Paul Alper writes:
Regarding your blog of today, believe it or not, I knew Marshall Brickman pretty well before he became famous. He was an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when I was a grad student there. We belonged to the same very left-wing eating co-op, “The Green Lantern.” In that era, undergrad males at Madison and elsewhere, had to take ROTC classes, and he kept intentionally failing them because he was very leftwing politically.
Inasmuch as I am a helpful sort, I offered to nominate him for “Military Ball King,” but he declined. Marshall was a really gifted musician as well as a writer. In addition, he looked strikingly like the actor Richard Carlson who played Herb Philbrick in the 1950s television series I Led 3 Lives.
Paul, Wow! The Green Lantern – what an interesting, diverse place! In my recollection it was multi-spectral and welcoming. My favorite remembrance was being an afternoon kitchen man and having great interactions with Ernie Hemberger, the chef. He demanded a clean grill! Many good conversations at dinner…
Yes, indeed an interesting place but left-wing student groups are awful when it comes to intramural sports. I was the manager of the intramural softball team but many of my players were out picketing local Woolworths instead. The thought just occurred to me that “Woolworths” may not mean much to this audience of Young Turks and sure enough:
—————————
“Woolworths still exists overseas, but the original U.S. five-and-dime chain closed in 1997. The famous brand lives on as a major supermarket chain in Australia, a discount retailer in Germany, and a variety store chain in Mexico.”
—————————
Nostalgia lane. My brief experience with the Green Lantern was in the early 70s, when I went there a few times for organizing purposes — getting people to sign petitions, passing out fliers. By the time I came along the vibe at GL was sort of drab and the members were older. (Older than me.)