That you could write entire books about. This is one of the few. And this was not a tough sell to a publisher because they saw your piece in vanity fair. They saw the piece in vanity fair, and they thought that it could be expanded upon into a book. And it certainly works very well. For a generation of americans who are not familiar with the song and its been conspicuously absent how would you describe the song and its impact . Well, the song was a song about lynching. You know, it was a song about black bodies hanging on southern trees, and it was a song that came out in 1939 at a time when people simply werent talking about this kind of thing. You know, it was before jackie robinson. It was before Martin Luther king. It was before the armed forces were integrated. It was before rosa parks. It was really the dark ages in the history of civil rights in this country, and all of a sudden, a 23yearold woman, Billie Holiday, is singing about lynching. And i think that the song had enormous
Was being built. President eisenhower announced that the airport would be named Dulles Airport. When kennedy took over, he didnt want to name it after a crusty old cold war era. The was pushed back and finally the decision was made to name it after dulles. You can still see the film clip of kennedy opening the airport with eisenhower there and allen dulles there. He pulls back a curtain and behind the curtain is this giant bust of John Foster Dulles. That stands in the middle of this big airport. I went to see it while i was writing this book. I couldnt find it. I started asking security guards. Nobody had ever even heard of it. It was a long process and finally, thanks to the washington airport authority, i was able to discover that the bust had been taken away from its place in the middle of the airport and it is now in a closed Conference Room opposite baggage claim number three. I find this a wonderful metaphor for how the dulles brothers who at one time exercised earth shattering
Religious piety. They grew up in a parsonage and were deeply influenced by the ideals of missionary calvinism, the idea that the world is divided between good and evil and that christians have to go out into the world and transform the evil into good. A very short step from that to take it into politics and believe that politically, the world is divided between good regimes and evil regimes. And that it is the duty of the good regimes, that is us to go , out into the world and destroy that evil. That is an important part of the dulles brothers formation. The other big influence on them was the decades that they spent as corporate lawyers working for this very important law firm, sullivan and cromwell in new york. That was not a law firm that you went to if you needed a contract drawn up or to be represented in court. Sullivan and cromwell had a specialty. That was pressuring small weak countries to accept the demands of big american corporations. That is what allen dulles and foster du
Recently died when that super airport in chantilly, virginia was being built. President eisenhower announced that the airport would be named Dulles Airport. When kennedy took over, he didnt want to name it after a crusty old cold war era. The was pushed back and finally the decision was made to name it after dulles. You can still see the film clip of kennedy opening the airport with eisenhower there and allen dulles there. He pulls back a curtain and behind the curtain is this giant bust of John Foster Dulles. That stands in the middle of this big airport. I went to see it while i was writing this book. I couldnt find it. I started asking security guards. Nobody had ever even heard of it. It was a long process and finally, thanks to the washington airport authority, i was able to discover that the bust had been taken away from its place in the middle of the airport and it is now in a closed Conference Room opposite baggage claim number three. I find this a wonderful metaphor for how th
Are there other books out there about a single song . Im familiar with dave marshs take on louie louie, but this has to be an unusual premise for a new book. I dont think there are very many. I think theres a book about amazing grace, and im told theres a book in the works about we shall overcome. But i think there really arent many songs that you could write entire books about. This is one of the few. And this was not a tough sell to a publisher because they saw your piece in vanity fair. They saw the piece in vanity fair, and they thought that it could be expanded upon into a book. And it certainly works very well. For a generation of americans who are not familiar with the song and its been conspicuously absent how would you describe the song and its impact . Well, the song was a song about lynching. You know, it was a song about black bodies hanging on southern trees, and it was a song that came out in 1939 at a time when people simply werent talking about this kind of thing. You k