A Woman of Uncertain Character: The Amorous and Radical Adventures of My Mother Jennie (Who Always Wanted to Be a Respectable Jewish Mom) by Her Bastard Son

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A Woman of Uncertain Character: The Amorous and Radical Adventures of My Mother Jennie (Who Always Wanted to Be a Respectable Jewish Mom) by Her Bastard Son Page 24

by Clancy Sigal

Bronx Social Democratic Federation, 82, 277

  bullies, 114-115, 208-212

  Cantor, Eddie, 157

  Capone, Al, 41, 57, 58, 125, 232

  Charlotte, 142, 259-260, 261

  Chattanooga, Tennessee, 18, 19-20, 21-27

  Chicago

  as birthplace of unionism, 32

  ethnic neighborhoods, 49, 52, 186-187

  Field Museum of Natural History, 44, 45

  Lawndale neighborhood. see Lawndale neighborhood, Chicago

  race riots, 76

  Sigal home in, 41, 42-43

  stockyards, 99

  Chicago Cubs, 105, 150-151, 153, 269

  Chicago Tribune, 70, 106, 160

  Chicago White Sox, 150-151

  childrearing, 7-8

  Depression era, 73-74, 85

  organized sports, 152

  overorganized, 72

  CIO (Congress for Industrial Organization), 32, 181

  Cohen, Rick, Tough Jews, 102

  Communism

  and Americanism, 227-228, 241, 249

  vs. socialism, 137-138, 227, 228

  Communist party, 226, 242-245

  bourgeoisie sympathizers, 244-246

  Clancy joins, 242-248

  communists, investigated, 257-258

  condoms, 131-132, 133-134

  corporal punishment, 83-84, 96, 196-197

  Corpusclers, The, 242-244, 247-249

  later life, 250-251

  perform, 244-246

  corruption

  police, 57, 124-125

  political, 169-170

  union, 41, 232

  Coughlin, Father (radio priest), 101-102, 218

  Cubs baseball team, 105, 150-151, 153, 269

  cupping, 98

  Daily Forward (Yiddish newspaper), 50, 65, 115, 265

  Darrow, Clarence, 11-12, 138

  Scopes monkey trial, 18

  Dead End (film), 182

  Debs, Eugene, 92

  Dempsey, Jack, 81, 82

  Depression era, 53-56

  childrearing, 73-74, 85

  expectations, 73-74

  and God, 69

  Lawndale neighborhood, 51-53

  lifted, by WWII, 173, 186-187, 215, 223-224

  mental illness and, 55-56, 96-97, 97-98

  Donovan, “Wild Bill”, 226

  Dreiser, Theodore, An American Tragedy, 246

  Dylan, Bob, 244

  Edward VIII, King of England, 47, 190

  emotion, and self-control, 126-127, 253, 266

  Engels, Friedrich, 139

  England, Clancy in, 261-265

  Family Hand Laundry, 41-43, 45-47

  advertising, 113

  Clancy performs at, 112-113

  closed, 141

  as hobo stop, 107-111, 115

  fantasy life, of Clancy, 44-45, 66-68, 90-91, 153

  Farrar, Dinah, 259, 260

  fathers and sons, 279-280

  FBI, 193, 226, 257

  Fidelman’s resort, 87-89

  Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 44-45

  F.I.S.T. (film), 38

  Flynn, Errol, 208-210

  folk singers, 244

  Foreign Correspondent (film), 106

  Freud, Sigmund, 73, 263

  Frick, Henry, 138

  gambling, 100, 121-123

  Gee, Sam, 45-46

  Ginger (Cospusclers member), 247, 248, 251, 252

  Girdler, Tom, 106

  God, belief in, 69-72

  Goldman, Emma, 11, 32, 138

  guns, 3, 37

  Guthrie, Woody, 244

  GVS (Greater Vest Side), 49-52

  hamburger stand business, 258-259

  Hammeros, Swede, 111-112, 114-116, 118

  Haymarket Riot, 32, 207

  Hebrew school, Clancy attends, 70-71, 160

  Herzog, Barney, 158, 160-161, 164-166

  as an adult, 165-167

  Hi-Li paddle, 112-113

  Hitler, Adolf, 32, 47, 68

  hoboes, 107-111, 115

  hoboglyphs, 107-108, 116-118

  Hoffa (film), 38

  Holocaust, 68, 228

  homosexuality, 188-189, 190-192

  HUAC (House UnAmerican Activities Committee), 257

  identities, false, 19, 20

  immigrants, 34, 38

  Chinese, 47

  Jewish, 64-65

  Latina, 255-256

  neighborhoods, Chicago, 49, 52, 185-186

  International Workers of the World (Wobblies). see Wobblies (International Workers of the World)

  It Can’t Happen Here (play), 101

  Italians, fight Jewish kids, 185-186

  Japan, in World War II, 105, 160. see also Pearl Harbor

  Japanese Americans, interned, 186

  Jewish Mafia, 58, 102

  Jewishness, Clancy on, 64-68, 71-73

  Jones Commercial High School, 200, 201, 202-208

  bullying, 208-212

  Clancy returns, 212-214

  Judaism, 71-73. see also God, belief in

  Kennedy, John F., 215, 269

  King, Martin Luther, 76, 269

  King, Rodney, 6

  kissing games, 182-184

  Kristallnacht, 169

  Labor Lyceum, 50

  Laden, Osama bin, 7

  ladies’ club. see Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society

  laundry business, 41-42, 45-47, 91

  Lawndale neighborhood, Chicago, 49-58

  1960s and 70s, 76-77

  Clancy’s attachment to, 76-77, 165-166

  Depression-era, 53-56

  Jewish population, 64-66

  Mafia, 55, 57-58

  politics of, 239-240

  St. Agatha’s Church, 69-70

  violence, 56-58

  women in, 120-121. see also Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society

  World War II, 169, 186-187, 215

  Lebedeff, Frances “Slugger”, 204-205, 211-212

  Lenihan, Father (Catholic priest), 69, 70, 183

  Lerman, Ike, 56, 168-172

  Lewis, John L., 32, 32-33, 92

  Lewis, Sinclair, It Can’t Happen Here, 101

  Lindbergh kidnapping, 47

  Loeb and Leopold, 179

  Los Angeles, Sigals in, 255-260

  Louis, Joe, 58, 119

  Loy, Myrna, 2, 45, 76, 146

  Ludlow Referendum, 159

  lumberjacks’ camp, 89

  Mafia, 3, 37, 41, 55, 232

  Jewish, 58, 102

  Lawndale neighborhood, 57, 57-58

  and prostitution, 124-125

  Mainbocher (couturier), 190-191

  Marshall High School, famous alumnus, 189, 190-191

  Marx, Karl, 139

  masturbation, 127-128, 132-133, 207-208

  McVeigh, Tim, 7

  meatpacking workers, 92, 93

  mental illness, Depression-era, 55-56, 96-97, 97-98

  Midrash, 72-73

  Montefiore Boys’ Reformatory, 41, 199

  Morse, Samuel F. B., 128

  movies, love of, 146-147, 230

  Mussolini, Benito, 47

  National Guard, as strikebreakers, 18

  Nazis

  Jews protest, in New York, 120

  in United States, 106

  New Statesman and Nation (magazine), 264

  New Yorker magazine, 227

  Norris-LaGuardia Act, 23

  organized crime. see Mafia

  pacifism, and WWII, 224-225. see also World War II, isolation vs. intervention

  Palmer Raids, 93

  paper dolls, 187, 188

  Parker, William, 257-258

  Pavlichenko, Ludmilla, 228-230

  Pearl Harbor, 155-156, 160, 162, 173

  pedophilia, 74-75, 178

  Persily family, 11-12

  and Leo Sigal, 273-274

  politics, 137-138

  visits Jennie and Clancy, 134-137

  Persily, Jennie (Clancy’s mother), 3, 16

  as apparition, after death, 266
-268, 276, 281-282

  boyfriends, 111-112, 114-116, 118, 134-137, 231-233, 260

  childhood, 10-11

  death, 260-264, 265

  falls into manhole, 85-86

  fights, 143-144

  as garment worker, 12, 143, 145, 186, 255-256

  gravesite, 4-5

  jailed, 26-27

  meets Leo, 93, 273-274

  as a negotiator, 29-30, 219-222

  photo, 14

  physical appearance, 32-33, 35-36, 235-236

  relationship, with Leo, 12, 41, 69, 84, 89-90, 179-181, 272-274

  as Russian translator, 228-230 sexuality, 192, 234-235, 260

  as union organizer, 12, 35, 36, 39-40, 143-144, 256-257

  Persily, Kalman (Clancy’s grandfather), 10, 11, 19

  pogroms, Russia, 10-11

  political ideals, and personal lives, 139-140

  political rhetoric, 110

  poolplaying, 100, 101

  Porter, Cole, song lyrics, 146

  Pride and Prejudice (film), 147

  propaganda of the deed, 3

  prostitution, 124-125

  psychotherapy, 263, 269

  race riots, Chicago, 76

  racism, 18, 18-19, 21, 23, 26-27. see also antisemitism

  Rebecca (film), 149

  Reds (film), 138

  Regal Frocks sweatshop, 143-145

  Republic Steel massacre, 106-107

  rest home, Jennie runs, 177-178

  Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society, 120-123, 123-124, 125-126, 142

