by Peter Cates Chechaquo When I woke up this morning at 2:30 a.m., the temperature was 9 degrees Fahrenheit. In that context, I find these following sentences from a story written more than 100 years ago quite pertinent, powerful, thought provoking and eerily poetic: “But all this – the mysterious, far-reaching hair-line trail, the absence […]
by Peter Cates What It Takes A 1992 book, What It Takes, by the late Richard Ben Cramer (1950-2013) examined the lives of six candidates in the 1988 race for the White House: Republicans Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush (1924-2018) and Democrats Joe Biden, Michael Dukakis, Dick Gephart and Gary Hart. It weighs in […]
by Peter Cates Fred Bonnie Bridgton native Fred Bonnie (1945-2000) attended a two-room schoolhouse, in North Bridgton, until his father’s death in 1954 and the family’s move to Portland. He graduated in 1964 from Cheverus High School and in 1971 with honors from the University of Vermont. Mr. Bonnie moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he […]
by Peter Cates Killing Them Softly I recently viewed a 2012 movie, Killing Them Softly, starring Brad Pitt as a gangland enforcer, James Gandolfini as a Mafia hitman and Ray Liotta as the host for a mob protected high stakes polka game, with a very good supporting cast. The plot features a businessman in need […]
by Peter Cates Christmas music Reader’s Digest released a number of record sets devoted to Christmas music, one being a 1985, two LP set Joy to the World. It contains two sides of 15 famous carols performed with decent professionalism by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Peter Knight (1917-1985); Knight’s name might […]
by Peter Cates Jimmy Carter The 39th President Jimmy Carter has achieved a few longevity records . First, he is the oldest living one at 99. Secondly, he has lived the longest of any President. Thirdly, since his defeat for re-election in 1980 by Reagan, he has been out of office the longest. Finally, he […]
by Peter Cates Samuel French Morse Poet Samuel French Morse (1916-1985) taught English at Northeastern University and summered in Hancock. His A Poem About the Red Paint People is a rumination on a long lost Native-American tribe and can be read in its entirety in the anthology Maine Speaks. Several lines evoke the sense of […]
by Peter Cates Lee Grant On the basis of three different roles, I currently find Lee Grant, still alive and very sharp in her late 90s, my favorite character actress. The emotional nuance, strength, vulnerability, anger, calm before the storm, joy, love, maturity, chaos, decorum-every ounce of one’s humanity – is channeled from her very […]
by Peter Cates Gerald Ford The 38th President Gerald Ford (1913-2006) always struck me as the most personally likable of our 46 chief executives. His geniality helped immensely in generating good will on both sides of the aisle during his 25 years in the House of Representatives before President Richard Nixon appointed him as vice […]
by Peter Cates Mad Men The seven seasons of Mad Men, which ran on AMC from 2007 to 2015,was an interesting viewing experience throughout the last three to four months via Amazon Prime but, now that all 97 episodes have been watched, I feel tremendous relief that it’s over. It depicts the world of Madison […]