Tea at Trianon: The New First Lady of Maryland

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, February 8, 2015

The New First Lady of Maryland

Yumi Hogan, our lovely new First Lady of Maryland

From The Washington Post:

The love story of Larry and Yumi Hogan received scant attention during last year’s contentious race for Maryland’s governorship. But as they ease into their new roles — Yumi will hold her first official event Sunday — their late-in-life relationship will continue to help shape their public image and personal lives.

For Yumi, Larry’s insistence that she finally chase her own ambitions led her to art school and a job teaching painting — a role she intends to keep while making the arts a priority as first lady. For Larry, Yumi’s devotion to family rounded out the rough edges of a climb-the-ladder life, softening him and giving him an instant family.

“She helped me appreciate the important things in life,” the 58-year-old governor said in an interview. “I would not be the governor without the love and support of my wife and my daughters. They’ve been an incredible inspiration.”

The couple is moving into the mansion as empty nesters, bringing along Yumi’s special kimchi refrigerator; the family dog, Lexi; and the multicultural values of an extended family they say represents Maryland’s present and future. Two daughters are Democrats. One is a war veteran. And two of the three married men who aren’t Asian, including one of Puerto Rican descent.

The food and conversation around the holiday dinner table is a spirited smorgasbord.

“Like most Marylanders, we’re pretty much right in the middle,” said Jaymi Sterling, the middle daughter, a St. Mary’s County prosecutor who appeared in a campaign ad defending her stepfather on women’s issues. “Our family is like a microcosm of Maryland. In so many ways, it’s so diverse, just like Maryland is.”

(Photos from the inauguration)

In many ways, because of Yumi, it is also historic. She is believed to be the first Korean first lady in the United States. And her background in the arts sets her apart from Katie O’Malley and Kendel Ehrlich, the previous two first ladies, whose backgrounds were in law. Some of her paintings will hang on the mansion’s 145-year-old walls. (Read more.)