Harold Rogovin and the Vince Lombardi Trophy

When Harold and Carol and the kids left New York City for New Jersey, it was a day of mourning for me.

Even without a car, we did go and visit them many times... They were first in Flemington, I think, and then in Califon....

During one visit, Harold held up something he was working on or had recently finished.

It was a Super Bowl. The actual Vince Lombardi Trophy. I remember how it shone brilliantly from across the room. Not being a football fan then (or now), it did not really impress me more than his chandeliers, and bedposts, jewelry and bowls, etc.
Harold was a tremendous metalsmith and artist.

I am wondering which year that was, and have the vague hope that someone who knows will chance upon this note. Speaking to Celia, she confirmed that it was not a joke on his part...She suggested 1978 or 1979.

Annotated on thursday after the 2012 Superb Owl, I hear via the Rogovin family: The Trophy Harold made was in 1981 and went to the San Francisco 49ers....

What does the Super Bowl trophy look like?

In 1967, Tiffany & Co. former vice president Oscar Riedner made a sketch for the design of the Super Bowl trophy and showed it to Pete Rozelle, who was then the commissioner of the NFL. Since then, the Super Bowl trophy has been handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. in Parsippany, New Jersey. The trophy weighs seven pounds and is 23 inches tall. It takes four months and 72 hours for the trophy to be finished. It is made completely out of sterling silver and the artists that construct the Vince Lombardi Trophy specialize in chasing, polishing, hand engraving, silversmithing, and spinning. The trophy has a stand with three concave sides. On top of the stand is a regulation-sized football that is in kicking position. Engraved on the trophy are the words "Vince Lombardi Trophy," the roman numerals corresponding to that year's Super Bowl, and the logo of the NFL. Details such as the winning team's name and score are engraved after the presentation of the trophy.

The description above is from this site.

Was Marsha Z. West a football fan ? If yes, I imagine her rooting for the Giants.

I understand that Rhett Jones was definitely a football fan, and rooted for the Patriots, despite his Illinois background...

and I have not the slightest idea whether Grace Paley paid any attention to football....

I can picture her responding to any right wing/religious commercials against health care for all..

Solidarity with Rhode Island Janitors

Here's a little history:

In 2007, the Justice for Janitors campaign spread beyond Providence, and contracted Amica janitors in Lincoln went on strike for fair treatment and a voice on the job. Their courage, your support, and Amica’s intervention opened the door for hundreds of Rhode Island contracted janitors outside of Providence to get a voice on the job and better working conditions. 
Now, Amica is dishonoring the sacrifice of those contracted janitors by bringing in Martins Maintenance, which has already demonstrated its inhumane and repressive treatment of workers, and has made no effort to hire the long-time Amica subcontracted janitors. Come join us on Thursday to remind Amica that their courageous contracted janitors deserve to work for a responsible contractor that will retain them at the site and will honor the standards they have sacrificed so much for.

That's copied directly from the Rhode Island Jobs With Justice website.

N.B. Most of this blog's visitors do not live in RI or even New England, so please consider visiting the RI Jobs With Justice facebook page (the link is on the above site) or spreading the word to your friends and readers....

My friends, whose spirits and memories inspire this blog, would be supportive, I believe. Grace Paley and Rhett Jones and Harold Rogovin: definitely. Marsha Z. West, I am a tiny bit less sure of, but I think very likely, yes.

Eugene V. Debs: Quote about Moses -- Relevant to Rhode Islanders and Everyone..

Eugene Debs did not say this at a Seder, as far as I know:


“Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out if I could; for if you could be led out, you could be led back again. I would have you make up your minds there is nothing that you cannot do for yourselves.”


From an address on Industrial Unionism delivered at Grand Central Palace. New York City, Dec. 18,1905.

The Eugene V. Debs Foundation is keeping his spirit alive...

Thank You Ninja Nurse, Democommie And Patient Friends

I have been a deeply dormant blogger, but the encouragement of the NinjaNurse, and Democommie and the famous bloggers of Newport and Other Mysterious Settings is waking me from the slumber.

This past Saturday at a wonderful Halloween event in my neighborhood, I had the great fortune to see Alex Svoboda, my friend whose knee was so harmed by the authorities in Pawtucket and who works joyfully with the Wobblies. Incredibly there are still charges pending against her ( and one or two others ).

