In 1990, there were a lot of good films that I saw. The most famous movie that has become a Christmas classic is Home Alone where a family leaves Kevin alone in his north suburban Chicago house as the whole family flew to Paris. Ghost was another romantic comedy with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopy Goldberg, with the haunting song of the Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody,” that first appeared in 1955, when I was in high school. Then there was Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, that was filmed in South Dakota, near Pierre, where Margaret’s sister Lois lives. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts were great in Pretty Woman. I liked the thriller The Hunt for Red October with Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, and Sam Neill. I also liked the quirky Internal Affairs with Richard Gere and Andy García. Stanley & Iris was a story about an old man, with Robert De Niro and Jane Fonda. Joe Versus the Volcano was okay with Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, and Abe Vigoda. Bird on a Wire with Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, and David Carradine was more interesting. Cadillac Man with Robin Williams and Tim Robbins was funny at times. Dick Tracy was a highly publicized movie with Warren Beatty, Madonna, and Al Pacino. The Freshman was a neat film with Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick. Presumed Innocent was a great mystery show with Harrison Ford and Brian Dennehy. Flatliners was a neat movie with Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, and Kevin Bacon. My Blue Heaven was a funny mafia movie with Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, and Joan Cusack. Wild at Heart was an off-beat mystery with Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, and Willam Dafoe. Postcards from the Edge had a great cast of Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss, and Rob Reiner. My favorite of the year was the mafia story Goodfellas with Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and Paul Sorvino. Three Men and a Little Lady was funny with Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson. Misery was a great show with James Caan and Kathy Bates. The Bonfire of the Vanities was also a great show with Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Morgan Freeman, and Kim Cattrall. The Godfather Part III had an Italian ending with Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, and Joe Mantegna. Green Card was an interesting story with Gérard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell. I think that I liked the movies this year more than previous years. What is your favorite movie of 1990?
Today I have been married for 55 years
We interrupt your memories of the 1990s, by returning to the yesteryears of 1971. It seems like only yesterday that Margaret and I were married in our apartment in Hyde Park, but in reality, the calendar, and our looks indicate that it really was 55 years ago on October 9, 1971, almost two generations ago. I am surprised that we have made it this long. Now we live on the Gold Coast, overlooking the Lake Michigan Shore and Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois. This has been a rough year for me. I broke my hip while looking at the leaning tower of Pisa. It took me nearly six months to recover. Meanwhile, Margaret has struggled with an eye problem, a sleep problem, and a heart problem. Through it all, we are still standing, even if it requires a walker or a cane. The seasons of fall, winter, spring, and summer continue to keep on coming and going. The trees are the best way to keep track of time. They slowly sprout in the spring, and just as slowly lose their leaves in the fall, while swaying in the hot wind in the summer and the cold breeze in the winter. A lot of people never get to live 55 years, while Margaret and I have lived 55 years together. We are blessed and privileged to have known and loved each other for 55 years. We have one daughter and three grandchildren, who always remind us that life goes on and regenerates year after year. The grandkids grow up, but we grow old and weary. I am so fortunate to have met and married this marvelous woman called Margaret. Remember to thank God for every year of your life. Even more so, thank God you got to share it with someone so wonderful as your spouse. Not every moment of every day is great, but the great moments and days overshadow those poor times when everything seems wrong. Another day means another great happening. I hope that everyone would be able to live 55 years with someone they love. We are going to celebrate today by going to lunch at the Greek Islands Restaurant in Chicago. Then we will go to Senior Night at St. Ignatius Prep to watch our grandson Will Walton play right tackle for the football team against Leo. Have many years have you been married?
The Academy Awards for 1990
The 62nd Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, were held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, on March 26, 1990, with Driving Miss Daisy winning Best Picture, honoring the movies of 1989. Driving Miss Daisy became the third film to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination. At age 80, Jessica Tandy became the oldest winner of a competitive acting Oscar for her role in Driving Miss Daisy, that won three other awards. Other winners included Glory with three awards, Born on the Fourth of July, The Little Mermaid, and My Left Foot all had two awards. The Abyss, Balance, Batman, Cinema Paradiso, Common Threads, Stories from the Quilt, Dead Poets Society, Henry V, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Johnstown Flood, and Work Experience all had one award. Kenneth Branagh in Henry V was the fifth person nominated for Best Lead Actor and Best Director for the same film, but he did not win either. Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his role in My Left Foot. Denzel Washington won Best Supporting Actor in the civil war story Glory. Brenda Fricker won Best Supporting Actress in My Left Foot. Alan Menken won Best Original Score and Best Original Song for The Little Mermaid. Clearly, everyone liked Miss Daisy, Jessica Tandy, and Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot. This telecast had more than 40 million viewers in the USA. Do you like the Academy Awards?
Sports in 1990
President George Bush posthumously awarded Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal. The Nintendo World Championships were held across 29 American cities, in an almost year-long gaming competition. The International Olympic Committee awarded the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta, Georgia. In the NFL Super Bowl XXIV, in the New Orleans Super Dome, the San Francisco 49ers won 55–10 over the Denver Broncos. The 49ers QB Joe Montana was the MVP. During the year, Derrick Thomas had 7 sacks for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Seattle Seahawks. In college football, the Miami Hurricanes won 33–25 over the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the national 1989 championship in the Sugar Bowl, with the MVP Craig Erickson of Miami. In the MLB, the Cincinnati Reds sweep the Oakland A’s in the 1990 World Series, 4-0 with the MVP Jose Rijo. Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitched his sixth of seven no-hitters against the Oakland Athletics on June 11, and his 300th victory on July 31. Ira Smith became the first player in NCAA history to win consecutive batting titles after hitting .519 with the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks. In the NBA, the Detroit Pistons won four games to one over the Portland Trail Blazers, with Isiah Thomas the MVP. UNLV won the NCAA Division I Men’s championship 103-73 over the Duke Blue Devils, the largest margin in a championship game, with MVP Anderson Hunt from UNLV. American college basketball player Hank Gathers (1967-1990) of the Loyola Marymount Lions died after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference tournament game on March 4. In Boxing, Buster Douglas, a 42-1 underdog, defeated Mike Tyson, by a knockout, in round 10 to win the world’s unified Heavyweight title, in what many consider boxing’s biggest upset ever. Julio César Chávez defeated Meldrick Taylor to unify boxing’s world junior welterweight title. Greg LeMond of the USA won his third and last Tour de France. Susan Butcher (1954-2006) won her fourth and last Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. In World Figure Skating Championships, Kurt Browning, Canada, and Jill Trenary, USA were the champions. In the NHL, the NHL’s leading scorer during the regular season was Wayne Gretzky, of the LA Kings. The NHL’s Most Valuable Player went to Mark Messier, of the Edmonton Oilers, who also won the Stanley Cup 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins. In golf, Nick Faldo won two legs of the grand slam, the Masters tournament and the British Open. Hale Irwin won the US Open and Wayne Grady the PGA, while Greg Norman with $1,165,477 was the PGA money winner. Senior PGA Tour money leader was Lee Trevino with $1,190,518. Betsy King won two legs of the grand slam, the Dinah Shore and the US Women’s Open. Beth Daniel was the LPGA Championship and the money winner with $863,578. Three different horses each won one leg of the Triple crown. The men’s and women’s Grand Slam in tennis were both split four ways with Ivan Lendl, Andrés Gómez, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras. The women were Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Navratilova, and Gabriela Sabatini. Russian Garry Kasparov held his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov. In Italy, West Germany defeated Argentina 1–0 to win the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the first broadcast of digital HDTV in history. The AP male and female athletes of the year were Joe Montana, NFL and Beth Daniel, LPGA. Who was your favorite athlete of 1990?
Interesting facts in 1990
There were 248,709,873 residents in the USA according to the 1990 census. Smoking was banned on all cross-country flights in the USA. Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize. The first ban of smoking in bars in the USA, and possibly the world, was passed in San Luis Obispo, California. The International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition, a group of six explorers from six nations, completed the first dog sled crossing of Antarctica. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. STS-38. Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched on a classified U.S. military mission. The first Internet companies catering to commercial users, PSINet and EUnet began selling Internet access to commercial customers in the USA and the Netherlands. Tim Berners-Lee began his work on the World Wide Web, 19 months after his seminal 1989 outline of what would become the Web concept. The first known web page was written. The first transatlantic fiber optic cable TAT-8 failed, causing a slowdown of Internet traffic between the USA and Europe. The earliest known portable digital camera was sold in the USA. A portrait of Dr. Gachet, by Vincent van Gogh, was sold for a record $82.5 million dollars. The World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. Universal Studios Florida opened to the public along with Nickelodeon Studios. Roseanne Barr infamously sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” extremely poorly, at a baseball game, causing a controversy. Kathleen Margaret Brown and Irene Templeton were ordained as priests in St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, becoming the first female Anglican priests in the United Kingdom. George Carey, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was named as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. Pope John Paul II visited Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Ivory Coast. The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible was officially introduced. “Sue”, the best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen ever found, was discovered near Faith, South Dakota, by Sue Hendrickson. The first Pizza Hut opened in the Soviet Union. The first McDonald’s restaurant opened in Mainland China in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. The Messeturm skyscraper in Frankfurt was completed, making it the tallest building in Europe, a distinction it will carry until 1997, when it was surpassed by the Commerzbank Tower, also in Frankfurt. Nintendo released the Super Famicom in Japan, alongside its launch games Super Mario World and F-Zero. United Airlines announced a purchase order of 128 wide-body aircraft from Boeing, including several Boeing 777s, in an order totaling $22 billion, the largest order in aviation history to that point. Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the English Channel seabed, establishing the first land connection between Great Britain and the mainland of Europe for around 8,000 years. What is your most interesting fact of 1990?
Famous celebrities who died in 1990
The following people died in 1990, some I knew better than others: Ava Gardner, American actress (1922–1990); Susan Oliver, American actress, author, and aviator (1932-1990); Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (1905–1990); Sammy Davis Jr,, American entertainer (1925–1990); Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (1907–1990); Paulette Goddard, American actress (1910–1990); Stevie Ray Vaughan, American blues guitarist (1954–1990); Irene Dunne, American actress and singer (1898–1990); Joan Bennett, American actress (1910–1990); Jill Ireland, English actress (1936–1990); Sarah Vaughan, American singer (1924-1990; Madge Bellamy, Actor (1899-1990); Valerie French, British actor (1928-1990); Mary Martin, American, actress (1913-1990); Joel McCrea, American actor and singer (1905–1990); Eve Arden, American, actress (1908–1990); Rex Harrison, British, actor (1908–1990); Leonard Bernstein, American conductor and composer (1918–1990); Jim Henson, American puppeteer (1936–1990); Thomas Richard Fogerty, an American musician, (1941–1990); Roy Halston Frowick, known as Halston, an American fashion designer (1932 –1990); Thomas Rocco Barbella, better known as Rocky Graziano, an American professional boxer and actor (1919 –1990); Eddie Quillan, American actor (1907–1990); Franklyn Seales, American actor (1952–1990); Charles Weedon Westover, better known by his stage name Del Shannon, an American rock and roll country musician, singer and songwriter (1934 –1990); Allen Collins, American guitarist (1952–1990); Larkin Allen Collins Jr., an American guitarist (1952 –1990); Terry-Thomas, English Actor, (1911–1990); Howard Duff, an American actor (1913–1990); Alan Hale Jr., born Alan Hale MacKahan, an American actor and restaurateur, (1921–1990); Robert Cummings, American actor, (1910–1990); Roald Dahl, Welsh writer (1916–1990); Pearl Bailey, American singer (1918–1990); Johnnie Ray, American singer and pianist (1927–1990); Gary Merrill, film and television character actor (1915-1990); Vic Tayback, American actor (1930-1990); Aaron Copland, American composer, writer, and conductor (1900-1990); Xavier Cugat, Spanish-Cuban musician and bandleader (1900–1990); Sergio Franchi, Italian-American tenor and actor (1926–1990); Connie Russell, American actor (1923–1990); Keith Haring, American artist and social activist (1958–1990); Charles Farrell, American actor (1900–1990); Stephen W. Burns, American actor (1954-1990); Ken Lynch, American actor (1910-1990); Hermes Pan, American dancer, choreographer (1909-1990); Jackie Moran, American actor (1923-1990); Mike Mazurki, American actor and professional wrestler (1907-1990); Kiel Martin, American actor (1944–1990); Kiel Urban Mueller, an American actor (1944–1990); Vanda Godsell, English actress (1922-1990); Ryan White, AIDS spokesperson (1971–1990); Ronnie Dyson, American singer and actor, (1950–1990); Robin Harris, American comedian and actor (1953–1990); Jack Gilford, American actor (1908–90); Ian Charleson, British actor (1949–1990); David Rappaport, Actor, musician, writer, director, teacher (1951–1990); Jacques Demy, Film director (1931–1990); Anne Revere, an American actress (1903–1990); Tom Brown, American actor (1913–1990); Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophonist (1923–1990); Arthur Kennedy, (1914 –1990); William Paley, Television executive, (1901–1990); Tom Harmon, American football player and sportscaster (1919–1990); Lois Nelson, American actress (1895-1990); and Irene Mayer Selznick, American theatre producer (1907 –1990). Do you know anyone who died in 1990?
Famous Criminals in 1990
Peggy McMartin Buckey and Raymond Buckey were acquitted of 52 charges related to alleged ritual abuse taking place at their daycare in Manhattan Beach. Washington Mayor Marion Barry was caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine. Ferdinand Marcos’s widow, Imelda Marcos, went on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering. John Poindexter was found guilty of 5 charges for his part in the Iran–Contra affair but was later reversed on appeal. Junk bond financier Michael Milken pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges. He agreed to pay US $500 million in restitution and was sentenced to 10 years in jail. Twelve paintings and a Shang dynasty vase, collectively worth $100 to $300 million, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts by two thieves posing as police officers. This was the largest art theft in USA history, and the paintings have not been recovered. A judge in Australia ordered the arrest of media tycoon Christopher Skase, former owner of the Seven Network, after he failed to give evidence in a liquidator’s examination of failed shipbuilding company Lloyds Ships Holdings. Murder charges against Dr. Jack Kevorkian were dismissed in Michigan, related to the April assisted-suicide death of an Alzheimer’s patient, Janet Adkins. A state judge determined that Kevorkian only provided the means for Ms. Adkins to die. This is the first of numerous cases to be brought against Kevorkian over the next decade. In New Zealand, David Gray killed 13 people in what will become known as the Aramoana massacre. Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union’s most prolific serial killers, was arrested in Novocherkassk. Famous people are sometimes guilty and innocent. What do you think about wealthy people becoming criminals?
Manmade disasters in 1990
In Kashmir, Indian security forces opened fire on mourners carrying the body of Mohammad Farooq Shah who had been assassinated earlier. At least 47 people were killed. Members of the Provisional IRA shoot and killed Major Michael Dillon-Lee and Private William Robert Davies of the British Army. In the Sri Lankan Civil War, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam massacred over 600 unarmed police officers in the Eastern Province. The Sri Lankan Army soldiers massacred 184 civilians in Batticaloa. Somali President Siad Barre’s bodyguards massacred anti-government demonstrators during a soccer match with 65 people killed and more than 300 seriously injured. In South Africa, fighting broke out between the Xhosa people and the Zulu people with more than 500 people killed. In Jerusalem, Israeli police killed 17 Palestinians and wounded over 100 near the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount. Two people walked into the 10 Pin Alley in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and shot seven people, four of whom were killed. Terrorists blew up a passenger bus travelling from Kalbajar to Tartar in Azerbaijan with 14 people killed and 35 wounded. The parliament building and a government television house in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, was stormed by the Jamaat al Muslimeen in a coup d’état attempt which lasted five days. Approximately 26 to 30 people were killed. A passenger bus, traveling along the route “Tbilisi-Agdam”, was blown up with 20 people killed and 30 injured. Guns kill people in lots of countries. The fact that the Cold War between the USA and the USSR was over did not mean that all kinds of disputes between countries was over. People still kept killing each other, because they were right and the other guys were wrong. We would continue to have terrorists and heroes, depending on whose side you were on. Have you ever been involved with a shooting?
Natural disasters in 1990
A 7.0 earthquake shook the Chinese province of Qinghai, leaving 126 dead. An earthquake, measuring 7.1, struck Panay in the Philippines, killing 8 and injuring 41. The 7.4 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake affected northern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of 10, killing 35,000–50,000, and injuring 60,000–105,000. The Lenin Peak disaster occurred when an earthquake triggered an avalanche in the Pamir Mountains with the loss of 43 lives. The Luzon earthquake, measuring 7.7 killed more than 2,400 in the Philippines. Avianca Flight 052 crashed into Cove Neck, New York after a miscommunication between the flight crew and JFK Airport officials, killing 73 people on board. Two Chinese commercial planes collided on the runway at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Guangdong, China, with the total death toll 128 people. Alitalia Flight 404 crashed on approach to Zurich Airport, killing all 46 occupants. Indian Airlines Flight 605, an Airbus A320-231 registered as VT-EPN, crashed shortly before landing, killing 92 out of the 146 occupants on board. The Wayne County Airport runway collision at Detroit Metropolitan Airport occurred when Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collided with Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 8 passengers and 4 crew members. MS Scandinavian Star, a Bahamas-registered ferry, caught fire on route from Norway to Denmark, leaving 158 dead. A multi-vehicle traffic collision known as the 1990 Interstate 75 fog disaster occurred with 34 deaths. Telephone service in Atlanta, St. Louis, and Detroit, including 911 service, went down for nine hours, due to an AT&T software bug. A stampede in a Mecca pedestrian tunnel killed 1,426. The Burns’ Day Storm killed 97 in northwestern Europe. A March Central USA tornado outbreak produced 64 tornadoes across six states, including four violent F4/F5 tornadoes. The outbreak left 2 dead, 89 injured, and caused over $500 million in damages. In New York City, a fire due to arson at an illegal social club called “Happy Land” killed 87 people. The Plainfield Tornado (F5) struck the towns of Plainfield, Crest Hill, and Joliet, Illinois, killing 29 people, the strongest tornado to date to strike the Chicago metropolitan area. A Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawned 88 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12. 37 tornadoes occurred in Indiana, eclipsing the previous record of 21 during the 1974 Super Outbreak. Have you ever been involved with a tornado?
The great political events of 1990
President George H. W. Bush gave his first State of the Union address and proposed that the USA and the Soviet Union make deep cuts to their military forces in Europe. Then President Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev began a four-day summit meeting in Washington, D.C, where they agreed to end production of chemical weapons and to destroy most of their stockpiles of chemical weapons. The USSR approved changes to their Constitution to create a strong USA-style presidency. Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to a five-year term as the first-ever President of the Soviet Union on March 15. Boris Yeltsin was then elected as the first ever president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The government of Haiti declared a state of emergency, under which it suspended civil liberties, imposed censorship, and arrested political opponents. Poland became the first country in Eastern Europe to begin abolishing its state socialist controls. Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto gave birth to a girl, becoming the first modern head of government to bear a child while in office. Nelson Mandela was released from prison, near Cape Town, South Africa, after 27 years behind bars. South Africa ended segregation of libraries, trains, buses, toilets, swimming pools, and other public facilities. After 75 years of South African rule since World War I, Namibia became independent. The United Kingdom and Argentina restored diplomatic relations after 8 years in response to Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands. The Sandinistas were defeated in the Nicaraguan elections, with Violeta Chamorro elected as the new president of Nicaragua, the first woman elected in her own right as a head of state in the Americas, replacing Daniel Ortega. Spain granted Protestantism and Judaism legal equality with the Roman Catholic Church. The Soviet Union enacted a law permitting religious freedom, ending government interference in religious activity and permitting Soviet citizens to engage in private religious study in their homes. President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, designed to protect disabled Americans from discrimination, championed by Republican Senator Bob Dole. President Bush also signed a new Clean Air Act, focused on urban pollution and cancer-causing emissions from industrial sources. David Souter was confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court, replacing retiring Justice William J. Brennan Jr. The United Nations World Summit for Children drew more than 70 world leaders to United Nations Headquarters. Mary Robinson defeated odds-on favorite Brian Lenihan to become the first female President of Ireland. The first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, resigned after 11 years and was replaced by John Major. The leaders of Canada, the United States, and 32 European states meet in Paris to formally mark the end of the Cold War in November. In Warsaw, Lech Wałęsa took the oath of office as President of Poland. Do you remember the end of the Cold War in 1990?
