So much has been going on lately that I started alliterating subheadings in my head to try to keep them straight, and try to organize my thoughts about them.
While pondering them in recent days, they seemed to resemble too much unwanted feedback on a landscape of information and occurrences. I tried to have a serious discussion with my wife about religion - and wound up with a headache instead of anything meaningful. That doesn't usually happen.
All of this reminded me of what in radio terms is called spurious signals, or "undesired signal energy present at any frequency at the output of a device that was not present at the input". It's all the noise that gets in the way of what really needs to come through. More about this later.
Here is a sampling of some of that intentionally organized, yet unwelcome random stuff that stands in the way of real progress in my own personal growth - perhaps more of a picture of how my brain works (or doesn't) than one might like.
Brought to you by two letters of the English alphabet.
Surveillance, Secrecy, Snowden - Past is Present
Has anyone else noticed that this entire episode started out eerily like the first several minutes of The Bourne Ultimatum, right down to the same media outlet breaking the story?
Hopefully it doesn't follow the plot line completely, even though I'm sure that the reporter Glenn Greenwald and his staff are taking whatever precautions they feel are necessary. The same can be said for their source.
Despite all of the additional revelations and events that have transpired over the last two weeks, I will stick with my first impressions about Edward Snowden after reading the interview that the Guardian conducted with him in Hong Kong, and released two Sundays ago -
"I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest," he said. "There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn't turn over, because harming people isn't my goal. Transparency is."
Courageous, misguided, naïve, unafraid, narcissistic - these and so many other adjectives have been used to describe the man. I personally think that he did a service to the cause of personal privacy and controls over what the government can find out, and what they can do with it.
I was listening to Mike Pintek talk about this on KDKA last week. He referred to the Pentagon Papers controversy, which this affair is being compared to, as "ancient history".
Please, Mike - we were both alive when it happened, and just because it happened 40 or so years ago does not make it any less relevant.
Daniel Ellsberg is also still alive, and commented rather astutely in the Guardian on Snowden's actions:
"Snowden did what he did because he recognised the NSA's surveillance programs for what they are: dangerous, unconstitutional activity. This wholesale invasion of Americans' and foreign citizens' privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we're trying to protect."
Ellsberg also makes a comparison of the NSA's activities to that of the East German Stasi during the heyday of the former Soviet bloc. The 2006 Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others is an excellent dramatic rendering of what it might have been like to live in a society where the fear of someone listening actually affects the nature of the discourse, regardless of the innocence of that discourse.
That is perhaps the best point I have heard in response to all of the reporting, hype, and outcry - that people will "self-regulate" themselves into what they think is palatable to what the government will tolerate.
This is an affront to the liberty of thought that no free society, that wishes to remain so, can tolerate for very long. The fact that all of this started to become public knowledge on the 49th anniversary of the publication of Orwell's 1984 has apparently not been lost on a lot of people.
The government may choose to throw the book at Edward Snowden, or do nothing at all - let him live out his days with one eye continuously looking over his shoulder. There is, however, enough of an outcry on both sides of the political spectrum - including ACLU litigation and a very popular White House petition demanding Snowden be pardoned - that some action to curtail the NSA's activities will likely have to be considered.
We The People, at least those of us who care deeply about the free expression of ideas and dissenting opinion, will not stand for it. Apparently, many citizens are planning to take to the streets this 4th of July in support of the Fourth Amendment. How appropriate is that?
Sewickley Sewer Street Shutdown Surprise - Prolonged
Over the several months, an ongoing project to connect portions of Aleppo Township and Glen Osborne to Sewickley's sewer system has resulted in several street closures and other traffic-related issues - many not communicated in a way motorists and citizens would probably appreciate or expect.
This trend apparently continued with the closing of Beaver Street in the heart of the Village two weeks ago. The Herald's story, dated Tuesday June 4, announced the closure and detour of Beaver at Logan Street to last two days.
The Quaker Valley School District sent a mass e-mail the previous evening, attempting to quickly notify parents of the closure. Communications Director Tina Vojtko made it a point to write that "we were just informed late this afternoon" of the impending detour - I imagined I could almost hear the banging of annoyed fingers on Ms. Vojtko's keyboard as it was being written.
I can't tell you if I was surprised or not to go to church two Sundays ago and see the closure - and associated heavy equipment - still in place. It was later reported that the "2 day" closure ended a little over a week after it commenced.
From last year's closure of Beaver Road in Glen Osborne, to the recent single-lane restrictions on Route 65 in the same community, up to and including this last closure, whomever is responsible at Sewickley Borough needs to make a better effort at communicating restrictions on traffic flow and other services, especially if those delays take longer than expected.
On my regular commute down Route 65 this week, I took note of the backhoe, fresh trenches, and pipe staged below where the road passes behind Osborne Elementary School. Hopefully something will be said about it..well in advance..if they intend to disrupt traffic again.
Sewickley Photoplay Philanthropy Shortage
The Village Theater Company is approaching a self-imposed deadline to obtain total pledges of $1.5 Million to construct a new movie house in the heart of Sewickley Village.
They've got a way to go to reach that goal by the end of the month. This past week I sent them an example of how a community comes together to make a great space possible - something that transcends the space itself.
Village Theater Company needs the community's help, at a fundamental level, to make this happen. It starts with financial resources, at this point in any amount. Best wishes to them in their efforts.
Penguins Paradoxically Plummet - Still Supportive
After following the Penguins during their successful campaign through a lockout-shortened regular season, and then over the first two rounds of playoffs that were rocky but eventually successful, it was distressing to see them basically not show up at all the first two games against the Bruins.
Since the Pens' season ended, there has been the predictable amount of speculation, announcements, signings, and accolades. Here are a few observations while we're waiting for next season to start:
1. Despite the post-season reaffirmation of Marc-Andre Fleury as the team's "franchise goaltender", this doesn't really explain or forgive his being thrown under the bus by Coach Dan Bylsma during the playoffs. If the team elects to jettison Fleury after saying this, it will be tough to get behind anything they have to say in the future.
