Dr. John Bejamin Morgan

I never got to know my paternal grandfather John Benjamin Morgan because he died before I was born. My son is named for him. The following highlights from the Kinmundy, IL newspaper tell you a bit about my grandfather.

Sept. 23, 1943: A home front casualty in the war in which 3 of his sons are serving in the Army, Dr. John B. MORGAN, vice chief of staff and director of urology at St. John’s Hospital died of a heart ailment early today at his home in Lakewood, Ohio. He had arisen early to perform an operation when he suffered the attack.

Dr. MORGAN attended the St. Louis University School of Medicine and went to Cleveland, Ohio about 33 years ago to intern at St. John’s Hospital. Since the absence of so many doctors in the armed forces has meant double time work for those at home, relatives said Dr. MORGAN had been working day and night. Surviving him besides his wife, the former Bertha AMERSBACH, and his parents of Kinmundy, are 4 sons, Lieut. John MORGAN, with Army Air Forces in England; Lieut. James MORGAN stationed in South Carolina; Cpl. Andrew MORGAN of Pasadena; and David, is 14.

Dr. MORGAN was a Kinmundy boy and was born on a farm 8 miles northwest of here on Oct. 5, 1887. He was the eldest of 10 children, the son of Wesley H. and Cora DOOLEN MORGAN. He attended school in Mont Rose, Colo., and resided with his uncle John and Mary MORGAN. Later he attended Kinmundy High School from which he graduated in 1906. He received his degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1910. He specialized in Ohio in urology and in 1937 went to Czechoslovakia to take a special training in this subject.

On Jan. 7, 1914, he married Miss Bertha AMERSBACH of Cleveland and they were the parents of 4 boys. Ben was a great doctor and a skilled surgeon. Services were held from the St. Luke’s Church with interment in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Note: Lieut. James Morgan is my dad - son of  great man and a great man in his own right. (Below photo of the four boys and Bertha maybe around 1953 or later - David, Andrew, Bertha, John and James)

Sept. 9, 1943: Our community received a shock Tuesday when the news reached here that Dr. John B. MORGAN (we knew him as Ben), had died that morning from a heart attack at his home in Cleveland, Ohio. Services will be held in Cleveland with interment made there. Dr. Ben was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. MORGAN of this city, and was here on a brief visit with his parents last week.

June 2, 1910: Kinmundy Boys Honored: J. Ben MORGAN and Harry CRAIG, both of this city, who have been in St. Louis the past four years studying medicine, have successfully passed the examinations and are graduating; Ben from the St. Louis University of Medicine on Tuesday May 31, and Harry from the Washington University June 9. A few days ago, the St. Louis City Hospital gave a very rigid examination to the graduates of the different schools in the city, and these two boys were among the number to pass and gain places in the hospital, which Harry expects to accept. These examinations given by the City Hospital are so thorough that only a small percent of the applicants pass it, and our boys are above the average in their studies to gain these honors. Ben has been offered a position in St. John’s Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, as House Physician, which he expects to accept about July 1^st. There are 68 members in his class of which he has the honor of being Secretary. These two young men have both worked faithfully for the honors they are receiving and both are to be complimented upon their success. 

 

Brief Life History of Bertha B

When Bertha B Amersbach was born on 1 September 1889, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States, her father, Andrew Amersbach, was 25 and her mother, Caroline Gerteis, was 20. She married John Benjamin Morgan on 7 January 1914, in Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of 4 sons. (John, James, Andrew and David). She lived in Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States for about 20 years. She died on 22 December 1969, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States, at the age of 80, and was buried in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States.

AMA Art of Storytelling 2023

The Art of Storytelling 2023 AMA

The American Marketing Association, Saint Louis Chapter presented it’s annual conference this year with an umbrella theme of The Art of Storytelling hosted at Webster University with 8 featured speakers on March 3, 2023 from 7:30 am to 12:00 followed by agency tours hosted by Beanstock and ITC. 

