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Olympic Asides
Jonathan Shaw's "The Unexpected Olympians" (July-August) reflects
incisive research. It's a delight to read about the first modern Olympics
in an article uncontaminated by myths and errors.
Gloria G. Ratti, Vice president
Boston Athletic Association
My grandfather, Eben Alexander (b.a. Yale, 1873), a classical scholar and
professor at the University of North Carolina, was appointed ambassador
to Greece by Grover Cleveland and had an intimate part in organizing the
first Olympic Games and getting the Americans on board. In his penultimate
paragraph, Shaw says that Alexander gave Colt .45s to the Olympians when
they arrived. This seems a little unlikely, but is something we certainly
can't question at this time.
When one reads in other publications about how poorly the British and various
other nations were prepared for the Olympics-not quite understanding what
it was all about-the Harvard participation was particularly impressive.
Eben Alexander Jr., M.D. '39
Winston-Salem, N.C.
The account of the discus throw at the first Olympics recalled an aside
by Professor George Herbert Chase in a lecture on classical Greek art. He
had attended the games in 1896. When the Discobolus appeared on the screen
in a lecture, he was reminded of the problem of just how the discus was
thrown in antiquity and in modern times. In preparation for the games, he
said, Greek classical scholars and athletes had studied the pose of the
Discobolus (there are several versions), and concluded that the discus was
released like a bowling ball or an underhand cricket throw. And so they
performed. Robert Garrett watched this and thought the spin would do better.
And so he did, and so he won.
William B. Miller '39
Waterville, Me.
Jonathan Shaw replies: Arthur Blake's recollection that the U.S.
ambassador distributed guns to the American athletes may have been inaccurate.
But the three other Olympians whose memories of those first games appeared
in the same Boston Transcript column did not dispute his story, whereas
Blake did not hesitate to correct some statements made by Thomas Curtis.
I was unable to find a description of the technique of Paraskevopoulos,
the best of the Greek discus entrants, who lost to Robert Garrett by a mere
19 centimeters. Garrett, with his long arms, may have been the only competitor
to effectively harness centrifugal force. Richard Mandell's The First
Modern Olympics states, "Garrett devised an individual style of
wind-up for the throw. His technique differed from that of Versis ['lovely
to watch but weak'] who took a little hop and then let go." Interestingly,
Garrett also employed superior technique in winning another event, the shot
put. Gouskos, the 200-pound Greek who lost to him (again, by only a few
centimeters), did not take advantage of the seven-foot running approach
allowed competitors, and this probably cost him the first place medal.
I was Robert Garrett in a miniseries for NBC (in rotation on the Disney
channel, I hear), The First Modern Olympics, Athens 1896. The cast
included Louis Jourdan, Angela Lansbury, Honor Blackman, Titos Vandis, David
Ogden Stiers, Matt Frewer, and David Caruso. We filmed in Athens in the
original stadium. (Tight turns that track.)
Hunt Block '75
Pacific Palisades, Cal.
My wife, Frances (Curtis) Hardie '54, and I have read with interest the
article on the Olympics. I thought you should be aware that, although Thomas
Pelham Curtis did not attend Harvard, he was the grandson of Charles Pelham
Curtis, A.B. 1811; the son of Herbert Pelham Curtis, A.B. 1851; the father
of Herbert Pelham Curtis '25 and Thomas Curtis '23; the grandfather of my
wife and her sister Anne McBride Curtis '64; and the great-grandfather of
our daughter, Rachel G. Hardie '88.
James H. Hardie
Pittsburgh
Science, Further Explained
Allow me to add two brief footnotes to my Harvard Commencement address,
from which excerpts were published in the July-August issue of the magazine
("Science for the Public Good," page 60).
First, at a garden party after the address, I was reminded by the widow
of the great Harvard chemist Robert Woodward, S.D. '57, that her husband's
ingenious synthesis of quinine did less to save soldiers from the perils
of malaria in World War II than did improved production of Atabrine (quinacrine).
