The Mark of an Era, &c.

On ‘children of the Depression,’ a Hong Kong hero, a collegiate no-hitter, and more

A one-room schoolhouse during the Depression (National Archives and Records Administration)

Like you, I’m sure, I’ve known many people who grew up during the Depression, and on whom that period left a mark. I am thinking of one lady in particular. Her husband became a successful businessman and the family was well-off. She was very generous, very philanthropic. But where her personal spending was concerned—spending on herself—she always had a mind to frugality. “Child of the Depression,” she would explain. “I’m a child of the Depression.”

I thought of her when reading this obit of Leonard A. Lauder in the New York Times. He was a son of Estée, the cosmetics queen. He “amassed a personal fortune of about $10.1 billion,” says the obit, “making him one of the 100 richest Americans.”

The obit ends as follows:

For all his contributions to various causes, Mr. Lauder regarded himself as a frugal man with an eye on the bottom line.

“I use slivers of soap, I reuse paper clips, I use the backside of memos,” he told The Times in 2004. “You can take the child out of the Depression, but you can’t take the Depression out of the child.”

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At the Oslo Freedom Forum, I met Kim Yumi, who escaped North Korea, with her family, two years ago. I wrote about her for The Dispatch yesterday, here. She is a brave woman. Her husband, Kim Yihyeok, planned their escape for about ten years. Their journey was harrowing. But they made it to South Korea.

Once there, Yumi and Yihyeok devoted considerable effort to informing people about life in North Korea—the sheer horror of it. A year and a half after their escape, however, tragedy struck. Yihyeok was killed in a diving accident, at 32. His wife, his widow, carries on. She has a lot on her shoulders.

I have interviewed many people, from many corners, over the years. The North Koreans stand out, for the peculiarity of their situation, and the courage they demonstrate.

***

As I say in my Dispatch piece, Kim Yumi and I had the services of an interpreter, Yoo Jihye, a young South Korean who is doing graduate work in Berlin. She has studied German since high school. In college, she majored in German literature.

“What made you want to study German?” I asked her. “Goethe? Heine? Rilke? Did you want to read them in the original?” (I said this in a playful tone.) Jihye smiled. She then gave an answer that seemed almost obvious, once she gave it.

After World War II, Germany was divided. Then it reunited. And this intrigued her, as a Korean.

Her English is quite good. She picked it up from television, she told me—and from three sources in particular: BBC News, Doctor Who, and Grey’s Anatomy.

A fine education.

Here is a picture I snapped of Kim Yumi and Yoo Jihye, after we had our interview:

***

From Reuters, a headline: “Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong faces second charge under national security law.” This young man, says the article, was charged “with conspiracy to collude with a foreign country under a Beijing-imposed national security law.”

I will quote some more:

Wong, 28, was originally set to be released in January 2027 from a 56-month jail sentence he is serving under the same law for conspiracy to commit subversion after he participated in an unofficial primary election.

Taken to the West Kowloon magistrates’ courts, Wong faced a new charge of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.

The former student pro-democracy activist, who wore a blue shirt and appeared noticeably thinner than before, replied, “Understand,” when the clerk read out the charge and details of the offence.

I wrote about Joshua Wong—quoted him—in a 2017 column:

Hong Kong was supposed to enjoy an exemption: to be an island of democracy and liberalism, attached to a one-party dictatorship (with a gulag). How did we ever believe that? Did we?

The government has now jailed three students who have led democracy protests. The judge in the case said that the sentences were necessary to derail a “sick trend”: namely the belief of some Chinese that they should live in a democracy. Such thinking is “arrogant and self-righteous,” said the judge. . . .

One of the students—Joshua Wong—said, “You can lock up our bodies, but not our minds! We want democracy in Hong Kong. And we will not give up.”

***

Did you see this exchange between Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury secretary, and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D., N.M.)? She says, “Do you think tariffs are taxes?” He says no. Incredulous, she asks him to confirm this. He confirms it.

What does Scott Bessent really believe? He’s no dummy. But for a Treasury secretary to say that tariffs aren’t taxes—well, it’s a little like an Interior secretary saying that Yosemite is not a national park, or an Ag secretary saying that cows aren’t farm animals . . .

***

One of my points about President Trump is that, as a rule, he is not sneaky. He is not stealthy. He is rather transparent, saying what he believes and what he intends to do. In the 2024 campaign, he was very open: about international trade; about Ukraine and Russia; about immigration; about many things.

Repeatedly, he said that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.” What more do you want?

A recent headline reads, “Kennedy Removes All C.D.C. Vaccine Panel Experts.” (Article here.) The Kennedy in question is RFK Jr., whom Trump tabbed to lead the Health and Human Services Department.

I thought of what Trump said at his Madison Square Garden rally last October: “Robert F. Kennedy cares more about human beings and health and the environment than anybody, and I’m gonna let him go wild on health, I’m gonna let him go wild on the food, I’m gonna let him go wild on medicines.”

Buyer—voter—beware.

***

“Gage Wood” is a cool name. And he is the pitcher of the hour, or one of them. Did you see this?

Arkansas’ Gage Wood pitched the third no-hitter in College World Series history and first in 65 years on Monday, striking out a record 19 and never letting Murray State come close to getting a hit in the Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory.

Some more:

Wood’s bid for a perfect game ended in the eighth when his 2-2 breaking ball hit Dom Decker in his back foot.

“When I hit the guy in the foot, I knew I screwed up,” said Wood, who got a foul out and consecutive strikeouts to end the inning, then looked skyward and gave a primal scream and did a couple of high steps as he headed to the dugout.

Amazing.

College greatness does not always mean success in the pros. But often it does . . .

***

Care for some music? The composer Daniel Asia has written an opera, The Tin Angel, which will have its premiere in New York later this month. For The New Criterion, I have done a Q&A with him: about this opera and the composing life—here.

***

Let’s end on some music, too. Yesterday, I learned what Thelonius Monk’s middle name was: Sphere. He was Thelonius Sphere Monk. I learned it because I passed this street sign:

Monk grew up in the area—this part of Manhattan—which was known as “San Juan Hill.”

“Gage Wood.” “Thelonius Sphere Monk,” or “Thelonius Monk” alone. There are a lot of great names out there.