There is an obscured witty language in “The Book of the Dead” which
makes shocking facts about some famous characters less shocking! In addition to
the biography of some famous dead people, it contains additional knowledge
about everyday things and objects which one may not be aware of, or attempt to learn.
For instance, we learn about the life of the person who was first thought of
farming ostrich, buffalo, and bison; or the first female doctor in England; or
the real agent 007. Also, if one wants to know who introduced broccoli and
cauliflower and artichokes into our dining; or who invented forks as parts of
utensils; or why the name of the center of business world is “Wall Street”; or
who invented gum; or who inspired classics such as “Faust” and “The Magic
Flute”; can go no further than scrutinizing over this book. The book is divided
into ten chapters, and each chapter is about a human character or a way of
life.
The first part is titled: “There is Nothing Like a Bad Start in
Life” that includes the story of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Sigmund Freud (1856-1939),
Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925), Lord Byron (1788-1824),
Ada Lovelace(1815-52), Hans Christian Anderson (1805-75), and Salvador Dali
(1904-89). The chapter starts with: “Our early experiences shape our character
and the way our lives unfold, and a poor start can, of course, blight a
person’s prospects forever. But there is a more mysterious path that leads from
truly dreadful beginnings to quite extraordinary achievement,” (P.3). Some
of the facts mentioned here about these eight people are really extraordinary,
for instance; de Vinci was an illegitimate child who was not liked by his
step-father and had a harsher upbringing than his half-siblings. He never got
married. In fact, his sexual orientation is questionable; as is Anderson’s who
had feminine figures and was extremely shy. Freud had sexual problem of a
different kind. For his final Greek exam he chose to translate Oedipus Rex,
perhaps because he had Oedipus complex himself. This is clear from his theories
about the relationship one has with his or her parents, that is usually colored
by sexual desires: “he exhaustively psychoanalyzed his youngest daughter,
Anna, who shared with him her sexual fantasies and her forays into
masturbation,” (P.11). He lived with paranoia and depression, as did Newton
whose childhood was not much better than either of the eight. His room
furnishings had almost all a crimson color. He would forget to eat, he hardly
ever smiled, and practiced alchemy in secret (since it was illegal at the time
punished by hanging) and had a large volume of writing about mysticism and
magic. He stayed a virgin all his life; so did Dali. Salvador Dali recorded in
his diary that shortly after he was kicked out of the house by his father, he went
back to his father’s house carrying a condom containing some sperms, and while
giving it to his father thanked him and told him that from then on he owed his
father nothing. His business was handled by a nymphomaniac Russian woman. She
was Dali’s partner in life as well, however they had a strange sexual
relationship, called candaulism, in which Dali ejaculated while watching her
having sex with others. Like Dali and Newton and da Vinci and Anderson,
Heaviside never got married and died in a state of mental breakdown. Byron on
the other hand had a daughter with his half-sister named Ada Lovelace, which is
the subject of her biography, as another mathematical genius.
Chapter two is titled “Happy-go-lucky” that begins with: “History
records surprisingly few cheerful people. Philosophers, in particular, have the
reputation for being about as miserable as comedians, but Epicurus (341-270 BC)
isn’t one of them,” (P.38). In this chapter, we learn about the simple life
Epicurus selected for himself and for his students by only eating simple
vegetables and fruit and wine. He believed that through simple diet with
friends, one’s mind can also be purified: “it is impossible to live a
pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly, and it is
impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly,”
(P.39). In addition, the productive life of Benjamin Franklin (1706-90),
whose motto in life was to find cheerfulness in life, and his literature and
publication and inventions and politics are discussed. The next happy seeking
person in this chapter is Edward Jenner (1749-1823), who discovered the cure
for small pox and invented vaccination: “by the late eighteenth century, 60
percent of the population of Europe was infected with smallpox. A third of
those who contracted the disease died and survivors were left horribly
disfigured. Elsewhere in the world, the toll was even worse: An estimated 95
percent of the indigenous peoples in the Americas perished from the disease
after the conquistadores brought it with them in the fifteenth century,”
(P.53). Jenner found the cure through application of cowpox and called it
vaccine inoculation or vaccination, which he adopted from the Latin word for
cow, vacca. This chapter continues with two women who enjoyed bringing
happiness to others in two very different ways; Mary Seacole (1805-81) who
created and also gave definition to nursing, and Mary Frith or Moll Cutpurse
(about 1584-1659) who knew how to entertain by playing a role on stage, which
was in fact her own illegal. The chapter ends with the famous Richard Feynman
(1918-88) who won the Nobel Prize for Physics when he was only thirty years
old: “he taught himself to play bongos in the Brazilian manner, held
exhibitions of his own paintings, experimented with drugs, learned how to
decipher Mayan hieroglyphs, and studied comparative religions. He had a ‘second
office’ in a topless bar in Pasadena,” (P.76).
