“The idea that William Shakespeare’s authorship of his plays and poems is a matter of conjecture…Should claims that the Holocaust did not occur also be made part of the standard curriculum?”

— Stephen Greenblatt

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Have you been following LoCO comments lately — especially following stories about the protests and subsequent “hard closure” at CPH? While many are sensitive and reasoned, the majority seem to be purely kneejerk, insults empty of content. Reminding me, oddly enough, of why I spent several weeks earlier this year researching and writing about the Shakespeare authorship question.

When I was asked why I was bothering with it, if memory serves, I first became intrigued by the question of “Who wrote Shakespeare?” about 20 years ago, on reading the letter excerpted above, published in The New York Times, from Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt. Until then, I suppose I’d been vaguely aware there was some controversy whether a wool-merchant William Shakspere (as his name appears multiple times in contemporary records in England’s Stratford-on-Avon) could have written the plays and sonnets attributed to someone using the name William Shakespeare or Shake-speare (hyphened, as the name appears on many title pages).

I got to wondering why a Pulitzer Prize-winning author would stoop to comparing people who question the authorship of centuries-old poems and plays with — get this! — Holocaust deniers. I could only suppose Greenblatt — a really good author, most recently of The Swerve (which I highly recommend) — was slinging abuse around because his arguments were too feeble to cite. (As Hamlet’s Mom put it, commenting on a ham actress, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”)

So his intemperate letter was the inspiration to do my own research, back then and more recently. I soon learned that this sort of vitriol was regularly heaped on those who doubted that the man from Stratford (who could barely write his own name—see his signatures) could have authored some of the finest writing in the English language. For instance, a recent book by Elizabeth Winkler (Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies) — which questions the authorship while trying to understand the stubbornness of most university English departments (which won’t even allow discussion of the matter!) — garnered such reviews as “wrong-headed,” “widespread disinformation” (The Spectator); “pernicious,” “trutherism” (Slate); and “a farrago of wounded pride” (The Times). That paper’s lead writer, Oliver Kamm, later wrote that to question Shakespeare’s authorship is also to promote ”a spurious antisemitic conspiracy theory.” (Antisemetic???) Meanwhile, Britain’s leading Shakespeare scholar, Sir Stanley Wells, is on record as saying it’s immoral to question the authorship, declaring that the world’s two leading Shakespearean actors, Sirs Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance, were “bonkers” for entertaining such heresy! (Immoral???)

Such invective only strengthens the counter argument: That it’s inconceivable (shades of Wallace Shawn) that a businessman from an English provincial town could, in the late 1500s, have amassed sufficient knowledge of the law, astronomy, philosophy, falconry, warfare, the geography of northern Italy, fluency in French, Italian and Latin (some of the writer’s sources hadn’t been translated into English at the time) as to write such immortal works as Hamlet, Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and all the rest. Not to mention the sonnets. Nearly a million words in all. In response, “Stratfordians,” hewing to orthodoxy, say that he was just a genius, before responding with mud-slinging. (Perhaps one can be born a genius, like Christopher Marlowe, but knowledge has to be acquired.)

As I say, I think about this “reversion to insults” when reading uncouth and/or fatuous comments on LoCO. So often, in the ten years I’ve been writing GOU, I see commentators reverting to abusive language, cheap shots, snarkiness and empty insults in lieu of actually debating, turning what could be opportunities to learn from each other in our small coastal community by engaging.

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A crowd of around 200-250 people, including Cal Poly Humboldt graduates, their friends and family members, gathered at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka today for a “Free Palestine” commencement ceremony to honor the lives lost in Gaza. 

For many students, the alternative commencement ceremony was an act of protest against the Cal Poly Humboldt administration and its handling of the recent pro-Palestine protest on campus, which culminated in over 30 arrests after an eight-day occupation of Siemens Hall, one of the university’s administrative buildings. Over 300 Cal Poly Humboldt faculty and staff have condemned the university’s treatment of the students and called for the immediate termination of President Tom Jackson and his Chief of Staff Mark Johnson.

University officials imposed a “hard closure” on campus during the protest. Campus remains closed “due to clean-up work [and] concerns about maintaining the security of buildings,” according to a statement from the university. As such, administrators decided to move commencement ceremonies to three off-campus locations.

During today’s pro-Palestine commencement ceremony at the courthouse, participating graduates dedicated their commencement to a deceased Palestinian child who would never have the opportunity to graduate.

“I am a social work major, and I believed prior to all of this that reform was possible, that we could fix things if we fixed an individual’s circumstances,” Athena Burgess said to her graduating peers. “I don’t believe that anymore. I don’t believe that’s possible. I’ve witnessed and been a victim to how consuming these systems are – we all have. We are stronger together. We will rise and create a new world together, and that’s what we’re doing. Palestine will be free in our lifetime.”

Keep scrolling for more pictures from today’s ceremony.

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A rare solar storm filled Humboldt’s skies with dazzling, pink and purple auroras Friday night. Images of the celestial spectacle were captured all across the county, from Trinidad down to Shelter Cove.

If you missed last night’s stunning display, you’ll have another chance to catch the Northern Lights tonight. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center says the geomagnetic storm will continue through Sunday, although cloud cover will likely diminish visibility on the coast.

“Unfortunately, it’s not looking as favorable on the coast, so you probably won’t be able to see anything from here with the fog,” Matthew Kidwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Eureka office, told the Outpost this afternoon. “There could be a few showers building up inland, but they should dissipate. … It’s certainly possible that visibility could be the same as last night, even better or worse.”

“Eureka got really lucky,” Kidwell added. “We don’t get that many clear nights here on the coast, and to have a clear sky during a once in a 20- or 30-year event is incredible.”

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has a map on its website that provides a 30-minute forecast of aurora activity around the Northern Hemisphere, you can find it at this link. So far, it looks about the same as last night’s forecast.

LoCO readers have posted hundreds of pictures of last night’s display to our Facebook page. Keep scrolling for some of our favorites.

Happy stargazing, Humboldt!

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The Scott and Shasta Rivers were once salmon strongholds, but over-allocation of water has made these rivers nearly uninhabitable for coho and chinook. The State Water Resources Control Board established emergency regulations that set minimum streamflows during the most recent drought. But those will likely expire soon. Without new permanent instream flows, both rivers could run dry.

A coalition of tribal governments, fishermen and environmental nonprofits are asking the State Board for new permanent instream flow dedications. And new legislation, if passed, will strengthen the ability of the state to protect those instream flows. Karuk Vice-Chairman Kenneth Brink, Cody Phillips of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, and Klamath advocate Craig Tucker join the EcoNews to talk about what’s needed to save California’s salmon.

Let Senator McGuire know that you support AB 460 and AB 1337.

One day, in about the year 1920, when I was attending the Marshall School in Eureka, in the fifth grade, we had a history lesson on the invention of the airplane and the Wright brothers.

Airplanes were not too plentiful in Humboldt County in those days. The class was really interested in the subject when one of the students, a small girl (I remember she had her hair in long dark curls), raised her hand for permission to speak and this is what she said: “My uncle invented the airplane and flew it before the Wright Brothers flew theirs and they stole the idea from him for their airplane.” This small girl’s name was Dorothy Montgomery. No one at the time seemed to pay attention to her, but to this day what she said has haunted me.

One day I saw an article in the San Francisco Examiner dated Thursday, July 14, 1960, which told of the Rev. Arthur D. Spearman, a university archivist, giving a lecture about a man named John J. Montgomery who had discovered the basic laws of aerodynamics and had made his flight in August 1883, eight years before the Wright brothers’ venture at Kitty Hawk. Father Spearman had “conclusive evidence” to back up his statement. His lecture was part of a series at the University of Santa Clara Campus held in the Saisset Art Gallery.

I wrote to the University of Santa Clara and I received an answer from their archivist, including information about Mr. John Joseph Montgomery.

From this information and other data which I have been able to obtain, I will attempt to write the history of the first airplane flights and experiments in Humboldt County by John Joseph Montgomery.

But first, I would like to give a history of the college of Saint Joseph at Rohnerville, where Montgomery served on the faculty.

In the year 1868, Father Patrick Henneberry CPPS, of the Precious Blood Fathers, was appointed pastor of Eureka, Calif. During this time. Father Henneberry was determined to build a residential school for boys and after a search a suitable site was found at Rohnerville. The owner of this property, James Degnan, donated 30 acres, 12 of which were flat and the remainder on a high bluff overlooking the countryside and the Eel River. The site was sometimes called College Heights.

A traveler on Highway 101, a few miles south of Fortuna, can look up to the bluff on the east overlooking Alton. This is where the Rohnerville airport is located and this was the site of Saint Joseph College.

Father Henneberry let the contract for the new building in 1869. It was designed by Rohnerville resident M.N. Lockington. The magnificent edifice was described as “Ionian style” architecture. The lumber was brought from Eureka but other materials were purchased in San Francisco, shipped by steamer to Humboldt Bay and hauled by wagon to the site. Construction was handled by contractors Masson and Campton.

