Folks who remember me from old Twitter will recall that this story, in a somewhat more artful form, was one of my most widely read threads. I'm pleased to say it will play a major role in my next book.
How's that for rugged?!
But he appears in old newspaper articles about the murder under the sign of other names: he is called John and Laurel at times; his family names include LaFleur, Erard, Erad, Cartlton, and Drake. My aunt tells me that, deep in his cups, he once told her that he did not even know his own name.
He died in 1998, a week or so after Ma'am passed, at the age of 82 or 83. We don't know his exact age and do not know with total certainty his birth name, although he was likely born James Farrell, the name he also used as an adult.
They wound up having 6 kids, but Pap, a heavy drinker, came in and out of their life. He'd go on a bender and disappear for stretches, probably living on the streets in Chicago. Ma'am's income as a secretary supported the family back in Fort Wayne. Pap's drinking and wandering decreased as he aged.
The man's name is Frank. He's a bachelor. He had a good job that he lost, but he had enough savings to keep a comfortable apartment. At the end of the meal, Danny departs, and Frank invites Pap to come home with him. Pap lived with Frank for 6 years until he met my grandmother.
So Pap, 15 years old, is waiting outside of the theater, and a man comes up to him. The man says he knows what Pap and Danny are up to, and he warns that they're going to wind up getting hurt. He also makes a proposition: he offers to buy them a hot meal at a nearby diner. They accept.
Then, Pap would lead the child molester to where Danny was hiding and they'd rob the man. (This part was relayed to me by my Aunt, who used, ahem, anachronistic language to describe the situation, but today we might also call it a "rough trick." I doubt this was the first time they pulled it.)
So these two teens, probably 15 and 17, hobo back to Chicago, arriving in winter. They are dead broke, but Danny had a scheme. He said he knew of a theater where "child molesters" went. Pap's job was to try to get picked up in front of the theater, while Danny would hide in an alley nearby.
He fled with another older orphan, Danny, who he believed was his brother (and may have actually been his brother) and they rode the rails from Chicago out to Utah to look for a third "brother" who they believed had a homestead there. They found him, but he tossed them out. (It was the Depression!)
Pap, as the troubled gramps was called, was kidnapped from his family as an infant and raised by his kidnappers as their son. Then his kidnapper father murdered his kidnapper mother in front of him with a hatchet. After that he was placed in a orphanage, which he eventually fled.
Gramps on one side ran a liquor store. Gramps on the other side was a vagabond and rambler and was never able to keep down a regular job.
Thanks, Marina!
Blew off some steam today by doing a 60kg Turkish Getup. This is the way.
Read @gnrosenberg.bsky.social's new piece about the writing process and why a vignette about mid-rave ice cream at Berghain almost made it into Feed the People!
Stay for the "regenerative" ag hack actually selling million dollar homes.
bearistotle.substack.com/p/the-cuttin...
Close-up of a hand holding a Kindle e-reader displaying a passage about food systems, including the line: “The most important thing you can do is banish from your thoughts the idea that we should—and can—scrap the ‘broken’ food system and start over.”
Big belated congrats to @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social and @gnrosenberg.bsky.social on FEED THE PEOPLE! a book that everyone should read and will get a lot out of. It might surprise you to know that they call for throwing away the "broken food system" cliché but they have a GOOD POINT!
Reading about how a more equitable food system is possible. Nice work @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social and @gnrosenberg.bsky.social
"Today, the Brazilian Supreme Court announced that they had convicted the masterminds behind the assassination of socialist Rio de Janeiro City Councilwoman Marielle Franco guilty on all counts."
massive news in Brazil today, writeup by @mikeelk.bsky.social
paydayreport.com/rio-police-c...
San Francisco!
Gabriel and I are giving a book talk tomorrow night at USF at 6 p.m.
This event is open to the public! Come by.
New York City!
This Wednesday, Feb. 25, I'll be doing a book talk at Barnes & Noble in Brooklyn (Atlantic Ave.) at 6 p.m. Come by!
stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/978006...
Are industrial foods really the problem? Writing in The New York Times, Senior Research Fellow Gabriel N. Rosenberg argues with Jan Dutkiewicz that rather than idealizing the past, policy and technology should come into play to improve today’s food systems. 🥯 🍇
🔗 buff.ly/WEU1bc1
I like the Miyoko's mozz and Sun Bear (hubby) has successfully used in pasta bakes in lieu of regular mozz. It's not a texture match in either, but the result was really tasty. There should be some precision fermentation versions coming online in the next few years that solve the texture problem.
One of my favorite grafs in the book which has a line that has consistently cracked up every editor who has read it! (What say you, Heather?)
So excited @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social and I have the chance to explain "democratic hedonism" in this excerpt of "Feed the People!" in @newrepublic.com.
newrepublic.com/article/2067...
What is "democratic hedonism"? What does it mean in the food reform context?
An excerpt from @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social's and @gnrosenberg.bsky.social's new book:
newrepublic.com/article/2067...
"Improving the American food system further will require engaging, improving, and fairly distributing modern agriculture’s productivity, not tossing it on the compost heap."
@gnrosenberg.bsky.social and I on the concept of democratic hedonism in food system reform.
newrepublic.com/article/2067...
Cover of "Feed the People!: Why Industrial Food Is Good and How to Make It Even Better" by Jan Dutkiewicz and Gabriel N. Rosenberg
I just started reading "Feed the People!: Why Industrial Food Is Good and How to Make It Even Better" by @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social and Gabriel N. Rosenberg.
Positive: offers a counterintuitive take on our food system, beyond simply saying it's "broken"
Negative: I want to eat waffles so badly
"[Feed the People! and Meat] bring a passion to the affluent society’s intractable modern dilemma of what to eat. As Rosenberg and Dutkiewicz say, it is a dilemma probably most effectively addressed without preaching." A wonderful review in @financialtimes.com.
www.ft.com/content/403a...
Book cover: “Feed the People!" by Jan Dutkiewicz and Gabriel N. Rosenberg. The design features an illustrated can (think Campbell’s Soup) with bold text emphasizing the title. The subtitle states: Why Industrial Food is Good and How to Make It Even Better
Received my preorder of ‘Feed the People! Why Industrial Food Is Good and How to Make It Even Better’ from @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social and @gnrosenberg.bsky.social. I’m looking forward to reading it!
You can get your copy here: bookshop.org/p/books/feed...
