Roger O Green

CHQ: More people talking

Shadid Aziz, MD and Geraldine Brooks

The hardest thing about writing about our week at Chautauqua was figuring out how to order it. After the weekend there, I ended up with categories. More people talking could have been labeled miscellany, but that seems dismissive.

Monday July 22nd 3:30 PM

I tried to go to Islam 101: Koran and what it says about other faiths at the Hurlburt church, the Methodist Church. Alas, a group of us realized it had been inaccurately posted on the calendar. It had taken place earlier in the season but no longer. So, I had to look to see what else I might do. At that very same time, there was a discussion on the courageous conversations on death and dying by Shadid Aziz, MD, not to be confused with the New Jersey dentist or the Pakistani military leader. Oddly enough, it was in the Presbyterian House Chapel, where I just came from.

Some of the discussion concerned advanced care planning for the end of life in the inpatient setting and a similar item for outpatient. The three questions are: to establish minimum living goals for supporting life by artificial means. For example, what is the minimum level of mental functioning that is acceptable to you with the help of life-prolonging treatments? What is the minimum level of physical functioning acceptable to you with similar treatments? What life-prolonging treatments are you willing to use or not indefinitely or for a trial period if they can get you to your minimum acceptable level of functioning? Dr. Aziz says as a physician, you always work off the patient’s baseline function. If you do not know the baseline, you do not know the possible goals.

The gift of palliative care

I liked the talk so much that I bought his 2018 book Courageous Conversations on Dying. Here are some chapter titles: Basic Rules for Having Courageous Conversations and Giving Bad News; The Power of Touch; The Power of Prayer; Creating a Document of ACP Advanced Directives; Preparing for dementia – the slow downward spiral; Helping Surrogates Make Decisions; managing cross-cultural issues; the hard talks with parents and children; words, words, words.

I have long been interested in this topic, so I’ve been participating in those Death Cafes I mentioned previously.

Tuesday, July 23, 12:30

Chautauqua Dialogues. Presbyterian House

Several times a day, there were discussion groups about how people felt about what they were experiencing at CHQ. It was mildly interesting.

Weekly speaker reception

Tuesday July 23nd, 3:30 PM

Pierce Freelon, Grammy-nominated artist; author, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: Daddy and Me; Side by Side; and Daddy-Daughter Day African American Heritage House, 40 Scott.

This was an actual house, with several chairs available and hors d’oeuvres, wine, and other beverages at a table.

Pierce’s family, both his ancestors and his children, are very important to him, particularly his grandmother. He would run with his brother, Deen, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, once a week when they could.

He mentioned that his father appeared in a PBS documentary Matter of Mind: My ALS, which the family appreciated. “In Durham, North Carolina, renowned African-American architect Phil Freelon receives his diagnosis of ALS on the eve of completing his life’s work: The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. As he inches toward paralysis and loss of speech, he and his family grapple with the illness’ erosion of control, reflect on what it means to live and die with dignity, and lean on one another for support and strength.”

(By happenstance, my wife brought to CHQ a book we were gifted, A Fool’s Errand by Lonnie Bunch. In it, Bunch describes the challenges of getting the museum built. Phil Freelon is mentioned, of course, and his photo is included.)

At the talk, someone asked Pierce what his father’s name was. Pierce replied, “My father’s name IS Phil Freelon,” noting the present tense. He also helped his mother, Nnenna Freelon, assemble her album, AnceStars, which he said “She needed.” See this video.

Here’s Pierce Freelon’s YouTube channel, featuring hits such as Tooth Bruh and No Is A Love Word.

Hall of Philosophy

Thursday, July 25th, 3:30 PM

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Author Presentation. Geraldine Brooks, author, Horse, Hall of Philosophy and CHQ Assembly

The Hall of Philosophy, with its pillars and open-air access, reminds one of the Greek Parthenon. It was SRO, big time.

Geraldine Brooks grew up in a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Her father, Lawrie Brooks, was an American big-band singer stuck in Adelaide when his manager ripped him off. He stayed in Australia and became a newspaper sub-editor. Her mother, Gloria, from New South Wales, did PR for a Sydney radio station.

After graduating from the University of Sydney, Geraldine became a rookie reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. After asking for an assignment based on her interests and expertise, she was tasked with reporting on horse racing. This involved providing great detail regarding the wagering and the position of the horses at every turn. When she left the paper, she knew she didn’t want to have anything to do with horses ever again.

