A Woman of Uncertain Character: The Amorous and Radical Adventures of My Mother Jennie (Who Always Wanted to Be a Respectable Jewish Mom) by Her Bastard Son
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Bronx Social Democratic Federation, 82, 277
bullies, 114-115, 208-212
Cantor, Eddie, 157
Capone, Al, 41, 57, 58, 125, 232
Charlotte, 142, 259-260, 261
Chattanooga, Tennessee, 18, 19-20, 21-27
Chicago
as birthplace of unionism, 32
ethnic neighborhoods, 49, 52, 186-187
Field Museum of Natural History, 44, 45
Lawndale neighborhood. see Lawndale neighborhood, Chicago
race riots, 76
Sigal home in, 41, 42-43
stockyards, 99
Chicago Cubs, 105, 150-151, 153, 269
Chicago Tribune, 70, 106, 160
Chicago White Sox, 150-151
childrearing, 7-8
Depression era, 73-74, 85
organized sports, 152
overorganized, 72
CIO (Congress for Industrial Organization), 32, 181
Cohen, Rick, Tough Jews, 102
Communism
and Americanism, 227-228, 241, 249
vs. socialism, 137-138, 227, 228
Communist party, 226, 242-245
bourgeoisie sympathizers, 244-246
Clancy joins, 242-248
communists, investigated, 257-258
condoms, 131-132, 133-134
corporal punishment, 83-84, 96, 196-197
Corpusclers, The, 242-244, 247-249
later life, 250-251
perform, 244-246
corruption
police, 57, 124-125
political, 169-170
union, 41, 232
Coughlin, Father (radio priest), 101-102, 218
Cubs baseball team, 105, 150-151, 153, 269
cupping, 98
Daily Forward (Yiddish newspaper), 50, 65, 115, 265
Darrow, Clarence, 11-12, 138
Scopes monkey trial, 18
Dead End (film), 182
Debs, Eugene, 92
Dempsey, Jack, 81, 82
Depression era, 53-56
childrearing, 73-74, 85
expectations, 73-74
and God, 69
Lawndale neighborhood, 51-53
lifted, by WWII, 173, 186-187, 215, 223-224
mental illness and, 55-56, 96-97, 97-98
Donovan, “Wild Bill”, 226
Dreiser, Theodore, An American Tragedy, 246
Dylan, Bob, 244
Edward VIII, King of England, 47, 190
emotion, and self-control, 126-127, 253, 266
Engels, Friedrich, 139
England, Clancy in, 261-265
Family Hand Laundry, 41-43, 45-47
advertising, 113
Clancy performs at, 112-113
closed, 141
as hobo stop, 107-111, 115
fantasy life, of Clancy, 44-45, 66-68, 90-91, 153
Farrar, Dinah, 259, 260
fathers and sons, 279-280
FBI, 193, 226, 257
Fidelman’s resort, 87-89
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 44-45
F.I.S.T. (film), 38
Flynn, Errol, 208-210
folk singers, 244
Foreign Correspondent (film), 106
Freud, Sigmund, 73, 263
Frick, Henry, 138
gambling, 100, 121-123
Gee, Sam, 45-46
Ginger (Cospusclers member), 247, 248, 251, 252
Girdler, Tom, 106
God, belief in, 69-72
Goldman, Emma, 11, 32, 138
guns, 3, 37
Guthrie, Woody, 244
GVS (Greater Vest Side), 49-52
hamburger stand business, 258-259
Hammeros, Swede, 111-112, 114-116, 118
Haymarket Riot, 32, 207
Hebrew school, Clancy attends, 70-71, 160
Herzog, Barney, 158, 160-161, 164-166
as an adult, 165-167
Hi-Li paddle, 112-113
Hitler, Adolf, 32, 47, 68
hoboes, 107-111, 115
hoboglyphs, 107-108, 116-118
Hoffa (film), 38
Holocaust, 68, 228
homosexuality, 188-189, 190-192
HUAC (House UnAmerican Activities Committee), 257
identities, false, 19, 20
immigrants, 34, 38
Chinese, 47
Jewish, 64-65
Latina, 255-256
neighborhoods, Chicago, 49, 52, 185-186
International Workers of the World (Wobblies). see Wobblies (International Workers of the World)
It Can’t Happen Here (play), 101
Italians, fight Jewish kids, 185-186
