Persisting in the present
Saturday, January 2, 2021
I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed and anxious and excited. It felt good to have a purpose. I started out by chatting with OG about finding the courage to do something that scares me every day. We talked about his struggles to learn Blender (I recall going to Blender.org when I tried to start a business). OG explained how he had always been more comfortable with back end vs. front end UI (am I impressing you with my use of IT lingo?). I told him about my beetlebug experience from last night (see end of previous blog).
The kids were still asleep and so after OG receded to the basement, and I had finished feeding and walking Juney, I got onto the treadmill and watched a couple of TimBatSea youtube videos. Halfway through the first video, I came to the decision that I should to reach out to Tim at some point soon to inquire about a ship called The Aragua that Lenny (and Jan) devote an entire chapter to. I also hope that he might know some of the workers that Lenny photographed (or their relatives), as Lenny had intended to add text that would tell their stories. I am so grateful for that blue binder, as it really offers a solid framework for me to work within. Even so, there is a lot to be done.
I returned to the attic and resumed the slide conversion process. My plan for the day was to scan 60 (or more) tugboat slides. But I got side-tracked and didn’t end up scanning until after dinner. I really wanted to try to find Jan Stacy so I resumed my online search. Using a different search engine, duckduckgo, I came across an article on a website called Paperback Warrior. It was called “Paperback Warrior Unmasking – Jan Stacy’s End of the World” and it was posted fairly recently: April 9, 2020. It makes references to Jan Stacy’s stepbrother, Samuel Claiborne, and there is a picture of the two of them playing their guitars. I located Samuel Claiborne’s website and sent him an email using the link provided. I hope he will respond. It’s amazing how the internet provides so much access, so many possibilities but can also feel like such a distant and empty space.
Just as I was getting ready to turn in for the night, my mom sent me some information - names of people who knew Lenny and a couple of addresses. She also sent a couple of black and white portraits taken of Lenny when he was a child (see above). That motivated me to continue scanning, to the smooth & joyful sounds of Barry White Sings for Someone You Love.
In looking at the slides that night, I realized two things: 1. the folks on these tugboats really had to feel comfortable to allow Lenny to take some of the images that he did. It was 1983 and he was a black man; 2. most slides are stamped with “Copyright by Len Harris” in red ink but some have labels attached that state, “Manhattan Views, Inc.” Uh oh. Is that a company that he worked for? sold the images to? I will have to look into it and ask around…once I connect with one or more of his friends, that is. My parents didn’t know anything about it.
Doing this work is giving me a little more clarity about life and how important it is to do what moves you and to persist, to pack as much as you can in the present moment. It’s only now that I am no longer working as a full time teacher that I am beginning to figure things out. And I recognize that having the space to do so is privilege that many people do not have.
