FYI

The BiG Story

"I was always on and off horse-
1 with The Deputy, which ran for
•i
.
back,"
he says. "I was the stalwart,
: some time in Detroit.)
Keen started his career working at I dependable fellow."
When he auditioned for "The
NBC, with plans of becoming a
I Waltons," Keen was pleased to
director. Then a friend, who was
find director Vincent Sherman on
putting together a musical theater
the set. "He was a real gentleman,
troupe, invited Keen along.
i
a
lovely man," Keen says. "He
"It was fun, though the only
I voted and fought for me in the
singing I'd done was in the bath-

tub," Keen said. Convinced most, if I role."
Keen remembers enjoying work-
i
not all, theater consisted of musi-
I
ing
with the cast, especially actor
: cats, Keen decided to stay in the
I Richard Thomas, who starred as
business. "That began my down-
1 John-Boy.
ward skids into Hollywood."
His one sour memory: "I recall
Keen admits to never much liking I
I
that
I had some vivid last speech
actors, "forever commenting on
I and they ruined it badly." After
scripts" and never feeling the
hunger that drives so many to the I the show aired, though, he
theater. He appeared in films with I received many calls and letters
Henry Fonda and Burgess Mered- 1 from fans.
Today, Keen enjoys reading —
I ith, and made friends with Bette
"Actually,
I'm re-reading everything I
Davis after she complimented his
had to read in high school, gram-
choice of reading material. (Rather
mar school and college. I love Dick--
: than socialize, Keen liked to bring
ens." — and gardening. He has
; a book on the set.) He often por-
I
seen
just a handful of movies in the
trayed the good guy — not too
I past 40 years, and he hated them
bold, just fine enough to make a
' all 111
i small-town girl lose her senses.

Fooc

Down

This recipe is a Hamner family favorite. It was created by Earl Hamner
Jr.'s grandmother, and often prepared by his mother, the model for the
"Olivia Walton" character. Reprinted with permission of Marion Hamn
er Hawkes, ME Hamner's sister (aka "Mary Ellen" on the show.)

011va"s Applesauce Cake

1 cup.. butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups applesauce
2 cups light raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. baking soda
3-1/2 cups flour (sifted)
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. nutmeg
pinch salt

Sift together flour, baking soda,
salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

3/20
1998

64

Take 1/2 cup of this mixture
and stir into nuts and raisins. Set
both aside. Cream butter until
whipped soft. Add sugar a little
at a time until mixture is smooth.
Vigorously beat in eggs. Alter-
nately stir in flour mixture and
applesauce.
When all are mixed together,
add nuts and raisins and mix
well. Pour batter into well
cake mold. Bake in pre-
heated oven at 350-degrees for
one hour. Cool 10 minutes, then
turn out on cake rack.

The Plane Truth

The story behind the Soviet Union's
first supersonic jet.

Elizabeth Applebaum
I AppleTree Editor

FYI: It's not a good read.
One of the strangest anti-Semitic
myths around is the blood-libel
charge, alleging that Jews use
blood in matzoh. Jews actually
have been taken to court for this
(the notorious
Mendel Bellis
case in Russia),
and it has been
the inspiration
behind numer-
ous pogroms.
But did you
know it also is
featured in the
writings of one
of the most
acclaimed writ-
! ers in English lit-
erature? You can
find a blood
accusation
against Jews in
Chaucer's Can-
terbury Tales (in "The Prioress'
Tale").

FYI: It wouldn't be MIG
without a Russian Jew.
You've heard of the plane, of
course. But did you know that one
of the men who helped create it
was Jewish? The late Mikhail Cure-
: vich began designing aircraft soon
after the Bolshevik Revolution. He
was working as deputy chief at a
Moscow aircraft company when he
and a colleague, Artem Mikoyan,
designed the MIG fighter. It was
named in their honor: M, for Mikoy-
an, and G for Gurevich. Through-
out the years Gurevich worked to
I improve the MIG. While serving as

deputy chief designer for the Soviet
Ministry of Aircraft Production, he
created the MIG-3, then the MIG-
15 and finally the MIG-17. In
1955, Gurevich came up with his
most impressive plane to date: the
MIG-19, a supersonic fighter.
The Soviets made great use of th
MIG during World War II, and
honored Gure-
vich by naming
him, in 1957,
chief designer of
military aircraft
production.
Ironically, his
creation would
prove deadly to
Israel; it often
was used by the
Arab nations in
their attacks on
the Jewish state.

FYI: Guess
what that A
stood for?
No doubt you've heard him
• referred to as James A. Garfield,
20th president of the United States,
who was sworn in, in 1881. But
did you know his middle name was
Abram? (No Jewish connection,
simply taken from the Torah.)

FYI: And while we're in the
middle of all this...
The first Jewish Army school
graduate was Simon Magruder
(that's right — Magruder) Levy of
Maryland. He graduated in
1802, and became a second-lieu-
tenant in the Corps of Engineers.
He was appointed a cadet
because of his service during the
Battle of Maumee Rapids in 1794.
He died in 1807.

