How This Blog Got its Name
In a previous blog post, “An 80th Birthday Makeover for The Great Gray Bridge,” dear reader, you will note I’ve borrowed the name for that entry, and the name for this very blog, from a nickname for the George Washington Bridge first used decades ago. My source is the 1942 children’s book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge written by Hildegarde H. Swift and illustrated by Lynd Ward, creator of the remarkable wordless novel, God’s Man, which was published in 1929, the very week of the stock market crash. It is a source of joy and pride for me that I am able to borrow from that classic the name for this blog “spanning urban life, books, music, culture, current events.” Below are some pertinent photos I’ve taken of the bridge, the lighthouse, the river, and the grounds surrounding them on the Manhattan side of the Hudson. I take pictures during bike rides I take from my NY apartment to upper Manhattan. I’d understand if some of these scenes surprise you with just how sweet, bucolic, and pretty the city’s Hudson shoreline really is. That’s New York City, for you, full of surprises for the eager observer.
Two final notes:
- The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge remains in print today;
- Thank you to web designer and friend, Harry Candelario, who adapted one of my photographs for the backdrop art for the home page of The Great Gray Bridge.
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- The little red lighthouse below the great gray bridge on a fall day, 2011
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- The bike path leading to the little red lighthouse, under the bridge.
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- The little red lighthouse below the great gray bridge on a fall day, 2011
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- A placard tells the story of the red lighthouse and the gray bridge
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- The underside of the great gray bridge.
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- The red lighthouse, looking south.
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- A placard tells the publishing story of “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge.”
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- The cover of “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge.”
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- The bridge from the shoreline of upper Manhattan.
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- The western span of the bridge, looking on to the Palisades in NJ.
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- The shoreline of upper Manhattan, looking north to the bridge.
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- The western arch of the Great Gray Bridge, quite silvery on this fall day.
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- Upper Manhattan shoreline, looking north to the span.
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- Low tide on the Hudson.
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- Low tide, marsh grass on the Hudson, upper Manhattan.
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- A glassy Hudson on a calm fall day.
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- Hudson Beach on a brilliant fall day, 2011
All photographs: Philip Turner
Great blog and great title for a blog, Philip. Fun fact of the day for your readers: Lionsgate Entertainment, which has a megahit in THE HUNGER GAMES, is named after the iconic Lions Gate bridge in Vancouver, Canada.
Thanks for visiting my site, and glad to learn that about Lionsgate. Good luck with your sites, too. I’ll be visiting. Best, Philip