Forward, Into The Past
Here are a terrific series of sketches, originally published in St Louis Commerce magazine in May of 1970.
The drawings are by George Conrey, who was head of the art department at the Post-Dispatch in the early 1960’s. The magazine itself was a periodical from what is now known as the St Louis Regional Chamber Of Commerce. It began publication way back in 1918, about the time George was graduating art school at Washington University. It ceased operations in 2012.
There stands a neoclassical bronze statue of Thomas Hart Benton, complete with toga and sandals, in Lafayette Park. I recently put the compass of my iPhone in a line from the Benton statue’s nose. West 270 degrees bang on. There’s a reason for this.
There’s an old expression that history is written by the victors. But what if there’s no particular struggle to inspire the writer? We’re lucky when famous people from interesting times write down their thoughts and experiences; luckier still when the writer was literate and conscious of the times. Herodotus was one, and Boswell, and of course, Churchill. We are then left a time capsule to open and interpret. St Louis had such good luck in 1880, when Mayor John Fletcher Darby wrote his memoirs.
Continue reading “1836: Mayor Darby Gets A Park”Soon after a craft beer festival in Lafayette Park, a neighbor whose dog was mixing with mine commented on a strong smell, like that of someone having barfed nearby.
That odor actually IS the smell of someone barfing nearby. It’s butyric acid, and it’s formed by the rotting fruit of the female ginkgo tree. I say female because there are two sexes to this tree. Not that this would help you select one to plant, as they are also known to change sex from male to female on short notice.
Continue reading “2019: Ode To Ginkgo, Or Eau De Ginkgo”We live in a neighborhood steeped in its own history. The times change fast, but it’s comforting to consider the constants around us, and Lafayette Park holds a big bouquet of them.
Continue reading “2020: Lafayette Park Ferns – Of Fiddleheads and Rabbit Holes”
