebanese minions as Hariri’s assassins. Our sources report that US, French and Israeli intelligence have already gathered solid evidence that General Rostum Ghazallah of Syrian military intelligence orchestrated the murder on orders from Damascus with the aid of Lebanese general intelligence and its chief General Jamil al-Sayad. The Damascus-backed government in Beirut and its masters has no intention of going quietly. Bashar Assad desperately needs the political and economic benefits he extorts from Lebanon to prop up his regime. Monday, February 21, presidents George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac meet in Paris. With Lebanon at the forefront of their agenda, they will have to look hard at some tough questions. How to handle the situation if Assad orders his Syrian troops in Lebanon to march on Beirut in defense of his puppet government? And worse still, what if the full weight of the Syrian army is sent across the border to squash the uprising? Will the two Western leaders dispatch a joint US-French force to repulse the Syrian onslaught?' Chrenkoff has lots more. (Debka, Chrenkoff)

Morning Report: February 18, 2005

Bombers target Shia worshipers in Baghdad. Three bombers, striking two mosques and a religious procession, killed more than 27 people in Iraq Friday. According to the AP report on Fox: 'In the first explosion, the bomber entered the vestibule of al-Khadimain mosque in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood as worshippers inside knelt in prayer before detonating his explosives, said one witness, Hussein Rahim Qassim. Shortly afterward, a bomb ripped through the Al Bayaa mosque in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in western Baghdad. Fifteen were killed in the first explosion, and ten in the second, an official at Baghdad's al-Yarmuk Hospital said on condition of anonymity. Less than an hour later, a homicide bomber blew himself up as a procession of Shiites marking Ashoura passed by, killing two and injuring eight, according to Iraqi police Lt. Waed Hussein. Shiites packed into mosques Friday to mark the eve of Ashoura, the 10th day of the Islamic holy month of Muharram and the holiest day of the year for them.' (AP via Fox)

Protestor throws shoe at Perle. During a debate in Portland's Schnitzer Auditorium, Howard Dean and Richard Perle exchanged views and barbs; Perle also dodged a shoe thrown by a protester. (CNN)

Morning Report: February 17, 2005

Lebanon asks for foreign help in Hariri case. The Lebanese government has asked for foreign assistance in investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, VOA reports. Hariri was killed in an apparent suicide bombing in Beirut on Monday, which claimed the lives of 14 other people as well. The Lebanese leader was seen as a symbol of popular resistance to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Syria is widely suspected in the blast, and the United States has recalled its ambassador to Syria in protest. (VOA)

Iraq election update. From Debka: 'Shiite United Iraqi Alliance’s 140 lawmakers hold secret ballot Friday on premiership nominee. Top members failed Wednesday to choose between al Daawa’s Jaafari, who pledges to ask US troops to stay, and secular Iraq National Congress leader Chalabi. Kurds will back winner in return for presidency.' (Debka)

Sunnis admit election boycott was a blunder. The Command Post carries an article from the Guardian indicating that Iraqi Sunnis who boycotted the January 30 election now regard the boycott as a mistake, and see value in participating in the political process: '"Our view is that this election was a step towards democracy and ending the occupation," said Ayad al-Samaray, the assistant general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic party. He said unnamed Sunni leaders blundered in depicting the election as a deepening of the occupation.' Full story and comments available at link. (Command Post, Guardian)

Testimony on security issues. The Belmont Club critiques the testimony before Congress of various officials regarding strategic threats to the United States. 'All in all, the intelligence briefings painted a picture of an enemy that had not yet realized its power potential. It had been stayed, but not fatally wounded. On the contrary, if it could overcome its disorganization and mend fences with enablers it could become even more dangerous.' Wretchard concludes that 'of the testimonies is that Rumsfeld alone, of all the witnesses, articulated a complete grand strategic view. In particular, he understood that the threat, so well described in component by the representatives of intelligence and finance, menaced the world  as a whole and not simply the United States and that it had been emerging over a long period of time.' (Belmont Club)

Varying accounts of Iran blast. Last Wednesday, an explosion shook the southern Iranian city of Dailam, Bushehr province, in the vicinity of a nuclear facility. Beyond that, there seems to be little agreement as to what happened. Free Iran news carries a roundup of media reports and commentary. (Free Iran)

Shahna Lax

I believe I mentioned Shahna Lax without providing a link.

I believe I'll correct that oversight now:
Shahna Lax at Tribe of the Winds
Crestone Artisans Gallery

Trina Schart Hyman

Trina Schart Hyman, who died last November, was my favorite illustrator growing up, and come to think of it, she still is. She used to do cover illustrations and border art for the children's magazine Cricket, which my sister and I read as kids. (The margins had a delightful cartoon called "Cricket and Ladybug".) Fortunately, my parents saved all the old copies of Cricket, and I was able to salvage them from the basement last year - they're sitting in a box by my desk right now, more than 60 issues dating from 1974 to 1979.

