Monthly Archive for August, 2010

“The number 13 was no accident.”

Published on August 30, 2010 in Childhood, Films and Scripts. Closed Tags: .

When I was a kid my dad would take me to a time capsule of a barber shop in Machesney Park, IL. It may have been the late 1980′s, but the shop looked like it could be a set from the Andy Griffith show. It had it all, right down to the old worn barber chairs, concrete floor, group of old guys hanging around smoking and gabbing about this and that, and stacks of LIFE magazines from as far back as the fifties.

My favorite part about going there was looking through those magazines. One day I came across the April 16, 1965 issue with the Larry Burrows “One Ride With Yankee Papa 13″ photo essay. It was one of the most powerful and fascinating things I had seen up to that point in my first 12 years. It remains so in my 35th year.

Besides the YP13 essay I began to study and seek out other essays and research the entire career of Burrows. His compilation book of his years in Vietnam is a great read and includes some of the most iconic images of the war.

Besides being a fan of his photography I’ve always thought that his life would make a great film. It would of course tell his interesting life story, but it would also be commenting on the nature of the war photographer and their need to capture the truth of the moments they see. From his days working in the London office of LIFE during the WWII blitz, to his untimely death covering the war in Vietnam, it would be a fascinating study of his character and work. Below is a clip of Burrows being interviewed during his years in Vietnam for just a sample of who he was personally. (It is taken from the beginning of the 1999 Patrick Chauvel film “Reporters de Guerre”.)

His son has since commented on the YP13 essay and gave this quote which appears on the LIFE site, “Everything associated with the number — the bad luck, the symbolism — he was aware of that. He made very conscious decisions. The number 13 was no accident.” I was thinking of this again today because LIFE has just published some never-before-seen photos from that Yankee Papa 13 series on-line, here’s the link:

Never-Seen: Larry Burrows in Vietnam – 1965

If you haven’t seen the original I recommend it and the link is attached below. But besides the link I also attach this warning: When you turn the unblinking eye of a talented photographer’s camera towards war – what it sees tends not to be only powerful, but graphic.

One Ride With Yankee Papa 13

Best,
- Jer

Learning for a lifetime.

Published on August 17, 2010 in College. 1 Comment Tags: .

My daughter starts school full-time and all day on Wednesday. A big step and I’m proud that she’s so eager to go. (I never was.)

I see her enthusiasm as we pack her crayons, bottles of glue, and watercolor paints and I think to myself “I hope it lasts.” I hope her excitement for learning lasts for her entire lifetime. And also that it doesn’t just start early – but stays with her as well. Because I discovered what it means to really study and learn MUCH later than I should have. And in hindsight of course that was a big mistake.

I hated going to school. HATED it. Yeah, yeah I know I teach at a college now so what’s the deal. Well here’s the deal. All I ever wanted as a kid was to find ways to avoid school, homework, book reports, all of it. I only wanted to do what I loved, which was:

1.) Watch TV and Movies (I can still tell you more about who was in what and when it was made than anyone I know.)

and

2.) Play with my toys. Specifically Legos. Even more specifically, space Legos.

Sure that may seem pretty normal, but I wish I had striven a bit to learn and take advantage of school a bit more. My teachers were fine, my classmates were great, I just didn’t want to sit still to be honest. It was the desk that bugged me the most. (Full disclosure, I still can’t sit at a desk too long. Luckily my chosen profession doesn’t require that.)

It did finally happen of course. That desire to learn I mean. For me it took going off to college. Actually going away to a school and relying only on me. It didn’t happen overnight and it certainly wasn’t smooth, but when I got ‘there’ my life changed so much for the better. I was able to (and for the first time wanted to) learn on my own. No teachers prodding me, no laziness on the task, I set my mind to it and studied what I needed or wanted to. And not just classes for my major but all of them. Gen Eds too. When I finally learned what it took to study it was never a chore anymore. Never. It was engaging and interesting and hell, actually fun.

That self-discipline and eagerness to learn allowed me to excel in the rest of my college career and throughout my professional career. I quickly got the jobs and projects I wanted because I studied and worked hard on them. I am now doing exactly what I want in life because of it and that is a treasure. So many people, including students I’ve worked with first hand, have yet to even think about what it means to really study. To see how all the classes, assignments, and other projects are not just about the answers they’re told to pursue. The answer is as much about the process itself.

And so is life right? As they say “the answers we seem to seek and look for in life aren’t a destination.” They really do tend to happen right under our noses. Like being there as your little girl goes off to school for the first time. To learn all these answers and truths for herself, one lesson at a time.

I just hope she can deal with sitting at a desk.