2. As for Coach Bylsma himself, General Manager Ray Shero apparently believes the team needs stability at the coaching level, and that the current coaching staff is best equipped to manage the team through numerous personnel additions, and perhaps some deletions.
Nevertheless, there's a bit of serious evaluation warranted for the way in which the team basically didn't show up for the first 2 games against the Bruins, and how to prevent that in the future.
3. It's nice that we have Evgeni Malkin for a long time, but the team's overall effectiveness will be diminished if they can't re-sign Kris Letang.
4. Sidney Crosby is probably the best individual player in the NHL. Those who play with him seem to agree with that statement - Congratulations, Sid, on your award.
With that in mind, consider the following statement from Wikipedia:
Although the rules do not specify any other distinction between the captain and his teammates, the captain has numerous responsibilities to the team, particularly in North American professional hockey. The captain is a dressing room leader, and also represents the players' concerns to management. During the game, captains are expected to motivate their teams, particularly captains who are stars or franchise players.
Considering the talent that Ray Shero amassed for this year's campaign, including Brenden Morrow and Jerome Iginla - both of whom left their previous teams as the captain - is there room for discussion as to which of the Pens may be best qualified to serve in that role in the future?
Public Station Programming Problem has Solution Starting
Two years ago this week, I wrote about the loss of jazz music programming on the FM airwaves in Pittsburgh. Two recent events have brought the return of this programming to local radio a significant step closer.
Pittsburgh Public Media announced the closing of their purchase of Bethany College's radio station, and the establishment of studio facilities in Pittsburgh's southern suburbs. According to the Post-Gazette, the group estimated that the station could begin broadcasting jazz music and other offerings of the currently online-only Pittsburgh Jazz Channel by sometime next month.
The group singled out Essential Public Media, the owners of the former WDUQ, for selling them some of that station's old equipment to help facilitate the start-up. It was nice of EPM to try to make amends in this way.
The station's current transmitter site will cover mainly the south and west suburbs of Pittsburgh, on 88.1 FM. The group states that it will be actively seeking additional frequencies and transmitter sites to cover the remainder of the Pittsburgh area, and is seeking public support to gather funds for that purpose.
Coincidentally, this week the FCC announced that they are accepting applications for Low Power FM station licenses, made possible by the passage of the Local Community Radio Act in 2011. This could be an avenue for the jazz radio folks to gain access to the FM airwaves, while admittedly at low power, but with the proper transmitter placement could attain the coverage goals that they're looking for.
Great credit should be given to the Prometheus Radio Project for helping to spearhead the passage of the law, and for continued efforts to educate and inform non-profits and community groups about the availability of LPFM to inform, connect, and motivate local communities to action.
Come to think of it, there may be an opportunity for some forward-thinking locals to band together and make a go of it in our immediate area. I can say from personal experience that it can be lots of fun and hard work, with intangible rewards, and sometimes meaning beyond words.
Speaking of signals..Radio Free Leetsdale, anyone?
Enjoy the summer.
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Friday, June 21, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Reflections on a Closed Balcony
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“The Balcony is Closed.”
Roger Ebert, 1942 – 2013 Credit: Twitter via Salon.com |
I’ve been trying to hold on to some personal thoughts about Roger Ebert, who died a week ago this past Thursday. I first wrote about Mr. Ebert back in 2010, after finding his exhaustive and popular blog, and its prolific original content and visitor commentary.
The reaction to his death has been significant and heartfelt from across a broad landscape of the national consciousness. If at least one online commentator is to be believed, it seems as if history is prepared to remember Mr. Ebert with the same regard that it holds other observers of the American condition, such asMark Twain, H.L. Mencken, and Will Rogers.
For me, I was a teenager growing up in Sewickley when books and the movies provided a gateway to other places and situations that I was only too happy to lose myself in. I really wasn’t aware of Roger Ebert, even though he was busy winning his Pulitzer Prize at about the same time.
Mr. Wheat and his theatre were still a community staple back then, but the nostalgic charm of the drive-in and the bombast of the multiplex sounded the death knell for little places like his – or so we thought. The Ambridge Family Theatre has been a special place for many years, and the prospect of a new theatre in Sewickley holds hope for the continued emergence of the Village as a place that teems with possibilities.
Roger Ebert has a lot to do with that, over and above his signature turn as Gene Siskel‘s partner and foil on PBS for all those years. Ebert championed the creative and artistic richness of such seemingly obscure film types as documentaries, independents, and Japanese animation.
The resulting increase in interest in “smaller”, independently-produced films has helped to sustain those older movie houses that have specialized in showing these and other films.
There are several local examples of this, including the Hollywood Theatre in Dormont, which featured prominently in one of the most engaging films made in this area, and one which Mr. Ebert recommended highly - The Perks of Being a Wallflower. As for me, I got to see “Rocky Horror” in all its glory at the old Kings Court in Oakland.
Pittsburgh Filmmakers has also established a successful network of venues for these purposes – and appears to be poised to add Sewickley to its list of locations. Let’s hope they don’t get lost in pretentiousness, and decide to have some fun with it as well.
In the age of DVDs and Internet streaming, when people would seemingly be content to retreat to their homes or tablet devices to watch a movie, Ebert put a great deal of personal capital into the potential that social media and online communities offered those with an interest in film, other passions that Ebert expressed in writing, or both. What remains is an impressive collection of commentary by Mr. Ebert and a variety of associates.
I’ve been touched by much of Mr. Ebert’s volumes of writing on several topics, as well as some of the tributes that have appeared in the wake of his death. Here are a few:
An excerpt from his memoir Life Itself, titled “I Do Not Fear Death“:
“Kindness” covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.
His commentary for the DVD of Citizen Kane - full of insights and love for what Ebert admitted was his favorite film.
His now-famous skewering of Rob Schneider, who deserved it…
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– Krishna Shenoi
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Ebert corresponded and established meaningful relationships with numerous people of all ages and walks of life. One example is reflected in the above drawing, with a link to an accompanying blog post.
Another is a recent column in a public relations trade publication, by a PR executive who began exchanging letters with Mr. Ebert while in junior high school. There are numerous lessons that this professional marketer tries to impart as part of the example Mr. Ebert set, including this most telling one:
Ebert’s illustrious career mirrors society in profound ways – and it’s no accident that with the changing landscape of media and with his own failing health, he adapted into one of the most avid social media practitioners of our time. He was steeped in two-way engagement long before its mainstream popularity, and he fully leveraged the medium to stimulate great ideas and engage in intense conversation.
Ebert may have been reduced by illness to someone without a speaking voice, but leveraged the virtual world to gain a lasting presence in it. He was very astute about marketing his product – himself. As a result, there is that much more of him that is left to study and enjoy for generations to come, and a legacy of succession is in place to assure that his beneficial impact on his craft will be a lasting and substantial one.
This must have not been an easy thing for someone such as Ebert, who in his writing seemed to espouse being alone as much as he enjoyed connecting with others. He overcame the spectre of alcoholism, fought back against the ravages of cancer, and while not always on the right side of everyone (who can be?), earned the respect that he got.
He was able to adapt to the times and the attitudes…
When I was a child the mailman came once a day. Now the mail arrives every moment. I used to believe it was preposterous that people could fall in love online. Now I see that all relationships are virtual, even those that take place in person. Whether we use our bodies or a keyboard, it all comes down to two minds crying out from their solitude.
He was most fortunate that he found a loving, equal partner, who he loved deeply and who was there for him.
Ebert saw the Internet as a “godsend” for those, like him, who were unable to connect to others by virtue of debilitating diseases. Yet he also saw the inherent value of relationships that resist a connection to everyone, all the time. This excerpt reads to me like bullet points for building a healthy relationship in later life. The emphasis is mine:
Why do people marry with no prospects of children? Babies are not the only thing two people can create together. They can create a safe private world. They can create a reality that affirms their values. They can stand for something. They can find someone to laugh with, and confide in. Someone to hold them when they need to be held.
He then concludes this same paragraph with an admonition: A danger of the internet would be if we begin to meet those needs without feeling there has to be another person in the room.
Roger Ebert made a considerable life for himself by understanding and leveraging transformative media – motion pictures, television, the Internet – while showing us at the same time how to live an intimate, graceful existence, especially in the face of personal challenges that bordered on the extreme.
He was active, lucid, and relevant to the end - what more can one hope for in life?
It’s ironic that his example should represent for me a re-evaluation of all things online, but it does. It’s time for an adjustment or two.
See you at the movies..
Monday, January 21, 2013
Searching for Father Cyrus
It's been too long - I hope that the New Year has been good to you thus far.
The path we take through the Holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving and continuing through the end of the year, typically brings contacts with family members and friends that one might not otherwise have over the course of the year.
Assuming that it's just miles that are creating the separation - and believe me when I say that I know that's often not the only thing - our society's increasing fascination with using social media to share events and photos between far-flung acquaintances is serving to close this distance gap, if not the drama chasm. Add the increasing influence of the tablet computer, video chat, and...well, you get the idea.
Earlier this past year, my cousin Tracy in Illinois posted on her Facebook page that her son Jack, who was preparing to receive the Roman Catholic sacrament of Confirmation, had chosen his confirmation name. This is described as "a new name, generally the name of a saint, thus securing an additional patron saint as protector and guide."
Tracy was expressing a lot of pride in her boy for his choice of the name Cyrus. I was impressed that Jack's parents and perhaps other relatives had educated him on the significance of that name to my father's side of the family.
The name represents an iconic, almost legendary figure among many of my relatives, even though he's been gone for over half a century now - Jack's great-great uncle, the brother of his maternal great-grandmother.
Given our society's increasing interest in genealogy, especially in the rise of the Internet to help facilitate information gathering, I decided to take a closer look at this man's life and times.
The Roots
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| Fr. Cyrus Chvala, O.F.M. Cap. 1917-1956 - Frances Holappa |
Father Cyrus was born Michael Thomas Chvala on November 20, 1917. He grew up in Zelienople, Butler County. He was a Capuchin Franciscan Friar, and served as a missionary in Puerto Rico from 1944 until November 1, 1956, when he died while celebrating Mass, 3 weeks short of his 39th birthday.
Prior to the last few months, that's about all I really knew about him. Jack's choice, and resources available both online and elsewhere, have painted a much clearer picture of how Cyrus lived and died.
This all started for me with a simple but profound revelation after an online news archive search. Father Cyrus died here - not in Puerto Rico - while preaching at his home church, St. Gregory in Zelienople. The Pastor at the time, Rev. Edwin Heyl, wrote the following account in the Church Bulletin of November 4, 1956 -
Capuchin, son of this parish, home on leave from his Puerto Rican mission, offered the 6:00 (AM) Mass here, Thursday, the feast of All Saints. From the very beginning he was dying. His exceptional, habitual grit kept him going. After he had consecrated the bread and wine, he could go no further. He just leaned on the altar.
When I got to him, his face wore the death mask and a cold sweat bathed his face. His mind was clear; he told me where to take up. He was divested in the sacristy and taken to the rectory where he died shortly after. What a beautiful death! On a glorious feast!
When I got to him, his face wore the death mask and a cold sweat bathed his face. His mind was clear; he told me where to take up. He was divested in the sacristy and taken to the rectory where he died shortly after. What a beautiful death! On a glorious feast!
In conversations with my parents, I found out that one of the reasons Father Cyrus was back home was to officiate at their wedding on November 24 of that year.
Driven perhaps more by embarrassment at my own ignorance of these events, I started piecing together details from several different sources. Despite the availability of online information, including paid services such as Ancestry.com, I found that the most fruitful results involved meaningful interaction with numerous people, and their willingness to help, often digging through records that had to be accessed manually.
