This essay was awarded a Mitchell Prize for essays on sustainable futures in 1979, making Robert L. Chianese, Ph. D., a 1979 Mitchell Laureate. It is published in Coomer, James C. ed. Quest for a Sustainable Society. Pergamon Press. New York, 1981, "Values lag behind the genius of technology" --A. Resnais, Hiroshima Mon Amour MYTHS ABOUT THE FUTURE AND PERPETUAL GROWTH Our visions of the future reveal our dreams, fears and realistic expectations about the place and time in which we hope to live out our destinies. The longing for a better future, usually with vast material and social improvements, informs the heart of Western thinking from Plato and Thomas More to B. F. Skinner and Buckminst
Published in the St. Louis Beacon, special to the Beacon 6:18 am on Wed, 11.20. 2013 The passing of sex researcher Virginia Johnson the last week of July at the age of 88 in St. Louis (and the Showtime series) brought back a remarkable experience my wife and I had at the famous Masters and Johnson clinic. No, it wasn’t sex therapy we needed but a baby; and we couldn’t have one. So in 1968, after a year of trying to conceive, we went to their Reproductive Biology Research Lab, which should be just as famous but is not. It was something of a sexual/scientific experience nonetheless. I would soon be graduated with a PhD from Washington University, and that arduous path seemed to need the humani
By Robert Chianese, Class of 1960, Hamilton High School, Trenton, New Jersey (2016) The Death of a High School Classmate provokes a lasting memory of a teenage crush, and regret. Belated Confessions of a female high school classmate: After I learned about his recent death, and his life of dealing with alcohol and depression, I only hope that over these fifty-five plus years he may gotten a little pleasure—if he ever did know—that someone had a major crush on him for at least sophomore, junior and senior years. He sat behind me in Ancient History class and he smelled so good. He wore some cologne that was light and fresh. All I wanted was one little kiss. Is that too much to ask? There was al
This eco-art exhibit at the Museum of Ventura County, entitled Cruel Season: Artists Reflecting on Drought and Fire, (Sep 13 - Nov 23, 2014) tasked artists to prepare our community for what could be a horrendous fire season. This is "occasional" art in the service of civic engagement. (I created a website for the exhibit: http://rlchianese.wix.com/cruelseason.) I have three poems, one with a photograph, and an essay in the exhibit and read poems in the gallery the night of September 18, the official opening date. (Scroll down for some of my works in the show.) My Fire Bug poem places the blame for our coastal foothill fires on human cruelty. Another poem, Friendly Fire, seeks to capture the
Valve Job By Robert Chianese. October 23, 2019 I was doing my work out, walking up hills, puffing a bit, waiting to hear when my busted shoulder would get repaired—rotator cuff and partially detached bicep—when I told myself, wait a minute, I have shortness of breath, not referred shoulder pain. An echocardiogram showed stenosis of my aortic valve. I could see it if I twisted my head to glimpse the screen: white dots on what I took to be my valve, which are calcium deposits that can wreck any part of the body. The taciturn tech wouldn’t let on but the cardiologist came in and said you need a valve replacement. Holy cow, or pig, your choice. I freaked, but then was calmed and reassured by fri
