Bradley T. Van Deusen


Bradley T. Van Deusen


Blind Tiger
Archeology of the Relationship
of Bradley and Jean

THE WHISTLER  -  UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO DAILY MAROON  -  1928-1929
A column of poetry edited by Bradley Van Deusen, the Blind Tiger

COLUMN
POEM
ARTICLE
AUTHOR
DATE
COMMENTS
..AnnouncementLouis H. EngelSep 28, 1928call for volunteers
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Oct 6, 19281st column; call for
writers
.Apologia.Blind Tiger (BVD)Oct 6, 19281st BVD poem
.Blue.Blind Tiger (BVD)Oct 6, 1928.
..Soldier AthletesstaffOct 10, 1928Van Deusen outstanding
..Gunners TeststaffOct 10, 1928inc BVD
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Oct 18, 1928requests phone no
.Night Lines.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Oct 18, 19281st JAB poem
.Dere Mojave.El Tigre del Norte (BVD)Oct 18, 19281st western dialect
.Cinque.Princess Dorothy (JAB)
El Tigre (BVD)
Oct 18, 1928BVD puts his poem
with hers
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Oct 19, 1928+ fake pseudonym
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Oct 24, 1928cavalry slicker
.Convent of the
Guns
.El Tigre (BVD)Oct 24, 1928retired guns
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Oct 31, 1928office hours
.Evergreens.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Oct 31, 1928.
.Lissen Kid.Stumblebum (BVD)Oct 31, 1928boxing pseudonym
.First Violin.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Oct 31, 1928.
..Athenaeum
It's a Dull
Place
Stumble BumNov 1, 19281st essay
..Rifle SquadstaffNov 1, 1928BVD in charge
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 2, 1928wants to meet JAB
.Zero Hour.El Tigre (BVD)Nov 2, 1928WWI battle
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 6, 1928Tiger on Stumblebum
.To the Anxious
Big Man
.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Nov 6, 1928JAB says no
..Athenaeum
Our Women
Virus Homo (??)Nov 7, 1928.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 7, 1928.
.Outcasts.El Tigre (BVD)Nov 7, 1928Philippines
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 8, 1928lovely lady smiled
.Sunset.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Nov 8, 1928.
.Night Ecstasy.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Nov 8, 1928.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 13, 1928football
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 14, 1928JAB no response
will publish note
.Armistice.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Nov 14, 1928.
..Hough Riflemen HeadstaffOct 10, 1928team coach
..Athenaeum
A Gentle Answer
Stumble Bum (BVD)Nov 16, 1928defines
stumble bum
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 16, 1928word play on
JAB poem name
.For Jean.Stumblebum (BVD)Nov 16, 1928note must have
been received
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 21, 1928.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 22, 1928.
.The Futility.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Nov 14, 1928.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 23, 1928.
.To a Bashful
Young Lady
.Stumblebum (BVD)Nov 16, 1928new pseudonym
JAB would have
been horrified by
use of her name
..Athenaeum
I May Deceive
a Woman
L'Envoi (BVD)Nov 23, 1928new pseudonym
refers to
Virus Homo
pseudonym
seducing
..Athenaeum
The New Chapel
Virus Homo (??)Nov 23, 1928.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Nov 27, 1928.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Dec 5, 1928.
.Island Days.El Tiger del Norte (BVD)Dec 5, 1928Philippines
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Dec 6, 1928cartoonist
.You Bid Me Come.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Dec 6, 1928answer to