One of these people, a distant cousin in Fort Collins, Colorado, sweat the details several years ago and posted an online family tree. This traces the origins of my father's side of the family to one Frantisek Zilavy of Studienka, in what is now Slovakia.
Frantisek and his wife Maria had two children. Their daughter Katerina, born in Studienka in 1860, married what might have been the first Michael Thomas Chvala. They had three children - one son, Stefan, born in 1884, came to the United States in 1902 and married Katherina Stano in Charleroi, Washington County, in 1906.
Stefan and Kathryn Chvala settled in Zelienople and produced eight children - six girls and two boys. Their third daughter, Josephine, born in 1912, was my paternal grandmother. The fifth daughter, Irene, was born in March 1916. Michael, their first son, was born in November 1917.
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| Father Cyrus with his older sister Irene, also known as Sister M. Agnes Chvala. - Frances Holappa |
In the early 1930's, Irene began the process of becoming a School Sister of St. Francis. She was Sister Agnes to my brother and I, a teacher at the former St. Clement School in Tarentum, then at Mount Assisi Academy, a girls high school in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh that closed in the late 1970's.
Sister Agnes continued as an educator and administrator in San Antonio, Texas until the mid-1990's, eventually retiring to the convent at Mount Assisi. She died in 1998 after over 65 years of service.
Whether or not his older sister's example of pursuing a religious vocation led Michael/Cyrus to do the same is unclear. Perhaps these two of the eight Chvala children, approaching adulthood at the onset of the Great Depression, found themselves facing choices about life and career that a deep and abiding faith may have helped to resolve.
Branching Out
Cyrus' path to the priesthood began at the St. Gregory Parish School in Zelie, and then the former St. Fidelis Boys High School and College Seminary, located 5 miles east of Butler, Pa. in the village of Herman.
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| The former St. Fidelis High School and College Seminary, Herman, Pa. The building now houses Summit Academy. |
Like many of these Catholic high schools of the time, St. Fidelis suffered from declining enrollment and increased costs, and was closed in 1977. The College Seminary followed suit the next year. The buildings now house Summit Academy, described on its website as "a private, residential school for delinquent young men ages 14-18 and serving grades 9-12."
The schools, and the adjacent St. Mary of the Assumption parish, were closely associated with the Province of St. Augustine of the Capuchin Friars, which is still headquartered in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. It was to this order that Cyrus entered the novitiate in 1937.
Much of what is known of Father Cyrus' religious life was summarized after his death in the order's newsletter, Annals. According to this account:
(Father Cyrus) took simple vows July 14, 1938 and solemn vows July 14, 1941. He studied philosophy at Victoria (Kansas, St. Fidelis Friary) and theology in Washington (D.C., Capuchin College), and was ordained June 6, 1943 by Bishop Hugh C. Boyle in St. Vincent Archabbey Church, Latrobe, Pa.
Jack's grandmother Frances (Linko) Holappa, who also lives in Illinois, provided several photos and other items, including a photo taken after "Uncle Mike's" ordination. Aunt Fran, then 4 years old, is in the photo as one of four young attendants that participated in the ceremony along with Cyrus, Bishop Boyle, and other celebrants.
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| Fr. Cyrus (second from right) after his ordination, June 6, 1943. My Aunt Fran (in bridal gown) participated in the ceremony. - Frances Holappa |
Fran is dressed as a bride, with the other three girls dressed as bridesmaids. Her participation in the ceremony where Cyrus received the Sacrament of Holy Orders may have been symbolic of how one Catholic website described the meaning behind the sacrament:
These men stand in the person of Christ and serve their bride, the Church, by preaching, teaching, and celebrating the Sacraments.
These young attendants don't appear to be part of the modern day administration of this sacrament. Considering the changes in both our society and the Roman Catholic church in the nearly 70 years since Cyrus was ordained, is it any wonder as to why?
Tending and Planting
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| Mass Card from Fr. Cyrus' first celebrated Mass. He would celebrate his last Mass at the same altar 13 years later. - Frances Holappa |
When it came time to choose the type of work he would do as a priest, Cyrus expressed an interest in becoming a U.S. Army chaplain, according to Father Francis Fugini of the Capuchin Friars, who knew Cyrus and now serves as the order's Archivist. The published account states that Cyrus "gave the laconic answer, proper to every good Capuchin and altogether typical of his own generous nature, 'Ready for Anything'".
With that, Cyrus was assigned to mission work in Puerto Rico - in the mountain town of Adjuntas at San Joachim parish, and then along the coast in Ponce, at Santa Teresita. There isn't a great deal of information available on the specific nature of his work, but according to Annals:
He worked with the same burning zeal in established city parishes as in the campos, amid poverty and filth equal to the worst slums...Duty calling, he commandeered a car, a jeep, a motorcycle, a horse, and when they failed, he would go on foot.
The Capuchins and other Catholic missionaries did not find it easy going in Puerto Rico. An account of their struggles in the mid-20th Century described the following:
The living conditions, the language, and the food were different from what the friars had been accustomed to in the States..Problems presented themselves in the form of false friends, inadequate facilities and the competition from the non-Catholic religions.
Amid what may have been numerous other logistical challenges, Cyrus became fluent in Spanish and went about his mission work, eventually helping to construct a church. Other relatives have been there, perhaps in an effort to grasp what it must have been like to live simply, work hard, and be both an example and a leader for those seeking some form of salvation.
Other challenges afoot during Cyrus' time in Puerto Rico were political; the establishment of the island as a Commonwealth Territory in 1952, and the increasingly violent actions taken by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party in response, both on the island and in the United States.
I have a vague childhood recollection of adult conversations over Sunday dinner at my grandparents' house that included talk of how Cyrus' work was impacted, or how he responded, to this political unrest. The Capuchins could provide no information on this aspect of their order's experiences during this time.
