AE Vol. 4 Issue 5–Preview by Bright Magazine Group

FOR EVERYONE WHO LOVES THIS COUNTRY

Leadership Lessons From America’s Greatest Presidents

STAND-UP WOMAN

Leanne Morgan is winning over audiences by turning her everyday family life into laugh-out-loud stand-up material. At 58, she’s now one of comedy’s biggest stars

Oxbow Bend

Grand Teton National Park, Wyo.

First Look

12 | Southern Charm

These five cities in the South beckon with their history, hospitality, and more.

Features

14 | For the Laughs

What makes comedian Leanne Morgan so relatable to audiences across America?

22 | The Protector

From surviving 9/11 to protecting four U.S. presidents, Evy Poumpouras overcame her fears by embracing vulnerability.

26 | Finding a Path to Dance

A dancer was about to give up, only to find a new home to pursue his craft—and a new mission.

32 | Classical Education for All

A charter school initiative reimagines what a K–12 public education looks like.

36 | A Man Unshackled

While serving a prison sentence, Ronald Olivier unexpectedly found a path toward freedom and redemption.

40 | Man’s Best Friend

A special bond between a police sergeant and his K-9 partner.

History

42 | A Life-Saver

How Dr. Crawford Long discovered that ether can be used as an anesthetic during surgery.

46 | The Definition of Sportsmanship

Christopher “Christy” Mathewson’s stellar conduct, on and off the field, won him legions of fans.

50 | A Fifer’s Call

This musical instrument played a critical role in battlefield communication during the Revolutionary War.

54 | Utility and Beauty

Pottier & Stymus became America’s leading luxury furniture firm through promoting the need for beauty in the home.

Arts & Letters

60 | Leadership Lessons

From George Washington to Ronald Reagan, author Talmage Boston highlights what we can learn from America’s great leaders.

66 | Second-Class Citizens

Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon’s new book uncovers why the odds are stacked against the working class of America.

68 | Why I Love America

Through life’s many ups and downs, her hometown frozen custard shop remained a source of comfort.

70 | My Family Roots

A reader visits Normandy to remember her father, a World War II glider pilot.

72 | An Artists’ Retreat

Creative minds convened in Cornish, New Hampshire, to find inspiration amid nature.

Lifestyle

| The Iron Chef’s Way

Geoffrey Zakarian finds joy in feeding his family and rescuing food for the hungry.

| A Good Fry

A top Southern chef shares his guide to making the crispiest, juiciest fried chicken.

| True Colors

A top stylist shows us how to express our personalities through color.

| Pain-Free Aging

An herbalist shares his cure-all for the aches and pains that come with old age.

98 | Growing Naturally

A master gardener discovers that a minimal intervention approach reaps the greatest rewards.

104 | Exploring the Oregon Coast

A trip that showcases nature in all its wonders, from rainforests to sand dunes to the seaside.

114 | Parting Thoughts

An expert on inflammation explains how diet, exercise, and natural remedies can alleviate chronic pain.

American Essence

FOR EVERYONE WHO LOVES THIS COUNTRY

PUBLISHER

Dana Cheng

EDITORIAL

Editor-In-Chief

Managing Editor

Lifestyle Editor

History Editor Arts & Letters Editors

Editor-At-Large

Production Manager

Channaly Philipp

Annie Wu

Crystal Shi

Sharon Kilarski

Jennifer Schneider

Tynan Beatty

Astrid Wang

CREATIVE

Lead Designer Designers

Photographers Illustrator

Marie He

Sunny Lo

Karen Tang

Samira Bouaou

Adhiraj Chakrabarti

Biba Kayewich

MARKETING & SALES

Marketing Manager

Marketing Assistant

Sales Director

Sales Assistant

Brett Chudá

Jennifer Tseng

Ellen Wang

Onon Otgonbayar

CONTRIBUTORS

Sandy Lindsey, Tim Johnson, Kenneth LaFave, Ileana Alescio, Krista Thomas, Andria Pressel, Jeff Minick, Trevor Phipps, Rebecca Day, Michelle Plastrik, Andrew Benson Brown, Dustin Bass, Dean George, Vickie Burns, Alana Lindberg Jolley, Randy Tatano, Matthew Wood, Ryan Cashman, David Coulson

American Essence (USPS 24810) is published bimonthly by Bright Magazine Group at 5 Penn Plz. Fl.8, New York, NY 10001. Periodicals postage is paid at New York, NY. Postmaster: Send address changes to American Essence, 5 Penn Plz. Fl.8, New York, NY 10001.

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Editor’s Note

Dear Readers,

This edition explores some very different callings—and the ripples of good that result from pursuing them.

In this issue, we speak with comedian Leanne Morgan, whose stand-up humor, well, stands out. Her everyday-gal relatability and the quotidian moments from which she mines abundant material provide instant connection between her and her audiences. It is all the more amazing that, after 25 years in comedy, she almost gave up. But since a significant turning point, her star has ever been on the rise (page 14).

We also caught up with former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras, who has protected several presidents. She now teaches people how to be resilient, no matter what they may face (page 22). Speaking of presidents, author Talmage Boston’s latest work delves into the qualities he’s found among America’s best presidents, and what we might learn from these today (page 60)

Don’t miss our story with dancer Jimmy Cha, whose ways were too maverick for his native country but just right for his adopted home, here in America, where his artistic dreams have flourished (page 26). His craft brings together passion and purpose in a most inspiring fashion.

For chef and TV personality Geoffrey Zakarian (page 80), the mission goes beyond putting food on the table—it’s about devotion to family and community. City Harvest, a food rescue organization he works with, distributed 80 million pounds of food this year to the hungry.

And on the lighter side, Sgt. Mark Tappan gives us some great insights into working (and playing) with his inimitable K-9 partner, Mattis (page 40)

Editor-In-Chief Editor@AmericanEssence.com

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SOCIAL CALENDAR

Automotive

Excellence

BRIDGEHAMPTON CONCOURS

Bridgehampton, N.Y. Sept. 14

Set on the famous The Bridge golf course in the Hamptons and quaintly nicknamed the “world’s best garden party,” this concours event boasts over 300 of the world’s most unique and rarest collector cars. Cars and Coffee is free and open to the public, while limited tickets are available for the elegant brunch at Topping Rose House.

TheBridgeHamptons.com/theevent

Go Wild ELK FEST

Estes Park, Colo. Sept. 28–29

The call of the majestic elk during their annual “rut” (mating season) announces the start of Elk Fest. Local Native American tribes join in with dance, music, and storytelling. There’s also music, arts and crafts, a beer garden, plenty of good eats, and fun interactive elk education for the whole family.

VisitEstesPark.com/eventscalendar/fall-events/elk-fest

Palate Pleaser SONOMA HARVEST FAIR

Sonoma, Calif. Oct. 12

Sonoma County’s grand tasting brings together the region’s best haute cuisine, craft beer, artisanal cider, and of course, wine. With over 100 wineries participating, even hard-toplease connoisseurs will find something to add to their collection. Wander the car show, browse the art displays, and crush grapes at the World Championship Grape Stomp. HarvestFair.org

By Sandy Lindsey

Pirates at Play CEDAR KEY PIRATE INVASION

Cedar Key, Fla.

Nov. 1–3

Ahoy mateys! Join the finest pirate reenactors as they come ashore to hoist the colors, fire the cannons, and sing sea shanties. Enjoy a Blessing of the Fleet and the Clam Harvest, while little ones enjoy the costume contest, meet friendly mermaids, and search for notables on “wanted” posters. CedarkeyPiratefest.com

Nuts About Nuts

NATIONAL PEANUT FESTIVAL

Dothan, Ala. Nov. 1–10

For over 70 years, for 10 funfilled, family-friendly days every November, thousands of visitors flock to this extravagant festival honoring local peanut farmers with everything from cheerleading competitions to comedy acts, livestock shows to renowned musical artists. There are also pageants, demolition derbies, costume contests, a parade, and much more Americana. NationalPeanutFestival.com

Freshly Brewed Fun KONA COFFEE CULTURAL FESTIVAL

Kailua, Hawaii Nov. 1–10

Each sip of Kona coffee is an invitation into a 200-yearold legacy, celebrated with a 10-day Ho‘olaule‘a (meaning “celebration” or “festival”) of traditional dances, musical performances, island-style food and drink, and exhibitions from local artists and craftsmen inspired by the world of coffee. Don’t miss the mesmerizing, glowing lantern parade, or the informative and entertaining farm tours. KonaCoffeeFest.com

Elk Fest

Discover Riverside Preparatory Academy today.

CULTURE SHORTLIST

‘The Cold Blue’

As a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Hollywood director William Wyler made the classic WWII documentary “Memphis Belle.” He also filmed extensive unused footage of American B-17s that went unseen until it was restored and incorporated into this documentary. The film features commentary from surviving “Flying Fortress” veterans.

DIRECTOR

Erik Nelson

RELEASED 2019

STREAMING MAX

Champion Among Champions

“Jim Thorpe, All-American” celebrates the journey of the Native American athlete before and after his 1912 Olympic victories. Director Michael Curtiz, known for classics like “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938) and “Casablanca” (1942), expertly weaves together Thorpe’s personal struggles, relationships, and triumphs on and off the field, and the broader context in which his story unfolds. Burt Lancaster delivers a masterful performance, portraying Thorpe’s physical prowess and emotional depth. Charles Bickford shines as Thorpe’s mentor Glenn S. “Pop” Warner. This film pays homage to Thorpe’s legacy while offering an insightful exploration of an American icon.

DIRECTOR Michael Curtiz

STARRING Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford, Steve Cochran

RELEASE DATE AUG. 24, 1951

STREAMING Amazon, Vudu, Apple TV

‘Remembering Charles Kuralt’

‘Skies of Thunder:

The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World’

A journalist who didn’t live to see the 21st century left a lasting legacy of what observant, thoughtful, respectful journalism should look like. Folksy reports about America, published in print and voiced via radio and television, endeared Kuralt to millions. Author and travel writer Ralph Grizzle captured his technique and his spirit.

The Globe Pequot Press, 2000 263 pages

Caroline Alexander tells a comprehensive, lively story: America airlifted supplies to China during World War II to battle the Japanese. The pilots flew over some of the world’s most difficult terrain—the Himalayan Mountains—and by war’s end moved over 750,000 tons of cargo. It’s the account of a complex campaign.

Viking, 2024 496 pages

IT’S HER MOMENT

Leanne Morgan has struck a chord with her relatable, hilarious stories about life’s conundrums in middle age. What’s next for the comedy star?

By Kenneth LaFave

friends with every one of these people. —Leanne Morgan, comedian

Four years ago, you’d have never heard of her.

Today, it’s impossible to think of stand-up comedy without thinking of Leanne Morgan. And soon, she’ll be unavoidable.

Subscribe to Netflix? Then you’ve probably already seen her special, “I’m Every Woman.” Netflix has commissioned two more specials from Mrs. Morgan and will soon start shooting a 16-episode multi-camera sitcom featuring her humor.

Like the movies? Mrs. Morgan will be seen with Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon in “You’re Cordially Invited,” set for release next year.

Browse the bookstores? Look for Mrs. Morgan’s memoir, “What in the World?!,” out this month.

Mrs. Morgan has come into the spotlight swiftly. There’s a reason for her sudden emergence: She speaks to people who until now haven’t had a voice in comedy.

Mrs. Morgan gets laughs from being surprised by middle age, from wondering how all that Jello went to her stomach, from talking about old boy-

friends and perimenopause and empty nest syndrome and chicken pot pies. Most of all, she plows the ground of family life with love and hilarity. Watch “I’m Every Woman” and you’ll come away knowing her husband Chuck and their three children almost as well as you know your own family. That’s the point.

“I have an audience out there: moms and everyday people,” Mrs. Morgan said in a recent interview. “They’re unseen. Hollywood’s forgotten them.”

“I am one of them,” she added. “I always lived in Tennessee, raising my children, and having a normal life, and from that, I built my years of material that people can relate to. It’s like me sitting in a coffee shop talking with my girlfriends. It really is. And it’s all because I’ve lived a normal, everyday life in the middle of the United States.”

Life as Comedy

Mrs. Morgan grew up in Adams, Tennessee, a town of about 500 people near the Kentucky border. Her family ran a meat-processing plant in their backyard. The smell did not encourage suitors for young Leanne. “But I was soooo cute! It helps to be cute when you smell like meat. I still had boys after me.”

“What in the World?!” details her childhood growing up wanting things that were different from her surroundings. She had an early fascination with tap dancing, which she says she would still love to learn.

She did the usual things. She went to college and dated and got married and divorced, and then she found The One: Chuck Morgan, who worked for a mobile home restoration firm. They moved to a place called Bean Station, Tennessee. Meat processing, manufactured housing, and a town called Bean Station: The cliches could hardly have been deeper. Out of this, Mrs. Morgan wrestled several stand-up routines’ worth of laughs, at the same time honoring the values of hard work, honesty, and family that all those moms and husbands out there hungered to hear celebrated.

Though her comedy is understandably aimed at fellow women, men love her humor, too. “I have loved men,” she said. “I celebrate men: my

Mrs. Leanne Morgan (R) as a child with her father, Jimmy, and sister, Beth, 1970.

husband, my son, my dad—and I do it in a way that is loving. I can see men in the audiences elbowing their wives saying, ‘That’s you!’”

Leanne and Chuck Morgan have been married for over 30 years. “I don’t know how we’ve done it. There are times when I get so mad I could spit, ’cause he’s not a talker. But we have the same values. We worship our children and these grandbabies, and he still thinks I’m soooo cute!”

Chuck’s stoic silence and his husbandly enthusiasm for Leanne after all these years are frequent subjects of her jokes.

One Big Leap

It seems impossible now, but a few years back, Mrs. Morgan nearly gave up. “I’d been doing comedy for over 25 years, and when I was in my early 50s, I was just about to quit,” she recalled. Bookings were infrequent, and her son was on the verge of giving her grandbabies. Maybe leaving comedy, she thought, would be for the best.

“It was a bad time in my life. I was in perimenopause in my mid-40s, and my kids were moving out or starting middle school and high school. There was a tragic death in our family, and my best friend that I’d had for years just dumped me one day. I couldn’t get booked and no one cared about my comedy.”

Then, she took one last look at the successful comedians around her and noticed something: “I saw they all had social media people. So, I said to my former manager, ‘I think I need social media

people.’ And he said you can’t afford it and it’s not a big deal. I did it anyway.” She hired two brothers who ran a social media firm in Texas.

On the first day of their contract, October 1, 2019, her social media professionals promoted a single video of Mrs. Morgan’s stand-up bit about taking her husband to see Def Leppard and Journey in concert. The clip went viral. Suddenly, gigs started to pour in, and within months, Mrs. Morgan was booked on a national tour.

“I could feel it happen. Months before, I could not sell tickets. Comedy clubs would say, ‘We love her, she’s sweet, she doesn’t get drunk and fight in the parking lot, but she can’t sell tickets.’”

But things changed virtually overnight. “It was like a switch turned on in a dark room. People saw that video and started looking for my other stuff, and then they were calling comedy clubs all over the country and asking, ‘When are you going to book Leanne Morgan?’”

A photo of Mrs. Morgan with her husband and children, late 1990s.

Evy Poumpouras served four presidents while she was in the Secret Service.

A Bulletproof Philosophy

Former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras learned how to be vulnerable when faced with life’s hurdles, and became stronger in the process

By Ileana Alescio

The ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism holds that focusing on what one can control is a powerful way to manage fear. Maybe it was her Greek heritage that drove her into action that fateful day on 9/11. Evy Poumpouras decided to face death with her eyes wide open. “I wanted to see death coming for me,” she wrote in her 2020 book about the life lessons she’s gathered throughout her Secret Service career, “Becoming Bulletproof.” “I knew I had no choice in my death, but I could choose how I faced it.”

When the terrorist attack occurred, Ms. Poumpouras had been a Secret Service agent for three months and was stationed at the New York office, located in Building 7 of the World Trade Center, across the street from the Twin Towers. After the first plane hit the North Tower, she ran outside to assist people.

Then, the South Tower began to collapse. A cloud of smoke, dust, and ashes enveloped her. Her eyes were burning, but she forced herself to keep them open. After the rubble stopped falling, she navigated through the debris with her arms stretched

out, and she saw a distant shimmer of light. She followed in its direction. She thought to herself that whether she was alive or dead, moving toward the light would be a good thing. A colleague eventually found her and rescued her. The experience was like a metaphor for the lesson she’s learned: No matter how difficult or tragic a situation may be, we can choose to look on the bright side. “We’re not powerless to it,” she said. As a Secret Service agent, Ms. Poumpouras protected four American presidents, from George H.W. Bush (protecting the first family post-presidency) to Barack Obama, and was part of the agency’s elite polygraph unit. After resigning in 2012, she wanted to share her insights on national security, criminal justice, and crime, often appearing on big TV networks.

In her book, Ms. Poumpouras shares the lessons she learned from being a Secret Service agent.

In media appearances and in her book, “Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly,” she introduces the unique strategies she learned during her career to overcome fears and become a stronger person— all with a good dose of ancient Greek wisdom.

Facing Her Fears

Born into a low-income family of Greek immigrants and raised in Long Island and Queens, New York, during the ’80s and ’90s, she constantly lived around fear. The high crime rates in New York made her parents worry, to the point that they didn’t allow little Evy to play outside. Despite getting high scores to attend one of the best high schools in the city, her parents didn’t allow her to attend, for fear that something dangerous could happen to her if she used public transportation.

But Ms. Poumpouras was determined not to let fear govern her life. On the contrary, she decided to rule over fear, so at 23 years old, she joined the New York City Police Academy. Her parents weren’t happy—“It was their worst nightmare,” she said—and showed their disappointment by not talking to her for a while.

The training pushed her to her limits—both mentally and physically. But again, the influence of ancient Greek heroes like Odysseus or Achilles—whose stories she grew up with— gave her the courage and determination to pass the training.

A few months later, she had the opportunity to become a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service, with an even more excruciating and demanding regimen, including training in the

scorching Georgia heat and the freezing cold of Maryland’s winter. But that didn’t stop her. Aware of her physical limitations—at 5 feet, 2 inches, and 100 pounds, she was one of the smallest-sized trainees among the mostly male recruits—she knew she had to work harder. And so she did, and she met the physical fitness requirements for male recruits.

When she graduated, she was issued her first bulletproof vest, which would become a symbol for her life trajectory.

Becoming Bulletproof

A modern bulletproof vest is different from ancient armors. The vests are made from layers of Kevlar, a strong but lightweight fabric, and it’s by the combination of all the layers that the vest becomes bulletproof.

Similarly, Ms. Poumpouras said, becoming bulletproof as a person involves synthesizing the many experiences that, together, make you stronger. “There’s no one thing you do in life that makes you purely resilient, purely your best,” she said. Also, when you’re wearing a bulletproof vest, you are not completely protected. “Your head is exposed, your arms are exposed, your legs are exposed. So ‘bulletproof’ is also about vulnerability, and being comfortable with it,” Ms.

Ms. Poumpouras working at a presidential event in Dallas, Texas.

Poumpouras added. This means that you recognize your fears, but you do not let them stop you from moving forward. “Sometimes in our head, we make something bigger and scarier than what it is in real life,” Ms. Poumpouras said. Her tip is to just push ahead: “Whenever there’s something in my head that … becomes fearful or scary or just gives me anxiety, I do it.”

Having a Plan A, B, C

Ms. Poumpouras was sometimes put in charge of the security details for a specific event where the president was scheduled to appear. As a Secret Service agent, she had to prepare for what to do in different scenarios. She advises that in everyday life, we should also try to prepare as much as possible. “We had plan A, plan B, and plan C. So when problems came, nobody was like, ‘Oh my God, what do we do?’” she said. But in life, something unexpected, something we didn’t prepare for, will inevitably happen. When we accept that truth, we are better able to look at such unforeseen situations without fear, and instead see them as challenges. She explained that by adopting this attitude, we are not at the mercy of the world. “You’re going to say, ‘I’m prepared for this. I’m okay.’ And then that builds your confidence, that builds your trust in yourself,” she said. The situation may be overwhelming, and Ms.

Poumpouras said it’s okay to give yourself time to feel the emotions—just don’t get stuck in the despair. “Give yourself an expiration date. I’m going to be upset for a day, for a week, for two weeks. And then I’m going to stop.”

That kind of resilience has made Ms. Poumpouras realize that even difficult people you encounter in life serve a purpose. In the acknowledgments section of her book, she thanked the people who underestimated her because they taught her something. “When you resent and you complain and you blame, nothing comes of it. But when you look at it and say, ‘What is this helping me become?’ you just become a better problem solver,” she said.

“It’s another layer in your vest.”

How to Become a Human Lie Detector are not included preview.

There are no straightforward ways to know if someone is lying. Professional polygraphers need to interview people for hours and use a lie detector to determine whether someone is really lying. But there are some general signs that could be hints that someone is not being truly honest.

Overall, people who are telling the truth usually offer more details and will be more spontaneous, while liars tend to offer more vague and brief answers, and their answers will sound rehearsed.

Common tactics of liars include:

• Delaying the response by repeating the question asked of them. “What did I do last night?”

• Making you feel you are wasting their time.

“Are we done yet?”

• Trying to minimize the situation.

“It’s not a big deal.”

• Not giving enough information.

“I don’t remember exactly.”

• Not really answering the question. “What time did I get home last night? I usually arrive around 6.”

• Too much emphasis.

“I absolutely did not do that.”

“To be perfectly honest with you…” “Trust me.”

• Not using past tenses. Someone who is telling the truth will recall what happened in the past: “Then I went there and…” But someone who is lying will make the story up as they go, so they would say: “Then I go there and…” or “Then I would go there and…”

You should also pay attention to people’s body language. Observe how they sit, how they move their hands, or their facial expressions. Take note, and if you notice a change of behavior— even a subtle shift in their chair— that could indicate that they are uncomfortable and, therefore, probably lying.

Ms. Poumpouras with a Marine helicopter officer to coordinate presidential travel, October 2009.

Jimmy Cha warms up at a dance studio in Middletown, N.Y. He was classically trained in ballet, but is now a world-class performer of classical Chinese dance.

A Dream Fulfilled

In America, dancer Jimmy Cha discovered an ancient dance form that would combine his passion with a profound mission

By Annie Wu

How did a dancer from South Korea master an ancient Chinese art form that has blossomed anew in modern-day America? It’s a story that can only happen in this land of opportunity.

Jimmy Cha, 41, has danced with Shen Yun Performing Arts, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, based in New York, since 2008. His path to performing on the world’s top stages was unexpected, but it has made him appreciate America all the more. It was here that his desire to dance was not only fulfilled, but also led to a greater purpose.

America, Where Dreams Come True

Mr. Cha grew up between South Korea and the United States due to his father’s job in the South Korean air force. Between the ages of 4 and 14, Mr. Cha spent several years living in Ohio and Indiana, where he embraced his mischievous side.

Mr. Cha spent his childhood between his native South Korea and the United States, where he learned English by watching “Star Wars” and “Top Gun.” Yoda’s line, “No. Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try,” resonates well with his give-it-his-all attitude.

He remembers one particular trick: He would go to the local convenience store with friends and pay for items without getting a bag to carry them. Upon exiting the store, he would glance at police officers nearby, and then sprint away as if he had stolen the goods. When the cops caught up to him, he would then pull out a receipt. “I had very creative ideas to make certain people upset,” he joked.

When he returned to South Korea at age 15, he realized he didn’t fit the mold. There are established hierarchies in social relations that one must respect. For example, “you don’t speak unless you’re spoken to,” he explained. “People don’t really like to go out of the boundaries. There are a lot of unspecified rules that you have to follow.”

He felt pressured to conform to an expected trajectory for societal success. “You need to get into the top high school to get into the top college, and that’s how you get a good job,” he said. He wasn’t interested in pursuing that track.

His father suggested dance as a possible career

option. Mr. Cha had already taken up music, as well as sports like gymnastics, swimming, and track and field. Dancing combined the musicality and physicality that he had learned before. He was quickly accepted into an art school and gravitated toward ballet’s systematic training. It became his “obsession,” he said.

Mr. Cha soon won national prizes for ballet. But when he applied to dance companies for performing roles, they rejected him. His height and build did not match the long, lithe physique they were looking for. “A lot of their classical ballet is very heavily Russian-influenced, and Russians care a lot about visual aesthetics,” Mr. Cha said. He felt stuck and thought about quitting dance. Meanwhile, his family pressured him to find another route that would bring him success.

That’s when Mr. Cha decided to move to California to study Eastern medicine. He returned to the United States in 2002, feeling in his gut that a path would open up for him there.

“In America, anyone can be who they want to be. That gave me hope,” he said. During his free

time in between studies, he auditioned for dance companies in Southern California. He was hired as a soloist for Anaheim Ballet, and later promoted to principal dancer. Opportunities were lining up. This time, he was determined to see it through: He quit his Eastern medicine program and transferred to Point Park University in Pittsburgh to pursue a bachelor’s degree in dance.

Dancing With Purpose

After graduating from university, Mr. Cha started a master’s degree in dance at New York University. Through acquaintances, Mr. Cha heard about a burgeoning dance company, Shen Yun, that trained dancers in classical Chinese dance—a dance system with millennia of history. It was nearly lost after the Chinese Communist Party took over China and systematically destroyed elements of traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun’s mission was to revive this lost art form.

Mr. Cha was intrigued after watching a performance in New York. He observed the differences between ballet and classical Chinese dance—akin to the differences between Western and Chinese

are not included preview.

paintings: “Western painting is very form-oriented. Every angle, every stroke has to be in such a way,” whereas Chinese painting is about expressing a feeling. He wanted to learn this art form that was like an entirely new language to him. He auditioned and joined the performing arts company in 2008.

Mr. Cha learned that classical Chinese dance intricately tells stories through movement. “Because [classical Chinese dance] hasn’t been passed down systematically, it’s always evolving. So, in terms of the level of artistry, it’s always advancing.” There were always new ways to perfect the forms through which his body could express the emotions portrayed in a piece. More importantly, he found a purpose beyond advancing his own career. “Trying to revive anything that was once lost, I think there’s huge value in it,” he said.

Performing with Shen Yun taught him humility. Depending on the piece, dancers play a lead role or a supporting role as a background dancer. “With the smaller roles, you still have to put all your heart into it. It helped me become more well-

Mr. Cha plays with his youngest daughter, Mimi, and the family dog, Felix.

Christy Mathewson, star pitcher for the New York Giants, on the cover of Baseball Magazine, December 1914.

AAmerica’s All-Star Pitcher

The Baseball Hall of Famer Christopher ‘Christy’ Mathewson was known for his piety, ethics, and sportsmanship

By Trevor Phipps

s soon as baseball star Christopher “Christy” Mathewson (1880–1925) stepped onto the mound, his presence demanded attention. The large, clean-cut pitcher changed professional baseball forever through his stellar play on the field and his conduct off of the field. Many consider him the first “Face of Baseball.”

Mathewson was born in 1880 in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, where he excelled at sports at a young age due to his size; the other children called him “Husk.” He started pitching for a local semiprofessional baseball team when he was only 14 years old. He also played other sports; he was even a star fullback and punter while attending Bucknell University. After college, he had a brief stint in professional football, but he would end up following his true passion—baseball.

Mathewson signed up to play for the New York Giants a month before he turned 20. His career got off to a rocky start with poor performance during his first season, and he was sent back to the minor leagues. He returned to the Giants and soon became a fan favorite.

A Man of Integrity

Fans in New York adored Mathewson and affectionately labeled him “The Christian Gentleman” because of his devout faith. He demonstrated that in his career.

He was one of the first five legends of the sport who were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

In a day when baseball players were known to be rough-and-tumble men who frequented saloons, Mathewson did not. He was known to travel with a Bible. Newspapers wrote that he never swore, drank, or gambled. Mathewson promised his mother that he would never pitch on Sundays, a promise he kept throughout his career.

Baseball fans were also impressed by his superior intellect. Mathewson was a straight-A student in college, and he enjoyed playing bridge and

checkers. He could play multiple checkers games at one time—and even defeat opponents while blindfolded.

His honesty also couldn’t be matched. Umpires who played with him said that they would know if they got a call right if Mathewson agreed with them.

Star Athlete and More

Throughout his 17 seasons with the Giants, Mathewson would improve in his skills to the point where he broke several pitching records. The climax in his career came when he pitched three shutouts in the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics to snag the championship. Still to this day, a single pitcher has not taken home the world championship with such an impressive feat.

During his baseball career, Mathewson also decided that he wanted to expand his skills to writing and acting. In 1912, Mathewson published his first book, called “Pitching in a Pinch,” with the help of sportswriter John Wheeler.

In his personal memoir, Mathewson vividly describes his life story, starting with telling readers about which batters were the toughest for him to pitch to and why. He also goes into the psychology of baseball and how banter between the pitcher and batter can change the game. However, he informs readers that he preferred not to talk to batters because it would

Newspapers wrote that he never swore, drank, or gambled.

sometimes affect him as much mentally as it would the player at bat.

His book “Pitching in a Pinch” highlighted his honesty and integrity when he described why it is essential in the sport to have trust in the umpires, even though players aren’t always pleased by their calls: “The future of the game depends on the umpire, for his honesty must not be questioned.”

Mathewson wrote: “If there is a breath of suspicion against a man, he is immediately let go, because constant repetition of such a charge would result in baseball going the way of horse racing and some other sports. No scandal can creep in where the umpire is concerned, for the very popularity of baseball depends on its honesty.”

Honesty at Play

Mathewson stepped away from the pitching mound in 1917, when he became a manager for the Cincinnati Reds. It turned out that his manager career would be short-lived. His honesty

ABOVE Mathewson during batting practice at the 1911 World Series in New York.

RIGHT Reproduction of the painting “Out at Home” by Fletcher C. Ransom, 1905. The painting depicts New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson, catcher Roger Bresnahan tagging out a Philadelphia Athletics runner, and Giants manager John McGraw.

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would come back into play once again when he suspended player Hal Chase for illegally rigging games. However, when it came time for Chase to appear in court, Mathewson was unable to testify as he was overseas fighting in World War I. He was shipped to France as part of the Chemical Warfare Division, where he was accidentally gassed during a training exercise.

In the meantime, Chase was exonerated, but Mathewson’s whistleblowing helped journalist Hugh Fullerton expose the 1919 World Series scandal.

Mathewson sustained severe damage to his lungs and was diagnosed with tuberculosis when he returned home. The famous baseball star attempted to revive his career as a manager, but his cough prevented him from doing the work.

His lifelong achievements were recognized when he was one of the first five legends of the sport who were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

Christy Mathewson’s remarkable achievements in baseball do not overshadow the fact that he was first and foremost a true “Christian Gentleman.”

A photograph of Mathewson by Paul Thompson on Dec. 14, 1910.

Mathewson warms up for the 1911 World Series in New York.

An unidentified Union soldier with a fife and sword, photographed between 1861 and 1865.

A Melodious Strategy

How the colonial fife, a woodwind instrument popular among early colonists, played a critical role on the Revolutionary War battlefield

By Rebecca Day

The fife played an important role during America’s Colonial period. With a shape similar to the flute, it was popular among early Colonial families, especially for its portability, a feature that made it particularly suitable for military communication. In fact, fife players’ skilled use of the instrument allowed music to serve an important purpose during the war that secured America’s independence from Great Britain.

The fife’s origins can be traced back to Europe’s Medieval times. The woodwind instrument borrowed its name from the German word “pfeife,” or “pipe,” due to its long, slender body. Europeans traveling to British American colonies brought along the instrument. During the 1700s, the fife became one of the Colonists’ favorite instruments. The instrument was so highly favored, it even surpassed the violin and piano in importance.

At the onset of America’s Revolutionary War, the fife made its way out of Colonial communities and onto the battlefield. With its high-pitched whistle, it became a key part of military strategy as the New World fought for its autonomy from Great Britain.

Melody as Military Strategy

George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army and future first president of the United States, recognized music’s importance and

An illustration of a pfeifer (fife player) by David Herrliberger, 1749.

used it in several ways while fighting British soldiers. Fife players, or “fifers,” served many important roles during the Revolutionary War.

The fife’s loud, high-pitched tone made it an ideal choice for communication during battle. Amid musket fires, fifers would play various melodies that could be heard by their fellow soldiers over the noise. These various, short melodies told them what direction to continue in, when a ceasefire was being initiated, if a medic was needed, and even when to reload their weapons.

Fifers were often paired with drummers. These musicians marched and lived among the trained soldiers who fought on the front lines. Though they did not participate in combat, musicians were considered to be foot soldiers. Due to the key role they played in military

dinner was ready, or when it was time for chores to be completed. During downtime, fifers played songs from home that soldiers could bond over, boosting camp morale.

Fifers acted as a steadying force among regiments, keeping order during battle, instilling routine at camp, and easing homesickness by playing familiar tunes.

Graduating to Drummer

While drummers were often older and more physically fit, fifers tended to be smaller in stature with a wider age range. The average age for a fife musician during the Revolutionary War was 17. However, documentation shows that several boys were signed up to be fifers as young as 10 years old. Sometimes, eager boys enlisted with the help

An illustration titled “Heroes of ’76 Marching to the Fight,” published by Currier & Ives, 1876.

A 15-inch maple fife, carved by

musically gifted and highly capable during battle were promoted to Fife Major or Drum Major and acted as mentors to the younger musician recruits.

John McElroy, fifer from Pennsylvania’s 11th Regiment, was promoted to Fife Major in 1780, after serving as a soldier for several years and suffering injuries during battle. Even after the war, he was still so attached to his instrument that he stated in official papers, “I have my old Fife and knapsack yet.”

Musician-soldiers on horseback opted for an entirely different instrument. They elected the bugle since it could be played with one hand while riding.

Facing Unique Obstacles

Continental Army musicians wore uniforms that differed from their regiments. This distinguishing feature helped inform the opposing side that they were not an individual threat. Despite this added protection, musicians faced their own unique obstacles while serving their country.

Serenading George Washington

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Long campaigns meant that fifers had to play for extended hours. Sometimes, they needed medical attention after furiously playing to communicate across the battlefield. During the 1799 tax revolt (Fries’s Rebellion), longtime fifer Samuel Dewees was tested to his limits, playing his instrument over “two or three days.” After suffering wounds to his mouth, he received medical treatment.

A quote by Dewees on his pension application shows his dedication as a player: “By the aid of the Doctor’s medicine and the kind nursing treatment I received … I was restored to health again in a few days and able to play the fife as usual.”

Fifers and their fellow musicians were so vital to war efforts that when the Continental Army experienced a shortage due to dwindling recruits, those in charge of regiments wrote to military officials who worked directly with George Washington stating their concerns.

The first public recognition of George Washington’s birthday occurred at Valley Forge on February 22, 1778.

Despite subfreezing temperatures, the musicians of Proctor’s Continental Artillery Regiment serenaded Washington outside his headquarters. Washington’s spirit was so warmed that he rewarded

in the army’s fife corps and drum corps. While explaining that he needed multiple fifers but had only one at the time, he wrote that the musicians he did have on hand were men possessing “natural Geniuses for music,” and this was the standard he wanted to uphold while searching for additional corps members.

The Sound of the Fife Continues

As military communications improved, the role of the fifer was reduced. With the invention of radio communication technology, battlefield musicians became a thing of the past.

Despite the fife no longer serving as an important military tool, its melodies can still be heard in contemporary music. Music genres such as Celtic folk and Caribbean still make use of its sounds.

The Company of Fifers and Drummers, a nonprofit organization founded in 1965, also keeps the memory of fife music alive. The organization’s musicians and experts participate in demonstrations and special events, and they make educational resources available to the public that detail the historic significance and lives of America’s

The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment playing at the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York.

Beautifying the House

Luxury furniture and interior designer Pottier & Stymus was representative of the Aesthetics movement that believed in the moral impetus to uphold beauty

By Michelle Plastrik

New York was America’s manufacturing center of luxury furniture and interior decorations during the late 1870s and early 1880s. The post-Civil War era boomed for U.S. industries producing high-end household objects, which coincided with an unprecedented residential construction spree spurred by national economic growth.

Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company was among the leading firms known for artistically beautiful and exquisitely made furniture and interior design schemes. It became one of the largest companies in the trade, employing many newly immigrated, highly skilled European craftsmen. The company had a showroom and multiple workshops housed in Manhattan and, later, Queens.

Today, its historic works are owned by museums across the United States and continue to be acquired by private collectors.

New York Cabinetmakers

Auguste Pottier and William Stymus formed their eponymous company in 1859. They met at a previous job as foremen for a New York cabinetmaker. Upon their employer’s death, they bought the company, renaming and expanding the enterprise. Stymus, a born and raised New Yorker with

FAR LEFT

Details of an armchair made by the Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company, circa 1875–1876. The chair was displayed at the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia.

RIGHT

Armchair, circa 1875–1876, by Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company.

German parents, had experience in upholstery. Pottier, a Frenchman, had trained in Paris as a wood sculptor. The newly formed Pottier & Stymus created custom-made furniture for clients throughout the country. It also sourced antiques and conceptualized and implemented interior decoration.

The firm prospered: Its prominent client list grew to include titans of finance, railroad tycoons, and mining magnates. By 1871, its facility on Lexington Avenue took up a whole city block between 41st and 42nd streets. In its heyday, Pottier & Stymus employed 700 men and 50 women, including architects, carvers, designers, painters, needleworkers, weavers, upholsterers, metalworkers, and gilders. A French-language paper described the place as a “wonderland.” Not just a design company for the wealthy, the company also manufactured lines of less-expensive furniture. Altogether, sales exceeded $1 million.

Pottier & Stymus’s creations were made in a range of styles: Egyptian Revival, Neo-Greco, Renaissance Revival, Modern Gothic, and Japonesque. The firm’s elaborately ornamented work is characterized by its use of porcelain plaques, gilt-bronze mounts, and an array of sumptuous woods. Among the types of fashionable furnishings produced were parlor

cabinets—a classic showpiece of the period in nouveau-riche homes—tables, chairs, sofas, and bedroom sets.

The firm’s most prestigious commission came from the White House in 1869. President Ulysses S. Grant, previously a commanding general for the Union Army during the Civil War, hired the firm to oversee the refurbishment of the Executive Mansion. Stymus supervised the project onsite in Washington. Impressive pieces that are part of the White House Historical Association today include a practical walnut conference table and patriotic sofa.

The table was the star of the Cabinet Room. It has eight lockable drawers so that each cabinet member had a secure space for state papers. A number of international treaties were signed atop it. The Renaissance Revival sofa, also in walnut, features a shield believed to be inspired by the one from the Great Seal of the United States.

The firm became most famous for its Egyptianinfluenced pieces. Egyptomania was popular in the United States during the 1870s, precipitated by the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal. The Metropolitan Museum of Art writes, “Egyptian Revival furnishings bear no resemblance to furniture made in Egypt but are, instead, a manifestation of fascination with the ancient world and exoticized non-Western cultures.” Objects in this style feature motifs such as sphinx heads, palmettes, lotus blossoms, and animal feet.

A Passion for Aesthetics

The Centennial Exposition of 1876 was the first world’s fair in the United States. It took place in Philadelphia as a tribute to the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the 100th anniversary of its signing. The exposition was opened by President Grant and provided a

A bust of Auguste Pottier, 1884, by Louis Amateis.

Ornamental motifs such as sphinx heads and lotus blossoms were applied to this Renaissance Revival center table, 1870–1875, attributed to Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company.

showcase for the country’s industrial and artistic achievements. Exhibitors received enormous publicity and opportunities to meet potential patrons. Pottier & Stymus displayed exemplars of its contemporary furnishings, including a finely carved and embroidered armchair.

The exposition fueled the country’s passion for the Aesthetic style. This movement, which lasted through the 1880s, was especially prevalent in New York. The Met describes how Aestheticism was “a cultural phenomenon of its time that promoted beauty as an artistic, social, and moral force, particularly in the domestic realm.”

Concurrently, there was an increasing interest in collecting and displaying art not only in one’s home, but for public education and enjoyment. Many of the country’s important art museums were founded at this time. Indeed, Pottier was one of The Met’s first hundred patrons and went on to donate the Centennial Exposition armchair to the Museum.

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Preserving Glenmont Glenmont Estate in West Orange, New Jersey, is part of Thomas Edison National Historical Park. It presents a rare opportunity to see a well-preserved Pottier & Stymus interior given that many homes the firm decorated were later torn down. The company furnished the Glenmont mansion for its original owner, who bought the property in 1879. Pottier & Stymus decorated it in an opulent, modern Gothic style, either manufacturing or procuring its furnishings. Seven years later, Thomas Edison purchased the Victorian home. He and his wife valued Pottier & Stymus’s designs and made only minimal adjustments to the décor.

The American decorative arts profoundly flourished in the second half of the 19th century. Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company, active from 1859 to 1919, contributed the most significant furniture of this period, displaying virtuosic versatility and cementing its place in history. In addition to the White House, commissions included New York hotels and townhouses, California mansions, and even the Presidential residence at Chapultepec in Mexico City. More scholarship is needed to uncover the range of objects they created. Tragically, the majority of the company’s records were lost in a warehouse fire in 1888. Now that much of America’s mass production is overseas, firms like Pottier & Stymus are a reminder of America’s exceptional craftsmanship.

The first-floor fireplace at the Glenmont Estate in New Jersey, photographed in 1963.

The Presidents’ Example

Author Talmage Boston’s research reveals that eight U.S. presidents exhibited exceptional leadership qualities. He tells us how we can learn from them

By Dustin Bass

Talmage Boston: The name rings of American history. A lawyer by trade, Mr. Boston has written his way into the society of historians. As one of Texas’s finest litigators, he shares a connection with those early Americans whose lives he studies. Nearly half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and more than half of those who signed the Constitution were lawyers.

From Yankee Stadium to the White House, Mr. Boston has written five books that connect with modern Americans on both cultural and politi-

Mr. Boston has written five books that connect with modern Americans on both cultural and political levels.

cal levels. His latest work, “How the Best Did It: Leadership Lessons From Our Top Presidents,” is not only a recollection of the country’s best presidents from George Washington to Ronald Reagan, but it is a propositional work for current and future leaders.

In this conversation, Mr. Boston stated that “How the Best Did It” is a work of “applied history” that encourages readers to do more than “enjoy history,” but to “actually apply it to what you are doing in your daily life.” Digging into the lives, methods, and decisions of the top presidents—Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Reagan—Mr. Boston has unearthed a treasure trove of qualities, disciplines, and skills that every leader should know and apply.

American Essence: What are some of the common qualities that you noticed in the eight presidents?

Talmage Boston: I found three common qualities: One, they were all great persuaders. Some were great persuaders because they were eloquent orators. Some were great one-on-one, personal persuaders. One way or another, they moved the needle with whomever the audience was in their particular era. Two, they were all self-aware. They each had an awareness of his strengths and weaknesses. They always found ways to use their strengths. Where weak, they would bring in colleagues who were strong

John F. Kennedy was an eloquent orator who inspired positive action with his words.

Aware of his limitations, George Washington delegated specific responsibilities to members with more expertise. and allow them to take charge. Three, they all succeeded in their eras because they targeted the middle way—the great middle. They were smarter than to target the extreme right or the extreme left. They knew that was never going

to accomplish anything positive. Their efforts and messages were always in terms of what the vast American middle was inclined to think on an issue.

AE: People often “want” to be leaders but don’t understand or don’t want to accept the weight

that comes with responsibility. What can readers learn from your book about the demands of leadership?

Mr. Boston: For each of my chapters on the eight presidents, I identify his three most important leadership traits that caused him to be successful, … a total of 24 leadership traits. But at the end of each chapter, I ask a series of questions for the reader to ask him or herself.

Essentially: “How am I doing in the trait I just read about? How am I learning from my mistakes? How am I doing on unwavering integrity? How am I doing in building consensus out of factions that are trying to split the organization?

How am I inspiring optimism throughout my organization?”

These leadership traits are timeless and can be applied in any generation and basically any circumstance.

AE: Leaders are often accused of surrounding themselves with yes-men. Why is it important

for leaders to surround themselves with people who are industry- or subject-knowledgeable, confident enough to be disagreeable, but also buy into the leader’s overall vision?

Mr. Boston: Washington is a great example. He knew going into the Constitutional Convention, [they] were basically going to create a government from scratch, and to do that you had to have a deep knowledge of history, different types of governments, and what had worked and what hadn’t. He couldn’t have studied quick enough to draw any sound conclusions, but he knew James Madison had, so he delegated the responsibility of what became known as the Virginia Plan—essentially the backbone of the Constitution. With a brand-new country, we had postwar debts and we had to figure out how to make the economy work. Washington had never studied economics or fiscal policy, but Alexander Hamilton was a financial genius, so he turned that responsibility over to him, and Hamilton did a great job.

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Lincoln was famous for his team of rivals [in his cabinet], three of whom had run against him for the Republican nomination. Two, Edward Bates and William Seward, immediately recognized that Lincoln was the smartest guy in the room. So, they became his biggest fans. Salmon P. Chase, who was something of an egomaniac, never could quite acknowledge it, but nonetheless he was a brilliant guy, and ultimately Lincoln named him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Eisenhower had cabinet meetings every single Friday. As a rule, you couldn’t bring up any issue that pertained to your department. He wanted to talk about big issues. He wanted free exchange, debate, and disagreements. He wanted to hear it all. He didn’t want to make the final decision until he knew he’d considered the soundest and strongest viewpoints on all sides of the issue. That’s how Eisenhower was so effective in making good decisions.

AE: You discuss Washington’s self-criticism. You also reference Eisenhower, who once said, “Always take your job seriously, never your-

self.” What was the benefit of self-criticism for these presidents?

Mr. Boston: You can’t just go through life on cruise control, thinking, “Everything I do is great. Every decision I make is wise.” Not many people like to be on the receiving end of criticism from others, but a self-aware person can acknowledge his own flaws and areas that need improvement, and then diligently go about the process of making himself better. That’s how you become the best that you can be, and all eight of these presidents became the best that he could possibly be through this rigorous self-examination and fierce desire to be better tomorrow than he was today.

AE: All of these presidents were able to communicate at a high level for varying reasons— either by speech or writing or by virtue of their body of work. How did trust and credibility contribute to these presidents’ capacity for effective communication?

Mr. Boston: It’s virtually impossible to be an effective leader if you don’t have strong credibility, which is tied to your integrity. In terms of Theodore Roosevelt, he had this ferocious egotistical personality, but it had a certain charm and appeal to it. He was probably our highest IQ president. He was not a great public speaker. But his real skills as a persuader were demonstrated as a mediator, like the Great Coal Strike one year into his presidency. Winter was coming. People didn’t have coal. No American president had ever gotten involved in a labor dispute. Roosevelt said, “If I don’t do it, then it’s not going to happen and we’re going to have

ABOUT THE BOOK AUTHOR TALMAGE

BOSTON

A full-time commercial litigator and a full-time historian, Talmage Boston has been coined “Texas Super Lawyer” by Thompson Reuters every year since 2003. Mr. Boston has authored five books and was awarded the 2023 Dallas Historical Society’s recognition as “The History Maker of the Year.”

My Family Roots

My Father, a Silent Hero

A daughter remembers her father’s heroism on the 80th anniversary of D-Day

By Alana Lindberg Jolley

ow can someone you have never seen, never spoken to, or never known, be the greatest influence in your life? My father was that person for me. He was a glider pilot in World War II, who successfully completed his mission on D-Day. He landed in a field in Sainte-Mère-Église, the first village in France liberated from German occupation. Twentyone days later, on the day I was born, June 27, 1944, my father, Flight Officer Walter Bert Lindberg, was awarded the Air Medal for his bravery on that historic day.

On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2024, my husband and I attended the weeklong commemoration of that historic date when the liberation of Europe began. The first person I met was an American paratrooper, who was going to jump from a C-47 (a World War II airplane) in a reenactment. When I told him about my dad, he took my father’s photo to carry with him. I was able to tell my father’s story over and over to many. The local townspeople expressed their gratitude for my father’s role in their liberation but also expressed much appreciation for America and the ultimate sacrifices made by so many.

facing Omaha Beach, we heard the music of songbirds in the trees. It must have been the same 80 years ago, when their songs were suddenly interrupted by deafening roars of cannon fire from the American battleships offshore. The sounds of terror were answered by herculean German artillery mounted in the Nazi fortifications on the cliffs above.

As my husband and I walked down the hill

My dad was part of the U.S. Army Air Corps. He flew a British Horsa Glider on D-Day, which carried 30 troopers. It was larger than

An American CG-4A glider containing a jeep full of supplies.

the American CG-4A Glider which transported 13 infantry soldiers, or a jeep with supplies. Gliders landed in open and often flooded fields. Both pilots and crew were sometimes lost in the fatal landing conditions. After their crash landings, the pilots became combatants alongside the infantry.

I located the exact field where my father landed his glider. It was less than a mile from Sainte-Mère-Église, where festivities were taking place. Tears flowed as I stood by the field and tried to imagine my dad crash-landing an unprotected aircraft with troops, artillery, munitions, and medical supplies under enemy fire.

Who were those exceptionally brave men who flew airplanes without engines? Their missions silently and stealthily delivered men and supplies behind enemy lines prior to a planned invasion and also resupplied the battlefields during ongoing combat. Every glider landing was hazardous, and yet historians have written little about the contributions of glider pilots.

Learning how glider pilots were trained in the United States and England gave me insight into the kind of men they were. Glider pilots had to be as brave as those who fly combat missions and adept at assembling the gliders, which were transported by ships, in pieces packed into wooden crates. They were made with metal tubing frames and wooden floors, and covered in heavy canvas material, making them vulnerable to gunfire and weather conditions.

My father trained at Bowman Field near Louisville, Kentucky. My parents met there at the famous Seelbach Hotel, where my mother was a hostess. The military personnel from Bowman Field used the hotel’s Olympic-sized swimming pool for fitness and water-related

glider-training exercises. My dad was a swimmer who ate breakfast at the hotel after training.

My mother, known as Lil, was a farm girl from rural Kentucky, and my dad, Walter, was from Los Angeles. Their romance bloomed at an inconvenient and untimely period of history. They had little time to learn of each other’s backgrounds or family relationships. Their plans could never be certain. After only a few months of courtship, my dad left to go overseas, and their communication in letters was also uncertain.

My dad’s picture has been on my dresser my entire life. He was my hero; I wanted him to be proud of me, as I was of him. For every decision I made, I would ask myself: Would my dad approve of what I was doing? I knew my dad loved me because he wrote poems to me and sent me gifts from France. He had a bracelet made for me with his glider wings, and two baby rings with my initial A and my birthstone.

My parents’ time together was short. Mom knew little of Dad’s family, nor did she know much about how he died. She was five months pregnant when he left. One day, a telegram arrived with the message: “Walt killed in a plane crash in France, February 22, 1945.” His uniform, dog tags, wallet, and watch were all stored in a trunk in our basement. I was 7 when I discovered his belongings and wore his uniform jacket. I truly felt his arms were around me, and it always made me cry.

I went to Normandy to honor my dad, along with other fallen servicemen. From family members, government records, and written letters, I know my dad is a hero. His heroic legacy lives on. The commemoration each year helps all of us not to forget how and why we are free.

Is there a family member who has positively impacted your life? American Essence invites you to share about your family roots and the lessons passed down from generation to generation. We welcome you to send your submission to: Editor@AmericanEssenceMag.com

Atrium reflecting pool with “Amor Caritas,” at the SaintGaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, N.H.

The Cornish Colony

How the pre-eminent 19th-century sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens founded one of America’s first artist colonies amid the picturesque landscapes of New Hampshire

By Michelle Plastrik

Alongside the Connecticut River amid bucolic hills and mountains lies the western New Hampshire town of Cornish. This small town, home to the world’s longest two-span covered bridge, became famous in the mid-20th century as the place where elusive author J.D. Salinger chose to retreat permanently from New York. Cornish’s artistic history, though, extends to the late 19th century. Starting in 1885, America’s preeminent sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, routinely left his New York residence and studio to spend summers in the cooler clime of Cornish.

American Renaissance Sculptor

Many fellow artists followed suit, and the thriving creative community became known as the Cornish Colony—one of the first art colonies in the United States. At its center were Saint-Gaudens’s house and the studios he later built. The site, now Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, is run by the National Park Service. It’s a picturesque place to learn about American history, art, and nature.

Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907) was born in Dublin to a French father and Irish mother. Soon after his birth, his family moved across the Atlantic to New York. As a youth, Saint-Gaudens wanted to pursue art, so he apprenticed to a cameo cutter. This practice of working on a miniature relief scale served him well in later undertakings of commemorative medals and U.S. coins. Saint-Gaudens also took classes at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. He decided to become a sculptor, and at age 19 he moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. Afterward, he moved to Rome for several years, where he received his first commissions. His first major work was a Civil War monument of Admiral Farragut, unveiled in 1881. The artist went on to specialize in public monuments. His work became renowned for its dynamism, synthesis of naturalism, and allegory, things new to American sculpture at the time. His work reflected the American Renaissance period and its

A portrait of Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Paris, circa 1878–1880.

aesthetic incorporation of classical and European Renaissance influences.

As Saint-Gaudens’s fame grew, commissions became plentiful. He created and sold smaller versions of his important works for reliable income. Alongside his career success, Saint-Gaudens committed significant time to teaching the next generation of artists. His efforts included private tutoring, giving classes at the Art Students League, employing artists as assistants in his studios, and administering scholarships.

An Artists’ Studio

While working on one of his most famous tributary sculptures, Chicago’s “Abraham Lincoln the Man,” Saint-Gaudens spent his first summer in Cornish, New Hampshire. His stay was, in part, because he had been told that in the town, he could find men who looked like Lincoln to serve as models. Such a man was found just over the Vermont border. Saint-Gaudens referenced an 1860 life mask of Lincoln’s face and casts of his hands, studied his writings, and looked at his photographs to lend authenticity to the sculpture. The sculptor drew even on his own memories of twice seeing Lincoln in person. The finished work expresses the president’s heroic character and his introspective nature. Standing in front of a decorative Chair of State that's based on an Ancient Greek throne, Lincoln’s contemplative head is bowed as he prepares to deliver an address.

While in Cornish during the summer of 1885, Saint-Gaudens resided in a house that was originally an early-19th-century inn; he transformed

This delicately rendered portrait of New York attorney John Tuffs (circa 1861) is believed to be Saint-Gaudens’s earliest surviving work during his apprenticeship as a cameo cutter.

the hay barn into his studio. He fell in love with the area and purchased the property in 1892, renaming the house Aspet after his father’s French birthplace. He renovated the estate to suit his creative and practical needs. Lush gardens were designed with his input, and a new building called the Little Studio replaced the barn. It served as his private studio. His assistants worked in a larger one nearby.

Artists visited Saint-Gaudens and his family, who frequently entertained on the extensive grounds and in their home; the rooms are beautifully preserved with original furnishings. Knowledge of the charms of Cornish and nearby Plainfield, New Hampshire, spread. Soon, other creatives relocated to become summer or fulltime residents.

Saint-Gaudens teaching at the Arts Students League located at Fifth Avenue and 16th Street in New York, circa 1875.

Most were attracted to and inspired by the area’s view of majestic Mount Ascutney in neighboring Vermont. Painters and sculptors were the first to flock to the Colony, but over time, landscape designers, architects, writers, musicians, actors, and patrons joined them. The range of professionals associated with the Colony— such as sculptors Daniel Chester French and Paul Manship, painter and illustrator Maxfield Parrish, actress Ethel Barrymore, landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman, and even President Woodrow Wilson—differentiate it from other art colonies of the period.

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park

The Little Studio is used today as an exhibition space for Saint-Gaudens’s art. In the center of the room is a bronze copy of his celebrated “Diana.”

are not included preview.

Saint-Gaudens beside the “Standing Lincoln” in his studio at Cornish Colony, 1887.

A detail of Lincoln’s face from the statuette “Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln)” by Saint-Gaudens, 1911.

A 1911 reduction of “Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln)” after SaintGaudens’s monumental sculpture that was dedicated at Chicago’s Lincoln Park in 1887.

Geoffrey Zakarian Makes Food a Family Affair

The Iron Chef dishes on how to inspire kids to cook, his mission to feed the hungry, and the memory-making magic of gathering around the table

By Randy Tatano

These days, place settings at your dinner table might look like this: a knife, fork, spoon—and cell phone. You might watch television as you eat.

You’re missing the key to a good meal, says renowned chef Geoffrey Zakarian: family.

Mr. Zakarian learned this lesson at a young age. He grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, with a Polish American mother and Armenian American father.

“Being Middle Eastern, all we did was cook,” he said. “At breakfast, we’re talking about lunch with our mouths full. At lunch, we’re talking about dinner with our mouths full. It was a never-ending circle.”

Mr. Zakarian saw that a meal was about more than just good food. It was the glue that bonded his family.

“It created a shared devotion around the table,” he said. His love of food and its effect on family eventually led to his calling as a chef.

Fighting Hunger in the City

Mr. Zakarian is not only a prolific chef and restaurateur—whose ventures have included restaurants in New York, Connecticut, Los Angeles, and Florida, where he now lives—but also a

long-standing television personality, known for his appearances on the Food Network as an Iron Chef, a recurring judge on “Chopped,” and a co-host on “The Kitchen.”

He’s also worked for years with City Harvest, a New York food rescue organization that has distributed an incredible 80 million pounds of food this year to New Yorkers in need. He’s served as chairman of the NGO’s Food Council since 2014.

City Harvest rescues much of its food because of something that might surprise you: expiration dates. “This would not be possible unless a terri-

ABOVE

Geoffrey

RIGHT

Mr. Zakarian runs restaurants, frequently appears on TV, and has his own line of food and kitchen products.

Chef

Zakarian loves to cook for his family.

ble legislation for expiration dates was created. That created a false foundation where we have to throw food out [after its sell-by date] and can’t sell it,” Mr. Zakarian said. “City Harvest came along and said, ‘We’ll take it, and, in less than 24 hours, we can distribute it.’”

When asked how much of the “expired” food the charity gets is still edible, the chef has a stunning answer: “One hundred percent.”

City Harvest receives donations of surplus food from nearly 2,000 businesses, including farms, grocers, restaurants, wholesalers, and manufacturers. But Mr. Zakarian makes sure to distribute healthy food, shopping as carefully as he would for his own family.

“Nothing with high fructose corn syrup. We’re very picky [about] what we take. Fifty percent of what we give away are fresh vegetables,” he said.

City Harvest trucks then deliver the food free of charge to more than 400 food pantries, soup kitchens, and other community food programs across the city. “It’s a very fulfilling process for everyone,” he said. “If you talk to any of the

drivers, they’re so happy with what they do. They get paid to make people happy and live better; they give away food all day. What a great way to live.”

The organization holds several fundraisers throughout the year, including an annual fall food tasting that will be held on October 29 this year, at The Glasshouse in New York. Last year’s event raised enough to feed 4 million people.

The Next Generation

As a father of three, Mr. Zakarian has taken his own childhood experience of sharing a meal at the table and passed down the tradition. On any day he’s home, he makes it a point to cook breakfast for daughters Anna and Madeline and son George.

“If you have everyone sitting around the table, that’s the real joy, that’s where everything happens— all the glances, the looks, the nuanced conversation that comes out.”

Geoffrey Zakarian, Iron Chef, food personality & restaurateur

They’ve picked up Dad’s love of cooking. Anna and Madeline published a cookbook called “The Family That Cooks Together” in 2020, when they were 12 and 14, respectively. They also helped start a Junior Food Council for City Harvest that year.

Want to teach your kids to cook? Mr. Zakarian says it only takes one thing.

“Smells. This is why there’s a failure in modern cuisine, that minimalist cuisine: If nothing has a smell, it’s not memorable. Every memory you have of food is the smell.”

Mr. Zakarian says nothing draws a kid into the kitchen more than the aroma of something delicious. “You don’t have to ask kids to do anything. They’ll smell something, come by, and say, ‘What’s that, Mom?’ And she’ll say, ‘Well here, try it.’ I’ll say, ‘Do you want to help?’ ‘Sure.’ It’s

not forcing them to do anything. It’s the memory of the smells and the clanging of pots and pans.”

Spreading the Joy

He’s also passionate about bringing those memories to other families. His cookware line, launched under Zakarian Hospitality, is designed to “make life better for the average person at home,” he said. He doesn’t focus on obscure items you might use once every 10 years, but basic, good-quality cooking tools you’ll need every day. His television appearances aim to do the same. “I love these shows because they show people how to nourish their families,” he said. “When people watch a competition show, they love the competition, but at the end of the day, it is capti-

Recipes

GEOFFREY ZAKARIAN

vating their memory with things they want to try.” He calls it “nourishment of the stomach, but also nourishment of the soul.”

As a chef, Mr. Zakarian focuses on what he calls the Mediterranean basket, the diet from Greece and Italy. At his restaurants, “I make menus for food that I enjoy,” he said. “I just try to make food yummy for myself, and if I like it, I would say that 99 percent of my customers will like it.”

But whether he’s cooking for customers or his kids at home, his philosophy is the same.

“If you have everyone sitting around the table, that’s the real joy, that’s where everything happens—all the glances, the looks, the nuanced conversation that comes out,” he said. “If you can get them to the table, that’s the real reward.”

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND APPLE SOUP

We enjoy this cold-weather soup every year, often by the fire. For parties, we prepare the soup ahead of time, and then we put on a big pot for guests to help themselves. This keeps the mess in the kitchen low and gives us something yummy to sneak off with and eat.

SERVES 4

4 tablespoons unmelted butter

1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 4 cups)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and cubed

1 tablespoon Madras curry powder

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup half-and-half

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, for garnish

RECOMMENDED TOOLS

Immersion blender or regular blender

➤ Melt the butter in a large soup or stockpot over medium heat.

Add the squash, onion, apples, and curry powder and sauté for 5 minutes.

➤ Add the flour, stirring well to combine. Add the broth, bring

➤ Reheat soup gently if necessary, and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and serve.

RECIPE NOTES

Pine nuts can be toasted in a pan

Lindsey Bernay walks down the streets of Manhattan with poise.

Confident in Color

Stylist Lindsey Bernay’s tips for incorporating color into our wardrobes and our lives

By Sandy Lindsey

“When Coco Chanel invented the little black dress, she told women it was OK to wear black as a fashion statement. She definitely was not envisioning today’s leggings,” said Lindsey Bernay. The New York-based luxury wardrobe stylist argues that we now use the color black “as a way to hide.” We don’t want to take the time to dress intentionally, or dare to reach for exciting colors, because “we don’t think we’re worthy; it’s a defense mechanism,” she said.

