Word: astorisms
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...after the publication of Looking Backward, there appeared a very different view of A.D. 2000. It was a sort of capitalist rebuttal, although by definition the free-market philosophy does not easily lend itself to Utopianism, with its regimented bliss. In A Journey to Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor, Socialism has hopelessly ruined Europe, while the U.S., having absorbed Canada, Mexico and most of Central and South America, virtually rules the world together with its ally, Great Britain. A great-grandson of the dynasty's founder, Astor was a playboy with a serious side. Fascinated by science, he spent...
...center of the plot is the Terrestrial Axis Straightening Company, which plans to reposition the globe so that the Earth's climate will be universally benign, like everlasting spring ("Polar bears will soon have to use artificial ice"). In Astor's view, "this period--A.D. 2000--is by far the most wonderful the world has as yet seen." But the world has grown too small, which is why the book's main characters take off for Jupiter in a spaceship equipped with booster rockets. "The future glory of the human race," concludes Astor, "lies in exploring at least the solar...
DIED. BETSEY CUSHING ROOSEVELT WHITNEY, 89, grande dame of society; in Manhasset, N.Y. The middle child of the three glamorous Cushing sisters (the oldest married Vincent Astor, the youngest was the legendary society figure Babe Paley), she wrote the book on marrying money. The first wife of F.D.R.'s oldest son, James Roosevelt (when mother-in-law Eleanor was away, Betsey played White House hostess), she was the widow of tycoon John Hay ("Jock") Whitney...
...BROOKE ASTOR She closes her N.Y.C. foundation after spending 38 years giving away $193 million. Three cheers...
...side of the road and, if he's lucky, at home in Boston's suburbs, where he lives with his wife and two children. During a rehearsal last December with tango musicians in a New York City nightclub (he was touring in support of his album of Astor Piazzolla compositions, Soul of the Tango), Ma cracked, "The faster we play, the faster we can have dinner." It was a joke, of course, but it probably sprang from a very real impulse: at this point in his career, fending off boredom may be Ma's greatest challenge as an artist...