In reading further about how intensely Catholic a society Puerto Rico is, combined with the dichotomy of the Capuchins' presence as perhaps perceived imperialist Americans serving holy mother church, the effects of this unrest on both the man and his mission had to have been significant.
The Tree is Shaken
While it's unknown whether Cyrus had a history of respiratory illness through his youth or young adulthood, by 1952 he had started to experience problems. Whether the work he was doing, the climate, or other factors caused his difficulty, "by 1955 the ailment had developed into a severe bronchial asthma that did not yield to medical treatment on the island".
It was then that Cyrus spent several weeks stateside, being cared for in Philadelphia at Misericordia (now Mercy) Hospital. He also spent some time back in Zelienople, which resulted in his being present for a tragic event that impacted both the Chvala family and the local community.
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| Page One, Butler (Pa.) Eagle, July 15, 1955 |
On July 14, 1955, Cyrus' nephew, also named Michael Thomas Chvala, darted into the street in front of the family home on McKim Street and was struck by a car. He was transported by ambulance to Ellwood City Hospital where he was pronounced dead, a week shy of his 3rd birthday.
Newspaper accounts state that the driver of the car appeared to be drunk, and was arrested and faced trial later that year on charges of Involuntary Manslaughter and Driving while Intoxicated. The weekly Butler County News-Record additionally reported in its July 21 edition that Father Cyrus "while not a witness to the actual impact was the first to reach the boy's side".
So after 11 years of toil as a missionary in an impoverished, volatile foreign land, Cyrus returns to this country to receive treatment for a chronic illness. While with family members during a period of convalescence, he faces a personal tragedy head-on, as well as the task of ministering to his loved ones in the aftermath.
I'm reminded of how Tolkien had Bilbo Baggins describe himself in The Fellowship of the Ring - "thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread".
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| Memorial photograph in the vestibule of St. Gregory Parish, Zelienople. |
Called Home One Last Time
The Annals states that Cyrus' treatment in the U.S. "was so successful that the doctor sanctioned the return of his patient to Puerto Rico. Back in Ponce, Father Cyrus wrote optimistically to the provincial that he is feeling fine, expects soon to be off all drugs and promising himself many more years of work in Puerto Rico".
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| Butler Eagle, Nov. 1, 1956 |
Unfortunately, Cyrus continued to suffer from respiratory attacks. In October 1956 he took the vacation he was entitled to every three years and returned home to Zelienople, to officiate at the wedding of his nephew and perhaps gain some measure of treatment and rest.
Cyrus made his journey home complete in the early morning hours of November 1. Despite the eyewitness account detailed above, many relatives have stated that those around Cyrus laid him down, perhaps thinking it would be better for him, when it really wasn't.
Regardless of the specific circumstances of his death, the photograph of Cyrus that hangs in the vestibule of St. Gregory Church to this day shows to me a man worn by both toil and illness. There is a steeliness about his expression, with the hint of a smile that seems to say "yes, it's tough, but I know what I'm doing, and I'm happy about doing it".
What is remarkable to me about the response of the community and the church to Cyrus' passing is the speed at which the news was spread, and the arrangements made. According to the Annals account, the Provincial, or head of the order, responded to Zelienople with another staff member to arrange for the funeral.
The local daily newspaper for the area, the Butler Eagle, was then an afternoon daily. The edition of November 1 contained not only the news account of Cyrus' passing, but also a complete obituary with funeral arrangements.
The paper likely went to press in the early to mid-afternoon of November 1, which means that these arrangements were all in place within as little as 8 to 10 hours of Cyrus' death.
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| Cyrus' death shared Page One with President Eisenhower's re-election in the November 8,1956 edition of the weekly Butler County News-Record. |
Cyrus lay in state in St. Gregory Rectory on Thursday, November 1 and Friday, the 2nd. A funeral mass was said that Saturday afternoon at St. Gregory, followed by Cyrus' transference to St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Herman, where a solemn Requiem mass was said on Monday, November 5th.
A choir composed of Capuchins and seminarians...sang Yon's requiem. Some sixty priests, Capuchins and Seculars, were present. Burial was in the friars' plot at St. Mary's cemetery.
The last of Cyrus' 7 siblings, my grandmother Josephine, passed away in 2006.
Today, Cyrus' final resting place appears slightly weathered over time, but still well-maintained by the faithful that still populate the church and manage its cemetery - this despite the contraction of the mission and the re-purposing of many of the buildings at Herman to different uses.
The Capuchins remain a vital and active order, still ministering to many in far-flung locations that still includes Puerto Rico, but now extends to Papua New Guinea. There are fresh-faced young men who are still called to this simple life of poverty and service in the example set by St. Francis of Assisi, a figure whose life, teachings, and spiritual presence extends beyond the boundaries of the Roman Catholic denomination.
Forward in Growth
Two of my ancestors committed their lives to religious service in the name of Francis of Assisi. My Aunt Fran, who celebrates her birthday on the Feast Day of St. Francis, was named for him.
The poet Kenneth Rexroth wrote of St. Francis, “he is not only the most attractive of all the Christian saints, he is the most attractive of Christians, admired by Buddhists, atheists, completely secular, modern people, Communists to whom the figure of Christ himself is at best unattractive.”
A stone depiction of Francis, in an oft-seen pose surrounded by animals, has a place on the exterior of our house. It was placed there not so much as a tribute to these ancestors or an affirmation of their religious faith, but in appreciation of what Francis stood for, particularly his commitment to a life of charity and compassion for all of God's creatures. Perhaps another facet of Francis' life - his estrangement from his family for pursuing his mission and beliefs - resonates with me as well.
After all of the research and contacts were completed, I wondered what I'd learned, aside from some vital statistics and a few anecdotal narratives of what by most accounts was an extraordinary life, cut too short.
I learned more about sacrifice, about tough times and how people dealt with them, about how much ancestry really plays a role in how we define ourselves, for better or for worse.
In communicating with both friends and family while working on this, I can see how the detective work and organization skills required for things like genealogy research present an attractive challenge for many like me who possess a meticulous nature.
