Can We Talk?
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History September 2 - 8.
When you think of the best female comics, who comes to mind? How soon do you get to Joan Rivers?
For me, it’s immediately.
Rivers was born in Brooklyn in 1933, and Rivers is her stage name. She took it from her agent early in her career, who suggested she change her given name from Molinsky. I find it hilarious that Joan not only took that advice but also took the name of the person who gave it.
After graduating college, Rivers worked at Rockefeller Center as a tour guide and edited scripts. Then, she immediately dove into performing in Broadway shows and comedy clubs. This led to television roles and guest appearances on The Late Show, which Jack Paar hosted. In 1965, she appeared again when Johnny Carson was the host. They struck up a friendship that would last decades.
Rivers craved a career over the 70s, 80s, and 90s that spanned movies, game shows, and award-winning comedy albums. There was no one like her, with her Brooklyn accent and directness that came after the question – can we t”
I feel like Rivers never got her due. I always enjoyed her ability to be frank and unapologetic and do it with a humor that never got tiring. She wasn’t just a famous entertainer. She was a tremendous philanthropist and single-handedly kept the plastic surgery industry afloat.
In August 2014, she underwent a minor procedure to fix a problem with her throat. It turned into a horrible spiral of malpractice as she experienced serious complications and was put into an induced coma. She passed away on September 4 at the age of 81. In 2016, the hospital admitted its guilt and settled out of court with Rivers’s daughter, Melissa.
I had a class in college that focused on developing television shows. I have no idea why it was offered. I remember the professor being an unsuccessful movie script writer who pushed us hard. I guess he didn’t want kids to think this would be an easy course.
It was an easy course.
I had some good ideas, but one was a late-night show that I would host called Up Too Late With Chris Dake. The show wasn’t unique, but I thought the name Up Too Late was pretty catchy. The funny part is that I would never watch this show because I never stay Up That Late. But I remember when I was working on the idea and wondering why Joan Rivers never became the big late-night hit she rightly deserved.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here's what I got:
1. The Department of Treasury was established on September 2, 1789. The government agency that oversees our finances and prints our money came to life under its first Secretary, our boy, Alexander Hamilton. We also smashed in other departments that don’t make sense. In 2003, it underwent reorganization, and agencies like the ATF moved into the newly created Department of Homeland Security.
2. ESPN made its debut on September 7, 1979. The Entertainment Sports Programming Network began as an idea by a few guys fired by a minor league hockey team. The 24-hour sports channel now decides where your college alma mater will play basketball games three times zone away because it shoved your football team into a conference across the country.
3. President Ford Pardoned President Nixon on September 8, 1974. The Watergate scandal came to an end when newly coronated president Gerald Ford, the only man never elected vice president or president, gave Nixon a free pass on the crimes he committed. In order to heal the country, we must let off our elected officials because it’s incredibly upsetting to all of us.
Tomorrow, Anonymous and I are taking my two sisters, a nephew, and my mother to Ireland to visit my grandmother's hometown, Roscommon. Anonymous and I made this trip back in 2019, and we are excited to do it again with people who have never been there.
If you don’t know anything about Ireland, think of Roscommon as the Kansas of Ireland. It’s in the middle of the country, slightly more west, and really nobody lives there. It’s beautiful, with lots of grass, hills, and winding roads.
The Irish put the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car and drive on the wrong side of the street on top of it. But now that I’m actually Irish, I guess I need to say we drive on the wrong side of the road.
We head to Westport, which is like the Seattle of Ireland—if Seattle were about ten blocks and stuffed with about 200 pubs. Then we head down to Galway, the San Fransisco of Ireland, where I plan to eat a lot of fish and chips and listen to a lot of music.
We return to the States at the end of next week.
I’m not sure what I will be able to publish this week or next. It’s a lot of traveling in a short amount of time. But I promise I will try and do something, maybe put out something about Irish history while I’m there.
In the meantime, Happy Labor Day. Labor Day is a wonderful reminder of what labor continues to do for this country and looks to be making a comeback. I hope you have a great holiday!
Thanks for your support of Okay History. Slainte!
Okay,
Chris
