“The late Mr. [Carl] Sandburg was a public performer of the first rank ("Ker-oh-seen!" he crooned in one of the first TV pitches for the jet-engine — ole banjo on his knee, white hair mussed by the jet-stream), a poet of the second rank (who can ever forget that feline-footed fog?) and a biographer of awesome badness.”
"First Note on Abraham Lincoln"
1990s, United States - Essays 1952-1992 (1992)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Gore Vidal 163
American writer 1925–2012Related quotes

“Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.”

Bennie and the Jets
Song lyrics, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

Source: Climbing the Limitless Ladder: A Life in Chemistry (2010), p. 32

At the United Nations' 60th summit, 2005-09-16 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4247296.stm
2005

“Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama,
With my banjo on my knee.”
Oh! Susanna, W.C. Peters & Co. (1848).
Context: Oh I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee,
I'm going to Louisiana, my true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry
The sun so hot I froze to death; Susanna, don't you cry.
Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama,
With my banjo on my knee.