text:
Talk:Farley Granger

Discussion
I have changed the text about Farley Granger winning a Daytime Emmy for One Life to Live. From what I can tell he was nominated in 1977 for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series but lost to Val Dufour. . I have also removed him from the Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners User:Dowew May 29th 2005.

Homosexual subtexts
The homosexual subtexts of Rope and Strangers on a Train exist only in the minds of the Gay Lobbyists who proliferate throughout Wikipedia.Lestrade 13:06, 17 April 2007 (UTC)Lestrade

 * Read up on it. The original play and book are more explicit than timid 50s Hollywood. The real Leopold and Loeb admitted to the press a sexual relationship. Read SoaT (by lesbian/bisexual Patricia Highsmith) the subtext is unmistakable. Soane 13:50, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Leopold and Loeb in actual life were not the same as plays, books, or the films Rope and Strangers on a Train. The Wikipedia Gay Lobby looks for a chance to further its agenda and takes advantage of every opportunity.Lestrade 14:56, 17 April 2007 (UTC)Lestrade
 * Leopold and Loeb were the basis of the Rope plot, but they have nothing to do with Strangers on a Train. Have you watched the films?  I don't understand your point in linking Leopold and Loeb to both films. Rossrs 14:49, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Agenda furthering or not, these are two bad cases to pick. They scream 'gayness' even in 1950s code. Watch them. Personally I think the whole gay agenda is great. Well done, Farley. Soane 17:13, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Alfred Hitchcock who directed both Rope and Strangers on a Train discussed the "homosexual subtext" of both films, and Granger has also discussed it. Hitchcock was noted for his efforts in getting around censorship, by saying exactly what he wanted to say, but carefully, fully realizing that many people would miss his point, while others would see it and appreciate it.  In any case, he let the cat out of the bag by discussing it later, so he was the best judge of this particular question.   Having seen both films several times, there are a number of sections of dialogue that reveal this, and in fact in Rope it's quite open.  It's presented in a carefully worded, matter-of-fact manner, without particular emphasis, and was designed to go over the heads of most people.  This was Hitchcock's little game and some research in any of the more detailed Hitchcock biographies will reveal this if you care enough to do some further reading. In Strangers on a Train it's less obvious because it's in the form of an unrequited and unarticulated fixation of the Robert Walker character on the Farley Granger character.  It's more obvious in the book, but it's also in the film.  The "homosexual subtext" has also been pretty widely discussed and analysed by film critics/writers outside of Wikipedia.  This is not a new or unique comment being made about these two films, nor is it an example of some kind of gay agenda - it's supported by comments made by the people closest to the films - the director, writers and actors.  Rossrs 14:43, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

 * It is incumbent on the person who makes a positive assertion to provide proof. If the supposed subtext exists, please prove it by answering the following bracketed questions.

[If it is less obvious, can it be recognized with any degree of certainty by anyone in the audience?]
 * Alfred Hitchcock who directed both Rope and Strangers on a Train discussed the "homosexual subtext" of both films, and Granger has also discussed it. [Is it possible to see a written record of these discussions?]
 * … he let the cat out of the bag by discussing it later [Is it possible to see a written record of Hitchcock letting the cat out of the bag during a discussion?]
 * Having seen both films several times, there are a number of sections of dialogue that reveal this, and in fact in Rope it's quite open. It's presented in a carefully worded, matter-of-fact manner, without particular emphasis, and was designed to go over the heads of most people. [Can this particular coded dialogue be indicated or pointed out? Is the secret to the code known, or is it still suspended over almost everyone's head?]
 * This was Hitchcock's little game… . [Did Hitchcock ever tell anyone about his little game, or did someone merely guess that he was playing a little game?]
 * … some research in any of the more detailed Hitchcock biographies will reveal this if you care enough to do some further reading. [Could you name some biographies that support your claims? Are the relevant passages easily found?]
 * In Strangers on a Train it's less obvious because it's in the form of an unrequited and unarticulated fixation of the Robert Walker character on the Farley Granger character.
 * It's more obvious in the book… . [Can you quote or indicate the relevant passages from the book?]
 * The "homosexual subtext" has also been pretty widely discussed and analysed by film critics/writers outside of Wikipedia. [Can you reference any of these discussions and analyses?]
 * This is not a new or unique comment being made about these two films… . [Where are the other comments that support this claim?]
 * … it's supported by comments made by the people closest to the films - the director, writers and actors. [Where is the public evidence that the director, writers, and actors all support your claim?]Lestrade 18:24, 18 April 2007 (UTC)Lestrade

 * Actually you started this discussion so I believe it is encumbent on you to first provide some evidence that the homosexual subtext exists "only in the minds of the Gay Lobbyists who proliferate throughout Wikipedia".  So be fair, offer some compelling evidence that you are stating more than a personal opinion, and I'll respond.  You haven't answered the one question I asked, which was "have you watched the films?"  Rossrs 21:41, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
 * To say that a subtext exists only in some people's minds is equivalent to saying that a subtext does not exist in the film. Therefore, it is a negative statement (note the word "not"). The burden of proof rests on the person who makes the positive claim that there is a subtext. Proof does not consist of unsupported assertions of alleged conversations, discussions, and analyses, or of supposed little games that are known only to people who are "in the know" or who belong to an "in crowd." Lestrade 12:09, 19 April 2007 (UTC)Lestrade
 * I replied, but in the meantime there have been other replies, so I have copied my rather long reply to the bottom of the page, so as not to break the flow. See Reply Rossrs 14:13, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * A couple of points. To call it "subtext" is only to say it isn't stated explicitly in the dialog. The all meaning (dialog, the body language and the 'meaning' of objects) comes from codes shared mentally, all are equally "in people's minds". "Only in people's minds" doesn't mean the meanings are delusions or merely subjective. In fact the subtext (verbal or non-verbal) is just as much "there" as "plain meaning of the words" - it can speak louder and contradict the ostensible meaning (irony is a standard dramatic device).  The whole point of the way homosexuality enters the films is that its presence can be denied, "look, he only said", "look, all he did was". Some codes - including verbal ones - are shared more widely than others. Children may not understand all of Shakespeare, many adults, bless them, miss many meanings. Sometimes even for the most informed and open minded person it is difficult to know if a meaning is "there" (actually intended) or not - it becomes a matter of judgment. In the cases of these two films, taken together with the supporting evidence, it is a no-brainer as Katie Couric would say. I would ask Lestrade to assume good faith or do some research. Soane 13:39, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * "The important thing to remember about 'gay influence' in movies" at that time, observed homosexual screenwriter Gavin Lambert, "is that it was obviously never direct. It was all subliminal. It couldn't be direct because the mass audience would say, Hey, no way." Onefortyone 13:48, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
 * There are several other subtexts in both Rope and Strangers on a Train. "For anyone who cares to notice," the coded signals from the director obviously indicate that there are sensitive, touching, poignant, and sympathetic portrayals of bestiality, incest, and cannibalism. This is all "tacit," of course. The secret message is "implied," but "taken for granted" by the cognoscenti and connoisseurs.Lestrade 19:46, 20 April 2007 (UTC)Lestrade
 * I think you're probably the first person to mention these other "subtexts" and it's interesting that you've chosen this response when there is so much else you could have commented on. So to clarify the situation: you ask for supporting evidence and after several people cite some fairly detailed evidence you completely disregard this and fail to comment about anything that has been provided per your request, and continue to argue about what is contained in the screenplay for Rope against the published comments of the person who wrote the screenplay?  Your comment that the subtext exists only in "the minds of the gay lobbyists who proliferate Wikipedia" is completely disproven by the fact that it exists in many other minds and the evidence you requested was provided.   Even if you don't have the inclination to look for the books cited, the task has been made very easy for you by the provision of some weblinks.  Twice you've avoided answering a fairly basic question - have you seen the films?   Was there ever the slightest chance that this was going to be a discussion?  Rossrs 00:22, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Some clarifications
Here are some sources proving the homosexual subtext of Rope: Some additional information. In an article on Burt Lancaster, Gerald Peary writes that
 * "For Rope, Hitchcock wanted to tell the story of homosexual killers Brandon and Philip on one set..." See Alfred Hitchcock – The complete Films (2003), p.116.
 * "Granger was perhaps best known for his role in an earlier Hitchcock production, Rope (1948), in which he played David Kentley, Shaw Brandon's homosexual lover..." See Richard H. Millington and Jonathan L. Freedman, ''Hitchcock's America (1999), p.121.
 * ""Hitchcock never referred to the homosexual relationships in Rope, though he understood it very well. 'It' was just implied and taken for granted." See Charlotte Chandler, It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock, A Personal Biography (2006), p.170.
 * Laurents recalls that when Alfred Hitchcock wanted to cast Hollywood's two most famous closeted actors, Cary Grant and Montgomery Clift, as his closeted homosexual criminal leads for Rope (1948), a fictionalization of the Leopold-Loeb murder, they refused. Too close to home? See.