Next chapter is titled “Driven”, that is the story of those
who have a drive to constantly move on, and can never stop: “the word
motivation is (rather surprisingly) little more than a hundred years old, but
the thing itself (whatever it may be) is as ancient as our species,” (P.78).
The chapter begins with the life of Genghis Khan (about 1162-1227) who
conquered almost the whole known world; and continues with the story of Robert
E. Peary (1856-1920), who claimed to have discovered the North Pole and who was
distinguished to have discovered it. In fact he did not! Another explorer is
Mary Kingsley (1862-1900), the first woman from Europe to go to Africa.
Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) invented a branch of science, earth science,
in addition to being the first ecologist. Francis Galton (1822-1911), the
father of eugenics had the same drive as William Morris (1834-96), but totally
different in characters and in social and political outlook. As Galton believed
in intelligence as a genetic character, Morris was a socialist and believed all
people were born equal. Morris’ way of life was extraordinary, however with
humbleness and humility: “His wife, Jane, had two long affairs…
nevertheless, they remained together and he managed the situation over forty
years with tact and kindness,” (P.122).
Chapter four is
titled “Let’s Do It”, and it is all about sex: “Sex is the most
natural but least straightforward of all human urges… Of the twenty-five years
the average couple spends in bed, only two months are spent making love… The
cliché about men’s minds straying to sex every seven seconds is pure invention.
The Kinsey institute found that almost half the men they survey think about sex
only once or twice a week,” (P.124). But regardless of the authors’ claim,
both men, dedicated one of the ten chapters of this book to sex! It starts
with, who else, Giacomo Casanova (1725-98). Against the popular belief he was
an educated man and well versed in the sciences of his time, in addition to
being an avid gambler. He was fluent in Italian, French, Latin, and Greek. He
was put in jail once, sentenced for five years, but he escaped after nine
months by breaking through the ceiling of his cell. In his old age, he wrote
his autobiography. Next person described is Catherine the Great (1729-96)
Empress of Russia: “wasn’t Russian, wasn’t called Catherine, and hated being
referred to as ‘the Great’,” (P.133). Her marriage was not successful from
the beginning and her husband had extra-marital affairs, so did Catherine. She
was an intelligent woman who enjoyed company of other intellectuals. Cora Pearl
(1835-86) invented this name for herself because she liked the sound of it. She
became the most famous woman in Paris because of her lavish parties for men. If
she was around at the time of H.G. Wells (1866-1946) who called himself “Don
Juan of the intelligentsia”, he would be very grateful. Wells enjoyed
womanizing and had an open marriage with his wife, who accepted his
debaucheries. He wrote his first story when he was thirteen. Colette
(1877-1954) is another person in this chapter whose sexual adventures are
described briefly. She befriended an aristocrat known as Missy: “At
performances of Reve d’Egypte in 1907, there were riots when they bared their
breasts and exchanged a kiss on stage,” (P.151). Marie Bonaparte
(1882-1962) was great-grand-niece of Napoleon. She educated herself in
psychoanalysis and considered herself an expert on frigidity. She met Freud a
few times which turned into a lasting friendship. One of her greatest
achievements in life was to measure private parts of 243 women. Constantin
Brancusi’s sculpture titled “Princess X” is supposed to refer to Marie
Bonaparte. Alfred Kinsey (1894-1955) was also into measuring private parts, but
of five thousand men. He developed sexual education to a different level in his
time. He had several sexual relationships with his colleagues, male and female,
and enjoyed masochistic performances. Kinsey was inspired by Havelock Ellis
(1859-1939) who could not perform sexual intercourse and never consummated
marriage with his wife. His wife, referring to him as “the Holy Ghost” had
lesbian relationships with other women. After her death, however, he learned from
a younger lover. Tallulah Bankhead (1902-68) was an actress who had no
restriction in performing sexual acts and exposing her features. She was nonstop
talker whose sharp tongue put her in trouble at times. However, her
autobiography became a best seller: “Long after her death, declassified
British government papers revealed that Miss Bankhead had been investigated by
MI5 in the 1920s over allegations that she had corrupted the morals of pupils
at Eton with indecent and unnatural acts. No conclusive proof was ever found,”
(P.165).