Second, a few days after Commencement, I learned that Dr. Daniel Pollen,
the University of Massachusetts neurologist whose book, Hannah's Heirs,
had introduced me to an extraordinary family with alzheimer's disease, is
also a Harvard College graduate (class of 1956). Pollen was unable to attend
his fortieth reunion, my informants say, because he was preparing an application
to renew his NIH grant.
Harold Varmus, M.D., A.M. '62, Director
National Institutes of Health
Editor's note: as Dr. Varmus's letter indicates, his speech appeared
in the July-August issue in a condensed version, prepared by the magazine's
staff. Click here for the complete text.
Immigration Reexamined
Near the end of his "Unwelcome Mats" (July-August), Marcelo M.
Suárez-Orozco states: "All parturitions are painful and dangerous.
They are also exhilarating and promising. Immigration, a key feature of
the emerging transnationalism, today captures the pain, danger, and promise
of a new life." His statement would take on a somewhat less paradoxical
character if he were to be a little more explicit. For example, to whom
is immigration painful and dangerous, and to whom is it exhilarating and
promising? Those living in the United States may have different goals with
respect to immigration than those living in Mexico, for example, but Suárez-Orozco
treats the former as hysterical xenophobes and the latter as world citizens
simply seeking a better life. With exactly the same data, he could have
characterized the former as responsible guardians of their culture, and
the latter as breeding beyond their means of sustenance. I expect politicians
to employ misleading language, but need professors do the same?
William Vaughan Jr., Ph.D. '76
Chebeague Island, Me.
Please tell Suárez-Orozco to relax; nativism has long gripped this
nation, and we have survived. Two major outbreaks are worth noting: the
agitation of the 1840s that followed the Irish influx, and that of the 1920s
that came after the Southern and Eastern European immigration waves of the
turn of the century. In both cases, immigration subsequently abated-and
so did the nativism.
Though it may not be politically correct-and it may not even make economic
sense-it is entirely reasonable to suggest that if immigration was again
reduced, the hysteria which the professor accurately describes might be
mitigated. Before we worry about the newcomers, we must first consider the
extremely bitter, if evil and unjustified, rage of the natives. To brush
it off as mere bigotry would be foolish-and deadly.
John Williams '90
Philadelphia
Arboretum Arcana
It's fascinating that there is a redwood that grows in the East, the dawn
redwood ("The Chinese Contraceptive Bush," by Christopher Reed,
July-August). How old can it get in its native China, and how tall?
Richard Fogg, Ed.D. '72
Baltimore
Editor's note: Peter del Tredici, the Arnold Arboretum's assistant
director for living collections, reports that several of the original dawn
redwood trees planted at the arboretum in 1949 are now more than 100 feet
tall with a spread of 40 to 50 feet. The largest wild tree in China, he
says, is 42 meters (138 feet) tall with a trunk diameter (at breast height)
of 2.4 meters (8 feet). The oldest trees are about 400 years old. "As
a wild plant," says Del Tredici, "Metasequoia definitely
does not compare in age or size to either the California coast redwood (Sequoia
sempervirens) or the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)."
Another aspect deserves attention. The Arboretum has a loyal constituency
watching over it. Not only neighbors like me, but advocate groups such as
the Arnold Arboretum Committee and the Arnold Arboretum Park Endowment.
The committee was instrumental in getting the Boston Park Rangers program
established in 1983. The endowment was a critical player in the recently
acquired 24 acres mentioned in the story.
The arboretum is a founding member of, and is represented on the board of,
the Boston GreenSpace Alliance. The alliance recently received funding from
the Cox Trust to create The Olmsted Park System Conservancy, which will
unite the constituencies of the entire park system. The arboretum will be
a major partner in that effort to change public policy and increase funding
for our historic parks.
The article suggests that the Harvard University endowment takes care of
the full budget of the arboretum. There is a full-time effort by the arboretum
and its two main advocate groups to attract city, state, and private funds
for the grounds and for capital costs, such as the new visitors' center
being planned. I hope Reed's story will encourage readers to hasten over
to the arboretum. When they do, I hope they will not overlook the red voluntary
admission posts.
Richard Heath, Executive director
Boston GreenSpace Alliance Inc.
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