Glencairn Museum: Ada and Rich take us out to lunch and then off to Europe, I mean.....- Goodbye Sweet Prince, Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011. From the Apple website.


Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA. Bryn Athyn is Welsh for "very tenacious hill."

Angelo's Restaurant in Southampton is owned by Andre and his family, all of whom are Italian. They make all their own food and most of their desserts.

Many of the foods I ordered I could not have eaten before my transplant. Not one of their dishes was overly salty. I had hors do-oevres that included olives, arty-chokes, and mozzarella balls, a delicious cream of tomato soup, an arugula salad with fresh crab meat.

I split the tartufo for dessert with Ellen at the end of the table. It's vanilla and chocolate ice cream encrusted with hardened chocolate. As a kid, I never liked chocolate ice cream. The same holds true 74 years later.

Someone asked Ada the secret of her mother's long life: she eats ice cream before bed, even at the nursing home.

Then we drove 10 minutes away to Bryn Athyn where we took a tour of Glencairn Museum, the former castle-like home of Raymond Pitcairn (d. 1966), son of John Pitcairn, who founded the community.

Raymond and wife Mildred had 9 children who lived in the nine-story house. As one of the wealthiest men in America - he founded Pittsburgh Plate Glass - he became a collector and searched the world for objets d'art from ancient civilizations - Egypt, Rome, Greece.

After Mildred's death in 1979, the Pitcairns gave the house to the Academy of the New Church. The New Church or the "Swedenborg" religion was based on the teachings of 17th c. inventor and scientist Emmanuel Swedenborg. He retired at age 53 after a series of visions.

In 1741 at the age of fifty-three he entered into a spiritual phase^[6] in which he eventually began to experience dreams and visions beginning on Easter weekend April 6, 1744. This culminated in a spiritual awakening, whereupon he claimed he was appointed by the Lord to write a heavenly doctrine to reform Christianity. He claimed that the Lord had opened his spiritual eyes, so that from then on he could freely visit heaven and hell, and talk with angels, demons and other spirits.

John Pitcairn and son Raymond were instrumental in bringing the teachings of Swedenborg or "The New Church" to America. A small church was located in Philadelphia, but Pitcairn used his wealth to buy up land they named Bryn Athyn. Great Britain boasted a thriving community.

Interestingly, son Raymond was active in politics. He was a member of the right-wing Sentinels of the Republic.

Our tour guide Hannah was extremely knowledgeable as she showed about 9 of us around the galleries, which used to be the bedrooms of the 9 Pitcairn children.

When my son Dan was a little boy, he had a big brother, Jason King, who was one of the Pitcairns. Pete, one of the tour guides, was familiar with Jason.

Photos please!

Approaching Glencairn from the parking lot.

Everything you lay your eyes on is a work of art.

I walked past this tree and said, Go back and photograph it. I call it a baobob tree, which it's not.

Island of flowers across from house.

Main entrance.

Detail of gated front door.

Through a door backward.

Pete, one of the tour guides. I told him I liked his two-tone hair. Brought up in Bryn Athyn, he's no longer a member of the church. And, no, you don't have to be a Swedenborgan to buy a house in the community. You just have to be a millionaire.

Rich Fleisher, like all of us, was enchanted by the place.

This might be the living room. You could take photos so long as you didn't use a flash.

Part of the Pitcairn library. These are the works of Swedenborg, written in Latin. There are many different translations just like the Bible or Dostoevsky or The Iliad. I still prefer Constance Garnett and Richmond Lattimore, respectively.

Living room lamp.

Ruth Deming's living room lamp. I keep the shade off for better light.

Living room sofa in a cozy nook.

Lonesome stairwell.

Portrait of Mildred Pitcairn. Her husband was much older than she was. She did not accept his marriage proposal right away, waiting perhaps two years.

Here's the Roman goddess Minerva, god of war, in one of the galleries. Hannah said this is one of their finest objects. I love the feminine sway of her body and her knees peeking through.

Romans made offerings to the gods hoping to be helped. I asked if they did indeed help. Don't think so, cuz everyone's dead.

The Swedenborg church honors all religions and believe they all had a direct connection with God. Students study Latin and Hebrew.

These are Roman heads of important men. The men, however, did not look like these two. Any statues that were made were modeled in the shape of Roman senators or other leaders.

This is one of the longest posts I've ever done. My right arm is killing me. The mouse, the mouse. I'm also eating my trail mix at the same time.

An affordable sarcophogus. Hannah said the design on the front was a stock design, not an original, which wealthier people could afford.

The inside was amazingly small. Even I, who am short, could not have fit inside. Tom said maybe they buried you on your shoulder.

Here's Tom, who ordered a nice thick piece of salmon at Angelo's.

Take the steps or the electric elevator - all floors have an elevator. House built between 1928 and 1939.

I love the looks of this woman. "Wasn't she a member of New Directions?" I said to Ada.

"Yes," said Ada, "but she hasn't come in a while."

"She's been isolating herself," I said.

Sounds like it's from an old episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Show which I often watch on ME-TV. I just love them old shows - Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O, and Twilight Zone which I can't watch by myself.

An old music book in a huge room with a long Board of Directors table and chairs.

In the bedroom of John and Gertrude Pitcairn. Here's their bed. "Hop in bed, Rich," I said, "let us know if it's comfortable." The tour guide thought I was serious.

Dolls were kept in the room. So was a baby bassinet in the corner. I just couldn't photograph everything.

Gertrude's vanity table with photos of some of her children. Our group is in the meer.

C'est moi, wearing the same outfit I did as when I officiated at Lisa Lowe Weil's funeral yesterday. We put the FUN into the funeral. Everyone had a grand old time.

Bedside table. I love old-fashioned things.

Here's a thought I had about driving a car. Since Americans are conspicuous consumers who care deeply what their neighbors think, you're not supposed to drive an old car. But if the car is, say, 20 or more years old and looks like it's from another era, heads turn and people think Wow, what a gorgeous car.

The bathroom was stunningly beautiful.

Yes, Virginia, even the Pitcairns...



Fancier than thou stairway. Hey, maybe The New Church will hire me as a writer.

Can't remember what this is, but I shore liked it.

This headless fellow was in the Eqyptian room.

A model of the mummification process.

When I was in third grade attending Mercer Elementary School in Shaker Heights, we took a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art, where they had mummies. I had never seen one before and thought they were mommies. I wasn't paying total attention, I was probably flirting with Louis Newman, and was mad I didn't hear the full story.

This story went thru my mind when I viewed this, and was determined to rectify the situation 50-odd years later.

Piece of cloth placed over embalmed body. Note: This is not the shroud of Turin.

I have always loved Assyrian engraven images. They were the cruelest of all the tribes in the fertile crescent or Mesopotamia.

Caption of above.

Look at the symmetry in this, the perfect composition, and the lovely leg muscles of The Genius.

Mosaic on the stair. Possibly this represents the Chanukah menorah. Dyou know it took me 15 seconds to think of the word menorah.

After the tour, Helen and I stood looking up. She wondered how high we had gone in the castle. I think it was just below the tiny windows.

We said goodbye to fashion-plate Joanna and her brother at his car. Note her sneaks.

Driving home from Glencairn I photographed the college of the Academy of the New Church. Tour guide Hannah said she got a great education there. They train ministers there. Only men can become ministers. The church is growing by leaps and bounds. I had a friend who converted b/c she liked the people so much.

Sadly, when I finished this post, I checked the NY Times. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, just died at age 56. I called Dan and my mom, who both knew.

October 5, 2011. 56 years old. His wife is Laurene. His kids from Laurene are Reed (b.1991), daughters Erin (b. '95) and Eve (b. '98). From a previous relationship is Lisa Brennan-Jobs (born 1978), according to Wiki.

If you check Wiki you will read an amazing story about the radical Buddhist monk who performed the marriage ceremony of Laurene and Steve.