The new building had two floors and an attic floor. It was 170 feet long and 46 feet wide, with the central portion wider than the two ends. A corridor eight feet wide ran 129 feet, almost the length of the building. There were 62 doors, 97 windows and eight skylights. The building was built of wood and plastered interior. It contained many fireplaces, needed because of the damp climate in the Humboldt area.

On the ground floor there were three parlors, the bishop’s room, two dining rooms, two recreation rooms and eleven bedrooms. The second floor included two piano rooms, six bedrooms, the infirmary, study hall, classrooms, library, chapel and rooms for the priests and professors. The third floor dormitory was topped by a promenade surrounded by an iron railing with a 20-foot cupola. Nine carpenters, three painters and two bricklayers, as well as a laborer, were kept busy all through 1870 and most of 1871 until the building was completed in September 1871 at a cost of $16,000.

The new school was widely advertised and when classes began on January 16, 1872, there were 100 students, both boarders and day pupils.

Father Patrick Henneberry founded the college at Rohnerville where Montgomery served on faculty.

When the college opened, the community of priests, brothers and seminarians moved from Eureka to the new building. Father Henneberry resigned as pastor of Eureka and was appointed superior of the new college. Father Dickman was appointed the new pastor of Eureka when the Precious Blood community moved from their building in Eureka to the new college in Rohnerville.

The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Eureka in May 1871 and took over the building in Eureka, which was located on the property where the Eureka Inn is located today. When I was a small boy I remember seeing this building on a full block on Seventh Street between F and G streets. A playground was on the Eighth Street side and there were always a lot of kids playing there. This block had cypress trees all around like a big hedge and the kids, including this writer, could go all around the block in these trees and our feet would not touch the ground.

From the day the college’s doors opened in January 1872, St. Joseph’s was plagued by never-ending financial problems. The school was materially aided by the Mother-house in Ohio, but the cost of operating in an isolated area was more than anticipated. Debts piled up against the college and Father Henneberry left his beloved school in the fall of 1875 to begin a ten-year fund raising crusade. Despite his efforts and those of the staff in charge at St. Joseph’s, the Mother-house ordered the school closed. The closure came on September 17, 1877.

Through Henneberry’s dedicated efforts, the college was reopened in January 1894, but finances were again a problem and Henneberry was forced to seek community aid. Rohnerville merchant L. Feiganbaum loaned Henneberry money on several occasions, as did the Ferndale Bank, Philip Brody and others. Father Henneberry died on December 19, 1897, in Virginia City, Nevada, while on a mission and he is buried there among the pioneers of the Comstock Lode.

Final disposition of the property came in the spring of 1899 when Joseph Feiganbaum purchased it from the Henneberry estate. The Degnan family, donors of the land to Henneberry in 1871, bought it back from the Feiganbaum estate in 1921 and the building was demolished shortly thereafter.

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John Joseph Montgomery flew a glider in 1883.

John Joseph Montgomery was born on February 15,1858, in Yuba City, Calif. His father, Zachariah Montgomery, was a lawyer, public servant and journalist. His mother, Ellen Envoy Montgomery, was the daughter of the celebrated Temescal pioneer, Bridget Shannon Evoy, “probably the only woman who led a covered wagon train across the plains in 1849-1850.”

In 1864 John moved to Oakland, Calif., where it is believed he began his study of bird’s flight and wing structure. He entered Santa Clara College in 1874 and transferred in 1875 to St. Ignatius College in San Francisco where he earned his B.S. Degree in 1879 and his M.S. Degree in 1880. In 1893 he presented his paper “Soaring Flight” at the Aeronautical Congress Conference on Aerial Navigation, in Chicago, having accomplished the first controlled flight of man in a heavier-than-air craft at Otay Mesa around 1883 or 1884. In 1882 he joined his family at their farm near Fruitland in San Diego County where he soon preempted their barn for a laboratory. The following year marked a milestone in aviation history — John Montgomery made man’s first controlled flight in a heavier-than-aircraft.

In 1894, Montgomery began teaching mathematics at St. Joseph’s College in Rohnerville. Father Spearman believes Montgomery constructed two small airplanes at Rohnerville — The Pink Maiden, a tandem wing model with a three-foot, six-inch wingspread, and The Buzzard, a four-foot wingspread model. Certainly the wind currents rising up the Eel River to sweep the bluff where the college stood were ample for observation and experimentation.

