Gothic Icon of the Week

Lydia Deetz as an adult.

Taken from here.

Icon of the Week

George Santayana, originally named Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, was born this day in Madrid, Spain, in 1863. Best known for his famous quotation “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” Santayana was a Spanish American philosopher and author who wrote in English and who had been raised and educated in the United States of America.

One of these days, I intend to make it all the way through his novel The Last Puritan even though I find it hard to imagine a storyline that can do that title justice.

Icon of the Week

Jorge Negrete was born on this day back in 1911. He was one of my late father's favorite singers so naturally he is long overdue for a mention on this site.

Icon of the Week

Yesterday marked the birthdate of one of Spain's most prolific playwrights, Lope de Vega, so it only seems right to elect him this week's icon. He was one of the most famous playwrights of Spain's Golden Age and among other things, he managed to write more plays than Shakespeare. So next time I'm tempted to slack off on my blogging, I'll have his example to consider.

Icons of the Week

Jorge Negrete
George Santayana
Juan Seguín
Lope de Vega

Icon of the Week



Just in case you didn't recognize him, my official icon -- for now, at least -- is Juan Seguín, the Tejano hero who fought on the winning side of the Texas Revolution. Later on, he would also fight for equal rights for Texans of Mexican descent -- but it would be a fight that he would lose.

I will admit that he is not as recognizable as Zorro but he is still worth knowing about. And unlike Zorro, he actually did exist in real life.