Ghost Light :: essays research papers

Ghost light refers to the superstition that one small bulb should always be left on so that no sign of the zodiac is ever totally dark--and thus vulnerable to "ghosts." A reader of frank generouss memoir Ghost Light is likely to conclude, however, that the title refers to the authors attempt to exclude his miserable childhood.The son of Frank Rich Sr., whose family had been in the shoe telephone line in Washington since the Civil War, and Helene Rich, a teacher, was born in 1949. Members of the family conduct seemingly ordinary lives in Somerset, Md. There, according to Rich, all the houses looked alike, dads went to work, moms stayed home and tv set perpetuated the myth that all families were happy. While he was in grade school, Richs parents sever up, making him the first kid on the block to bear the discoloration of coming from "a broken home."Both parents subsequently remarried, and, in a telling detail, neither Rich nor his younger sister, Polly, was i nvited to either parents second wedding. Rich is venomous on the subject of his stepfather--a crude and violent man with a vicious temper--but acknowledges that thanks to his affluence the family went to the theater often.The protagonist in Richs deportment is his mother (described as a Judy Holliday, non physically but emotionally) her wipeout was tragic. The driver of the car in which she was killed was Richs much-loathed stepfather.Rich, writes freely of having been a lousy athlete, an sleepless person and a loner. What pleasures he had in childhood came from theater--listening to recordings of musicals ("South Pacific," "The Most sharp Fella" and, while in bed with measles, "Peter Pan") and reenacting shows in the miniature theaters he created out of shoe boxes from his fathers shop. For lighting, a desk lamp was put into service of process pillowcases became curtains. He saved playbills (even ones found in trash cans for shows he had not seen), anal yzed album covers and memorized lyrics. For his third-grade talent show, Rich sang "You Gotta Have Heart." educate in public schools, where he claims classes were undemanding, Rich was blessed with teachers, librarians and friends who abetted his passion for theater, for indication and for writing. At the age of 8, he published a neighborhood air that announced the arrival of babies, puppies and new cars. He also wrote a " concord" titled "A World All My Own," about a boy who lived in a big box.