June 2, 2019 – davidbruceblog #2

When Aimee Mullins was born, her legs lacked fibula bones. Because of this, her parents had to make a decision: Either let their daughter stay in a wheelchair the rest of her life, or have her legs amputated and let her learn to use prostheses to walk. They choose to have her legs amputated — it was the right decision. Ms. Mullins became an athlete and set Paralympic records in the 100-meter and 200-meter races and the long jump. At a Women’s Sports Foundation Dinner, Ms. Mullins was joking around with a friend and said that after the dinner she was going to get a pedicure. Her friend laughed, but the great gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who was behind her, didn’t understand what was so funny. After all, Ms. Mullins was wearing her cosmetic, realistic-looking prostheses and Ms. Comaneci didn’t realize she had a handicap. Later that evening, when Ms. Comaneci had been filled in on the details necessary to understand the joke, she told Ms. Mullins, “Love the toenails!”
Al Capp, creator of the comic strip Li’l Abner, lost his leg after falling into the path of a trolley car when he was nine years old, and he was forced to use a wooden leg the rest of his life. He declined to take care of his leg, with the result that it sometimes deserted him when he needed it. Once, while he was walking with boxer Gene Tunney, he suddenly felt a need to grab onto something for balance, so he grabbed onto Mr. Tunney. Together, they looked back and saw the lower part of Mr. Capp’s wooden leg, swaying precariously. No problem. Mr. Capp gathered up the fallen leg, bolts, and nuts, and then took his wooden leg to a garage, where the mechanic quickly fixed it. In this case, the mishap was a blessing, as Mr. Capp did not have to hear the boring speech that he and Mr. Tunney had planned to attend.
The Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso was blind. She was born with perfect vision, but at age 19 her eyes began to fail her, and she underwent a series of eye operations that failed. Eventually, she was able to read and to watch TV only with the aid of powerful binoculars, but she never gave up dancing. While she danced, a wire was stretched across the footlights at the height of her waist to prevent her from falling off the stage, and two strong footlights in different colors were focused on the stage away from the edge because she was able to sense them. However, in large part, she relied on her partner to guide her as she danced.
Howard McNear played Floyd the barber on The Andy Griffith Show. He suffered a stroke in 1963, then retired from the show for the next two years. In 1965, he returned to the series, which made accommodations for the effects of the stroke, which had paralyzed Mr. McNear’s left side. Floyd the barber was never shown walking, and he was usually shown sitting down. A special supporting structure was built so that he could be shown standing behind the barber chair.
As a person with cerebral palsy, which affected his motor skills, Cordell Brown learned to put other people at ease. At a church camp, Mr. Brown knew that the other campers were uneasy with his cerebral palsy. After unsuccessfully trying several times to plug in his electric razor, he turned to the other campers and said, “Just call me speed and coordination.” The other campers laughed, and the ice was broken.
George Washington once visited a little person (formerly known as a midget or a dwarf). The little person was severely handicapped and unable to sit up on his own; however, he had a remarkable wit. When Mr. Washington asked him if he had been a Whig or a Tory in the Revolutionary War, the little person replied, “I have never taken an activepart on either side.”
Paul Wittgenstein, an Austrian pianist, lost his right arm during World War I. He refused to quit playing the piano, and began to transcribe a number of piano masterpieces so that they could be played with the left hand only. Eventually, he continued his career as a concert pianist, and composers such as Maurice Ravel created works especially for him.
Courtenay Thorpe was an actor who continued working in his profession with a false limb after his hand was blown off during an accident with a gun. A stage manager once told him that his hand seemed rather wooden when he gestured with it, and Mr. Thorpe replied, “That may be because it is chiefly made of wood.”
Violinist Rudolph Kolisch suffered an accident after which part of the middle finger of his left hand had to be amputated, but he did not give up playing the violin. Instead, he reversed hands, using his left hand for bowing and his right hand for fingering the strings. Eventually, he founded the Kolisch Quartet.
British war hero Lord Nelson had one arm. A stupid person once told him, “I beg your pardon, my lord, but you have only one arm.” Lord Nelson used his remaining arm to pick up his empty sleeve, then he looked into it with a surprised look on his face. “Bless my soul,” he said. “I do believe you are right.”
Jonathan Winters is a very funny comedian who has occasionally suffered from mental illness. Once, he parked in a handicapped parking space, and a woman protested, “You’re not handicapped.” Mr. Winters looked at her and said, “Lady, can you see into my mind?”
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Copyright by Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved

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THE TROJAN WAR

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SHAKESPEARE: 38 PLAYS

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CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE’S COMPLETE PLAYS: RETELLINGS

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William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure:A Retelling in Prose, by David Bruce

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Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist:A Retelling

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PS: I like online reviews.