August 2020 – Ann S. Epstein Writer

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Alternative Remedies for Spanish Flu

Pandemics highlight alternative fixes from around the world. During the 1918 Spanish flu, faith healers in India molded human figures with flour and water and waved them over the sick to lure out bad spirits. In China, people went to public baths to sweat out evil winds and smoked too yin qiao san, a powder of honeysuckle and forsythia to fight “winter sickness.” In the west, claiming the flu “an exaggerated form of grip,” Hill’s Cascara Quinine Bromide promised relief, while a Nova Scotia man recommended fourteen straight gins in quick succession. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore, a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

An alternative “remedy” for Spanish flu a century ago

Generations of immigrant family in conflict

A Writer Reflects: Experience and Imagination

“One need not become another person, or to have had exactly the same experience, in order to imagine that person’s life — which is why the foundation of metaphor is empathy. Art and metaphor do not make other people’s experiences identical. They make other people’s experiences imaginable [italics author’s].” So says David Moser in Sontag: Her Life and Work, taking issue with Sontag’s final paragraph in Regarding the Pain of Others in which she claims we cannot understand or imagine what others have gone through unless we’ve served on the front lines with them. I agree with Moser, and bristle when creative people are accused of cultural appropriation, which denies our capacity for imagination and our right to empathize with the human condition. On the contrary, creativity demands that we go beyond our own boundaries and enter the world of the other. See more of my thoughts on writing in REFLECTIONS.

Sontag doubted the validity of empathy. Moser disagrees. So do I.

Why writers write: “Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.” – Sylvia Plath

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Fighting Back Against Bogus Cures for Spanish Flu

Though hucksters touting quack medicines are rarely challenged, the U.S. Surgeon General during the 1918 Spanish Flu, Rupert Blue, warned the public that there was no cure and urged patience until a vaccine was developed. The Public Health Service cautioned that “many alleged remedies do more harm than good.” Alas, then as now, knowledgeable officials were often not heeded. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore, a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

Rupert Blue, U.S. Surgeon General, warned against using unproven cures during 1918 Spanish flu

Learn History Through Fiction: Wizard of Oz Released 81 Years Ago Today

The Wizard of Oz officially opened 81 years ago today, on August 25, 1939. MGM previewed the movie in Wisconsin two weeks earlier to test its popularity in the Midwest. Viewers were wowed by Technicolor, a film first. Still, production was marred by mishaps and it was a decade before MGM recouped its $3 million investment. Read more about the making of The Wizard of Oz and its “big” and “little” stars in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve., a fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner (see NOVELS).

The Wizard of Oz released August 25, 1939

A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press) by Ann S. Epstein

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Salt Water Cure for Spanish Flu

In 1918, railroad workers in Butte, Montana were advised that to cure the Spanish flu, “Dip your fingers in salt water and place them on the joints of your arm and legs until the skin is saturated. Influenza in the blood will gather until dark blotches appear. Use a needle to draw out the black blood. Repeat daily until spots fail to appear. Then you are cured.” The proof? “Not a single member of the Butte Chinese community has died of the disease.” Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

A salty cure for the Spanish flu a century ago

Learn History Through Fiction: Trench Gardens During First World War

In World War One, British and French soldiers planted gardens in the trenches. Much like today’s COVID-19 pandemic has spurred more interest in gardening for mental and physical health, trench-grown flowers provided beauty amid devastation, while herbs and vegetables relieved the tedium of rations. In times of uncertainty and death, we seek to generate life. Read more about The Great War in On the Shore, a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

WWI soldiers planted trench gardens for flowers and food

Generation of immigrant family in conflict a century ago

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: A Mouthful or Mum?

Unlike President Donald Trump’s frequent pronouncements about COVID-19, President Woodrow Wilson never once spoke publicly about the 1918 Spanish flu or the battle to defeat it. He focused exclusively on a different war, the Great War, afraid that acknowledging the pandemic would lower morale. U.S. soldiers sustained 116,00 casualties in the First World War, but 675,000 Americans died of the Spanish flu. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

One president talks a lot about the pandemic

Another president never spoke about the pandemic

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Dr. Oddbody Cures Spanish Flu

Fearful of the 1918 Spanish flu, gullible consumers sought magical remedies. One proclaimed, “When the body is exhausted and its resistive powers are diminished, Dr. Oddbody’s Cure All Elixir affords splendid and effectual means of offsetting the tendency toward weakness and protecting strength.” Alas, the elixir’s ingredients are not listed, but the product’s name says it all. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

A touted elixir during the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago

Writing During COVID-19: And That’s Just Fine

The July–August 2020 issue of Poets & Writers features thirteen quotes by “Authors on Creativity in Quarantine” describing their (in)ability to write during the pandemic. Says one guilt-free poet: “I’m not writing a lot creatively right now. I am having wonderful exchanges with my students. I go out and talk to my neighbors. I guess this will all end up in a poem. But maybe not. And that’s just fine” (Gabrielle Calvocoressi). COVID-19 has not affected the amount of creative writing I do. I still write every day. Nor do I feel compelled to act as a witness to the pandemic, although my characters may be more fearful, angrier, or in search of escape. But the act of writing itself remains constant. And that’s just fine. For more of my thoughts on writing, see REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “Writing is the answer to everything. It’s the streaming reason for living … to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.” – Enid Bagnold

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Tanlac Laxative Prevents Spanish Flu

The Stanford World, home paper of a city in central Montana, carried an ad in 1918 for Tanlac, a “stomachic tonic” to ward off the Spanish flu. The laxative, sold locally at Harvey’s Drug Store, would help those who were “weak and rundown (who) become easy victims to widespread epidemic.” The tonic contained nearly 16% alcohol by volume, a bitter drug such as gentian, herbal extracts, licorice and wild cherry flavoring, and glycerin. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS.