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L AW R E N C E SPENCER PRATT 1942 ~ 2020
FIRST PRINTING D edicated t o Luc y & Owe n © 2021 Sam Pratt {Taghkanic, N.Y.} Please email corrections, amplifications, additions, suggestions, or other comments to sampratt@mac.com for inclusion in any future editions
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• Larry’s Little Gold Book
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Sayings OF Chairman Lar
THE •
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THE CHAIRMAN’S LIST
————————————————————————————–––—————————————————— Music New Orleans jazz / Dixieland; 1950s doo-wop Movies Les Vacances de Mr Hulot; One Eyed Jacks Authors H. L. Mencken; S. J. Perelman; P. J. O’Rourke Books Frost, You Say? and String To Short To Be Saved Mags Punch; Maledicta; Reason Cooking Soufflé; crême brulée; latkes; ALSO grilling in the snow Drink Calvados from Mr Danfleu IN THE Dordogne Clothing J. Press; Brooks Brothers; L.L. Bean; Orvis Images Paintings by or depicting family members; Glackens; illustrators Marc Simont AND Robert Osborne Places Williamsville; the Village; New Haven; Malawi; Burma; Cambridge Beaches (Bermuda) Parents Lawrence Southwick (“Pa”) Pratt; Ann (Hunt) Spencer Family Abby Catherine Dickler, m. 19 August 1967; sons Samuel Spencer Pratt & Robert Winthrop Pratt; grandkids Lucy Camille Pratt & Owen Spencer Pratt Schools Friends Seminary; Trinity; Yale Work U.S. Peace Corps; Malawi Farmers’ Bureau; New York Life; American Institute for Economic Research/AIS Boards The Mount; Berkshire Country Day School; Dickler Foundation; West Stockbridge Finance Committee Groups Manuscript; Elizabethan Club; Alford Brook Club Families Krulewich; Hobson; Roth; Jessup; Mughogho; Swan; Nguyen; Elkin; Nge; Wislocki; Spence W’ville Sally Joyner, Dot Cahill, “the French ladies,” the Comstocks, Goldbergers & Ruhles a/k/a Butch
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T H E S AY I N G S
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It had its moments
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A polite way of signaling that a play, concert, movie or other performance was not very good.
Did you hear any good jokes in school today?
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Standard dinnertime question .
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I’ll handle the jokes
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Stock response to the telling of a joke.
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Tremendous mental capacity and prolonged study is the cause
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Recited whenever someone would ask in amazement, “How do you know that?” Many years later a son discovered that this was not a boast, but a satirical line The Chairman had written for a Yale Record piece in the voice of the its mascot, Old Owl.
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QUIS SCIT SI UTILIS ERIT
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“You never know when you might need it” — Proposed as a Pratt family motto, to be included in a crest.
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The 1906 edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook
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Standard response to the frequent question, “How did you know how to cook this?” Larry was an excellent chef, preferring classic dishes, cooked simply, using good ingredients.
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... or there’ll be no more Bicentennials for any of you !
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In 1976, West Stockbridge celebrated 200 years of Independence with a large banquet. After a long day of parades and drinking, things got a little bit rowdy. The director of Public Works stood up and shouted, “Everyone better settle down, or there’ll be no more Bicentennials for any of you !”
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The Complaint Dept. is closed
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Said in response to any mild gripe, such as finding carrot sticks too frequently in one’s school lunchbag.
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The grill is now open
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Said in response to a late, post-dinner snack request
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Can you talk?
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Conversational gambit by one toddler to another, overheard at an annual Pratt July 4th picnic.
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Don’t tell him we smoked
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The punchline of a story about flying on a two-seater plane while Larry was living in Malawi. The cockpit had a plaque bolted to the dashboard with two engraved lines: N O S M O K I N G and N O S T U N T S . Within minutes of takeoff, the pilot offered Larry a cigarette. A little later, the pilot spotted something far below, shouted, “Look, elephants!” and went into a precipitous dive to take a closer look. Still later, the pilot asked: “Ever done a loop-de-loop?” and proceeded to execute the dangerous manoeuvre. Finally they landed. As they disembarked from the small plane, a man in uniform was seen approaching across the tarmac. The pilot whispered: “That’s my boss… Don’t tell him we smoked.”
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17 JUNE 1942, PITTSFIELD
LAWRENCE SP Economist,
Lawrence Southwick Pratt d. 2000
} Jazz Musician
& Lawyer
1876 ~ 1920
}
Robert Winthrop Pratt Engineer
Henry Keith Southwick
Louisa Hardon
} } } }
Robert Grace Otis Winthrop Pratt Kellogg
1878~ 1964
Elizabeth Southwick
}
b. 1906
JOHN CURTIS PRATT b. 1818 — MARIA L . RUSSELL b. 1817
CHARLES DAY KELLOGG b. 1828 — MARY E. COBB b. 1828
ISAAC H. SOUTHWICK b. 1811 — CLARISSA A. KEITH b. 1812
BENJAMIN L . HARDON b. 1818 — SARAH E. DUDLEY b. 1818
L.S.P. family lore: His grandfather Robert Winthrop Pratt—one of fiv died in the flu epidemic of 1918-1920... His ancestor Rev. Chauncey Colebrook ( C T ), , but was kicked out by his congregation after refusi daughter, Juliet Love Lee, was a painter, as was cousin Louise Rams Elizabeth Southwick, both died in March 1964, contributing to Larry finish the remaining course credits he needed to graduate... C.G. att Neighbor Sally Joyner was its last teacher, and considered Larry som Hunt... Statira Hall was his first Spencer forebearer to settle in Willia
27 JUNE 2020, BOSTON
}}
PENCER PRATT Writer & Editor
b. 1913
Ann Hunt Spencerd. 1972 Painter
1954
} Columnist
Engineer &
Helen John Smith Dorrance Ashley Spencer
Fabricator
Lucinda Whitehead
} } } }
Andrew Dixon Hunt
& Actress
1881~ 1964
Clarence Garfield Spencer
}
1878~
Helen Ashley Hunt
HENRY W. HUNT b. 1812 — EVELYN M. TISDALE b. 1815
ELIAS S. ASHLEY b. 1828 — MARY E. DORRANCE b. 1832
THOMAS JOHN HALL SPENCER WHITEHEAD b. 1807 b. 1797 — — HANNAH CHARLOTTE BRAINARD SMITH KNOTT b. 1812 b. ?
e in the family, due to some ancient friendship with the Winthrops— Lee (great-grandfather of Helen D. Ashley) had been a preacher in ng to preach about anything except the need to abolish slavery. His sdell... His other grandfather, C.G. Spencer, and great-grandmother, leaving Yale for the Peace Corps. He returned a several years later to tended the brick one-room schoolhouse at the top of Water Street. ething of a son... Ashley Falls is named for ancestors of Helen Ashley amsville, and is also buried in Housatonic along with her sister.
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Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages), Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. ————————————————————————————–––————————————————
The opening lines of the General Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, which freshmen English students at Yale were required to memorize. The Chairman would often recite these if woken up early in the morning.
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A toe for a tow 1 • The thoe 2
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When doing the backfloat in a pool, The Chairman would have a son grab hold of his big toe, then swim backwards to “tow” the child.
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Later in life, he would lose one of his big toes, which was amputated to replace the thumb he lost on a table saw while building his house at the end of Haley Road in Great Barrington. This, he referred to as his “thoe.”
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[X], call your office
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[X] being any well-known figure whose ideas have just been unconsciously referenced.
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The potage du jour... is soup
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Story told about taking his new wife Abby to the only “fancy” restaurant in Blantyre, Malawi. The waiter sported an elaborate uniform with brass buttons, and a hat with a feather. She inquired what the potage du jour was; he said he would have to check. After a very long delay, the waiter returned beaming triumphantly, with the answer: “Madam, the potage du jour... is soup!”
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If it were a snake, you’d be dead
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Said to someone looking for an object which is right next to them. N O T E : Malawi was home to two of the world’s most deadly snakes, the green and the black mamba. IMAGE :
An icon of Jonathan Edwards College at Yale
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Down, Fang!
