Pauline Kael on Richard Nixon -- true?

[BobT]

@astro

I remember him! He did “The Phantom Tollbooth” which I enjoyed as youngster. Here’s a short bio on him.

Jules Feiffer just did the illustrations for “The Phantom Tollbooth”. It was written by Norton Juster.

[CC]

No, you’re mixed up. Jules Norton and Justin Feifer were a song and dance team in the 20’s who were in the movie,* The Tollhouse Phaeton. *

[samclem]

Fred Shapiro over at the American Dialect Society found this for us:

Here’s a definitive answer. Pauline Kael spoke at the MLA conference in 1972. The New York Times, 28 Dec. 1972, p. 33, quotes her as
follows:

“‘I live in a rather special world,’ Miss Kael said, continuing: ‘I only
know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know.
They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel
them.’”

At least, that would show where the Kael connection originated.

Another poster over there volunteered that he remembered from 4th grade someone saying that they didn’t know how Truman won–everyone they knew voted for Dewey.

Working on taking it back a bit beyone Ms. Kael.