New Pages-In Search of Lovely Lit

I don't belong to a book club--too restricting. I don't really pay too much attention to the Best Seller List---too commercial! I love to roam the aisles of a wonderful bookstore and discover treasures on my own. Like a lot of us, I don't have nearly as much time to curl up with a book as I would like so in the precious moments when I can sit and read I want to LOVE what I am reading.

Now I know that no book comes with a money back guarantee so I trust my own instincts. Those instincts,however, can often lead me down the same aisles with the same genre of literature---sometimes you need a fresh page!

When I don't have time to go play at my favorite bookshops I have found three sites that are like sitting with friends and chatting about books. To help me find my next page turner these "friends" have introduced me to books I might not have picked up off the shelf.

Women's Book Reviews is a "cosy" site that is all about loving books and searching for that next great read. Founder Debbie Weiss dedicated the site to her Mom whose house "...looks like the Library of Congress with books on every shelf imaginable. Her love of the written word has inspired me to keep on searching for all those special tomes that do exist."
Weiss describes the site as "a place where women could go to find out what their friends are reading --- and which books their friends are enjoying --- or not enjoying. Who better to recommend a good book, but a close friend?!...After all, you don't need to work for the N.Y. Times to have an opinion about a book"

It's true...even friends who may not enjoy the same sort of books that you usually like may have some fresh ideas on their shelves. The concept for the site is simple and a lot of fun. On Women's Book Reviews you can read reviews, rate a book and you are asked to contribute your opinions on books you have read. I love the diversity of books I find on the site-sure there are the bestsellers and paperback piles but there are lots of titles I might never have seen. All they ask is that you be honest, courteous and watch your language!!! when reviewing books-fair enough!

Another site worth playing in is GoodReads This site is like a giant library with zillions of titles. You can go to the site and create your own "library" of books you have read, want to read, have heard about...You have three shelves of read, currently reading and want to read...from there you can review books, read reviews, rate what you have read. Have you ever bought a book or borrowed a book and got into it only to realize you have already read it? Goodreads is a great way to organize yourself. You can create your own shelves by your categories-"Books to Knit With" would be one of mine! You can sort your books shelves by title, date read...You can find out tons of info on any book and also become part of a virtual book club or discussion group---lots of fun and a great way to organize your reading and your library.

My favorite site though is dedicated to Independent Bookstores, IndieBound. Online info is great and a wonderful place to learn more about books you might want to read but as I said nothing is as much fun as wandering through a GOOD bookstore and stumbling upon the next treasure. IndieBound is the on line resource from the Independent Bookseller's whose philosophy it is to "...help people across the United States share and find independently-owned businesses. By connecting indie-conscious people with local businesses, we're working to strengthen the health of Main Street ecosystems across the United States." In a world filled with malls and chain store style don't you love finding that great little shop that carries designers that have not made it into the malls, thank goodness! Independent bookstores offer the same great experience for readers. As the economy sputters small town centers I feel are becoming more and more important to the economic health of a community. Independent bookstores offer a community experience to reading and sharing the love of books, they are also a great spot to pass on the joy of reading to kids with lots of groups and lectures and fun activities always planned. On IndieBound you can find great Independent Book shops in your neighborhood and search for a bookshop wherever you may be traveling. Each month you can print off their Indie Next List-"Great Books from Booksellers You Trust". There are also lists for reading groups and kids . On the site you can create your own Wish lList to take with you when you visit a shop and add your favorite shops, comment on a shop you found...I love Independent Bookstores and in a planet filled with look-alike book covers they can help you find the best tomes to put on top of your stack!

Happy Reading!

The Answers are Blowing in the Wind-In Appreciation, Mary Travers

“We’ve learned that it will take more than one generation to bring about change," Mary once said. “The fight for civil rights has developed into a broader concern for human rights, and that encompasses a great many people and countries. Those of us who live in a democracy have a responsibility to be the voice for those whose voices are stilled." Mary Travers

She was the emotional and physical center as she stood and sang from her soul between the "boys" Noel Paul Stokey and Peter Yarrow as the heart of Peter, Paul and Mary. Mary Travers' powerful and passionate presence with her blond swingy hair transcended the traditional folk music audience.

Peter, Paul and Mary made folk music accessible, they introduced Bob Dylan to a mainstream audience and believed that folk music could reach all people across race and economic lines. Their music was the background theme music for the extraordinary events and change this country went through in the 1960s and it was also an instrument of that change and a catalyst for a movement of peace and equality.

Unlike a lot of the "pop culture" of the decade,however, Peter Paul and Mary's music did not fade as the country changed and they "showed up" wherever there was injustice, whenever the country needed to hear their voices they were there-anti-nuclear, anti-apartheid, worker's rights...and at the center was Mary Travers. Her voice resonated through halls, and across parks and in auditoriums throughout the country-audiences came for the music and left believing the world could be a better place. To achieve that change Peter, Paul and Mary shared the music, believing the music should be passed on to generations as they did in Peter, Paul and Mommy
and my favorite Peter, Paul & Mommy, Too . I love the PBS specialPeter, Paul and Mommy, Too [90 Minute Concert] [VHS] and watching Mary sing from her very core to her grandchildren was a memorable three Kleenex moment that should be shared with all ages.

The trio sang together for nearly 50 years. They won five Grammy's,had 13 Top 40 hits including songs such as "Blowing' In The Wind," "If I Had A Hammer," "Leaving On A Jet Plane," "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," "500 Miles" and, of course, "Puff, The Magic Dragon." "If I Had a Hammer" became an anthem of the Civil Rights movement” as they sang at the 1963 March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech.

Their roots were in folk music but it was Mary Travers presence that helped them reach beyond the coffee house tradition and reach top 40 status and who kept their music out in front as an instrument of change and the sound of political action for every decade since. Traditionalists criticized that perhaps they "sold out" but Mary Travers would argue that they were accessible and singing to so many more people- moving them to action with their voices and reaching more than one generation with their call for freedom and justice.

"I'm not sure I want to be singing 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' when I'm 75," she said in one interview. "But I know I'll still be singing 'Blowin' in the Wind.' "
Their work may be best known for the anthems they sang during the anti-war and civil rights movements but they continued to be out in front of the movements that were to change the direction of America, championing the rights of the disenfranchised and the legitimacy of those who fought for fairness. They proved time and again that music can change the world and Mary Travers voice peace and justice and a better planet will be missed.

"I have a sort of sampler in my head," Travers said, "that--paraphrasing the rabbinical scholar--says, 'It's not your duty to finish the task, it is your duty not to neglect it.' If war and hunger and racism were easy things to get rid of, I would assume we would have gotten rid of them already."

Lipstick on His Collar-Dressing Well is the Best Revenge! MAD about the Style, Betty Draper's Closet

Close the laptop, shut off the cell phone, cancel all plans...Tonight the third season of arguably the best series on television, Mad Men, premiers. The series is graced with pitch perfect writing that is filled with carefully and slowly revealed characters, characters that individually and collectively portray and explore the extraordinary period of change that was the late 50s and 60s. These are characters you care about, love to hate and are amazed by. Mad Men keeps you wanting more. The show is exquisitely crafted with sets that stage the era, which is truly the central point of Mad Men, to every detail. The story line captures the extraordinary shift in lifestyle and culture this country would undergo in those years. The performances pull you into that world of smoke filled rooms and Mad Men is flawless in its representation of the most fascinating time in the twentieth century, a time of revolutionary societal change. Watching Mad men,however, you stop and wonder how much has really changed!

Mad Men is a reason to sit and watch TV at a time when there is not much reason to do so,this is appointment viewing! I love to re-watch Mad Men to look at , yes John Hamm, but also the clothes, the styling, the jewelry... The fashion and the "look" of Mad Men is meticulously selected to not only define the characters but also reflect the changes that they experience and that the country was experiencing. The fashions of the series tell so much of the story, especially about women and their role---and it is a powerful one.

The wardrobes are to envy and sitting in flip flops and cut off shorts I wonder how my Mother did it ...and I want everything in Betty Draper's closet!

Betty's closet is filled with the clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry that work forever-the look of Dior, Hermes, Bonnie Cashen,Givenchy...

Betty is married to the mysterious, enigmatic, habitually unfaithful and totally delicious ad man Don Draper. Their life, a portrait of what the magazine's sold in the late 50s and early 60s, one of suburban bliss...which rarely was....

