“One Night, One Life, One Song: The Peculiar History of ‘O Holy Night’”

History is an odd and wondrous field in which to run and play.  It’s quite serious but also is filled with miracles, surprises and the never-to-be fully resolved or explained.  Discoveries change the course of things.  Extraordinary lives, moments of courage, unanticipated choices and consequences.  It’s a messy, beautiful truth. I have been dabbling a bit in my own genealogy.  I’ve been finding websites and people who share my name—Furr actors, writers, scientists, musicians, war veterans, and, yes, a whole list of Furr criminals.  Pictures of the existence, for a while, of a carbonated drink in New Mexico (not sure … Continue reading “One Night, One Life, One Song: The Peculiar History of ‘O Holy Night’”

Elvis–tragic hero, addict, mystic

Just finished a bio of Elvis Presley I picked up a few years back and had sitting on my shelf by novelist Bobbie Ann Mason.  Elvis is one of those figures whose presence is culturally ubiquitous, so the danger is greater that we think we “know” him, only to discover that we do not know this person at all. I felt the sadness that so many musical biographies have evoked in me in recent years—bios of Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, the Carter family, Eric Clapton, the great blues singers and Hank Williams.  One common thread in this tapestry is the … Continue reading Elvis–tragic hero, addict, mystic

Dog Shoots Man–and so it begins

Without the internet, there would be no Justin Bieber, no way to spread our urban legends so quickly, and no way to keep up with the Kardashian-ization of civilization.  Wednesday Yahoo news had among its usual stories a new turn on the “Man bites dog” archetype.  “Man is accidentally shot by his own dog.” Apparently, a 46 year old man in Brigham City, Utah “got a behind-full of birdshot courtesy of his loyal canine companion when he was out duck hunting over the weekend.”  He and the dog were traveling in a boat and the man stepped into a marsh … Continue reading Dog Shoots Man–and so it begins