"He Gave Joy": Visiting PG Wodehouse's Grave on Long Island, New York

When Narrelle Harris and I visited New York in September 2014, we spent our last full day out of the city.

Catching a train along the Long Island Railroad on a sunny Sunday morning, we alighted at Speonk station, which serves the locality of Remsenburg.

It was in Remsenburg that our favourite author, PG Wodehouse, had spent his final years, and we wanted to pay tribute to him with a little pilgrimage while we were in the vicinity.

Visiting Wodehouse-related sites as I travel had become something of a hobby. In 2011 I visited the prison in Poland where he had been interned in World War Two; and earlier in 2014 I'd had a drink at the Berlin hotel where he was subsequently quartered. In 2012 I had joined a group of PG Wodehouse Society members on a memorable weekend excursion to Norfolk, UK, visiting places connected with his life and work.

I didn't know what to expect when we arrived at Remsenburg, and was pleasantly surprised to find a cafe in operation next to the train station:

When we stepped inside for coffee, we realised it actually was the station. Or more correctly, had once been the station until replaced by the windswept concrete platform a slight distance west.

The interior was decked out with reminders of its railway past:

When we mentioned our quest to our waitress, she pointed to a section of wall - and we were delighted to discover a framed photograph of Wodehouse (top right), strolling to the local post office to send a manuscript to his publisher:

It was heartening to see that PGW's local fame had not entirely subsided, some four decades after his death.

We walked to the Remsenburg Community Presbyterian Church, an attractive white wooden structure with a modest spire. It was a pleasant 20 minute stroll on a sunny day, along Phillips Avenue to its intersection with Country Road.

Though it was a residential area, there were plenty of trees along the walk, giving the area a serene, semi-rural feel. I could see why Wodehouse had chosen this place as a retreat late in life, after the scarring experience of his imprisonment and manipulation by the German military in World War Two.

As we crossed to the church a pair of cyclists paused courteously to let us pass, then we stopped at the front of the building to examine a large commemorative sign:

Detailing his life and work, it ended with the words "His gentle humour and superb mastery of the English language continue to bring joy to readers all over the world."

In the graveyard behind the church, we found his final resting place:

And on top, to one side, a small figure placed there by a fan, suggesting the Infant Samuel at Prayer. Plaster figures of Samuel are mentioned several times in Wodehouse's short stories and novels, often in an amusing light at odds with their apparent piety.

In my favourite Jeeves and Wooster novel, The Code of the Woosters, Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia uses a figure of Samuel to relieve her anxiety about the possible loss of her superb chef, Anatole:

She rose, and moved restlessly to the mantelpiece. I could see that she was looking for something to break as a relief to her surging emotions – what Jeeves would have called a palliative – and courteously drew her attention to a terra cotta figure of the Infant Samuel at Prayer. She thanked me briefly, and hurled it against the opposite wall.

So it was good to see an approximation of Samuel here, unsmashed and working away at the old stand (as Wodehouse would have put it):

At an initial loss of how to mark the occasion, Narrelle and I decided to read aloud a few of our favourite Wodehousean extracts (thank heaven for the Kindle app on our phones!).

So I read out part of the short story in which Bertie first hires Jeeves, then Narrelle read the funny poem A Pastoral; I continued with part of a Jeeves short story set in New York City; and Narrelle concluded with the amusing poem Good Gnu.

It was fun, and moving, and made us shed a few tears as well.

After a while we started walking back to the station, and met one of the cyclists who'd let us cross earlier. It turned out he was originally from Perth, which surprised me not at all - you find random Australians everywhere around the world, in the seemingly most unlikely places.

Living in the area, he was curious about our mission, and why so many people made the trek out to Long Island to visit Wodehouse's grave. I could tell he was unfamiliar with PGW's work, so I mumbled a few words about enjoying his books and we pushed on.

Looking back, however, I wished I'd expressed myself more fully. All I needed to do was to borrow three words inscribed at the base of his gravestone: "He gave joy."

Jeeves & Wooster: 100 Years of Comic Rannygazoo

Jeeves came in with the tea.

'Jeeves,' I said, 'we start for America on Saturday.'

'Very good, sir,' he said; 'which suit will you wear?'

New York is a large city conveniently situated on the edge of America, so that you step off the liner right on to it without an effort. You can't lose your way. You go out of a barn and down some stairs, and there you are, right in among it.

The only possible objection any reasonable chappie could find to the place is that they loose you into it from the boat at such an ungodly hour.

And so one of the great comedy duos of English literature was established, exactly a century ago today.

On 18 September 1915, PG Wodehouse's short story Extricating Young Gussie appeared in the American weekly magazine, The Saturday Evening Post.

