While I am no longer in the newspaper biz, my brother and sister have both played significant roles in their local newspapers in recent weeks. This, of course, saves me the hassle of actually writing something to post here!
My sister, Karen Roth, is a terrific columnist volunteering her talents for the "Write Team" of the Daily Times of Ottawa, Ill. She deserves to be paid for her work, Lonny! Here is her June 8 column following the June 4 marriage of her daughter Angela to Fred Nimke:
"Smiling with tears from the cradle to a wedding"
When your baby girl is born, a myriad of thoughts races through your mind. Holding her safely in your arms, you envision that first step and the first date. You think of her playing with friends, going off to college, and the grand finale - her wedding day. Happiness swells inside you. And you smile through your tears.
You bring that darling infant home. Colic and ear infections take over your sleep-deprived life. You wonder how you lost control and why nothing feels right. One day she finally takes a nap. You check on her and gaze at those chubby cheeks and the dimpled hands. And you smile through your tears.
She skips off to her first day of school. She comes home brimming over with excitement about the big swingset and Music with Mrs. Martin on Mondays. Then comes the day when someone makes fun of her and her feelings get hurt. You hug her and use the moment to remind her why we should be thoughtful of others. And you smile through your tears.
Teen years hit before you know it and you enter a cycle of slumber parties and orthodontist appointments. The telephone constantly rings, and the circle of friends is ever changing. Her bedroom looks as though a hurricane blew threw.
Just when you begin to wonder how what kind of person you are raising, you run into a neighbor. Your daughter babysat for her children, and the neighbor can’t say enough nice things about how much the kids love her. She raves about how responsible your daughter is to clean up the kitchen and make sure the children get to bed on time. And you smile through your tears.
College and then graduate school. She juggles a job, internship, and car payments. You worry about how she will manage to get everything done. You warn her again about drugs and strangers, but she rolls her eyes as she runs out the door.
One evening she calls with the message that she had car trouble but made it safely to class & don’t worry. You leave her a voice mail message telling her to stay put until you arrive. Your husband breaks all the traffic rules racing to get there before she is alone on campus at night.
You don’t see her at first, and your heart skips a beat. Then you spot her. Some professors are waiting with her. They extend offers of overnight lodging or calling a repairman.
You are impressed with the quality of people she knows; they are good folks who look out for one another. They tell you what a wonderful person she is and how highly they think of her. And you smile through your tears.
Her wedding day is almost here. I’ve been preoccupied with the most unexpected things: how will we ever get everything done, what will I serve the girls for lunch before we head to the church, and where did I put that wedding wrapping paper?
Then we went for her final dress fitting. And suddenly I remembered the day she was born and the tremendous feelings I had on the first day of her life. I thought I could never love her more than I did right then.
I was wrong. Her father and I are grateful we had the chance to raise this wonderful person. We love her more today than we did twenty-five years ago.
So on her wedding day, when she tells us she loves us before marrying the man of her dreams, we will smile through our tears.
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That was sweet! Meanwhile, my brother Eric and I share a great love for comic books. Eric has collected every Batman comic printed since he became my little brother on Dec. 6, 1963. As a result, he is something of a renowned Batman expert (he has a grad school paper published on the subject) and since "Batman Begins" opened this week, the Bloomington Pantagraph profiled him on Thursday. The story is here (thanks to legendary Publisher Henry Bird!):
"Building a better bat"
By Steve Arney
sarney@pantagraph.com
The complexity of the dyad character Batman/Bruce Wayne has attracted Eric Sweetwood from an early age.
He learned how to read from comic books, starting three years after his 1963 birth, and Batman has been his lifelong favorite.
In other comics, superheroes and villains are a collection of mutants, aliens and characters with special powers. To Sweetwood, they lack a plausibility.
Take Superman.
The alien from Krypton looks exactly like a European-American. His powers make victory predictable.
Sweetwood prefers the human hero.
"With Batman," he said, "you really could lose. Batman in the comics occasionally does lose. He's a real guy."
Sweetwood takes seriously his character study of Batman/Bruce Wayne and his study of the series' other characters.
A social studies teacher for Pontiac High School, Sweetwood will teach a July class at Heartland Community College for fifth-through-ninth graders as part of the college's Youth Enrichment Program. (Program information is available at www.heartland.edu/cce)
As a college student in 1997, he undertook a scholarly examination, writing a graduate school paper published by "A Student Journal of Historical Studies" at Illinois State University. You can download and read the paper here (PDF).
Complicating any study of the dual character is the shifting interpretations of Batman/Bruce Wayne by comics writers, starting with Batman's 1939 debut, and the script writers, actors and directors of modern media.
Wednesday's release of "Batman Begins" marks the fifth live-action motion picture since 1989. Christian Bale is the fourth actor to take the lead role. Christopher Nolan is the third director.
Batman appears, on average, in about 15 different comic books per month, and some of those books emphasis different traits within the character, said Jim Schifeling, owner of Acme Comics in downtown Normal.
For example, the Detective series focuses on Batman's cerebral sleuthing ability, said Schifeling.
Movie director Tim Burton unleashed a modern Batman in 1989, with the first in the modern "Batman" series.
The gothic setting and grittiness gave viewers a dramatic departure from the campy Adam West portrayal of the 1960s TV series and movie.
But Burton's Batman was familiar ground to comics collectors. They were witnessing a return of a darker Dark Knight, not a new creation. And the grittier Dark Knight has dominated Batman comics since then, Schifeling said.
He describes the traditional Batman as "dark and moody" and "an introvert."
The movie series, meanwhile, evolved into lighter fare, with Robin adding levity just as he did in the comics starting in the 1940s.
Recent movies became ridiculous, especially the most recent "Batman & Robin," said Schifeling. Over the decades, the comics made similar forays into weird and stupid, he said, such as the examination of the child Batman.
Sweetwood, too, dismisses the last movie as a failure. But taking the long view, his premise is that the shifting Batman/Wayne character reflects shifts in society while imparting lessons through Batman, his allies and the villains.
A few examples, gathered from his college research papers and from conversations this month, are as follows:
• Batman begins as a vengeful vigilante out to produce justice. This was during World War II.
• The post-war Batman and Bruce Wayne are more friendly. Batman becomes a friend of police, rather than an isolated fighter with a similar agenda. Materialism and modernism are reflected in the Batmobile and other machinery.
• Batman in the late 1950s and early 1960s takes to outer space, reflecting science fiction's popularity. Batgirl and Batwoman probably were introduced as love interests to "prove" that the Dynamic Duo wasn't a gay couple, as alleged by an anti-comics critic.
• Batman keeps his values in the 1970s but is less cooperative with government.
• The villains Scarecrow and Penguin provide examples of people turning angry and evil after enduring taunts and abuse from society for being odd. It serves as a warning to be kind to people who are different.
• The original Robin, Dick Grayson, became Nightwing, and his relationship with Batman shows the generation gap.
• The Oracle, paralyzed by the Joker, becomes a crimefighter through computer use. She is a modern woman.
A constant trait for Batman/Wayne is human frailty, and his flaws help the readers and viewers relate to the character, Sweetwood said.
Batman/Wayne is forever dealing with the grief of his parents' murder, wrongly blaming himself and obsessed with redeeming himself while protecting others, said Sweetwood.
The character also represents the ability to overcome personal tragedy and achieve greatness, he said, and that is a lesson for all generations of Batman watchers.
Copyright © 2005, Pantagraph Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
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If you want to see Eric in his "Bat-Room," go here:
http://www.pantagraph.com/ent/art/0616_batguy1.jpg
I am so proud of my brother and sister and so excited that their talents and special qualities have been recognized by their local newspapers!
Mark
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