Men groomed for the kimono
QUESTION
Do Japanese men wear kimonos? THERE are few things which are more traditionally Japanese than a kimono.
The full-length robes are Tshaped, straight-lined robes which are worn so that the hem falls to the ankle, with attached collars and long, wide sleeves. Kimono (the plural is the same as the singular) are wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right.
It is unclear when the kimono, which rather prosaically means ‘thing to wear’, was first worn but it certainly goes back more than a millennium.
Today, kimono are most often worn by women, and on special occasions.
Traditionally, unmarried women wore a style of kimono called furisode with almost floor-length sleeves, on special occasions. A few older women and even fewer men still wear the kimono on a daily basis.
Men wear the kimono most often at weddings, tea ceremonies, and other very special or very formal occasions.
Professional sumo wrestlers are often seen in the kimono because they are required to wear traditional Japanese dress whenever appearing in public.
Jack O’Neill, Cork.
QUESTION
In 1967, Katherine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston marathon. She was attacked during the race by a male member of the crowd. What happened to him? ONE woman, Bobbi Gibb, ran and finished unofficially in the 1967 Boston Marathon, as she had the previous year, because women weren’t allowed to participate. Another, Kathrine Switzer, entered the race officially (the organisers didn’t notice she’d enrolled).
She later recalled: ‘Two miles into the race ... all of a sudden I heard a scraping noise of shoes running faster than mine. I turned round and saw the angriest face I’d ever seen. It was race official Jock Semple.
‘He grabbed me by the shoulders, spun me back and screamed: “Get the hell out of my race!” He started trying to rip off my bib numbers.
‘With that, Arnie [her trainer] jumped in and said: “Leave her alone. She’s okay, I’ve trained her. You stay out of this.”
‘He [Semple] came back and grabbed me again. He had me by the sweatshirt and I was trying to get away from him.
‘He was pulling me back when all of sudden, my boyfriend, Tom Miller (a hammer thrower), came running full tilt and hit this race official with the most beautiful cross-body block you could ever imagine, and sent him flying through the air.’ Photographs of the enraged Semple attempting to rip Switzer’s number were widely published.
Born John Duncan Semple in Glasgow, Scotland, on October 26, 1903, Jock Semple emigrated to Philadelphia, US, in 1921 to work as a carpenter.
He became a long-distance runner, moving to Boston in 1930 after running his first Boston Marathon. Semple became a sports administrator as well as a physical therapist and trainer for both professional and amateur athletes.
He worked from the Boston Garden Arena as therapist and masseur for the Boston Celtics’ NBA team and later for the Bruins’ hockey team.
He also trained the US Olympic hockey team in 1948 and 1952 and worked with Olympic bobsledders, skiers and skaters.
He ran in more than 100 marathons and, as Boston Marathon race co-director, was instrumental in the increasing popularity of the race through innovations including the implementation of qualifying times in 1970 and, ironically, the formal admission of female runners in 1972.
Semple became notorious for his habit of physically attacking those he perceived to be ‘non-serious’ runners competing in the race. In 1957, he narrowly escaped arrest for assault after attempting to tackle a runner in swim fins and a snorkelling mask.
Later in life, Semple reversed his position on women competing in the marathon and was publicly reconciled with Switzer.
In 1981, he published an autobiography, Just Call Me Jock.
He was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America American Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1985. He died of cancer of the liver and pancreas in 1988.
The Jock Semple Award given by the Boston Athletic Association is named in his honour.
Jancis Marshall, by email.
QUESTION
The 1962 Frank Sinatra LP All Alone features, on two tracks, an uncredited performance by a lady soprano. Who was she? THIS album was put together by arranger, composer and producer Gordon Jenkins, who had many collaborations with Frank Sinatra.
The album was originally going to be called Come Waltz With Me but the title, including the song, was dropped before its release.
The song All Alone was written by Irving Berlin in 1924 as a loving memoriam to his mother, who died in 1922.
Many singers have performed and recorded it over the years, but no one has sung it with as much emotion as Sinatra.
The opera singer who joins Sinatra at the end of this song is Loulie Jean Norman (1913-2005), pictured inset.
A contralto soprano, able to sing in four octaves, she appeared on many albums that composer/ producer Gordon Jenkins was involved with.
She sang the high notes on the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight – a million seller for the Tokens in 1961 – provided voiceover for actress Juliet Prowse in the Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues, and appeared with Presley singing Moonlight Swim in Blue Hawaii.
She may be best remembered for singing the wordless vocals on the opening music on the original Star Trek series.
All Alone was re-issued on CD in 1999, with Come Waltz With Me included as a bonus track.
Despite being released in 1962 with many songs on the album written by Irving Berlin and others by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heuson, it was poorly received and didn’t sell well.
Since the album’s re-issue, it has been acknowledged as one of Sinatra’s finest.
Michael Brooks, Cumbria.
QUESTION
When did John Motson provide his first match commentary? FURTHER to the earlier answer, Motson’s test commentary for the BBC featured the 1969 FA Amateur Cup Final between Sutton United and North Shields, not South Shields.
North Shields triumphed and when they returned to Wembley after a 46year absence in 2015 they again collected winners’ medals, defeating Glossop North End 2-1 in the FA Vase final.
Ken Gaunt, Basingstoke, Hampshire.