Obama: recollections of his mother
One of the best things about having a column in a magazine with 46 million readers around the country is that I occasionally get email from folks who have personal connections to the famous and fascinating. Here's a note just in from a reader in Washington — state, that is — following a short piece I wrote on Barack Obama's parents.
"I sat next to Obama's mother during classes at Mercer Island High School, Mercer Island, WA, and graduated with Stanley ANN Dunham in 1960. She didn't like her first name (named after her father). She said no girl would want a name like Stanley - she chose to be called Ann. Ann was extremely intelligent and unconventional. She said she was an atheist. She also said she'd never marry. Ann was a student of two unconventional Mercer Island High School teachers who were unpopular with many parents because of their unique philosophies that they passed to their students. A group of parents wanted these teachers dismissed."
Confirming my reader's memory is a Chicago Tribune story from March 27, 2007, a comprehensive portrait of Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995 of cancer. Much of it is drawn from the recollection of folks who went to Mercer Island High School, where Obama's mother spent her formative high school years. Interestingly, The Tribune paints her as "a self-assured, iconoclastic young teen seemingly hell-bent to resist Eisenhower-era conformity. Boyish-looking, Stanley Ann was prone to rolling her eyes when she heard something she didn't agree with. She didn't like her nose, she worried about her weight, she complained about her parents — especially her domineering father. Her sarcasm could be withering and, while she enjoyed arguing, she did not like to draw attention to herself. The bite of her wit was leavened by a good sense of humor." Friends said, "She was not a standard-issue girl of her times. ... She wasn't part of the matched-sweater-set crowd."
February 27, 2008
Bill Clinton's new title
One of my favorite things about culling through my reader email is finding quips, comments and short notes in response to something I've written. These quick communications are often not meant for publication; they are just jokes to share, or insight to offer. For example, in a recent magazine column I answered a reader's question about what we will call former president Bill Clinton if Hillary Clinton is elected president. I consulted Carl Anthony, an author and expert on first familes and first ladies, who suggested that Bill Clinton's "unofficial" title will be "first gentleman," or "first gent" for short. My readers responded with saracastic humor. Here are a few of their comments.
• If Hillary Clinton is elected president, Bill will be "The First Stud, in charge of Intern Selection and Training."
• In the now unlikely event Mrs. Clinton is elected our 44th president, it would be difficult to call Bill the "first gentleman." There is no evidence he has ever been a gentleman or is one now.
• You are correct in saying that the rational unoffical title for Bill Clinton would be first gentleman. But
the term should not be taken too literally. Gentlemen should carefully monitor Bill if their wives or
daughters are around.
• Why did your reply not mention Bill's own (?) clever play on words instead of "first LADY", he would be called the "first LADDIE" ?
What do you think we should call the former president if Hillary Clinton is elected? Post your thoughts and suggestions below.
(photo by Ralph Alswang/Clinton Foundation)