The following
chapter is titled “Man Cannot Live by Bread Alone”, describing eating
habits of the dead. It starts with Helena, Comtesse de Noailles (1824-1908).
She had a regulated eating habit which she demanded of her offspring to
observe. As a privileged woman she could afford to be picky about her
lifestyle: “always slept with a loaded pistol beside her bed… silk stockings
stuffed with squirrel fur wrapped around her forehead and chin to prevent the
formation of wrinkles. To avoid bronchitis, she would eat plate after plate of
fresh herring roe… the glare from the naked [door handle] brass was, she said,
damaging to the eyes,” (P.169). George Fordyce (1736-1802) was a doctor who
believed in home remedies. He discovered for the first time that human body
could adjust to the room temperature. He believed in eating only once a day,
and for himself, he had an interesting eating habit: “His dinner began with
a tankard of strong ale, a bottle of port, and a quarter pint of brandy… for
appetizer… grilled fowl or a dish of whiting… washed down with a glass of
brandy… two pounds of prime steak accompanied by the remainder of the brandy.
For dessert, he had another bottle of port,” (P.172,3). Elizabeth, Empress
of Austria (1837-98) enjoyed horseback riding more than anything else. In
banquets she ate a cup of consommé and two slices of wheaten bread and some
fruit. Most often she ate milk with biscuits. Her waist of 16 inches increased
only to 18 inches after three childbirths. John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943) is the
inventor of cereal. He believed in eating grainy food. The cereal brand name,
Kellogg, was not commercialized by John Harvey, as he was not interested in
making money through his inventions, but by his brother. As a result of that,
they did not speak to each other for the rest of their lives. Next character
discussed is Henry Ford (1863-1947). He started with only eating wheat until
his doctor asked him to expand his diet. Then, he began experimenting with pigs
fed only wheat. He continued his experiment with carrot, which was switched to
wheat biscuits, oatmeal, pecan, and olive oil. Like all others, he had a darker
side in which he: “was an autocrat who couldn’t bear dissent… Hitler kept a
life-sized picture of Ford next to his desk… he thought the American Revolution
had taken place in 1812 and he couldn’t define words and phrases like ballyhoo
and chili con carne. He thought that the traitor Benedict Arnold was a writer,”
(P.184,5). The relationship between Henry Ford and George Washington Carver
(1864-1943) is also discussed and Carver’s accomplishments are briefly
mentioned here. Howard Hughes (1905-76), at the time of his death was the
second richest man in the U.S. after Paul Getty. He was young and handsome, who
courted many Hollywood Stars. He had a passion for flying, and that perhaps
contributed to his mental collapse: “In December 1947 he suffered a total
breakdown. Telling his staff that he wanted to watch some movies, he
disappeared into a nearby studio’s screening room and didn’t emerge for four
months,” (P.192). After the mental breakdown, he stopped cutting his
toenails and saved his stool in a bottle. His eating habit was strange as well:
“He ate only room-service meals, instructing that his sandwiches be cut in
precise triangles, that no tomato should be sliced thicker than a quarter of an
inch, and that his lettuce should be shredded ‘on the bias.’ He kept a ruler in
the room to measure any peas he ordered, sending back any that were ‘too big.’
Hughes never really regained equilibrium. From then on he gradually disappeared
from his own life,” (P.183).
Next chapter is
about people who had to live with physical or mental difficulties, and they had
to “Grin and Bear It”. Pieter Stuyvesant (1612-72) was the last Dutch
governor of New Amsterdam (today’s New York). He lost his leg in a venture in
the Caribbean, and for the rest of his life he used a wooden leg. He had many
other misfortunes in his life. Stuyvesant enjoyed various positions in the
Dutch government, the last of which was the governorship of New Amsterdam:
“New Amsterdam was to become New York, but its heart- and tongue- remains
Dutch. Many words we consider uniquely American are in fact adopted from Dutch:
boss for master, cookies, coleslaw, even Santa Claus. It was the Dutch who
erected the defensive wall that became Wall Street; Stuyvesant’s farm or
bouwerie is now The Bowery, one of the city’s most famous thoroughfares; even
Broadway (built by Stuyvesant) is merely the English pronunciation of Breede
weg. The homesteads of New Amsterdam- Nieuw Haarlem, Greenwych, Breukelen,
Bronck’s Plantation, Jonker’s Plantation- all survive in the names of modern New
York’s neighborhoods and boroughs: Harlem, Greenwich Village, Brooklyn, the
Bronx, and Yonkers,” (P.201). General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
(1794-1876) had a wooden leg as well, but he was not a moralist like Stuyvesant.