Trina created a rich and seductive fantasy world for such classics as "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Saint George and the Dragon", "Peter Pan", and "The Golem". I never outgrew my enjoyment of children's books, and especially her art. It's passionate, frightening, romantic, and magical.

This bio gives a little background about her life:

Trina was born on April 8, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Margaret Doris Bruck and Albert H. Schart. She grew up in a rural area of Pennsylvania learning to read and draw at an early age. She credits her mother for instilling in her the joy of books by reading to her from the time she was an infant. She spent a whole year wearing a red satin cape that her mother had made for her because her favorite story was Little Red Riding Hood. 
“I figured out at four years old that somebody had made the pictures in my books and though I didn’t know what these people were called, I knew I wanted to be a book illustrator. . . . I began to make books from my own stories and drew pictures to illustrate them. “

“It was always very clear to me—and to everyone else, too—exactly what I would do when I grew up. I would be an artist, and I would be the sort of artist who made pictures that told stories. It wasn’t until the seventh grade that I learned about the word illustrator, but when I heard it, I knew that that was me.”

... Although she skipped first grade, Trina never felt like she was a good student, preferring to doodle rather than do the assigned work. It wasn’t until she enrolled at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art in 1956 that she blossomed. 
“Suddenly, I was not only allowed to draw all day long, I was expected to! I was surrounded by other artists all day, and we talked, ate, lived and dreamed about art. It was as though I had been living, all my life, in a strange country where I could never quite fit in—and now I had come home.”

In 1959, she married mathematician and engineer, Harris Hyman, and they moved to Boston where he had gotten a job. She continued studying at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts.

I know Harris; as it happens, we go to the same shul - although I haven't been going as regularly as I should lately, or I probably would have learned of Trina's passing earlier. They had a baby girl, Katrin, in 1963, and went their separate ways in 1968. Harris is a nice fellow, and he and Trina remained on good terms; Harris told me his daughter (from a later marriage) would refer to Trina as her "fairy godmother".

Trina was a low-tech kind of person:

Distrustful of technology, Trina proudly admits to not owning a “mind-destroying, soul-sucking” television, or any other convenience remotely technological. Making a solemn vow at the time of her daughter’s birth, she chose instead to fill their home with hundreds of good books and took the time to read them. She credits this practice with teaching her daughter to read at the age of four.

Good for her! My parents didn't forbid television, but they did ration it strictly. Most evenings we'd sit in the living room, all four of us, and read aloud. "Family reading" was a sacred institution in our house. We'd each take a turn reading from a young-adult book, or, later, a regular novel or classic. This did amazing things for our reading, speaking, and listening skills, and I'll always consider it one of the biggest gifts Mom and Dad gave us. My father, I remember, had an excellent reading voice. (In his later years, I believe he spent some time as a volunteer reader for some kind of audio books. So perhaps even now someone is out there listening to my father read.) We read Lucy M. Boston (the Green Knowe books), Susan Cooper ("The Dark Is Rising" series), Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King. (Yes, really. Mom was a big Stephen King fan.) There was a lot more, too, but those are the ones I remember.

I've always had a bit of a luddite streak myself, although plainly I have a geeky side too. I'll always trust the intimacy of tangible objects - books, handwritten letters, and so on - in a way that I will never feel comfortable with electronic communications. But enough about me; back to Trina.

Moving beyond drawing European characters, Trina went on to illustrate "The Fortune Tellers" (set in her son-in-law's native Cameroon) and "The Serpent Slayer: Stories of Strong Women". In her later years she suffered from arthritis, which made it difficult for her to work; and from cancer, which finally claimed her life on November 19, 2004.

I never got to meet Trina, although I did mail her an enthusiastic fan letter as a young adult, which she was kind enough to answer. (I still have Trina's letter, along with the autographed copy of her autobiography, "Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman" that she sent me.) After selling my parents' house last year, I splurged a little and bought an original of one of her works from Child At Heart Gallery - a woman with piercing eyes and flaming red hair, holding a glowing sphere in her hands and standing against a dramatic, dark background. I like to imagine that it represents the secret, Divine spark, which we all share, but which too often we keep hidden. When we hold it the right way, it shines.

Trina Schart Hyman links:
Child At Heart Gallery
Trina Schart Hyman biography
tribute from Open Fields School
Cricket Magazine
Reading Room: Remembering Trina Schart Hyman
The Horn Book: Trina Schart Hyman
LiveJournal: Trina Schart Hyman thread
Powell's Books: The Sleeping Beauty


Thanks to my dear friend Blanche in San Francisco for passing the news.