In a movie review of Hitchcock's Rope we read:
 * As originally planned by Hitchcock, the film would have starred Cary Grant in the role of the publisher and Montgomery Clift as Brandon. But the established homosexual relationship between Leopold and Loeb, and the tacit recognition of a similar tie between Hamilton's killers, persuaded the bisexual Grant and the gay Clift to steer clear of the project to avoid long-term commercial repercussions. See

It should also be noted that in his book, Open Secret: Gay Hollywood, David Ehrenstein refers to a number of gay and bisexual star couples such as Montgomery Clift and Jack Larson, Farley Granger and Arthur Laurents, Tab Hunter and Anthony Perkins, Cary Grant and Randolph Scott. Furthermore, here is Granger's lover Arthur Laurents:
 * I was afraid Farley [Granger] moving in would be announcing I was gay. Whatever people might think, they didn't know. Now they would. But didn't some of me want them to know I was living with a movie star? Cary Grant and Randolph Scott famously lived together as bachelors; to prove it, they double-dated. The comparison got a smile out of Marmor but Farley and I did double-date: his beard was Shelley Winters, mine was Anita Ellis or Geraldine Brooks. Shelley pretended she didn't know; Anita and Gerry knew and didn't care. (Original Story by Arthur Laurents: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood, p. 123)

It's no wonder that Hitchcock would have chosen a homosexual actor such as Granger for one of the leading roles in Rope. Onefortyone 13:09, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Reply
OK, saying a subtext exists only in some people's minds is equivalent to saying that a subtext does not exist - I think I understand what you mean there, but I think that is a little dismissive. It seems to assume that everyone has to recognise the subtext in order for it to exist, and this is precisely what Hitchcock avoided. Not everyone sees the subtext and this was his intention. In any event, you may be misinterpreting why I asked you to offer your opinion first. If you had said that the discussion of homosexual subtext was poorly sourced, I would have agreed, and if you'd said it fitted better in the film articles, than in Grangers, once again I would have agreed. Instead you say a subtext exists only in the mind of Gay Lobbyists - and that I disagree with, particularly because you offer nothing but a bold assertion. In any case, I was not attempting to offer "proof" but was merely commenting based on information that I've gleaned over the years from reading numerous books and articles about film in general. Alright, I'll play. Firstly, I don't own a copy of every book I've ever read, so I'm not planning on going down to the library to dig up supporting documentation for every phrase I've written but I will make a start, and if you are sincerely interested in the topic, you could investigate further. Bearing in mind that you have offered nothing to support your viewpoint that it is only the work of Gay Lobbyists, my incomplete supporting evidence for my comments is as follows:

From Alfred Hitchcock - A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan, Wiley Publishing 2003. ISBN 0-470-86973-9 Rope screenwriter Arthur Laurents quoted: "["Rope"] was to be filmed as a play and I was a playwright, and because its central characters were homosexual and I might be homosexual" (conjecturing why Hitchcock first brought him to the project)

"At Warner Brothers... homosexuality was the unmentionable, known only as "it"....fascinating how Hitchcock made clear to me he wanted "it" in the picture... I knew it had to be self evident but not so evident that the censors of the American Legion would scream. It's there; you have to look for it, but it's there all right".

"obviously another homesexual, probably an ex-lover of Brandon's" - describing Rupert (James Stewart)

"It was very Hitchcock. It tickled him that Farley was playing a homosexual in a movie written by me, another homosexual; that we were lovers; that we had a secret that he knew - the permutations were endless, all titillating to him, not out of malice or a feeling of power but because they added a slightly kinky touch and kink was a quality devoutly to be desired."

McGilligan explains that Montgomery Clift and Cary Grant were initially cast, but according to Laurents "since Grant was at least bisexual and Monty was gay they were scared to death and they wouldn't do it".

McGilligan about John Dall - "Dall was a powerful actor - and a homosexual willing to play it subtly".

Laurents again : "John Dall and Farley Granger played Brandon and Phillip's sexuality truthfully and that took courage".

From the Rope DVD, documentary Rope Unleashed: ("it" is placed in quotation marks in the documentary's subtitles)

Several quotes from Laurents: "What was curious to me was "Rope" is obviously about homosexuals. The word was never mentioned. Not by Hitch. Not by anybody at Warner's where it was filmed.  It was referred to as "it". They were going to do a picture about "it" and the actors were "it".  The picture was much more successful in Europe because they were used to "it" and we weren't here. (U.S.)  And they didn't deny but they didn't discuss that it was based on the Leopold and Loeb case".

"In "Rope" you have a teacher who is supposed to be homosexual, I smile because Hitch wanted Cary Grant for the part, and Montgomery Clift for one of the boys. According to what he told me they both turned it down because they didn't want to be associated with "it". But the intention was that this teacher had influenced these boys with Nietzsche's philosophy, and he also had an affair with one of them."

"What is extraordinary about "Rope" is its treatment of homosexuality. I mean, today it still is one of the most sophisticated movies made on that subject. Probably treats them more as people than anyone else has. Hitchcock certainly knew that and it certainly attracted him.  And what he liked was not that they were homosexual, but they were homosexual murderers.  If they were just murderers he wouldn't have been interested. If they were just homosexuals he wouldn't have been interested.  You gotta have another little twist to it, and that he liked."

These comments are made by the film's screenwriter on the official DVD release of the film, which also features Hitchcock's daughter Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell, who also produced the documentary - obviously a viewpoint endorsed by her or it would not have made it into the documentary.

Strangers on a Train

McGilligan "The homoeroticism that Highsmith hinted at in Bruno's idolisation of Guy would be preserved. Just as he had in Rope, Hitchcock would make Bruno's sexuality a fascinating subtext of the film, for anyone who cared to notice. Whitfield Cook (screenwriter) knew how to code the signals."

Commenting on the original casting of Robert Walker and William Holden - "Granger's casting (replacing Holden) changed a key idea of Hitchcock's. Bruno's homosexuality is implied in the script, but there's no question of Guy's heterosexuality.... If Guy had been portrayed as a man's man like William Holden, Hitchcock believed, Bruno's attraction to him would really make Guy, and audiences, squirm.  But as it was, the director had to accept an odd crisscross in the casting: a straight actor (Walker) playing a homosexual, who comes on to a superstraight played by a homosexual, Granger."

