1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. Today's podcast 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: is coming out on Valentine's Day, so we thought it 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:22,799 Speaker 1: would be a good day to talk about a famous 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: literary couple, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Tokaliss. Gertrude Stein 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: is an icon in the world of modernist literature, and 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: although Alice B. Tokaliss is more often described as her 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: partner and assistant, she was a published writer as well, 10 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: and assistant does not really begin to cover how important 11 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: she was to Stein's life and work. Also, together, the 12 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: two of them famously hosted a salon at their Paris 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: home that was frequented by artists and writers such as 14 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: Pablo Picasso, f Scott Fitzgerald, and Arima Tisse. And that 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: salon was really influential in the whole world of literature 16 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: and art. Yeah, it gets referenced in a lot of 17 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: people's life biographies that oh we met at Gertrudge stein 18 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: sala Uh, that she's kind of becomes a big, big 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: connecting point in in history at that point so. Gertrude 20 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on February third, eighteen 21 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: seventy four. She was the youngest of five children. She 22 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: had two sisters and two brothers, and her father was 23 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: an immigrant to the United States, having moved here from 24 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: Bavaria in eighteen forty one. The family was Jewish, and 25 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: although they belonged to a synagogue, they were not particularly observant. 26 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: Gertrude's family moved back to her for five years when 27 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: she was still a baby, and when they returned they 28 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: started out in Baltimore, where Gertrude had relatives on her 29 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: mother's side. Eventually, though, they moved to Oakland, California, and 30 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: they lived really comfortably there thanks to her father's investments 31 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: and rental properties and street car lines. They were a 32 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: pretty well off family. Gertrude Stein is the person who 33 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: coined the famous phrase there is no there there, and 34 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: it was in reference to Oakland. Out of context, people 35 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: tended to interpret it as being dismissive of Oakland as 36 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,239 Speaker 1: a city, but it comes from Everybody's Autobiography, which she 37 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: published in nineteen thirty seven, and it's really more about 38 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: the painfully nostalgic experience of trying to go home again 39 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: and finding that everything has changed. By the time Gertrude 40 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: was seventeen, both of her parents had died, her mother 41 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: in eight and her father in eighteen nine. After her 42 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: father's death, Gertrude's oldest brother, Michael inherited the family businesses. 43 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: He took her and her siblings with him to San Francisco, 44 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: where he was a division superintendent of the Market Street Railway. 45 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: After about a year, Gertrude, her brother Leo, and her 46 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: sister Bertha all moved back to Baltimore to live with 47 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: an aunt. Gertrude and Leo were very close, and when 48 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: he got into Harvard, she went to Cambridge, Massachusetts with him. 49 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: She enrolled at Harvard School for Women, which was known 50 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: as Harvard Annex when she started, but had been renamed 51 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: Radcliffe College by the time she graduated in eight While 52 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: she was in college, Gertrude Stein was deeply interested in psychology. 53 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: She studied under psychologist William James. She published two formal 54 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: papers in psychology before she graduated. The first of them, 55 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,960 Speaker 1: which was her first published work ever, was Quote Normal 56 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: Motor Automatism, which she co authored with Leon Solomon's. This 57 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: paper detailed a series of experiments and automatic writing, so 58 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: the subjects would have their hand resting on a plant set, 59 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: they would focus their attention on something else, like reading 60 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: a story, and like let their hand right on its own. 61 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: And just to be clear, since automatic writing also has 62 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: some paranormal connotations, they were interpreting the writing that resulted 63 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: from these experiments as the work of the subconscious, not 64 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: as the work of some kind of spirit it. There 65 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: were no Wegiboards President uh In. This work in the 66 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: psychology lab influenced Stein's later writing. James's own work in 67 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: psychology influenced her as well, particularly the idea of a 68 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: stream of consciousness, which was first described in his eighteen 69 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 1: ninety The Principles of Psychology. We're going to talk more 70 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: about that later. After graduating from Radcliffe, Stein went to 71 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: on to Johns Hopkins Medical School. She started there in 72 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: eight but it didn't go very well. Towards the end 73 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: of her studies, she started failing classes. She had also 74 