Today is my father’s birthday. He would have been 92. The picture above (click on it for a larger version) is a picture of him when he was in his mid-20’s, shortly after he graduated from law school, while he was on a trip to Europe. As you can see he had light brown hair (blond when he was a child), blue eyes, and fine features. He was of above average height for his generation and, while not muscular, had a deep chest and broad shoulders and was quite athletic—a champion tennis and handball player.
He grew up in a very tough neighborhood and sometimes said that the only place they could have held a 20 year grammar school reunion was in the state penitentiary. Although the neighborhood was tough he was the rich kid in it. His grandfather, Joe Schuler, was a prosperous businessman and politician.
When your playmates are the Dead End Kids and you go to school in a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit (or was it Buster Brown?) you can expect to get your nose bloodied. They were and he did and it was and he learned to take care of himself. He was smart, studious, energetic, fearless, and had a contagious enthusiasm.
In those days (actually a few generations before) it was customary for young men of means to make something called “The Grand Tourâ€. My dad had a bit of money his grandfather had left him and determined to undertake The Tour himself. But, being who he was, he did it in his own, distinct, eccentric way.
He spent roughly a year in Europe in 1937 and 1938.
Last Christmas my wonderful wife gave me a priceless Christmas present: she laboriously transcribed the journal my dad kept of his trip from the fading pencil scribbles into a Word document. We’ve edited the document together and my mom has made me (at least the) temporary custodian of the album of photos he had from the trip and the scrapbook he kept of the trip.
Over the next few weeks and months I’ll be publishing sections of his journal here along with pictures of the trip, scrap book items, and historical notes. Those were momentous, historical, sometimes frightening times and he was in the thick of them. He was in Germany on Kristallnacht; he heard Hitler speak at a rally; he was in Paris and Rome and Berlin and Köln before the war took its toll.
The photo above may be faded and oxidized (perhaps I’ll learn how to remedy that digitally) but my memories are clear as if they were yesterday. I’ll try to convey those memories while that’s still true.
My previous posts about my dad:
My dad’s birthday, 2005
Daybook, October 10, 2004
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Hello Dave,
I’m a reporter for a newspaper that covers Algonquin, where Rick Moran resides. I’m doing a story on him, and would like to either interview you, or have you write a paragraph or two I could quote in my story about what you think about Rick, his writing, his blog, etc.
Please e-mail at the above address if that works for you.
Thanks,
Patrick Garmoe
Very cool, Dave. He was way ahead of his time. And the picture is great.
My dad was a remarkable combination of the 19th century and the 21st century.
21st century: he believed that everyone who could hold a job had a moral obligation to do so. He believed in equality between the sexes. He was always the first attorney in St. Louis to adopt new technologies (rare for a lawyer in the middle of the 20th century).
19th century: we always had domestic help at home. He believed in distinct sex roles. He never lifted a finger to do household work (although he did garden, mow the lawn, etc.).
It’s possible to do some impressive improvements to old photos without to much work if you take the time to learn how. Good luck.
Thanks for the tribute, Dave, and thanks for the moment. It’s always touching to see our dad through your eyes, and i’m grateful for the fleeting moment of closeness—i know we both still miss him.
My perceptions were/are the same, but you have a nuanced and more adult view of him—due to your having reached adulthood by the time he passed (i was 17, and pretty self-absorbed as 17 year olds are)—and also due to your continuing-getting-to-know-him through his writings, etc.
I look forward to visiting with you and delivering his newspaper columns, which i have. Some of them are about his European tour. Thanks for welcoming Marie! She is psyched about her visit to your pad. Love, Ann