Roger Ebert discusses the homosexual subtext of Stangers on a Train in some detail while also referring to the homosexual subtext of Rope here.

So does Ken Mogg, a Hitchcock lecturer, in his article for Senses of Cinema - here

Miscellaneous links discussing Hitchcock's homosexual subtexts in several films, mostly Rope :, , , [, , , , , , , , , . This a just a sampling.  A google search of "Hitchcock" and "homosexual" shows a large number of hits, most of them unsubstantiated blogs, but some with somewhat more credibility.

None of this is "proof" of a homosexual subtext simply because the subtext is intentionally designed to be taken from either point of view, but it does prove that the homosexual subtext has been discussed well and truly beyond the reach of the "gay lobbyists who proliferate throughout Wikipedia" - to return to your original comment. I think you might at least review or rephrase your original comment. Rossrs 14:13, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Tone of article
I can only assume that with all of the comments here and all of the supporting citations that this article was very diligently created by lots of research.

However, when one reads the article it's coming off a LOT like a magazine article (and sounding like it was taken from somewhere else). I'm going to try to make the tone a wee bit more encyclopedic. NickBurns (talk) 19:40, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

 * Well said. Most articles about celebrities have "Career" sections and "Personal Life" sections but in this article the two subjects are entwined. Apparently Granger was at one time married to his "close friend" Shelley Winters. That is lost in the detailed story-telling of his career. Granger also had an "intense affair" with Ava Gardner -- the word "intense" is apparently sourced from his autobiography and is not encyclopedic. A "Personal Life" section covering these matters and mostly leaving them out of the "Career" sections would be an improvement. Of course, the guy was practically irresistible, it seems. Shoot, I'm a hetero male and I can see how he could be. But he didn't make a career of it, did he? Wastrel Way (talk) 21:20, 26 January 2024 (UTC) Eric

Wikify
Good article but it needs breaking up into wikified sections, detailing career, personal life, filmography etc.Gymnophoria (talk) 13:14, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Sexuality
He's categorized as both gay and bisexual. Which is it?BlackGhost2280 (talk) 04:05, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

From everything I've read he was gay Jared Stine (talk) 21:55, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

 * Did you read the article? He had affairs with both women and men. Wastrel Way (talk) 21:23, 26 January 2024 (UTC) Eric

Assessment comment
Substituted at 14:58, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

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World War II service
Although Granger served in the United States Navy during the World War II era, no reliable sources found as of yet state that he served overseas in a war zone during the war. Accordingly, Category:American military personnel of World War II was removed from the article. Semper Fi FieldMarine (talk) 10:22, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

Materialscientist and reverting my change
I'm curious as to why an apparently automated reversion of my edit was done by Materialscientist. "Hello, I'm Materialscientist. I wanted to let you know that I reverted one of your recent contributions—specifically this edit to Farley Granger—because it did not appear constructive." My edit changed the characterization of Harry Langdon from "unemployment benefits recipient" to "comedian". Langdon is known for being a vaudeville and film comedian, not for being an "unemployment benefits recipient." What gives? 68.134.232.137 (talk) 14:44, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Courtesy ping: . For me the reverted edit seems constructive. Gehenna1510 (talk) 15:32, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Evidently he does not feel any obligation to enter into a discussion of his decision. One reads about how Wikipedia attracts petty tyrants making capricious decisions, but this is the first time I've actually encountered any behavior that comes remotely near meeting that characterization. As to the actual edit, not only was Harry Langdon mischaracterized as an "unemployment benefits recipient" rather than "comedian", but the phrase "unemployment benefits" was actually a hyperlink to that topic! Ridiculous. Yet my edit is reverted, and if I get into an edit war this editor, famous for blocking people, will probably block me. (sigh) 68.134.232.137 (talk) 03:58, 28 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Given we're in the middle of a major American holiday, I would hope we could give editors more than two days before we started making assumptions regarding their slow response times. DonIago (talk) 05:53, 28 November 2020 (UTC)
 * He reverted my edit within 1-2 minutes of it being posted, on Thanksgiving Day. So I'll stick by my assumption, thanks. (And if it WAS automated as I suggest, then he has a responsibility to monitor his automation.) 68.134.232.137 (talk) 12:08, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

Can we get your input on this? DonIago (talk) 20:04, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Four days later . . . he's apparently far too busy to get down with actual users and debate his majestic and irrevocable decisions. Meanwhile I note from the edit track that he uses something called Huggle that is some sort of tool allowing for automated checks on, and possibly rollbacks of, edits. So perhaps it was Huggle, rather than Materialscientist himself, that chose to revert my edit. This does not make me feel any better about it, however. Huggle does not know better than I do what information is and is not important. Nor, comes to that, does Materialscientist. 68.134.232.137 (talk) 23:47, 7 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There's no need for the personal attacks. That said, as nobody else apparently has any opposition to your edits, I'd suggest simply re-applying them. While your tone here has been suboptimal, you did the right thing by starting the discussion thread, and if someone wants to revert you at this point, it's incumbent on them to make their case here. DonIago (talk) 02:28, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
 * My tone has been entirely appropriate for the opposition I met to a perfectly appropriate edit coupled with a complete unwillingness to engage on the part of the person who made the edit. I have wasted a ridiculous amount of time on this compared to the size of the issue. I have only done so because of my irritation with some tinpot dictator who thinks his automation should rule Wikipedia. If you don't like my tone, I am deeply sorry, but allow me to suggest that the problem does not lie with me. As to me re-applying my edit, I doubt anyone will "make a case here" regarding reverting my edit a second time. My new edit will most likely be automatically reverted again, and I will end up blocked. But I am willing to give it a go. 68.134.232.137 (talk) 10:07, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That may be your opinion, but my opinion is that you're being unnecessarily adversarial, and taking unproductive potshots at an editor who apparently simply disagreed with you. We don't know why MS opted not to comment here; perhaps they simply aren't invested in the outcome of the discussion. If their opinion is of value to you, you could always leave a message at their talk page asking them to comment here. You speak of how much time you've wasted; how much time did you waste focusing on MS as a fellow editor rather than simply focusing on what's best for the article? I understand that you're frustrated by how this has progressed, but you're probably not going to have a very pleasant time here if you let it upset you to the point that you violate WP:NPA on a regular basis. Best wishes. DonIago (talk) 19:52, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You might want to Google the person you're defending. I'm hardly the only one who has had issues with him, I've learned. Meanwhile, my re-edit is still up. I expanded my explanation; perhaps that helped Huggle to agree with me. 68.134.232.137 (talk) 17:28, 9 December 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Farley Granger


text: Template:User flute-1

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Template:User flute-1


text: Template:User flute-2

title: Template:User flute-2


text: Template:University of Houston System

title: Template:University of Houston System


text:
Margaret Lea Houston

Margaret Lea Houston (April 11, 1819 – December 3, 1867) was First Lady of the Republic of Texas during her husband Sam Houston's second term as President of the Republic of Texas. They met following the first of his two non-consecutive terms as the Republic's president, and married when he was a representative in the Congress of the Republic of Texas. She was his third wife, remaining with him until his death.