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: become infatuated with Mary Bookstaver, who was nicknamed May. She 75 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: was involved with one of Gertrude Stein's classmates. May did 76 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: not return Gertrude's affections, and Gertrude had already really been 77 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: struggling with depressions, so all of this together left her 78 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: feeling really dejected and despondent, and a fictionalized version of 79 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: May Bookstaver would be part of some of Gertrude Stein's 80 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: later creative work. By this point, Leo Stein had moved 81 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: to London, so in nineteen o two Gertrude dropped out 82 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: of Johns Hopkins and joined him there. In nineteen o three, 83 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: they moved to France, where Leo had a flat at 84 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: Rue de Fleroux in Montpown, Mass. Michael and Sarah Stein, 85 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: along with their son Alan, soon moved into a home 86 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: nearby as well. And Michael had been shrewd in his 87 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: management of their father's investments, and it was largely his 88 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: money that allowed them all to have a very comfortable 89 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,799 Speaker 1: life in France. It was in France, at the age 90 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: of twenty nine, that Gertrude Stein really started to dedicate 91 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: herself to writing. She and her brother were also patrons 92 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: of the arts. They sought out avant garde artists whose 93 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 1: work was at the time unknown. This developed into a 94 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: massive collection of modern art by people who would become 95 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: really famous. They were basically buying art from people who 96 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: nobody knew about at the time, and then later on 97 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 1: those those people would have a serious name for themselves. 98 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: The biggest presences in that collection where pulses on On 99 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: Rimatiss and Pablo Picasso. A lot of other artists are 100 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: part of this collection, to including Edward Money and Henri 101 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: to Lose la Trek. This collection literally filled the walls 102 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: at Rue de Florus and in night. James R. Mello, 103 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: writing for The New York Times, described it as the 104 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: first the world's first museum of modern art. I know 105 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: I'm romanticizing it, but this whole life situation sounds pretty heavenly, 106 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: like where we have enough money to kind of do 107 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: what we want. Let's go find unknown and obscure artists. 108 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: We'll just have beautiful art around us all the time, 109 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: and we live in France. That sounds lovely, yet it 110 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: really does um And it's likely that Leo was really 111 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: the one who introduced Gertrude to the Parisian art scene, 112 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: but Gertrude developed a particular interest in one specific artist, 113 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: and that was Pablo Picasso. Gertrude's patronage helped Picasso stay 114 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: afloat in the early part of his career. In nineteen 115 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 1: o six, he painted her portrait, which is in the 116 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:11,239 Speaker 1: collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. In nineteen 117 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: o seven, Gertrude Stein met Alice B. Tokless. Alice was 118 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: born in San Francisco on April eighteen seventy seven. Her 119 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: parents were Ferdinand to Kleis and emmil Evinski, and she 120 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: was their oldest child and their only daughter. Like Gertrude, 121 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: Alice's father was an immigrant, having to come to Poland 122 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty five. Her mother's father and uncle's had 123 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: emigrated from Poland as well. Another similarity between the two 124 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: families is that the Toklises were Jewish, but not especially observant. 125 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: Alice had a well off, but otherwise conventional childhood, with 126 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: the family moving to Seattle in eighteen ninety. She attended 127 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: private schools before going to the University of Seattle, and 128 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: she enjoyed art and music, and she was good enough 129 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: at the piano that for a while she actually thought 130 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: about becoming a concert pianist. Alice also loved reading, and 131 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: her favorite writer was Henry James brother of Gertrude psychology 132 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: mentor William James. The Tokliss family eventually moved back to 133 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: San Francisco, and Alice's mother, Emma, died there in eighteen seven, 134 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: when Alice was twenty. In San Francisco, the Totalists became 135 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: acquainted with some of the Stein family, and in nineteen 136 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: o six, in the wake of the San Francisco earthquake, 137 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: Michael and Sarah Stein traveled back from France to check 138 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: on all their property there. Alice was captivated by the 139 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: Stein's stories of Europe, and since the death of her mother, 140 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: she had found herself spending most of her time keeping 141 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: house for the men in her family. She had also 142 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: come to understand that she was attracted to other women. 