I have been watching Oliver Stone's Showtime series Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States. It's fascinating in ways, big and small. And here's a small thing I'm noticing.
The men who ruled throughout the world, throughout the 20th century, — Stalin, FDR, Winston Churchill — didn't seem to worry much how they looked. They got fat. They got thin. They went bald. They didn't care. Mostly, they had really bad teeth and did nothing about it.
Contrast this with many male members of Congress in modern time. Hair transplants. Perfect smiles. Botox, likely. Perhaps our modern culture demands this. But in a weird way it was refreshing to see all those men during and after World War II just look like themselves. They were exhausted. And it showed.
(Oliver Stone photo from S-R archives)
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with Catherine Johnston, an Olympia, Wash., writer who works in hospital administration, write about issues of grief when facing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.
Ask a question: Rebecca and Catherine answer grief questions in their syndicated EndNotes column for McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Email them at endnotescolumn@gmail.com.
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