She came from a close-knit family in Alabama, many of whom also moved to Texas when she married the man who was an accomplished politician in both Tennessee and Texas, and who had won the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. The couple had eight children, and she gave birth to most of them while he was away attending to politics. Her mother Nancy Lea was a constant in their lives, helping with the children, managing the household help, and always providing either financial assistance or temporary housing. With the help of her extended family in Texas, Margaret convinced her husband to give up both alcohol and profane language. He believed his wife to be an exemplary woman of faith and, under her influence, converted to the Baptist denomination, after he had many years earlier been baptized a Catholic in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Following the Annexation of Texas to the United States, Sam Houston shuttled back and forth to Washington, D.C. as the state's U.S. senator for 13 years, while Margaret remained in Texas raising their children. When he was elected the state's governor, Margaret became First Lady of the state of Texas and was pregnant with their last child. Her brief tenure came on the cusp of the Civil War, at a time when the state was torn apart over the debate of whether or not to secede from the United States, while her husband worked in vain to defeat the Texas Ordinance of Secession. There was an attempt on his life, and angry mobs gathered in the streets near the governor's mansion. With no government protection provided, she lived in fear for her family's safety.

Her husband was removed from office by the Texas Secession Convention for refusing to swear loyalty to the Confederacy. Margaret became a wartime mother, whose eldest son joined the Confederate Army and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Shiloh. Her husband died before the end of the war. In her few remaining years, she became the keeper of the Sam Houston legacy and opened his records to a trusted biographer. When she died of yellow fever four and a half years later, Margaret could not be buried with her husband in a public cemetery in Huntsville for fear of contamination, and was instead interred next to her mother on private property.

Early life
Margaret Moffette Lea was born April 11, 1819, into a family of devout Baptists in Perry County, Alabama. Her father Temple Lea was a church deacon and the state treasurer of the Alabama Baptist Convention, and her mother Nancy Moffette Lea was the only woman delegate at the convention's formation. Margaret was the fifth of six children that included older brothers Martin, Henry Clinton and Vernal, older sister Varilla, and younger sister Antoinette. The Lea cotton plantation had been acquired with money from a Moffette family inheritance, and was operated by Nancy.

When her father died in 1834, she inherited five slaves: Joshua, Eliza, her favorite, Viannah, Charlotte and Jackson. The older Lea children had married prior to Temple's death, but Vernal, Margaret and Antoinette accompanied the widowed Nancy when she moved into her son Henry's home at Marion. He was an accomplished attorney who sat on the boards of educational institutions, and would be elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1836. Margaret was enrolled at Professor McLean's School, and also attended Judson Female Institute. The latter was founded by Baptists to instruct genteel young women in what were considered acceptable goals of their time and place, "proficiency in needlework, dancing, drawing, and penmanship". Heavy emphasis was put on Baptist theology and missionary work. She wrote poetry and read romantic novels, while also becoming accomplished on guitar, harp and piano. Reverend Peter Crawford baptized her in the Siloam Baptist Church of Marion when she was 19, by which time the eligible young lady was considered "accomplished, well-connected and deeply religious".

Marriage
Sam Houston was an attorney by profession and politically accomplished even before he moved to Texas. In Tennessee, he had been both a member of the United States House of Representatives and governor. His military victory at the Battle of San Jacinto elevated him to hero status in Texas. After completing his first term as President of the Republic of Texas in early December 1838, he continued to practice law from his office in Liberty. He arrived in Mobile, Alabama, in the early months of 1839 as a partner of the Sabine City Company, seeking investors to develop a community that is today known as Sabine Pass. Through Martin Lea, he made the acquaintance of Antoinette's husband William Bledsoe, a wealthy businessman who in turn suggested Nancy Lea as a possible investor. Invited to a garden party at Martin's home, it was there Houston first became acquainted with Margaret. The mutual attraction was instantaneous.

Nancy was favorably impressed with Houston's land sales pitch, but not so impressed with his interest in her daughter. She and others in the family were concerned about his reputation as a hard-drinking carouser with a proclivity for profanity, who was 26 years older than Margaret and twice married. Several weeks of love letters had been exchanged between Margaret and Houston by the time he proposed marriage that summer of 1839, presenting her with his image carved on a brooch. In an effort to assuage the family's opposition to the union, Houston spent several weeks in the Lea home in Alabama.

In September during his absence from Texas, his supporters in San Augustine County elected him to serve in the Republic of Texas House of Representatives. When the couple's engagement was announced in newspapers, the Leas were not the only ones who were skeptical. Acquaintances in Texas were well versed with his personal history and aware that he only recently obtained a divorce from his first wife, Eliza Allen of Gatlin, TN. The original divorce paperwork, in 1829, was lost and not filed; Houston was unaware until 1837 so he filed the paperwork immediately to finalize his divorce. He had hopes of marrying a Texas woman, Anna Raguet, as it played out she rejected him for his friend Mr. Irion. Political crony Barnard E. Bee Sr. tried to discourage him from making a third attempt at marriage, believing him to be "totally disqualified for domestic happiness".

As the day of their May 9, 1840, wedding approached, some family members still looked upon Houston with uncertainty and were determined to stop what they believed would be a disastrous union for Margaret. She would not be deterred, however, and the Reverend Peter Crawford officiated over the wedding of Margaret and the man with whom she had fallen in love. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon week at the Lafayette Hotel before sailing to Galveston, where Nancy and the Bledsoes had already established residencies. Houston retained a house he owned in the city named for him, but Margaret had no taste for the hustle and bustle and preferred the lesser-populated Galveston. She and her personal slaves, who had accompanied the newlyweds from Alabama, shared her mother's house while Houston traveled.

First Lady of the Republic
The year before he met Margaret, Houston had purchased property at Cedar Point on Galveston Bay in Chambers County, which he named Raven Moor, and planned to expand with income from his law practice. The existing two-room log dogtrot house with its detached slave quarters overlooked Galveston Bay and became the newlyweds' first home, filled with both Margaret's personal furnishings from Alabama, as well as newer pieces. She renamed it Ben Lomond as a tip of the hat to the romantic Walter Scott works she had read, and delegated management of the household to her mother Nancy.

During his second term as representative from San Augustine, Houston was elected in 1841 to once again serve as the Republic's president. Margaret disliked campaign events and, giving up her privacy, so she frequently stayed home while her husband traveled about the Republic canvassing for votes. Yet, when she rose to the occasion, such as the extended post-election tour of San Augustine County and victory celebrations in Washington County and Houston City, the public adored her, and she became an impressive political asset. She rode in a local presidential parade, but stayed home rather than travel to the inauguration in Austin. When the couple appeared at several events in Nacogdoches, his old friends took notice of his total avoidance of alcohol, and he continued to assure her that he was giving it up completely. He also began to clean up his language to please his new wife, and would eventually claim to have eliminated his profanity altogether.

Approximately 26 mi north of Ben Lomond, the Bledsoes operated a sugar cane plantation at Grand Cane in Liberty County. Financially supplemented by Nancy, the plantation became a family gathering place. About a year after Vernal and Mary Lea also moved there, Mary suffered a pregnancy miscarriage. Not long after that, the couple accepted trusteeship of a 7-year-old Galveston orphan named Susan Virginia Thorne, who was then placed in the care of Nancy. It was a problematic relationship from the beginning, and would grow to have legal ramifications for Margaret.

Events leading up to the 1842 Battle of Salado Creek caused Houston to believe that Mexico was planning a full-scale invasion to re-take Texas. In response, he moved the Republic's capital farther east to Washington-on-the-Brazos, and sent Margaret back to her relatives in Alabama. Upon her later return, they temporarily lived with the Lockhart family at Washington-on-the-Brazos until they were able to acquire a small home there. The couple's first child Sam Houston Jr. was born in the new house on May 25, 1843. Upon learning of her son Martin's death in a duel, Nancy moved in with the Houstons, helping Margaret with the new baby, and over Houston's objections, pitching in with some financial assistance for food and household necessities.

