Ludwig van Beethoven, widely considered one of the greatest composers in history, died on this day in 1827. Beethoven moved to Vienna from Germany in his early twenties where he became a virtuoso pianist, before beginning to lose his hearing. Some attributed his loss of hearing to his habit of lowering his head into ice-cold water in order to stay awake and continue practicing, though today this theory is dismissed. Despite the composers failed hearing, Beethoven remained committed to the creation of his art. He stayed sane, and even warded off thoughts of suicide, through devotion to virtue and to becoming accepted as an artist amongst the other musical craftsman of his day. It is widely believed that in the age of television and consumer distractions, another Ludwig van Beethoven will not develop. Here is a letter Beethoven wrote to his two brothers, reflecting on his life and ambition, and his loss of hearing. The name Johann is added parenthetically as in its handwritten form was left blank, perhaps because it was a peculiar legal document, and perhaps over strained relations. For my brothers Carl and (Johann) Beethoven O ye men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn [...]
I first picked up The Executioners Song about ten years ago at Powell’s and this was my introduction to the writing of Norman Mailer. He was a pioneer, a creator, an innovator helping, along with Truman Capote to create a new sub-genre of literature called New Journalism. Mailer wrote the story of Gary Gilmore, the first American executed by the state in ten years, bringing back capital punishment. He wrote the story as though it were a novel and captivated the country. He was a creator in the sense the genre had not been in existence until he spoke it. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award once. Mailer died on this day in 2007.
It was today, eight years ago, that Elliott Smith passed. He was a Nebraskan kid, transplanted to Texas before finding his adult and creative home here in Portland. He rose to acclaim when director Gus VanSant found him in a club, and used several of his songs on the Good Will Hunting Soundtrack. We all loved Miss Misery. Born Paul Smith to his mother Bunny Welch, Smith would become one of contemporary musics greatest creators. The end of his life was tragic. He began using heroin and started believing Dreamworks was out to get him, following him around in a white van. He died of suicide in Los Angeles. Remembering Elliot Smith:
Today in 1973, J.R.R. Tolkien passed. He was a philologist, a student and professor of language, and indeed created something like his own language, and his own world, the adventures within which are chronicled in his fantasy works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and Simarillion. He was raised by his mother as his father died when he was young. Born in South Africa but he moved to England as a child and stayed when his father died. His mother taught him botany and languages including Latin, which the child enjoyed. He could read by the age of four, and began writing shortly thereafter. He was raised with the help of his grandparents, who were Baptists, but when his mother became Catholic, the family stopped all financial assistance to her and the children and essentially disowned the young man. His mother died of diabetes when the young writer was only twelve. She left him to be cared for by the church, specifically Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan, in the shadow of church towers and in the presence of medievalist paintings all of which seem to have influenced his work. He married the sweetheart of his youth, another orphan named [...]
One of the great creators of the last century was a man named R.G. LeTorneau, who invented and created many of the mammoth earthmoving machines that build our roads, raise our buildings and mine the depths of the earth. LeTorneau died on this day in 1969 and worked tirelessly over his life to dominate an industry and inspire thousands to greater engineering feats. LeTorneau did not separate his faith from his work, seeing the creation of earthmoving mechanics as an extension of the play he enjoyed with the world God made. He flew endlessly to the corners of the world to inspire people of faith to work with their minds and hands to better the world, and even bought an old hospital in Longview, Texas to start a university, now called LeTorneau University, one of the most esteemed engineering schools in the country. Toward the end of his life, LeTorneau used his knowledge to start colonization and land development to assist the poorest of the poor in Liberia and Peru. LeTorneau taught us more than how to move the earth, but that if we plunge fully into the field that fascinates us, we can change the world in through the [...]
