Norman Mailer and Jimmy Breslin conceding defeat after Mailer’s 1969 mayoral campaign. (Mitchell Cohen)
I’ve wondered for years if Thomas Pynchon reads this blog. Trump – must read it. Black Pynchon takes on his DEI Crusade issues. I know he would hate my Bond novel ‘The Royal Janitor’. He might have me kidnapped and taken to El Salvador, but, that would make me more famous than Hemmingway.
Pynchon went to Cornell with other writers. So did my ex. What does he think about Trump withholding a billion dollars from his school? Was Thomas a “White Negro”? Is he the last of the Great White Hipsters?
John Presco
Thomas Pynchon announces Shadow Ticket, his first novel in more than a decade
The elusive 87-year-old author’s new book is a noir caper set during the big band era following a detective in search of a cheese heiress
Lucy KnightWed 9 Apr 2025 11.56 EDTShare
Thomas Pynchon has written his first novel in more than a decade, publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced.
Shadow Ticket, due out in October, will be the American novelist’s 10th book. Like his previous two, Inherent Vice (2009) and Bleeding Edge (2013), this new work is a noir novel about a private eye.
The White Negro
Superficial Reflections on the Hipster
Our search for the rebels of the generation led us to the hipster. The hipster is an enfant terrible turned inside out. In character with his time, he is trying to get back at the conformists by lying low. . . . You can’t interview a hipster because his main goal is to keep out of a society which, he thinks, trying to make everyone over in its own image. He takes marijuana because it supplies him with experiences that can’t be shared with “squares.” He may affect a broad-brimmed hat or a zoot suit, but usually he prefers to skulk unmarked. The hipster may be a jazz musician; he is rarely an artist, almost never a writer. He may earn his living as a petty criminal, a hobo, a carnival roustabout or a free-lance moving man in Greenwich Village, but some hipsters have found a safe refuge in the upper income brackets as television comics or movie actors. (The late James Dean, for one, was a hipster hero.) . . . it is tempting to describe the hipster in psychiatric terms as infantile, but the style of his infantilism is a sign of the times, he does not try to enforce his will on others, Napoleon-fashion, but contents himself with a magical omnipotence never disproved because never tested. . . . As the only extreme nonconformist of his generation, he exercises a powerful if underground appeal for conformists, through newspaper accounts of his delinquencies, his structureless jazz, and his emotive grunt words.
—“Born 1930: The Unlost Generation” by Caroline Bird, Harper’s Bazaar, Feb. 1957
Black Pynchon
Posted on August 29, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
When I read they were seriously considering having a black man play James Bond, I wondered what they were going to do with all those white man clichés and stereotypes – that I was having a problem with – with my white James Bond – even though I turned him – into a woman. Then there is the smashing of a white man’s icon. Who do we got left? How about, Thomas Pynchon? Why not kill him off and replace him with a – Black Pynchon?
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Trump’s Executive Orders Spark Concern Over Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Cornell
Feb 3, 2025 6:40 pm · Updated Feb 3, 2025 11:40 pm
President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders aiming to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have sparked concern about the future of DEI programs across higher education institutions in the United States, including at Cornell.
On Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, Trump signed executive orders eliminating DEI programs at federal funded institutions. The orders specifically call for investigations into the DEI programs of universities with endowments exceeding $1 billion — which includes Cornell.
If Cornell fails to comply with these orders, the University could face the loss of substantial federal funding through grants in contracts. In the 2023-2024 academic year, Cornell received $157 million in state and federal funding for research, grants and student scholarships.
According to Cornell’s DEI glossary, DEI initiatives aim to create an inclusive and supportive environment by promoting diversity across various dimensions such as race, gender and socioeconomic background. These initiatives include the Belonging at Cornell framework, mandatory staff training and specialized resources like the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures to support academic diversity and inclusivity.
When asked about their plans to address Trump’s actions regarding DEI, a University spokesperson reiterated a previous statement to The Sun regarding the University’s response to Trump’s executive orders.
“University leadership continues to evaluate how new executive orders affect our community. As more concrete information becomes available, we will provide guidance on how the executive orders and other directives may impact our programs and community members,” the spokesperson wrote.
However, the University declined to answer questions on how they will navigate the tension between DEI commitments and the risk of losing federal funding and how they plan to support students and faculty who may be impacted by the reduction or elimination of DEI programs.
In response to Trump’s executive orders, many universities — including Northeastern University and Rutgers University — have modified DEI programming.
On Tuesday, Cornell launched a website providing information on Trump’s executive orders and other new federal policies, along with an email address for students to ask questions and share feedback.
Prof. Randy Wayne, plant science, who has written several anti-DEI articles for The New York Post and The College Fix, called Trump’s executive orders “wise advice.”
Wayne said that Cornell is “radicalizing” students and that DEI initiatives prioritize certain issues while silencing others, thereby limiting the scope of discussion.
“You’re not becoming wise at Cornell. You’re really becoming stupid. We’re educating people into imbecility,” Wayne said.
However, Niles Hite ’26, vice president of finance for the Student Assembly and president of Cornell Democrats, argued that DEI programs are vital to the intellectual growth of students.
“All the people here at this university come from different backgrounds and different places. It’s not just about skin color, … but it’s about differences in income, parents’ jobs, where people live, political affiliations and skills,” Hite said. “That diversity is really important. To take that away in an academic setting, where we’re here to learn, challenge ourselves and think outside the box, is a big mistake.”
Adam Vinson ’25, executive vice president of the Student Assembly, said that he hopes Cornell will stand firm in the face of these changes.
“I do hope that we at Cornell have a stronger backbone than the other universities that are cutting programs and just giving up,” Vinson said.
Hite said he wants to see the University take further action, starting with a formal statement that condemns the Trump administration from Interim President Michael Kotlikoff, since he believes the Trump administration is undoing values Cornell claims to uphold.
Vinson echoed this belief, emphasizing the importance of fighting against Trump’s executive orders.
“It’s just four years — I think we can push back against this, and if there’s no pushback, then they just succeed,” Vinson said. “What we do at Cornell, even on a small scale, has a national impact. If we want a better world — whether for environmental issues or DEI initiatives — we have to push back.”
Emma Galgano ’27 is a Sun contributor can be reached at ejg243@cornell.edu.
Oakland Johnny and Tommy
Posted on September 28, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
1966: American actor Clint Eastwood squints while smoking a cigarette between his teeth in a still from director Sergio Leone’s film ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.’ Eastwood wears a wide-brimmed leather hat. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
My best friend Paul Drake took up acting and became a famous Bad Guy in Sudden Impact. We used to drink at The Hut where another friend got shot. One dude tried to shoot me, put a gun to the back of my head, but, it wouldn’t fire. I laughed in his face. He got scared.
Clint Eastwood grew up in Oakland. We attended Glenview Elementary. I would like him to direct ‘The Royal Janitor’………….the story of how a timid woman became a bad ass.
Sudden Impact is a MeToo movie, perhaps the first? However, the focus is not right. Kavanaugh has been accused of gang-raping women.
The first time I realized I had a intimacy – and drinking problem – was waking up hung over and finding a cigar box next to my bed where I put phone numbers of women I met in a bar, but, never called them. Getting drunk was my No.1 goal, because, it gave me courage to approach women.
I met one woman in a bar, took her home, and beheld the most beautiful body I ever saw. As soon as she got in my bed, she appeared to pass out – just as I went to touch her. I stopped. I studied her. I called her name. She was Sleeping Beauty. In the morning she asked me if I fucked her. She said she could not tell.
“Of course I didn’t. You passed out!”
“It would have been O.K. if you had!”
“O.K. with you. But, not for me!”
I realized she had a tragic intimacy problem, that brought me closer to the truth I was a victim of incest. Alcohol is used as a TOOL to get RID OF our inhibitions, that Brett may have had, he saying he was a virgin till after college. The FBI needs to get Kavanaugh drunk, and talk about that. Did Mark Judge try to get his best bud LAID, by taking away his inhibitions?
Oakland Johnny
Sudden Impact is a 1983 American action thriller and the fourth film in the Dirty Harry series, directed by Clint Eastwood (making it the only Dirty Harry film to be directed by Eastwood himself), and starring Eastwood and Sondra Locke.[3] The film tells the story of a gang rape victim (Locke) who decides to seek revenge on the rapists ten years after the attack by killing them one by one. Inspector Callahan (Eastwood) famous for his unconventional and often brutal crime-fighting tactics is tasked with tracking down the serial killer. As Callahan investigates the killings, he becomes romantically entangled with the woman, not knowing that she is responsible for the murders.
The film is notable for the catchphrase, “Go ahead, make my day“, which is uttered by Clint Eastwood’s gun-wielding character in the beginning of the film as he stares down an armed robber who is holding a hostage.
Oakland Tommy
Posted on March 4, 2016by Royal Rosamond Press
I just found out my ex-wife lived on College Avenue – IN OAKLAND – with Thomas Pynchon. They lived in a big apartment building located next to ‘Ye Olde Hut’ where I did a lot of drinking with my friends, including Paul Drake who Mary Ann encouraged to take up acting. Paul claims he based his tough-guy persona on watching me drink, but I believe he is speaking of Richard Swartz who was a bodyguard for Dederich of Synanon. Richard held the world’s record to the fifty yard dash – on his hands!
Mary Ann did illustrations for a rare book about the Symbionese Liberation Army. Her best friend, Joan (who lived right off college) came home for Thanksgiving and found her whole family blown away by the Black Mau Maus. Her father was a CEO of Standard Oil. Patty Hurst was kidnapped from 2803 Benvenue, which is about ten blocks from the Hut. I thought Mary Ann and I were going to be Facebook friends, then she prohibited any more drama. Maybe I will get an Oscar someday – late in my life – when most of my peers are dead, leaving a thousand writers to guess what became of Pynchon? What about Patty? What us olde ones don’t realize, is, that every seven years you get a new generation, thus withholding information from them – is futile!
“Patty who? Pynchon? Doesn’t he own a chain of tiny drive-in coffee huts?”
Rosamond Press 
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