Grace Paley's Birthday is approaching.

Rhett Jones' spirit is, I'm sure, following this Obama Administration and football and theatre and Civil Rights.

Marsha Z. West is Dancing and somewhere laughing about silly people blogging in her Memory.

And Harold Rogovin? Somewhere making jokes in Yiddish and reflecting on Sacco and Vanzetti.

Del Martin. (May 5, 1921 --August 27)

From Pam Spaulding, I learn the news of Del Martin's passing. I have only read about her and seen photos of her, but I celebrate her life and am grateful for her tremendous pioneering activism.

I hope this link works!

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6698

If there is another "after world" she is joining Grace Paley and Marsha Z. West and Harold Rogovin and Darren Carr and Rhett Jones and Seraphin B. and Eric S. Richardson and Allegra Jones and Mahmoud Darwish and Mollie Ivins and Fred Martin and so many ancestors ...

Grace Paley Documentary Needs Funds!

I'm sending this short note to pretty much all my lists. For those of you getting this, I was able to

watch an 18 minute beginning to a film about Grace Paley, to be called: Grace Paley: Collected Shorts.

For those who don't know who Grace Paley was (she died last August), visit your

bookstore. Grace's voice was unique - as was her life. Many of us in the peace

movement and the women's movement count it as a privilege to say we were

arrested with her.

Lilly Rivlin needs to raise more than a half million dollars to get the film finished. I'm sure she will

do that - provided she has help. This is not a fund appeal letter - it is an appeal for anyone who

knew Grace and her work to think of people who do have funds. People in the literary world, in the

world of film, of art. And of course, if you want to help directly with a check you can send it to

Lilly Rivlin made out to "Women Make Movies", % Lilly Rivlin, 463 West St., Apt. 510 A, NYC 10014.

You can also visit the website: www.LillyRivlin.com.

So put your thinking caps on. The remarkable Grace, who meant so much to so many of us

(there must already have been six different memorials). Grace was a whole and complete human

being who saw no way to draw a clear line between art and protest. So, if you have any idea on

sources that can help with funding, get them to check in with Lilly Rivlin. Meanwhile, judging from

the 18 minute segment I saw, all of us will have a great film to look forward to, and a means to

introduce a whole new generation to the life and work of one of America's greats.

David McReynolds

I received this from David today (less than 2 hours ago!). I don't know Ms. Rivlin, but the address above is the same one Suzanne and Peter Ruta live in, so I could have passed her in a corridor.

Grace Paley and Marsha Z. West are surely celebrating the Marriage Victory in California with Ancestors. Harold Rogovin might be chuckling.

Rites & Reason Theatre

I've loved this theatre and everything about it since 1982.

http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Africana_Studies/rites_reason/

Grace Paley may or may not have visited, but she would have loved this place and its people. This is true for Harold Rogovin (less likely that he visited). Marsha's spirit is here forever.

Thank you, George Houston Bass.

Thank you, Rhett Jones.

Thank you.

What Grace Paley, Harold Rogovin & Marsha Z. West Have In Common (Part I)

I write in haste as I plan to attend a noon Board meeting of the Providence Public/Private Library, and it is already 10:55 AM. They are still claiming that eliminating the 7 Child Life Specialists is the only answer. I will post more on this soon.

Marsha Z. West and Harold Rogovin and Grace Paley were 3 people who died in 2007. I doubt that they ever met each other. It is true that they all lived in New York City at various times. Harold and Grace may have been close in number of years lived.

They were all artists. Marsha: a dancer, actor, director, dramatug, and much more. Harold: a metal smith, jeweler, sculptor...Grace: a poet, writer of fiction, baker of pies...

Harold was the man who first introduced me to the history of Sacco and Vanzetti. We lived in the same apartment building in New York City ( on West 111th Street) for years. His family became my family.

Marsha, I first encountered through her acting at Rites & Reason Theater which is part of the Africana Studies Department at BrownU. I was blessed to act under her direction in the play, "The Candlemakers of Kletsk"[Angela Thurston] in 2005.

Grace, I met only once in Vermont, and I will save that story. Her activism and literature first touched me when I was about 12 or 13 ( maybe younger).

These three people inspire me...It is 11:07AM....