Chamblee54

October 16 is Oscar Fingal O’Fflahertie Wills Wilde’s birthday. On that day in 1854, he appeared in Dublin, Ireland. Oscar is one of the most widely quoted people in the english language. Some of those quotes are real. Since Oscar was a published author, it should be easy to verify what he really said.
One night in 1974, I was talking to someone, and did not know who Oscar Wilde was. The man was horrified. I quickly got educated, and learned about a misunderstanding with the Marquess of Queensberry. Soon the “Avenge Oscar Wilde” signs made sense.
Mr. Wilde once made a speaking tour in the United States. One afternoon the playwright met Walt Whitman. Thee and thou reportedly did the “Wilde Thing.”
The tour then went to Georgia. A young black man had been hired as a valet for Mr. Wilde on this tour. On the train ride from Atlanta to Columbus, some people told Mr. Wilde that he could not ride in the same car as the valet. This was very confusing.
After his various legal difficulties, Oscar Wilde moved to Paris. He took ill, while staying in a tacky hotel. Oscar looked up, and said “There is a duel to the death between me and my wallpaper. One of us must die. It will be him or me.” (« — Voyez-vous, ma chère enfant, me disait-il, il y a un duel à mort entre moi et mon papier de tenture. L’un de nous deux doit y rester. Ce sera lui ou ce sera moi. ») Soon, Oscar Wilde passed away.
This birthday celebration is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress. Marion Post Wolcott took the social media picture in September 1938. Coal miner (Polish). Capels, West Virginia.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah