A Time Without Anger:
In the early 60s John Littleford, an engineer working at the Berkley campus of the University of California, brought his dog Ludwig to campus with him. Soon after the Student Union complex and plaza opened, Ludwig began playing in the Sproul Plaza fountain while Littleford worked. Ludwig von Schwarenburg quickly became so widely associated with the fountain that the Regents named it after him, making it the first location on campus to be named after an animal.
The name stuck. In his 1965 article about Berkeley activism in The Nation, Hunter S Thompson wrote of activists on the walk near “Ludwig’s Fountain.” Before the days of the Free Speech Movement (FSM) and Holy Hubert Lindsey’s open-air pulpit, Sproul Plaza was Ludwig’s domain. Ludwig’s owner moved in 1965 and the dog’s time at the fountain ended.
Ludwig showed up every day and chose to participate in whatever was happening. Could this happen today? Where’s the anger? Even the Board of Regents agreed Ludwig was cute and gave his name to the fountain. And where were the bat-shit crazies yelling about dog saliva poisoning our children’s precious body fluids.
Don’t say those were calmer times! It was the Sixty’s! Vietnam protests. Civil Rights protests. Woman’s Rights protests. No, Ludwig’s success was caused by Ludwig, a big, friendly dog who just wanted to do whatever dogs do every day around a fountain. No anger involved. Is there a lesson there? Don’t ask me – I’m just the narrator.
kongoboken 