Posts Tagged ‘Arthur Holly Compton’

Our town was one of the best ideas of mankind.  A sensibly sized city favored by God and nature, spiced by the Italians, Asians, Germans, Greeks and Irish, once run by the Lebanese.  Its cultural life was enriched with Enrico Caruso singing at the old Coliseum, Leonard Bernstein conducting at the Kiel,  the Barrymores and Sarah Bernhadt emoting at the old American Theater.  There were T.S. Eliot and Tennessee Williams writing masterpieces, physicist and Nobel laureate Arthur Holly Compton, whose investigations ultimately led to the development of the atomic bomb and visionaries who financed the historic flight of Charles Lindbergh.  The table on which those visionaries planned their Spirit of St. Louis investments still remains intact at the Racquet Club-east. Corporate giants such as Monsanto, Mallinckrodt, Tums, Ralston-Purina, Emerson, Anheuser-Busch, Brown Shoe and Ravarino-Freshi were birthed here. R-F turned out pasta products that fed the world.  Segue:  Pasta was uppermost in the mind of KMOX radio’s John Carney, when he hosted the “Carney Kids Charities” gambol at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Clayton, that drew more than 450 donors for the Halloween themed event.  During the auction, Carney turned to auctioneer and  Pasta House bossman Kim Tucci and joked, “To think, I went to Tuscany to learn to make ravioli so I could come back here where you charge $9 a serving.”  The organization is rare since it has no one on its payroll and divvies monies raised for six charitable agencies (see carneyskids.org. )  With Carney was his wife, Suzanne and sons, John James and Liam.  KTRS radio’s McGraw Millhaven was also on hand of whom Carney quipped, “He’d have to stay late to have the comedy explained to him.” John Daus of Johnny’s in Soulard provided the sparkle for the event.  He brought in about eight glammies to dress up the evening.  Caneyskids was founded by the broadcaster and Joanie Protzel, who serves as its exec director.  For the walloping evening, Joanie got major assists from her children, Erica and Max, and her husband, Alan.

What was the quality of our town, that had transformed fur merchants’ dreams into a nationally–renowned city? What outlandish dreams and ambitions enabled those early St. Louisans to build so grandly and so well? Even the old-timers who knew the magic, were no longer sure what it was. Rubbing their chins and watery eyes, they’d say, it was smaller and friendlier. Lots of wonderful saloons, cheap food, cheap wine and it was like a party going on all the time. St. Louis was the City That Was. Reruns of MGM’s “Meet Me In St. Louis” remind us of the gaiety surrounding the 1904 World’s Fair, celebrating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase. There remains unquenchable enthusiasm for structures that remain intact such as the elegant houses in Lafayette Square, the Eugene Field House, Bevo Mill and the Bissell House Mansion. There was a youngster from Ohio, who grew to become a physicist and Nobel laureate – Arthur Holly Compton – who helped take over a program to develop the atomic bomb. He was also chancellor of WashU, when it became the last university in the nation to desegregate students. Who would’ve thought of same-sex marriage in those days? That brings us to opinion researcher and career strategist Anna Navarro and marketing exec Harriet Blickenstaff, who legally tied the knot last month in Iowa. Who could guess then of a dermatologist, let alone one who would focus on itch? That’s right. Leading skin specialist Dr. Lynn Cornelius is hoping to establish an itch center within her practice at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where she serves as WashU prof and chief of the division of dermatology. (Itches are normally caused by infections, kidney and liver diseases,) A female lawyer in the early 20th century? Now we have women on the Supreme Court and some of the best lawyers in America are women, including our town’s esteemed barrister Jessica Liss of Rabbitt Pitzer & Snodgrass, who is slated to become prez of the Women’s Lawyers Association.