In the Name of the Father: An Editor Who Soared, Then Flew Away

September 6, 2013 7:23 AM

"Here are some of the things and people that my father loved: Gregorian chant, Joe Louis, airplanes, the Detroit Tigers infield of the mid-1930s, Salem cigarettes, Martin Luther King Jr., Latin, and big northern lakes. 'That’s not a lake,' he would say, whenever I used the L-word about some muddy little man-made body of water, 'that’s a pond.' Once, we drove all night from Missouri to vacation at Torch Lake, in Michigan, where he had experienced some happiness as a boy. I was in the front with him when we arrived, exactly at dawn, the rest of the family slumbering in the back of the wagon, a golden sun fingering across the blue water. He had tears on his face. Another thing he loved: reporting."
posted by Rangeboy (4 comments total)

Rangeboy, I really enjoyed this essay both as a personal essay and as an interesting bit of history. Thanks for posting it.
posted by not that girl at 8:18 AM on September 6, 2013

Thanks for this, doubly so for the name of Once a Catholic, a book I remember my mother (herself now long gone) enjoying back when I was a kid. I was interested in it solely because George Carlin was one of the interviewees (assuming it's the same book). I still see the latest issue of National Catholic Reporter whenever we visit my aunt and it's nice to know the backstory.
posted by yerfatma at 8:20 AM on September 6, 2013

The author's father sounds like a flawed, but generally correct, guy.

Despite my own Catholic faith, upbringing, and (mostly-)Catholic education, I often forget that there is a lively press alongside my church. I need to spend more time reading about my own culture!

Boston College, my alma mater, publishes an occasional paper called "C21 Resources." It is a best of collection of articles chosen from a number of major American, Catholic outlets around a different topic each time. They're all available online at that link, and are quite good.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:39 AM on September 6, 2013

Interesting piece, thanks Rangeboy.
posted by Wretch729 at 9:28 AM on September 6, 2013