Honorable_Company

🇺🇸 History 101

July 4, 2026

One hundred years ago this day, President Calvin Coolidge spoke at an event that celebrated the sesquicentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Coolidge was a great man and underrated President. Below is an excerpt from his speech that day, also his 54th birthday.

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About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern.

But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.

No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people.

Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.

A Sad Day in Harlem & the Jazz Word

Sonny Rollins passed away yesterday. The “Saxophone Colossus”, “Newk” or just plain Sonny was the last survivor from the famous photograph "A Great Day in Harlem” taken by Art Kane on August 12, 1958.

Our 45th Law School Reunion 🎓

University of Pennsylvania Law School ⚖️

•The Great Hall

•Lewis Hall

•Mary & Me

•Lincoln, The Lawyer

•The Goat 🐐

In the upper left is the view across the Delaware River from Washington Crossing, PA. I visited there to watch a screening of Ken Burn’s upcoming documentary, “The American Revolution”.

This was where George Washington and his Continental Army commenced the “Ten Days Campaign” on Christmas Night, 1776.

The Campaign included the Crossing, the march to Trenton, the Battle of Trenton and the Skirmish at Assunpink Creek.

The Ten Days ended on January 3, 1777 at the Battle of Princeton and, more specifically, on the fairway of the 6th Hole of my beloved Springdale Golf Club, called Frog Hollow. Upper right.

On the main battlefield earlier that day, General Hugh Mercer was killed by British troops. That demoralized his men and caused them to break ranks. Much confusion ensued. Then General Washington arrived on the scene, reorganized the line and turned the tide of battle.

He implored his men -

“Parade with us my dear fellows. There is but a handful of the enemy and we shall have them directly.”

Had General Washington not been successful in the Ten Days Campaign, his army would have been destroyed and the War likely ended.

Just like Clayton Kershaw to announce his retirement on the eve of his last home start at Dodger Stadium. No fair well tour. Throwback baseball player.

First Ballot HOF - should be unanimous

Greatest pitcher of his generation

Highlights

•Lowest ERA in live ball error w/ >2500 innings pitched

•MVP & Cy Young in same year, one of eleven pitchers in MLB history

•Multiple Cy Young Awards

•Triple Crown - ERA, Wins, Strikeout leader in one season

•No Hitter (more if his manager were not silly)

•Gold Glove

•World Series Champion

•All Star

•Roberto Clemente Award

•Great Man & Teammate

•Uncle Discovered Pluto

•Texan

Robert Redford RIP | As Roy Hobbs, his greatest acting role. (As Director - A River Runs Through It.)

“God I love baseball.” Roy

“Well, you’re the best player I’ve ever had.

And the best hitter I’ve ever seen.” Pop Fisher

⬇️ Roy’s Last At Bat ⬇️

•Man on 1st & 3rd, two outs

•Bottom 9

•Pittsburgh up 2 runs

•RHP takes count to 2-0

•Pitching change

•Left handed reliever (an Iowa farm boy)

•Foul ball into the press box - 2-1

•Called strike - 2-2

•Foul ball down RF line - 2-2

•Roy retrieves Wonder Boy ⚡️, which split in half from the foul

•Roy to Batboy, “Go pick me out a winner Bobby.”

•Bobby gives Roy a bat he made himself, the Savoy Special

•From Pop in the Dugout, “Roy, are you ok fellow?”

•Home Run - right field.

Congratulations to Ichiro on his Baseball Hall of Fame induction on July 27, 2025.

On my personal all-time top 10; and, with Rivera and Koufax, top 3 cult player. 御目出度う！🇯🇵

An excerpt from an essay he wrote in 2013 about his frequent visits to Cooperstown, NY.

“When I first started going to Cooperstown, I probably was on a specific mission to learn or feel something. Now I just enjoy going for the pure pleasure of stepping into that sacred place.

“I also like the fact that at 225 miles northwest of Manhattan and mostly accessible only by car, there’s an effort required to get there. That effort ultimately makes the journey even more satisfying. If it was right there within reach, there would be no exhilaration in the journey. There’s a beauty in that quality.

“It’s like the cherry blossoms in Japan. They bloom for only a week or so a year, so there’s an aura attached to them. Their impressiveness would be diminished if they stayed in bloom for the entire year.

“By virtue of its location, Cooperstown has the same aura; just far enough away that you appreciate the trip, yet not too distant to be burdened by it. For me, that’s an important part of its charm and makes visiting there so invigorating.”

Herbert Warren Wind - one of the two greatest golf writers of all time.

Wind wrote long form sports essays for The New Yorker, mostly about golf.

Bill Evans, pianist, golfer.

Moving Day at the 125th United States Open. Back Nine, early Saturday morning before the crowds.

Visited the Pittsburgh area last weekend to attend the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.

It’s late Spring in the northeast. Greenery abounds. The scenery from the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the drive west is spectacular.

🟢 🟢 🟢

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees Is my destroyer. And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.

The Pews

The Philadelphia Eagles win over Kansas City in Super Bowl LIX this past Sunday was the greatest win in Philadelphia sports history.

Even greater than when the Phillies won the World Series over Kansas City’s baseball team in 1980 - the night I proposed to my wife of now 44 years.

Our family car in the 1960s.