The Octagon at Hunstanton Hall, Norfolk,
memorably used as a setting in the 1930 short
story Jeeves and the Impending Doom.
I visited it in 2012.

Having been in publication since 1821, the Post was a grab-bag of opinion pieces, humorous items, poetry, fiction and illustrations (a year later it would discover the art of Norman Rockwell).

It was the perfect home for the trans-Atlantic comic fiction of Wodehouse, who was one of the first modern writers to establish a large following in both the UK and the USA.

A hundred years later, his fiction still reads well. Though it's set in a bygone age, that bygone age is itself a fantasy world which never truly existed; so it's still as entertaining an arena for Bertie Wooster's social mishaps as it was then.

So much have I enjoyed the Jeeves and Wooster stories (and the author's many other novels and short stories), that I've occasionally travelled to locations associated with Wodehouse.

There's something fulfilling about travel with a theme that has personal meaning. This is what I've been able to achieve so far along PG Wodehouse's timeline (click to follow links to more detail):

• Finding in 2011 the prison in Germany (now Poland) where he was imprisoned as a civilian by the German military in World War Two;
• Touring Norfolk with Britain's PG Wodehouse Society in 2012, visiting locations associated with the author, his work and his family;
• Joining a walking tour of locations in London's West End connected with Wodehouse's life and fiction, as a follow-up to the 2012 Norfolk tour;
• Toasting PGW in 2014 in the bar at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, where he lived for a time after being released from the WWII prison camp;
• Visiting Wodehouse's grave on Long Island, New York in 2014.

Next month I'll be attending Psmith in Pseattle, the latest instalment of the biennial convention hosted by the USA's Wodehouse Society.

I'm looking forward to it. Following PG Wodehouse's footsteps around the world may be an obsession, but as obsessions go it's a harmless one. Bertie Wooster would likely describe it as "loony", but I trust the ever-tactful Jeeves would let me off with a mere "eccentric".

Extricating Young Gussie is out of copyright in the USA, so you may read the entire story here.

Quirky Signs of New York

They don't call it the Big Apple for nothing. Actually, why do they call it the Big Apple?

Strike that. Instead, check out these weird and/or intriguing signs I spotted on the streets of New York City last year...

I saw the above sign on a wall in Greenwich Village, and wondered if it was a joke. Nope. I found out later that there was once a network of fallout shelters throughout the USA, for use during a nuclear war.

This is the cheery sign outside the entrance of the Morbid Anatomy Museum in the Gowanus neighbourhood of Brooklyn, which opened in 2014. The institution focuses on the art surrounding death, so fair enough I guess.

I spotted the above outside a design studio in Bushwick, part of Brooklyn. Do we see a macabre theme emerging?

One of the more outlandish subway platform signs, at this station serving Little Italy and Chinatown. Love the ear.

Lower East Side ramen joint. Hey, even the Dark Knight has to eat sometimes.

Finally, I saw this on a pinboard in a Bushwick cafe. Go Harlan!

Disclosure: I paid for my own travel to New York, but received discounted accommodation at the Z Hotel NYC and the Novotel Times Square. For info about the city's attractions, check out nycgo.com.

Ellis Island: Gateway to New York

Thanks to NYC & Co, when visiting New York in September Narrelle Harris and I were able to take the popular cruise to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Lady Liberty was a sight for sore eyes, it's true...

... but we decided not to disembark at Liberty Island. The statue looked pretty good from on deck, but what we were really interested in visiting was the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island:

From 1892 to 1954, this island was the major clearance station for immigrants entering the United States, processing some 12 million arrivals in that period.

Despite its significant role in the nation's growth, after its closure the island and its facilities were left to slowly deteriorate. Finally, decades later in 1990, the building was restored and opened as a museum.

It's a great place to visit, with interesting exhibits dotted through its many rooms and its lofty Great Hall:

One of the more unusual exhibits which fascinated me was a series of glass cases containing decayed fixtures and fittings, found in the building prior to restoration:

Ellis Island is a great New York City experience. Without this place, the city would never have become the diverse hotch-potch of cultures it is today; a thought worth remembering in our sometimes paranoid modern times.

Disclosure: I visited Ellis Island with the assistance of NYC & Co. Check out its official guide to New York City's attractions at NYCgo.com.

Review: JFK-LAX in Qantas Premium Economy Class

There's nothing like an upgrade to put a smile on one's face, especially on a long flight.

We're flying Qantas from New York to Melbourne. The first leg is a six-hour flight across the breadth of the USA to LAX, where we'll change planes.

