BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:PEOPLE

SPIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

“Some of the earliest spies we know by name are the 
twelve men Moses sent into Canaan before he led the 
Hebrews into that land. They were, the Bible tells us,
 Shamma, Shaphut, Igal, Oshea, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, 
Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel.
    “The orders Moses gave those men – the orders too 
are reported in the Bible – sound very much like 
instructions still being given to spies today.
   “See the land, what it is,” Moses told them; 
“and the people that dwelleth therein, whether 
they be strong or weak, few or many….”

Samuel Epstein and Beryl Williams.The Real
 Book About Spies (Garden City, NY: Garden 
City Books, 1953)

**
LIBERACE

“Born in Wisconsin to a French horn player for John
Philip Sousa, Wladzu Valentino Liberace (Walter to 
his friends) was popular both in school and in the 
bars and cabarets where he played nightly all during 
his teen years. After a visit from renowned pianist 
Ignacy Paderewski to the Liberace home, thr young 
protégé received a music scholarship to the Wisconsin 
School of Music. His classical training culminated 
with his debut as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony 
at the age of fourteen.”

Scott Stanton. The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians 
(New York: Pocket Books, 2003)
**

FELIX ADLER –THE KING OF CLOWNS

  Felix Adler “called himself the King of the Clowns, 
sometimes spotting a gold crown, which irritated several colleagues. He stuck beach balls into the seat of his 
capacious pants to make his rear end swell, and on the 
bulb of his nose he wore a red light, which occasionally 
shorted out when he went backstage between acts and
 put on his wire-trimmed reading spectacles. His
 trademark was the succession of little pigs he trained to follow him around the hippodrome track (and fed a secret 
diet of baking soda to keep them small for as long as 
he could). But he had many other ring-wise wiles, and,
carrying his six-inch umbrella on a five-foot pole, he 
performed at the White House, first for Calvin Coolidge 
and then for Franklin Roosevelt…..”

Edward Hoagland. Balancing Acts ( New York: 
Simon and Schuster, 1992)
**

CARY GRANT & ARCHIBALD LEACH


It is well-known by most film fans that the birth name of
Cary Grant was Archibald Leach. Archibald Leach was
A name mentioned by Grant in a few of his movies.
Less known is the remarkable coincidence that occurred
When Grant married the heiress Barbara Hutton. The 
story was recounted by Jeffrey Lyons in his book 
Stories My Father Told Me Me (New York: Abbeville 
Press, 2011):

“Grant was asked why his marriage to Barbara Hutton, 
the richest woman in the world, didn’t last. ‘Tell 
you why,’ GrantExplained. I was making $14,000 a week 
and still felt like a kept man.’ Another reason might 
have been the fact that Hutton had a long time chauffeur
 whose name was Archie Leach !”

**
ADVICE FROM ARNOLD PALMER

“ (I) asked  him if he ever felt anxious during 
tournaments, if he felt pressure. ‘Sure,’ he admitted.
“What do you do when you feel that?” I asked. “I go 
back to basics,” he said easily. Of course. It’s what 
he would have to have said. Keep your eye on the ball. 
Breathe.”

Alan Arkin. An Improvised Life: a memoir (Detroit:
Thorndike Books, 2011)
**
SELF PORTRAIT

My entire life, I honestly have had no idea who the 
hell I am. It’s still that way. I look at myself as 
just another idiot wandering planet Earth with no 
real idea what makes the world go ‘round, no
 particular identity, just another lost soul.”

JAMES PATTERSON

Laura Miller. “So That Happened” in The New Yorker 
June 20, 2022)
**

CONSIDERING THE DEATH OF JOHN WAYNE

He drove to Harvard in a tank
Which is one way to get there,
But a tank ain’t no horse,
I don’t have to tell you. I swear

Death’s horse is a gelding,
Mouth-sore with bad breath,
A runny-eyed roan, sway-backed.
What kind of horse is death?

It’s  bob-tailed with bad breeding,
Whopped with an ugly stick & fat.
Hey, Duke, why do you go ride
On a terrible old nag like that?


Louis Phillips