Page 29 - AT

A29
PEOPLE & ARTS Friday 1 November 2019
Genre-bending bio of Thomas Edison is highly illuminating

By LEE MITGANG voices and music into liv- er. "I've got no imagination.
Associated Press ing rooms and cinemas. ... My so-called inventions
"Edison," Random House, Besides those signature already existed in the en-
by Edmund Morris accomplishments, Edison vironment — I took them
The late Edmund Morris, a was responsible for, among out. ... The industrious one
Pulitzer Prize-winning biog- many other things, the first coaxes it from the envi-
rapher known for his will- universal stock ticker, mov- ronment; the drone lets it
ingness to brush aside the ie camera, alkaline revers- lie there while he goes off
norms of his genre if it suit- ible battery, the first indus- to the baseball game. The
ed his narrative ends, does trial research and develop- 'genius' hangs around his
it again in his final book: a ment laboratory (at Menlo laboratory day and night."
fresh look at Thomas Alva Park, New Jersey), even the After this introductory sec-
Edison, perhaps America's world's biggest rock crush- tion, Morris' narrative takes
most prolific and conse- er, invented while spend- a highly unorthodox turn
quential inventor. ing years on one of his least by describing the inven-
Morris, who died in May at successful ventures trying to tor's later years in the open-
age 78, opens "Edison" con- mine iron ore from a west- ing chapters. He then pro-
ventionally enough with a ern New Jersey mountain. ceeds backward, decade
prologue highlighting the He did all this on a life- by decade, culminating
inventor's world-changing long diet consisting mainly with Edison's younger years
accomplishments. Starting of plain milk and a brutal when many of his most
in his teens as a precocious work regimen of 18 hours a familiar and consequen-
telegraph operator, the day, often at the expense tial inventions in electricity
man known as "the Wizard of his personal life with his and sound replication oc-
of Menlo Park" invented two wives and six children. curred.
and patented nearly 1,100 Nearly deaf since age 12, Morris' willingness to breach
machines, systems and Edison found a blessing in the organizational norms of
electrical devices until his the silence as a way to shut biography may not surprise
death in 1931 at the age out distractions. readers familiar with his
of 84. Beginning with lower And while he relished and even bolder previous work,
Manhattan in 1882, Edi- promoted his worldwide "Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald
son lit up entire cities using fame, he never cared for Reagan," in which Morris in-
long-burning incandescent labels like "genius" or "wiz- cluded himself as a made-
lightbulbs and electrical of other sound devices that brought recorded ard." up Zelig-like character who
dynamos. He invented the This cover image released by Random House shows "Edison" by "I never had an idea in my "knew" the former president
phonograph and a host Edmund Morris. life," he once told a report- back to his youthful days.q
Associated Press

Notre Dame delays plan to cover Columbus murals until 2022

Associated Press quality reproductions of the "People have good moral
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Columbus murals and infor- values and want to be just
— The University of Notre mation about their histori- and fair. It's obvious how
Dame is delaying its plan to cal importance. unjustly Native Americans
cover up 19th century mu- The murals, created by art- and blacks were treated,
rals depicting Christopher ist Luigi Gregori, will be ac- for example," she said.
Columbus in America that cessible to faculty mem- "People are now fighting
have long been criticized bers who use them for for justice and against the
for their stereotypical imag- teaching and research, power elite."
es of Native Americans and Jenkins noted, adding they However, Winner noted,
blacks submissively posing will otherwise be covered schools should not com-
before white European ex- in fabric. But Dennis Brown, pletely remove controver-
plorers. the school's spokesman, sial pieces.
The Catholic university told the South Bend Tribune "I don't believe in sanitizing
based in South Bend, Indi- this week that Notre Dame This Nov. 29, 2017, photo shows a murals of Christopher Colum- history," Winner said, add-
ana, announced in Janu- won't cover the 1880s bus at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. ing that people can learn
ary that it would conceal paintings until the museum Associated Press from it on a deeper level
the offending artwork. is completed in 2022. when context is coupled
The decision came after "While the move to cover is not exclusive to Notre dermuth, a former school with the art.
students, employees and the murals should be ap- Dame. trustee who opposed racial Members of the Native
alumni signed a campus plauded, I still think . that At Indiana University in integration. American Student Asso-
letter in 2017 that called the most ethical thing Bloomington, a mural Ellen Winner, a Boston Col- ciation of Notre Dame
for the removal of the mu- would be to either remove panel portraying a Ku Klux lege psychology professor have previously praised
rals, which have been them completely or paint Klan rally can be found in who directs the Arts and the school president's an-
displayed in the campus' over them," Notre Dame a lecture hall. And swas- Mind Lab focusing on cog- nouncement to conceal
Main Building since 1884. doctoral student Oliver tikas were once featured nition in the arts, said it's im- the murals, but the group
The school's president, the Ojeda wrote in the univer- on the tiles of the school's perative that educational noted it still would like to
Rev. John I. Jenkins, said last sity's student newspaper. Intramural Center, which institutions respond ac- see the university take ad-
month that a new exhibit The debate on whether to was renamed in 2018 after cordingly when encounter- ditional steps to "present a
will explore Notre Dame's cover or remove conten- more than 45 years of be- ing concerns over removal more welcoming campus"
early history, featuring high- tious campus landmarks ing named after Ora Wil- of art and landmarks. for indigenous students.q