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Show WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012 9 THE SIGNPOST Britain marks Charles Dickens' 200th birthday By Erica Werner writer I Associated Press LONDON (AP) - He wrote about life in the modern city, with its lawyers and criminals, bankers and urchins, dreamers and clerks. He created characters still known to millions - Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim, Pip and Miss Havisham, Fagin and Oliver Twist. And it made him a star, mobbed by fans on both sides of the Atlantic. Britain on Tuesday marked the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, the first global celebrity author and chronicler of a world of urban inequality that looks a lot like the one we live in today. "You only have to look around our society and everything he wrote about in the 1840s is still relevant," said Dickens' biographer, Claire Tomalin. "The great gulf be- tween the rich and poor, corrupt financiers, corrupt Members of Parliament ... You name it, he said it." Dickens' mistrust of the wealthy and compassion for the poor haven't stopped him being embraced by Britain's high and mighty. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, joined Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, actor Ralph Fiennes, a host of dignitaries and scores of Dickens' descendants at a memorial service Tuesday in London's Westminster Abbey. A simultaneous event was held in Portsmouth, southern England, where Dickens was born, the son of a navy pay clerk, on Feb. 7, 1812. In a message read out there, Charles called Dickens "one of the greatest writers of the English language, who Belliston JEWELRY (Since 1973) the lowest price! 3585 Harrison Blvd. Ogden UT www.BellistonJewelly.com used his creative genius to campaign passionately for social justice." In London, the heir to the throne laid a wreath of white roses and snowdrops on the writer's grave in Poet's Corner - resting place of national literary icons - and two of Dickens' youngest descendants added a pair of small white posies. Fiennes read from Dickens' "Bleak House," and there were prayers for the poor and marginalized, and for the writers, artists and journalists chronicling modern society. Historian Judith Flanders, who attended the service, said it was "enormously moving" - and Dickens would have hated it. "Dickens said in his will that he wanted no public ceremonies, no statues, no public acknowledgment," said Flanders, author of the forthcoming book "Dickens' London." "He wanted to be buried and die as a private man. He wanted his books to stand as his monument." He got his wish. Dickens' novels and characters are more popular than ever. The Royal Mail has just issued two new stamps featuring Dickens characters. Right now in Britain you can catch up with new television adaptations of "Great Expecta- lident Eirtions Seize The Opportunity Elections packets are available in SU 326 and they will be due February 18th. Candidates will be required to attend a mandatory rules meeting. Please see the elections packet for further details or contact Elections Committee Chairman tions" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," go to an exhibition about Dickens at the Museum of London or visit a theme park called Dickens World. A new film version of "Great Expectations," starring Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter, is due later this year. "The quality of the writing is part of why we still relate to him today," said Jo Robinson, a graduate student at King's College London who is researching Dickens. "He's an incredibly vivid writer. He has such an array of characters and there's so much to get out of him ... Each generation sees it in their own way." Part of Dickens' staying power stems from his incredible productivity. An insomniac who often roamed London's streets by night, he wrote more than 20 books, had 10 children, toured the world on lecture tours and campaigned for social change until his death from a stroke in 1870 at the age of 58. "He believed he knew London better than any person alive, because he spent so much time walking the streets," said Alex Werner, curator of the exhibition "Dickens and London," running at the Museum of London until June. Dickens' drive and productivity were fueled by early poverty. When he was 12, his father was sent to debtors' prison and Dickens went to work in a factory, fixing labels on jars of boot polish. Those early experiences were reflected in his novels. Dickens exposed the cruelty of workhouses in "Oliver Twist," the harshness of child labor in "David Copperfield," the chasm between the rich and the poor in "A Christmas Carol" and the brutality of the legal system in "Bleak House." He also was one of the first writers to depict the modern industrial city - a place where millions of us still live. Many features of his world are still familiar. The 19th century was an era of fast-paced technological change, and Dickens embraced it. He traveled Britain on newly invented steam trains - though he hated the juddering journeys - and crossed the Atlantic in 1842 on one of the first steamships. He was also a commercially astute writer. His books were published in monthly installments, in an inexpensive magazine-style format interspersed with ads for everything from "Alpaca Umbrellas" to "the gentleman's real head of hair." "It feels very modern," Werner said. "A bit like TV soaps - you have to get through the adverts." Werner thinks that if Dickens were alive today he'd write for television - he always wanted to reach the widest possible audience. He might not have approved of another major celebration, the 2012 London Olympics. Dickens was not a fan of the 1851 Great Exhibition, a huge popular display of imperial self-confidence. The next year he began publishing "Bleak House," with its depiction of the city's extremes of poverty and wealth. Werner says it's a vision that chimes with our own times - though he hopes it won't eclipse Dickens' humor. "Maybe 20 or 30 years ago his work didn't have that same cutting edge," he said. "It was a more optimistic time. Now everything feels a bit more gloomy. The gap between rich and poor - it feels very close to the Victorian world. "There is an attraction right now to the darker side of Dickens. But he was very funny." White House hinting compromise on birth control By Erica Werner writer I Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Hammered by Republicans and the Catholic Church, the White House hinted at compromise Tuesday as it struggled to calm an election-year uproar caused by its rule requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control. Obama's chief spokesman and his top campaign strategist both said the administration was searching for ways to allay the concern of Roman Catholics who say the birth control mandate would force them to violate their religious beliefs against contraception. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the policy was a "huge mistake" that the administration should reconsider. "And if they don't, Congress will act," McConnell said. On the campaign trail, GOP presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich heaped new criticism on the president, with Romney accusing Obama of an "assault on religion" and Gingrich calling the rule an "attack on the Catholic Church." Obama's spokesman defended the decision that prompted the flare-up, even as he raised the prospect of some adjustment. He said women working for churchaffiliated employers must be able to get contraception, but he also made clear that the White House wants to accommodate the concerns of the employers who would be required to provide birth control coverage regardless of their religious beliefs. "There are ways to, I think, help resolve this issue that ensures that we provide that important preventive service, that health care coverage, to all women ... in a way that also tries to allay some of these concerns," press secretary Jay Carney said. The spokesman did not say what those ways might be but said there were "a lot of different ideas out there." Separately, Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod made the same point. "The real question is how do we get together and resolve this in a way that respects the concerns that have been raised but also assures women across this country that they're going to have the preventive care that they need," Axelrod said on MSNBC. The comments by Axelrod and Carney created a sense that the White House's public emphasis has clearly shifted and that further accommodation would be considered. But there was no sign the administration would move to completely withdraw the rule, and it was unclear that the White House could strike the balance of ensuring contraceptive coverage for all while defusing the fierce opposition of some religious groups when those two points are in conflict. Some Catholic supporters of the administration said they had noticed a shift in White House rhetoric that gave them hope a compromise could be worked out. "Publicly you can see a change in the administration," said Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats For Life of America. "It's very different from what was said before, that this is final and nothing is going to change." Options for a compromise could include granting leeway for a church-affiliated employer not to cover birth control, provided it referred employees to an insurer who would provide the coverage. Another idea, previously rejected by the administration, calls for broadening the definition of a religious employer that would be exempt from the mandate beyond houses of worship and institutions whose primary purpose is to spread the faith. That broader approach would track a definition currently used by the IRS, bringing in schools, hospitals and social service agencies that deal with the general public. The president of the Catholic Health Association, a trade group representing Catholic hospitals that defied church bishops to provide critical support for Obama's health care law and is now fighting the birth control requirement, said she thinks the administration is starting to feel the pressure. "I do know many people who care about this administration and this president and the good works that Catholic organizations have done are raising this issue," said Sister Carol Keehan. "I do know the administration is concerned. This was never done with the intent of creating a huge problem for the Catholic Church, but it certainly ended up doing that." Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report. |