Something I’ve Learned

Given our culture’s fascination with crime in general and presidential assassinations specifically, it’s interesting that there isn’t a common knowledge about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln beyond the name of his killer.  Though I was aware of the circumstances of John Wilkes Booth’s crime, and that he initially escaped from the scene of his crime, I didn’t know about how he was hunted down, found hiding in a tobacco barn, and shot after the barn was lit on fire.

I also didn’t know the background of the man who shot Booth, a soldier named Boston Corbett.  Corbett was an English immigrant who apprenticed as a hatmaker, likely exposing him to debilitating levels of mercury, which is known to cause psychosis.  After his wife died he became a homeless alcoholic and, after being kidnapped by a group of evangelists, had a religious experience that caused him to be a teetotaling proselytizer.  Corbett became known as an eccentric local street preacher whose work as a hatmaker suffered because he would often stop whatever he was doing to pray and preach for any sinner he should encounter.  Corbett’s religious fervor was so significant that he eventually came to believe that God told him to castrate himself, which he did poorly, with a pair of scissors.

Corbett joined the Union army when war broke out, and was said to be a good soldier, but also was once condemned to be executed by firing squad due to insubordination.  Noted for being courageous but also a bit too unusual for the army, it makes sense that he would join the group searching for Booth and his accomplices and shoot Booth before he could be captured to stand trial.  Corbett’s shot struck Booth in the back of the neck, causing him to be paralyzed.  Booth died about three hours later.

In the aftermath it was determined that Corbett did not necessarily disobey orders not to kill Booth and he was generally deemed a hero.  Over the years, however, Corbett’s fanaticism grew and he mental health declined, making it difficult for him to keep a job.  His fame as “Lincoln’s Avenger” eventually led to a position as the assistant doorkeeper of the Kansas legislature.  But he became convinced that people there were conspiring against him, leading to an episode where he brandished a gun and chased people out of the building.  Corbett was found to be insane and committed to a state asylum.  About a year later, in 1888, he escaped from the asylum and was never heard from again.

Imagine a world where an infamous true crime celebrity could simply disappear.  As if Luigi Mangione or Tyler Robinson walked away from a mental hospital and that was the end of the story.

Something I Worked On

This week I finished preliminary sketches for my story “Her Life’s Work.” I’m pretty happy with how things are coming along but I’m apprehensive about how I’m going to accomplish drawings where important things happen underwater.

Also, I spent some time setting up my website and getting rid of my Substack account.  Anything I previously posted there can now be found on AndrewBrennan.net or Patreon.com/AndrewBrennan.

Something Beautiful

I’ve been a fan of JAW Cooper’s work for several years now, ever since I happened upon their work at a group show in downtown Los Angeles.  In more recent years, I got to visit their show at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA.  Their drawing style is self-evidently beautiful, but her technique of layering graphite lines on vellum paper is particularly effective when you see the work in person.

Here are some drawings from their website.  Also check out the drawing videos on their Instagram.

A Final Thought

If you’ve ever paid attention during a major league baseball game you will have noticed that the players and/or umpire will discard a ball if it ever gets hit or touches the ground, which seems to happen after nearly every other pitch.  Obviously, the condition of a ball is important since it will affect a pitcher’s grip, or how the ball will travel through the air, but it’s interesting to me that the pitcher, catcher and umpire are so quick to toss aside a ball without really considering if the ball is not usable.  They go through 100-150 baseballs a night without much thought as to why.