He returned to his family home in 1895 and began living at Santa Clara College in 1896, where he was awarded his Ph.D. in 1901. While at Santa Clara he worked with James E. Leonard, flying three and four-foot wingspread models. Montgomery tested these models at the Leonard Ranch near Aptos on Monterey Bay by flying them from a trestle.

It was from the Otay Mesa rim at Wheeler Hill, in San Diego County, that John Montgomery and his brother James, launched their first flight on August 28, 1883. The brothers had loaded the frail, 38-pound craft into a hayrack at their Fruitland ranch barn early in the morning to avoid prying eyes.

Neighbors knew about Montgomery’s experimenting and realized that he hoped to fly. The consensus was that he was a little crazy to be attempting such a fete. Therefore, the aircraft was covered with straw, and both men carried hunting rifles so that if they met any curious Questioners, they could explain their early start as the beginning of a hunting trip.

The brothers arrived at the rim and unloaded the craft. James Montgomery attached a light rope to the bottom of the craft to counteract any sudden strong gust of wind and took his place, rope in hand, 12 to 14 feet below the rim. John called “NOW!” His brother yanked the rope and the fragile craft rose off the cliff and immediately became airborne. From that moment Montgomery knew that he had begun the mastery of the air.

It was long before a printed account of Montgomery’s flight appeared. Octave Chanute recorded the flight in his “Progress in Flying Machines,” published as a book by the American Engineer and Railroad Journal at New York in 1894.

Daniel Maloney, daredevil balloonist and test pilot, is seen as he is about to release one of John J. Montgomery’s gliders for a flight to earth. Maloney was killed in 1905 during one of these tests when the glider crashed.

John Montgomery made many experiments with aircraft, including the use of a hot air balloon used to take the airplane up to thousands of feet, where the plane was cut loose to fly and glide back to the earth.

One daring young aeronaut, Daniel John Maloney, had performed this stunt many times to the amazement of many spectators. After successful plane demonstrations in March 1905, Montgomery wanted to take Hamilton’s balloon to Santa Clara College in July 1905.

It was a bright morning, July 18, 1905, the air was still and the sun bright. The balloon was filled with hot gases from a fire fed with kerosene and Maloney’s plane was fastened to it. It rose to 4,000 feet, Maloney cut loose but was entangled in a hold down line and could not maneuver the plane and it crashed to the ground, killing him.

Before this tragedy, Daniel Maloney, in 1905, was the first man in the world to loop-the-loop in an airplane.

Maloney’s death was a terrible blow to Montgomery who lost his most devoted friend and aeronaut.

During the years that followed, there were many experiments and flights by Montgomery. Montgomery’s work in perfecting his monoplane, the Evergreen, came at the time of his marriage to Regina M. Cleary of San Francisco on June 30,1910. Regina Cleary was a very beautiful woman and a talented pianist, as well as a writer of verse. The couple lived in a house at Santa Clara.

In October 1911, Montgomery, Regina, and his two mechanics, Cornelius Reinhardt and Joseph Vierra, took two tents, an assembly workbench and the new monoplane Evergreen to a site on the hill slopes of the Ramonda Ranch in Evergreen Valley, just south of San Jose. Here on a friendly rancher’s land, in a hollow slope within the high area east of the San Felipe Road, he laid simple wooden rails down from the crest. This launching site faced toward the prevailing northwest breeze for flight take-offs.

Reinhardt, a German, was an expert mechanic. He could make any part or gadget that Montgomery needed. During the preliminaries at Evergreen, when they were assembling the aircraft, Reinhardt was worried by the over-protrusion of stove bolts. These bolts were used to hold the main wing supports to the fuselage. The bolt ends protruded inward above the head of the pilot.

For two weeks, October 17 through 31,1911, Montgomery and Vierra alternated in accomplishing a total of some 55 successful flights. These included gliding, rising, manuvering, and then circling back to the hilltop. Occasional practice landings were made in the grassy bottom land.

After watching Vierra in flight, Montgomery thought some slight change in angle could result in some valuable information. On October 31, Montgomery changed the angle of incidence on the cambered horizontal stablizer. After making the adjustment, Montgomery got aboard the plane and shot down the wooden rails and quickly became airborne. Suddenly, when the aircraft was just off the rails, it pointed abruptly upward. Reinhardt said he saw Montgomery lean forward in his rocker seat, a puzzled look on his face as he tried hard to stablize the craft. Montgomery had moved to force the center of gravity forward and to reduce the angle of attack of the wing. Strong physical pull or push on the yoke control wheel and leaning forward or backward were still important elements in controlling his plane. While airborne at between 13 feet, as Reinhardt figured, and 23 feet as Vierra reckoned, the fragile craft stalled, side slipped and fell gently striking the right wing tip on the ground. The plane overturned.

