My name is Jack Stanley, I have studied history for many years. This blog is about history in a more raw view, not over done. I often use original materials to bring a historic event or story to life or an interview I may have done with the person mentioned. If you cook a vegetable too long it loses much. The same can be said of many histories. They are the history of the history written before it. Over done history. THIS IS HISTORY IN THE RAW. Comments send to phonograph78@hotmail.com
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
The Great Lion is Dead ... Gore Vidal...1925 - 2012
One of our National Treasures is gone......
Few have lived a life like his, few have seen what he saw. Vidal was a true and unique personage. His type are rarely seen anymore and that number is down one now. He was not afraid to say what he thought and said it the annoyance of those who did not have the backbone that he did.
He sparred with John F. Kennedy, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, Robert Kennedy, William F. Buckley, and a whole host of others in which he said what he thought. He did not give a damn what they did. He came close to blows with a few people on live TV. He was an out spoken critic on many issues. But his most recent has been on the total collapse of American society. He always commented on the utter stupidity of the American people, who in many cases never would read a book or try to improve themselves in any way.
He made history come alive in his many historic novels and stabbed repeatedly many a sacred cow in his essays. He brought back from the political graveyard our 3rd Vice President Aaron Burr. His warm portrait of Burr made many rethink some of the history they had been taught in school. All of his books made history come alive. I read all of them and in some cases reread them several times.
He was what you saw and for my money there are few that will ever do what he did. An amazing man, who made our time and his a little more interesting and fun. Although age had limited his involvement in much of last 10 years he did get around and say what he thought about George W. Bush. Usually not too flattering in his droll style. He was originally very strong for Obama, but saw that Obama was just an empty bag of nothingness as well. This brought him back to feeling on the end of the American Republic of which he felt was on its last legs and soon to fail. Amid all of this he would always be the fascinating and charming Gore Vidal
He inspired me and I learned so much just listening to him speak. I admit I could spend hours just listening to him talk about history and people. He had a wonderful and fluid way of describing things. He was one of the few that could talk as equally fine as he wrote. Listen to many authors and you will understand this totally.
Thank you for all your great and interesting talks and writings. I never met you, but I knew you.
His quote on style says it all...
Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn.