Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Here's a website for the film, with a trailer down the page some.

<https://www.meritsproductions.com/projects/the-paradox-of-seabrook-farms>


In ways, it's about a vanished place in a vanished society,​
partnering paternalism and exploitation.  "Being taken care of"​
along with "toeing the line".
  

    
Wow.
  

    
John, thanks so much for being here and of course your notes! I have​
the book but haven't got to it yet; slow reader, piles of books, ai​
yi yi. Meanwhile the book isn't going anywhere. heh. It was​
astounding to read the reviews and now this. Just thanks again.
  

    <scribbled by jreacher Thu 25 Sep 25 13:10>
  

    
It was a good day when Lisa, your wife, told you to get off the​
sauce or she would leave you. Finding it a creditable ultimatum, you​
came under the care of a Manhattan family therapist who for years,​
helped you find your way back to sobriety. Jack and C.K. had both​
been heavy drinkers, so, as she told you,  you came by the problem​
honestly. Today, Seabrook House, your grandfather’s home, is​
headquarters of a network of drug and alcohol centers. Can you tell​
about learning to manage your drinking and the importance of your​
children, particularly Rose, in your rehabilitation. And please say​
something about the drug and alcohol centers. 
  

    
Second that. The river of booze running through the book was well-
written, and definitely made me prick up my ears.
  

    
Well, regarding alcohol...as you know if you've read the book it was​
really part of my patrimony. The word "capacity" kind of haunts the​
book. Alcohol meant a number of things to the Seabrooks. First of​
all, it was a class signifier. The Seabrooks needed to master class​
signifiers like wine and clothes because they were in a hurry to​
convince their wealthy contacts that they belonged among them. C.F.​
never finished high school and the culture into which he was born​
was provincial, illiberal, and working class. So mastery of​
cocktails and French wine was a way of "passing" socially. It was a​
deadly serious business. 

But alcohol was also a test -- although you weren't told you were​
taking a test. Empty glasses were always refilled, to see who would​
have the self control to stop short of getting plastered and who​
wouldn't. Often it was the upper class people who the Seabrooks had​
managed to finagle as guests who got the drunkest -- which gave the​
Seabrooks great satisfaction, and made them feel superior. 

And finally, it was tribal, booze was like this sacred juice that​
made you one of them, taken around the time of puberty. 

Anyway I flunked the test, repeatedly. This was tolerated, even by​
mother, which is kind of crazy because she came from a family of​
alcohol abusers. And since they never seemed to think I had a​
drinking problem, I never thought I had a drinking problem either.​
Lisa my wife also put up with it for a number of years, until it​
reached a point where she gave me that ultimatum -- which I was​
stunned by. But of course she was right. 

Therapy helped me recognize how my drinking was tied up with family​
heritage, which kind of mitigated a lot of the shame around it, but​
going to AA was the thing that made me stop. Not doing the steps,​
just sitting in those rooms with people who came to their drinking​
in all kinds of different ways, but realizing we were all really the​
same -- addicts. 

Also writing about it helped. Writing about it was kind of like​
standing up in a room and sharing, but it also creates a permanent​
record, like an oath you've sworn to on the page, and a pact you've​
made with readers, who kind of act as witnesses. Like, I've sworn,​
I'm sober, it's in print, there's no taking it back.
  

    
Yes, the one point where your parents introduce you to alcohol, and​
you get smashed, and then later you overhear the comment that maybe​
you weren't as mature as they had hoped ... all the subtext there.
  

    
I tried your old-fashioned recipe last weekend and got right​
cheerful and even a trifle silly --

A triple shot of bourbon on ice with a teaspoon of sugar, bitters,​
and a wedge of orange. 
  

    
And of course, self-medication for people who had doubts about their​
place in their society, in their family, their success, and their​
definition of success.

Your father's avocation of the four-in-hand driving felt like​
another defense mechanism - this unassailable esoteric niche of​
mastery with its "money-pit" aspect.  I can't even imagine what it​
cost to ship horses to England.  And of course was it Fedex or UPS​
that the company paid for to send them to Canada?  Fedexing​
horses!!! The logistics. 

