Word Magic

We each have a singularly unique way of seeing the world (see "Which window is yours?"),though only a few of us will ever take the opportunity to identify, or be able to fully grasp, our own perspective. This is because a person’s exclusive worldview is never personally obvious and even when discovered, is seldom accepted without argument.

The best way to begin “seeing” one’s own worldview is to understand the deeper meaning of one’s very first memory. No matter how brief or cryptic a person’s earliest recollection may seem to be, a treasure of information is always concealed. Every word and every phrase has importance.

As an example, J.K. Rowling’s brief early memory gives us her worldview.

My most vivid memory of childhood is my father sitting and reading The Wind in the Willows to me. I had the measles at the time, but I don’t really remember that. I just remember the book.

Rowling recalls a specific incident in which her father sits and reads The Wind in the Willows to her when she is sick with the measles. Interestingly, she uses 5 of the mere 37 words in the memory to point out that she doesn’t “really remember [having the measles].” Her mention of this so-called “non-remembrance” suggests its greater significance to the memory’s overall meaning.

Perhaps you can recall being carried away by the words of a magnificent story read with expression by a caring family member or teacher when you were a child. As for me, I remember hearing the story of Robinson Crusoe read by our fourth grade teacher. For a few minutes everyday, and until the book came to its inevitable end, I became one with Robinson Crusoe’s adventure. Nothing else really mattered. All my fourth grade worries seemed to disappear.

Unlike Rowling, however, my specific experience of enjoying the adventures of Robinson Crusoe is prompted by Rowling memory and therefore does not hold the same importance for me as Rowling’s memory does for her. This difference is important.

When asked about an earliest memory, Rowling names a moment in time when the words of The Wind in the Willows, as read by her father, transport her from the discomfort of the present moment to a world of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie. Unconsciously, she makes special note of this experience, thereafter bringing the recollection to mind innumerable times over her lifetime. We know this to be true, because without rehearsal, memories just fade away. Thus, from the millions of early childhood moments she might have recalled, Rowling is able to name this one incident as "most vivid."

Of interest is that Rowling began writing the first book in the Harry Potter series in 1990, when her mother was suffering with multiple sclerosis. Her mother died in December of that year. According to Rowling, “I was writing Harry Potter at the moment my mother died. I had never told her about Harry Potter.”

In 1992, Rowling married a Portuguese television journalist and the couple had one child the next year, after which they separated in December 1993. According to reports, Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide that same year.

In 1995, Rowling finished the first Harry Potter fantasy novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), while surviving on welfare. Initially rejected by twelve publishing houses, the manuscript was eventually published by Bloomsbury, a small publishing house in London, England.

In the U.S., Scholastic Inc. won the rights to publish the novel and changed the title to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1998). Six wildly successful Harry Potter novels followed, leading Harry Potter to become a global brand worth over 15 billion dollars.

Thus, with a worldview of words make the world bigger, Rowling continued recording her imagination via words on paper, suggesting to us the utility and magic of writing in her life. In childhood, an occurrence of the measles was made insignificant by the words of The Wind in the Willows, and as an adult, putting her own creativity on paper distracted her from the reality of many painful situations, including her mother’s illness, her own divorce, her depression, and living on welfare, among others.

Moreover, by creating the Harry Potter series, Rowling has given millions of children (and adults) an avenue by which to alter their own consciousness, in addition to the fact that she has enriched her own life and lifestyle beyond measure. Yes, words have made her world demonstrably bigger.

Incidentally, how big is your world?

Rowling Out the Truth

Joanne Murray, or J.K. Rowling as she is known the world over, was born Joanne “Jo” Rowling on July 31, 1965, in Gloucestershire, England. Celebrated for creating the wildly popular Harry Potter series, Rowling is also well-known for inspiring kids to read, for winning innumerable book awards, and for charming the media with such an incredible rags-to-riches story that Forbes named her the first person to become a U.S. dollar billionaire by writing books!

Thinkwriter is delighted to present what J.K. Rowling describes as her “most vivid memory of childhood.” What follows is that memory, in Rowling’s own words.

