Brother Blue, A Tribute

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1433796693/Brother-Blue-celebration-March-14-at-Cambridge-Library#axzz2NYFOtFaN

Brother Blue celebration March 14 at Cambridge Library
Cambridge Chronicle
Posted Mar 14, 2013 @ 01:45 PM


Images of Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill, Brother Blue outside the lecture hall of the Cambridge Public Library, March 14, 2013.


Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill, Brother Blue


Hugh and Ruth Hill

Ruth Hill said she was attending library school when Brother Blue proposed over the phone to her. She protested that they needed to get blood tests. He told her "I already got mine." One minister offered to counsel them for a year. The third minister they visited asked if they wanted to get married that night. They said they did.


Melvin McCray

Filmmaker Melvin McCray showed his new film about Brother Blue. McCray explained that he has extensive experience as a video editor. He worked for 29 years at ABC News World News Now. He worked with Peter Jennings, and Dick Schapp. Worked on this film for three years. He said he did not understand Brother Blue when he first met him. He had a simplistic idea of story telling. They had a beginning, a middle and an end. For Blue it began and changed as he told it. He brought in people who entered the room where he was telling the story. He met Blue in New York during the 1970s and 1980s, and described Blue as an unusual person, "a multi faceted unassuming genius." McCray said he is always looking for "inspiration." He said Blue's method of story telling is like John Coltrane's and Miles Davis' music. They do not always stick to a standard routine. They often go off on an unexpected tangent. But they always return to where they began just as Blue did.



One audience member told of a clip on YouTube. Ruth and Blue were standing in Harvard Square. Blue had some bread in his hand feeding the sparrows. He asked, "When I am gone, who will feed the sparrows?" Hill performed in Baltimore, New York City and Atlanta.

After the film audience members asked questions and gave testimonies of their meetings with Brother Blue. One man told of an event at the Porter Square Book Sellers on Mass Avenue. While Blue was telling  a story, a man entered who explained that someone killed his brother and now he wanted revenge. People in the book store became alarmed and were frightened. Blue put his arm around the man and spoke with him for about 15 minutes. Blue told the man that he knew the man's heart was broken but he was scaring others. He walked outside with the man and spoke with him and calmed him down. 

Another man from upstate New York, which he described  as "a long way from Cambridge" described how he met Blue in Copley Square, Boston. Blue announced, "Look at what is going on here. Look here." He said he was embarrassed. 

A woman told about her first encounter with Blue in 1992 in Atlanta at a story telling conference. He called her an entertainer. She was pleased. 

A story teller played the harmonica to accompany his tale of Brother Blue. He said he met Blue when he told stories at the First Church in Cambridge. 

One woman read the poem included in a book about Brother Blue. 

One man told a story about another who asked Blue how to begin telling  stories? Blue's answer was, "Tell a story."

A woman told how Blue used to bless others. She explained that Blue asked her if it was OK with her if he blessed her. She met Blue at Simmons College where she teaches.  A woman at the Boston University School of Education asked her if she would speak about story telling to her class. She agreed and brought Blue along. The BU Professor was "mortified" when she met Blue. She told about seeing Blue atop a mountain of snow in Harvard Square after the blizzard of 1978. He was standing there telling stories barefoot in the snow.



I met Brother Blue at an event at The Episcopal Divinity School which is now part of Lesley University on their Brattle Street campus. I enjoyed his enthusiasm and his focus on goodness and positivity.

He had an easy sense of humor in his presentations. I saw him a second time when he told stories at a Cambridge book store. 

A few years later I met him and wife Ruth at Cambridge Community Television where he did a live show for many years. He also did special features in the main studio. I was a cameraman for at least one of his features.



When I hosted my own live show at CCTV for five years I saw him and Ruth waiting or leaving the live studio before or after his shows.



He was always friendly and we shared some laughs. His enthusiasm was infectious, and his presence was always on.



He was the most present person I met in Cambridge, always focused on people. He was not concerned with prestige, wealth or position.

