Exploring a corn maze is a great way to get outside and enjoy the fall season with friends and family — but who came up with the idea of wandering around a corn field for fun? As it turns out, outdoor mazes are an ancient tradition, and the American corn maze of the ‘90s sprouted from the mazes of 17th-century European gardens. Don’t believe it? Here’s a quick tour of corn maze history. CornMazes Date Back to Ancient Greece? A HISTORICAL LOOK AT THIS WACKY FALL TRADITION
Book Reviews With Chris Ball EYE ON THE BALL
My first memory of Jimi Hendrix is from watching the movie “Woodstock” with my father. I can still remember being in awe of his showmanship and skill on the guitar. As I got older and more interested in classic rock, I began to truly appreciate what an innovative and brilliant musician he was.
There is so much mythology around Hendrix, and it’s sometimes hard to determine what is fact and what is fiction. Author Charles Cross does a great job telling the story of Hendrix’s brief and often turbulent life. What emerges is a picture of a shy and lonely young man who had a very difficult upbringing. The only consistent companion in his life was his guitar. Like so many people who achieve superstardom, Hendrix’s meteoric rise to fame was built on hard work and a few good breaks. After a brief stint in the Army, he decided to form a band and make a living in music. He cut his teeth on the nightclub circuit in the South, playing gigs for legends like the Isley Brothers, Sam Cooke, and Little Richard. He eventually ended up in New York City and, during a performance, was noticed by Keith Richards’ girlfriend, Linda Keith. Linda recommended him to some of her musical connections, and the rest is history. What followed was one of the most exciting and creative four years in rock-and-roll history. From burning his guitar at the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival to his triumph at Woodstock, by 1969, Hendrix became the highest-paid musician in the world. Despite his fame and fortune, Hendrix often lived a sad and lonely life. Shy and quiet when offstage, he dealt with his insecurities through alcohol and drugs. He felt uncomfortable with fame and privately craved the family life he never had. The pressures of the music business, bad business deals, and unscrupulous promoters all took their toll. Sadly, on Sept. 18, 1970, Jimi died at only 27 years old. “Room Full of Mirrors” gives us insight into Hendrix’s personality and ambition. It is also another story of someone who seemingly had it all yet struggled to deal with the fame and fortune he achieved. Part of his mystique is due to the fact he was with us for such a short time. He is one of the great “what if” stories in music history.
THE MINOTAUR AND THE MAZE Have you heard of Theseus and the Minotaur? This ancient Greek legend tells the story of the hero Theseus, who ventured into an elaborate maze to kill the half-man, half-bull imprisoned there. The monstrous Minotaur was known to eat heroes, and the labyrinth was known to trap them, but Theseus managed to slay the Minotaur and find his way home with the help of a string that he unspooled as he walked.
This story isn’t the first recorded example of a maze or labyrinth — according to the World History encyclopedia, “[L]abyrinths and labyrinthine symbols have been dated to the Neolithic Age in regions as diverse as modern-day Turkey, Ireland, Greece, and India, among others” — but it’s perhaps the most famous ancient tale. If you’ve ever navigated a Halloween corn maze staffed by ghouls and ghosts, you can see the parallels! GARDEN ART TO GET LOST IN Mazes formed from bushes began popping up European gardens in the 17th century. They were a popular artistic feature of upper-class gardens in England, more for looking at than solving. One famous example is the half-mile-long Hampton Maze, which was planted in 1690 and still stands today. THE CORN MAZE: AN AMERICAN INVENTION Garden mazes eventually hopped the pond to America but didn’t become interactive puzzles until Don Frantz, Creative Director of the American Maze Company, came on the scene. In 1993, Frantz created the “first ever cornfield maze for private and public entertainment” to attract college kids in Pennsylvania. Today, every small-town corn maze is a descendant of his “Amazing Maize Maze.” To learn more about that wacky history, visit AmericanMaze.com.
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