Paul Newman, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Carter

Quote of the day:
“They are the kind of people who are embarrassed by money, a dead middle-class giveaway. Poor people are not embarrassed by money and are contemptuous of those who are.”
--Rosellen Brown

Yesterday the San Diego Union-Tribune reported three historical facts, each of them a cause for reflection on the passage of time.

First was a milestone. “Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital.” It wasn’t all that long ago that women routinely gave birth at home.

Second was an announcement. “Paul Newman says he has given up acting. ‘I’m not able to work anymore as an actor at the level I would want to,’ said Newman, 82. ‘You start to lose your memory, your confidence, your invention. So that’s pretty much a closed book for me.’”

I think of all his great roles--Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, The Verdict, Butch Cassidy, and so many others. It’s hard to imagine that the list is coming to an end.

Third was a 65th anniversary. It was yesterday in 1942 that Bing Crosby recorded White Christmas. This snow-loving holiday classic was recorded in Los Angeles in May, and it was the top-selling record of the next 55 years. But our grandparents or great-grandparents actually knew a time before this song was ubiquitous at Christmas.