‘The Interview': Isabel Allende Understands How Fear Changes a Society
Allende's newest novel, 'My Name Is Emilia del Valle,' will be published May 6, and it's about a dark period in Chilean history: the 1891 Chilean civil war. Like so much of Allende's work, it's a story about women in tough spots who figure out a way through. Thematically, it's not that far off from Allende's own story. She was raised in Chile, but in 1973, when she was 31, raising two small children and working as a journalist, her life was upended forever. That year a military coup pushed out the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, who was her father's cousin. She fled to Venezuela, where she wrote 'The House of the Spirits,' which evolved from a letter she had begun writing to her dying grandfather. That book became a runaway best seller and it remains one of her best-known.
Allende moved to the United States in the late 1980s, where she has been writing steadily ever since. But as she told me, she has never stopped longing for and thinking about her past — whether that's her home country, her ancestors or her daughter who died young. After speaking to her, I think I understand why. Video The beloved author left Chile at a time of great turmoil and has longed for the nation of her youth ever since.
The main character in your new book, Emilia, doesn't have a relationship with her birth father. She goes looking for him. I know you didn't have a relationship with your birth father. I'm curious about how your mother talked about your father when you were young and how you thought about him. She never spoke about him. All the photographs in which he appeared were destroyed, and there was never a mention of his name. When we asked, she would always say, 'He was a very intelligent man.' That's it. She wouldn't say why he left, why we couldn't see him, no explanation. At some point, when they were teenagers, my brothers wanted to meet him, and it was a big disappointment for them because my father had absolutely no connection with them and no interest in them, but I never looked for him. Many years later, when I was working as a journalist, I was called to the morgue to identify the body of a man that had died in the street. And I couldn't identify him because I had never seen a picture of him. That was my father.
First of all, that sounds terrible. No, it wasn't terrible. I mean, it was terrible to see a corpse for the first time, but I didn't feel anything, any connection, any compassion, any longing of any kind.
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Boston Globe
10 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
A professor's hunt for the rarest Chinese typewriter
It went into a suitcase and he took it back to California, where it joined a growing collection of Asian-language typing devices he'd hunted down. But there was one typewriter that Mullaney had little hope of ever finding: the MingKwai. Made by an eccentric Chinese linguist turned inventor living in Manhattan, the machine had mechanics that were a precursor to the systems almost everyone now uses to type in Chinese. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Only one -- the prototype -- was ever made. Advertisement 'It was the one machine,' he said recently, 'which despite all my cold-calling, all my stalking, was absolutely, 100 percent, definitely gone.' Mullaney's mania for clunky text appliances began in 2007, when he was preparing a talk on the disappearance of Chinese characters and found himself contemplating the disintegration of everything. Among the vast number of characters in the Chinese language -- around 100,000, by some estimates -- there are hundreds that no one alive knows how to pronounce. They are written down, plain as day, in old books, but their sounds, even their meanings, have been lost. Advertisement Sitting in his office, wondering at how something seemingly immortalized in print could be forgotten, Mullaney went down a mental rabbit hole. It would have been physically impossible to build a typing machine to include all the characters that were historically written out by hand, he thought. Some characters must have made the cut, while others were left behind. He sat back in his chair and asked himself: Could he recall ever having seen a Chinese typewriter? Two hours later, he was lying on the floor of his office, looking at patent documents for such devices. There had been, over the last century and a half, dozens of different Chinese typewriters made. Each one was an inventor's take on how to incorporate thousands of characters into a machine without making it unusable -- a physical manifestation of their ideas about language. Never plentiful, the typewriters were now increasingly rare, gone the way of most obsolete technology. Mullaney was fascinated. That evening turned into months of research, which turned into years of searching, as Chinese typewriters became one of his areas of historical expertise. He cold-called strangers and left voicemail messages for private collectors, people whom he suspected, from faint traces left on the internet, of having typewriters. He pored over looking for the next of kin of the last known owner of a particular machine. He called museums and asked, 'Do you, by any chance, have a Chinese typewriter?' Sometimes, they said yes. A private museum in Delaware happened to have a surviving IBM Chinese typewriter, of which only two or three were ever made. Someone at a Chinese Christian church in San Francisco got in touch with him to say they owned a typewriter that they were trying to get rid of. Mullaney took it off their hands. Advertisement The MingKwai is legendary among the handful of people who know about Chinese typewriters. It was invented by Lin Yutang, a Chinese linguist and public