His job, to which he had just been appointed by the governor, was to keep the two sides apart and calm down the city, just now the most violent in America.
His vision of the Midwest as a place apart, a calm heartland of bedrock American values, is one that took root in the 1940's, when The Tribune was said to be the most widely read newspaper in America.
Watching the blasts rip apart the Calm Lands is pretty horrific, to say the least.
But he also acknowledged that what he left behind -- a goal of an initial seven days, followed by six weeks of "absolute calm" -- may well fall apart, and quickly.
The blasts, about two minutes apart, shattered the calm of a Muslim Sabbath morning and nearly 11 months without significant violence in Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital.
The Lebanese army was deployed, and calm was reported early Monday, apart from sporadic gunfire.
But let's take Mr. Elmer's approach apart with cool, calm logic.
Teach Mindfulness: Children must be taught how to calm themselves down when falling apart or feeling aggressive.
Watching the Yankees take apart the Mets calmed him a little, but only a little.
The next morning, in an 18-hole playoff, Ouimet again played brilliantly and with preternatural calm, while Vardon and Ray came apart.