 He related directly to the person without any filters. He was one of the few older persons in Cambridge that had some idea of the unusual experiences I lived before I met him. Younger people were and are clueless.

 I was disappointed that this event was not publicized before the day of the event. I was at the Library the previous day and saw no mention of the event. It was not listed in the monthly calendar published by the library. I learned of the event the hour it began when I read a notice in an online newspaper.

 I'm glad I had one more opportunity to see Blue's wife Ruth and to learn more about this unusual and wonderful man.


Book about Hugh Morgan Hill


Another book about Brother Blue


Dylan Pritchett, Story Teller


Brother Blue


Brother Blue


Ruth Hill


Brother Blue


Brother Blue


Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill and Ruth Hill


Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill and Ruth Hill


Ruth Hill

Ruth Hill

Brother Blue


Ruth Hill At Kennedy School of Government


Jo Radner


Ruth Hill (left) and Melvin McCray

Author John Spooner At Cambridge Public Library

John D. Spooner
No One Ever Told Us That: Money and Life Letters to My Grandchildren
Grand Central Publishing
New York 2013


John Spooner spoke at the Cambridge Public Library about his latest book. The event was co-sponsored by Porter Square Books. Susan Flannery the library director introduced Spooner, calling him "Grandfather pro tem." He began by praising and boasting of his love for libraries. Where did I hear that before? Oh yes, the last person who spoke at the library last week. Is that like politicians who support education and oppose bullying by students of other students?



Susan Flannery, Library Director


He began his discussion saying, "Making money is more about human nature than mathematics." He said his book is "not just about children, grandchildren, it's about life." He explained he has "never been able to write at home." So he "went to libraries after dinner." He did not realize that now he can have dinner at the Cambridge library while he writes. He said he "writes in long hand in note books." Then some one "types it up" for him.

He revealed that he moved to Boston in 1984 and worked at The Athenaeum. His publisher was Houghton Mifflin. He mentioned Margret Rey whose husband Hans created the character Curious George. They escaped from Nazi Germany and they left their money to non profits, e.g. the Boston Public Library.  After being denied satisfaction in a dispute about the will of these people, he said there is "one rule in life." I was unable to hear what the rule is, but it has something to do with calling a reporter at the Boston Globe who wrote a story about his legal difficulties. It was "above the fold" he boasted.



John Spooner (left) with Susan Flannery



If I heard him correctly, he said he is responsible for the children's room at the Cambridge Public Library." He said "you have to be out there in life for the good accidents to happen to you." He did not add, "unless your father is extremely wealthy. Then you can just sit at home or in a bar, and they will come to you." As part of his long love affair with libraries he asked, "Where do books come from?" He added, "All books come from a germ of an idea. It usually takes about a year to get it on paper or to see a keyboard." Really? That is a slow reaction. I try to put my ideas on paper as I get them. Don't always succeed and lose a few but I try. A year?

At one college event he spoke to business majors. They asked how to get jobs, write resumes, etc. One girl from France said to him, "No one ever told us that." (The title of this book. Did he share any of the profits with her? Give her any credit?) Most of the young people were functionally illiterate, regarding finance and other other matters. He suggested to them "the worst time to call about a job is Monday morning. It will annoy the employer," he said. "The best time to call for information about the company or for an interview is Tuesday after lunch."



John D. Spooner


He added, "most interviewers don't care about your academic life. We live in an anonymous world," Spooner said. You need to focus on "a way to get a  leg up."  "Focus," he suggested "on extra curricular activities. Did you play sports? It is likely that the interviewer did too. He wants to talk about something he shares with you. That is what the interview will be about. Can you talk to others? Think how to separate yourself from the crowd."

Spooner told about one young man who studied Japanese. He got a job in Japan at a bank. But his wife's family wanted her back in the states. He did nothing but study Japanese and work at a bank? After some thought he revealed that he was also a black belt in Karate. He did not understand how important that was.

John Spooner

Another example was a woman who wanted to go into advertising. Spooner told her to get a rubber stamp that said, "I can sell anything." She stamped the envelope she sent her letter in, and also at the top of her resume. "Have something that jumps out at people," he urged. Would having common sense be an example of something that jumps out at people? Most people lack that and wouldn't recognize it if it bit them.