Raven Hill and Woodland
When his presidential term ended on December 9, 1844, Houston turned his attention to the Raven Hill plantation he had acquired that year northwest of Grand Cane and east of Huntsville. Margaret's slave Joshua was put in charge of the carpentry to build her a new house. Nancy, Margaret and sister Antoinette devoted their time to activities in Grand Cane's Concord Baptist Church, of which they were founding members. She continued to be a wife who was happiest when she and her husband stayed close to home. Although she accompanied him to President Andrew Jackson's Tennessee funeral in the summer of 1845, she did not attend fetes held in her husband's honor by his old friends and supporters. During the latter part of the year, Antoinette's husband William died, followed a few months later by the death of Vernal's wife Mary. Prior to her death, she had elicited a promise from Margaret to assume the trusteeship of Susan Virginia Thorne.

Texas officially relinquished its sovereignty on February 19, 1846, to become the 28th state in the union, and Houston was elected by the Texas State Legislature to serve in the United States Senate. Margaret's pregnancy prevented her from accompanying him, so when time and duty permitted he traveled back and forth between Texas and a temporary hotel residence in the nation's capital. When Reverend George W. Samson first met Houston at the E-Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., the senator told him that his attendance had been influenced by "one of the best Christians on earth", his wife Margaret. For the duration of his senatorial service, Houston regularly attended the E-Street church, sharing his wife's letters with Samson and delving into theological discussions pertaining to Margaret's interpretation of scriptures.

Margaret's sister Antoinette eloped with wealthy Galveston businessman Charles Power in April and began a new life on his sugar plantation. Houston was home during a Congressional recess when their second child Nancy (Nannie) Elizabeth Houston was born at Raven Hill on September 6. About this time, in a letter to Houston that gave insight into Nancy's forceful constant presence in their lives, Margaret conceded, "She is high spirited and a little overbearing, I admit ..." but advised her husband to just give in to the insignificant issues. Houston replied, "I love the old Lady as a Mother, and have resolved to defer to her age and her disposition. Her blood is much like my own."

During the early part of 1847, Houston's letters to Margaret were filled with his weariness of being away from home, and his concern that he had no letters from her for weeks. He promised that at the end of the current legislative session, he would "... fly with all speed to meet and greet my Love and embrace our little ones." When she finally answered, she initially only told him of a serious illness that Sam Jr. had since recovered from, even though he was aware of previous problems she had with a breast lump. She had been advised to see a specialist in Memphis, Tennessee, if there was a recurrence. When complications appeared, family friend Dr. Ashbel Smith recommended surgery in Texas; only then, did she inform her husband of the situation. Upon receipt of communication from her, Houston immediately departed Washington, D.C.

After his return home, Houston negotiated a labor-swap arrangement with Raven Hill's overseer Captain Frank Hatch. In lieu of a cash payment for Hatch's services, the bulk of Houston's slave labor force was engaged to work on Hatch's property at Bermuda Spring. The remaining slaves were retained as house labor for Margaret. Eventually, Houston became the owner of Bermuda Spring when he and Hatch swapped properties, and he set about to build the Woodland home for his wife. The first child to be born in the house was Margaret (Maggie) Lea Houston, arriving on April 13, 1848, while Congress was in session and Houston was in Washington.

The widowed Vernal remarried to Catherine Davis Goodall in 1849, but trusteeship of Susan Virginia Thorne, by now a teenager, remained with Margaret. With most of his time spent in the nation's capital, Houston's perception of Thorne was primarily second-hand gleanings from Margaret's letters; yet, he disliked and distrusted the orphaned girl to the point where he feared for the health and safety of his children with her in the house. Exacerbating the situation was Margaret's disapproval of the relationship that the teenage girl developed with overseer Thomas Gott. Push literally came to shove during an incident in which Margaret disciplined her for what she believed was rough handling of one of the children. Thorne alleged that during the ensuing dispute over the situation, Margaret had used threats and physical violence against her. After Thorne eloped with Gott a month later, the couple filed assault and battery charges against Margaret. When a grand jury investigation resulted in a deadlock, the matter was referred to the local Baptist church that Margaret helped found, and she was acquitted of the charges. Houston came to believe that the filing of legal charges against his wife had been encouraged by his political enemies.

Daughter Mary William (Mary Willie) Houston was born on April 9, 1850, in the Woodland house, during another Congressional session when Houston was in Washington. Their fourth child Antoinette (Nettie) Power Houston arrived on January 20, 1852, while he was again away on a business trip.

Many friends and acquaintances came to visit the Houstons at Woodland, including members of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe who had allied with Houston during the Texas Revolution; he in return had assisted them in their being granted a reservation in east Texas. Throughout the last years of his presidency, Houston had made numerous efforts for the Republic to find common ground with the various tribes, asserting their right to own land. Many tribes had come to respect him as their friend.

Sam Houston's profession of faith
Nancy moved southwest of Huntsville to Independence in 1852, and much of the remaining Lea family began to form its nucleus in the Washington County community. Antoinette and Charles Power were also living in Independence after their Galveston sugar plantation was decimated by a hurricane. Brothers Vernal and Henry both died that year. The following year, Varilla's husband Robertus Royston also died and she joined the rest of the family in Independence. That August, the Houstons bought a house near the original Baylor University campus in Independence. While Houston was attending to business in Washington, their sixth child Andrew Jackson Houston was born on June 21, 1854.

As required by Mexican federal law for property ownership in Coahuila y Tejas, Houston had been baptized into the Catholic faith in the Adolphus Sterne House in Nacogdoches prior to Texas independence. By 1854, when Houston told Reverend Samson he felt compelled to make a public profession of faith, perhaps on the floor of the United States Senate, Margaret and her family had spent 14 years influencing her husband's faith. Ultimately, he decided to make the profession among those who knew him best in Texas.

Word quickly spread about Houston's upcoming public baptism, and spectators traveled from neighboring communities to witness the event. Reverend Rufus Columbus Burleson, the president of Baylor University and local church pastor, performed the rite in Little Rocky Creek, 2 mi southeast of town. Houston afterwards still felt unworthy of taking the Eucharist and becoming a member of Margaret's church. In gratitude and celebration, Nancy sold her silverware to purchase a bell for the Rocky Creek Baptist Church. At her request, Reverend George Washington Baines of Brenham counseled with him to eliminate his self-doubts. Baines, who was the maternal great-grandfather of President Lyndon B. Johnson, maintained a close friendship with Sam Houston for the rest of Houston's life. Baines' son Joseph Wilson Baines served in the Texas state legislature, and was the father of Rebekah Baines, mother of Lyndon Johnson.

First Lady of the state
The state legislature decided during Houston's third senatorial term not to re-elect him, so he ran for the office of Governor of Texas, losing to Hardin Richard Runnels. He was still in Washington when William (Willie) Rogers Houston was born on May 25, 1858, their last child born in the Woodland home. In order to satisfy creditors of his gubernatorial campaign debts, Houston was forced to sell the house to his political supporter J. Carroll Smith. He subsequently defeated incumbent Runnels with a second bid for the office during a period when the populace was bitterly divided over the issue of secession from the United States, and was sworn on December 31, 1859.

Construction on the Texas Governor's Mansion in Austin had been completed three years earlier and first occupied by Governor Elisha M. Pease, whose wife played hostess to anyone who stopped by for a visit. The Houston family and their retinue of slaves moved into the mansion during a political climate that grew increasingly hostile over the secession debate. The family furniture had been moved from Independence by Joshua, since the state government had no budget for staffing, furnishing or maintaining the governor's residence. That financial burden fell on the shoulders of the incumbent, and the state partially defaulted on Houston's salary. Margaret feared for the family's safety, as her husband worked towards defeating passage of the state's Ordinance of Secession. There had been a botched assassination attempt on Houston, and she saw throngs of angry malcontents gathering in the city. Margaret closed the mansion doors to all but those with an invitation from the Houstons.