He lacked not only morality and virtue, but political judgment. He would change
from liberal to conservative whichever benefited him best. He was elected as
the president of Mexico several times after winning some wars, due to his
bravery and ruthlessness. He became famous in Texan wars in Alamo where he
killed all who surrendered including Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. He repeated
the same brutality in Goliad where he killed all unarmed men: “Once news of
these atrocities leaked out, the Texan army was inundated with volunteers… they
killed more than half drowsy [siesta time] Mexican in eighteen minutes… [Santa
Ana] having ditched his fancy uniform, he was identified by the fact that he
was the only prisoner wearing silk underwear,” (P.206,7). A decade later: “Santa
Anna had been in secret talks with the U.S. government, offering to sell them
large parts of Mexico,” (P.209). When he had enough power, he reneged on
his promise by trying to invade Americans. He lost six battles, and as a
result, the Mexican states of Utah, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada,
and half of Colorado joined Texas as parts of the U.S. In spite of losing half
of the country, this time turning conservative, he became the president. Using
this opportunity, he called himself “His Serene Highness” and sold another
piece of the land to the U.S. government for $15 million that he pocketed
himself. He was finally exiled to Staten Island, where he met Thomas Adams: “Adams
was intrigued by the general’s habit of chewing chicle, the gum from the
evergreen Manilkara tree, something Mexicans had been doing since the times of
the Mayan empire. Adams hoped to make it into a cheap rubber substitute and
bought a ton of chicle from Santa Anna, just in case. He failed to make rubber,
but discovered that, by adding sugar, he had a terrific new confectionery
product,” (P.210,11). Daniel Lambert (1770-1809) became famous for his
weight. He was 750 pounds and his waist was 9 feet 4 inches at the time he
died; and was considered “the Heaviest Man in Britain”. He had good manners and
because of that people remember him with cheerfulness. Florence Nightingale
(1820-1910) is famous for her nursing innovations, but she was always sick and
complained about her various physical problems in her diaries. Because of her
nervous breakdown, she never had a companion and died a virgin. Another person
who died a virgin was Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935). He was an alcoholic and
hypochondriac. He was a clerk and did not publish anything in his life. However
after his death, more than thirty-five thousand pages of manuscript of his
works in pros and in poetry were found. After the publication, he was
remembered as the greatest poets of the twentieth century in his birthplace of
Portugal. Dawn Langley Simmons (1937-2000) on the other hand was famous during
his/ her life, not only for her writings, but also for pioneering in many
taboo-breaking social movements. She was a pioneer in sex-change in South
Carolina. Later she married to her black chauffer, another taboo in that state.
As it is clear from
the title, “The Monkey Keepers” is the story of those who kept monkeys.
The chapter starts with Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658). As an infant he was
abducted by his grandfather’s pet monkey. It takes servants a long heart
throbbing struggle to get him back. Of course when he grew up he never kept a
monkey as a pet, but Catherine de’ Medici (1519-89) who was the most powerful
woman in Europe for almost half a century did. She showed French women how to
side-saddle and how to use fork. She also introduced broccoli, artichokes and
cauliflower as dinning items. One of her entertainments was to stage wrestling
matches between monkeys and dwarfs. Speaking of dwarfs, one was born exactly
one century after Catherine. His name was Sir Jeffrey Hudson (1619-82). He
became a court entertainer and diplomat. There is a painting of him with a
Monkey on his shoulder. He died in obscurity however. Rembrandt van Rijn
(1606-69) was one of Netherlands devoted artists. His paintings brought him
fame and fortune in Amsterdam. He was married to a woman whom he adored, and
painted many times. But when she died still young, life turned around for
Rembrandt, emotionally and financially. His only solace in life was his son, in
addition to his monkey. At the time that he needed money, he was commissioned
by a well-to-do family. He painted his monkey in the background. They asked him
to remove the monkey from the pictures or they would refuse to pay, but he
preferred to keep the monkey on the paintings and lose the commission. He
continued his work by drawing ordinary people, in addition to self-portrait. He
died in debt. Just like Rembrandt, Frida Kahlo (1907-54) also had a monkey and
did many self-portraits. She had a trace of a mustache which insisted on
depicting it in many of her self-portraits. A traffic accident injured her back
when she had only 18 years of age, as a result of which she suffered throughout
her life. This suffering is witnessed in many of her paintings. Frida fell in
love and was married to another painter, Diego Rivera, who was a couple of
decades older than her, and who was famous for his Marxist murals. To add to
her pains, the marriage turned out difficult, and at the end the couple decided
to have open marriage, with Frida enjoying both genders. In addition to the
monkey, Frida kept many other wild animals as pets. Madam Mao (1914-91) was an
actress during the Chinese Revolution, who supported Mao in his efforts. She
was the propaganda machine for the revolution and its aftermath. Madam Mao was
a hair-raising dictator who created such comfort for her monkey in which many
people in china were denied of. As a poster-girl for the Cultural Revolution,
she was arrested shortly after Chairman’s death. She was sentenced to life in prison, but she
committed suicide in 1991. Frank Buckland (1826-80) was raised in a zoologist
family where various sorts of animals, dead and alive, were mingled together.
