. . .most of the Northeast too. For me, Sandy has always conjured up: 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) — if only Madame Marie could tell us now what we most need to know… Read the rest
A Westport Legend: iIlustrator and writer Len Fisher
This morning I had the privilege to meet Len Fisher, one of Westport’s significant artists. Len’s a Renaissance man: author, painter, designer, and illustrator. He’s prolific to boot! He’s written a number of his own books and illustrated at least 260 for other authors.
Fisher’s work won countless awards including a Pulitzer for painting, the Christopher Medal for illustration, the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, and the New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Books Award.
I met with Len to learn more about Westport writers.
My Year as a Clown takes place in the fictional town of Putnam’s Landing, the very same PL that Westport writer, Max Shulman wrote about in Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys!. PL was modeled on the Westport of the 1950′s. Chuck Morgan, of course, lives in the PL of 2003, where trees fall faster than in the Amazon because of the McMansion craze.
Although I’d done research about Westport for specific aspects of the book, now that the novel is done, I wanted to know more about what happened back in the day. Over the next few months I’ll be interviewing people who have lived in Westport long enough to remember when this town was filled with artists. … Read the rest
A whole new world opened up . . .
I traded in my Blackberry Torch for the HTC One X on the Android Platform this week and it has rocked my world. 4g is like going from dial-up to DSL, it’s a game changer.
Of course I’d been reading about it, but until this ‘information access’ is in your hands and on the go, you don’t really understand. I thought the Blackberry Torch gave me what I needed. Email was fabulous. Apps were limited, but at least I had the MLB 12, providing the Philly radio broadcast of every game this season.
But I must admit, the video highlights were painful to access. When I was with friends and we needed to know the start of a movie or the phone number of the local Chinese take-out, those with iPhones had the answer before I’d even typed in a search.
Not anymore.
I wanted the 5, but I couldn’t wait because I’d lost my phone. I was offered a deal on the 4, and I considered it because I wanted to be part of the cool crowd, but when I looked at the Samsung and HTC, I opted to stand rather than sit with Apple.
I’m sure there are trade-offs … Read the rest
Philly Festival Benefit for Sierra Club
On a chilly Saturday I had the honor to play a half-hour set at the Philly benefit for the Sierra Club. Lots of great singer songwriters were on the bill during the day, some great bands played in the evening. I’ll post more details later in the week.