My most vivid memory of childhood is my father sitting and reading The Wind in the Willows to me. I had the measles at the time, but I don’t really remember that. I just remember the book.

In light of the truth that a single memory illuminates a person’s worldview in the same way a single blood sample reveals a person's health status, what does J.K. Rowling’s early memory suggest to you about her worldview?

Please review the following four possibilities and make your selection by voting in the poll to the right. To share your thoughts, please leave a comment at the end of the post, even anonymously if you wish. As always, thank you for participating!

1. The wind is invisible.

2. Words make the world bigger.(correct answer)

3. Creativity is contagious.

4. There's a fly in the soup.

Paul Harvey: Page Two

Was there ever a time when listening to a Paul Harvey broadcast that you felt disapproving or offended?

Probably not.

To the contrary, Paul Harvey delighted listeners with a staccato delivery of unique news items and obscure historical vignettes. A failed painter turned out to be Adolf Hitler; the 13-year-old boy who got a cash gift from Franklin Roosevelt turned out to be Fidel Castro, and on and on – a formulaic program agenda that never disappointed. Bottom line: Harvey told stories under the guise of giving the news (i.e., “Stand by for news!”).

And his unique and strategically placed ads had a believability seldom found in high-end, more sophisticated commercials. As we waited for “the rest of the story,” Harvey convincingly touted any one of his apparently favorite products, including ocular nutrition, a favorite sound system, or even a preventative for osteoporosis!

Yes, the real story of Paul Harvey is that every time he hit the airwaves, he was able to pull together a focused audience before shrewdly interrupting himself to hype a personally endorsed product. He knew listeners would attend to his pitch in anticipation of what was to come after the commercial: a guaranteed surprise ending. No wonder so many marketers lined up to vie for his winning endorsements!

Hello Americans, I’m Paul Harvey. You know what the news is, in a minute; you’re going to hear . . . the rest of the story.

Of course, this strategy made Paul Harvey incredibly successful. His annual income was said to be in excess of the earnings of Barbara Walters, Walter Cronkite, and Mike Wallace put together. He loved great products, great ideas, and great men, surrounding himself over the years with all three, included among them such interesting characters as Warren Buffet, Sam Walton, and Billy Graham – all big thinkers, just like he was.

Keep this in mind as you reread his earliest memories. Paul Harvey’s worldview, via his earliest recollections, is easy to decipher once we look behind the curtain of the so-called “obvious answer.”

Each of his earliest memories happens to be a vignette of good versus bad behavior. For example, in memory one, Paul Harvey recalls smoking grapevine, only to receive the punishment of a mouthful of ants. In memory two, he crudely attempts to grab the attention of a girl, only to send her home crying. In memory three, he apparently has been a good student and thus receives the reward of his teacher’s approval, complete with an affectionate kiss on the top of his head! And finally, in memory four, he protects his ass, literally, and gets rewarded by his mother – who spends a relative fortune on his new clothes.

Through his memories, we realize that Paul Harvey saw life through a lens of good and bad behavior. Although history suggests Harvey’s world got less black and white over the years – his worldview, as evidenced in his early memories, suggests man is basically good. If you doubt it, listen again to Paul Harvey’s stories and find all the evidence you can handle.

Paul Harvey: Page One

Paul Harvey, the renowned broadcaster with the captivating delivery and the cleverly pitched commercial, has shared a few of his earliest memories with the public over the years.

As you may recall if you've visited Thinkwriter in the past, when we have access to a person’s earliest memory or memories, we have the perfect window through which to recognize this person's worldview. With training, practice, and an experienced understanding about earliest memories, we are able to know and to quickly understand much more about a person than we could otherwise.

Let us now review Paul Harvey’s earliest memories.

1.) I remember once smoking grapevine behind the garage and getting a mouthful of ants.

2.) I remember my first crush. I was 7. Hoping to be noticed, I snapped a rubber band against the neck of poor little Ethel Mae Hazelton. She ran home crying.

3.) I remember my first kiss. It came from a teacher. I remember I was 7; she must have been 100. I forget what I had done thus to be rewarded because I was so flustered when she kissed me. She kissed me right on top of the head – when there was hair there. Instantly, I was in love forever.

4.) I remember during the Depression getting down to one wearable pair of pants. I discovered in class one day that the seat of my pants had finally worn through. I was excused from class early. Embarrassed, I walked home sideways down Main Street. I got angry about my situation when I spotted a chauffeur driven automobile transporting one of the oil barons of the city. I felt sorry for myself and jealous of a man I had never met. When I arrived home I showed my mother the hole. She took me to downtown Bell’s clothing store where she purchased a new suit of clothes that came with two pair of pants. It cost eleven dollars and ninety-five cents. (I later learned she had taken the money from the account she set aside for paying taxes.)

To begin to recognize Paul Harvey’s authentic worldview, look first for the commonalities in his recollections. A person's eariest memories always share a similar drumbeat. After a careful review, select Paul Harvery's worldview from the list to follow. Vote your best choice in the poll to the right.

Stay tuned and in the next few days, I will post his worldview and a commentary to explain the answer.

As always, thank you for participating! (poll now closed; correct answer in red)

1. Man is basically good.
2. I’m the king of attention.
3. Try not to show your ass.
4. Love makes the world go round.

Coming Soon...

Earliest memories from Paul Harvey are coming soon to Thinkwriter.

Please stay tuned.

Robert Wagner: Director of Attention

How interesting that it takes Robert Wagner 27 years to discuss the night his wife Natalie Wood apparently falls overboard and drowns off the coast of Santa Catalina near Los Angeles.

According to the story, after a night of drunken partying with actor Christopher Walken on the couple’s yacht, tensions between Wagner and Walken explode. Wagner, already jealous of Walken, a rising star, suspects Walken and his wife are having an “emotional affair” on the set of Brainstorm, the film Walken and Natalie Wood are shooting. Wagner loses his temper when Walken suggests Wood should star in more films instead of caring for two young children. Wagner smashes a bottle of wine on the table, forcing Walken to retreat to his cabin.

Wagner says he later puts his head around the door of his cabin to see Natalie getting ready for bed, after which Walken and Wagner return to the deck to try to cool down. When Wagner retires to his cabin around midnight, his wife is missing. Also missing is the yacht’s dinghy.

Wagner’s theory is that Natalie hears the dinghy banging loosely against the Splendor and goes out to fix it. He suggests she slips on the swim step, knocks herself unconscious and rolls into the water. The dinghy just floats away.

It is widely reported that Wagner blames himself for Natalie’s death and never completely recovers.

And so what about Wagner’s earliest memories?

Not unlike Wagner’s intention to confront an alleged competitor Christopher Walken, Wagner’s earliest recollections reveal Wagner’s ongoing quest to best his seminal rival, Robert J. Wagner, Sr. In four of his memories, we observe the father-son struggle for authority. In one memory, we learn what Wagner's idea of success and authority looks like.

In memory #1 Wagner ridicules his father’s response to Wagner’s accidental act of “blowing out all the outlets in the house.” As if to say “Sure, I blew out every outlet in the house; but Dad blew his cool,” Wagner explains “[Dad] came ‘roaring’ out, ‘grabbed’ me, ‘put me over his knee,’ and spanked me with a hair brush …and then ‘threw me off his lap’ for this ‘terrible thing’ I had done!” In Wagner’s telling of the event, his father is made to look the fool.

In memory #2, Wagner expresses disgust at being tagged “his father’s little package.” When the train transporting Wagner to California leaves the station, Wagner “rips off” a handwritten destination tag attached to his jacket, thereby declaring independence from his dad and signaling he will not be “[mis]handled” by the man who pays a paltry $10.00 to assure his son’s safe “delivery” to California.

In memory #3, Wagner’s challenge is more passive. According to Wagner, his father opens a checking account so Wagner can pay his expenses on the trip to California. In visiting a souvenir shop along the way, however, Wagner uses money to buy an antique gun; with the justification he wants protection from “marauding Indians” who might attack the train. Wagner’s purchase is guaranteed to provoke anger in his dad, especially considering the gun is in all probability not an antique, most likely overpriced, and useless for protection purposes. Wagner challenges his father by spending money the way he chooses to spend it.