Japan, in World War II, 105, 160. see also Pearl Harbor
Japanese Americans, interned, 186
Jewish Mafia, 58, 102
Jewishness, Clancy on, 64-68, 71-73
Jones Commercial High School, 200, 201, 202-208
bullying, 208-212
Clancy returns, 212-214
Judaism, 71-73. see also God, belief in
Kennedy, John F., 215, 269
King, Martin Luther, 76, 269
King, Rodney, 6
kissing games, 182-184
Kristallnacht, 169
Labor Lyceum, 50
Laden, Osama bin, 7
ladies’ club. see Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society
laundry business, 41-42, 45-47, 91
Lawndale neighborhood, Chicago, 49-58
1960s and 70s, 76-77
Clancy’s attachment to, 76-77, 165-166
Depression-era, 53-56
Jewish population, 64-66
Mafia, 55, 57-58
politics of, 239-240
St. Agatha’s Church, 69-70
violence, 56-58
women in, 120-121. see also Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society
World War II, 169, 186-187, 215
Lebedeff, Frances “Slugger”, 204-205, 211-212
Lenihan, Father (Catholic priest), 69, 70, 183
Lerman, Ike, 56, 168-172
Lewis, John L., 32, 32-33, 92
Lewis, Sinclair, It Can’t Happen Here, 101
Lindbergh kidnapping, 47
Loeb and Leopold, 179
Los Angeles, Sigals in, 255-260
Louis, Joe, 58, 119
Loy, Myrna, 2, 45, 76, 146
Ludlow Referendum, 159
lumberjacks’ camp, 89
Mafia, 3, 37, 41, 55, 232
Jewish, 58, 102
Lawndale neighborhood, 57, 57-58
and prostitution, 124-125
Mainbocher (couturier), 190-191
Marshall High School, famous alumnus, 189, 190-191
Marx, Karl, 139
masturbation, 127-128, 132-133, 207-208
McVeigh, Tim, 7
meatpacking workers, 92, 93
mental illness, Depression-era, 55-56, 96-97, 97-98
Midrash, 72-73
Montefiore Boys’ Reformatory, 41, 199
Morse, Samuel F. B., 128
movies, love of, 146-147, 230
Mussolini, Benito, 47
National Guard, as strikebreakers, 18
Nazis
Jews protest, in New York, 120
in United States, 106
New Statesman and Nation (magazine), 264
New Yorker magazine, 227
Norris-LaGuardia Act, 23
organized crime. see Mafia
pacifism, and WWII, 224-225. see also World War II, isolation vs. intervention
Palmer Raids, 93
paper dolls, 187, 188
Parker, William, 257-258
Pavlichenko, Ludmilla, 228-230
Pearl Harbor, 155-156, 160, 162, 173
pedophilia, 74-75, 178
Persily family, 11-12
and Leo Sigal, 273-274
politics, 137-138
visits Jennie and Clancy, 134-137
Persily, Jennie (Clancy’s mother), 3, 16
as apparition, after death, 266
-268, 276, 281-282
boyfriends, 111-112, 114-116, 118, 134-137, 231-233, 260
childhood, 10-11
death, 260-264, 265
falls into manhole, 85-86
fights, 143-144
as garment worker, 12, 143, 145, 186, 255-256
gravesite, 4-5
jailed, 26-27
meets Leo, 93, 273-274
as a negotiator, 29-30, 219-222
photo, 14
physical appearance, 32-33, 35-36, 235-236
relationship, with Leo, 12, 41, 69, 84, 89-90, 179-181, 272-274
as Russian translator, 228-230 sexuality, 192, 234-235, 260
as union organizer, 12, 35, 36, 39-40, 143-144, 256-257
Persily, Kalman (Clancy’s grandfather), 10, 11, 19
pogroms, Russia, 10-11
political ideals, and personal lives, 139-140
political rhetoric, 110
poolplaying, 100, 101
Porter, Cole, song lyrics, 146
Pride and Prejudice (film), 147
propaganda of the deed, 3
prostitution, 124-125
psychotherapy, 263, 269
race riots, Chicago, 76
racism, 18, 18-19, 21, 23, 26-27. see also antisemitism
Rebecca (film), 149
Reds (film), 138
Regal Frocks sweatshop, 143-145
Republic Steel massacre, 106-107