At a small age, he could ride large turtles and ailing crocodiles. He became a
doctor and founded a society to import exotic animals to England. With animals
all around him, even in his pockets when he was out of the house, he made
science popular and interesting. He dressed up his monkeys stylishly. However,
having monkeys around could get tricky, as King Alexander I of Greece
(1893-1920) found out the hard way. Three years after becoming the king,
Alexander’s dog was attacked by two of his father’s pet monkeys. In the
struggle to save the dog he was brutally mauled by the monkeys and died a few
days afterwards.
Next chapter
mentions nine people who used other names than their own for various reasons,
titled “Who Do You Think You Are?”. Some were charlatans who changed
their names as imposters and as a hoax, and lived off others’ naiveties. Titus Oates (1649-1705) was an unintelligent
liar who regarded himself as highly, doing anything for fame and wealth. As it
is the character of such people, whenever he was in power, he became a tyrant.
Due to his physical appearance and his character, no one liked him. He moved
from one seminary or church to another and each time he was kicked out. He
faked his credentials with various names and titles in order to receive another
employment, which usually worked out. However, his drinking and bad behavior
caused him to be expelled again. He finally devised a plan with an accomplice
in which the king’s brother, a Jesuit, was accused of being involved in a
conspiracy to murder the king. After several attempts the court finally issued
a verdict, as a result of which many innocent people lost their lives, and a
new law was passed putting more pressure on Catholics. But his plan was finally
discovered and he was arrested and put in jail. After release, he lived a few
years in obscurity. Oates life of dishonesty was repeated again by Alessandro,
Count Cagliostro (1743-95), but more intelligence and shrewdness. He even became
a celebrity in the 18th century Europe. He inspired Goethe and
Mozart to write “Faust” and “The Magic Flute”, by being a magician, an
alchemist, a spiritualist, and a healer. He started in a monastery in Sicily,
with a chain of hospital networks, where he learned alchemy and medicine. After
he was kicked out for his belligerent and bad behavior, he chose a mobster
life, and very soon became a gang leader. He travelled to Palermo, Egypt,
Turkey, Malta, and Rome. In Rome he changed his direction from alchemy to
forging paintings and antiques and selling them to tourists. He also created a
potion that was supposed to delay aging, called elixir of life. After he got
married, the couple travelled to France, England, Portugal, Spain, Germany,
Russia and Poland as a Count and a Countess. The devised a plan called “The
Egyptian Order” selling their potions and consulting people, in addition to
healing. Surprisingly, the remedy worked on many of the patients. Their luck
turned around, and in several places they were caught and put in jail. They
decided to go back to Italy, where they were captured for alchemy. In order to
save her skin, his wife testified against him, and that put an end on Count di
Cagliostro’s business, and within four years, his life. The actual name of George
Psalmanazar (1679-1763) was never discovered. After he disclosed his true
identity, he wrote an autobiography claiming France as his birthplace. He
started on various personalities starting with an Irish pilgrim on his way to
Rome. When he was discovered, he claimed to be a heathen from Japan. He created
a new Japanese alphabet and calendar in Germany to convince people of his bogus
origin. In Netherlands, he claimed to be prince of Formosa (modern-day Taiwan).
He was supposedly converted by a Jesuit from his homeland, Japan, who despised
Catholics. An army chaplain who was looking for a convert to get close to the
church and receive a handsome prize, converted him to Protestantism, a route
that paved their way to the Church of England. However, Psalmanazar was
intelligent and knew how to speak several languages including Latin and Hebrew.