However, as much as I understand the appeal of tracing a single thread of ancestry back through the tapestry of time, history, and memory, taking those lessons and moving forward with them is much more satisfying than the time spent looking back.
Learn from the past, but don't let it consume you.
Best wishes for movement forward in 2013.
Acknowledgments and Resources
Butler Eagle - Laurie Lindsay
Capuchin Friars, Province of St. Augustine - Sandy Mihalinac
Find A Grave - A growing, comprehensive web community cataloging both ancestral and burial site information.
Frances Holappa
Library of Congress - Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers
St. Gregory Parish - Mary Ann Thompson
Staff of the Commonweath State Library, Harrisburg
Sewickley Public Library
Daniel Zilavy
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Subduing the Silly Season
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| - Tom Tomorrow |
Great empires rise and fall, the famous come and go, cities boom and then they languish, but kindness is a constant presence in America.
In that same spirit, I walk around St. Paul and think, 'This is a great country, and it wasn't made that way by angry people'.
It's been hard for me to get a handle on this year's election cycle. Perhaps it had something to do with the overload of information from multiple media outlets, political blogs, and social media wags, with different slants on what they cover, how they cover it, and what it's all supposed to mean.
Now that I've had time to do some more reading and listening to what I consider credible sources of objective, reasoned discourse, I've tried to arrive at some conclusions about the choices we face in the Sewickley area, in just a few days' time.
There are other factors affecting the choices we have to make next week, outside of just the candidates or the issues. I'll try to touch upon those as well.
First, some general observations -
1. In the wake of the 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United decision, we're now bombarded by all manner of information and advertising from all manner of sources, some not affiliated with the candidates at all.
As has been the prevailing trend with many of these efforts, a lot of this information is negative in nature - don't support this candidate, for these reasons - instead of trying to make a persuasive argument for those they do support.
2. There has been too much focus by the media on using fund-raising totals and polls as a means to somehow drill down and prognosticate the outcome of the election, at times ad nauseam.
The media seem to be placing the weight of certainty on these statistics, perhaps in hope that they can keep the viewer or reader riveted, keep the ratings and/or hit numbers up, and possibly insert suspense or drama into a situation where it really isn't necessary or warranted.
All of this serves to disillusion and stymie the average voter trying to get credible information from objective sources. Luckily, there are some excellent resources out there to try and make sense of it all:
- Project Vote Smart and it's award-winning candidate/issue tool,VoteEasy, a very accessible way to figure out what a particular candidate for federal office stands for, and how that relates to your opinions as a voter.
- FactCheck.Org, one of several sites that specialize in trying to distill truth from falsehoods, and just seem to be getting busier with each campaign season. Even Garry Trudeau has featured this on a recurring basis.
- Locally, the Pittsburgh City Paper devoted the bulk of last week's issue to examining elections from a local, state, and national perspective. They did a pretty good job of it. It's worth reading.
- The Patch Voter Guide is also a good resource for election information specific to local communities.
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| Cover art for October 24 edition of Pittsburgh City Paper. - Frank Harris |
I've tried to take a look at every race involving voters in the 11 municipalities that make up the Quaker Valley School District. These are mostly just observations about the nature of the races and the politics surrounding them.
If I have a particular preference as to a candidate I'll mention it, but even when trying to focus attention on the attributes of one candidate over the other, it's sometimes tough to get through the fluff.
President
A couple of Mondays ago, I asked a neighbor if she was going to watch the final presidential debate. Her disdain, accompanied by "No!", spelled out what many citizens seem to feel when thinking about presidential politics, and the battle over whose facts are more credible. The time spent debating facts is one of the most glaring symptoms of the disease affecting our political process.
After the last debate, it became more evident to me that Mitt Romney will mold his views to fit the situation, to the point that he alienates whichever faction of a fractious Republican Party establishment that he isn't currying favor with at the moment.
In reviewing my writing from the 2008 presidential campaign, I saw John McCain as an independent thinker who became increasingly frustrated as the race went on - I believe in part due to attempts by party operatives to handle him, and also by their saddling him with a under-qualified running mate.
I see the same uncertainty and frustration on the part of Mitt Romney. He's given me the impression that he was more of a centrist during his tenure as Governor of Massachusetts and in the 2008 campaign. In a sparse field of candidates, running the gamut of ideologies across the landscape of a splintered GOP, he's the most palatable to the faithful, but is also now the most fractured in relationship to who he was.
Since this race started, I've wondered if the GOP was really serious about replacing President Obama. If they were, I thought they would marshal some of their best and brightest to take the President on. They didn't - or couldn't - and as a result the nominee is someone who passes the smell test with that part of the GOP base that cares, but who doesn't seem to be able to present a bold plan for improvement that includes any new or innovative ideas.
Instead, the GOP and its nominee seem more focused on the negative - Defeat Obama, Nobama, Fire Obama, etc . - than they do on moving the country in a direction that hasn't been tried before. Mr. Romney's advisors look like a rogue's gallery of neo-conservatism and rehash, representing for me the failed policies of previous administrations. Robert Bork? Seriously?
Who a President surrounds himself with is at least as important as the man himself. Advantage to President Obama.
If something is troubling me about the President, it is his reticence on civil liberties issues as part of the debates, as well as a mixed record on protecting liberties during his first term. The ACLU has a website dedicated to monitoring constitutional issues related to this election, as well as a report card detailing the stated positions and records of the three most prominent candidates.
Yes, I said three. Included in the analysis is Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, a converted Republican who appears to be gaining popularity among disaffected GOP voters and others, perhaps those aligned with the persistent message of the Tea Party and/or the candidacy of Ron Paul.
My son got to vote for President for the first time recently (Colorado, unlike Pennsylvania, has early voting), and stated he was going to vote for Mr. Johnson. Like father, like son on this one, I guess. My first vote for President was in 1980, and went to John Anderson, an independent candidate whose campaign I also volunteered a fair amount of time for.