Betty Draper's style is perfectly coiffed and adorned. Madmen costume designer Janie Bryant describes Betty's look as "... quite simple but so gorgeous. And you know, you still see women like this. That beautiful classic style from the period that they've carried on for their entire lives..."

Bryant defines Betty's wardrobe to reveal the character her role as wife and mother and her reality "...its about having that image and maintaining that sense of perfection, so it's sort of how everyone sees her from the outside and not so much what's on the inside."

Beautifully played by January Jones, Betty Draper carries a cool serene exterior that hides to perfection the fragility that lies under the cashmere and pearls.

She is part Donna Reed




part Grace Kelley

part Jackie Kennedy

and a little Marilyn...

Of course to go with all the wonderful clothes, bags, shoes and jewelry...Betty also has The Best accessory...John Hamm!

Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair

The Anchor of our Lives-In Appreciation, Walter Cronkite

"Our job is only to hold up the mirror - to tell and show the public what has happened." Walter Cronkite

In an age before Twitter, Blogs, Blackberrys, texting, email and even cable news, there were three networks that televised the news, but there was one man behind a simple desk that "delivered" the news.

Each evening America had dinner with Walter Cronkite and the CBS Evening News as the man who would become the narrator of our lives reviewed the events of our communal day.

Walter Cronkite died yesterday at the age of 92. It is safe to say there will never be one of his kind again...no one will unite this country each evening, collect all of us in one place at one time to review events, inform us and discuss "the way it is". The news media is too vast and fragmented, as perhaps we are as a country.


"Walter was always more than just an anchor,... He was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day; a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. He was family. He invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down. This country has lost an icon and a dear friend, and he will be truly missed." President Obama on Walter Cronkite

Listening to all the reports on his life it is the voice that resonates. The voice that united a country through tumultuous days, the voice that quavered as he announced a young President had been assassinated, the voice that filled with the glee of a wondrous little boy as he declared that .".. Man on the Moon...oh boy", the voice that America had dinner with each evening as they waited to hear about their day. The cadence of that voice was a part of the soundtrack of our lives. He was the source, if he said so then it was so. A voice that informed without talking at his audience or down to his audience but rather with his audience, taking them through the facts. His was the voice that told us the way it was.

It was an era when one man could unite a nation, inform a nation, but not just any man. At one point his audience was so large, and his presence in American life so entrenched, that he was declared the Most Trusted Man in America out polling the President of the Untied States. In fact, there were many efforts to draft him to run for office. Walter Cronkite even looked the part-He was affectionately known to his viewers as "Uncle Walter" because he was such a part of their daily experience.

Walter Cronkite personified American journalism, in fact he defined it. He pioneered the role of Anchor so much so that in other countries news anchors are termed Cronkiters. Yet,Walter Cronkite was not a news reader. He believed that telling the story was everything, getting the facts right and digging for the truth, shoe leather journalism. He came from print and that was how he did his job as a journalist-it was about the news, direct, accurate, truth. No packaging, no glitz, no polished look, just the stories of the day.

He reported through some of the most tumultuous days in American history-the assassinations of JFK, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King. The race riots through the Civil Rights Movement, The Vietnam War and the anti-war movement, Watergate and the resignation of a President. Through all of those events it was Walter Cronkite the nation looked toward, Walter Cronkite that brought the country together in one place to learn, be informed and to try to understand.

Truly he found the greatest joy in reporting on the space program and the moon landing. His coverage defined our memories of those days...school children gathered around fuzzy black and white TV sets in classrooms everywhere as Cronkite explained with a model in hand what the astronauts were doing. Cronkite anchored the launch of Apollo 11, shouting for all of us "go, baby, go" as it rocketed into space. Cronkite stayed on the air for 24 of the network’s 27 hours of coverage of the lunar walk special. His coverage of the space program is a part of NASA's history and in 2006 he was presented with NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award, the only "civilian" to receive it for his coverage from the Mercury program to the Space Shuttle. So sad to think he will not celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 this week.

"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story"

He went to Vietnam to do just that and returned to tell the country what this most trusted man believed about that war:

“To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion....It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and did the best they could.”


By closing his broadcast with those words, by telling the public that believed so much in what he told them the truth about Vietnam, he changed the mood in this country about that war. President Lyndon Johnson declared that "...if I've lost Cronkite,I've lost Middle America..."