The Art of Storytelling was a half-day conference of networking, conversation and participation to craft a compelling story and connect better with your audience featuring (8) industry leaders on Friday, March 3, 2023 at Webster University, St. Louis

Dr John Lewington  was our Master of Ceremonies. Speakers: Lee Anne Mathews of COCA Biz; Michael McCormick, Chief Creative Director, Rogers Townsend Agency; Bill Ellis Brand Architect and Host of “What’s the Point” podcast; Sydney Nagorsky, Senior at Washington University; Mitch Hancock, CEO at 100th Monkey; Anya Covington, Founder/CEO of Human2Human LLC; Mason Aid, Media Relations Strategist – Content and PR Division, Intero Digital Columbia, Missouri

Agency Tours: Beanstalk Web Solutions 54 W. Moody Ave, Webster Groves, MO 63119
and: ITC Production Agency 523 Hanley Industrial Court, Brentwood, MO 63144

Teaching Art

I agreed to fill an immediate need for an art teacher position opening at Winfield Middle School in Jan/Feb 2023. My life's journey is (and always has been) episodic. I've been an advertising man, a marketing leader and and an educator. Five years ago I completed a Master of Arts in Teaching at Fontbonne University. I've been a Special Education teacher and I've worked with students from Middle School and High School. (My certification with the state includes cross/cat, elementary ed and art k-12.)  

So when Winfield Middle School needed an Art Teacher to fill an immediate need, I was thrilled to step in for a month or so at the beginning of 2023. I managed three classes back to back for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.  

The expectations were clear at the onset. Mr. Morgan believes everyone is an artist. The goal is for each and every one of my 60+ students to become a “better” artist. As with anything (sports, academics and art) it takes practice. 

The introduction to the class included a discussion of the GOAT. Mr. Morgan lead a discussion about who might be the Greatest of All Time in Art. He suggested it might be Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). 

Instruction included a series of short practice assignments:

Assignment 1 - Contour Line Drawing - without lifting your pencil from the paper do a contour line drawing of a still life set up in the classroom.

Assignment 2 - Source Image Drawing - using what you have learned about contour line drawing, draw a picture based on a magazine image provided. Add color limited to the tools provided (a limited number of colored pencils).

Assignment 3 - Present your work - Follow this presentation format: a. What was your challenge? b. What did you like about your piece? c. What will you do differently, given a similar challenge in the future?

Assignment 4 - Charcoal Drawing - using only charcoal, what you have learned about contour line drawing and composition/design/layout create a work of art based on still life set up in the classroom. You may also use a kneaded eraser to create highlights.

Assignment 5 - Value in Shades and Tints - shading and tinting in tempera paint. Using only one Hue (color) and black and white paints, work in small groups to create a value strip showing how your hue changes with careful application of black (to create shades) and white (to create tints).  

Assignment 6 - Monochromatic plan and execution - using the value skills you have practiced thus far and following a work plan developed in class create a monochromatic tempera painting on a primed square surface provided - a 5 1/2 X 5 1/2 square. 60+ works were on display in the hallway bulletin board for discussion about what worked and what might be changed in future efforts. (This public showing allowed students to see the merits of peers in all three classes).

Assignment 7 - Using only the color markers and tool provided (i.e. compas, ruler) and applying what we've reviewed in the text about geometric shapes create a composition and be prepared to discuss your results including color theory.

Assignment 8 - Cursive Dexterity - Students are challenged to copy the alphabet in script while carefully paying attention to the flow of lines and finding a steady way to hold and manipulate the writing tool (pencil, pen & ink or even ball point).

Assignment 9 - Gallery Walk. Students are invided to comment on samples on display on bulletin boards in the classroom and hallway.

Test - 10 questions - multiple choice, true/false and open ended short answers. (examples - What are the primary colors? Isaac Newton developed the Color Wheel: True or False? What is a composition that uses only one hue (color) and tints and shades: Is it a. abstract b. monochromatic c. cubism or d. none of the above? 

  

 

  

C

Charcoal still life by Picasso (avove). Students were invited to take a bit of inspiration from the GOAT.