intellectual who had begun to worry in the 1930s that without some way to convert ink-brush characters into easily reproduced text, China would be left behind technologically -- perhaps destroyed at the hands of foreign powers. Attempts to create typing machines usually stumbled over the problem of cramming a galaxy of characters into a single machine. Lin's solution was an ingenious system housed in what looked like a large Western typewriter. But when you tapped the keys, something remarkable happened. Any two keystrokes, representing pieces of characters, moved gears within the machine. In a central window, which Lin called the Magic Eye, up to eight different characters containing those pieces then appeared, and the typist could select the right one. Lin had made it possible to type tens of thousands of characters using 72 keys. It was almost as if, Mullaney said, Lin had invented a keyboard with a single key capable of typing the entire Roman alphabet. He named his machine MingKwai, which roughly translates to 'clear and fast.' Lin, who was then living with his wife and children on Manhattan's Upper East Side, hired a New York machinist firm to make a prototype, at enormous cost to himself. He presented that prototype in a demonstration to executives from Remington, the typewriter manufacturer. Advertisement It was a failure. The machine malfunctioned at a crucial moment. Lin went bankrupt and the prototype was sold to Mergenthaler Linotype, a printing company in Brooklyn. And that, as far as Mullaney had been able to find out, was the machine's last known location. When Mergenthaler Linotype moved offices sometime in the 1950s, the machine disappeared. In his 2017 book, 'The Chinese Typewriter,' Mullaney wrote that he believed the MingKwai had most likely ended up on a scrap heap. This past January, Jennifer and Nelson Felix were in their home in Massapequa, N.Y., going through boxes that had been in storage since Felix's father died in Arizona five years before. They were looking at a wooden crate sitting among the cardboard boxes. 'What's this?' Jennifer Felix asked her husband. He'd had a peek in the crate back in Arizona. Oh, he said, it's that typewriter. She opened it, and realized it was not a typical typewriter. The symbols on the keys looked like Chinese. Nelson Felix, who often sold and bought items on Facebook, quickly found a group called 'What's My Typewriter Worth?' and posted some photos. Then they set it aside and moved on to other things. An hour later, Nelson Felix checked on his post. There were hundreds of comments, many written in Chinese. People kept tagging someone named Tom. The couple looked at each other. 'Who's Tom?' Mullaney was in Chicago to give a talk when his phone started going off -- ping, ping, ping. The small community of people he'd encountered in his long quest were sending up digital flares, urgently trying to get his attention. As soon as he saw the post, he knew exactly what he was looking at. It was the MingKwai. Advertisement But he didn't rejoice. He didn't sigh with relief. He was gripped with fear. What if they didn't know what they had and sold it before he could get to it? Someone could buy it with a click on eBay. They could make it into a coffee table. Take it apart and make steampunk earrings. It would be gone, just like that. He posted a comment on Facebook, asking the poster to contact him right away. After a few frantic hours, he got a reply, and the next day he and the Felixes were on the phone. He told them the MingKwai's story. He said that while it was up to them what they did with it, he hoped they would consider selling it to a museum. He was afraid that if it were sold at auction, it would disappear, a trophy hidden in the vacation home of an oil tycoon. Jennifer Felix was bewildered by what was happening. It was just a typewriter in a basement. But Mullaney had made an impression. 'It was lost for half a century,' she said. 'We didn't want it to get lost again.' 'To me it's just a typewriter,' she continued. 'But to other people it's history; it's a story, a life, a treasure.' Instructions and a box of tools were used to cast more Chinese character bars for the MingKwai 9 typewriter. CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK/NYT Mullaney figured out that Jennifer Felix's grandfather, Douglas Arthur Jung, had been a machinist at Mergenthaler Linotype. It's likely that when the company moved offices, he took the machine home. Then it was passed down to Felix's father, who, for more than a decade, had kept the MingKwai with him. 'That's what my dad decided to keep and bring across the country when they moved,' Felix said. Advertisement Keys on the MingKwai 9 typewriter. CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK/NYT Why, of all he had inherited from his own father, did he hang on to this typewriter? She doesn't know. But she feels it must have been a conscious choice: The MingKwai would not have been packed by accident. It weighs more than 50 pounds. In April, the couple made their decision. They sold the machine for an undisclosed amount to the Stanford University Libraries, which acquired it with the help of a private donor. This spring, the MingKwai made its way back across the country. When it was lifted out of the crate onto the floor at a Stanford warehouse, Mullaney lay down to look at it. The history professor could see that it was full of intricate machinery, far more delicate than any other typewriter he'd seen, and he began to imagine how engineers might help him understand it -- perhaps revealing what was going on in Lin's mind in 1947 when he invented a machine he thought could rescue China. Perhaps they could even build a new one. Lying on his stomach, Mullaney began to wonder. The MingKwai 9 typewriter. CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK/NYT This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Barcelona star sends farewell message to club's fans