Living in the USA

After receiving a scholarship, she moved to the United States and received a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1983. The next year, she married American journalist Tony Horwitz.

The couple were award-winning foreign correspondents. She covered crises in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East for The Wall Street Journal. After writing one non-fiction book, she wrote five novels, mostly historical fiction, often relying on deep research.

After spending three days in an African jail, she decided it was time for motherhood. Her son Nathaniel was in the audience.

She overheard a story about a once-nationally famous racehorse named Lexington at an event. Eventually, though, his skeleton became the example of a generic horse at a museum. This led to her next book, Horse. She learned that the groom was the most important person in a racehorse’s life and that many grooms were enslaved black men. A mysterious painting of the horse figures into the narrative.

And now Geraldine Brooks owns horses.

Her next book is called Memorial Days, about grief tied to the death of her husband at the age of 60 of cardiac arrest in 2019. She was a great storyteller in her remarks and in answering audience questions.

Lydster: driver’s permit

wisdom teeth

It was an interesting summer for our daughter. For one thing, she got her driver’s permit and decided to learn how to operate a car. She enlisted her mother in the teaching experience. I don’t think this was something that my wife was particularly looking forward to doing, but our daughter has skills in this area.

She won’t have time to get her license over the summer, as she still has to take a five-hour course, but she’s a quick learner. I’m getting this from my wife and daughter because, to date, I have not ridden in the car with my daughter operating the vehicle.

The daughter has a great deal of spatial recognition. This became obvious when we went to Alexandria, VA, in July. She instantly recognized that there couldn’t be a second bathroom in our place because there would not have been sufficient space. This was her third trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, though her parents’ first. We also went to the Jefferson Memorial and passed the Capitol. More about that trip soon.

She’s been going through a lot of her stuff as part of the family purging, whittling through stuff we may not need anymore.

Jock

She’s also been exercising a lot at the local Albany YMCA and is very good at learning how to use some of the equipment, so much so that she’s been teaching her mother how to do so.

This has been interrupted by the need to get her four wisdom teeth removed on August 14. They weren’t hurting yet, but removal was highly recommended based on the dentist and the specialist’s assessment. Annoyingly, because of a scheduling snafu, my wife had to drive her to Queensbury, about an hour away, rather than the closer Latham office. The day after, she had a lot of mango juice, mac and cheese, and chocolate pudding.

She goes back to college soon. It was nice having her around.

Musician Elvis Costello is 70

Spike

The musician Elvis Costello, born Declan Patrick MacManus, was considered one of those “angry young men” in the pop scene that straddled the 1970s and 1980s. I first heard his music on WQBK-FM, Q 104 in the Albany area, a station I listened to constantly for about a decade.

I saw Elvis perform in Albany in 2008. Opening was Amos Lee, then Elvis, who was quite good, and Bob Dylan, more indecipherable than usual.

I bought a few of his earlier albums on vinyl and many of the latter on CD. Here are some of his songs.

Radio Sweetheart – Taking Liberties (1980). B-side of Less Than Zero single, 1977

Watch Your Step – Trust (1981)

20% Amnesia – Brutal Youth (1994)

Everyday I Write The Book – Punch The Clock (1983)

Miss Macbeth -Spike (1989). I love this album so much. Sometimes, you and a piece of music hit the same wavelength.

Remove This Doubt – Kojak Variety (1995). This is a cover of a song on The Supremes Sing-Holland-Dozier album. I love the original.

Accidents Will Happen – Armed Forces (1979)

Man Out Of Time – Imperial Bedroom (1982)

Last Boat Leaving –Spike (1989). The album is quite eclectic.

Ship Of Fools– Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead (1991), a GREAT compilation album.

Love and romance

Let Me Tell You About Her – North (2003). The album was “partially inspired by the dissolution of his marriage to wife Cait O’Riordan and his burgeoning relationship with Diana Krall.” This song is about the latter. It is the only EC album my wife, a big DK fan, ever bought for me.

Wise Up Ghost– Wise Up Ghost (2013) is an album EC did with Questlove. The opening strings are lifted from Can You Be True? from EC’s North album.

A Slow Drag With Josephine – National Ransom (2010). I need to listen to this album more often.