Narcissus Garden

Narcissus Garden by Yayoi Kasuma at Laumeier Sculpture Park

February 1, 2023 to  May 14, 2023

Yayoi Kusama, (born March 22, 1929, Matsumoto, Japan), Japanese artist who was a self-described “obsessional artist,” known for her extensive use of polka dots and for her infinity installations. She employed painting, sculpture, performance art, and installations of Pop and Minimalism. Family conflict and the desire to become an artist drove her to move in 1957 to the U.S, and settle in NYC. Her early work in New York City included what she called “infinity net” paintings that consisted of thousands of tiny marks obsessively repeated across large canvases without regard for the edges of the canvas. Such works explored the physical and psychological boundaries of painting, with the seemingly endless repetition of the marks creating an almost hypnotic sensation for both the viewer and the artist. Her paintings from that period anticipated the emerging Minimalist movement, but her work soon transitioned to Pop Art. She became a central figure in the New York avant-garde, and her work was exhibited alongside that of such artists as Donald Judd, Claus Oldenburg and Andy Warhol.

Note: Happy Birthday Kusama - 94 years March 22, 2023

Happy Birthday to the Matriarch

Happy Birthday to the Matriarch 2/14/2023

Aunt Lee recited a poem on your birthday, years ago;

She was holding back tears of love.

It was one of so many days of thanks, you know;

The gatherings forever blessed by G-d above,

 

Time rolls on and we wonder how;

In spite of those trials and tribulations;

We got to where we are now;

You have earned and deserve the joyful jubilation.

 

Always genuine and for real;

Time goes by and we cherish the memories we have found;

Among us: Sam, Randy, Lynn, Digger and the rowdies of Deel;

So lucky and so happy to have you around.

 

Amid the countless celebration and salutations;

Broken in times of sadness;

You temper with calibrations;

You remind us all to embrace the happiness.

 

With a tenderness anyone can feel;

We can’t thank you enough for what you mean in our lives;

Although stoic at times, your affection is so very real;

We cannot thank you enough, no matter how many tries.

 

The benevolent Matriarch with hearts and smiles;

You have done so much to enrich all of our lives;

Thank you for being on this journey for so many miles.

We cannot thank you enough, no matter how many tries!

 

January Janie (part 4)

January Janie

Well, my affection for Janie continues to grow. We went to our senior prom almost almost half a century ago. Through an incredible series of circumstances we have re-connected. I think it was our 45^th high school reunion when she told me that she was divorced from her husband, the doctor. (They had four children, three boys and a girl, and now have five granddaughters). I was married too, until my wife died peacefully in her sleep last year. (Lynn and I had a girl and a boy, both married with boys of their own born in 2016).   

So the senior prom pair, lived lives taking us down separate paths. We agree that neither of us have regrets. (Aside from the obvious sadness and the inexplicable turns our individual lives have taken. We concur that life has been more good than sad, we have had more joy than bad, and we count ourselves among the blessed overall.)

Janie stayed close to home and thrived as a nurse for more than forty years. I chased career avenues in advertising, marketing and more recently teaching/education in NY, LA, North Carolina, Miami and Saint Louis. Now we find ourselves curiously and cautiously available to each other once again, albeit in Cleveland and Saint Louis, our respective midwestern home cities. If you are keeping score at home: 5/20 = 106, 8/20 = 198, 10/28 = 267 and 1/19/2023 = 351. (The dates and number of days since Lynn’s untimely passing on February 3, 2022). It's a long distance relationship that relies on texting, snail mail and periodic live togetherness. (5/20 My birthday in Cleveland, 8/20 Cleveland again for Rock and Roll and Art, 10/28 for Art and Sketch Comedy in Columbus, Ohio and 1/19 for a weekend that starts at Caffeine and Angelo’s in Lakewood and includes The Cleveland Cavaliers).

My life has always been kind of episodic and this chapter is no exception. As I pack my bag for three nights at the Winton Place (arranged for by my brother Dan) and confirm my Southwest Airlines Reservation I am pondering an offer to be a Middle School Art Teacher.

Ironically, each encounter with Janie is remarkable, comfortable and completely “in the moment”. We’ve enjoyed each other’s company and as text messages and snail mails unfold we get reacquainted as we each recall what it is that brought us together in the first place. It’s a beautiful thing, really.

New Year’s Eve Reflection 12/31/2022 (stream of consciousness texts sent on Saturday – the last day of the year). 