143 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,559 Speaker 1: All of this together made her life in California feel 144 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: really narrow and restrictive, so in nineteen o seven, at 145 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: the age of thirty, she decided to try to find 146 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: more freedom for herself in Paris, traveling there with her 147 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: friend Harriet Lane Levy. On September eight, Gertrude Stein met 148 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: Alice B. Toklis for the first time at the Paris 149 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 1: home of Michael Stein. That was Toklis's first day in Paris, 150 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: and we will talk about how they started to build 151 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: a life together after a quick sponsor break. After meeting 152 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: in seven, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklis formed a 153 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: friendship that developed into a loving relationship that would last 154 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:35,200 Speaker 1: for almost four decades. Stein focused on her writing and 155 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: on her connections within the Paris art scene, and then 156 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: Totalis supported that work. She offered encouragement, She transcribed, she typed, 157 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: she made corrections, She managed their household in their life together, 158 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: even though they often had a hired cook. Toklist was 159 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: also very skilled in the kitchen and she did putita 160 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: point embroidery, including in designs that Pablo Picasso created for her. 161 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: So cool. Well uh. Two years after they met, Stein 162 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,959 Speaker 1: published her first book, Three Lives. One of the pieces 163 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: in it is a novella called Malantha, and it's about 164 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: a woman of the same name who has described in 165 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: the book as a mulatto and her relationship with a 166 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: black doctor. At the time, this story earned a lot 167 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: of praise for being a depiction of black life written 168 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: by a white woman, but of course today that seems 169 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: patronizing and dated, and it was largely about Stein's relationship 170 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: with May Bookstaver recast as being between a man and 171 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: woman of color. Alice moved in with Gertrude and Leo 172 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: in nt and things did not go very well between 173 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: the two siblings. Some of Leo's differences with his sister 174 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: were artistic. Leo didn't think Gertrude's writing was particularly good, 175 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: which Gertrude resented. Gertrude had also become an avid supporter 176 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: of the Cubist art movement, which Leo didn't think was 177 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: particularly valuable or noteworthy. This seems like such a sibling thing, right, yeah, 178 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,479 Speaker 1: But on a more personal level, Uh, the word homophobia 179 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: had not been coined yet, and as we talk about 180 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: in our recent episode on Anne Lister, the idea of 181 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: lesbianism as an identity was in its infancy at the 182 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: turn of the twentieth century. But Leo knew that Gertrude 183 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: and Ellis were not simply close platonic friends, and he 184 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: did not approve of that. So in nine thirteen, Leo 185 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: Stein moved out of the flat at rue Des. He 186 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: and Gertrude divided up that massive art collection, with Gertrude's 187 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: portion including the picassos. When they were done, Leo wrote 188 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: to his sister, saying, quote, I hope that we will 189 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: all live happily ever after and maintain our respective and 190 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: do proportions while sucking gleefully our respective oranges. During their 191 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,079 Speaker 1: time living together, Gertrude and her brother had been regularly 192 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: hosting artists in their home, but Leo had been the 193 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: more outgoing, gregarious one. Gertrude had mostly stuck to the background, 194 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: and once her brother moved out, Gertrude moved into his 195 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: former role, often being the one to talk to writers 196 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: and painters while Alice socialized with their wives. A lot 197 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,479 Speaker 1: of Stein's work from the nineteen teens was inspired by Cubism, 198 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: that very geometric, abstract movement that was inspired by art 199 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: from Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Cubism distilled life down 200 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: to geometric forms, and in the movements earlier years, you 201 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: could usually still recognize what the original subject of the 202 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: painting had been, so for example, Picasso's La Demoiselle d'amiol, 203 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: for example, is obviously a group of nude women, but 204 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: they're also painted in a very angular and flattened way. 205 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: By about nineteen ten, though Cubist painters were doing what 206 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: was called hermetic or analytic Cubism, and this had a 207 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: lot of overlapping angular shapes, often in a very monochrome pellette, 208 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: with the real subject that had, you know, been the 209 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 1: starting point for the painting being barely discernible, if at all. 210 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: Stein did with words what the Cubist painters were doing 211 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,679 Speaker 1: with paint and canvas. Rather than trying to write descriptively 212 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: in a conventional way that reflected real life, she distilled 213 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: things down to little bits and seemingly disconnected words. A 214 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: good example is nineteen fourteen's Tender Buttons, a collection of 215 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: experimental hermetic pieces arranged into objects, food, and rooms. So 216 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: to give listeners a sense of what this was like, 217 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 1: Dog from Objects reads quote a little monkey goes like 218 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: a donkey. That means to say that means to say 219 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,559 Speaker 1: that more size, last goes leave with it. A little 220 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: monkey goes like a donkey. Stein's work was also heavily 221 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,320 Speaker 1: influenced by William James's ideas of the stream of consciousness, 222 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: which we mentioned earlier. As James described it, a person's 223 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: states of mind change, but all these states connect to 224 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: one another, and within these different connected states, ideas and 225 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: words repeat themselves, but their meaning changes through that repetition 226 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: and through their relationships to each other. Stein put this 227 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,719 Speaker 1: concept into practice in works like Sacred Emily, which was 228 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: where she first penned her most famous line, rose is 229 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: a rose is a rose is a rose. Sacred Emily 230 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: was written in thirteen and published in the book Geography 231 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: in Plays In. It's a three d sixty seven line poem, 232 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: nearly all of it one in two syllable words, which 233 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: recounts the day of an ordinary woman at home. The 234 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: lines are really choppy, and they're repetitive. Seven lines in 235 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: a row are just the word pale p a l 236 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,480 Speaker 1: e by itself. Some lines build on each other, so 237 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: one portion of it reads quote put something down, put 238 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: something down some day, put something down some day in 239 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: put something down some day in my in my hand, 240 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: in my hand right in my handwriting, put something down 241 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: someday in my handwriting today. Gertrude Stein is considered to 242 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: be a pioneer in modernist literature, but there is some 243 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: debate about exactly how much of her work directly influenced 244 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: other writers. At the time, Stream of Consciousness became its 245 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: own style of writing, connected to but still distinct from, 246 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: the Stream of conscious idea in William James's psychology work. 247 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: James Joyce wrote Ulysses after being exposed to Stein's work, 248 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: but it's not completely clear whether he intentionally followed her example. 249 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: On the other hand, Stein's cubist and hermetic work definitely 250 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: had its detractors, the same kinds of criticisms that you 251 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: will hear about cubist art or modern abstract art in general. People, 252 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: just as people describe abstract art as not art or 253 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: as just blotches of paint or whatever, people described Stein's 254 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 1: writing as unreadable nonsense that didn't mean anything and had 255 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: no vow you. She kept at it, though. Stein and 256 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 1: Toklis went to Majorca at the start of World War 257 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: One and then returned to France in nineteen sixteen, where 258 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 1: they volunteered for the American Fund for the French Wounded. 259 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,760 Speaker 1: Stein learned to drive, and she and Totalist started delivering 260 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 1: hospital supplies to outposts in rural France. Back in Paris 261 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: after the war, Stein and Toklis were still hosting their salons. 262 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: They were still buying art, although now people like Picasso 263 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: and Matisse were too famous for them to really afford. 264 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: Stein really kept her focus on the avant garde, and 265 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: they turned their attention to finding lesser known surrealists to 266 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: buy their art. It was also after World War One 267 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: that Stein coined the term lost generation for the American 268 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: writers who had come of age during the war, and 269 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: we're making a name for themselves. In the nineteen twenties, 270 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: she said she'd heard a garage owner refer to young 271 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: people as a general rastion beard, which means lost generation, 272 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: and then later on she brought it up in a 273 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 1: conversation with Ernest Hemingway, saying you are all a lost generation. 274 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 1: It was Hemingway who popularized the term, which came to 275 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: apply both to that whole generation of Americans and especially 276 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: to the American expatriate writers living in Europe, including of 277 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: course Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Through all of this, 278 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: through the war, After the war, all of it, Stein 279 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:27,199 Speaker 1: and Tokliss were inseparable. They had a whole collection of 280 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: pet names for one another. Stein called Totalist wifey, Totalist 281 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: called Stein Lovey. They called each other Mr. And Mrs 282 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: Cuddle Wettles. These are just examples. Stein often stayed up 283 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: really late writing and she would leave little notes by 284 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: the pillow for Totalist to find when she woke up 285 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: in the morning, signing them y D for your Darling. 