Deep Dark Truthful Mirror – Spike (1989)

National Ransom – National Ransom (2010)

Veronica – Spike (1989). This represents not only Paul McCartney’s contribution to Spike but Elvis’ to Paul’s Flowers In the Dirt album the same year

Pump It Up – This Year’s Model (1978)

Chewing Gum – Spike (1989) – I know people who hate this song with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

All This Useless Beauty – All This Useless Beauty (1996)

Watching The Detectives – My Aim Is True (1977). The UK single was added to the US release.

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding – Armed Forces (1979). The American release of the album omitted “Sunday’s Best” and added Costello’s cover of Nick Lowe’s classic.

Coverville 1500: The Elvis Costello Cover Story V

Elvis Costello turns 70 today.

CHQ: We Can Actually Do Something

Bill McKibben

Here are the rest of the Chautauqua Institution lecture series, Our Greatest Challenges (That We Can Actually Do Something About)

Wednesday, July 24: “The Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative welcomes environmentalist and writer Bill McKibben back to the Amphitheater stage, where he’ll be joined by journalist, Professor, and Executive Director of the George Washington University Alliance for a Sustainable Future and Planet Forward creator Frank Sesno as they discuss work both men are doing to catalyze climate action across generations.”

This was the liveliest talk of the week because it involved the interaction between McKibben, who I saw 30 or more years ago, and Sesno, who I’ve read. The bad news: Sunday, July 21, 2024, was the hottest day on record; worse news: Monday, July 21, was hotter.

Frank expressed optimism because of the young people he worked with at ASF. Bill became faux grumpy with Sesno’s “the youth are the future” tone. Faux because he notes that in his 350.org group, much of the fossil fuel divestment campaign took place on college campuses.

Still, that’s why he’s involved with Third Act, a “community of Americans over sixty determined to change the world for the better. Third Act harnesses an unparalleled generational power to safeguard our climate and democracy.”

April 22, 1970

Some older folks were involved in the original Earth Day in 1970. They vote in large numbers, tend to know people in power, and are motivated to win back the lost gains. McKibben and Sesno both have grandchildren born in 2024. They may not be as robust as their young counterparts, so they sometimes participate in Rocking Chair Rebellions. While having an arrest record as a 19-year-old could be problematic, older folks don’t care nearly as much, notes McKibben, who had been busted recently.

Bill understands why young people may be sad and cynical. Frank countered that they are angry, outraged, and motivated.

McKibben touted California’s robust renewable energy infrastructure. However, he chastised New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) for putting congestion paring in New York City on hold.

Sesno, the journalist, believes storytelling is how to sway people. He tells of a Maryland farmer about how the rains have changed long, soaking events to “deluges that wash off the topsoil, wash off the seed.” He believes that intergenerational connection creates “lived history in context.

Sesno is still a working journalist, so he eschews speaking about specific political candidates. McKibben, by contrast, would be involved with a Kamala Harris fundraiser the following day.

Being a parent

Thursday, July 25: “American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Timothy P. Carney will deliver a lecture based on his newest book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be. He argues that the high standards set for modern American parenting are unrealistic and set parents and kids up to fail—and that it’s time to end this failed experiment.”

Carney’s premise is that the declining birth rate in the United States is a result of “civilizational sadness.” “2007 saw the greatest number of births in the U.S. history, and people were calling it a baby boom.” Then, it fell so that it is below what demographers call the replacement level, a total fertility rate of 2.1. There are fewer people under ten than over 60.

He believes this is bad for several reasons. The number of retired people over the number of working people is skewed. While Social Security can continue to make payments, “if there’s no one there to answer the phone when you call the plumber about a leaky pipe, it doesn’t do you any good.”

Another point he made is that, according to Gallup surveys, American women still want between 2 and 3 kids. The birth rate is about 1.6. “If you ask women of childbearing age how many do you want to have, they say 2.3 is the ideal. How many do you intend to have? They say it averages to about 1.9, so already there’s a gap… between our ideal and our intention, and then the gap between our intention… These are not just simple deficits but a deficit of the most important thing: your family is the most important thing in your life, and we have a deficit of connection, flesh, and blood. That’s the real problem.”

Sidewalks

I agreed with quite a few of his observations. Helicopter parenting leads to an epidemic of childhood anxiety. So-called free-range parents have been investigated for neglect in the 2010s because of how far they left their young children to walk on their own. Sidewalks are good. “Walkability does matter for kids to walk to school to roam freely and, importantly, safety… The challenges of raising a family in car-dependent societies are steep. One solution is to build towns for people, not for cars.” He also touts affordable starter homes and showed mild support in favor of immigration.

