In the 1989 movie, “Field of Dreams”, Ray Kinsella
(Kevin Kostner) hears a little voice in his head that said, “If you build it,
they will come”. He sees a vision of a baseball diamond in the cornfield and the
great "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) standing in the middle. Ray
believes if he builds a baseball field, Shoeless Joe, whom his father idolized,
can play baseball again. Annie is skeptical but agrees to him plowing under
part of their corn crop to build a baseball field, knowing the financial
hardship it will bring.
As Ray builds the field, he tells Karin about the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Several months pass, and just as Ray is beginning to doubt himself, a ball player appears one night, whom Ray recognizes as Shoeless Joe. Joe asks if others can play and returns with the seven additional Black Sox players. Annie's brother, Mark (Timothy Busfield), unable to see the players, warns that Ray is going bankrupt and offers to buy the farm for its valuable land. Meanwhile, the voice urges Ray to "ease his pain".
“Field of Dreams” was a great movie. In addition to being
nominated for 3 Academy Awards, it was also a commercial success, earning over
$84,000,000 at the box office, on a budget of $15,000,000. The field is located
in Dyersville, Iowa, and our family stopped there on the way back to Illinois
(from Minnesota) sometime in the 90’s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_Dreams
This morning, I heard a little voice in my head. The voice
didn’t even speak an entire sentence. It just said, “Dr. Spock”.
What?
Both of our kids are well into their adult years, so we no
longer need any advice on hos to raise them, but the little voice in my head
made me curious, so I researched Dr. Spock, and learned that he was a very
interesting man.
Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an
American pediatrician whose book The Common Sense Baby
and Child Care (1946) was VERY popular. 500,000 copies were
sold in the six months after its introduction, and 50,000 copies were sold by
the time of Spock’s death in 1998. The book has been translated into 39
languages. The book's premise to mothers is that "you know more than you
think you do”.
Both of Spock’s parents were educated people. His father
attended Phillips Andover Academy and Yale University, and his son followed in
his footsteps.
After graduating from Yale University, Spock attended Yale
School of Medicine, but graduated from Columbia University’s College of
Physicians and Surgeons, where he graduated first in his class.
In addition to his intelligence, he was also a very accomplished
athlete. While at Yale University, he was on the rowing team that won a gold
medal in the 1924 Olympics.
Two years before graduating from Columbia, he married Jane
Cheney, who later assisted him in the research and writing of his book. After nearly
40 years of marriage, they divorced in 1976. Later that same year, he married
Mary Morgan, who was 40 years younger than he was at the time.
Both of Dr. Spock’s wives were very liberal, and politically
active. His first wife was active in Americans for Democratic Action, the
American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear
Policy.
His second wife, Mary, was arrested numerous times for civil disobedience - and so was he. She introduced him to massage, yoga, a macrobiotic diet, and meditation.
Doctor Spock always loved the water. He and his wife lived on boats
for more than 20 years. During the winter months, they lived on “Carapace” in the
British Virgin Islands, and in the summer, they lived on “Turtle”, which was
moored in Maine. Amazingly, he won 3rd place in a rowing contest at the
age of 84, so the lifestyle encouraged by his wife kept him a very young man.
Starting in 1968, he began protesting the Vietnam War, and he
also became active in other political causes as well. He ran for public office
in 1972 and 1976, but never got elected. Although I haven’t been as politically
active as he was, I’d readily admit that he and I are “on the same wave length”
on a number of topics.
Since I was an insurance underwriter for a lot of years, and a
teacher (full and part time) for close to 20, I long ago developed an ability
(and an interest) in doing research – which is why I decided to dig a little
deeper into Dr. Spock. One fact that I found especially interesting was that he
died on March 15, 1998, exactly 4 days before my mom died.
When I was a college professor in China, I often told the
classes that they could stop learning when they reached the age of 88, and I
still believe that today. To do that, sometimes you just have to listen to that
little voice in your head.
Interesting
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