In memory 4, Wagner recalls the moment he realizes his picture of success and authority. Watching Gable, Astaire, Scott, and Grant walk together down the fairway, Wagner decides exactly what he wants in life: to be one of them - handsome, successful, respected, and in demand.

Finally, in memory #5, Wagner shoots out all the lights in the tunnel of the country club at Bel-Air, thereby “embarrassing [his] dad by being a smart ass.” Wagner’s deliberate act has him maneuvering his father to lose control. As expected, his father “closes his fists and goes after Wagner – ‘again’ – but a couple of other men [hold] him back.” Ironically, Wagner’s reprehensible behavior comes across as more measured and controlled than his father’s! In the end, Wagner one-ups his dad by coming out the “victim winner.”

Unfortunately, however, Wagner’s rivalry with Christopher Walken brings forth a totally different outcome. Although Wagner’s angry outburst one-ups Walken in the short run, Wagner’s maneuvering of the opportunity to confront Walken, coupled with the threesome’s excessive partying and their eventual breakdown in communication, leads ultimately to Natalie’s tragic death. A friend of Wagner recalls, “[Wagner] went through the inquest in a daze and after that he took to his bed for eight days in a catatonic state, blaming himself for [Natalie’s] death. He’s never entirely recovered, but how can you?”

Perhaps trumping his alleged rival at the cost of losing his wife silenced Wagner for 27 years. In hindsight, had Wagner and his father been able to confront and resolve their issues long ago, history may have been written differently. As it turns out, however, Wagner’s need to challenge a suspected or perhaps imagined rival got the best of him – literally.

Robert J. Wagner: "Number Two"

Actor Robert J. Wagner has been active in Hollywood for nearly six decades. His memorable work includes A Kiss before Dying, The Longest Day, The Pink Panther, the Austin Powers series of spy spoofs, and many others. He also starred in three popular television series: It Takes a Thief; Switch; and Hart to Hart and has been featured on the current popular sitcom Two and a Half Men.

In Wagner’s recently published memoir, Pieces of My Heart: A Life (2008), released twenty-seven years after the mysterious death of his wife, screen star Natalie Wood, Wagner tells for the first time his story of what happened on the night of Wood’s death. Wagner also reveals his clandestine love affair with Barbara Stanwyck when she was forty-five and he only twenty-two and just getting started in Hollywood. Their romance lasted four years.

But to really know the man, let’s first understand Robert Wagner's earliest memories and bring to light his worldview.

Please vote for the one choice that best represents Robert Wagner's worldview... and thank you for participating!

Robert Wagner remembers….

1. When I was little, I stuck something in an electrical socket and blew out every outlet in the house. My father was in the bathroom shaving, and he came roaring out, grabbed me, put me over his knee, spanked me with a hair brush, then threw me off his lap for this terrible thing I had done.

2. When I was seven, my father took me to the train station in Detroit and tipped the porter $10.00 to make sure the package – his son – arrived safely. On my coat was a tag: “Deliver this boy to Mrs. Pierce, Hollywood Military Academy; Hollywood, California." As soon as the train pulled out of the station, I ripped the tag off my coat.

3. My father has opened a checking account for me so that I could pay my expenses on the trip. I remember that in Albuquerque I went into a souvenir shop and bought an antique gun so I could protect myself against the marauding Indians I was sure would attack the train at some point.

4. I was sitting under this tree when I was a little kid on a golf course, and I looked down the fairway and I saw these four gentlemen that I’d seen in the movies for so many years – Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, and Cary Grant – walking down the fairway, you know, and I looked at these men – and I thought…God, I want to be one of them. That’s what I want to be.

5. Once when I was twelve or thirteen, I took a BB gun and shot all the lights out in the tunnel of the country club at Bel-Air and generally embarrassed my father by being a smart-ass. The country club incident made him close his fists and go after me – again – but a couple of other men held him back.

Robert Wagner's worldview is...
1. I am an actor.
2. I write the lines.
3. I cast the players.
4. I direct the scene.