286 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: Although Stein was definitely the more famous, Totalis played an 287 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: active part in managing her literary career, including eventually managing 288 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: the small press they established to publish Stein's more inventional works. 289 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: It was Toklis's support that kept Stein writing through the 290 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:08,200 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties and into the early nineteen thirties. Although their 291 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,360 Speaker 1: salon was immensely popular and had become sort of an 292 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 1: incubator for avant garde artists and writers, her more experimental 293 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: and unconventional books didn't really sell. Stein wanted literary glory, 294 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 1: and without Totalis urging her on, she might have given 295 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,159 Speaker 1: up in those years without it. Although people tend to 296 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: describe the two women as near opposites, with Stein being 297 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,199 Speaker 1: the dominating force and the relationship, Toklist definitely held her 298 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,680 Speaker 1: own when she wanted to. Case in point, Ernest Hemingway 299 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: made no secret of the fact that he wanted a 300 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: sexual relationship with Gertrude Stein alasby Toklas was having none 301 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: of that and eventually got Stein to cut him out 302 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 1: of their social circle. Their relationship, though also was not 303 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: a continual honeymoon with never a cross word. Multiple people 304 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: who knew them commented on Stein and Toklis's ability to 305 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: have really blistering fights. In three Stein published her most 306 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:09,239 Speaker 1: commercially successful work and her only bestseller, The Autobiography of 307 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: Alice b Totalis. It is her most conventional book, except 308 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: that it calls itself an autobiography, and it's written from 309 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: Alice's point of view, but Gertrude is the author and 310 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: it's largely about Gertrude. The book also gave Gertrude Stein 311 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 1: a chance to write about herself as a genius without 312 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: being like, hey, y'all, I'm a genius. As an example, 313 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: here is how in Hopeless's voice, Gertrude Stein wrote of 314 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: their first meeting quote, I may say that only three 315 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: times in my life have I met a genius, and 316 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: each time a bell within me rang, and I was 317 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 1: not mistaken. And I may say that in each case 318 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: it was before there was any general recognition of the 319 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 1: quality of genius. And them the three geniuses of whom 320 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 1: I wish to speak are Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and 321 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: Alfred Whitehead. Uh The autobi Bography of Alice b Tokliss 322 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 1: also really emphasized Gertrude Stein's purported personal influence on the 323 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: Cubism school of art, something that highly offended a great 324 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 1: many Cubists artists. There's part of me that's like man 325 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: I wish I had that kind of confidence. While both 326 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: women had been well known in Parisian artistic and literary circles, 327 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: this book made both of them internationally famous, Stein as 328 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: its author and Toklist as its purported subject. They both 329 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: traveled back to the United States so Stein could carry 330 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: out a sold out lecture tour. This was a huge 331 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: publicity event that included newsreel appearances, tea with First Lady 332 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:49,120 Speaker 1: Eleanor Roosevelt, and meetings with such famous names as Charlie Chaplin. 333 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: This would also be Stein's last visit to the United 334 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 1: States after a quick sponsor break, we will get to 335 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,159 Speaker 1: their lives during and after World War Two, which, in 336 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: what may surprise some listeners, the extent of which surprised me, 337 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: includes a heavy dose of supporting the Vici government and 338 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: its collaborations with Nazi Germany. Between the two World Wars, 339 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: Gertrude Stein and AlSb Toklast kept up their life in 340 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,920 Speaker 1: Paris when they weren't on that enormous and wildly successful 341 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: publicity tour. They hosted their salons, they traveled, they kept 342 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: on collecting art. They were also fond of dogs, and 343 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,879 Speaker 1: they had several list pets during their life together. In 344 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: ninety seven, they moved into a new apartment at five 345 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:43,000 Speaker 1: for Christine. At the start of World War Two, Gertrude 346 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: Stein and AlSb Toklast decided to stay in France, even 347 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: though as an elderly Jewish couple with an enormous art collection, 348 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: this was obviously very risky and it was not a 349 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 1: decision that they came too easily. They fretted back and 350 00:21:56,119 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: forth about it through much of nineteen and ninety Ultimately 351 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: they stayed, and then they left Paris for the French countryside, 352 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: where they had a house in Billin. A lot of 353 