The GOP establishment, apparently sensing a lot of this discontent, is making a concerted effort to challenge Mr. Johnson's spot on the ballot in many states. They have largely been unsuccessful, including in Pennsylvania. A Forbes Magazine columnist recently categorized the GOP as "running scared".
The national political climate, as well as ideas on which direction the country should go, seems to be at polar opposites in a way not seen since the 1960's. We should remember our history about perceived third parties and political establishments, perhaps all the way back to 1860, when parties and factions such as the Whigs faded away, and the country re-aligned itself behind groups on either side of another polarizing issue; slavery.
Back then, the fledgling Republicans, led by their nominee Abraham Lincoln, captured the White House with just under 40 percent of the popular vote in a 4-way race.
While it will hopefully not take another Civil War to move our country's political system back toward mutual respect and cooperation, citizens should be mindful of those ideas being thrown around being spun as crucial to our country's future. This divisiveness is most readily apparent in a U.S. Congress that seems continually gridlocked in obstinate, sometimes juvenile behavior.
It can be reasonably argued that neither side has a track record to be proud of with regard to performance related to promises made. However, as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has continued to point out, it's better to have slow, incremental growth according to an established plan than to rely on nebulous promises that aren't backed up by anything substantial. Or, as Mr. Krugman put it, "a slow job is better than a snow job".
With all of the above in mind, I believe that the Republicans have presented insufficient evidence that things will improve significantly under a Romney administration - insufficent to deny President Obama a second term.
Upper Houses - State and Federal
The race for U.S. Senate between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and Republican challenger Tom Smith, himself a long-time Democrat until last year, seems polarized on equal levels with the presidential race. The race thus far has seen some significant negative advertising activity, including stark, black and white road signs that state simply CASEY KILLS JOBS.
Getting past the mud and into genuine ideas, I reviewed some of the issues and plans as articulated by each candidate on their websites. Mr. Casey outlined his accomplishments over the last six years, which seem to be more focused on establishing consensus and compromise whenever possible - the bulk of this work has kept him largely out of the public spotlight. His voting record doesn't reflect a lot of variation from the positions espoused by his party, but Mr. Casey doesn't sound like someone who will not bend or consider a good idea from the other side of the aisle.
In contrast, Mr. Smith has recently released a 5-point plan to Restore the American Dream. This plan generally follows many GOP talking points, such as the flat tax, repealing Obamacare, drastically reducing financial and environmental regulation, and tort reform.
This appears disingenuous to me - most of these points involve long-term politicking, and don't speak to the day-to-day business of working as a legislator - something Mr. Casey seems to have focused most of his energies on. The choice here is fairly clear, especially considering that Mr. Casey has received the endorsements of both the Post-Gazette and the Tribune-Review.
In the State Senate, the choice facing Quaker Valley area voters to replace Sen. John Pippy (who just plain up and left in June) will be between incumbent state legislator Matt Smith and Mt. Lebanon businessman D. Raja. There has been a great deal of negativity in this campaign, most of it emanating from the Raja camp, which is ironic as Mr. Raja was the target of some really nasty advertising during the Republican primary.
It should be noted that Mr. Smith is also running unopposed for re-election to his state House seat - a recurring practice in several contests this year, and not something that generates comfort among many citizens fed up with so-called "career politicians".
Mr. Raja ran for Allegheny County Executive last year, which kind of made sense to me given his involvement in politics at the municipal level. Some of his ideas then, such as merit hiring, were interesting to hear in Pennsylvania politics. As a result, his candidacy for state office now seems like an uncomfortable stretch just to keep his name relevant in the political scene.
Lower Houses - A Divided Valley
Unlike the Senate seats, voters in the Quaker Valley area see their representation split in both the Pa. and U.S. House of Representatives.
With the census-driven redistricting of the state, and the loss of congressional seats as a result, we not only are losing a good congressman inJason Altmire to a Democratic primary defeat at the hands of current 12th District representative Mark Critz, of Cambria County. Leetsdale, Leet Township, and Edgeworth were also culled from this district and added to the 18th District, currently represented by Tim Murphy of the South Hills.
This made things kind of interesting, at least temporarily, for Mr. Critz's opponent in the general election, Republican Keith Rothfus. Mr. Rothfus, until recently an Edgeworth resident, found himself residing outside the district he was running for.
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| Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, which includes all Quaker Valley communities except Edgeworth, Leet Township, and Leetsdale. Credit - http://www.govtrack.us |
I'm wondering how Mr. Critz and Mr. Rothfus are each prepared to adequately represent these diverse areas and their unique interests, especially in the wake of Marcellus Shale drilling and the proposed ethane cracker plant in Beaver County. These represent both an opportunity and a threat to many potential constituents.
Mr. Altmire, according to J.D. Prose at the Beaver County Times, has been conspicuously absent from several Critz events. Should Mr. Critz hope to be victorious next week, he'll need Beaver County's significantly pro-Altmire constituency.
Mr. Rothfus, running for the second time for a seat in Congress, has been saying on TV for months that he's a "regular guy". Aside from anything either campaign or the media has said to affirm or debunk this, one look at Mr. Rothfus' house in Edgeworth (I wonder where he is in Sewickley?) says something different to me.
Mr. Rothfus appears to be highly capable as a lawyer and administrator, who espouses the same GOP talking points that Tom Smith is carrying forward. It's likely that Mr. Rothfus will carry our area, but it's not clear if that "regular guy" appeal will extend from Johnstown to Plum to Beaver Falls.
Here in Leetsdale, at the northern fringes of the 18th District (Ice Station Zebra, perhaps?), we know as much about Congressman Murphy and his Democratic opponent Larry Maggi as the time or money either of them has spent campaigning here. A Patch blogger in Upper St. Clair offered me his assessment of Congressman Murphy when I asked him for one:
My impression of Representative Murphy is that he is a disingenuous individual that will adopt the position which he believes is most likely to garner him votes, someone who seeks to have it both ways. He proclaims his Republican credentials as primary elections approach, but plays both sides of the street at other times.