John Spooner

Next he mentioned the value of personal notes. He revealed how he sent a condolence card to a lawyer and got a lot of business from that lawyer for 35 years. Writing notes is good for business, just as Hallmark recognizes? He says he gets personal notes from young people often.Sometimes he calls them in response. One young man sent him business cards with a quote from his book. That got his attention, he said.



John Spooner

He recognized that some people in their eighties are younger than some people in their forties. Really? So then why are people segregated due to age more strictly than by race, religion, ethnicity, politics. Oh wait in politics there is no tolerance for Republicans in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, the media, etc?



John Spooner


He told about a woman who wore a sign, "Be nice to me. I'm old." Another carried a stuffed black labrador with sunglasses on. She said, "He's my seeing eye dog." Another woman explained to him, "All I'm looking for is a dirty old man with clean body."

He said many problems are with law, money and medicine. When  calling for a doctor's appointment, the way to get one early and easy is when the nurse asks why are you calling, you say "I'm calling about the doctor's emotional future." It helps to get attention. He did not explain that all of these suggestions are for people who have trouble getting through on the phone. Does everyone have such difficulties? I seldom do. Why waste such intense mental effort coming up with elaborate schemes just to get an appointment?



John Spooner


This man is giving life lessons, advice to young people. He is aware that high intelligence is not always accompanied by common sense. Yet he says that if a person does not read books he will not be your friend. Isn't that limiting to who your friends can be? Isn't that an example of elitism? Is reading books an essential characteristic of friendship?

Spooner alerted the audience that "We're in a number of revolutions at once, e.g., publishing, book stores closing, newspapers, magazines, etc. Today publishers want to know "What's your platform?" How will you promote your book? Who can get you on TV, radio, etc.
He asked "What kind of spouse do you look for?" His father told him "Look for funny." "A sense of humor can get you through a long term relationship better than money."



John Spooner


"Beware of genius," he warned. "The financial meltdown was caused by geniuses. They seldom come with common sense," he added. He told about a professor who won the Nobel Prize, who could not navigate steps to his rear porch. He couldn't use a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine. He would not want to trust that guy with any practical matters, like managing money.

He spoke about Alan Greenspan who "helped bring about the meltdown." He noted that years ago a stockbroker was a family adviser not just a salesman. He told about an event when Greenspan spoke to a drunk audience. When he was finished, they had not understood any of what he said. They were throwing wet napkins across the room.

He spoke briefly about the Harvard University Grant Study of about 268 Harvard graduates from 1939 to 1944. The researchers wanted to learn what the good life looked like. What about long life? Spooner said, "Having a Harvard degree does not guarantee anything. Four percent of each class is a Unabomber." Adaptation to life is one element of happiness.



Susan Flannery

"Be active, not passive," he urged. "Love is extremely important. Be generous of spirit," he added. "get involved. Take vacations. Be able to say, 'I sucked the lemon dry.'"Maintain a natural skepticism. "So much of life is ridiculous and tragic. "Women are eighty percent of book buyers."

He said someone asked him who the smartest man he ever met is. He said it is a man from Everett, MA, whose father was a policeman. He is now on the governing board of Harvard University. He gave his name as Joseph O'Donnell. He recently gave $30 million to Harvard University. He was featured in a cover photograph of Harvard Magazine.

Susan Flannery appeared to present Spooner with a commemorative edition of the History of The Cambridge Public Library.

[My apologies if I got any of the facts wrong. I was unable to hear very well at this event.]

Spring On the Library Lawn

Sunday March 18, 2012, three days before spring officially arrives. The temperature reached 75 fahrenheit in Cambridge MA. City residents and visitors were lounging on the lawn outside of the new main library.

Not so small children playing in the tot lot.



Would J. Edgar Hoover approve? Absolutely not.



Still unsure of life on the ground, these two agile youngsters try tree life.



Barefoot in the grass.