Ms. Bernay has been there. After years of working tirelessly at her retail styling career, including positions with high-end department stores, the pandemic hit. “It all came crashing down,” she said. “I lost part of my identity, along with the only career I’d ever known.” She also realized that she had begun wearing all black, every day. “I felt like I didn’t have a voice. My focus was about all my clients and their needs, so I had nothing left for myself.”

She’d been working on writing several books for the past decade, but it was during her pandemic-induced career crisis that the words began to flow. Ms. Bernay said she finished her first book, “You Can’t Leave the House Naked,” in just 15 months.

She found her voice again, and she now helps

her clients—including CEOs, celebrities, and philanthropists—do the same. Her styling philosophy focuses on choosing clothing based not on designer names or price tags, but on each individual’s unique joys and vision. “When it’s time to get dressed, we need to stop and ask ourselves, ‘Who am I today, and where do I want my life to go? What should I wear that empowers me?’” she said.

She recalled a client who found herself at a crossroads when her youngest child graduated high school. “Who am I now?” “Where do I go next?” “What do I want from my life?” she asked herself. The answer was that she had always wanted to be bolder, express her feminine side more, and take more risks with clothing. “So we did just that,” Ms. Bernay said. “We picked brighter colors, power bags, and gold hoop earrings. Her choices told me that she was ready to show up with certainty. When she looked in the mirror, it was a moment of magic.”

While we’re often tempted to reach for our all-black uniforms, Ms. Bernay points out that as humans, we instinctively gravitate to color in the natural world—and in the people around us. “We are naturally drawn to those that express themselves boldly, with confidence and courage,” she said.

Instant Color-Styling Tips

Statement Maker

I love to add a colorful shoe to a neutral outfit. This allows me to have a simple look that is elevated by the shoe. And shoes are some of my favorite things!

Lip Service

You will always catch me with a pop of color on my lips. No matter what clothes I wear, I also use my lips as a way to “speak” for my style.

Head to Toe

If you’re afraid of color, the easiest way to dive in is by wearing monochromatic outfits. They elongate you and are a chic way to feel polished.

-Day Challenge

Build Awareness 1 DAY

“How long do you take to get dressed? Two minutes? Ten?” Ms. Bernay asked. “Do you think of what you wore the day before? Are you putting together an outfit that suits what you’re doing today, or are you simply wearing what you always wear?” Reflect on your current habits, and resolve to be more purposeful and engaged when selecting your outfits. “It’s about being aware of what [the clothes] you wear say about you.”

DAY 2

Think of the Colors That Make You Smile

Consider your personality. “Do you love the sky and nature? If so, incorporate soft neutrals and pops of colors into your outfits,” Ms. Bernay said. “Times Square makes me happy, so I am drawn to yellows, bright pink, and neons. You need to take time to sit with yourself and ask, ‘What do I want? What makes me happy?’” If you’re stuck, Ms. Bernay suggests thinking about what you admire in others that you want to see in yourself.

DAY

3 Wear One Thing Outside of Your Comfort Zone

Reach for a vibrant, colorful top, shoes that make you feel sophisticated, or even a different shade of lipstick. “This tip changed my life,” Ms. Bernay said. She recalled a pretty floral bodysuit she’d been saving for a special occasion—“but I knew I had to follow the rules of my own book and test it out,” she said. “When I did, it was probably the first time in months that I felt like I deserved to be seen.” It inspired many compliments and lives as a powerful happy memory in her closet. “This is the foundation of learning to use color, and that you’re worthy of wearing colors,” she said.

Ms. Bernay pairs her floral dress with a tan-colored tweed jacket and a black designer bag.

Ms. Bernay devised a special five-day challenge for American Essence readers to add positivity to their lives with the power of color.

DAY

Consider this a study in contrasts. Notice the difference between the previous day and today. “Make some notes on how these clothes make you feel, and the reactions you get,” said Ms. Bernay. “They don’t have to be overly long; maybe just say it out loud. This helps you learn how to choose clothes that bring out the inner you.”

4 DAY

Now, it’s time to start getting rid of clothing that doesn’t express your vibrant person ality, evokes bad memories, or brings up negative emotions. It’s about “putting happy pieces forward,” Ms. Bernay said, creating a wardrobe that inspires new, positive, and upbeat emotions as you get dressed.

Ms. Bernay wears an ivory-colored blazer and matching pants in an elegant paisley print. are not included preview.

A positive ritual helps, too: “When I get dressed, I love to have music playing. On this day, I want everyone to pick their favorite band from their favorite era. They can imagine they’re going to the concert, and there’s a chance they’re going to get to meet the band or they might run into a friend they hav en’t seen in a long time. They’re just going to have the best day or night ever.”

Fail-Proof Formula

Choose a single anchor piece to be the foundation of each outfit; it can be a favorite pair of shoes, a blouse, pants, or a new scarf. Then, you can build an entire outfit around it.

This Magic Moment

Get out of the habit of thinking that today’s just another Tuesday, and nothing special is going to happen. Instead, imagine that something really magical will happen. What do you want to be wearing that will make it even more memorable?

Be Your Own Influencer

We’re in our own heads all the time, and how we speak to ourselves matters. You deserve to feel good, so wear what makes you happy, and give yourself the compliments you’d give to anybody else.

Arborist and master gardener Paul Gautschi at his orchard on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.

Divine Inspiration for a Garden Miracle

How a master gardener learned to grow better food for less work— with a little help from up above

By Ryan Cashman

Photographed By Jennifer Schneider

Paul Gautschi would be the first to tell you that the food from his garden is the best in the world.

To prove it, he’d point to his apple trees. Unlike upright trees grown in commercial orchards, the branches of Mr. Gautschi’s trees bend so low they seem to scrape the earth in a submissive bow.

“When you buy an apple in the store, they’re featherweight. When I hand you an apple from one of my trees, your hand drops. They’re so heavy with water and minerals,” said Mr. Gautschi. “The weight of the fruit bent those trees like that. I had nothing to do with it.”

While Mr. Gautschi’s natural humility compels him to downplay his involvement in the quality of his garden, the fact is that the remarkable soil beneath his feet is the result of decades of dedication, observation, and faith.

And it all began with a lousy well.

Sacred Cover

Mr. Gautschi has always been a gardener. Growing up in Los Angeles during the 1950s, he and his brothers wore out shovels breaking up the heavy desert clay in their yard. This grunt work yielded plenty of vegetables and fruit for the family—and created a mindset in Mr. Gautschi that proper gardening meant lots of backbreaking labor.

In the late 1970s, Mr. Gautschi moved his young family to Sequim, a small city on the Olympic Peninsula in northwestern Washington state, with the goal of growing a garden large enough to feed the whole family. An arborist by trade, Mr. Gautschi found work pruning the region’s treefilled neighborhoods and woodlots.

While building his home during the rainless summer of 1979, Mr. Gautschi discovered that his new, 213-foot-deep well posed a problem. It produced only half a gallon of water per minute. That wasn’t enough water to irrigate a garden, let

AE Vol. 4 Issue 5–Preview

Leadership Lessons From America’s Greatest Presidents

STAND-UP WOMAN

CONTENTS

First Look

Features

History

Arts & Letters

Lifestyle

American Essence

Editor’s Note

SOCIAL CALENDAR

Automotive

BRIDGEHAMPTON CONCOURS

Go Wild ELK FEST

Pirates at Play CEDAR KEY PIRATE INVASION

NATIONAL PEANUT FESTIVAL

Freshly Brewed Fun KONA COFFEE CULTURAL FESTIVAL

CULTURE SHORTLIST

‘The Cold Blue’

Champion Among Champions

‘Skies of Thunder:

IT’S HER MOMENT

Life as Comedy

One Big Leap

A Bulletproof Philosophy

Facing Her Fears

Becoming Bulletproof

Having a Plan A, B, C

How to Become a Human Lie Detector are not included preview.

A Dream Fulfilled

Dancing With Purpose

are not included preview.

AAmerica’s All-Star Pitcher

A Man of Integrity

Star Athlete and More

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A Melodious Strategy

Graduating to Drummer

Facing Unique Obstacles

Serenading George Washington

are not included preview.

The Sound of the Fife Continues

Beautifying the House

New York Cabinetmakers

FAR LEFT

A Passion for Aesthetics

are not included preview.

The Presidents’ Example

are not included preview.

BOSTON

My Family Roots

My Father, a Silent Hero

The Cornish Colony

An Artists’ Studio

Geoffrey Zakarian Makes Food a Family Affair

Fighting Hunger in the City

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND APPLE SOUP

Confident in Color

Stylist Lindsey Bernay’s tips for incorporating color into our wardrobes and our lives

Instant Color-Styling Tips

Head to Toe

-Day Challenge

Think of the Colors That Make You Smile

3 Wear One Thing Outside of Your Comfort Zone

DAY

Fail-Proof Formula

This Magic Moment

Be Your Own Influencer

Divine Inspiration for a Garden Miracle

Sacred Cover