What were his thoughts on other horse endeavors such as dressage and​
the Clydesdale teams? 
  

    
>an oath you've sworn to on the page

Nice.
  

    
It took a fast study to know so much about so many things at such a​
young age. Jack's knowledge of the best wines must have exceeded a​
master sommelier's, and he he seemed to know the proper attire for​
whatever occasion -- garden parties, picnics, receptions, weddings, ​
funerals, formal dinners, etc. He knew when to wear a cutaway​
morning coat with striped trousers  and when a white tie with black​
trousers would be more approriate. His wardrobe was vast and he knew​
all the best Savile Row tailors. I suppose all this fits in with the​
defense mechanism Sweeney mentions.
  

    
I was shocked by a couple of things I ran across in Stephanie​
Hinnershitz's book _Japanese American Incarceration: The Camps and​
Coerced Labor During World War II_ (U. of PA Press, 2021):

One, that Seabrook Farms employed German POWS! They had vacated by​
1944, requiring replacements by Japanese Americans. (242)

Two, the Japanese American workers included Japanese Peruvians, whom​
the Peruvian government detained when Peru joined the Allies and​
agreed to ship the Japanese Peruvians to the prison camp at Crystal​
City, Texas, to be used in potential exchanges with American POWs​
that Japan was holding. That's a whole other sordid story, but the​
Seabrook connection that is shocking is that they were treated worse​
than the continental US Japanese Americans. For one thing, they​
"were forced by Seabrook to pay extra 'taxes' to the company because​
of their supposed illegal entry. Seabrook deducted 33 percent from​
the paychecks / of the Japanese Peruvians, 'so by the time they got​
their paycheck there was hardly anything. And because there was so​
little left, they couldn't go to town to buy groceries, 'cause then​
you had to pay the bus which was like twenty or ten cents . . .'​
This forced the workers to go to the company store which afforded no​
opportunities to save money to leave Seabrook Farms." (242-243)
  

    
I wish I'd known about the Hinnershitz book when I was writing mine.​
I didn't know about the 'taxes' and the 33 percent. Holy shit. 

One of the issues I had writing this book was balancing the​
admirable things the Seabrooks did with the awful things. Which kind​
of goes to my twin roles as family memoirist and muck raking​
journalist. As a journalist investigating and exposing corruption,​
racism, and fascism in a business, you want to lay it on as thick as​
possible to blacken the reputation of the perpetrators forever. But​
when it's your family you're investigating, your loyalties are​
divided. If it's too negative it's off putting for the reader; the​
narrator seems like a rat. And in the Seabrooks case, they did do​
some good or at least admirable things. They basically invented​
frozen vegetables, though of course Birdseye owned the process. In​
doing so they got a lot of vitamins into people who didn't have​
access to fresh and didn't eat canned. Also frozen vegetables were​
more affordable in a lot of cases. And then there was their​
ingenuity, their drive, the science they brought to growing and​
producing vegetables (growth units) and all the workers who felt​
like working at Seabrook Farms was the best time of their lives. The​
book is a balancing act. There were places I had to cut stuff (like​
the Estonian opera singers) because it threw the balance off. I'm​
not sure what I would have done with that information about the​
Peruvians. The journalist would have wanted to use it!

Yes, that's the recipe for an old-fashioned that will definitely​
light a warm glow inside you.

Regarding horses. The coaching world is distinct from the racing​
world which is different from the polo world and the dressage world​
and the Clydesdales/farm horse world, and it's not that uncommon in​
my experience for people to know a lot about one and nothing about​
the others. Each attracts a different kind of person. My dad did​
know quite a bit about Morgan horse, which were bred in Vermont.​
It's why he ended up getting Nimrod North. He had a friend who was a​
pretty serious polo player, George "frolic" Weymouth. He went to the​
Garden State Race Track from time to time. But coaching eventually​
swallowed his attention as well as much of his money. 
  