  Ritz-Carlton hotel, 91

  Rockets Athletic Club, 53, 54, 55, 56

  as adults, 77-79, 168-172

  Clancy returns, 186-187

  club rules, 58-60

  group members, 60-63

  in high school, 189-190

  nicknames, 196

  Rogers, Ginger, 2, 206

  Romance of Helen Trent (radio show), 85

  Roosevelt, Eleanor, 260

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 38, 47, 159

  Day of Infamy speech, 162

  elected to fourth term, 223

  Rosenzweig, Edith, 11, 12

  Ross, Barney, 58

  Russia

  pogroms, 10-11

  in WWII. see Soviet Union

  Saunders, Miss (history teacher), 174-175

  scabs, 18, 143-144

  Schechter, Sol, 231-233

  Scopes monkey trial, 18

  Scottsboro Nine case, 18-19

  secrecy, family, 2, 17, 20, 93-94, 101

  Seeger, Pete, 244

  selling out, politically, 160-161, 164-165, 166-167, 167-168

  September 11, 2001, 7

  sex experience, Clancy’s first, 184-185

  sexuality. see identities, false adolescent, 127-128, 131-133

  “birds and bees” talk, 131-133

  homosexuality, 188-189

  incestuous, 202

  parents’, 179-181

  preteen, 182-184

  women’s, 125-126, 128-130

  Sigal, Clancy

  academic performance, 59-60, 194-195

  acquires name, 217

  adolescence, 88-89, 182-185, 197, 199-202

  in the Army, 216, 252-254

  birth, 12, 13

  blacklisted, 258

  in Communist party, 242-248

  discovers his illegitimacy, 148-150

  in England, 262-265

  expelled, from high school, 199-201

  fantasy life, 66-67, 44, 90-91, 153

  and father’s rejection, 181-182, 278-280

  FBI file, 193

  first job, 216-217

  friends, 158-159, 160-161. see also Corpusclers, The Rockets Athletic Club

  and girls, 50-51, 62-63, 184-185

  hangs out, with Dad, 98-102, 102-104

  high school, 174-175, 202-208

  hit by car, 9-10

  IQ tested, 53, 194, 195

  military role models, 225-226

  in orphanage, 13

  photos, 6, 7, 54, 64, 214, 249

  physical appearance, 66, 189-190, 193, 209

  reunited, with father, 269-278

  sexuality, questioned, 188-189, 193, 209

  special needs class, 196-197

  speech impediments, 193, 196-197

  as a writer, 1, 264-265, 265-266, 272

  Sigal, Joseph Franklin (Clancy’s son), 4-5, 6, 7, 175, 279

  as card player, 123

  Hebrew school, 72

  personality, 94-95, 237

  in sports, 152

  talks to Jennie, 282

  Sigal, Leo (Clancy’s father), 3, 12, 17-18, 20, 21, 22, 27-28

  absence, 37-38, 84-85, 87, 94, 104

  as chiropractor, 93

  death, 278

  early life, 92

  as a father, 82-83, 83-84, 96, 99-102, 102-104, 181, 182

  fights, 31, 40

  gambling, 100

  health problems, 95-96

  last appearance, 178-181

  meets Jennie, 93, 273-274

  photo, 82

  physical appearance, 269

  relationship, with Jennie, 41, 69, 84, 90, 179-181, 272-274

  reunited, with Clancy, 269-278

  as skilled tradesman, 91

  suicide attempt, 97-98

  temper, 43-44, 92, 93, 96-97

  as union organizer, 36-37, 92-93, 94

  works for WPA, 95

  Sinclair, Upton, 138

  Siu, Paul C. P., 47

  slaughterhouses, 99

  Slavic Hall, Chicago, 38-39

  Smith, Bessie, 18

  socialism vs. communism, 137-138, 227, 228

  Socialists International, 138-139

  South Haven, Michigan, 87-89

  speech impediments, Clancy’s, 193

  Springsteen, Bruce, 244

  St. Agatha’s Church, Lawndale, 69-70

  steel workers’ strike, 106-107

  Stillwell, Joseph “Vinegar Joe”, 225

  stockyards, Chicago, 99

  Streisand, Barbra, 239

  strikes

  breaking, 18, 28-29, 102-104, 106-107

  Chicago, 32

  meatpacking workers, 102-104

  steel workers, 106-107

  textile workers, Southern, 28-29

  Stritch, Elaine, 146