The family and household slaves resided on the second floor of the mansion, while others lived in the stable. As with everywhere else had they lived, she cared nothing about public life, and instead worked with Eliza and the other servants to create a home that welcomed extended family members and personal friends of the Houstons. Houston would occasionally hire out some of his labor force. The first child born in the Texas governor's mansion was also the last of the Houston children; Temple Lea Houston was delivered on August 12, 1860. This last birth left the 41-year-old Margaret debilitated for almost two weeks, with a watchful Houston constantly by her side.

The Texas Secession Convention passed the Texas Ordinance of Secession on February 1, 1861, effectively becoming part of the Confederate States of America on March 1. Houston, like all other office holders in the state, was expected to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy. He refused and was removed from office by the Secession Convention on March 16, succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Edward Clark.

Final years
Their home in Independence having been leased out to the Baptists, retreating there was not an option. Houston was in poor health, as well as spiritually and financially broken. After a brief sojourn in Nancy's home, and over her objections, the family returned to Ben Lomond in early April.

Sometime during August 1861, Sam Houston, Jr., enlisted in the Confederate States Army 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment, Company C Bayland Guards, sending Margaret into melancholia. She dreaded that her first-born child would never be home again. "My heart seems almost broken ... what shall I do? How shall I bear it? When I first heard the news, I thought I would lie down and die", she wrote to her mother. Houston tried to help out by assuming care of their other children in between his extended visits to Galveston. Her fears seemed well-founded when her son was critically wounded and left for dead at the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh. A second bullet was stopped by his Bible, bearing an inside inscription from Margaret. He was found languishing in a field by a Union Army clergyman who picked up the Bible and also found a letter from Margaret in his pocket. Taken prisoner and sent to Camp Douglas in Illinois, he was later released in a prisoner exchange and received a medical discharge in October.

Lacking the financial means to buy back their Woodland home, they rented the Steamboat House in Huntsville. The 69-year-old Houston was in his final days and physically feeble, requiring the use of a cane to get around. Until daughter Maggie took over as his personal assistant, his wife shouldered the duties. Even so, during this period, he managed to get the Confederate War Department to discharge all draftees from the Alabama-Coushatta tribe, which had distanced itself completely from the conflict.

On July 26, 1863, with Margaret at his bedside reading the 23rd Psalm to him, Houston died. His will named her as his executrix, and named his cousin Thomas Caruthers, as well as family friends Thomas Gibbs, J. Carroll Smith and Anthony Martin Branch, as executors. He had died land rich, but cash poor. The inventory compiled of his estate after his death listed several thousand acres in real estate, $250 cash, slaves (one of whom was Joshua Houston), a handful of livestock and his personal possessions.Margaret and the other executors of his estate specifically named each of the 12 slaves on the inventory, with a total valuation of $10,530. Haley (2004), p. 417. An enduring myth associated with Houston is that in 1862 he read his slaves the Emancipation Proclamation from a newspaper, and set them free. The proclamation took effect January 1, 1863. Slaves in Texas were not emancipated until June 19, 1865 by the issuance in Galveston of General Order No. 3 from Union General Gordon Granger, almost two years after Houston's death. The Texas constitution in effect under the Confederacy, Section III, Article 2, prohibited manumission (a slave owner freeing his slaves). Roberts (1993), p. 319; ; ;; ;

Margaret was now a widow with seven of her eight children under the age of 18 and financially dependent on her. She returned to live near her mother in Independence, Texas, swapping land for a nearby property that became known as the Mrs. Sam Houston House. The Texas legislature eventually gave Margaret an amount equivalent to her husband's unpaid gubernatorial salary; nevertheless, in order to afford Sam Jr.'s enrollment at medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, she rented out the Ben Lomond plantation.

Nancy Lea died of an undiagnosed set of flu-like ailments on February 7, 1864, and was entombed on the grounds of her home. Margaret died on December 3, 1867, having contracted yellow fever during an epidemic. Walter Reed would not make his discovery of the cause of yellow fever through mosquito bite until 1900; contamination through contact was the pervading fear in 1867, and prevented Margaret's remains from being interred in a public cemetery with her husband's. She was buried in the ground beside Nancy's tomb at 11 p.m. by her servant Bingley, family friend Major Eber Cave, and her two daughters Nettie and Mary Willie. No funeral service was performed.

Legacy
Two years after Sam Houston's death, Baylor University president William Carey Crane was commissioned by Margaret to write her husband's biography, allowing complete access to all correspondence and records. Crane was a Lea family friend from Alabama who had little more than a passing acquaintance with "the hero of San Jacinto". His perception of Margaret, however, was that of an extraordinary woman, in many aspects equal to the man she married. He stated that Houston's "guardian angel", as he called her, had set out from the time she met Houston to refine his rough edges and provide a solid foundation for his personal life. That assessment of Margaret's relationship with her husband was echoed over a century later by author James L. Haley, "... Houston trusted the care of his soul to Margaret, that he had no more war to fight within himself, left him with more energy to wage political battle." Ultimately, several of Houston's associates were cooperative with the Crane endeavor, but not everyone was inspired to join the effort. According to daughter Maggie, the author had told her that many valuable documents were destroyed by Margaret in a fit of anger when someone she considered a friend expressed disinterest. Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas was rejected by the initial publisher, but was eventually published by J. B. Lippincott in 1884.

After emancipation and Margaret's death, "Aunt Eliza", as the children called her, alternated her time between Nannie's and Maggie's households. When Eliza died in 1898, at her request, she was buried next to Margaret. Nancy's tomb fell to decay over the years, after which she was re-interred in the ground with Margaret and Eliza. There was much discussion during the Texas 1936 centennial about moving Margaret's remains next to her husband's in Huntsville, but the family and various authorities never came to an agreement over it. Not until May 15, 1965, was an historical marker erected in Independence to denote her contributions to Texas history.

Children
"First Lady and the matriarch of one of the most significant families in Texas history." – Texas Historical Commission

 * Sam Houston Jr. (1843–1894) became a physician and author. He was widowed early into his marriage to Lucy Anderson and spent his final years living with his sister Maggie.
 * Sam Jr.'s daughter Margaret Bell Houston (1877–1966) was a writer and suffragist who became the first president of the Dallas Equal Suffrage Association.

 * Nancy (Nannie) Elizabeth Houston (1846–1920) married businessman Joseph Clay Stiles Morrow. When her mother died, Nannie assumed guardianship of her younger siblings.
 * Nannie's great granddaughter Jean Houston Baldwin (1916–2002) was the wife of Texas Governor Price Daniel.
 * Nannie's great-great-grandson Price Daniel Jr. (1941–1981) was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

 * Margaret (Maggie) Lea Houston (1848–1906) married Weston Lafayette Williams. The couple purchased Margaret's house where they helped Nannie provide a home for their younger siblings, and also raised their own five children there.
 * Mary William (Mary Willie) Houston (1850–1931) married attorney John Simeon Morrow. Widowed young with five children to support, she became postmistress of Abilene, Texas, and held the position for 22 years.
 * Antoinette (Nettie) Power Houston (1852–1932) was poet laureate and state historian for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. She married the then Texas A&M University president William Lorraine Bringhurst. Her funeral was held at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio where her body had lain in state for public viewing.
 * Andrew Jackson Houston (1854–1941) was a United States Senator. A graduate of West Point, he served in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish–American War. He was a proponent of prohibition and supportive of suffrage for women. His first wife was Carrie Glenn Purnell; after her death, he remarried to Elizabeth Hart Good.
 * William (Willie) Rogers Houston (1858–1920) was a lifelong bachelor, and became a career Special Agent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He died from what is believed to have been either a heart attack and/or a fall from his horse while on official duty, on the grounds of Goodland Indian School in Choctaw County, Oklahoma.
 * Temple Lea Houston (1860–1905) served as Texas State Senator, District 19, and Senate President Pro Tem. He was a multi-linguist in ten languages that included seven spoken by Native Americans. Temple Lea became the most famous of the Houston children and was considered a brilliant legal counsel whose "Soiled Dove Plea" won the acquittal of a woman accused of prostitution. Married to Laura Cross, he lived his final years in Oklahoma where locals gave him the nickname "Lone Wolf of the Canadian (river)". The Temple Houston television series was based on his legal career.

