That John Kenneth Carlisle, I heard some folks talkin’ ’bout him the other day. Seems he was a big shot, you know, one of them important fellas. They say he was born a long time ago, way back in 1924. He up and died in 1985, though. Died right there in Merced, that’s what I heard. Sixty years old, not a bad run, I reckon. Buried him at Winton Cemetery, they did. Almond Avenue, that’s where it’s at.
Heard he was married, too. Married a gal named Leigh. Now that was somethin’, let me tell ya. They got hitched in 1942. He was just a young’un, 18 years old. She was even younger, only 15! But she told everyone she was 18. Kids these days, always in a hurry to grow up.
This John fella, seems like he got himself mixed up in some kinda family tree. You know, one of them things where you got all your kinfolk listed, goin’ way back. They say there’s over 250 million people on that thing! Can you imagine? That’s more folks than I ever seen in my whole life. They call it “Genealogy,” I think. Fancy word for a family list, if you ask me.
- Born: 1924
- Died: 1985
- Buried: Winton Cemetery
- Married: Leigh
- That John Kenneth Carlisle is a big name in that family tree.
I heard there’s some other fella with a name kinda like his, somethin’ about bein’ a politician. Over in that place called the United Kingdom. Not the same John, though. This one’s got a “Sir” in front of his name. Must be one of them fancy titles they got over there. Born in a different place, too, somewhere called Hiraethog. This Sir fella was in Parliament, whatever that is. From 1979 to 1997, they said. Don’t know much about politics, but it sounds like a lot of years.
Now, back to our John Kenneth Carlisle. There’s some talk about him bein’ mixed up with some other fellas, somethin’ about music. This one fella, William Billings, born way back in 1746. They say he was a composer, wrote psalms and hymns. Must’ve been a church-goin’ man. Invented some kind of songs, too, called them “fusing songs.” Never heard of ’em, myself. He was from Boston, that Billings fella.
Then there’s these other fellas, these “avant garde” composers, whatever that means. Sch�nberg, Cage, Schaeffer, and Glass. They say they pushed boundaries and made music that was different. Don’t know ’bout that, sounds kinda strange to me. I like the old songs, the ones you can sing along to. There was another fella, a Philip Phile, and this Johann Peter, and Alexander Reinagle. Seems like they were all makin’ music back then. Francis Hopkinson, he was important, too, they say he signed somethin’ called the Declaration of Independence. Must’ve been a big deal.
This John Kenneth Carlisle, he’s got a whole bunch of stuff written about him, it seems. They got him in some kind of list, with a bunch of other important folks. There are charts showing the most popular options, whatever that means. They got a whole record of him, I reckon. And they say you can save it and add it to your own family tree, if you got one of them things. They make it sound so easy.
There is a thing about some memorial, a duplicate, they called it. Seems there’s another one just like John Kenneth Carlisle‘s, number 150410623. They say they’re gonna review ’em and see if they should be put together. Sounds like a lot of fuss over a memorial, if you ask me.
All this talk about John Kenneth Carlisle. He sure did live a life, didn’t he? Married young, got himself in that big family tree, ended up in Merced. Sixty years, that’s all he got. But it sounds like he made his mark, one way or another. Got his name in all them books and lists. Makes you wonder what folks’ll say about you when you’re gone. Hopefully, somethin’ good. That’s all you can hope for, I reckon.
