Miep, Jeff thanks you and I thank you

Miep Gies died on the 11th

She was 100 years old.

Hermine (Miep) Gies-Santrouschitz was the woman who brought us Anne Frank's diary. Soon after the Franks' arrest, she found the diary in scraps and kept them until Otto Frank's release from Auschwitz. She said she didn't read them until after Otto's return, and that even a teenager's privacy was sacred.  Miep was one of the six individuals who  provided supplies, news, and comfort during the two years the Franks, the Van Pels, and Fritz Pfeffer were in hiding. Her words on heroism are quite profound: "Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary." More can be found at NPR, the Anne Frank Foundation or her web site.

When I found out about Gies' death I couldn't help but think about Jeff Mangum. I was a sophomore in 1998 when his band Neutral Milk Hotel released their second and final album, "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", an album that all "intelligent music listeners love". To be truthful, it's probably one of the coolest albums to name-drop around any hipster.  In fact that album is so cool, it's probably passé. 

But the only thing I was listening to in '98 was Five Iron Frenzy, The Supertones, The Aquabats, and Amy Grant (her Christmas album still brings back wonderful memories)  SIDE NOTE: Had I known about NMH in high school I wouldn't have liked them. I would have said the guy's voice sucked and there was too much noise. I teach high schoolers now and the other day a student asked me when I graduated from high school. I told him. He then said, "Oh so you were in high school when 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea came out'". I nearly crapped myself. Currently, Aeroplane is one of my all time favorites, something I can always listen to no matter my mood. It is noisy, but it is beautiful. Mangum's simplicity and sincerity move me in a way that few things do.

Mangum has said that Aeroplane was largely inspired by Ann Frank. Apparently, he walked into a book store one day, bought The Diary of a Young girl, read it, and cried for days. Slate quotes Mangum saying, "I would go to bed every night and have dreams about having a time machine and somehow I'd have the ability to move through time and space freely, and save Anne Frank. Do you think that's embarrassing?" If you get a chance to listen to the album (or at least this song), if you never have, you'll hear lyrics both disturbing,"two headed boy, all floating in glass" and honest, "I love you Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ I love you, yes I do". 

So I believe a thank you is in order to Mrs. Gies. A thank you for her bravery, for her humanity, and for safe-keeping a manuscript filled with honesty and hope to inspire thousands, one of which, a musician who changed the way I listen to music.