Marlene Wagman-Geller

"As far back as I can remember, it was always on my bucket list, even before the term bucket list was coined,
to be a writer. It was a natural progression to want to go from reading books to writing one."
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There's No Place

There's No Place
Jun 23, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

"I am constantly having to make an upheaval for some reason.” – Sarah Winchester

 

Winchester Mystery House (opened in 1923)

525 S. Winchester Blvd. San Jose, California

 

            How the West was won - or lost - depending on one’s perspective was determined by who wielded the Winchester Repeating Rifle. The heiress to the company’s fortune, Sarah Winchester, had a life bookmarked by guilt and guns.

The Devil's Horn (1840)

The Devil's Horn (1840)
Jun 22, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
In the film, Some Like It Hot, Marilyn Monroe, in the role of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, revealed that blondes prefer gentlemen who wield saxophones; in the Clinton administration, the saxophone became the First Instrument; in The Simpsons, Lisa made the saxophone attractive to girls. These scenarios would not have been possible if not for Joseph-Antoine Adolphe Sax.

Jingle, Jangle Morning (1965)

Jingle, Jangle Morning (1965)
Jun 21, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Upon hearing the lyric, “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,” the knee jerk reaction for Bob Dylan fans is to follow with the words, “Play a song for me.” But what fans may not realize is that the composition sprung from the flesh-and-blood tambourine man: Bruce Langhorne.

Pentimento (1905)

Pentimento (1905)
Jun 20, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

“One sits uncomfortably on a too comfortable cushion.”

         In 1968, country singer Jeannie C. Riley sang of the hypocrisy of her hometown who pointed fingers at the widowed Mrs. Johnson although they were guilty of worse transgressions. Sixteen years before, a playwright had socked it to a more powerful body than the Harper Valley P. T. A.

You Can't Beat (1903)

You Can't Beat (1903)
Jun 19, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
  From time immemorial, relationships have often been expressed through gifts. Some, like Eve’s apple and the Trojan Horse, proved unkind to those who received them, while others  have been odes to romance. Few women have received as wondrous a present as Cosima Wagner did when Richard composed the Siegfried Idyll for her birthday. Tsar Alexander’s Fabergè egg gained mileage with his young bride, as did Burton’s 68-carat diamond to his ladylove. Resplendent as the symphony, the egg, and the ring may be, nothing could rival a son’s tribute to his mother.

The Devil's Horn (1840)

The Devil's Horn (1840)
Jun 16, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

  In the film, Some Like It Hot, Marilyn Monroe, in the role of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, revealed that blondes prefer gentlemen who wield saxophones; in the Clinton administration, the saxophone became the First Instrument; in The Simpsons, Lisa made the saxophone attractive to girls. These scenarios would not have been possible if not for Joseph-Antoine Adolphe Sax.

Starship (1965)

Starship (1965)
Jun 16, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
For patriots, the name “Jefferson” conjures the image of the Declaration of Independence. For rockers, the name “Jefferson,” (along with Airplane), conjures the image of The White Rabbit. The Jefferson Airplane moniker alludes to Lemon Jefferson.

It Was, It Was

It Was, It Was
Jun 15, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

Chapter # 10: It Was, It Was 

“I am happy that what was once so much pleasure for me turns out now to be a pleasure for other people.” – Alice Austen, speaking of her photography

The Alice Austen House (opened in 1985)

2 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, New York

 

            Simon and Garfunkel, folksingers from Queens, crooned in Bookends, “I have a photograph. Preserve your memories. They’re all that’s left you.” Alice Austen proved the veracity of their words. As the Klondike Gold Rush began in Alaska, Alice mined black and white nuggets in New York. The Alice Austen House has a dual distinction: it is the only American museum dedicated to a female photographer; the first designated as a LGBT Historic Site. 

            In 1866, during a baptism at St. John’s Church in Staten Island, Alice Cornell Austen christened her baby Elizabeth Alice Munn. The child preferred her middle name and rejected her last one as her father, Edward Stopford Munn, had taken off during his wife’s pregnancy. Without means of support, Alice moved into her parent’s home that was also the residence of her brother, Peter, sister, Mary, “Minn” and her brother-in-law, Oswald Müller. Alice grew up in the aptly christened Clear Comfort in the Rosebank neighborhood of Staten Island. At the time, the borough was transforming to the Newport of New York as mansions and yacht clubs dotted its shoreline. The residence dated from the seventeenth century, and her seafaring grandfather, John Hagerty Austen, had purchased it in 1844. After extensive renovation, the Victorian Gothic style house with its gingerbread trim and dormer windows held elegant furnishings and interesting curios two servants kept dusted. The third domestic was their cook. The lawn held a huge sycamore tree, and flowers carpeted the yard. Clear Comfort afforded a panoramic view of New York Harbor, and the twenty-year-old Alice witnessed the unveiling and construction of the Statue of Liberty until the landmark achieved her final height of 151 feet.

            As the only child in a household of adults, Alice was the axis upon which her family revolved. She used the expression “larky” to describe a life filled with affection, security, and love. Her most precious possession was a camera-that resembled a wood box- that Oswald, a Danish sea captain, had given her when she was ten years old. Peter, a chemistry professor at Rutgers, showed her the alchemy of developing pictures. The two men converted a second-floor closet into a darkroom for their niece. A maid assisted with the task of rinsing glass plate negatives in the outdoor pump as the nineteenth century structure had no running water. Enamored of her hobby that transformed everything into a frozen snow globe of memory, Alice made Clear Comfort, her relatives, Punch, her pug, and Chico, her Chihuahua, the objects of her photos. The siren call of the harbor was also an early muse, and time after time, she raised her lens to ships, first powered by sail, then by steam.

