The lady in white. (Here Below).ONCE UPON A LONG TIME ago the national track and field championships used to be contested in mid-summer on a spit of sand and cinders cin·der n. 1. a. A burned or partly burned substance, such as coal, that is not reduced to ashes but is incapable of further combustion. b. A partly charred substance that can burn further but without flame. called Randall's Island, just below the Triborough Bridge in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. The shabby little stadium and the staggering heat added to the joyless joy·less adj. Cheerless; dismal. joy  less·ly adv.joy choreography of the meet. We remember only three things about the four or five meets that were held there in the mid-1940s: 1. A 100-yard dash final in which all of the contestants were disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. for false starts. 2. A hammer throw, which bounced off the grass and skimmed off our head without actually denting it, as we sat petrified pet·ri·fy v. pet·ri·fied, pet·ri·fy·ing, pet·ri·fies v.tr. 1. To convert (wood or other organic matter) into a stony replica by petrifaction. 2. on the photographers bench. 3. That wonderful snapshot in the picture on this page. Look at it, as we are doing 59 years later, and ask yourself: What time of the morning is it, with nobody in the stadium and the field totally unmarked? Our memory comes alive when we look down at the track and see the figure kneeling at the curb. We remember the "click" of a camera as our photographer snapped a candid shot of the lady. We laughed. "Are you going to make her famous?" "She already is," he replied. "That's Margaret Bourke-White." We were impressed. The lady happened to be the greatest women's photographer in the world--the first photographer to enter and "shoot" the then Soviet Union, go on bombing missions in World War II, and shoot every wonder of the world for Life and Fortune magazines. She was awesome, and as we looked down at her in the dirt checking for shooting angles, we knew why. She was working at her game before the first competitor or spectator had arrived. And in this shabby little stadium in Nowhere, America, she was nattily nat·ty adj. nat·ti·er, nat·ti·est Neat, trim, and smart; dapper. [Perhaps variant of obsolete netty, from net, elegant, from Middle English, from Old French; see attired in a sharp linen suit, a stylish tam-o-shanter cap, and dress shoes with stiletto heels. Why the elaborate accoutrements ac·cou·ter·ment or ac·cou·tre·ment n. 1. An accessory item of equipment or dress. Often used in the plural. 2. Military equipment other than uniforms and weapons. Often used in the plural. 3. ? Because anywhere that Margaret Bourke-White went had to be the greatest place in the world. She made it so. In her mind, she was always the lady in (Margaret-Bourke) White! We wouldn't trade that snapshot of her for two-dozen Mickey Mantle rookie cards! |
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