A departing member of the attacking ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona has bid a fond farewell to all in Catalunya's capital. The player in question? Pau Víctor. Frontman Víctor is for his part of course fresh off seeing his departure from Barcelona made official. Following a quickfire round of talks with Portuguese outfit SC Braga, the Camp Nou brass sanctioned a deal for the 23-year-old to depart on a permanent basis this weekend. As much brings to an end what was a short-lived stint for Víctor on Barcelona's books, spread between the club's reserve outfit, and first-team. Evidently, though, across this time, the Blaugrana made a deep impact on the versatile attacker from a personal standpoint. This comes with Víctor having taken to his official social media accounts, to bid a heartfelt farewell to the Spanish champions: 'Today marks the end of a chapter that has shaped my life. A chapter that has been much more than football: it has been a dream come true. First with Barça Atlètic, then with the first team… but always with the same feeling: that of a kid who grew up dreaming of wearing this shirt. Defending this badge has been an immense honor, both at the Johan and at Montjuïc, always with the pride of being part of a unique club. Because Barça is not just a club. It's a feeling that fills you, transforms you, and makes you better. Thank you to all the coaches, teammates, club staff, and fans who have accompanied me on this journey. I take with me friendships, values, lessons, and memories that I'll carry with me forever. Now I head toward new challenges, with my head held high and my heart full. With the same passion, the same commitment, and the eternal pride of having defended these colors, and a dream lived that will accompany me wherever I go. With all my gratitude, Forever a Culer.' Conor Laird – GSFN
Business Insider
6 hours ago
- Business Insider
Before-and-after photos show how a woman boosted her home's curb appeal with a mudroom and statement arch
Steffy Degreff's home has changed a lot since she and her husband bought it in late 2017. Degreff, a full-time content creator, and her husband, Matt Degreff, bought their home in Long Beach, New York, in 2017. They have been raising their sons, Hudson, 8, and Charlie, 5, and their dog, Claude Pepper, there ever since. When they bought the house, which was originally built in 1954, it had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. However, the Degreffs did a big renovation in 2019. Now, it has three bathrooms, and they converted an attic into an additional bedroom. "To be honest, when we bought it, I don't think we viewed it as a forever home," Degreff told Business Insider. "It needed so much work that it was overwhelming to think that we would be the people to do that work, but everything that's good takes time." "Now, eight years later, it's finally in a place where I don't feel like we have anything massive to do on it anymore," she added. Degreff has been putting her personal, whimsical stamp on her home for years. Although their big renovation took place years ago, Degreff updates her home almost constantly, taking on DIY projects and documenting them on her social media pages. She paints areas of her home throughout the year and makes small additions in her personal style, which she describes as "vintage grandma." Some of her projects are meant to be temporary, like painting doors or windows, while others are longer-term. For instance, Degreff constructed built-in bookshelves for one room in her house, painting them green and adding floral touches to the doorway next to them. "A lot of the bigger projects I do with permanence in mind," she told BI. "If I'm putting up built-in bookshelves or redoing paneling in a bedroom, chances are I'm not ripping that out. But paint is just such a fun way to change your vibe year to year." Although they had personalized their home, there was still one part of the house that wasn't working for the Degreffs by 2024: the entryway. From the outside, a simple staircase led to the Degreffs' front door, which had a small patio next to it. Inside, guests entered the living room. "I always knew that the entry to my home was less than ideal," Degreff told BI. "People would walk in, and we had nowhere to put our coats. We had no coat closet. It was freezing in the winter." In 2024, the Degreff family reached a breaking point with the entrance to their home. They decided they wanted an entryway that would provide storage, make their living area warmer, and fit the aesthetic of their home. The Degreffs decided to extend the front of their home to make space for the mudroom and a statement archway. Degreff said she got inspiration for the renovation from other homes in her area. "I started walking around the neighborhood and getting ideas, and the really cool thing about Long Beach is that there's a multitude of home styles," she said, including Spanish, Victorian, and Cape Cod houses. "No two homes are exactly alike, which brings an endless amount of inspiration." As she studied homes in her neighborhood, Degreff found herself drawn to the ones with rounded doors, but she didn't want to commit to the nontraditional shape. "I started to think outside the box of what can I do that looks like that same quaint, cottagey type of look but isn't actually the door, and that's where I landed on the arch," Degreff added. The project kicked off in May 2024 with the removal of the existing steps at the home. The new room and arch extended out of the front of the house, adding just 80 square feet to the space. But it would have the closet the Degreff family wanted so