her all about the Cubs’ 1-0 win in the first game, and the 9-1 tromp
over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the second, giving her an inning-by-inning run
down of both games. He told her all about catching Gabby Hartnett’s winning
home run ball, and how his dad had intervened when the drunken man tried to
grab the ball.
Three weeks later, he had a response.
Dear Danny,
I do not like this game baseball.
Anya
7
As the heat and humidity steamed the summer of 1939,
something strange happened to Danny McClain. He knew it all started the day his
dad took him to that double-header at Wrigley. Something about that whole
exchange surrounding the Gabby Hartnett home run ball had sliced open the
tiniest fissure in the arm’s-length relationship his father had with him. Ever
since Joey joined the Navy, Dad had remained stoic, distant, silent—even more
than usual. But Danny noticed something different as each day passed. A kinder
comment here and there. An unexpected interest in Danny’s routine activities. An
occasional scratch behind Sophie’s ears. And perhaps most noticeable, the
gradual ease in the features of the pronounced scowl that usually framed his father’s
face. That, along with a noticeable shift in the atmosphere around the house added
up to a much more relaxed home life.
Since Anya made it clear she wasn’t interested in baseball,
Danny took care not to mention the subject in his letters to her. In his
latest, he’d written about the change in his father over the past few weeks.
. . . I guess you’d have to know Dad to understand his ways.
But it’s all really strange to me. For the first time in my life, he actually
seems interested in what I’m thinking or doing. Stranger still, last night he
invited me to ride along on his delivery route. First time he’s ever asked!
We’ve had a lot of rain lately, so I haven’t been able to mow many lawns, which
meant I could stay out all night with him.
Every night he has to be at Film Row downtown at 1:00 a.m. Each
studio has an “exchange” office where they stock their films. Dad’s job is to
pick up the film reels ordered by the theaters on his route, then deliver the
reels to each theater. Most movies have four or five reels of film for each
movie. They’re transported in these narrow, octagonal-shaped cans. So we loaded
up the cans from MGM, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and all the other big name studios, then headed off on Dad’s route.
It’s a big area, even crossing over into neighboring Indiana (that’s
the state next to Illinois ). We’d drop off the
film cans, pick up the ones they’d already shown, and drive to the next
theater. We did that all night long. Then, once all the deliveries and pick-ups
were made, we made our way back to Film Row to drop off the ones we’d picked up
along the way.
It was kinda fun, being out all night. We didn’t get home
until 8:00 a.m. I found out it’s a real
different world that time of night in Chicago . Even
the folks working at the studio exchanges were a little shady. Nice, but
ruffians, even the women. Dad talked a lot (which was real unusual),
telling me about the people we met along the way, and all about the movies we
were toting around. My favorite is “Stagecoach” with that new Western star, John
Wayne. It came out in February and I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. (I get
to go free to the theater in our neighborhood.) Another one of my favorites is “The
Hounds of Baskerville” with Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock Holmes. That’s a
real scary one! And I’m kinda curious about this new one coming out next month
called “The Wizard of Oz.” Sounds weird, but there’s a lot of buzz around it.
Do you have movie theaters in Holland ? If
so, do they show American films? What are your favorites? Any favorite movie
stars? I like Hoot Gibson, Johnny Mack Brown, Ken Maynard—they’re all Western
cowboy stars. But I also like Jimmy Stewart, Clark Cable,
over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the second, giving her an inning-by-inning run
down of both games. He told her all about catching Gabby Hartnett’s winning
home run ball, and how his dad had intervened when the drunken man tried to
grab the ball.
Three weeks later, he had a response.
Dear Danny,
I do not like this game baseball.
Anya
7
As the heat and humidity steamed the summer of 1939,
something strange happened to Danny McClain. He knew it all started the day his
dad took him to that double-header at Wrigley. Something about that whole
exchange surrounding the Gabby Hartnett home run ball had sliced open the
tiniest fissure in the arm’s-length relationship his father had with him. Ever
since Joey joined the Navy, Dad had remained stoic, distant, silent—even more
than usual. But Danny noticed something different as each day passed. A kinder
comment here and there. An unexpected interest in Danny’s routine activities. An
occasional scratch behind Sophie’s ears. And perhaps most noticeable, the
gradual ease in the features of the pronounced scowl that usually framed his father’s
face. That, along with a noticeable shift in the atmosphere around the house added
up to a much more relaxed home life.
Since Anya made it clear she wasn’t interested in baseball,
Danny took care not to mention the subject in his letters to her. In his
latest, he’d written about the change in his father over the past few weeks.
. . . I guess you’d have to know Dad to understand his ways.
But it’s all really strange to me. For the first time in my life, he actually
seems interested in what I’m thinking or doing. Stranger still, last night he
invited me to ride along on his delivery route. First time he’s ever asked!
We’ve had a lot of rain lately, so I haven’t been able to mow many lawns, which
meant I could stay out all night with him.
Every night he has to be at Film Row downtown at 1:00 a.m. Each
studio has an “exchange” office where they stock their films. Dad’s job is to
pick up the film reels ordered by the theaters on his route, then deliver the
reels to each theater. Most movies have four or five reels of film for each
movie. They’re transported in these narrow, octagonal-shaped cans. So we loaded
up the cans from MGM, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and all the other big name studios, then headed off on Dad’s route.
It’s a big area, even crossing over into neighboring Indiana (that’s
the state next to Illinois ). We’d drop off the
film cans, pick up the ones they’d already shown, and drive to the next
theater. We did that all night long. Then, once all the deliveries and pick-ups
were made, we made our way back to Film Row to drop off the ones we’d picked up
along the way.
It was kinda fun, being out all night. We didn’t get home
until 8:00 a.m. I found out it’s a real
different world that time of night in Chicago . Even
the folks working at the studio exchanges were a little shady. Nice, but
ruffians, even the women. Dad talked a lot (which was real unusual),
telling me about the people we met along the way, and all about the movies we
were toting around. My favorite is “Stagecoach” with that new Western star, John
Wayne. It came out in February and I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. (I get
to go free to the theater in our neighborhood.) Another one of my favorites is “The
Hounds of Baskerville” with Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock Holmes. That’s a
real scary one! And I’m kinda curious about this new one coming out next month
called “The Wizard of Oz.” Sounds weird, but there’s a lot of buzz around it.
Do you have movie theaters in Holland ? If
so, do they show American films? What are your favorites? Any favorite movie
stars? I like Hoot Gibson, Johnny Mack Brown, Ken Maynard—they’re all Western
cowboy stars. But I also like Jimmy Stewart, Clark Cable,
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