Topical Guide 372
Mark Dorset
Fire: As a Symbol for Passion, Love, and Romance
On their first night alone, Herb began bustling around as soon as he got home from work, laying a fire in the fireplace, plumping the pillows on the sofa, humming “Lake Serenity Serenade,” while he worked. As soon as he and Lorna had finished dinner, Herb lit the fire and began fussing at it with the bellows. When he had it going to his satisfaction, he went into the kitchen and tugged Lorna away from the sink, tugged her, against her coy objections, into the living room, to the sofa, where he sat her down and sat himself beside her and put his arm around her.
“I’ve been waiting years for this,” he said.Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 16
I don’t want to set the world on fire.
I just want to start a flame in your heart.
In my heart I have but one desire,
And that one is you.
No other will do.
I’ve lost all ambition for worldly acclaim.
I just want to be the one you love.
And with your admission that you feel the same,
I’ll have reached the goal I’m dreaming of,
Believe me.Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham, Sol Marcus, and Eddie Seiler
The Ink Spots (Bill Kenny, Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, and Orville Jones) recorded “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” in 1941. It was released by Decca in September of that year.
Have you missed an episode or two or several?
You can begin reading at the beginning or you can catch up by visiting the archive or consulting the index to the Topical Guide.
You can listen to the episodes on the Personal History podcast. Begin at the beginning or scroll through the episodes to find what you’ve missed.
You can ensure that you never miss a future issue by getting a free subscription. (You can help support the work by choosing a paid subscription instead.)
At Apple Books you can download free eBooks of “My Mother Takes a Tumble,” “Do Clams Bite?,” “Life on the Bolotomy,” “The Static of the Spheres,” “The Fox and the Clam,” “The Girl with the White Fur Muff,” “Take the Long Way Home,” “Call Me Larry,” and “The Young Tars,” the nine novellas in Little Follies, and Little Follies itself, which will give you all the novellas in one handy package.
You’ll find overviews of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy (a pdf document) and at Encyclopedia.com.