In Commemoration of Birthdays and Executions

Today is a holiday in the United States, a Monday Holiday (or bank holiday, as we often heard it called in Britain) where many government offices and large employers give people a day off, in observance of both Abraham Lincoln (February 12,1809) and George Washington (February 22, 1732), who both had birthdays around this time.

Interestingly, per Wikipedia, the Julian calendar in use by Britain and the colonies at the time of Washington’s birth had his birthday as February 11, 1731.  This was because the Julian Calendar  had fallen 11 days behind the Gregorian calendar, adopted by Catholic countries in 1582, because of leap days.  Not only was the date different, but so was the year of Washington’s birth.  The Julian calendar did not start the New Year until March 25.  When, in 1752, the British changed over to the Gregorian calendar, Washington changed his birthdate to match the new calendar.  Talk about keeping up with the times (and dates!)

The celebration of famous people’s birthdays reminds me of Schroeder, the piano-playing character from the Peanuts cartoon, who always celebrated the composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday.  I seem to remember the date being the 16^th of December.  Checking online, I have now read that his birthday in 1770 is unknown, but that he was definitely baptized on the 17^th of December.  So he is almost certain to have been born sometime on or prior to that date. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, another US Monday Holiday, this time in January, is associated with the birthday of the civil rights leader on January 15^th  1929.  His name always reminds me of the moment in Wittenberg, Germany, when I slipped my white loafers into the footsteps of the original Martin Luther, outside the church where he apparently posted his Ninety-Five Theses against the corruption of the Catholic Church.  I’m not sure if there are those who also celebrate his birthday.

But Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday ushers in Black History Month in the US each year in February, and there is a deluge of interesting programming and events to attend to, to expand one’s admittedly limited knowledge on a topic, that was so long suppressed. One of my favorite programs recently has been Three Little Birds, about three black Jamaican women who move to London in the ’50s or ’60s and their experiences. But it shows my ignorance that, even having lived through the height of Bob Marley’s popularity, I still managed not to get the reference, to one of his most popular songs, “Three Little Birds.”

In any case, it is clear we have a fascination with birthdays of famous individuals. England often marked the event of the birthday of elder royals, like Queen Elizabeth II or the Queen Mother before her.  On social media you will find celebrations of Jane Austen’s birthday taking place, as well.  Even authors of a certain caliber can receive such treatment.

Another holiday this past week was Valentine’s Day.  Per Wikipedia, the much-loved Saint Valentine was  a Roman saint of the third century.  The date February 14 apparently commemorates not his birthdate, but the date of his execution by beheading, in 269.  According to the Orthodox calendar this took place in July. St Valentine has been associated not only with courtly love (since the High Middle Ages) but also with Terni, in Italy, where he is from, and with epilepsy and beekeepers.

The connection with epilepsy interested me, because my son was diagnosed with epilepsy early on, at around six months old, when he had a very particular kind of seizures called infantile spasms.  For that story, read Our Stems Are Fragile.  Once you have had more than a few seizures, you are apparently considered epileptic for life, or at least that is what I was told, by people who should know.  So, although we have not seen signs of such blatant, outright seizures in his later childhood and adult life, we are always on the lookout for them. And now, we know which saint to turn to, in case of need.

This past week on Valentines Day, I participated in a very special open mic poetry reading at Chamblin’s Bookmine  in downtown Jacksonville, led by Johnny Masiulewicz and Ren Renda and featuring a performance by artist, Princess DNA.  I dragged my husband to it—it’s hard to refuse such requests from your spouse on Valentine’s Day, after all. 

Beforehand, we stopped by a downtown bar, that, for the occasion, had an entire room whose ceiling was crowded with helium heart balloons.  The red ribbons that trailed down from these balloons brushed our cheeks like kisses, as we walked through. 

I was a teetotaler that night, being still on antibiotics, but it was a very dark, very welcoming place to spend a half hour. The bartender made me promise to come back when I could fully enjoy a cocktail.  By coincidence, we ran into an old friend in the barber chair, on the way out. 

We headed back over to the bookstore and had a grand old time.  I enjoyed the poetry, music, and energetic dancing. I was happy to hear that the open mic will be monthly event. Apparently this was a long-standing tradition, until Covid cast a ghastly pall over the city. 

I read three of my poems: Unpopular (a new, unpublished poem) Water Music (also unpublished) and Haint Blue .   My first poem was a defense of rhyme in poetry; the second, a romantic walk along the river; and the third, a ballad about a ghostly couple and the product of their romance. 

Of course, there is always a glitch. “The course of true love never did run smooth,” as Shakespeare says.  Prior to going to the open mic, I attempted to print out my poems in a font suitably large for my aging eyes, and I found that I was out of toner.  Thus, I had to read the first two poems from my own illegible handwritten copy and the third, from my phone.  Nonetheless, my husband said I did okay, even though there was a slight tremor in my voice.  Nothing will fix that, he said, except doing more readings!

This coming weekend brings another writer’s event which I am very excited about.  Amelia Island Book Festival takes place this weekend up in Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville.  The Gala Dinner is at the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island and will feature two very famous authors, John Grisham and David Baldacci, as well as several other authors. 

I am especially looking forward to hearing John Grisham, the author who first introduced me to legal thrillers.  He has continued to populate that market (among others)with book after book, ever since I was first out of law school.  The Firm, The Pelican Brief and A Time to Kill are just a few of the early ones which got him high acclaim.  One of his books is on my shelf now and is begging for my attention. Being a briefly-practicing-lawyer-turned-writer myself, I could not miss the chance to hear John Grisham speak.

One day of the Book Festival includes an Author Expo and several classes. It is always fun to walk up and down aisles of authors tabling with their books.  Not only are they, on the whole, great conversationalists, but it is interesting to see how they present their books, seek to attract names for their newsletters, and in general, brand themselves.  I’d love it if it weren’t true, but it seems that branding is a big part of the writer’s gig, these days.

At any rate, Happy President’s Day and a belated Happy Valentine’s day.

For a short story in an academic setting, questioning our overuse of technology, read Twisting Wrenches.