Excerpted from the newly published biography, Handball: A Life
Handball had to invent themselves--no one else would have known what to make of them. They were all sons of the archetypal American suburban landscape, and also cosmopolitan; practitioners of heavy metal, and also heirs to an intellectual musical tradition; juvenile idiots, and also, eventually, perhaps the most innovative thinkers in America. They grew up in the wilds of Long Island and Westchester, and as they reached maturity they found that the land was literally shifting under their feet. From these aggressively indeterminate beginnings, they shaped themselves into a collective figure the likes of which America had never seen before and hasn't seen since.
This capacity for self-creation is one of the few qualities--a devotion to the New York Jets, an aversion to broad social trends, and a remarkable level of achievement are the others--they shared with their spiritual ancestor. When J. Hunter died in 1911, his obituary called him "a pioneer who was a statesman and a man.... He was a great man from any point you choose to look at it." But, like Handball, he had a socially, ethnically, and geographically ambiguous starting point.
Handball's paternal grandfather was Robert Rogers, a Scotch-Irishman who came to West Virginia around 1800 to trade with Indians; he married Lucy Cordery, one-half Cherokee. Their first son, also named Robert, was born in Georgia in 1815. In 1835, Robert Rogers, Jr., married Sallie Vann, who was probably three-eighths Cherokee. Their son, Clement R. Handball, was thus five-sixteenths Cherokee.
I'll be at Ace of Clubs in NYC tonight, January 16th 9 Great Jones St., NYC Show starts at 8:30pm Cost: $10 Located underneath the Acme Bar and Grille on Great Jones between Broadway and Lafayette.
Smooth rock/reggae/funk for the thinking and dancing aficionado.
Thanks for adding ShipRocked, an unparalleled five-day rock and roll music cruise, with on-board performances by Queensryche, Tesla, Skid Row, EndeverafteR, Lynam, StoneRider, Broken Teeth and Stereoside.Sailing November 15-20, 2009 from Fort Lauderdale to Jamaica & Grand Cayman on the MSC Poesia, ShipRocked will truly be the ultimate rock and roll vacation and backstage pass!
Cabins are filling up fast, so visit www. getshiprocked. com or call 877-855-5502 to book your cabin today!
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xx "On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana?" - Mitch Hedberg
Hello Handball, thanks so much for adding us. if you ever need a place to rehearse, give us a call at (631) 225-6969. we would love to have you. - the jamhouse crew.