Other assessments of Mr. Murphy's performance also indicate that he will sometimes cross the aisle to align himself with positions outside lockstep GOP ideology. Sounds pretty good so far.
Mr. Maggi doesn't seem to espouse a great many substantive ideas on improving things in Washington, although he has an extensive background in local and county government in Washington County. Perhaps he needs a little more seasoning there.
Before getting into the two State Legislature contests in our area, I think it's important to share the observations of Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, whose district includes parts of Allegheny, Beaver, and Washington counties.
Rep. White's recent essay Profiles in Cowardice describes a system of operations that permits legislators to engage in political chicanery to the point of impeding the ability of the legislature to do it's job and be truly accountable to constituents.
With that in mind, most of the local area is in the 44th District, represented by Republican incumbent Mark Mustio. Mr. Mustio ran unopposed in the primary election, a situation he used to his advantage to also run in the GOP primary for the 37th District State Senate seat, opposing D. Raja.
That campaign was peppered with negative ads by both candidates. According to the Tribune-Review, these ads included the following:
Mustio's campaign for the state Senate seat mailed thousands of flyers printed with the messages, "D. Raja has outsourced many of our jobs to India," and, "Why would we ever vote for Raja to represent us?" next to pictures of India's flag and a map of the country. Another ad features a photo of Raja and his full first name, Dakshinamurthy.
Many republicans cried foul at what they perceived as a racist tone in the ads. Even as Mr. Mustio was disavowing and pulling them, the Post-Gazette took the unusual step of withdrawing its endorsement of Mr. Mustio and giving it instead to Mr. Raja, who won the primary handily.
The P-G referenced this 2 weeks ago, calling the episode a character issue while endorsing Mr. Mustio's Democratic opponent, Mark Scappe. Mr. Scappe is a former Moon Township school board member who lost re-election over the controversial decision to build a new high school there. He remains resolute in this decision, and he has apparently mustered considerable support among voters in Moon and elsewhere.
Could this be a sign that negative campaigning has consequences? This corner certainly hopes so, especially when considering the stuff that has hit our mailbox from the candidates facing off for the 16th District race, which includes Leet Township and Bell Acres along with Leetsdale.
The incumbent Democrat, Rob Matzie of Ambridge, is being challenged by republican Kathleen Coder. Mr. Matzie tends to keep a low profile, and according to some sources has displayed the ability to cross the aisle to attempt compromise on certain issues. He sort of reminds me of Bob Casey in the way he conducts himself.
Ms. Coder is a council member in Bellevue, at the southern end of the district. Aside from her campaign activities, some recent publicity came from her opposition to a controversial ordinance banning grilling within 5 feet of a residence. This ordinance spawned a protest in front of the borough building that drew much public and media attention.
Most recently reported is that Ms. Coder and her husband are paying off a$42,500 tax lien on their home. The federal tax debt relates to Ms. Coder's primary business, a leadership development consulting firm.
Foxes Watching The Henhouse
The other statewide offices being contested include the race for State Treasurer, primarily between incumbent Democrat Rob McCord and Republican Diana Irey Vaughan, a long-term Washington County Commissioner.
I've utilized the services of Mr. McCord's office - the unclaimed property website - and found the information easy to understand, the process easy to navigate. Mr. McCord is a Harvard graduate with an MBA from Wharton, and by most accounts has administered his duties competently thus far.
The major party candidates for the office of Attorney General have waged a campaign fraught with multiple negative outbursts amid controversial advertising by organizations sometimes not affiliated with either campaign. In addition, other controversies have been woven into the race, such as the Jerry Sandusky case, Marcellus Shale drilling, and questionable financial dealings associated with the Milton Hershey School.
The Sandusky connection arises from Governor Tom Corbett's tenure as Attorney General, and any alleged delay in opening an investigation of Mr. Sandusky once allegations of his misconduct first began to surface. This perhaps speaks to the political nature of the office, as it has been used by many (including Mr. Corbett) as a stepping-stone to higher positions.
That this can be reasonably said about an office with significant enforcement and watchdog responsibilities is perhaps an example of the problems inherent in state government. A vote for Ms. Kane may be one way of sending a message to the Corbett administration and Pennsylvania politics that the status quo is no longer acceptable.
The same can be said of the race for Auditor General, which pits two sitting members of the Legislature who are both pulling a Matt Smith-type "career politician" maneuver by running unopposed for re-election while seeking this position. Democrat Eugene DePasquale (yes, he's related to Jeep) is facing off against Republican John Maher, who is campaigning more on his experience as an accountant than as a politician. Patch's Oren Speigler also had some definitive thoughts about Mr. Maher as well.
Either way, it looks as if there is too much of a political component to the position and the race, especially when both candidates really don't have anything to lose.
Conclusion
As the quotation at the beginning of this post indicates, I believe we are at our best in this country when we are resolute without being angry or fearful. We can display kindness without being perceived as weak and vulnerable.
When anger and fear become prevalent in our political discourse, to me that is an indication of uncertainty or subterfuge on the part of those trying to drum up that anger and/or fear.
Two words being thrown around way too loosely these days - fascism and socialism - got me thinking about what can happen when people get too wrapped up in symbols and sound bites, instead of trying to think and evaluate things for themselves.
This drove me to get a couple of books from the library that speculate, in fictional terms, on this concept. Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here (1935) and Philip Roth's The Plot Against America (2004) are worth adding to your reading list.
Abraham Lincoln, who along with Dwight Eisenhower and Theodore Roosevelt make up the lion's share of GOP presidents worth their salt, is making a comeback as well. Check out Steven Speilberg's new film, as well as a definite departure from historical accuracy that makes for riveting entertainment.
As Election Day approaches, I hope that everyone who can vote will make it a priority to participate. Luckily, attempts to suppress the vote, disguised as security theater, will not be in force in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
Best wishes for a hopeful month ahead.
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