... W. David Shaw.
But then, I came of age in the '50s and have only the fondest memories of them. I somehow managed not to notice the McCarthyite repression and lack of artistic achievement (Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Robert Anderson in the theater, great films, Steinbeck and Marquand still writing, the New York painters and poets, the Beats - pretty bleak I guess).
I didn't live the 50s, and I think your experience is totally valid and a reminder that no era is ever just one thing, but I do have to say, Frank, that just because YOU didn't feel any oppression doesn't mean it didn't exist. You were a child, you know; it's not like HUAC was beating down the door to accuse you of communist leanings. Though that was that one time you shared paste with your classmate in kindergarten... *LOL*
ReplyDeleteNo, I was teenager, not a child, and the HUAC stuff was in the '40s and McCarthy was finished by '53 (and he investigated the State Department and the Army). The blacklist was industry-imposed, not government-imposed. I think if the oppression had been as widespread as is claimed, I would have known about it, since I was a rather well-informed fellow, being precociously interested in the news and reading at least two newsmags a week. I knew that Orson Bean got into some trouble over his political views. I knew about Charlie Chaplin and Lee J. Cobb and Zero Mostel.
ReplyDeleteThis has nada to do with politics nor the industry; but, Frank, I hadn't thought of that paste for, oh, forty years and I was just overwhelmed with the way it tasted because I used to think I should be eating it (since it looked like porridge). I never understood it was for sticking things on things. (I don't crave it, now; I guess that says something . . . not sure what, though :).)
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