He finally confessed that the whole thing was a hoax, and became an earning member
of Grub Street in London. Princess Caraboo (1791-1864) was from the island of
Javasu where she was kidnapped by pirates after her mother was killed by some
cannibals. She managed to escape and swim to Bristol and walked to a village in
Gloucestershire. This is the story she told the people of the village. She was
discovered to be Mary Baker and was shipped to America where she started a
performance of Princess Caraboo. She continued her performance in some European
cities before she got married. Louis de Rougemont (1847-1921) was in fact Henry
Louis Grin who claimed to have been born Swiss and ship wrecked on his way to
Australia. He was saved by his dog in an uninhabited island where he rode
turtles, and then lived with some aboriginals and married with a native, and because
of his sharp shooting talent, the natives considered him as their god. His
story was later challenged and his true identity surfaced. However, the story
of James Barry (1792-1865) was of a different kind. He was in fact a female by
the name of Margaret Bulkley who adopted the name of her uncle in order to be
accepted in medical school. She started wearing boy’s clothing and after
graduation and before reaching fifteen, she/he was appointed as personal
physician to the governor of Cape Town: “In 1826 he found fame as the first
British doctor to perform a successful caesarean section… he left strict
instructions that his body was to be left in the clothes he died in and sewn up
in a sheet before his burial,” (P.299). Almost a century and a quarter
later a historian discovered her identity. This marked her as the first woman
to qualify as a doctor in Britain. Ignacz Trebitsch Lincoln (1879-1943) was
born in Hungary and moved to London when he was 18, after dropping out of
college and being pursued by the police for theft. He added the last name,
Lincoln, after his birth-name as an adopted British name. He joined a society
converting Jews to Christianity, and travelled to Canada on behalf of the
society and on a mission. He married and moved back to England to become the
first foreign born MP in London. With the outbreak of WWI, he went to Holland
and convinced Germans to recruit him as a spy. He went back to England where
his forgery of the past surfaced, so he travelled to the U.S. in hurry and sold
his spy story to newspapers. He was extradited to England and put in jail.
After breaking from jail and being captured again he served three years, after
which he was deported. He went back to Germany and became press secretary of a
right-wing group, where he met young Hitler. For the short time that the group
seized the government in Berlin, Ignatius Lincoln was the minister of
information in Nazi government. He escaped to Berlin and got involved in
another right-wing group and went to Budapest, where he sold the group’s secret
to the Czech government. Afterwards, he travelled to Italy to cooperate with
the fascists, but they kicked him out: “As a deportee from the United
States, Britain, Austria, and Italy, he was becoming quite famous: Time
magazine called him ‘the man no country wanted,’” (P.306). He went to China
and found a new occupation: dealing arms and forging passports. He became a
Buddhist monk under Chao Kung, and graduating to the rank of bodhisattva, when
he built his own monastery in Shanghai. Early in WWII, Shanghai was populated
by Eastern flank of Gestapo. He contacted them and asked to meet with Hitler,
as he could recruit every Buddhist for their cause. He wrote to Hitler
denouncing Holocaust, and when Japanese invaded Shanghai he was arrested and
apparently poisoned, as he died of stomach ache a few days later. Tuesday
Lobsang Rampa (1910-81) claimed Tibet as where he grew up. He wrote a book
about his strange encounters in Tibet, that soon became a best seller. He was in fact
Cyril Henry Hoskin who had never stepped outside of England. Because of the
success of his first book, he wrote 18 other books which have sold over four
million copies. The last story is about Archibald Belaney (1888-1938) from
Hastings in Sussex. After a poor childhood he moved to Canada to try his luck
there. He was taken with the beauty of the place and married a native woman
from Ojibwa tribe. He adopted an Indian name, and in WWI joined Canadian Black
Watch as an Indian. He finally became a naturalist in Canada and travelled
internationally lecturing about the nature. After his death, his true identity
was discovered. In fact, he was a native British who dyed his hair and colored
his skin to look more Indian. regardless, his impact on people who were
educated about environment left no doubt that he genuinely believed in what he
preached: “No one captures the double life of the impostor better than
Archie Belaney. On the one hand, an abandoned child, seeking refuge in the
company of animals and dreaming of being a Red Indian, growing into a man
unable to form a stable relationship with a woman; a loner who drank too much
and was capable of acts of cruelty: ‘almost a madman’ on occasions. On the
other hand, the powerful and admirable hero, the first ecowarrior, whose books and
talks offered a new and genuine connection with nature,” (P.314).
