Great Danes
With all the flap about the Danish Cartoons, (about which I could care less. If ted rall can do bullshit here and pull it off, insulting people whose shoes he is not worthy to polish, why can’t cartoonists draw pictures of a pedophile who made up a religion?)and with this excellent post by Mr Porretto, I thought I’d mention mine own Great Dane, uncle Al.
Al was my mom’s sister’s husband. A remarkably well read and educated man, he fell short of a lawyer’s career by only some shortfallings in his personal life, beyond his control. A hale and hearty man all his life, he played football with his kids, engaged in archery competitions which he won with stunning regularity, and was the first color commentator of Notre Dame games. The man who coined the term “intestinal fortitude” because “guts” wasn’t genteel enough to use on AM radio at the time.
Al’s heritage wasn’t royal, but there were whispered conversations about his grandfather coming to American because of a tryst with Danish Royalty. Something about crawling out of a bedroom window onto a ledge and escaping with only seconds to spare.
Anyway, all that aside, Al was the perfect uncle. He was the first person I ever knew to have an actual library, and he introduced me to Kipling, Saki, Guy de Maupassant,Lovecraft, many others. THe family would visit Theresa and Al, and I would end up sitting on the couch, surrounded by piles of books which I would read with maddening speed in the two or three days I was there, often finishing three books in a day. Al would point me at the best stories- The Horla, by de Maupassant, or one of the Not-So stories by Saki.He had a collection of Ogden Nash’s work, and would often write a limerick or two himself. he had a command of Iambic Pentameter that was wholly surprising, but never wrote anything serious, always humerous, lest someone confuse him with a poet “You want to read poetry, read frost” he’d say. “I’m a rhymester, and will never be anything more”
Al tended to be crapulous, and I listened to him ramble in drunken moments about his lost opportunities- or he’d take me downstairs and play classics for me from his large collection of rubber 78’s, thick records recorded on one side only, in mono. Before a flood ruined his collection he had tons of very interesting stuff, including some rare carillion recordings, and a couple of records of castrati, big booming high voices that sounded so unearthly, to a twelve year old it was like listening to aliens.
Al died in his eighties, and though he had to have cataract surgery he could still read, his best and greatest love. His youngest son kept his library and moved it to Washington State, where he has cataloged the books, and given me a list. I aim to reproduce that fine library before I die, in memory of Al.
If he is an example of the average Dane, then I consider all danes my brothers and sisters.
I’m taking a world religion class and don’t understand the pedophile comment. Have we not reached that part yet in class or something? What did he do?
His final wife, Aisha, was six years old when he married her. But he was “nice enough” to wait until she was nine before he consumated the marriage.
Granted, people married in their early teens back then (hey, there was no contraception, plague and disease was everywhere; you’d better have a couple of “legit” kids by time you were 20 or forget it, you’d live to 35 if you were lucky), but still, a six year old? What’s up with that?
Apparently he liked the little boys as well. of course, that’s not something they’re likely to teach you in any class.
Uncle Al sounds like a cool guy- you’re lucky to have had him in your life.
No, they didn’t cover that. That’s sick.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Islam, Dragonlady. You should do yourself a HUGE favor, and read the Koran. ANd then ask yourself how anyone can consider Islam a religion of peace.