from my sketchbook: peter watts

Peter Watts became the road manager for Pink Floyd in 1967, a few months prior to the departure of band founder Syd Barrett. (In December 1967, guitarist David Gilmour was signed on to take Barrett’s place.) According to an interview, Peter was responsible for “getting everything together onstage, so all the guys have to do …

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IF: equality

I took my inspiration from the cover of this week’s New Yorker magazine. The cover illustration depicts a nationally recognized couple celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision that portions of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) withholding federal benefits from same-sex marriages are unconstitutional. DOMA was signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton. Although the …

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IF: surveillance

“There was a possibility I could have been under surveillance.” — Julius Rosenberg On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by the United States for treason. The couple were accused and convicted of supplying the Soviet Union with thousands of classified top secret documents, specifically dealing with plans to build an atomic …

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from my sketchbook: kermit roosevelt

At 20 years old, Kermit Roosevelt — the second son of President Theodore Roosevelt — left Harvard University to accompany his father on an African safari. Upon returning, he re-enrolled and completed four years worth of studies in just two and a half years. While at Harvard, he was a member of the prestigious, though secretive, Porcellian …

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from my sketchbook: the dolly sisters

At 13, twins Roszika and Janszieka Deutsch emigrated to the United States from their native Hungary. The energetic and rambunctious sisters were kicked out of a strict Catholic school for their lascivious dancing. But, by 1911, the talented and strikingly beautiful twins were front and center-stage in the famous Ziegfeld Follies. For the next decade, …

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