Carney believes communities and churches could have mixers for young adults rather than them using dating apps; it seems quaint. Ultimately, civilizational sadness can be addressed by another baby boom because “babies are good.” He was at Chautauqua with his wife and most or all of their six kids.

His Catholic faith meant that he opposed IVF. I’ll admit to being annoyed; both my wife and I felt that he was blaming women for infertility problems because they waited too long. He wasn’t particularly supportive of adoption or surrogacy.

Ending violence

Friday, July 25: Chico Tillmon, the executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, will speak to share stories of success and lessons learned from his work with the CVI Leadership Academy and throughout his career to effect positive change at a systemic level.”

Dr. Tillmon spent a LOT of time providing bleak statistics about the number of people, especially black people, shot every day. He asked, “Where do you feel least safe?” The school was relatively safe in his Chicago neighborhood of Austin, but the walk home could be perilous.

Moreover, he pointed out the disparate response from the country. After the Parkland High School shooting, there was so much support that it was overwhelming. Meanwhile, Chicago on the 4th of July weekend, with a like number of fatalities, and it’s business as usual.

However, a cookie-cutter approach will not usually work. It should be targeted to that particular area, its people, and its needs. He was proud that President Biden recognized him in a Rose Garden event.

I believe he ran out of time to get to more concrete solutions.

Dementia, anger issues, and many guns

Confronting Dementia And Guns

There was a touching article in the July 24 edition of the Boston Globe by Jake Berry Ellison Jr. titled, “My elderly father had dementia, anger issues, and many guns. What were we to do?” The subtitle: “One underreported aspect of America’s firearms epidemic: armed seniors with memory problems. My family had few legal options for disarming our dad.”

I don’t know how to make it available to you. However, I can provide some useful links from the piece. Here’s the third paragraph: “My father was one of some 60-plus million Americans over 65, an age demographic on track to make up nearly a quarter of the US population by 2054. Of this population, it is estimated that nearly 7 million currently suffer from Alzheimer’s or related dementias, and in 30 years, that number will grow to more than 13 million. Of those elderly with dementia, as many as half of them will live in a home with a gun.”

A few paragraphs later: “Researchers, physicians, and public health experts have been working hard to get information and tips about firearms and dementia to the general public. Dr. Emmy Betz, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado, says progress is being made, albeit slowly, with the help of firearms enthusiasts, sellers, and associated groups who are raising awareness…

Having a plan

“Betz and other experts have developed the Firearm Life Plan to help families have that conversation.” The website states: “The Firearm Life Plan was developed through feedback and guidance from firearm owners, family members, and other individuals who have experience with firearms or in providing support and care to older adults who own firearms… [Coversations] helped us develop tools, discussion points, and other materials that might assist firearm owners make and share these decisions with those they trust.”

Think of planning how to initiate conversations about taking away an elderly person’s car keys, only potentially more consequential. Or consider it like other decisions that need to be made if a family member becomes severely ill or injured and why you should have the conversations beforehand.

Betz co-authored the 2020 article Views on Firearm Safety Among Caregivers of People With Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.

“’If you are not in your right mind, and you have a delusion that the kid knocking on the door is the devil or a robber, of course, it’s dangerous,’ says Fredrick Vars, a professor at the University of Alabama law school and author of the 2017 paper Not Young Guns Anymore: Dementia and the Second Amendment.”

Self-registry

The article discusses Donna’s Law for Suicide Prevention. From the site: “Donna’s Law is a voluntary self-registry prohibition to gun sales for those who choose to create self-defense against gun suicide.”

Check out the Kaiser Health News and PBS piece, Unlocked And Loaded: Families Confront Dementia And Guns from 2018, by JoNel Aleccia and Melissa Bailey.

But there are roadblocks to getting better data about gun violence. “Historical underfunding for firearm violence prevention research has created challenges for expanding the evidence-base and implementing life-saving policies,” the Surgeon General’s advisory states.

From the Globe: “One legal tool available to family members of people with dementia is the Extreme Risk Protection Order, known colloquially as a ‘Red Flag’ law. Unfortunately, ERPOs are very hard to obtain.”

This is a fascinating topic that had simply never occurred to me before, though there was a 2018 report about it on NBC News.