desperately. Degreff comes from a family of contractors, so it was a no-brainer for her to hire her uncle, Pat Gordon Contracting, for the project. She also worked with James Joyce Architect, and she tapped Weathertop Masonry to find brick that would match the home's existing stonework. The arch was the most difficult aspect of the renovation to create. Like the rest of the house, the arch was raised off the ground, and stairs led to the platform entrance. The arch pointed at the top, while the door beneath was designed with a round window atop it for contrast. Degreff told BI that Weathertop Masonry was integral to creating the archway, which was almost entirely made of brick and stone. She said the team initially tried to find vintage bricks to match the house, and when that didn't work, Degreff said Paul Scanio, Weathertop Masonry's president, got creative. "We ended up ordering a blend of two or three different types of brick, and the way that he grabbed and picked each brick, it mixed it in a way that made it look exactly like the old brick on my house," Degreff said. Degreff chose custom tile for the interior of the mudroom. Degreff said she spent "hours and hours" researching tiles before selecting a green, patterned set from London Mosaic. The tile was laid in August, and Degreff held off decorating the rest of the space until January 2025, getting used to it before deciding how to finish it. When Degreff finished the mudroom, green was integral to the design. Thanks to the arch, the inside of the mudroom has high ceilings, and Degreff played up that height by painting the walls and ceilings a deep green. A textured light hangs from the ceiling, and the window above the door lets in natural light. There's a second door that leads to the living room, making the main house warmer. Degreff added a bench to the entryway. When you enter the mudroom, the long-awaited coat closet sits on the right, but the left side was a blank canvas for Degreff to decorate. "I knew I wanted to do a bench seating with a little open shelf, something that I could restyle seasonally, and a spot to hang extra stuff," she told BI. She did the work on the corner herself, adding paneling to the wall behind and next to the bench for some texture. A wooden shelf floated above the bench, and Degreff added hooks to the wall for jackets and purses. Degreff said the mudroom is already making her home more functional. "It's so nice," Degreff said of having a mudroom. "This was the first winter that we walked into having a mudroom, and it's just so much easier having a place to put the kids' sports bags and hang up our coats." "For work, I have a lot of random props that I get, and I have a closet space there now," she added. "It's not just sitting by the front door in the middle of the living room." The archway also improved the home's curb appeal, as Degreff's neighbors can attest. The arch drastically changed the house's appearance, but Degreff said all the work they did on the exterior in 2024 improved its curb appeal. "We were adding sod, we added a fence, we added landscaping, so the arch is just like a piece of other things that definitely made the house more attractive from the outside," she said. Degreff said people who live in her community noticed the upgrades. "The amount of neighbors that are excited about it has also been really cute," Degreff said. "I have at least one neighbor every day, and it's been a year, that's like, 'Your house came out so great. I love how it looks.'" She feels like the exterior finally matches the interior. "Nobody realized that it was cute inside because it had sad grass and it was just so dumpy outside, and now I feel like people get it," she said. "When we first did the renovation, people asked me when I moved in and welcomed me to the neighborhood because they thought I had just bought the house and started to fix it up." She also has fun changing up her doorway seasonally. Degreff has been switching up the decor out front to match the season. "Decorating it every season has been so fun," she said. "I put leaves around the arch for fall last year, and then I did garlands and lights for Christmas, and it's just fun and festive." She told BI that she's also "constantly" repainting the front door. Degreff knows repainting it so often might lead to wear and tear long-term, but she considers it a work expense because so much of her content revolves around her house. "I sand it in between, but it does get thick. It's definitely a casualty, and I look at it as a business expense at this point," she said. "Worst case scenario, I will, in five years, get a different door and start from scratch. There's nothing saying the door has to be forever." Having a clear vision helped Degreff bring her renovation to life. Degreff didn't have an exact cost breakdown for her mudroom and arch renovation because she and her husband also had work done on their driveway and other parts of their home. Still, she recommends people estimate between $50,000 and $70,000 if they want to take on a similar project. She also said that people who plan to take on similar projects should have a clear vision for their transformation. "I think my best advice would be to go on Pinterest and take a look at all the elements that you want to have in your space, whether it's a bench seating area when you walk in or a special kind of tile or special window," she said. "When you hire a contractor, they're just carrying out your vision. If you don't go into it with the vision, then you're not going to get exactly what you want." "The first time I renovated, I definitely didn't do enough research or planning, and there are things that I would do differently," Degreff said. "But with the arch, I 100% feel like it's exactly everything I wanted and hoped and dreamed."
