Irish actor and later singer, Richard Harris starred in the 1967 movie production of the Broadway musical “Camelot.” Like his rival Richard Burton who played the part of King Arthur on Broadway, Harris also had a limited singing ability. Yet, unlike Burton, Harris was able to emphasize his own style and unique ability to deliver a song. And, that lead to a successful string of albums and the mega hit song “MacArthur Park” Which, was later remade by superstar-singer Donna Summer.

Screengrab

Camelot is not so much an actual place as it is an ideal. Lupack noted… “historians also associated Kennedy’s presidency, particularly some of its more idealistic programs, with the legend of Arthur. The moral overtones of Camelot are reflected in other areas as well, but sometimes ‘Camelot’ is used only to represent an ideal place.”

The 1967 movie version of the Learner & Lowe musical “Camelot” can be enjoyed being played on computer thanks to the award-winning film being on DVD. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of its release.

Jonathan Farrell

And, I guess that could include a place in time — meaning, contemporary American history which expressed the Kennedy magic — charisma. This is hard to convey to millennials and younger generations, because so much has been uncovered about JFK. The Kennedy family, their scandals and tragedies — including Jackie in recent years reference to such magic that held them in high esteem seems lost.
Yet, even amid scandals, a reference to ‘a Camelot’ might not be off-base. Because, from the 1967 movie staring Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave, “Camelot” correlated in some ways to Kennedy.
King Arthur sought to bring peace and prosperity to the land, defeating injustice and building lasting alliances. In one scene, villagers pay homage to Arthur by handing him the keys to their village. With Arthur’s reign and Camelot’s prosperity there is no more need for locks. The people live in peace and harmony.
Oh, but such ideal situations cannot last forever. The storyline in the movie presents a theme to say that such an ideal place or era has to endure the obstacles of reality. And, these are (or so I was told by one of my college professors): “the world, the flesh and the devil.”
I gather ‘the world’ is in reference to all the other kingdoms and armies seeking to take siege of Camelot. ‘The devil’ could be in the form of the character of Mordred — the son of Arthur from some other ‘marriage’ or affair? It is not clear, the dialogue only alludes to such things. Regardless, Mordred seeks to bring Arthur down. And, of course — ‘The flesh,’ expressed in the passionate star-crossed love affair between queen Guinevere and the gallant knight of the Roundtable, Lancelot. They could not resist, despite their allegiance to king and Camelot.

Kennedy as the youngest U.S. President certainly for his 1000 days in office, was tested in all three and failed. This historians and investigators have verified over the decades. But it is perhaps the idealism that characterizes the Kennedy years as ‘a Camelot’, as historian Thurston Clarke highlights in his book, “Ask Not…” The fervor that Kennedy roused in people was genuine and his famous speeches helped form a generation. In the movie, Arthur says a lot of things with high ideals, in seemingly heart-felt tones.

Trying to trace the actual tangible historical origins the real King Arthur and the development of the Arthurian Legend is like trying to find the real-life Shakespeare. Historians and experts on the subject, such as Lupack cite several sources. Geoffrey of Monmouth is one, the chronicle of Nennius, is another and The early Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen is yet another. In addition to British sources (including Celtic, Scottish and Welsh tales – dating back centuries), there are French and German sources. And, through Medieval saints like St. Francis of Assisi, who loved to sing the songs of the French troubadours, the Arthurian legend spread through Italy.
There are many facets to the Arthurian Legend. Camelot is just one. There is ‘The Roundtable’ and various tales of each of the knights. The number of knights is not exact. There is the quest for the mysterious Holy Grail (and all its various meanings and interpretations) and then there are the dozens of characters that either share the spotlight with King Arthur like Merlin or populate the background, like Morgana (or as some say, Morgan de Fey) and Morgause.

Now on Netflix, the BBC series “Merlin” provides a twist to the Arthurian Legend, introducing it to new generation of fans. Seen here are Colin Morgan as a young Merlin and veteran actor Richard Wilson as Gaius, the court physician who takes the young Merlin under his wing as an apprentice. Debuting on the BBC in 2008, the series aired for four years ending in 2012.

