Sunday July 2nd, 2017 - Today marks the 100th birthday of Ruth Sayer; the occasion is being celebrated at Oswego, New York, where Ruth and her husband Frank shared a long and happy married life. When I was a child growing up in nearby Hannibal, New York, I played with the Sayer sons - Frank Jr and Steve - and vividly remember their house on Varick Street. At family gatherings, Ruth always amused me by calling me "Cousin Phil"; to be addressed as such by an adult always gave me a cozy feeling.
Frank Sayer, who passed away in 2010, was the family historian. I wish now that he was around so I could ask him about our very obscure connection to Isadora Duncan.
The 'star' in our family tree - on my mom's side - was Samuel F B Morse, inventor of the telegraph. Frank Sayer's mother, Cynthia Morse, and my maternal grand-father, Edmund Morse, were brother and sister. My brother's middle name is Morse.
Samuel F B Morse's daughter Cornelia was the mother of pianist and composer Walter Morse Rummel. Walter Rummel became Isadora's pianist, musical advisor, and lover at the close of World War I. Their somewhat tempestuous relationship lasted three years, and then Rummel took up with one of the Isadorables, Anna Duncan (née Denzler).
Rummel was a splendid pianist who left very few recordings.
I love this fanciful representation of Walter Rummel and Isadora by sculptor and painter Antoine Bourdelle.