I love rainy day Janie as much as the one that smiles at the sunshine and the one who says "damn it" when she feels less than100% as well as the one who’s gotta workout when the world isn’t right or just…or the one who continues to protest the omniscient Amazon in spite of relying on the billionaire’s business model being unavoidable this time of year…And the one who wishes she was a cat because then she would be warmer when the power has been out most of the day…Or the one that only admits to a tear in her eye after the fact a month or more later.

Or the one who insists Steve Martin is not funny in the 1979 movie The Jerk only to laugh when challenged to describe an example of a “not funny” part of the film. (She doesn't recall this ever happening but suggests it could be "selective memory".)

Or the one who agrees to drive to Columbus Museum of Art and spend the day (and night) with me.

Or the one who says things like  “divine intervention…sometimes that works”

Or the one who agreed to go on a movie date to see “Deep Throat” when she and her date (me) were just in high school…

Or the Janie to whom, at one of our reunions, I said “You still make me weak in the knees” 

Or the Janie who almost like magic pulls out a gift certificate to the very restaurant, Pier W, where we met 48 years after our Senior Prom in 1974 (on my birthday no less…).

Or the Janie who told me about a tattoo and teases me with “a woman doesn’t tell where…you’ll have to find out for yourself”…

Or the Janie who will not be convinced of the value in abstract expressionist Mark Rothko color field painting.

Or the Janie who (after my brother Dan checked on her at the candy store) said: I love the Morgans, especially wam.

Or the Janie who responded to text in May when I said something like: “I am so looking forward to seeing you” with “ditto”

Or the Janie who described me as… not all men are rascals…some are cool and lovable…

I really hope we can stay connected  in 2023…whatever that might mean…que the soundtrack “wise men say only fools rush in”

JANIE: Wow overwhelmed with all the texts. So sweet though. Happy New Year and hopefully 2023 will bring memories and adventures. I can’t take all the praises you give. I don’t know what to say but thank you. Again you make me smile and bluish.

WAM: You can blush…just don’t turn bluish…ha.

Cindy Verdea Hyland texted me as I was headed to the airport calling my attention to an article in the Lakewood Observer (page 10 article by Tim Rowell). The last paragraph kinda captures that feeling I get back in my boyhood hometown.

"As I pass our old neighborhood again today, I noticed things do change. Most things are the same....Lakewood Park's more diverse group of daily visitors no longer find a skating rink at the Oldest Stone House Field in winter, but do find the park's new Solstice Steps to applaud a spectacular Lake Erie Sunset. The old gives way to the new. The good remains and some of the good gets better. And that's reassuring." 

 

 

 

 

Holidays in Old North

The Holidays in Old North at North 14th at Montgomery featured a Tiny Desk concert hosted at U.S. International Foods offices owned by Dave and Linda Shogren. The line up from 11am to 4pm was 11am Walter Greiner with Paul Niehaus IV, 12:15 Benbow City Shiuffle (blues), 1:30 Noddin' Dave's OMG (fold and country) and 2:24 Barefoot Jones (folk rock). After stopping in to see my friend Marie Oberkirsch at Central Print I parked myself there for the duration, It was just wat the doctor ordered as I was in a reflective mood, The following poem (sort of poem) was written from some of my notes designed to help me recall some feelings and lyrics that I found uplifting, inspiring and even a poetic.

Tiny Desk Collage Poem

I should be at an all time low, but instead I’m full of hope.

The blues ain’t nothing but a botheration on your mind;

Truth in the words at a tiny desk I find.

Saturday reflection helps me unwind.

 

Junk food to the Chinese;

Listening to music as we please.

Drum from Tanzania (rhymes with Lasagna);

Big Foot Boogie and good on ya.

 

Betwixt the Stars and the Moon I dream she loves me too;

If you go down to Deep Ellum, put your money in your shoes.

Sidewalk sale, two for a dollar on the tag.

Chasing rewards in the wind. Fighting a way out of a paper bag

Thought she was loving me but she was leaving all the time.

Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery/Make me a poster of an old rodeo/ Just give me one thing that I can hold on to/To believe in this livin' is just a hard way to go

It's a wonderful life and teacher says

Whenever a bell rings an angel gets her wings.