The Results of Time Passing

The years 1984 and 1985 had both sorrows and joys. Russ's eldest brother Raymond died in December, 1984, and his mother Lucy passed away in April, 1985, at the more than respectable age of 93. Russ and Winnie were unable to attend either funeral but were represented by Russ's sister Irene and brother Darwin. In recognition of Russ's own longevity and many years of devotion to Jack London scholarship, Earle Labor and Milo Shepard gave Russ a memorable 68th birthday celebration at the Grist Mill Inn. In attendance were Winnie, Becky London, and Milo's wife, Diane.

In January, 1984, Russ and Winnie met Professor Tony Williams, who now teaches at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Tony had planned to visit Glen Ellen in 1983, but Russ was busy during the summer completing the apartment for Becky London. Between 1983 and 1984, Tony corresponded frequently with Russ, discussing Tony's planned book on Jack London's pioneering connections with the early movie industry in California. Jack London, The Movies: An Historical Survey (Los Angeles, California: David Rejl, 1992) is "Dedicated to Russ and Winnie Kingman, Keepers of the Flame." When Tony flew into Oakland in January, he was picked up by Russ and Winnie and immediately was made to feel at home. He was taken with Russ and Winnie's honesty, directness, and willingness to share the fruits of years of research--something one usually doesn't find in academia. Russ was so impressed with the quality of Tony's research that he invited Tony to be the keynote speaker at the 1984 Jack London Birthday Banquet. The result was a nine-year friendship with Russ and Winnie that was punctuated through that time with frequent telephone calls and letters. Tony shared his impressions of the Kingmans with me in a taped response to my questionnaire on February 26, 1996. Tony viewed Russ as:

Tony feels that Russ and Winnie were true humanitarians in the Christian-Socialist tradition of helping common people. They got angry at someone who would sacrifice the common good for personal gain. Likewise, they would offer friendship to whoever they thought worthy of friendship. Tony also thinks that Russ has truly earned an important place in the annals of American literary history for his biographical work, along with the efforts of Irving and Milo Shepard, in repairing the damages done to London's reputation by Irving Stone, who betrayed Charmian London's confidence and blatantly misstated facts in Sailor on Horseback.

Tony's summative comment on Russ: "His spirituality could be found in his pursuit of honesty."

The aging process caught up with both Russ and Winnie in 1986. Russ had a knee replacement operation to relieve many years of pain, and Winnie had surgery performed on both feet. Even with being partial invalids, they managed to host Dr. Vil Bykov from Moscow, Russia (then Soviet Union), a noted Jack London scholar widely published and respected in the then Soviet Bloc. Bykov spoke on London's importance in Russia to a group in Sonoma, California, and visited all London historical sites in the Bay Area. Russ had corresponded with Vil Bykov for many years before they personally met, carrying on a lively exchange on London being a truly international figure among the literary greats. At the end of the year Eiji Tsujii and his wife Sachiko had an intimate dinner with the Kingmans in their home, after which there was a long discussion of Jack London's rising popularity in Japan.

One of the highlights of the year, however, was the issue of the 25-cent Jack London stamp by the United States Postal Service at a celebration in Glen Ellen at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, January 11, 1986. The stamp, the 27th issue in the Great American Series, coincided with London's 110th birthday. The first day issue ceremony was held at the Dunbar Elementary School, with keynote speakers Nancy George, Executive Assistant to the Postmaster General, and Russ Kingman, Executive Director of the Jack London Foundation. Honored guests on the platform also included: Bess (Becky) London Fleming, Jack London's daughter; Daniel Danieli, Postmaster, Glen Ellen; and Richard Sparks, designer of the Jack London stamp. Earle Labor and I. Milo Shepard were given special recognition for their efforts on the project. According to advance information in the philatelic publication Stamps, Vol. 213, No. 13, December 28, 1985, p. 605,