  suicide, Depression-era, 55-56, 98-99

  Swede, 111-112, 114-116, 118

  syphilis, 132

  Teamsters Union, 41, 232, 233

  teasing, 208-212

  Temple, Shirley, 105

  Terkel, Studs, 52, 77

  The Way We Were (film), 239

  Thin Man, The (film), 76

  Thompson, Bob, 226

  Tidwell, Janice, 5, 6

  Tijuana, trips to, 259-260

  Tom Mix, 38, 44

  Tom Sawyer (film), 66

  Tough Jews (Cohen), 102

  toy weapons, 42-43

  tramps. see hoboes

  traveling, 14, 15-17

  Triangle Shirtwaist fire, 12

  Triumph of the Will (film), 106

  tuberculosis, 39-40, 99

  Tunney, Gene, 82

  Turner, Big Joe, 245

  Uncle Schwartz, 22, 23, 24-25

  union meetings, 35-37, 38

  police raids, 38-40

  union organizing

  and company stooges, 17

  dues, collecting, 17, 92

  and improved conditions, 256-257

  and violence, 16, 18, 32, 37, 102-104

  vacation, summer, 87-89

  Van Meter, Homer, 247

  violence

  Lawndale neighborhood, 55-56, 134-137

  and strikebreaking, 106-107

  and union organizing, 16, 18, 32, 37, 102-104, 138, 143-144

  Weinstock, Max, 240-241, 247, 250-251, 252

  White Sox baseball team, 150-151

  Wingate, Orde, 225-226

  Wobblies (International Workers of the World), 3, 108

  Wolff, Milt, 2
26

  women, in Lawndale neighborhood, 120-121, 123, 125-126. see also Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society

  sexuality, 125-126, 128-130

  Womens Army Corps, 136

  Workmen’s Circle temple, Chicago, 71, 160

  World Trade Center attacks, 7

  World War I, 138-139, 159

  World War II. see also Holocaust

  begins, 140, 153

  D-Day, 251-252

  Ike Lerman in, 168

  isolation vs. intervention, 156-157, 158-160, 160-161, 163, 164-165, 167-168, 174

  Japan in, 105, 155-156, 160, 225

  Lawndale boys in, 168, 170-173, 216, 252

  and Lawndale neighborhood, 169, 223-224

  Soviet Union, 227-228

  United States enters, 162-164

  WPA (Works Progress Administration), 95

  writing, writers, 265-267

  yellow dog contract, 23

  Yom Kippur War, 73

  Zaretsky, Aviva, 126-127, 128-130

  Zola (film), 91

  About the Author

  Clancy Sigal was born and raised in Chicago, the son of two labor organizers. He enlisted in the army and, as a GI in occupied Germany, attended the Nuremberg war crimes trials intending to shoot Herman Göring. Although blacklisted and trailed by FBI agents, he began work as a Hollywood agent on the Sunset Strip, hiding in plain sight and representing Humphrey Bogart, among many others.

  Sigal moved to London in the 1950s and stayed in the UK for thirty years, writing and broadcasting regularly from the same BBC studios that George Orwell had used. During the Vietnam War, he was the “stationmaster” of a London safe house for American GI deserters and draft dodgers. For several years, he collaborated with the radical “anti-psychiatrists” R. D. Laing and David Cooper, with whom he founded Kingsley Hall in London’s East End, a halfway house for so-called incurable cases.

  Currently, Sigal lives in Los Angeles with his screenwriting partner and wife, Janice Tidwell; their son, Joe; and two Australian shepherds named Kelly and Lucky.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  Copyright © 2006 by Clancy Sigal

  This memoir is a product of the author’s recollections and is thus rendered as a subjective accounting of events that occurred in his life. Certain changes have been made to protect the identities of those still living and their families. All photos are from the author’s collection, unless otherwise noted.

 

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