Next chapter is
titled “Once You’re Dead, You’re Made for Life”, which is the story of
those who gained wealth, but lost them all at the end. The first character is
Emma Hamilton (1765-1815), a child of poverty and neglect. Raised only with her
mother, she was sent to a house as a nursemaid. After she was sacked from her
job she went to the West End in London to work in a theatre. She became a
dancer in one of the more sophisticated brothels. She was bought by a British
MP who offered her to his uncle. The uncle, Sir William Hamilton considered
Emma as his mistress for a while, and then decided to marry her. Horatio
Nelson, the British war hero met Emma and they fell in love with each other.
After the death of Hamilton, Emma and Horatio, now having a child their own,
were free to enjoy each other’s company. However, Horatio was called for duty
and died in the process. Soon after Emma’s mother passed away, and her mental
health degenerated and started drinking. She lost all her fortune and was put
in debtors’ prison, and later she was extradited to France, where she drank
herself to death. Dr. John Dee (1527-1609) was an educated man. He was a
philosopher, a mathematician, an astronomer, and a magician. He was raised in a
noble family, and was educated in Cambridge. He studied rigorously: 18 hours of
study, 4 hours of sleep, and two hours for meals every day. He became Europe’s
foremost scholar: “Dee amassed more than four thousand volumes, the largest
library of any kind in Europe, and twenty times as many books as were held at
Cambridge University. The breadth of his interests is astonishing. From magic
to mathematics, subjects included the Church in Armenia, botany, chastity,
demonology, dreams, earthquakes, Etruria, falconry, games, gymnastics,
horticulture, Islam, logic, marriage, mythology, the nobility, oils,
pharmacology, rhetoric, saints, surveying, tides veterinary science, weather,
women, and zoology,” (P.331). He worked in King Edward VI’s court and later
in Queen Elizabeth’s, when, among other things, he set her coronation date. He
prepared a legal case for the expansion into the New World. As the first person
to coin the phrase British Empire, he became the queen’s spy in Europe and
signed his secret massages “007”. He worked on English calendar as well.
However, later in life he was interested in communicating with angels, and
collaborating with a partner experimented in supernatural. After the outbreak
of the plague and lack of interest by the Queen towards his work, he lost
everything and survived only by selling his books. Like John Dee, Jack Parsons
(1914-52) started with science and rocket technology and sidetracked into
supernatural. He worked for U.S. Army as a pioneer in rocket science. With a
group of likeminded friends, he worked in Jet Propulsion Laboratory which was
established during WWII. He created solid and liquid fuels which were used in
space missions: “It was the darker side of his character that led him to
fall in with the OTO (Ordo Templi Orientis), the so-called Templars of the
East, a Masonic-style organization under the leadership of the mesmeric
necromancer Aleister Crowley… Crawley claimed to be the reincarnation of John
Dee, among many others,” (P.339). Parsons became deeply involved with the cultist
culture and other people connected to the sect, such as the founder of the
Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard: “Betty [Parsons’ wife] and L. Ron Hubbard
talked Parsons into setting up a joint venture … Parsons had already sunk most
of his money into the lodge but put what was left –about $12,000- into the new
company. Hubbard invested $1,200 and promptly disappeared with Betty to Miami,
where he used all the Allied Enterprises capital to buy a pair of yachts. Jack,
with nothing in his bank account, had to take a job in a gas station to pay for
food. When he eventually tracked the couple down in Florida, they swiftly
absconded on one of the boats. Furious, Parsons summoned up a storm (or so he
claimed) at sea that forced them to return to port,” (P.341). Parsons was
finally killed in an explosion caused by his homemade explosives. Another
scientist of a great mind was Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) who invented 20th
century with more than seven hundred patents in his name. He was the inventor
of alternating current of electricity, X-ray, and radio-wave before Edison,
Roentgen, and Marconi. Even internet technology is indebted to him: “He died
in 1943, aged eighty-six, heavily in debt, alone in his hotel room,” (P.355).
Carl Marx (1818-83) is the last person discussed in this chapter. Born into a
Jewish family, his father who practiced law converted to Protestantism after
Prussia banded Jews from practicing law. He studied philosophy and became the
editor of a progressive newspaper in Cologne. After the newspaper was banned he
moved to Paris, where he began a lifelong friendship with Engels, cooperating
in many communist writings. Expelled from Paris he moved to Brussels and
denounced Prussian citizenship. A few years later he was forced to move to
London, where he lived the rest of his life in poverty. He loved his six
children, only three of which survived to adulthood. He spent 34 years in the
Reading Room of the British Museum. He had many health problems and because of
gigantic boils on his backside he wrote most of Das Kapital standing up: “But
though Marx the man… is long gone, his analysis is arguably more relevant than
ever. Globalization rapacious corporations, the decline of high culture, the
triumph of consumerism- it’s all there in Marx… In a British radio poll in 2005
a shocking number of listeners voted him the nation’s favorite,” (P.341,62).
