And don’t forget, many of your ancestors fall into that ‘wretched refuse’ category. The Cohans fled their teeming shore and enriched our culture permanently. (One Dose peacenik and inveterate sourball finds his songs too militaristic, but boy are they ever catchy.) The George M. Cohan celebration continues today.
The Rhode Island Historical Society picks up the Cohan trail, with a walking tour of Fox Point. (Participation is $10 and reservations are requested: [401] 331-8575 ext. 45.) The tour starts at the newly named George M. Cohan Plaza. At 2 p.m., there’s a lecture about Cohan’s life given by Mike Fink, a RISD professor, presented at the French-American School, 75 John St. Immediately after the lecture, there’s a screening of the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy, which stars James Cagney as Cohan.
Pay careful attention to the beginning of the movie. As I recall, in the very brief ‘he was born in Providence Rhode Island’ segment, Fox Point is shown with mountains in the background. And in keeping with the theme — Rhode Island is now hosting the Irish Potato Famine fungus. Jeez, where do we go from here?