rest home, Jennie runs, 177-178
Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society, 120-123, 123-124, 125-126, 142
Ritz-Carlton hotel, 91
Rockets Athletic Club, 53, 54, 55, 56
as adults, 77-79, 168-172
Clancy returns, 186-187
club rules, 58-60
group members, 60-63
in high school, 189-190
nicknames, 196
Rogers, Ginger, 2, 206
Romance of Helen Trent (radio show), 85
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 260
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 38, 47, 159
Day of Infamy speech, 162
elected to fourth term, 223
Rosenzweig, Edith, 11, 12
Ross, Barney, 58
Russia
pogroms, 10-11
in WWII. see Soviet Union
Saunders, Miss (history teacher), 174-175
scabs, 18, 143-144
Schechter, Sol, 231-233
Scopes monkey trial, 18
Scottsboro Nine case, 18-19
secrecy, family, 2, 17, 20, 93-94, 101
Seeger, Pete, 244
selling out, politically, 160-161, 164-165, 166-167, 167-168
September 11, 2001, 7
sex experience, Clancy’s first, 184-185
sexuality. see identities, false adolescent, 127-128, 131-133
“birds and bees” talk, 131-133
homosexuality, 188-189
incestuous, 202
parents’, 179-181
preteen, 182-184
women’s, 125-126, 128-130
Sigal, Clancy
academic performance, 59-60, 194-195
acquires name, 217
adolescence, 88-89, 182-185, 197, 199-202
in the Army, 216, 252-254
birth, 12, 13
blacklisted, 258
in Communist party, 242-248
discovers his illegitimacy, 148-150
in England, 262-265
expelled, from high school, 199-201
fantasy life, 66-67, 44, 90-91, 153
and father’s rejection, 181-182, 278-280
FBI file, 193
first job, 216-217
friends, 158-159, 160-161. see also Corpusclers, The Rockets Athletic Club
and girls, 50-51, 62-63, 184-185
hangs out, with Dad, 98-102, 102-104
high school, 174-175, 202-208
hit by car, 9-10
IQ tested, 53, 194, 195
military role models, 225-226
in orphanage, 13
photos, 6, 7, 54, 64, 214, 249
physical appearance, 66, 189-190, 193, 209
reunited, with father, 269-278
sexuality, questioned, 188-189, 193, 209
special needs class, 196-197
speech impediments, 193, 196-197
as a writer, 1, 264-265, 265-266, 272
Sigal, Joseph Franklin (Clancy’s son), 4-5, 6, 7, 175, 279
as card player, 123
Hebrew school, 72
personality, 94-95, 237
in sports, 152
talks to Jennie, 282
Sigal, Leo (Clancy’s father), 3, 12, 17-18, 20, 21, 22, 27-28
absence, 37-38, 84-85, 87, 94, 104
as chiropractor, 93
death, 278
early life, 92
as a father, 82-83, 83-84, 96, 99-102, 102-104, 181, 182
fights, 31, 40
gambling, 100
health problems, 95-96
last appearance, 178-181
meets Jennie, 93, 273-274
photo, 82
physical appearance, 269
relationship, with Jennie, 41, 69, 84, 90, 179-181, 272-274
reunited, with Clancy, 269-278
as skilled tradesman, 91
suicide attempt, 97-98
temper, 43-44, 92, 93, 96-97
as union organizer, 36-37, 92-93, 94
works for WPA, 95
Sinclair, Upton, 138
Siu, Paul C. P., 47
slaughterhouses, 99
Slavic Hall, Chicago, 38-39
Smith, Bessie, 18
socialism vs. communism, 137-138, 227, 228
Socialists International, 138-139
South Haven, Michigan, 87-89
speech impediments, Clancy’s, 193
Springsteen, Bruce, 244
St. Agatha’s Church, Lawndale, 69-70
steel workers’ strike, 106-107
Stillwell, Joseph “Vinegar Joe”, 225
stockyards, Chicago, 99
Streisand, Barbra, 239
strikes
breaking, 18, 28-29, 102-104, 106-107
Chicago, 32
meatpacking workers, 102-104
steel workers, 106-107
