Why Joltin’ Joe hit out
QUESTION Is it true that baseball player Joe DiMaggio hated Paul Simon’s song Mrs Robinson in which he is mentioned?
Joe DiMaggio was a star baseball player for the New York Yankees. He’s also remembered as being the second of Marilyn Monroe’s three husbands.
He was famously referenced in the last verse of Mrs Robinson, the Simon & garfunkel song that featured prominently in the 1967 film The graduate.
The lines ‘Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?’ and ‘Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away’ are said to have upset the sports star, so much so that he considered filing a lawsuit.
Paul Simon later recalled a visit to an italian restaurant where he was introduced to DiMaggio. They ‘immediately fell into conversation about the only subject we had in common’.
DiMaggio wanted to know where Simon thought he had ‘gone’. after all, ‘i just did a Mr Coffee commercial, i’m a spokesman for the Bowery Savings Bank and i haven’t gone anywhere!’
Simon explained that the lines weren’t meant to be taken literally: ‘in the 1950s and 1960s, it was fashionable to refer to baseball as a metaphor for america, and DiMaggio represented the values of that america: excellence and fulfilment of duty (he often played in pain), combined with a grace that implied a purity of spirit, an off- the- field dignity and a jealously guarded private life.’
DiMaggio played his entire 13-year career for one team, the New York Yankees. He was one of the greatest players of all time and his nickname Joltin’ Joe referred to the powerful jerk he gave a baseball when he hit it. His famous 56-game hitting streak is a record described as unbreakable.
The reference to DiMaggio makes more sense in the context of the song’s original title, Mrs Roosevelt.
The graduate director Mike Nichols was a big fan of Simon & garfunkel and the film featured three of their classic songs: The Sound of Silence, Scarborough Fair/ Canticle and april Come She Will. He asked Simon to contribute a new song for the soundtrack. Simon told him he was too busy, but he had ‘a song about times past — about Mrs Roosevelt and Joe DiMaggio and stuff’.
Nichols immediately realised Robinson could be substituted for Roosevelt. Robert Grice, Berwick-upon-Tweed,
Northumberland.
QUESTION How did Glutton Bridge near Buxton get its name?
gluTToN BRiDge is a picturesque cluster of farms and cottages.
a bridge crosses the River Dove north of longnor and marks the Staffordshire/ Derbyshire boundary.
There is a local story that the bridge derives its name from the wolverine. This mammal, which resembles a small bear, is the largest member of the weasel family.
its scientific name, Gulo gulo, comes from the latin word for glutton. However, this seems far-fetched as the wolverine became extinct in Britain in 6000BC.
The first known reference to glutton Bridge is 1358, when it was known as glotunhous. local historians suspect the bridge is on land that belonged to the le glutun family. Simon le glutun was recorded in Pipe Rolls — Treasury financial records — in 1201.
His son gilbertus le glutun owned lands in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Just how the family earned their unfortunate name is unknown.
on glutton Bridge, you can witness the rare phenomenon of a double sunset behind a limestone outcrop known as Chrome Hill. in good weather, for a short time around the summer solstice, the sun sets just to the south-west of the summit of the hill and begins to re-emerge almost immediately from its steep north-eastern slope.
after fully reappearing, the sun sets for a second time at the foot of the hill.
Lesley Thorpe, Buxton, Derbys.
QUESTION What was the earliest known battle between two opposing armies?
iN eaRlY civilisation, there are records of wars and struggles, but no mention of specific battles.
Most historians agree the earliest recorded battle was at Megiddo in 1480 BC, where the egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose iii defeated a SyrianPalestinian coalition.
Thutmose iii led an egyptian army, purportedly 10,000 strong, in a rapid march into Central Palestine.
The rebellious chieftains assembled an army at Megiddo, north of Mount Carmel, sending outposts to hold the Megiddo Pass. But Thutmose pushed through, scattering the defenders in a bold attack that he led in his chariot.
in the valley beyond, the rebel army, under the King of Kadesh, was drawn up on high ground near the fortress of Megiddo. Thutmose spread out his forces in a concave formation.
While the southern wing engaged the enemy in a holding attack, the northern horn drove a wedge between the enemy flank and the fortress. The result was the envelopment of the enemy flank and an overwhelming victory for the egyptians.
alternatively, those who believe in the historicity of the Bible point to the Battle of Siddim as recorded in genesis 14.
in 1833BC, five local kings in the Valley of Siddim (the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea) rebelled against their four overlords. The overlords marched south and routed the kings in the Valley of Siddim, carrying off goods and prisoners from Sodom, including lot, the nephew of abraham, patriarch of the Hebrews.
abraham and 318 men pursued the overlords along The Kings Highway. in an attack at Hobah, north of Damascus, the captives were rescued.
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