Honest Abe:

I had the pleasure to hear Professor Richard Carwardine, the Rhodes Professor of American History, speak about Abraham Lincoln on Thursday evening. How wonderful! I'm still shaking from the joy of it, and the excitement at hearing American History from the mouth and mind of a Brit. It was informed, balanced, and fair, leaving out any motivations to prove or disprove other historians of Lincoln except to portray historical fact. Refreshing indeed. It was also nice to hear work that interested me, but could not in any way be related to my own. I could just enjoy what was being said and not worry about what I was or was not missing from my own studies. I remembered surprisingly much about Lincoln and the Civil War era, though coming from Kentucky that shouldn't be too shocking. And I truly enjoyed dining with the speaker after the lecture and speaking to him about Kentucky, where he had been several times. If you are interested I would recommend his book, simply entitled Lincoln (though it may actually have a longer American title now that I think about it), which came out in 2004. Finally, I leave you with an image of 'gay' Lincoln. I don't of course believe this, but it's a humorous picture that Prof. Carwardine showed us and I felt you all had to see it as well. It does in fact come from a book in which the author argues that Lincoln was gay. Apparently he has some decent circumstantial evidence, but nothing solid. It cannot be proven.

Notice the earring:


I'm off to London this afternoon to see 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' on the West End. Yay!!!! Will let you know how it is!

Love to all, especially KY's Abe,
Elizabeth