Russ and Earle Labor began the ten-year campaign to have the U.S. Postal Service issue a London stamp in 1975, as the U.S. was gearing up for the Bicentennial. Since 1976 was Jack London's Centennial, both men felt that one of America's greatest writers should be so honored. They were unaware of the long, sometimes political process involved in achieving such a goal. After Russ received a letter from Gordon C. Morrison, Director, Office of Stamps, April 11, 1975, giving directions on how to proceed, both Russ and Earle began a massive petition and letter writing campaign to have Jack's name placed on the nomination list of the Citizens' Advisory Committee for new stamp issues. Those who wrote letters to the Postmaster General included a number of political leaders on state and national levels and the following members of the Jack London circle: Carl Bernatovich, Glenn Carey, James Cooper, Steve Dhondt, Richard Etulain, Alan Jutzi, Don Kummings, Howard Lachtman, Robin Lampson, Sal Noto, Jim Sisson, Alfred Shivers, Paul Schlueter, Dick Weiderman, Dale Walker, and Hensley Woodbridge. Becky London and Jacqueline wrote persuasive letters as well.

In November, 1985, Russ, Winnie, and all people who worked for the stamp felt a deep sense of satisfaction when the Postal Service called Russ to request a date and location for the celebration of the first day issue. Since Jack London's birthday, January 12, fell on a Sunday, Russ chose Saturday, January 11. The Postal Service originally wanted a site at the Jack London State Historic Park. They intended to erect a tent near the manure pit, but Russ quickly dissuaded them from this plan because he felt the location totally inappropriate. In addition, Russ wanted an inside location in case of rain. The auditorium at Dunbar Elementary School, Glen Ellen, thus became the site.

About 900 people attended the ceremony on January 11 and over 70,000 stamps were sold that day. This was the largest attendance at a first day issue in the history of the U.S. Postal Service. A similar ceremony was also scheduled for Monday, January 13, Jack London Square, Oakland. Russ and Winnie, Becky London, and Oakland Postmaster Austin Simon officiated. Russ and Becky felt Glen Ellen and Oakland were more appropriate sites for celebrations than San Francisco, even though London was born in San Francisco. As Becky said in an article in the Oakland Tribune, Sunday, January 12, 1986, "All San Francisco has is a plaque on a building [now a Wells Fargo Bank] that was the site of the house where Daddy was born."

David Rejl delivered the reprinted paperback edition of A Pictorial to the bookstore's wine barrel storage shed in a rented U-Haul truck in 1987. Dr. James Cooper, who taught Jack London courses for years at Plains College, Leveland, Texas, passed away; and the Kingmans were visited by Dr. Webb, President of Centenary College, Shreveport, Louisiana, where Earle Labor is Chairman of the English Department. Dr. Webb played a key role in establishing the Jack London Research Center at Centenary, home to a large collection of secondary sources for Jack London studies.

Age announced its presence once again in 1988. Russ had double bypass surgery to correct arterial blockages in the heart. As a result, he spent thirteen days in the Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco. Rudy Ciuca, current President of the Board of Directors of the Jack London Foundation, and long-time friend Joyce Ritz accompanied Winnie when she took Russ to the hospital. Rudy and Joyce stayed throughout the long operation to give moral support and helped Winnie in many ways after Russ returned to Glen Ellen to convalesce. The year, in sum, was a medical one.

Russ regained his strength slowly but firmly through the remainder of 1988 into 1989. To celebrate the long-awaited translation and publication of A Pictorial in Japanese, Russ and Winnie were invited to spend nine days in Japan, all expenses paid by the Japanese publisher Hon-No-Tomosha. The itinerary included three days in Tokyo, three days in Kyoto, and one day in Fukuoka, home town of Haruo Furukawa, teacher and noted Jack London scholar in Seinan Gakuin University. Again Russ and Winnie documented every step of the trip with photographs, which Winnie arranged meticulously in an album with descriptive captions. According to Winnie, the trip to Japan was one of the highlights of Russ's life. (Interestingly, Russ requested American food whenever he could during the whole trip, explaining that he doesn't eat what he doesn't know. Winnie judiciously sampled the Japanese cuisine.) The first photo in the scrapbook shows a United Airlines Boeing 747 being readied for flight to Tokyo-Narita, October 6, 1989. Russ and Winnie stayed in the Diamond Hotel in Tokyo October 7-9 during the book dedication ceremonies. After they unpacked, they were greeted by Eiji Tsujii, who came to the room to greet his adopted "Mom" and "Dad" with typical Japanese honor and respect. Eiji Tsujii labored intensively to render a faithful translation of A Pictorial into Japanese. Russ had written hundreds of letters and answered thousands of questions for Eiji explaining English idioms, place names, and "strange" American customs. During their time in Tokyo they visited Nakamise Shopping Street, which leads into the famous Asakusa Temple; went to Ueno Park, a mecca of museums including Tokyo National Museum (which Jack London also visited); and, of course, celebrated Eiji Tsujii presenting "their" book to Russ in the presence of Osamu Abe, President of the Hon-No-Tomosha Publishing Company. One photograph shows Russ inscribing an English copy of A Pictorial to Osamu Abe. After the ceremony, Mr. Abe invited the Kingmans, Eiji, and other selected guests to a German beer garden in downtown Tokyo, the Schinkenhaus, a real piece of Germany in Japan, owned by Helmuth Holtz, a close personal friend of Mr. Abe. As Russ recalled, "The food kept coming: sauerkraut and German sausage, ham, cheese, potatoes--you name it, we had it!"

From Tokyo the Kingmans traveled by bullet train, the Shinkansen, in the Green Car (upper level for first class), on their way to Kyoto. From the train window they captured a breathtaking view of Mt. Fuji. Russ was told that the station at Kokura is dedicated to the memory of Jack London, and he remarked that London should have the same respect in America. Russ gave a lecture on Jack London to the students in the International School in Fukuoka, which covers kindergarten through twelfth grade. The Principal of this school is Clara Furakawa; her husband Haruo teaches in Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka.

While in Kyoto, the Kingmans stayed at the Hotel Keiban Kyoto, and from that central location they visited many historic sites of the ancient city. They climbed the narrow steps to Kiyomizu-Dera Temple and pagoda; visited the Kyoto National Museum; and lingered in the holy hall Sanj�sangend�, founded in 1164 A.D. at the request of Emperor Goshirakawa, which houses 1,001 Buddhas carved of wood and standing 65 inches. Accompanied by Eiji, Russ and Winnie visited a large modern bookstore where Russ was photographed beside a copy of A Pictorial on a shelf containing other London related books for sale. One day Eiji gave Russ and Winnie a tour of Ritsumeikan University, where he teaches. A photograph features Sachiko, Eiji's wife, making tea for everyone in the small kitchen just off Eiji's office at the university. Russ delivered a lecture to Eiji's students, with Eiji translating from English to Japanese.

On their last day in Kyoto, Eiji took the Kingmans on a local train from Kyoto to Nara where they saw hundreds of deer in Nara Park and picturesque Lake Surusawa. From Nara they traveled by train to Ide-Cho, the village where Eiji and his wife have a typical middle-class Japanese dwelling. From the windows one can see tea growing on the mountainside. Eiji and his wife served a traditional sukiyaki dinner, with all of the Japanese trimmings. Other points of interest for Russ and Winnie were Samurai houses, a rickshaw, the town of Chiran, which has water troughs running along the sidewalk containing hundreds of fish, a memorial to Kamikaze pilots of World War II (at which patriotic Russ made some rather blunt remarks about the Japanese and the War), a McDonald's in Kukuoka where a Big Mac was $2.63, and the Solaria Hotel in Fukuoka which had eight televisions going in the lobby to show patrons the American World Series.

The Kingmans then flew from Fukuoka to Tokyo for a connecting flight to Brisbane, Australia, where they spent a week with Winnie's relations in Mudgeeraba, 40 miles from Brisbane. In Queensland they visited with Winnie's half-sister Alice Grunske and her five children and were wined and dined at the Tudor Rose Restaurant, owned by Winnie's niece Tricia Platt and her husband Vic.