Historic residences and sites

 * Sam Houston's house in Houston City has been replaced by an office building.
 * Ben Lomond and Raven Hill homes deteriorated through the years and were destroyed, as was Nancy Lea's home in Independence.
 * Steamboat House was moved in 1936 to the grounds of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum at Sam Houston State University, and designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964.
 * The Mrs. Sam Houston House in Independence was listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County on October 22, 1970.
 * The Woodland home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Walker County on May 30, 1974, as the Sam Houston House, and is part of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum.
 * The site of Cedar Point home located at the mouth of Cedar Bayou, in Baytown, Texas, on Trinity Bay now lies in the bayou, as meandering erosion has consumed it. This home is where the Houstons' lived when Sam Jr. enlisted in The Bayland Guards, CSA.
 * The Rocky Creek Baptist Church bell purchased by Nancy Lea is currently located at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 50 and Farm to Market Road 390.
 * Sam Houston's baptismal site is marked by the Texas Historical Commission on Farm to Market Road 150 at Sam Houston Road.

Depiction in popular media
The actress Nancy Rennick (1932–2006), who had a leading role in the syndicated adventure television series Rescue 8, played Mrs. Houston in the 1958 episode "The Girl Who Walked with a Giant" of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. The story focuses on Margaret's role as a confidant of her husband from his days as president of the Republic of Texas to his time as governor, a post that  he resigned in 1861 because he could not in good conscience support the Confederate States of America, of which Texas was a partner.

title: Margaret Lea Houston


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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future was a four-part radio series hosted by Douglas Adams. It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2000, and repeated in April and May 2001, and September 2014. Because the radio series turned out to be Adams's final project for the BBC before his death (a week after the first broadcast of the final episode), all four episodes are still available for download from the Radio 4 website. Extracts from the four programmes are also available for listening within the Douglas Adams at the BBC collection.

The Episodes

 * Programme One: Music
 * Original Transmission: 11:00 am, Wednesday 4 October 2000, BBC Radio 4

Adams discusses the future of music in the "Internet Age" (which at the time was mainly limited to discussion of illegal download services, such as the first version of Napster - it would be another two years before the iTunes Music Store opened to the American market, and legal music downloads would start to become popular). Topics include digital music creation and online distribution. Adams interviews Brian Eno, Michael Nesmith and Peter Gabriel.

 * Programme Two: Publishing
 * Original Transmission: 11:00 am, Wednesday 11 October 2000, BBC Radio 4

Adams discusses the future of publishing with Peter Cochrane, Muriel Gray and Stewart Brand. Topics include the online distribution of e-books and e-book readers.

 * Programme Three: Broadcasting
 * Original Transmission: 11:00 am, Wednesday 18 October 2000, BBC Radio 4

Adams discusses the future of TV with John Browning, Dylan Winter and Mathew Steele. Topics included the possibilities of interactive programming, digital video creation and custom scheduling.

 * Programme Four: Convergence
 * Original Transmission: 11:00 am, Wednesday 25 October 2000, BBC Radio 4

Adams discusses the future evolution of technology and Artificial Intelligence with Chris Langton, Stuart Kauffman, and others. Topics included embedded and nano- technologies.

On Saturday 14 March 2015, Mitch Benn presented a programme called Did Douglas Get It Right? which reviewed how accurate the predications from the year 2000 were.

title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future


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Howard Beach–JFK Airport station

The Howard Beach–JFK Airport station is a subway/people mover station complex located at Coleman Square between 159th Avenue and 103rd Street in Howard Beach, Queens. The New York City Subway portion of the station is on the IND Rockaway Line and is served by the Rockaway branch of the A train at all times, and the AirTrain JFK portion of the station complex is served by the AirTrain's Howard Beach branch at all times.

The station was originally a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station along the Rockaway Beach Branch. The LIRR station opened in 1913 to replace the nearby Ramblersville station. The LIRR ceased operations at this station in 1950, and the New York City Transit Authority bought the section of the Rockaway Beach Branch that included this station in 1952. The subway station opened on June 28, 1956. Between 2000 and 2003, the subway station was completely reconstructed and the AirTrain JFK station was built. The rebuilt complex was completed on December 17, 2003, providing easier access to JFK Airport for large parts of the city.

History
The station originally opened in April 1913 as a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station, which replaced the former 1899-built Ramblersville station that was built 0.2 mi to the south. In 1923, the station was retrofitted with sheltered sheds on both sides of the tracks. On May 8, 1950, a fire broke out between The Raunt and Broad Channel stations, destroying the trestle over Jamaica Bay, cutting service between Hamilton Beach and the Rockaways. The LIRR was bankrupt and unwilling to rebuild the trestle. As a result, the line was sold to the New York City Transit Authority in 1952.

On June 27, 1955, the Howard Beach station, along with all the rest of the Rockaway Beach Branch stations south of the now defunct Ozone Park station, was taken out of service for eight months for restructuring and upgrading of the tracks, so that they could accommodate subway service. During the project, the Howard Beach station, along with the Broad Channel and Far Rockaway stations, was completely rebuilt utilizing a modern design, which included a new overhead passageway between the two platforms. The design was created by architect J. Harold Sandifer, a native of the Rockaways. Many of the parts for the station were prefabricated, speeding construction. On June 28, 1956, the station reopened as a subway station along with the rest of the line. The previous Long Island Rail Road station at this location was razed. Inauguration ceremonies were held at the station as well as at Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn.

In June 1978, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced plans for an "experimental" subway-bus service between Manhattan and JFK Airport, terminating at the Howard Beach subway station where passengers could transfer to a free shuttle bus to the airport. The JFK Express began operation on September 23, 1978, operating as a premium service, with riders paying the additional fare on board. The service ran express on the IND Sixth Avenue Line to West Fourth Street–Washington Square, where it switched to the IND Eighth Avenue Line and ran express to Jay Street–Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. From that point on, it ran non-stop on the IND Fulton Street Line and IND Rockaway Line to Howard Beach–JFK Airport. In its early years, the service was more successful, with 6,000 passengers carried on the maximum day. However, the premium service lost its allure as the rest of the subway system was improved, with reduced crime and new graffiti-free trains. As a result, more passengers opted to take the slower A to Howard Beach. The JFK Express was discontinued on April 15, 1990 due to low ridership, with as few as 3,200 riders per day. The bus service, connecting the station and JFK, continued after JFK Express service ended, and was the only link between the airport and the Howard Beach station at the time. Ridership on the A to the Airport increased after the discontinuation of the JFK Express: in 1995, about 1 million passengers used the A to the Airport.

