NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Biography of Philip Van Horn Weems
From: Patrick Goold
Date: 2010 Dec 20, 17:17 -0500
From: Patrick Goold
Date: 2010 Dec 20, 17:17 -0500
What an amazing life! How odd it makes me feel to read this account of Capt. Weems!
I was a student at Saint John's College in Annapolis from 1973 to 1977. During the 1975-76 school year, I took a part time job caring for Randall House and doing errands for the Weems. One of my recurring duties was driving the Captain to the commissary at the naval base. The Captain was in his mid 80's at this point. I got a big charge out of driving him, first of all because their only car was a well-preserved wood-panelled Morris Minor Traveller that even then belonged in a museum. Secondly, there were rank insignia on either side of the front bumper. So when I drove this trippy little car up to the base gate, the guards always snapped to attention and threw us a sharp salute. I got a kick out of that.
Mrs. Weems was very businesslike with me; the Captain was completely uncommunicative. I never heard him utter a word. So I had no idea who I was driving around. I had a vague idea that his money came from navigation patents but I took no interest in the matter. Looking back, my ignorance does not surprise me; my lack of curiosity, however, does.
I wonder who lives in Randall House now.
--
Dr. Patrick Goold
Department of Philosophy
Virginia Wesleyan College
Norfolk, VA 23502
757 455 3357
Charles Olson: "Love the World -- and stay inside it."
I was a student at Saint John's College in Annapolis from 1973 to 1977. During the 1975-76 school year, I took a part time job caring for Randall House and doing errands for the Weems. One of my recurring duties was driving the Captain to the commissary at the naval base. The Captain was in his mid 80's at this point. I got a big charge out of driving him, first of all because their only car was a well-preserved wood-panelled Morris Minor Traveller that even then belonged in a museum. Secondly, there were rank insignia on either side of the front bumper. So when I drove this trippy little car up to the base gate, the guards always snapped to attention and threw us a sharp salute. I got a kick out of that.
Mrs. Weems was very businesslike with me; the Captain was completely uncommunicative. I never heard him utter a word. So I had no idea who I was driving around. I had a vague idea that his money came from navigation patents but I took no interest in the matter. Looking back, my ignorance does not surprise me; my lack of curiosity, however, does.
I wonder who lives in Randall House now.
On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 4:28 AM, Gary LaPook <glapook@pacbell.net> wrote:
See attached.
gl
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--
Dr. Patrick Goold
Department of Philosophy
Virginia Wesleyan College
Norfolk, VA 23502
757 455 3357
Charles Olson: "Love the World -- and stay inside it."
