Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 6/5 - Exceptionalism

If you’re discouraged about the recent shenanigans of politicians, here’s a reminder of American exceptionalism from an op-ed piece in today’s NY Post by Seth Lipsky. It’s about a five-minute read. Thank you, sir: http://nypost.com/2014/06/05/four-pows-we-should-all-remember/

Rip Don Zimmer, 83, baseball lifer. He’s one of those men of which it can be said “He did it all.“ He played 12 seasons in MLB, managed 13 years for four different teams to a record of 885-858, and coached for eight different teams, including three stints with the Yankees. In a minor league game in 1953, he was beaned and remained unconscious for nearly two weeks. Holes had to be drilled in his head. He was a member of the only Brooklyn Dodgers team to win the World Series, 1955, and had an assist at second base, subbing for the injured Jackie Robinson, on the last out. He was an all-star in 1961 for Cubs, and was an original Met in 1962. He was named Manager of the Year in 1989, leading the Cubs. He was married to the same woman since 1951. He was a great ambassador for the game, beloved by most. Here’s a quote attributed to him: “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110 percent all the time.”

Last night This-TV, channel 111 on Cablevision in NYC, ran a spaghetti western of which I’d never heard: Navaho Joe, aka A Dollar a Head (1966), starring Burt Reynolds as an army of one who takes on scores of criminals. It is sub-par, filled with lapses in logic. Up until that time, almost all of Reynolds’ credits were in TV. I wonder if Dino DeLaurentiis was looking for a replacement for Clint Eastwood, who was about to break big as an American movie star. The film is notable for three other reasons: the eerie score attributed to Leo Nichols, a pseudonym for Ennio Morricone; the beauty of Nicolletta Machiavelli, who had only a modest career; and an appearance by international star Fernando Rey, best known to Americans as the heroin supplier in The French Connection (1971), playing a priest. Here’s a pic of the lovely Signorina that most closely matches the look she had in the flick:

My thanks to the young man who purchased a huge Ray Bradbury short story collection and William Golding's The Lord of the Flies.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx