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Mockingbirds

Friday, June 13, 2003

• TITLE: "Mockingbirds"

  "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

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• "... Subscription Drive ..."
  Still want to subscribe? Take a look here.

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• "... A Trip to Paris ..." Here are the links to
  Chapter 1: I'm My Own Grandpa.
  Chapter 2: What's the Difference between First Class and Coach?.
  Chapter 3: Not Much About Paris.

• "... To Kill A Mockingbird ..." The book was published, I believe, in 1960 and was the Nelle Harper Lee's only novel.

  The movie was Robert Duvall's first role. He played Boo Radley.

• "... David Brinkley ..." Notwithstanding how I was treated, Mr. Brinkley, According to the Associated Press, "Won 10 Emmy awards, three George Foster Peabody Awards and, in 1992, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor."

  I have won a coupon redeemable for 15% off a deli sandwich at Safeway.

• "... Adam Clymer ..." Here's another Clymer anecdote ... this would warm Gus Portokalos' heart. Anecdote is of Greek origin. It comes from the word ekdotos which means "to give out" and the prefix an which means "not" so anecdote means "not given out" or "unpublished."

  About a year ago I decided I would begin a new Mullings feature - the Mullings Interview of the Month. This meant I would have to actually find someone who would want to be interviewed by me, then interview them, then transcribe the interview, then edit the interview, then publish the interview on the web site.

  All of this sounded like a great deal of work plus the matter of the Brinkley interview was still weighing heavily on my mind even after 35 or so years.

  Sidebar: One time, I interviewed Dr. Linus Pauling who I believe is the only man to have won two solo Nobel Prizes: For Chemistry in 1954 and the Peace Prize in 1962.

  In later years, Pauling became an vocal adherent of taking large amounts of Vitamin C for the prevention of the common cold. As luck would have it, when Dr. Pauling arrived at the radio station for the interview, he had the sniffles. My first question, of course, was, "Dr. Pauling, given your devotion to the benefits of Vitamin C, how is it you have a cold?"

  As I remember, he had a better sense of humor about the whole thing than David Brinkley would have had.

  Oh, yes, Clymer. So, Adam and I are at lunch and I mention this idea about a Mullings Interview series and he tells me he thought it would be a great idea. I said I didn't have any idea how to conduct an interview.

  For the next hour and 15 minutes, Adam Clymer - senior writer for the New York Times - gave me a tutorial on "The Interview."

  He's a good man.

• Mullfoto of the Day:
  
  
  This is a photo of the Cody Museum - complete with Buffalo Bill Cody - in Cody, Wyoming.

  The Hummer in the background was to be raffled off as a fundraiser for the museum.

  It occurs to me that I might be needing a new Mullmobile ...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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  World War II Poster
  

•     Mullings' Catchy Caption of the Day:
  
  Awwwwright! A real book!
  (REUTERS/Prnewsfoto ) ____________________________________________________________________________________