Premium Economy in our Boeing 747-400 is tucked into its own small section between a galley and the Economy Class seats behind.

You can't guarantee there won't be screaming babies and other such hazards in this class of travel, but it seems less likely than in Economy.

The calm and compactness of the section is indeed very soothing.

Also appreciated, of course, is the extra space that comes with Premium Economy.

I can fully stretch out my legs without touching the seat in front, and there's sufficient seat width that Narrelle and I are able to sit comfortably side by side without being mashed into each other.

Entertainment is provided by a screen which swivels out of one armrest.
 

There's a good mix of movies, and I'm pleased to see a category devoted to Australian films.

Since I've just departed New York, however, I decide to revisit the streets of Manhattan via The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Dinner is a choice of salmon or cannelloni filled with ricotta, and I choose the latter. It's excellent. Tasty and filling, and matches well with a glass of Margaret River chardonnay.

As I've discovered on other flights, Qantas' interpretation of Premium Economy is very good, a distinct cut above Economy Class.

It's been a very pleasant way to travel between two great American cities.

Now it's time to switch onto an Airbus A380, and head home.

Disclosure: I paid for my own flight but was upgraded to Premium Economy by Qantas.

The Many Moods of the New York Skyline

For the first few nights of our recent New York visit, we were staying at the Z Hotel NYC.

When you think of visiting New York, you think first of Manhattan. But the Z Hotel is in the Long Island City district of Queens, just across the Queensboro Bridge from Manhattan's Midtown.

The advantage of this slight geographical remove? The view.

This part of Long Island City is low-rise, mostly a collection of automotive businesses. While that might not sound so attractive on the ground, it means that the tall Z Hotel building has an uninterrupted view west across the East River to Manhattan's famous skyline.

There's a good view from the hotel's rooms, but the most spectacular vantage point is the rooftop bar.

Open-air and with large glass panes around its edge, it offers an expansive view of the city, with key landmarks such as the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building clearly visible.

I went up there every evening and on the occasional morning before setting out for the day. While the view was always impressive in itself, the different light conditions made it a new experience each time.

Here's what I mean...

Pic 1: Taken 9.09pm, 8 September.

Mood: Mysterious. You can see the Empire State Building on the left and the Chrysler Building a bit to the right of that. The Queensboro Bridge is on the right.

Pic 2: Taken 7.38am, 9 September.

Mood: Cheerful.

Pic 3: Taken 7.43pm, 10 September.

Mood: Expectant.

Pic 4: Taken 7.59pm, 10 September.

Mood: Secretive.

Pic 5: Taken 6.39am, 12 September.

Mood: Freaky!

Can't wait to go back.

Disclosure time: On this trip I received discounted accommodation at the Z Hotel NYC.

Curios of New York

I've sent the past week in New York. It's my first time in the city, and I've amassed plenty of material for travel articles which I'll be writing once I get home.

In the meantime, however, here are eight distinctive items I've spotted in the Big Apple.

1. The Hanging Traffic Light:

OK, I knew this was a pan-American thing before I came to NYC; but it's appeared in so many TV shows and movies that it caught my eye anew. Pure Americana.

2. The Old Fire Alarm Post:

We passed this every day when walking to and from our first hotel, the Z Hotel across the East River in Queens. It dated presumably from the days when few people had telephone access - pulling the lever would automatically alert the fire department.

3. The Cupcake ATM:

We spotted this on Lexington Avenue - and it worked! Apparently it's a Californian innovation, but it was a fun discovery on our first outing to Manhattan.

4. Old Churchyards:

You don't think of New York as being an old city with a humble past, such is its energy. But here and there you'll stumble across pockets of history, even in the most built-up areas. This old churchyard was a tranquil space amid the bustle of the financial district.

5. Fiction Intruding Into Reality:

These huge posters hanging diagonally opposite our second hotel, the hyper-modern Novotel Times Square, appear to have slipped from the pages of The Hunger Games.

6. The New Speakeasies:

There's a new batch of hip small bars in New York, deliberately obscuring their identities as an echo of the speakeasy bars of the Prohibition era. At this Greenwich Village bar, Employees Only, patrons enter past a fake shopfront suggesting a psychic's parlour.

7. The Anti-Plaque:

This Greenwich Village building is sandwiched between two buildings bearing plaques, each describing an illustrious literary resident. Not to be outdone, the owner added his own.

8. The World's Most Improbable Chips:

Several people told us about these - in horror - but we met no-one who had actually tasted them. Even in adventurous New York, apparently, there are limits.

Disclosure time: On this trip I received discounted accommodation from the Z NYC Hotel and the Novotel New York Times Square, and general assistance from NYC & Co.