            A woman who dressed in the latest fashion, Alice’s activities included the new sport of tennis, gardening, sai

Minerva

Minerva
Jun 14, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

“I am not certain if I can. At least I’ll gladly try.” Betsy Ross

The Betsy Ross House (opened 1937 )

239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

       Within the stripes of the American flag lies a treasure trove of history, mystery, and controversy. “Old Glory” appears in fifty states and on the moon; thousands have died fighting for or against it. The Marines raised the Stars and Stripes to commemorate the victory in the Pacific; the draft-dodgers burned it in protest of the military in Southeast Asia. As the Twin Towers crumbled, three New York City firefighters rigged a makeshift flagpole and hoisted the symbol of resilience. Millions visit the Betsy Ross Home to pay homage to the universal icon.

HEART

HEART
Jun 11, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
“Name’s Leasure, rhymes with pleasure,” was Althea Leasure, fourth wife and first love of Pornography Baron Larry Flynt, manner of introduction. Although many view their love story as a chronicle of depravity, it was nevertheless an against all-odds romance.

Stirring Salute (1970)

Stirring Salute (1970)
Jun 11, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
  If asked to list three iconoclastic generals, those who might spring to mind: Napoleon, Patton, MacArthur. The common denominator amongst the names is they all carved out a niche in military history, and all were men. The established paradigm shifted when Anna Hays became the country’s first female general in a ceremony sealed with a kiss.

The Painted Bird

The Painted Bird
Jun 10, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

“I am as clear as the child unborn.”

 

The Rebecca Nurse Homestead (opened in 1909)

149 Pine Street, Danvers, Massachusetts

 

     Witch-hunts are the thread that runs through the tapestry of history. The Romans fed the Christians to the lions; the Nazis consigned the Jews to the crematorium; the United States incarcerated the Japanese Americans. Three centuries ago, Salem targeted those the Puritans had decreed bore the mark of a witch. The importance of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead: it stands as sentry to the consequences of when hysteria and hatred triumph over humanity.

Of Them All

Of Them All
Jun 09, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (opened 1956)

10 East Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, Georgia

“The only way we can kill for a moment our pain is by unselfishness.” Juliette Gordon Low

      “The cookies are coming! The cookies are coming!” so sounds the annual cry that leads to Thin Mints, Tagalongs, or Caramel deLites. Girl Scout cookies satisfy a sweet tooth and supports a charitable cause. Troops around the world take “the midnight train to Georgia” to visit the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace to salute their founding mother.

The Devil's Brew

The Devil's Brew
Jun 07, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

“I believe in being everlastingly on the warpath.” – Carry A. Nation

 

Carry A. Nation Home & Museum (opened in 1950)

209 Fowler Ave., Medicine Lodge, Kansas, the United States

 

            The lyrics to Peter, Paul, and Mary’s folksong was the promise, “If I had a hammer/I’d hammer in the morning/I’d hammer in the evening…” Carry A. Nation’s choice of weapon, as instrument of social justice, was the hatchet.

Little. Frog

Little. Frog
Jun 06, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
At the eye of Solidarity’s storm was Lech Walesa, the leader of a rebellion which struck a shattering blow to the sickle and hammer. However, it was his First Lady in freedom’s fight who created a peephole into their domestic Iron Curtain. 

Set the Night on Fire

Set the Night on Fire
Jun 05, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

Cemeteries do not rank high in the hierarchy of romance with the exception of Pere Lachaise in Paris where several immortal couples lie together for eternity: Abelard and Heloise, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Simone de Beauvais and John Paul Sartre. Another tomb with echoes to love is Pere Lachaise’s most visited grave- of rock royalty Jim Morrison. A photograph taken over it features a ghostly apparition, a white figure with arms outstretched- the prince of music bemoaning separation from his cosmic mate. 

Yes-No

Yes-No
Jun 05, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
  A popular seventeenth century nursery rhyme is, “Three blind mice. Three blind mice. See how they run. See how they run. She cut off their tales with a carving knife…” The dark story behind the light-hearted ditty: the three blind mice were Protestant loyalists, burned at the stake by Queen Mary.  A nineteenth century American counterpart is similarly macabre, “Lizzie Borden took an axe/ And gave her mother forty whacks/ When she saw what she had done/ She gave her father forty-one.” If the latter rhyme holds true, Lizzie embodied Shakespeare’s description of King Lear’s daughters, “Sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.”

The Merry Prankster

The Merry Prankster
Jun 04, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller

The Summer of Love. Those four words conjure a 1960s moment frozen in an American snow-globe; mythical months in San Francisco when visions of peace, love and harmony hung in the air-interspersed with quantities of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. It also represented a hippie love story, one between the guitarist-troubadour Jerry Garcia and his Mountain Girl.

The Truth (1876)

The Truth (1876)
Jun 04, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
   Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University is one of America’s most esteemed research-based institutions, located in an iconic redbrick campus. But what’s with the unique name Johns? The university and medical hospital come from philanthropist Johns Hopkins.

For Remembrance

For Remembrance
Jun 02, 2023 by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Dr. Timothy Leary pronounced the paradoxical catchphrase, “If you can remember the sixties you weren’t really there.” Leary was not only there, he was its vanguard, and beside him- his psychedelic pioneer and muse. She was his soulmate who left her Midwest hoping for adventure, which she received in spades-a result of her love affair with an amalgam of the king of Hearts and the Joker.