_Island of Hope, Island of Tears_

passed from Dennis Miller to you, good sir.

Look it up if you like, or need to. Anyway, I always knew you were/are erudite, but only now (?) do we have here in SE demonstrable, weapons-grade proof.

That's a compliment, so go get a gold star and don't forget where it came from, ya wise-acre!

Rick " half-way edu-ma-cated " Jones

From the OP book, a list of those who were 'famous Americans' but not initially American. You know, immigrants.
Surprises to follow.

Nice segue; doesn't apply to me.

is "lost in translation" or whatever the term is. Dennis Miller once had a HBO special where his backdrop showed a still from the movie with the text "Citizen Arcane" underneath the image of Kane from the film. I was riffing on _that_ - his style of humor reminded me of yours or actually vice-versa. Makes more sense if you are bi-polar, maybe? I dunno. Anyway, sorry to mis-characterize you/ your style/etc. Not meant negatively in any form.

Rick

I don't take credit for what I didn't do.
I've seen him on chat shows and his way is something like mine: jumps from one topic to the next, as one memory triggers another. Remember we Pruner men are borderline bipolar.
His store of references is greater than mine.

and I suppose in my case the medication I take accentuates my natural disposition to link one subject or topic with another that perhaps ( read: likely!) does not occur to others or indeed results in a non sequitur. Happens to me all the time in face-to-face conversation, so that people say " Huh? I thought we were talking about x and here you are talking about y... ". :^) Makes for some awkward moments but also sometimes an unexpected insight or connection is made.

Rick

He can jump from one memory to the next, as I do, but his store of memories is greater than mine.

some of the Cold War tensions- the ones that could have led to kaboom!
He got Russian artists in dance and music performing here. Had connections in both countries.
Maybe he saved our lives.

but then I'm biased as I'm at least a 1/4 Russian myself. Once considered changing my last name to my Mom's - she was honored but mentioned from then on I'd have to spell it out for literally everyone, including native Russians and Poles also. I still wanted to go for it but inertia set in and I never did. Now at my age it would be sort of irrelevant and confusing both to my v. few friends _and_ myself. I suppose I could hyphenate it but then in effect I'd be marrying myself - kinda-sorta : which is super creepy. So, I'm just another "secret agent" child of a child of an immigrant family...

Rick " too many consonants annnd vowels ! " Jones

Name of Chernobieff, as a I recall; Joseph, let's say. Nice guy. Very low key. I think his nickname came to be Cherry.
One day I broke down and asked him directly how to pronounce his name.

He said, "Joseph."

that's rich. Does anyone say that anymore? Seems like in old movies it was used more than nowadays.

A high school friend's middle name was Marmaduke - he preferred "Duke" for obvious reasons - though I mentioned once he looked nothing like John Wayne... other than being tall. Ha!

Rick

of similar - they arrived around 1909 if I'm not mistaken. And were far from well-off in 'the old country' but scrimped and saved knowing it would take a stake to get started whether working their old careers or new, many unknowns but paradoxically that in a way had more promise/opportunity than if all was "laid out" and for certain.

Rick

The Mexicans will work, too.

So will the "lazy, drunken Irish". A farmer named John Ford came into the US via Canada in the 1840s famine business. His son farmed, too, in southern Michigan. His grandson preferred to tinker; had some talent that way.
Built a car.

John Ford's land is still there. Now it's the family graveyard, a big church that I attended- under a previous administration- and some smaller buildings.

Some stuff on names coming up.

Is philosophy interesting? Santayana, maybe?