textile workers, Southern, 28-29
Stritch, Elaine, 146
suicide, Depression-era, 55-56, 98-99
Swede, 111-112, 114-116, 118
syphilis, 132
Teamsters Union, 41, 232, 233
teasing, 208-212
Temple, Shirley, 105
Terkel, Studs, 52, 77
The Way We Were (film), 239
Thin Man, The (film), 76
Thompson, Bob, 226
Tidwell, Janice, 5, 6
Tijuana, trips to, 259-260
Tom Mix, 38, 44
Tom Sawyer (film), 66
Tough Jews (Cohen), 102
toy weapons, 42-43
tramps. see hoboes
traveling, 14, 15-17
Triangle Shirtwaist fire, 12
Triumph of the Will (film), 106
tuberculosis, 39-40, 99
Tunney, Gene, 82
Turner, Big Joe, 245
Uncle Schwartz, 22, 23, 24-25
union meetings, 35-37, 38
police raids, 38-40
union organizing
and company stooges, 17
dues, collecting, 17, 92
and improved conditions, 256-257
and violence, 16, 18, 32, 37, 102-104
vacation, summer, 87-89
Van Meter, Homer, 247
violence
Lawndale neighborhood, 55-56, 134-137
and strikebreaking, 106-107
and union organizing, 16, 18, 32, 37, 102-104, 138, 143-144
Weinstock, Max, 240-241, 247, 250-251, 252
White Sox baseball team, 150-151
Wingate, Orde, 225-226
Wobblies (International Workers of the World), 3, 108
Wolff, Milt, 2
26
women, in Lawndale neighborhood, 120-121, 123, 125-126. see also Riga-Baltic Progressive Ladies Society
sexuality, 125-126, 128-130
Womens Army Corps, 136
Workmen’s Circle temple, Chicago, 71, 160
World Trade Center attacks, 7
World War I, 138-139, 159
World War II. see also Holocaust
begins, 140, 153
D-Day, 251-252
Ike Lerman in, 168
isolation vs. intervention, 156-157, 158-160, 160-161, 163, 164-165, 167-168, 174
Japan in, 105, 155-156, 160, 225
Lawndale boys in, 168, 170-173, 216, 252
and Lawndale neighborhood, 169, 223-224
Soviet Union, 227-228
United States enters, 162-164
WPA (Works Progress Administration), 95
writing, writers, 265-267
yellow dog contract, 23
Yom Kippur War, 73
Zaretsky, Aviva, 126-127, 128-130
Zola (film), 91
About the Author
Clancy Sigal was born and raised in Chicago, the son of two labor organizers. He enlisted in the army and, as a GI in occupied Germany, attended the Nuremberg war crimes trials intending to shoot Herman Göring. Although blacklisted and trailed by FBI agents, he began work as a Hollywood agent on the Sunset Strip, hiding in plain sight and representing Humphrey Bogart, among many others.
Sigal moved to London in the 1950s and stayed in the UK for thirty years, writing and broadcasting regularly from the same BBC studios that George Orwell had used. During the Vietnam War, he was the “stationmaster” of a London safe house for American GI deserters and draft dodgers. For several years, he collaborated with the radical “anti-psychiatrists” R. D. Laing and David Cooper, with whom he founded Kingsley Hall in London’s East End, a halfway house for so-called incurable cases.
Currently, Sigal lives in Los Angeles with his screenwriting partner and wife, Janice Tidwell; their son, Joe; and two Australian shepherds named Kelly and Lucky.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 2006 by Clancy Sigal
This memoir is a product of the author’s recollections and is thus rendered as a subjective accounting of events that occurred in his life. Certain changes have been made to protect the identities of those still living and their families. All photos are from the author’s collection, unless otherwise noted.