A Visit from St. Nicholas

Sunday was St. Nicholas Day, which is still celebrated in places with strong German heritage, including Price Hill. I celebrated by appearing at the Price Hill Historical Society in a dual role—as the Old Curmudgeon to sign books, and wearing a St. Nicholas costume my daughter made for me years ago to entertain the kids who stopped by during “Holiday on the Hill.” We had a few young visitors, and they seemed to like the cookies and candy canes we had, even if they were a bit suspicious of a non-traditional Santa Claus type. Did you know that the historical St. Nicholas was born in Greece during the third century? His feast day on December 6 was celebrated by the Germans and Dutch for centuries before immigrants brought the celebration to the New World. After arriving in America, St. Nicholas was the subject of stories by Washington Irving, who wrote not about the Greek bishop, but about a version of St. Nick as an elfin Dutchman with a clay pipe. In 1823, Clement Moore wrote the immortal poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” and the middle eastern saint was completely Americanized as Santa Claus.
When I was a boy, we always hung up our stockings on the evening of December 5, and the next morning they would be filled with fruit, nuts, and candy. My daughters always hung up their stockings, too, and my grandchildren continue the tradition—Saint Nicholas finds them no matter where they roam. And I stepped right out of history (and out of my curmudgeonly ways) to celebrate the tradition of St. Nicholas Day.

Holidays on the Hill

It's not easy being a curmudgeon during the holidays. Fortunately, I have another alter ego, and I'll be making appearances in that guise this weekend. Look for St. Nicholas himself to stop by the Price Hill Historical Society Museum on Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6. He will be there from noon to 2:00 pm both days as part of Price Hill Will's "Holiday on the Hill" days. I had the St. Nicholas costume, my daughter made it for me back when her kids were in preschool so that I'd stop by there to make an appearance each December (it was a Montessori school, so St. Nicholas fit into the curriculum of studying other cultures better than Santa Claus, from what I gather). Anyway, the suit still fits, so I'll break it out again this weekend. Stop by to visit the museum, and if you want to buy some copies of The Collected Old Curmudgeon (they make great holiday gifts) while you are there, I'd be happy to step out of my St. Nick persona briefly to become the Old Curmudgeon again and sign books.

It’s Not Easy Being a Curmudgeon

Being a curmudgeon carries a lot of responsibility. One is expected to be a grouch and a complainer. I do my best, but it seems like an unending job. Restaurants are a perfect example. A curmudgeon is obligated to complain if the service is poor or if the food is not prepared properly. Actually, everyone should complain about bad service or food. I have done work for most of the restaurants in town and I know that the management appreciates your comments—they want to know about problems so they can improve things. By the same token, good service and especially tasty dishes should be complimented. Even curmudgeons do that. I’ve learned, however, that it’s not a good idea to recommend a restaurant to anyone. The best place you have ever eaten will invariably screw up when someone you recommended it to eats there. But remember, if something in a restaurant is particularly good, compliment it, and if something displeases you, complain. We curmudgeons can’t do all the work.

Another Book Signing, This Time at Dunham

Just a quick note to mention that I'll be signing books (The Collected Old Curmudgeon, of course) at Dunham Recreation Center on the Price Hill/Westwood border tomorrow, November 8, from 1 pm to 3 pm. I could write a lot about Dunham--it was once the city's tuberculosis sanitorium, but it's been a local rec center since the 1970s. I was on the committee that steered it from its old life to new use, and some kids I knew started putting plays on there around the same time. Some of them are still at it--if you've ever seen a Sunset Players production, you've been to one of the old hospital buildings. Dunham's various groups have a Christmas craft show every year, and the Price Hill Historical Society is always there with their books and some crafts made by members. We raise a little more money to keep the museum going that way. Stop by to say hello or buy a book.

Some Thoughts on Scary Days

It's been awhile since I've added anything new to the blog, and I'm sorry about that. It's a little late to discuss one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, but I had a good one. I've been out of town visiting my daughter and her son, who dressed as a zombie rapper for Halloween. I'm not even sure what that means, but he seemed happy and impressively undead, so as far as I'm concerned, he got into the spirit of the holiday. The almost-full moon added to the fun on Halloween night, too. But I'd also like to talk about another sometimes scary day, Election Day. I know I get downright curmudgeonly when it comes to dealing with dozens of those robo-calls from candidates and both sides of the issues on the ballot. I thought it wouldn't be so bad this year, since it's only local elections around here, but the calls and junk mail have still been relentless. I'll bet my answering machine is filled with competing calls when I get home from out of town. The only issue I'm really concerned about is one that will pass a levy to support our local library system, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. As an author, I support my local libraries, because you can get my book there. They even let me have a book signing at the Covedale Library. And, as a reader, I support libraries everywhere. I hope you will too, but in any event, I encourage you to vote tomorrow, even if it is a little scary.

The Old Curmudgeon on the Airwaves

It’s been awhile since I’ve put anything on the blog. My minions—sorry, my “assistants”—were trying to upload video of the interview I did on local Channel 12/WKRC television a few weeks ago, but I think the file was just too big. So we’ve given up on that idea. But, if you are interested, you can listen to a radio interview with me and publisher Ari Buchwald of Edgecliff Press that was broadcast on October 4 on WVXU/91.7 radio—this link will take you to the archives of the show “Around Cincinnati.” My interviews and public appearances seem to have stirred up a bit of interest in the book, and I’m selling them out of the trunk of my car, too. I read that is how Dan Brown got started, so what the heck, I thought I'd give it a try. Speaking of Dan Brown, I’m reading his newest offering right now and I may have more to say about that later. I wrote a “Curmudgeon” column that sparked a lot of comment on the uproar over the movie version of his book, The DaVinci Code, so we’ll see what comes of that.

The Great Gatsby in Price Hill?

The presentation on George Remus last night at the Price Hill Historical Society had its usual technical difficulties, but we had a big crowd and I think everyone enjoyed it. If you didn’t make it, or are interested in finding out more about Remus, there are at least two books about Remus’s life, one called One Man’s Justice, by a Xavier University professor named Roger Fortrin, and another fictionalized version called The Jazz Bird by Craig Holden. And, many people say that George Remus was the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Supposedly, the bartender at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville had a photo of Remus with Fitzgerald and the mayor and police chief of the city. The Delhi Historical Society has a lot of photos associated with Remus, and at the Price Hill Historical Society, we have newspaper articles and a few photos of Remus and his estate, including a Sunday supplement article with pictures of the gates and the interior of his mansion. And Ken Burns has an upcoming documentary on Prohibition that will include Remus’s story; his production company has contacted the Delhi and Price Hill Historical Society for information. The documentary is due to be broadcast in 2011. Remus sure is a popular guy, more than 50 years after he died.