"The Revolution That Almost Was"

"Much about our modern times can be traced back to a single summer and what changed--or more accurately, what didn't."

Julia Alekseyeva at The Nib provides a cartoon history of May 1968.

Escape to Minstrel Island

"Tom was lanky and unathletic, with protruding teeth that embarrassed him. He stuttered, too, and felt a kinship with Porky Pig. But that same friend ascribes some of ­Pynchon’s 'social behavior issues' to his 'very dysfunctional family'—without elaborating. Pynchon himself almost never talked about his parents, especially in his earlier years. But one afternoon in the mid-sixties, he and his then-girlfriend, Mary Ann Tharaldsen, were driving through Big Sur when she complained of nausea. She wanted to stop at a bar and have a shot to settle her stomach. According to Tharaldsen, he exploded, telling her he would not tolerate midday drinking. When she asked why, he told her he’d seen his mother, after drinking,  accidentally puncture his father’s eye with a clothespin. It was the only time, says Tharaldsen, who lived with him, that he ever mentioned his family. 'He was disconnected from them,' she says. 'There seems to have been something not good there.'"

Boris Kachka in New York traces the life and career of Thomas Pynchon.

"Peter Had to Face an Entire Country and Suffer Alone"

"For decades, Peter Norman was invited to condemn Smith and Carlos as well as his own actions. If he had, he would have been re-embraced by the establishment, found steady work through the Australian Olympic Committee, and been part of the pageantry when the Olympics came to Sydney in 2000. But he never wavered and remained a proud outcast until a fatal heart attack in 2006 struck him down at the all-too-young age of 63. The lead pallbearers at his funeral were John Carlos and Tommie Smith. Now six years after his death and in the aftermath of what was arguably the poorest Australian Olympic performance in decades, Australia wants to reclaim him as their own."

Dave Zirin at The Nation reports that the Australian House of Parliament will apologize to sprinter Peter Norman, "the white guy" who won the silver medal in the 200 meters during the 1968 Olympics.

"The Romans of the New World"

"The book was sent to Spain during the Inquisition, when works written in indigenous languages were banned, and later given to the Medici Library. Largely forgotten until the early 19th century, it is available only to specialists and is seldom on public view. 'It is an incredible thrill to be able to borrow this iconic work,' Lyons says. 'This will be the first time it has returned to the New World.'"

In the Los Angeles Times, Suzanne Muchnic reviews "The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire" at the Getty Villa.

"No Se Olvide!"

"'When I was little and my mother told me what happened [that night], I couldn't believe it,' the student said. 'How could it be possible that so many people died and the people did nothing and the media less?'
"'But as I grew up, I realized that a lot of things happen but people don't act--it's like they're asleep. 1968 was an awakening.'"

In the Los Angeles Times, Tracy Wilkinson and Deborah Bonello report on commemorations of Mexico City's 1968 student massacre.