    
Speaking of money, IIRC, 25K acres of the Seabrook farm were owned​
outright by the family, and of that some 2K acres wound up in a​
trust for you and your children and grandchildren. At age 66, will​
you now focus on managing that trust exclusively, or do you plan to​
continue with a writing career?
  

    
I’m back to writing for the New Yorker. (I have a short piece in​
there this week and a longer one about sports architecture coming​
soon. I’ll be in Sofi this Thursday for the Rams Niners game.)​
I’m much more competent at writing than I am at managing money.​
Most of the Seabrooks money ended up with the Princeton Theological​
Seminary, the Westminster Chois College, the Bridgeton Hospital, and​
my Aunt Thelma. 
  

    
In today's political ecosystem we're seeing  themes of ambition,​
power, and decline play out. If I'd written a book two decades ago​
with a narrative that resembles what we're seeing now, it would've​
been rejected as too crazy. 

Much of The Spinach King touches on just those themes.  Do you see​
your family’s story as uniquely American? Do you see personalities​
in today's politics that make you think of your grandfather and​
father?
  

    
> One of the issues I had writing this book was balancing the​
admirable things the Seabrooks did with the awful things. Which kind​
of goes to my twin roles as family memoirist and muck raking​
journalist. . . . The book is a balancing act. 

Oh absolutely, John. And I think you do a great job with the​
balancing.
  

    
Yes. Yes!
  

    
I just got done reading the most appalling chapter in the Seabrook​
Farms story: the 1934 summer strike. 

You can see some footage of a moment during the strike, when Black​
women strikers started pulling scab-picked beets off a truck and​
were wrestled away by strikebreakers. Halfway through this: 

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGaJuAPJkQ>
  

    
John, is that something you wanted to talk about further with
relatives?
  

    
I'm glad you put that link to the strike footage into the thread.​
It's incredible that it exists. Just one of many things that turned​
up on the internet in the course of my research. Of course we're​
used to everything being recorded on video today - but in 1934? On a​
farm in remote South Jersey. Just incredible. 

Well yes in fact there is a father and son in today's politics that​
resemble my grandfather and his relationship with his sons. That​
would be "the Henry Ford of Housing" Fred Trump and his sons Fred​
and Donald. Fred Jr spiraled into alcoholism as a result of his​
father's abuse, and Donald became a malignant narcissist to survive.​
My dad charted kind of a middle path between those two toxic​
reactions to the abusive patriarch and founder. My dad thought​
Donald was vulgar and paid him little mind, but I'm kind of grateful​
that he died before Trump became a candidate because I'm pretty sure​
he would have voted for him. He did vote for McCain a few months​
before he died. I remember sitting in his bedroom with my hippie​
niece Adriana when we got the news Obama had won, and celebrating​
while he kind of moaned in his sleep. 

If anyone in my family would like to discuss the book/CF with me I'd​
be happy to. So far no one has. 
  

    
>If anyone in my family would like to discuss the book/CF with me​
I'd be >happy to. So far no one has. 

Huh.  Interesting.  Families can be so weird.
  

    
By all accounts, and from pictures in your book, the Seabrook ​
children appear to be healthy and happy. Rose, now 15,  has a big​
smile on her face and is in every respect a Generation Alpha girl,​
growing up with more integrated technology and AI than all the​
children of previous generations. 

She came to you and Lisa by way of adoption at just 18 months of age​
following the catastrophic 7.0  Haitian earthquake of 2010. That​
quake left an estimated 300,000 dead and over a million persons​
homeless or displaced. 

Is Rose curious about her roots in the disaster? Has she visited the​
island? Is there any contact with her biological mother? Is she in​
the prep school you and your father attended? Will she be a​
Princeton girl? And what about her siblings? You said you aren’t​
sure you’re doing them any favors by passing on a generous​
inheritance to them. Please tell us about your kids.
  

    
This discussion was scheduled for two weeks, and that two week​
period ends today. The topic will remain, and participants are​
welcome to continue, though we only asked John to commit two weeks​
of his attention. 

Thanks to John and to all the other participants here - great​
discussion!