The station was extensively reconstructed in the early 2000s, undergoing a $50 million overhaul to connect the subway station to the new AirTrain JFK. The project was designed by STV Group and financed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. During the reconstruction of the station, the original subway platforms were demolished and temporary platforms were erected in the center trackways while the new platforms and mezzanine were built. During off-peak hours, trains utilized a single track. The AirTrain structure around the station was completed in 2001, and the AirTrain station opened on December 17, 2003, at which time the shuttle bus was discontinued. The transfer was popular, with 4 million people transferring between the subway and the AirTrain from 2003 to 2007. The AirTrain was designed with the same track height and track gauge as those of the subway, to facilitate a future extension of the subway over the AirTrain system.

Due to extensive damage to the IND Rockaway Line by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, this was the southern terminal for A trains that normally traveled to the Rockaways while the line south of the station was being repaired. Full service to the Rockaways was restored on May 30, 2013.

Station layout
The subway station is served by the A train at all times and is between Broad Channel to the south and Aqueduct–North Conduit Avenue to the north. The AirTrain station is the terminus of the AirTrain's Howard Beach route; the next stop to the east is Lefferts Boulevard. The station's mezzanine is located in a modern, temperature-controlled, glass-enclosed building above the subway platforms and tracks, measuring 90 ft across, with a large stainless steel sign on either side reading "Howard Beach JFK." The mezzanine building contains a small token booth and three turnstile banks between the subway, the AirTrain JFK, and the unpaid area.

New York City Subway platforms
The grade-level New York City Subway station has two side platforms and four tracks with the two center express tracks not used in revenue service. The southbound express track has been severed and has permanently been removed from service, while the northbound express track is unused in regular service. South of the station, there are switches and crossovers between all four tracks before the two outer tracks merge with the center ones. The two-track line then crosses Jamaica Bay to Broad Channel, which is 3.5 mi to the south. The crossing is the longest stretch of line between two consecutive stations in the system. North of the station, the line ascends on an embankment to crossover Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue.

Both platforms have concrete windscreens on either end and steel canopies at the portions underneath the center station building. The platforms are offset, with the southbound platform extending slightly to the north, and the northbound platform extending slightly further south. A set of staircases and escalators from each subway platform go up to the station building. There are also two elevators from each platform to the station building. Outside the subway's and AirTrain's fare control, two elevators lead from the station building to street level.

The Rockaway-bound platform has two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile leading to a short staircase that goes down to the intersection of 159th Road and 103rd Street. The Brooklyn-bound platform has a set of emergency doors leading to the parking lot just north of the AirTrain JFK station; they are normally locked, but were in use from December 2012 to May 2013 as a connection to a temporary shuttle bus service instituted after Hurricane Sandy.

Prior to the 2000s reconstruction, the design of the station and overpass resembled that of the Broad Channel station.

AirTrain JFK platform
The AirTrain JFK portion of this station has two tracks and one island platform on the upper level of the station complex. The eastern end of the AirTrain platform leads to Parking Area C. Unlike the New York City Subway platforms, the AirTrain JFK platforms are entirely enclosed and feature platform screen doors, which help the station maintain a constant temperature and prevent passengers from falling onto the tracks. An array of sensors detect a train's position on the track, and only when it is properly aligned will the train's doors open. This enables the AirTrain to use automatic train operation without drivers.

The platform measures approximately 240 ft. The next stop to the southeast is Lefferts Boulevard. Since it is owned by the Port Authority, it uses a separate fare control from the subway. Passengers must pay their fare when either entering or leaving the station, as this station and Jamaica are the only stations where fares are collected. MetroCard vending machines are located on both sides of fare control.

Exits
The exit from the complex to the Howard Beach neighborhood is on the west side, with a twisting staircase and two elevators going down to the east side of 103rd Street/Coleman Square by the T-intersection with 159th Avenue. A connecting bridge on the east side of the station leads into the AirTrain JFK station. Two High Entry-Exit Turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile are located on the southbound subway platform and leads directly to Coleman Square. The exit on the northbound platform is exit-only, and two emergency gates lead to the parking lot for the Howard Beach–JFK Airport complex.

title: Howard Beach–JFK Airport station


text: Template:User flute-4

title: Template:User flute-4


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Howabout1

Howabout1
final (2/6/4) ending 23:38 6 June 2005 (UTC)

I've been around for around four months and have 645 edits. I realize that I don't meet a lot of adminship standards, so, while this still a serious nomination, it is meant to find out where I am in the wikipedia world. I do some RC patrolling and check the new pages list for pages worthy of speedy deletion. I think I could also use blocking powers, as I sometimes come in contact with users that have been warned several times, but still vandalize. As of now I just report them to admins and hope they will do something. Howabout1 23:40, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Support
 * 1) Since this is a good contributor, s/he certainly deserves some support. RC patrol is a very useful task if sometimes tedious. Keep up the good work and you will be an admin in a couple of months. Radiant_* 12:20, Jun 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * 2) I know there are low edit count problems but I will give the benefit of the doubt. --JuntungWu 15:37, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Oppose Neutral
 * 1) Oppose for now. This editor is well-intentioned and likely to be mopworthy in the future.  Not enough information available about how he interacts with other editors; most contributions in the User Talk namespace are {welcome} messages.  Needs more seasoning in Wikipedia style conventions (his article Incomplete Pass was created with incorrect capitalization, for instance).  Would like to see more experience and interaction before we give the keys to an editor interested in heavy use of blocking and speedy deletion tools. --TenOfAllTrades (talk/contrib) 03:02, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * 2) Oppose Even though I'm normally against judging people on number of edits I have to agree that we don't know enough about his work so I'd say it might be better if he waited awhile to either self nominate again or be nominated by somebody else. Vote made by Jtkiefer (talk · contributions)
 * 3) Oppose. Sorry, but it is too early. The edit counts are very low and there needs to be more interactions with users other than the welcome messages. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 09:34, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * 4) oppose keep up the good work, and re-nominate yourself in a few months. an admin should have a longer basis of experiences with the software and the community and the policies and the procedures. Kingturtle 18:52, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * 5) Oppose not because you have done anything wrong, but becuase of a lack of experience. In fact, you seem to be off to a very good start, less than 1000 edits is too little... To paraphrase the -template: Please continue. If you continue with your fine work, you will be promoted to an administrator of Wikipedia. Sjakkalle 11:29, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * 6) Oppose Does not meet my admin criterion. If you disagree and think that you do and would like me to reconsider, please leave a note on my userpage, jguk 19:20, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * No. I don't. Howabout1 Talk to me!  23:34, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * 1) Will support when edits reflect a greater inclination to admin tasks. Probably will support in a few months. Keep working for a better Wikipedia! Bratsche talk  random 01:26, May 31, 2005 (UTC)
 * 2) Will support if user doubles this number of edits with a similar level of quality and spirit. !!!!
 * 3) Not right now. What I have seen so far is good but not enough edits, and not enough contribution to the article space in the form of new writing. Keep at it, and I can see myself supporting in a few months. David | Talk 11:07, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * 4) Doing well so far, but too few edits. Come back later, I'm sure you'll be able to get more support (as well as mine). ;) - Mailer Diablo 23:14, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Comments

Questions for the candidate

A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters:
 * 1. What sysop chores, if any, would you anticipate helping with? (Please read the page about administrators and the administrators' reading list.)
 * A. RC patrolling, helping with VfD and Speedy Delete, and blocking vandals.
 * 2. Of your articles or contributions to Wikipedia, are there any about which you are particularly pleased, and why?
 * A. I have no major accomplishments, but marking pages for speedy deletion and wikifying pages are my to best contributions.
 * 3. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and will deal with it in the future?
 * A. I haven't had any conflicts with other users. As for dealing with stress, I think I will talk any problems out on the talk page. I will also try to see the other persons point of view and compromise.