Last chapter is
titled “Is That All There Is?”. The chapter begins with: “Death lies
in wait for each of us, the full stop at the end of our story. All our strivings,
our achievements, our catastrophes, the struggles with ourselves, our families,
and our bodies are suddenly, mysteriously, over. It is the one unavoidable fact
of our lives, yet most of us prefer to ignore it,” (P. 362). St. Cuthbert
(634-87) is the first person discussed in this chapter. He grew up as a
shepherd who had a vision, and became a pious and faithful religious figure.
There are many stories of his miracles written by Venerable Bede (673-735). Cuthbert
became a novice and a monk, but left it all for a life as a hermit, and to pray
in the nature, which lasted for about a decade. His fame grew larger after his
death. According to Bede, his body was excavated many times, and each time his
corpse looked as fresh as if he had never died! Not only Cuthbert, but his
biographer Bede was also promoted to sainthood by the church. The story of the
Shaker movement’s leader, Ann Lee (1736-84) is next. This illiterate woman, who
had to work and earn money when she was only five years old, married to an
illiterate man at the age of 26 and joined a religious community called the
Wardley Society (also known as the Shaking Quakers or the Shakers).
Purification of the soul by violently shaking the body of the sinner was one of
the manifestations of this cult. Ann started having religious visions which
persuaded her into simple living and common ownership of property and avoidance
of sex in order to purify the body. Shakers of Manchester, where Ann lived,
were under continual attack by their neighbors who found their way of life disturbing.
In 1774, Ann had another vision to move her followers to a new place and create
her own community, which she did by moving with her husband and a handful of faithful
followers to the New World. She created a Shakers community in New York, and as
time went by, the community grew, and certain style of life along with specific
songs became their hallmarks. Ann Lee believed in equality of women, social
justice for all, and religious tolerance. William Blake’s (1737-1827) religious
beliefs were more illustrative and had a more liberal outlook than Ann Lee. In
oppose to her, Blake viewed sexuality as a necessity. He was the inventor of a
more convenient and easier way of expression in engraving. His poems and drawings
were not appreciated during his lifetime and he had to struggle for money.
However, his engraving attracted demands and if he valued monetary possessions,
he would not have to worry about earning his livelihood as much: “he was
enraged by the class system, by slavery, and by the urban poverty he saw around
him in London. The values of his society seemed to him to be upside down, what
mattered in England was not ‘whether a man had talents & Genius, But
whether he is Passive & Polite & a Virtuous Ass & Obedient to
Noblemen’s Opinions in Art & Sciences. If he is, he is a Good Man. If not,
he must be Starved’,” (P.384). The most important of his characteristics
was his honesty and his straight forwardness, a trait that sometimes put him in
trouble. It took another century to appreciate the art of Blake. His poem “The
Tyger” became a classic in English literature. Almost his contemporary, Jeremy
Bentham (1748-1832) had a very different view of the art. His eccentric
character and his knowledge combined, made him stand out among others. As the
father of utilitarianism, he believed that the law should ensure greatest
happiness of greatest number of people: “The establishment saw Bentham as
deeply dangerous. His ‘algebra of utility’ seemed to eat like an acid through
centuries of accumulated privilege and injustice. He opposed slavery and both
capital and corporal punishment; he believed in equal rights for women and for
animals; he called for the decriminalizing of homosexuality; he praised free
trade and the freedom of the press; he supported the right to divorce and urged
the separation of church and state,” (P.394). He created a model prison
called Panopticon, where prisoners and prison guards could see each other at
all times. He conquered fear of death and instructed in his will for his body
to be saved and dressed and kept in a glass cage for observers to see. His
instructions were followed and his body is displayed in University College,
London. Another practical person was Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983). He
was born in a well-educated family to become an American architect, inventor,
poet, philosopher, author, teacher, entrepreneur, artist, and mathematician. He
created Dymaxion, a house that was light, took less space, used circulating
water, and cheaply made. He regulated his diet and his sleep to a minimum,
always trying to do “more with less”. He created what is called a geodesic
sphere, to be applied to buildings and even vehicles. Buckminster Fuller is
quoted in the book as saying: “I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know
what I am. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process- an integral function
of the universe,” (P.407). And, the book ends with an old Lebanese proverb:
“The one who is not dead still has a chance,” (P.407).
John Lloyd and John Michinson: The
Book of the Dead; 2009 Crown Publishing Group
