More than Twelve Days of Christmas

In an effort to stimulate the 1939 economy FDR extended the Christmas shopping season a full week by moving Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November. As recently noted by the National Archives , the Crossville, TN Chronicle and Jennifer Howard in D.C., Ogden Nash basted Roosevelt for his judgment:

Thanksgiving, like Ambassadors,
Cabinet officers and
others smeared with political ointment,
Depends for its existence on
Presidential appointment.

- Ogden Nash

Most Americans agreed and Turkey Day was restored to the last Thursday in 1942.


Ogden Nash poems copyright © by Linell Nash Smith and Isabel Nash Eberstadt

Before Heading to the Altar...

... thoughts of Ogden Nash:

The most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control.

Ogden Nash

Marriage was one of Nash's favorite topics for verse. This bride to be from Florida expands the O.N. matrimonial archive via an enlightened application of a Nash observation.

Post Election Gripes

The Santa Barbara Independent & Montrose, CO Daily Press remind us that in Nash's view, if you didn't vote, you have no right to complain. They incorporated his poem, Election Day is a Holiday in a pre-election editorial on why voting matters. Some excerpts followed by a link to the full poem:

People on whom I do not bother to dote
Are people who do not bother to vote...

They have such refined and delicate palates
That they can discover no one worthy of their ballots,
And then when someone terrible gets elected
They say There, that’s just what I expected!

And they go around for four years spouting discontented criticisms
And contented witticisms....

And they have discovered that if you don’t take time out to go to the polls
You can manage very nicely to get through thirty-six holes.
Oh let us cover these clever people very conspicuously with loathing,
For they are un-citizens in citizens’ clothing.

They attempt to justify their negligence
On the ground that no candidate appeals to people of their intelligence,
But I am quite sure that if Abraham Lincoln (Rep.) ran against Thomas Jefferson (Dem.),
Neither man would be appealing enough to squeeze a vote out of them.

Election Day is a Holiday

If Nash's eloquence failed to motivate you to scale back your Election Day outing to 18 holes, your patriotic significant other may have bad news for you...

Ogden Nash Online Contest Draws a Crowd

John Tierney's blog on the New York Times site recently asked readers to add a stanza to Nash's oft quoted work, Reflections on Ice Breaking.

The competition was launched to draw attention to the new scientific research touting that "Pyschologists report in Science that you’re more likely to think warmly of someone else if you’re holding something warm in your hand like a mug of coffee or tea." Tierney posits " At long last, we have scientific guidance regarding that great question of social lubrication: Should you ask someone to meet for a drink or a cup of coffee?"

Nash often serves as 'contextual color' for journalists and Reflections may be the most memorized poem in the English language:

Candy is dandy,
But liquor is quicker

The event drew 231 responses, far exceeding the average number of comments for this blog that seeks to validate new research with common experience. The ardent response to a 1931 poem from a science forum points to the universal appeal and cultural staying power of Mr. Nash's work.

My favorite entry in the contest:

Darjeeling’s
Appealing

Espresso
No less so.

No word on the winner yet...

Local Nash: East & West, Young & Old

Ogden Nash's work was featured in a couple events I think he would have enjoyed attending himself.

The Parent- Child book club of San Diego's Rancho Peñasquitos Library met to discuss “The Tale of Custard the Dragon”. Nash's passion for writing about and for children likely inspired a stimulating and humorous conversation.

On the other side of the country and the life continuum...

In Portsmouth NH , a group of local writers and musicians presented an afternoon of poetry and music to seniors in retirement communities. The review "Surprised by Joy" featured the work of Ogden Nash, Shakespeare & Frost was conceived by Elizabeth Knies, Portsmouth's Poet Laureate. Elizabeth is seated in the back row second from left and looks fairly joy-infused, as does her troupe. Which was no doubt a contagious delight for their venerable audience. The poems reflected the stages of life from childhood to maturity. The readings were augmented by the "beautiful," "haunting," and "charming" cello compositions of Kristin Miller.

Ogden Nash's Last Verse

"Frances, I love you" was not a rhyme but a simple truth for Nash since he met Frances in his early 20's.* Mrs. Nash went on to live another 23 years, active in volunteer work and enjoying her daughters and grandchildren. The Nash family plot in North Hampton, NH is shared by their long time servant, Clarence Collins. Frances and Ogden share a gravestone flanked by Isabelle and Clarence.

I'm very grateful to Amy Kane, for sharing these recently captured scenes of the Nash grave site within Little River Cemetery. Amy's beautiful words and pictures about coastal NH can be found on Atlantic Avenue. Click on the pictures to enlarge the details.
















Photos Copyright Amy Kane 2008. Used with Permission.

*Last words according to his biographer Douglas M. Parker. The book 'Loving Letters from Ogden Nash' leaves little doubt as to Nash's passionate feelings for Frances over 5 decades.

Literary Contest Where Ogden Nash Wrote

The Portsmouth Antheneum will launch a literary version of 'American Idol' on as part of the upcoming Portsmouth Literary Festival. Writers will read their best short fiction before a live audience and judges. The Festival, now in it's 20th year, runs from October 23rd - 24th.

Legend has it that Ogden Nash would seek out its cozy nooks to write during his summer's there. In 1962 Nash extended his residency to 6 months out of the year when he purchased an Atlantic Avenue home big enough for his daughters and their families.

Not that Nash necessarily needed a quiet oasis to write his humor. Visitors to his Little Boar's Head home were surprised to see that Nash was comfortable versifying for publication in the midst of chaotic child's play!