Byte Sized Biographies…

Robert E. Lee: Valiant Hero or Misguided Traitor? George Parke Custis was kicked out of Princeton, left St. John’s College of Annapolis after only one semester and made a living renting out all of the various plantation properties that he had inherited.  By comparison to the industrious and spartan Robert E. Lee, Custis was an indolent patrician who lived on the wealth of his ancestors. Eventually, understanding that his daughter was enthusiastic about marrying Lee, Mary … Continue reading Robert E. Lee, Stuck in the Middle (Part 2) →

Herman Melville: From obscurity to immortality When he died at age 72, on September 28, 1891, Herman Melville was so obscure that those who even remembered his literary output presumed that he had passed away many decades earlier.  Melville’s works were out of print, his last novel published more than thirty years before his death.  The title of his epic work Moby Dick was misspelled in Melville’s New York Times obituary and one of his … Continue reading Herman Melville, From Obscurity to Immortality (Part One) →

Herman Melville: From Obscurity to Immortality Over forty, Melville need not be concerned with actually having to fight for the Union but in 1863, he and his wife decided to move back to New York City, exchanging Arrowhead, which he was unable to sell, for his brother Allan’s East 26th Street home. Throughout this time period, Melville continued to toil away at his custom’s officer’s job.  When he began working at the Customs House in 1866 … Continue reading Herman Melville, From Obscurity to Immortality (Part Two) →

Ted Ngoy, the ultimate American Dream, including donuts Eventually, in 1976, one of Ted’s customers showed him an ad in the local newspaper, the Orange County Register, advertising a donut shop for sale.  Ngoy had meticulously saved 20,000 dollars, the seller financed the rest of the $45,000 purchase price. By 1985, Ted was a millionaire and a very respected member of the Cambodian community.  He and his wife moved into a 7,000 square foot home … Continue reading Ted Ngoy, The Donut King Of Southern California →

Frida Kahlo, Mexican icon Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo Calderon was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico. Today, Coyoacan, officially a borough of the Federal District, is part of the urban sprawl of Mexico City.  But when Frida was born it consisted of open space, farm and ranch land.  Although her birth probably occurred at her grandmother’s house, Frida would spend her childhood and much of her life living in the Casa Azul, the … Continue reading Frida Kahlo, Her Life and Remarkable Work (Part 1) →

Frida Kahlo: Mexican Icon Since the death of Lenin in 1924, a power struggle over not only over the Soviet government but also the international Communist movement ensued with the winner Josef Stalin and the loser Leon Trotsky.  But Stalin was not content with merely expelling Trotsky from the party and the country.  His megalomaniac paranoia would subsequently require the physical extermination of his opponent, including Trotsky’s family.  Many of Trotsky’s relatives, including his first … Continue reading Frida Kahlo, Her Life and Remarkable Work (Part Two) →

Ian Fleming, who proved that a great deal of fiction is factual. Ian Fleming was born on May 28, 1908, the second son of Valentine and Evelyn Fleming. Both parents came from upper crust British backgrounds, Evelyn, known as Eve, was the descendant of a solicitor paternal grandfather and a maternal grandfather who was the personal physician to Queen Victoria, both of whom would be knighted for their efforts. Valentine, known as Val, was the … Continue reading Ian Fleming, Creator of James Bond (Part 1) →

Ian Fleming proved that a great deal of fiction is factual Acquiring a name for his protagonist was simple enough.  When cosmopolitan visitors to Goldeneye found themselves a little bored by the repetitive, tropical languor, Fleming suggested some bird watching accompanied by the book Macmillan’s Field Guide to the West Indies by James Bond, a volume that sat prominently on a shelf near Ian’s desk.  Fleming deliberately wanted a simple name for a character that … Continue reading Ian Fleming, Creator of James Bond (Part 2) →

Rasputin, the wrong man in the right place. Grigori Rasputin was born on January 9, 1869, in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoe, one of nine children of Efim and Anna.  Even the number of surviving siblings of Rasputin is a matter of dispute. Possibly all of his nine brothers and sisters died only a few days after they were born and the only sister to perhaps survive was born in 1875 and named Feodosiya. That … Continue reading Grigori Rasputin, The Wrong Man in the Right Place (Part One) →

Rasputin, the wrong man in the right place. Rasputin routinely spent his summers in Pokrovskoe and June, 1914 found him back in his home town.  On June 29, Rasputin emerged from his house in order to hand a telegram to his postman.  He was greeted by a mysterious female stranger, dressed in black with a white kerchief over her features, only her eyes visible.  She silently bowed in front of him and Rasputin paused to … Continue reading Grigori Rasputin, The Wrong Man in the Right Place (Part Two) →