seduction
perfect mother
humor
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Dec 7, 1928.
..Athenaeum
Burlesque
Stumble Bum (BVD)Dec 7, 1928review
..On PipesTiger Van Deusen (BVD)Dec 7, 1928comfort food
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Dec 14, 1928lots for Xmas
.Manchu Temple.Tiger Van Deusen (BVD)Dec 14, 1928new pseudonym
BVD in style
of JAB
.Dere Mojave.Tiger Van Deusen (BVD)Dec 14, 1928new pseudonym
redo of early piece
.Parting.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Dec 14, 1928breaking up
.Remembering.Tiger Van Deusen (BVD)Dec 14, 1928breaking up
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Dec 14, 1928.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 8, 1929.
.The Meddler.Saturnine Seaman (BVD)Jan 8, 1929begging
forgiveness
..For the Blind TigerJohn Rose GildeaJan 8, 1929famous beat poet
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 9, 1929.
.Naic Beach.Fafaia (BVD)Jan 9, 1929new pseudonym
Fafaia
..Athenaeum
Memories
Stumble Bum (BVD)Jan 9, 1929CO union fight
Bobbie Mac
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 15, 1929bitching
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 16, 1929.
.Tuan Jimmy.Stumble Bum (BVD)Jan 16, 1929Philippines
.She wuzza mos'
gorgeous lady
.Tiger Van Deusen (BVD)Jan 16, 1929when fighting??
mother had another
boyfriend
.The Egoists.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Jan 16, 1929back together
.The Egoists.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Jan 16, 1929back together
.For The Saturnine
Seaman
.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Jan 16, 1929reply to
pseudonym
back together
she uses my name
as pseudonym
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 17, 1929.
.Chanson de la Vie.Saturnine Seaman (BVD)Jan 17, 1929mixes with Envoi
pseudonym
..Athenaeum
An Actor is Seen
Stumble Bum (BVD)Jan 18, 1929review
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 22, 1929.
.Culmination.Saturnine Seaman (BVD)Jan 22, 1929Desdemona
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 23, 1929.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 24, 1929Bobbie Mac
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 25, 1929Louis H. Engel
.I Whistle.Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 25, 1929stream of conscious
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 9, 1929the zoo
.Winter Madness.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Jan 29, 1929.
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 30, 1929Dutchess fallen
out; Outcasts
pseudonym
..The Blind AlleyLouis H. EngelJan 30, 1929About BVD
Whistler..Blind Tiger (BVD)Jan 31, 1929Still at outs
.Rusty Jones.Stumble Bum (BVD)Jan 31, 1929western
Whistler..Charley the SpaniardFeb 6, 1929Tiger is gone
..In Memoriam
Tiger
CarcajouFeb 6, 1929goodbye poem
Whistler..Charley the SpaniardFeb 15, 1929Outcast at odds
with Dutchess
.To M.TVD (BVD)Feb 15, 1929wanting her
last pseudonym
was Mary
.To a Girl.TVD (BVD)Feb 15, 1929wanting her
Whistler..Charley the SpaniardFeb 19, 1929asking Jean,
among others, for
contributions
Whistler..Charley the SpaniardFeb 27, 1929.
.February Days.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Feb 27, 1929as though they'd
never happened
Whistler..Charley the SpaniardFeb 28, 1929.
.Musing.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Feb 28, 1929maybe a memory
.Suskind.Ten Eyck
Van Deusen (BVD)
Mar 1, 1929the middle name
they gave me
Whistler..Charley the SpaniardMar 5, 1929tiger is gone
.How Shall I
Know Spring
.Princess Dorothy (JAB)Mar 5, 1929.
..Athenaeum
Kiddie Kar
Publicity
Bobbie MacMar 6, 1929.
Whistler..Charley the SpaniardMar 7, 1929.
.An Egyptian Temple.TVD (BVD)Mar 7, 1929.