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Sometimes said to his slow-witted and not-at-all-fierce black labrador, Sheba. This turned out to be an obscure reference to a beast in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.
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Bring your wallet
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And advance warning that the restaurant, store, or other destination was likely to be overpriced
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“I’m ashamed,” sobbed the Snitcher, “Ashamed what I done !”
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A favorite line from The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher, a book by Robert Kraus, illustrated by Virgil Partch (a/k/a VIP).
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Did you think of it yourself?
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Punchline of a story about his grandfather, Clarence Garfield Spencer, who had rather old-fashioned taste: When C.G. and his wife Helen would motor up to the Berkshires from New York City, they would always stop for a picnic at a scenic overlook along the way. Helen— known to her grandson as Dauds—would pack the same lunch every time, including cucumber sandwiches. However, this time she decided to try something different: Peanut butter & jelly. C.G. looked deeply skeptical; but she urged him to just give it a try. “Hmm, not bad,” he said after a few bites. “Did you think of it yourself?”
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Vito! Vito!
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Walking on Water Street, a neighbor happened upon a man with his arms fully outstretched, gazing up at a large oak tree, and crying out: “Veto! Veto!” The neighbor grew concerned that the man was in some sort of distress... But actually it was just Jarvis Rockwell trying to coax his cat Vito down from a high branch in the tree. (A longtime family friend, Jarvis rented the Studio by the Williams River in the mid-1970s, where he later had an opening for a clay-and-string installation which spanned the entire space.)
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They should all just get a life
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Recommended thing to say if approached on the street by a local TV reporter for comment on a random issue; this being guaranteed to secure for you the final word of the broadcast segment.
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Wear a bow tie and your best suit
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Recommended attire if you want to escape jury duty, because (he said) no defense attorney will ever allow a man in a bow tie to sit on a jury. NOTE :
His grandfather only wore ties, usually bow ties, which were navy blue with white polka dots
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It seemed like a good idea at the time
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Referring to some boondoggle project, or an unfortunate name for a business, an ugly building, or other scheme which was obviously a bad idea to begin with.
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ADDENDA ————————————————————————————–––————————————————
• Radio Free Great Barrington was his name for WSBS (AM 860). • In an attempt to induce his young sons to go to sleep, LSP would quiz them on math. However, the answer to the questions was always the same: 96. (12 x 8? 96. 52 + 44? 96.) • Another bedtime strategy was the singing of odd songs to convince kids that staying awake was worse than going to sleep. The lineup typically included Woody Guthrie’s Union Maid (pronounced “Onion”), and Lloyd George Knew My Father (to the tune of Onward, Christian Soldiers). NOTE : His father had a practice of playing Sunday hymns on his trombone on his porch, including O,CS. • He also had an abiding interest in prime numbers, and would make a point of noting when one attained a prime birthday. These were also an occasion to calculate how many days old, rather than years old, one was. • Presidential trivia was another such interest. In the early 1980s, he fainted at a seder. Since the spell could not possibily have been induced by the wine served (Manischevitz), he visited a doctor to make sure nothing 8
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was seriously wrong... The doctor started out with a memory test, asking him to name the current President. “Ronald Reagan,” came the reply. “Good,” said the doctor. “Now, I want you to go back and name as many previous Presidents as you can. Just stop when you can’t remember any more.” This led to a complete recitation of all prior American Presidents—Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, JFK, etc.—all the way back to Washington. The doctor concluded his memory was fine. • The poet Theodore Roethke was a friend of his father—and a drinker. A graduate student sent him an elaborate questionnaire about his work. Roethke soaked the label off a VAT 69 bottle, slapped it on the questionnaire, and mailed it back to the student. • Some favorite pets not already mentioned included Belle; Doc & Missy; Pepper; Minnie & Pearl; Little; Rufus, Smudge & Mitzi; Ollie. • More favorites: Walt Kelly’s Pogo; Tom Lehrer; Monty Python’s Flying Circus; Peter Sellers’ Clouseau/Pink Panther movies.
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