THE WRITERS OF THE CWE: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

 

He’s not from Tennessee and doesn’t have any particular connection with the state. It was his pen name. Thomas Lanier Williams III was born in Mississippi but moved here in his childhood when his alcoholic, abusive father worked at the International Shoe Company, once one of our major corporations. His chaotic life took him to many parts of the U.S. and Europe. His family remained here and there is an annual performing arts and academic festival devoted to him. Late in life, he nominally converted to Catholicism at the behest of his brother, Dakin. Although he died in New York City, probably of a drug overdose. he is buried here in Calvary Cemetery, a vast, elaborate Catholic resting ground. 

We will finish with the fourth corner of the intersection tomorrow with my favorite St. Louis writer. Think adding machines.                  

THE WRITERS OF THE CWE: KATE CHOPIN

 

Kate Chopin is not as widely known as the other writers depicted at this Central West End intersection, yet she is a major figure in American literature. She is considered one of the first feminist authors of the Twentieth Century. She was born and grew up in St. Louis but moved to Louisiana with her husband. Much of her fiction is set in the South. After her husband’s death, she returned here for the rest of her life. To learn more about her, see https://americanliterature.com/author/kate-chopin/ .                    

THE WRITERS OF THE CWE: T. S. ELIOT

 

Euclid and McPherson Avenues is a major intersection in The Lou’s trendy Central West End neighborhood, or CWE. Each of the four corners has a bust of a famous native writer or, in one case, an author with major ties here. This is Thomas Stearns Eliot. His image is that of the consummate English intellectual, High Church Anglican and all that. Well, not quite. He was born and raised in St. Louis, living here until he went to school in Massachusetts at age 16. He’s the one who told us that the world ends not with a bang but a whimper. Got my doubts about that.                     

JUST UPSTREAM

 

Same bridge as in yesterday’s post with the lens backed up. It’s part of the complex system of waterways in Forest Park. Note, though, the stump at right center. It is what remains of one of the trees knocked over in last year’s tornado.                      

STEPPING STONES

     

Down the road a bit in Forest Park. A couple and their dog avoid the high road and take the low road across one of the waterways. The structure in the back is part of the amphitheater we call the Muni, for Municipal Opera, that presents Broadway shows and the like during the summer.                           

WINTER IN FOREST PARK 2

 

A membrane of ice here, some open water there. Temperatures fluctuating a lot in recent weeks. There used to be more big trees on the horizon before last June’s tornado.                     

WINTER IN FOREST PARK

As I am always happy to point out, Forest Park is the largest urban park in the U.S., just a bit bigger than Central or Golden Gate Parks. It has plenty of variety for images.                        

WHAT’S THIS?

 

I was driving around yesterday, again looking for something, anything, to photograph. When I pulled into Forest Park something caught my eye that made me stop and pick up the camera. A middle-aged man was cruising down the sidewalk on contraptions I’ve never seen. A little hard to see at this scale, but this variation on roller skates/blades has one wheel in the front and three in the back. He was pushing along with poles and a smile on his face.                     

AMTRAK

 

Passenger rail service in the US. This is the Amtrak train coming into downtown from Chicago, the only one that comes from this direction. None of the sleek lines of the Shinkansen or TGV, but it’s something. Outside of the Boston - Washington corridor, we just dont' have the population density. This is America. We drive or fly.                        

BUT WHERE DO THE VANQUISHED LIVE?

 

From the downtown gray-day cruise, another old commercial building newly converted to apartments. That is wonderful but I wonder about the occupancy rate. Downtown has one good-enough grocery with a pharmacy, a shrinking number of restaurants and some issues about safety. Maybe the residential population will reach a critical mass.                 

WHY NOT START THE YEAR WITH THE ARCH?

 

No new material so I went out driving under leaden skies. Terrible light, iffy images, but I needed something and the Arch is always available. I worked in downtown St. Louis for 47 years and have been retired more than 4. The pandemic hit downtown hard. Over the last 4 or 5 years, it has become more and more desolate, although there are a couple of big redevelopment projects on the boards. Hope they work.                          

CITY DAILY PHOTO JANUARY THEME - PHOTO OF THE YEAR

 

It’s New Year’s Day, and City Daily Photo members show off their favorite picture of the year just ended. This is a bit of the joy I get from doing theatrical photography for the St. Louis Fringe. These girls and their theater group are from a town maybe 90 minutes from St. Louis, one that has seen better times. The outstanding company did a spin-off on A Midsummer Night’s Dream centered on Puck. That’s the sprite at top center. Talk about a charm offensive.