Reinhardt rushed to the scene and gently lifted Montgomery from the fuselage. He saw blood and grey matter oozing from behind the inventor’s right ear where one of those stove bolts had pierced his head. Regina had seen the plane fall and hurried up the hill. Vierra sped to the Ramonda Ranch house to telephone for a doctor. The doctor took the wrong road and when he arrived two hours later, John J. Montgomery was dead.

Montgomery was described by his intimate friends as a very humble, secretive man when in the public eye, but at home among friends and family he was really very jolly, pleasant, and fond of humor. He liked to tell stories and entertain with electrical tricks. Montgomery had the fault of many inventors, he was stubborn. Fixedness of purpose both made and destroyed his life’s pattern.

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The story above was originally printed in the March-April 1989 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

August F Godfrey Jr., born on June 28, 1940, passed away on May 3, 2024.

Fil was a father to Steven Godfrey of Renton, Wash., and Stacey Godfrey Celeste of Eureka. He was proud to be the grandfather of Daniel and Will Godfrey, and Thomas Celeste. He will be missed by his friends Kathy Foley Spain, Kevin Phillips and Roberta Walker.

Fil was born and raised in Eureka. After graduating from Eureka High School, he spent several years in the US Air Force, stationed in Spain. Upon returning home, he married his high school sweetheart, Sarah Goldberg (Godfrey). They had the first Jewish wedding ceremony in Eureka, and were founding members of Temple Beth El in Eureka. After Sarah’s death, Fil never remarried.

He spent over 40 years working at Maurice’s shoe store alongside his wife Sarah and her parents, Maurice and Florence (Fil was a patient man). Later, he spent several happy years working at Allure Jewelers.

Fil enjoyed visiting local forests and parks and spending time working in his back yard. A quietly creative individual, his endeavors included growing and arranging flowers and pastel drawings. He loved visiting art galleries and appreciated the work of local artists.

His greatest joy was friends and family. Fil was warm and welcomed everyone to his home, genuinely interested in how they were doing. In later years, he considered himself blessed to have his daughter Stacey nearby, as she and her friends kept his life rich and interesting. He was a lifelong resident of Eureka, and will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his children and grandchildren, and his sisters-in-law Rose Ann Watson of Roseville and Nancy Godfrey of Santa Rosa.

A graveside service will be held at Sunset Memorial Park on Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests you make a donation to Hospice of Humboldt County or plant a plant of your choice in Fil’s memory that will always remind you of him.

Dennis (Denny) Phillip Katri, 79, was tragically taken from us on March 27, 2024, as the result of an auto accident. His loss was completely unexpected and we are still in shock and miss him so much.

Denny was born on May 28, 1944, in San Francisco, where he was adopted as an infant by Phil and Bettie Katri. He grew up in Humboldt County where he attended local elementary schools and St. Bernard’s High School, but ended up graduating from Eureka High School in 1962.

Denny married his high school sweetheart, Sharon Hastings, in 1964 and they made their home here in Eureka, where they raised their children. He spent many years working at Louisiana Pacific Pulp Mill before becoming a self-employed electrical contractor.

Throughout the years, Denny enjoyed spending time with his family at the cabin in Suntan Glen, fishing, golfing, watching sporting events, going to the horse races, going to the casino, and volunteering countless hours at St. Bernard’s High School. Most of all, he was a true family man and especially loved being around his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was so proud of all of them and the smile on his face when he was with them said it all. One of his favorite things to do was to take them to breakfast, which always had to include his favorite, Swedish pancakes. Denny also enjoyed the time he spent with his good friends Ralph and Virginia Norling, Dave and Teresa Franceschi, Jerry and Cindy Bruga, just to mention a few. He will be missed by everyone who knew him and will live forever in our hearts.

Denny is survived by his daughter, Shelly (Todd) Rice; son, JJ (Aarin) Katri; grandchildren, Hayley (James) Pastori, Hunter Rice, Abiona and Sawyer Katri; great grandchildren, Dawsyn and Rye Pastori; brother, John (Lenore) Katri, and many other extended family members. Denny was preceded in death by his daughter, Kimberly; wife, Sharon; and his parents.

Please join us for a celebration of life on Saturday May 25, 2024 at Old Growth Cellars in Eureka from 1 to 4 p.m. We look forward to hearing stories and memories you may have about Denny.