WELCOME  TO  MY  AUTHOR  PORTFOLIO

​

Here’s a story about Catherine, Philip, and Harry. Royalty perhaps? No. But Harry is British and Catherine Irish. Philip, or Phil, rather...well he’s sort of avian, or at least a mythological avian. Are they victims? Heroes? Something else? You decide.

​

Darrell Duppa, an Englishman who was one of the first settlers in central Arizona, is credited with naming the state capital Phoenix. He suggested the name because the new town was being built upon the ruins of the ancient Hohokam civilization, similar to the mythical phoenix bird that rises from its own ashes, a symbolic representation of a new civilization emerging from the remnants of an old one. The name was made official in 1868. Among other names considered for the settlement were Stonewall and Pumpkinville. How does this sound as an NBA franchise: The Pumpkinville Suns?

​​​

Phoenix, Arizona is not the only city in the United States with that name. There’s a Phoenix, Oregon, a Phoenix, New York, a Phoenix, Illinois, a Phoenix, Louisiana, and a Phoenix, Maryland.

 

Phoenix, New York was established in 1848, but not out of the ashes or atop the ruins of a perished civilization. It was named for Alexander Phoenix, not the mythological bird. Nonetheless, the city burned to the ground in 1916 and rose from its own ashes in typical phoenix fashion.

 

The idea of a person, city, or other entity rising from the ashes is widely appealing. Not surprisingly, the University of Chicago adopted the phoenix as its mascot to represent the university’s and the city’s ascendancy following its great fire of 1871, the fire that was supposedly started by Mrs. Catherine O’Leary’s cow kicking over a lantern. Later proved to be a falsehood perpetrated by a reporter and perpetuated by anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment, this story persists in history’s hazy recollection of the details. In 1997, the Chicago City Council adopted a resolution exonerating Catherine O’Leary of any wrongdoing, clearing the family name after a mere 125 years. Sorry, O’Leary family, for the delay. You know, things happen.

 

So, who the heck is Phil? Phil  is the mascot of the University of Chicago. Phil the Phoenix. 

​

If there were phoenix feathers around, it would probably be illegal to possess one, but since a phoenix is mythological, no one can "have" a phoenix feather in the actual sense. However, in the Harry Potter universe, some characters do manage to possess phoenix feathers, like Harry Potter and Voldemort, whose wands both contain a core containing a feather from the same phoenix, Dumbledore's pet bird named Fawkes. Apparently a phoenix feather provides a significant upgrade to wizardry, allowing the greatest range of magic—better even than dragon heartstrings and unicorn tail hair.

 

Some claim that Harry's story is a rise from the ashes story, but I’m leaning heavily on hearsay (since I never read the books or saw the movies). Sorry, JK. I'm planning to someday. Real soon.