Screengrab by Jonathan Farrell

Colin Morgan was the lead in the 2008 to 2012 BBC series “Merlin.” The adventure series focused on a adolescent Merlin and Arthur and their growth into the legendary figures they would become. The series included other characters seldom featured in detail in previous productions (like the musical ‘Camelot’), of Arthurian legend, such as Morgana, Mordrid and Morgause.

Courtesy of Netflix

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Number plates of President John F. Kennedy’s limousine on the day he was assassinated.

Heritage Auctions

Reportedly when the car was retrofitted after the assassination, a person working on the vehicle threw the license plates in the trash. However, Willard Hess, the owner of the business, retrieved the number plates and kept them on a shelf between two books.

When Hess passed away, his daughter Jane Walker inherited the plates and kept them in a drawer in her kitchen for several decades. Walker told the Guardian that she was aware of their significance, and “On occasion, I would take them out and show to friends.”

The number plates sold for $100,000 on the auction and were bought by an anonymous bidder.

Also listed on the auction was the US Passport issued to John F. Kennedy as a Congressman in 1951. However, there is no news as to whether offers were made for that item. Various other JFK related items were also on offer.

John F. Kennedy: His 1951 U.S. Passport, Issued to Him as a Congressman.

Heritage Auctions

On the same auction, a copy of a dinner menu of the RMS Titanic was also on offer. The menu was from the last first-class dinner served on the fated Titanic before it hit the iceberg and sank.

According to Irish Central, an anonymous collector put it up for auction and reportedly the menu is the last one in existence to survive from the April 14, 1912 dinner. Of interest to note, five businessmen had written their addresses on the menu while enjoying dinner together the night before the ship sank. According to the auction house, four of the five men did survive the disaster.

A menu of the last first class dinner on the RMS Titanic was sold on auction on November 7, 2015

Heritage Auctions

Heritage Auctions named the first class passengers as Edward P. Calderhead of New York City, Spencer V. Silverthorne of St. Louis, George E. Graham from Winnipeg, Canada; James R. McGough, from Philadelphia; and John Irwin Flynn of Brooklyn. Reportedly Flynn, McGough and Calderhead all worked as buyers for Gimbel’s department store.

A menu of the last first class dinner on the RMS Titanic was sold on auction on November 7, 2015

Heritage Auctions

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But it is not.

The famous words were added to the structure by one of its architects, and actually appear to have been borrowed from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived more than 400 years before the birth of Christ.

That the noble sentiment is not the post office’s official slogan was perhaps best displayed Tuesday after a massive snowstorm blanketed the U.S. northeastern coastline with as much as three feet of snow in many places.

The post office closed down.

Of course, delivery of mail to tens of thousands of homes in the midst of sealed-off airports, overwhelmed highways and snow-clogged streets, but still . . . the post office closed down?

It’s true that the governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts declared emergencies and banned all driving, except for emergency vehicles.

“Please stay home,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie implored his state’s residents, according to the Reuters news service.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned non-emergency vehicle travel after 11 p.m. for 11 counties, including New York City, Long Island and Westchester, and threatened a $300 fine for violators.

“If you are in your car and you are on any road, town, village, city — it doesn’t matter — after 11 o’clock, you will technically be committing a crime,” Cuomo said.

“It could be a matter of life and death, so caution is required,” he said.

But Post Office delivery vehicles are federally licensed, meaning that no state or local authority can tell, let alone order, what is now called the U.S. Postal Service to do anything.

Not that they even had time to.

Instead, the Postal Service got out in front of Winter Storm Juno on Monday, announcing on usps.gov that offices and mail delivery would close early in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, and remain closed on Tuesday.

“Strong winds and near-blizzard conditions will continue to make travel and mail delivery nearly impossible,” the agency’s statement said.

“As a result, the Postal Service has temporarily suspended delivery and retail operations in several locations as we cope with this major snowstorm,” it said.

Other notable closures in the region included the United Nations headquarters building in Manhattan and schools up and down the New England coast, such as New York City public schools and Harvard University.

Regional Amtrak rail service between New York and Boston was shut down, as was other service in Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine, New York City’s iconic subway system suffered a similar fate.

Most facilities and services are expected to resume Wednesday.

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“Damage from the storm has been extensive,’ United Continental Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smisek told employees in a letter yesterday. “The runways at LaGuardia have been flooded, and there has been some facility damage at Newark that we are currently assessing.”

JetBlue spokeswoman Allison Steinberg told Reuters the carrier planned to resume flights at New York area airports on Wednesday afternoon.

New York’s airports closed late on Oct. 29 and “have lagged behind the recovery of East Coast peers as carriers rebuild schedules in cities such as Boston, Philadelphia and Washington,” as Bloomberg writes.

Submerged homes due to Hurricane Sandy in Rodanthe, NC

NCDOTcommunications

CEO Rick Seaney of travel website FareCompare estimated that about 1.5 million airline passengers had travel plans interrupted by Sandy in the two days through yesterday, according to Bloomberg.

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The Port Authority – which has run JFK since it opened as New York International Airport in 1948 – presented the billionth passenger with gifts donated by the agency and its private partners, including round-trip airline tickets to Europe and free limousine service courtesy of the Port Authority to anywhere in the New York/New Jersey region.

“From the first passenger to the billionth, the Port Authority and our private partners at JFK have never wavered in our commitment to provide the finest service to our customers,” said Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle. “This week’s historic milestone is a testament to the tens of millions of domestic and international passengers who continue to make Kennedy Airport their first choice for quality service every year.”

“Throughout its illustrious history, Kennedy Airport has been widely recognized as the nation’s premier international gateway – welcoming immigrants and visitors ranging from heads of state to the Beatles,” said Kennedy Airport General Manager Charles G. Seliga. “The Port Authority’s unprecedented investment in state-of-the-art facilities and the finest customer amenities will enable JFK to maintain that distinction well into the millennium.”

JFK’s $9 billion public-private redevelopment program, the largest in U.S. aviation history, includes:

* $1.9 billion for AirTrain, which will provide fast, reliable travel between Manhattan and JFK by 2002;

* $1.8 billion for Port Authority infrastructure improvements throughout the airport, including new roads and parking garages; and

* $4.7 billion in Port Authority and airline funds to redevelop JFK’s nine passenger terminals.

The Port Authority also has launched a series of initiatives to ensure the highest level of airport customer service, such as new cleanliness standards for airport restrooms and more than 100 red-jacketed Customer Service Representatives at JFK who provide quick, courteous service on a wide range of subjects.

Kennedy Airport’s renaissance has been recognized in several recent surveys of passengers and aviation industry leaders.

In the International Air Transport Association’s most recent Global Airport Monitor survey of 60,000 passengers worldwide, JFK was named the second-most improved airport in the world, among airports that handle more than 25 million passengers a year.

A recent independent poll of 1,000 New York voters, conducted by the research firms of Peter D. Hart and Robert M. Teeter, found 83 percent of frequent JFK users said the airport is well run. Another poll, by Quinnipiac College, found that most New York City and New Jersey voters approve of the Port Authority’s management of JFK.

Kennedy Airport collected two first-place awards and one second-place finish in the prestigious Airport Retail News Best Concessions 2000 competition judged by aviation experts.

Reader surveys in the British editions of Business Traveller and Condé Nast Traveller in 1998 ranked Kennedy among the best airports in North America and the world. And Asian air cargo industry leaders ranked Kennedy Airport among North America’s best facilities in last year’s 13th annual Asian Freight Industry Awards survey by Cargonews Asia magazine.

Kennedy Airport welcomed 31.7 million passengers in 1999 – including 18.1 million international passengers, more than any other airport in the United States. JFK’s large passenger market enables it to provide frequent flights to many destinations with highly competitive air fares, and offer flights to cities not served by many other U.S. airports. Travelers using the airport can choose from more than 90 carriers.

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