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: people ask them why they stayed, because, I mean, really, 354 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: that is a lot of risk factors for being in 355 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: France during World War Two. Right that they have their age, 356 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,399 Speaker 1: the fact that they are gay, they have the huge 357 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,400 Speaker 1: art collection, like all of this together, and the answers 358 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,880 Speaker 1: that they gave were kind of like Gertrude Stein was like, yeah, 359 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: I didn't want to travel and I'm picking about my food, 360 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:36,360 Speaker 1: so I mean, I see how it would be hard 361 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: to leave French food behind. I do. But yeah, So 362 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: a lot of accounts really gloss over how they made 363 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: this work, and the answer is that it was largely 364 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: through the protection of Bernard Faii, who was a high 365 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: ranking and openly anti Semitic Vic government official. Quick recap 366 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: if anyone needs a brush up on this part of 367 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: World War Two. The vic government was installed after France 368 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: fell to Nazi Germany. It collaborated with Germany for the 369 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: rest of the war, and it's named after the town 370 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: of v She, which effectively acted as the French capital. 371 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 1: During World War Two. The Vichy government deported seventy five 372 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:18,359 Speaker 1: thousand Jews to Naxi extermination camps, and almost none of 373 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: them survived. When Vissi Chief of State Martial Philippe banned 374 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: secret societies in nineteen forty, Fai himself compiled a list 375 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:32,199 Speaker 1: of freemasons that led to six thousand imprisonments, nearly a 376 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 1: thousand deportations, and more than five hundred deaths. It's not 377 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,439 Speaker 1: clear how much of fights work during the war Stein 378 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: knew about. She probably did not know about this whole 379 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 1: Freemason list. She certainly knew that Jewish people were being 380 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: rounded up and deported, but she had been friends with 381 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: Bernard Face since n and then later on Toklis would 382 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,119 Speaker 1: call him Stein's dearest friend. The reason that Stein and 383 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: Toklas were left alone was that fight arranged it with 384 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: Philip Patent. Stein had a connection with Patent as well. 385 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: In n at Faii's suggestion, she translated a set of 386 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:21,239 Speaker 1: his anti Semitic speeches into English. She described herself as 387 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: a propagandist for the Vichy government. Faia's protection of Stein 388 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: and Toklas extended to their Paris apartment as well. While 389 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: they were in Billenneure, the Gestapo broke into that apartment 390 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: and they started packing up all the art for removal. 391 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: A neighbor contacted the gendarme, who arrived on the scene 392 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,679 Speaker 1: and asked these Gestapo to show their requisition orders for 393 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:49,160 Speaker 1: the paintings. They didn't have orders, which bought a little time. 394 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: Waw Fay arranged for the art to be left alone. 395 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,640 Speaker 1: His protection didn't really extend to the rest of the apartment, though, 396 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: and some of Stein's and toklas other possessions were looted. 397 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,199 Speaker 1: After the war, Faii was put on trial for his 398 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: collaboration with Nazi Germany, and Stein wrote a letter in 399 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: his defense to add to all of this. In a 400 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: May sixth, nineteen thirty four New York Times article, Gertrude 401 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,000 Speaker 1: Stein is quoted as saying, quote, I say that Hitler 402 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: ought to have the Peace Prize because he's removing all 403 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,359 Speaker 1: elements of contest and struggle from Germany by driving out 404 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: the Jews and the democratic and left elements. He's driving 405 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: out everything that conduces to activity that means peace. The 406 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: general consensus is that she probably meant this ironically, and 407 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,120 Speaker 1: given that Stein's entire literary career was about playing with 408 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 1: and breaking the conventional rules of language, it was probably 409 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: not intended to be taken at face value. But her 410 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,679 Speaker 1: later support of Patent and the Visi government and her 411 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,120 Speaker 1: defensive Faii make it hard to just dismiss that statement 412 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,120 Speaker 1: with oh, she was supposed to be ironic. There at 413 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: the same time as all of this, I mean, she 414 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: made steps that clearly seemed to support fascism and and 415 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 1: the VC government. Stein and Toklas were also both huge 416 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 1: supporters of Allied troops uh in both World War One 417 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 1: and World War Two. They really took a lot of 418 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: American g i s under their wing, acting almost as Godmother's, 419 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: wrote them letters, hosted them in their home, and for 420 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: Stein's part, she wrote a lot of laudatory poems and 421 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: stories about Allied soldiers and friends for resistance fighters during 422 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 