Father
Father's Links

ARCHEOLOGY OF A RELATIONSHIP


From knowing very little about my father, to discovering his courtship of my mother in their college paper, has been an emotional journey for me. The stories that I had heard of him described a man large in stature and large in emotions. From mother I had received the impression that the tornado that was father was created by the external winds of alcohol. From this column I've learned that he carried the tornado within himself. The alcohol probably just made it whirl a little faster.

I only knew father from the letters he had written begging mother to come back. I found them terribly sad. I've found this column to be as well. I'm also shocked that it is the identical man at the age of 23 and at the age of 47. One thinks of 23 as so young. But since he also died young, father was already at the midpoint of his life when he wrote this column.

What follows is a chronology of the relationship of my father and mother over the half year they courted in the public pages of The Daily Maroon.


In response to a call from Louis H. Engel for Daily Maroon volunteers, Bradley Van Deusen offers, and is given, the newspaper column, The Whistler. Twelve days later an early entrant, 17 year old freshman Jean Butridge, submits a poem. She had been active on her high school newspaper, and joins up now as a college reporter. Having met over a scheduling conflict for a typewriter, Bradley is interested in Jean, and two months after his column starts he attempts to get her attention. Jean lets him know that she's not interested.

About two weeks pass and Bradley is still getting nowhere with Jean. He pushes, and this time he seems to have caught her attention because, two days later, he writes a poem to her that assumes he's spent enough time with her to have opinions about her. The boy moves pretty far pretty fast.

Actually, he was interested in moving quite a bit faster, if you take his poem of 9 days later as indicative of their relationship. Notice that his pseudonym has changed from his two public pseudonyms, tiger variations and The Stumble Bum. That's because Bradley has already made one bad mistake with Jean -- he's brought her to public attention. If there was anyone who wanted to stay behind the scenes, it was Jean. Clearly the Whistler crew knew about their relationship, but she was probably horrified that the campus did as well.

One can see that Bradley isn't getting what he wants after they've been going together less then a month, and he next tries a humorous approach. But Jean makes clear that he's not going to get what he wants from her!

The relationship must have hits the skids because about a week later, in his full page closeup column of the quarter, Bradley's back to general topic poetry, along with a complaint that "There is a lot uv prime fillies here but they aint nosin' yer pardner." Jean's contribution is the brushoff, Parting. Bradley isn't pleased with their relationship falling apart, and he leaves Jean for the Christmas break with a little romantic pathos.

The three week separation does seem to have cleared the air a bit because, in their next public/private communication, Bradley begs Jean's forgiveness for "shattering the soft platitude of your life" by his passionate desire. Not the most complementary of apologies.

Jean seems surprisingly solid for a 17 year old. While admitting that she loves her Saturnine Seaman, she's still willing to let him walk because she's "slow in giving." And just as Bradley is using a new pseudonym for this public discussion, Jean switches from her normal Princesse Dorothy pseudonym to a new one, Mary, the name she eventually chooses for her daughter. Me! She saves Princess Dorothy for a poem on egoists. Hmmm.

For the next two weeks, Princesse Dorothy disappears from The Whistler, and Bradley reverts to general topics and an interesting poem about the culmination of a relationship.

When Princesse Dorothy returns, it's with a pretty downer piece about the greyness of the winter.

Allow me to parenthetically note that I, too, went to University of Chicago, and married from there. In fact, I took my humanities classes in the very same building where father and mother met. One of the qualities of a Chicago winter is that the grey of the buildings merge with the grey of the sky and the grey of the snow. And the U of C suicide rate goes up. MVD

But if Bradley is having less time with Jean, he's clearly still bonding with his merry band of Whistleers. The publisher of the paper, Louis H. Engel, contributes a bitter sweet biography noting that "the Lord Himself may have lost track of this boy at some stage of the game." As so he would.

But the time Bradley has left in the school is coming to an end, and the army calls him back to New York. Within a week, the column has been taken over by one of the crew and his friends say goodbye to The Blind Tiger.

Jean is still gone from the column, and Bradley makes it very clear that he misses her, and badly. Jean, returning to the column now that he's gone, gives him no comfort.

Through with pseudonyms now, Bradley sends back a poem in his own name that could be interpreted as accepting the end of their relationship, the loss of "the love that can't be kept." That is, if it weren't for one thing -- the subject of his poem -- Suskind.

Well, maybe something of his love has been kept.

Thank you, father.

Mary Suskind Lansing Van Deusen


Back To Top








Father
Father
Biographies Mother His Father
Favorite Poems Courting Mother His Mother
Photographs Love Letters His Grandfather


Morris
NJ Governor
Lewis Morris



Breese
Breese
Family



Henry Livingston
Night Before Xmas
Henry Livingston


home
Home

favorites
Suggested
Favorite
Pages
site map
Site Map



IME logo Copyright © 2001, Mary S. Van Deusen