Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic and essayist. He is best known for his monumental novel In Search of Lost Time, which explores involuntary memory and was published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927. Proust was one of the wordiest men in literature: “The length of individual Proustian sentences, snakelike constructions, the very longest of which, located in the fifth volume, would, if arranged along a single line in standard-sized text, run on for a little short of four meters and stretch around the base of a bottle of wine seventeen times,” wrote Alain de Botton. The reclusive Proust wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of his epic novel while bedridden. Proust was born on this day in 1871.
Heidi and I visited Proust’s grave in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris last October during our trip to Europe. A visitor had charmingly set out a tea cup and saucer for him. Oh, the involuntary memories elicited by the cue of tea biscuit dunking. Proust is one of Heidi’s favorite dead people, though that list is quite long.
John Adams was the second President of the United States (1797-1801), having earlier served as the first Vice President of the United States. An American Founding Father, he was a statesman, diplomat and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain. A lawyer and public figure in Boston, Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and was its primary advocate in the Congress. Interestingly, he died on Independence Day in 1826, mere hours after Jefferson’s death, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
Note: This is 8-bit U.S. president #17 of 43. Happy Fourth of July!
Danny Heep is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He played for five different ballclubs during his 13-year career (1979-1991): the Houston Astros, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. Heep won two World Series championships, with the New York Mets in 1986 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988. He had the exceptionally trivial honor of being the the first DH (designated hitter) in a World Series to have the initial “DH.” Heep was also the 4000th strikeout victim of Nolan Ryan on July 11, 1985. He was born on this day in 1957.
Note: Danny Heep’s career achievements notwithstanding, the real reason for this character is because I wanted to create pixel art of the fantastically ugly 1980 Tucson Toros uniforms. In 1980, the Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Houston Astros. These hilariously hideous uniforms were Tucson’s take on the “tequila sunrise” jerseys worn by the Houston Astros (see: Nolan Ryan). Since Heep had the best MLB career of any player on the 1980 Toros roster, he gets this pixel art (dis)honor. This is character #7 in my ugly uniform series.
Jackie Robinson was an American baseball player who became the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. As the first MLB team to play a black man since the 1880s, the Dodgers ended racial segregation that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades. Robinson’s character and talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement. Over 10 seasons, Robinson played in six World Series, winning one in 1955. He was selected for six consecutive All-Star Games (1949-1954), was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949.
Note: In 1997, Major League Baseball “universally” retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams; he was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored. This is pixel art character #642.
Derek Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. A five-time World Series champion, Jeter is regarded as a central figure of the Yankees during their success of the 1990s and 2000s. He is the Yankees’ all-time career leader in hits (3,304), games played (2,585), stolen bases (348) and at bats (10,551). His accolades include 13 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards and a Roberto Clemente Award. Jeter has been one of the most heavily marketed athletes of his generation. He was born on this day in 1974.
Sidd Finch was a fictional baseball player, the subject of the notorious article and April Fools’ Day hoax “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” written by George Plimpton and first published in the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated. Plimpton reported that Finch was a rookie baseball pitcher in training with the New York Mets. According to Plimpton, Finch was raised in an English orphanage, learned yoga in Tibet, and could throw a fastball as fast as 168 miles per hour (270 km/h). Finch pitched wearing one work boot and one bare foot. For the article’s photographs, Sidd Finch was played by Joe Berton, a mild-mannered junior high school art teacher from Illinois.
Note: Despite the obvious absurdity of the article, many people believed Finch actually existed. Plimpton eventually broadened his article into a novel, first published in 1987.
Subcomandante Marcos is the nom de guerre used by Rafael Guillén Vicente, the main ideologist, spokesperson and de facto leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a Mexican rebel movement fighting for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The EZLN group takes its name from agrarian reformer Emiliano Zapata. On January 1, 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became effective, Marcos led an army of Mayan farmers into eastern Chiapas state, to protest the Mexican federal government’s mistreatment of the nation’s indigenous peoples. Marcos is also a writer, a political poet and an anti-capitalist. He wears a black ski mask, often with a tobacco pipe sticking out, and a watch on each wrist. Nearly all EZLN villages have murals featuring Zapata, Che Guevara and Subcomandante Marcos. According to the Mexican government, Guillén was born on June 19, 1957.
My wife Heidi has a particular fascination with the mystery and mythology of Subcomandante Marcos. This pixel art character was suggested by her. Also, I am now dropping my publishing schedule to two 8-bit characters per week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
P.S. Despite similarities of our names and outfits, the Virginia Cavaliers and I are not related. Also, Virginia Cavalier is not under consideration as the name of my future daughter.
Marcel Proust – No. 645
Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic and essayist. He is best known for his monumental novel In Search of Lost Time, which explores involuntary memory and was published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927. Proust was one of the wordiest men in literature: “The length of individual Proustian sentences, snakelike constructions, the very longest of which, located in the fifth volume, would, if arranged along a single line in standard-sized text, run on for a little short of four meters and stretch around the base of a bottle of wine seventeen times,” wrote Alain de Botton. The reclusive Proust wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of his epic novel while bedridden. Proust was born on this day in 1871.
Heidi and I visited Proust’s grave in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris last October during our trip to Europe. A visitor had charmingly set out a tea cup and saucer for him. Oh, the involuntary memories elicited by the cue of tea biscuit dunking. Proust is one of Heidi’s favorite dead people, though that list is quite long.