I'm plugging away through the archive and it's all very melancholy, of course. I can only read so many eyewitness accounts of bombings (Dublin/Monaghan) or shootings (Belfast, Derry) or other types of violence before I need to close my eyes and sit for a bit in quiet and comfort myself.
Luckily! Mullan had other interests! And on Wednesday, I came across a box of entirely football paraphernalia. Mullan credits his childhood (and adulthood, honestly) hero worship of Gordon Banks as keeping him out of the IRA after he experienced Bloody Sunday in Derry. The story is fairly fascinating - he worshiped Banks, despite his status as playing for England, and his love for the man led to keeping an extensive scrapbook of his achievements. One night, when soldiers broke in to his home, they were surprised to see all of the Gordon Banks posters - and Mullan says that they were able to connect with one another as humans rather than soldier/victim, occupying/oppressed, or English/Irish. And, since Banks was such a decent man, Mullan knew that the Brits couldn't be all bad.
So, of course, Mullan became an extensive collector throughout his life. My mentor is only recently a citizen of the United States (hurrah! wooo!) but grew up just outside of London (I think) and when I showed her the pamphlet from the 1966 World Cup, even she knew it was a big deal - and she says that she knows less than nothing about football. Apparently that was the last year that England won.
A map of Belfast.
so much football stuff
subtle.
I think this is one of the "pro"s of sport - look at how the world can come together (to fight against England)!
I guess this is a big deal.
This may be a bigger deal - to me, anyway...
Tea! and he's got a haircut like mine! (I need a haircut, clearly)
...yikes.
If anyone's interested, this is a fascinating article on the experience of processing David Foster Wallace's collection on the Pale King. It resonates a lot with me!
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