1: World War Two. We don't know how Stein's views might 423 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: have evolved after the horrors of the Holocaust became more 424 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: fully known. Not long after the war, she was diagnosed 425 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,679 Speaker 1: with what turned out to be inoperable stomach cancer. She 426 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 1: died during surgery on July at the age of seventy two. 427 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: By the time she died, her body of work included novels, 428 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 1: short stories, poems, plays, memoirs, and opera librettos. She is 429 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 1: buried at Paarlscha Cemetery in Paris. After Stein's death, Alice 430 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:06,439 Speaker 1: by Tokalis converted to Catholicism, saying that she hoped that 431 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,719 Speaker 1: she would meet Gertrude again in heaven. She said that 432 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: Stein's genius would have secured her a place there, even 433 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,120 Speaker 1: though she was a Jew. Toklis also spent the rest 434 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 1: of her life publishing and promoting Stein's work. While Stein 435 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,440 Speaker 1: was alive. Totalist had never tried to compete with her 436 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 1: in the world of literature, but after Stein's death, she 437 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: published multiple works of her own. Two of these works 438 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,160 Speaker 1: were cookbooks. The Alice by Totalist cookbook blends recipes and memoir, 439 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,200 Speaker 1: giving glimpses of the two women's life together. It also 440 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: includes a recipe for how shesh fudge, which she said 441 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: was given to her by painter and performance artist Brian Geyson. 442 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,399 Speaker 1: The other cookbook is called Aromas and Flavors of Past 443 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: and Present, a Book of Exquisite Cooking, which is a 444 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 1: more straightforward recipe book. Yeah, that fudge recipe. Um, She 445 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: she was pretty I don't I don't even know the 446 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: best word. She was kind of just lighthearted about it. 447 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: Later on she was like, oh, I just gave me 448 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: that recipe. But then the fact that it was in 449 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:15,399 Speaker 1: the cook but sort of made her almost a cult 450 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 1: figure within the counterculture movement in the sixties. Uh Tokalis 451 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 1: also wrote an actual memoir called What Is Remembered, which 452 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: came out in nineteen three, and it chronicles her nearly 453 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,400 Speaker 1: forty year relationship with Gertrude Stein, ending with Stein's death. 454 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: Uh Alice by Toklis published work in magazines and newspapers 455 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: as well. After Stein died, Totalis often struggled to make 456 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,560 Speaker 1: ends meet. Aside from Picasso's portrait of Stein, which was 457 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: bequeathed to the Met, Totalist had inherited nearly the whole 458 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: art collection, with Stein's nephew Allan as co beneficiary. The 459 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: will included a provision that Totalist could sell pieces of 460 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 1: the collection if she needed to, but she didn't really 461 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: want to. She tried. I had to keep as much 462 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 1: of the collection intact as she could, and she lived 463 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: off the generosity of friends. By nineteen sixty, Alan Stein 464 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: had died and his widow, Rubina Stein, removed the paintings 465 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: from Toklis's apartment while she was away in Rome and 466 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: had them put in a vault at Chase Manhattan Bank 467 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,720 Speaker 1: in Paris. Rubina Stein's argument was that the apartment was 468 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: not a safe place for these paintings, and it is 469 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: true that by this point a lot of these pieces 470 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: had become very valuable and they were uninsured and being 471 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: kept in a private residence without a lot of security. 472 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,760 Speaker 1: But at the same time, Rubina Stein took those paintings 473 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: while Tokliss was away, and she was motivated in part 474 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: by Tokaliss having sold some of the Picasso drawings, which 475 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,959 Speaker 1: she was allowed to do. So Toklist got back from 476 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: Rome to find an apartment with bare walls, and she 477 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: was ultimately evicted from that apartment because of her extended 478 00:29:55,560 --> 00:30:00,040 Speaker 1: time away, so she was simultaneously without a home and 479 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,080 Speaker 1: without the option of selling off paintings to support herself. 480 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: Toklis's last years were difficult. She had very little money, 481 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: she was increasingly poor health in addition to having disabling 482 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: cataracts and arthritis. She died on March seventh, nineteen sixty seven, 483 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: at the age of eighty nine, and now she is 484 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: buried at Perlasas Cemetery in Paris, next to Gertrude Stein. 485 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: A year later, the rest of the art collection was 486 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: sold to the Museum of Modern Art Syndicate, with a 487 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: few pieces sold through art dealers. When Gertrude Stein died, 488 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: she left her literary archives to the barneky Rare Books 489 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: and Manuscripts Library at Yale University, and a lot of 490 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: those papers were made public for the first time in 491 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties, which led to the publication of Baby 492 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: Precious always shines. Selected love notes between Gertrude Stein and 493 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: Alice by Tokalis, which was edited by Kay Turner and 494 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: came out in nineteen nine. These notes are mostly from 495 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: Stein and eight of them are from Tokalis. So to 496 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: close out here is one of these notes, which was 497 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: from Gertrude to Alice, quote, Dear, it is not queer 498 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: that I love her here here in my heart, in 499 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: me all through. That was a lovely way to end 500 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: an episode that had an upsetting to Nazi territory. Yes, 501 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: I mean uh, it becomes one of those engaging pieces 502 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: of history right where it's a figure that a lot 503 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: of people have looked up to and really enjoyed, and 504 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: it is hard to face some of the negative parts 505 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: such a person's life. And I knew that that um 506 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: that they had basically been able to survive in France 507 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 1: in the position that they were in because they were 508 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: protected by this one Beec government official. I and that 509 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: I think a lot of people can conceptualize and it 510 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,640 Speaker 1: doesn't create a ton of cognitive dissidence because it's like, Okay, 511 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: you needed to survive, this person had the ability to 512 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 1: help you. You might accept their help, and it's like 513 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: awesome from your safe armchair to be like, oh, I 514 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: would never do that because that would violate my principles. 515 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: But you don't actually know. But like when it got 516 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,680 Speaker 1: into oh, and then she was translating all of these 517 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 1: anti Semitic speeches into English, and she made a number 518 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: of statements that obviously, uh would seemed to be in 519 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: support of fascism. That's uh. That's when I went and oh, man, 520 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: I did not realize that you were going to ruin 521 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: Gertude Stein for some people today. Do you have some 522 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 1: listener mail that will or will not ruin something else? Uh? 523 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: I do. It's not going to ruin anything. It is 524 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,720 Speaker 1: pretty brief. It is from Kathy. Cathy wrote in and said, hello, ladies, 525 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 1: just wanted to drop you a quick line to thank 526 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,000 Speaker 1: you for your wonderful podcast. They go a long way 527 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,160 Speaker 1: toward presier preserving my sanity. During my commute to and 528 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: from work, I just finished the Annalyster episode and wondered 529 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 1: if you knew that HBO and the BBC are collaborating 530 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: on a mini series about her, to be called Gentleman 531 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,000 Speaker 1: Jack airing in the fall. Fingers crossed that it's good, 532 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: Thanks again for keeping me company and educating me Kathy. Yes, 533 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: So I had meant to mention a couple of um 534 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: TV appearances of and Lister in that episode, and it 535 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: was running a little long, and it eventually slipped in 536 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: my mind. There is uh a I think made for 537 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: TV movie called The Secret Diaries of an Lister, which 538 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: I haven't watched because I watched the trailer and it 539 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: seemed too melodramatic for my personal tastes. UM. But when 540 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: Gentleman Jack was initially announced, it was announced under the 541 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: name Shibden Hall. So when I tried to UM confirmed 542 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: because last year that it was announced, and I tried 543 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,280 Speaker 1: to confirm what the status of it was, I found 544 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: nothing about it because I did not know that they 545 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: had changed the theme to Gentleman Jack. So we may 546 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 1: have some some and Lister mini series to watch uh 547 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 1: in the reasonably near future. If you would like to 548 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 1: write to us about this or any other podcast, We 549 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,400 Speaker 1: were at History Podcasts at how Stuff Works dot com, 550 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 1: and we are also on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram 551 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,880 Speaker 1: and Pinterest at miss in History. If you come to 552 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: our website, which is missed in History dot com, you 553 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,800 Speaker 1: will find show notes for all the episodes that Holly 554 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:18,480 Speaker 1: and I have worked on together, as well as a 555 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,799 Speaker 1: searchable archive of all of the episodes that we have 556 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,319 Speaker 1: ever done. Uh. You will get to see one of 557 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:28,720 Speaker 1: Gertrude Stein and Alice b told us as dogs, named 558 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:33,799 Speaker 1: Basket in the artwork for today's episode. It's a very 559 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:38,360 Speaker 1: cute dog. Most dogs are cute dogs. This is true, 560 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,439 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our podcast on Apple podcasts 561 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,879 Speaker 1: and Google Play, anywhere else that you might listen to podcasts. 562 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,439 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 563 00:34:53,520 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Se