Walter Cronkite did not like the way news was packaged and presented and he didn't hold with a 24 hour news cycle. He was passionate about his profession, and a determined advocate of Freedom of the Press warning of the chilling repercussions of government intervention in news reporting. Though he was a pioneer of television journalism he never left his print roots always believing that print was where a story could really be told well.

"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough."

When he retired, not happily, in 1981 a reporter for the New Republic said it was like "...looking at the dollar bill without George Washington". He had become the Father of our Country. Walter Cronkite was an Anchor in our lives and each evening with integrity, compassion, exquisite fairness, humanity and dedicated purpose Walter Cronkite came into our homes, put his arm around us and told us the truth.

I can`t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he`s got.

She Dreamed A Dream...and Got The Last Laugh-A fairy Tale Comes to Life

Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. ~Wendy Wasserstein

"I'm going to make that audience rock" she said as she waited to take the stage.

When Susan Boyle walked on to the stage of Britain's Got Talent television show to audition the live audience giggled and snickered and the judges could be seen rolling their eyes. She certainly didn't look like a would-be star. A bit pudgy, in need of a makeover ,but clearly feisty and confident in her own voice with a twinkle of "Just wait" in her eyes.

When Simon Cowell asked her the completely inappropriate question about her age she told him she was 47. The audience laughed at her- "and that's just one side of me"she said with great self deprecating humor. She is really 48, "unemployed but looking", lives alone in a village in Scotland with her cat Pebbles, "never been married,never been kissed". This "frumpy" middle aged spit fire sings in her church choir and wants to be a professional singer as famous as Elaine Paige. She had decided to audition after battling depression after losing her Mother-she had not sung since her Mother passed away and had never sung in front of a large audience. Her confidence in tact, she proceeded to turn the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" into a dream come true. In one amazing performance, that no one but her saw coming, Susan Boyle lifted the spirit of everyone who watched not to mention every woman over 40 and anyone who has ever known they were good but couldn't get past the first impression.

She wants to be as successful as Elaine Paige she told the judges...again more eye rolling ...Then she began to sing. Mouths dropped and the entire audience rose to their feet to cheer her on-she left the judges, even the curmudgeon-esque Simon Cowell, in complete shock

"...When you stood there with that cheeky grin and said you wanted to be Elaine Paige everyone was laughing...I'm reeling from shock...no one is laughing now..." "Everyone was against you...we were all being so cynical...the biggest wake up call ever...a complete privilege listening to that... stunning, incredible performance ...the biggest yes I have ever given anybody...mind blowing" the judges Pierce Morgan, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell exclaimed.

"Susan Boyle you can go back to the village with your head held high its 3 Yesses" Simon told her,and the audience that mocked her roared with elation

Over 5 million have seen this video. There are Susan Boyle websites and fan clubs popping up everywhere. It is the ultimate feel good story in a time that everyone needs to believe that anything is possible.

Susan Boyle's performance is a triumph not only for her but also for all women of a certain age who have a dream-The Ugly Duckling is indeed a Swan!

Forget TWEETS-It's All About PEEPS!

Everyone is busy Tweeting on Twitter

Chicago Tribune

but if you really have time on your hands you can still enter the National Geographic Peeps in Places Challenge starring the headliner of every Easter basket-Marshmallow Peeps.

Peeps may send you into a sugar coma but somehow it just isn't Easter, or spring for that matter, without their little faces appearing on the shelves of drugstores and markets. Peeps are the ultimate in nostalgia candy and these days I think everyone is looking for reminders of comfy and fun.

Give PEEPS a Chance

Peeps also makes bunnies and tulips in a wide range of colors, including chocolate,but it is the little yellow chick that appeared over 55 years ago that remains the most famous in the nest and leads his(her?) flock on great adventures each Easter season.

Peeps contests that stretch the talents of the Marshmallow Chicks and their gooey friends are everywhere this time of year. In addition to the National Geographic Photo Challenge, many major newspapers including The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post hold Peeps Diorama Contests. This year over 1100 sugar coated entries were submitted to The Post displaying scenes played out by chicks and bunnies. many of the Finalists and Winners reflect what is on all PEEPS minds these days and many are about PEEP Escape.

Washington Post-2008

Let Them Eat Jelly Beans!

The winner of the 2009 Washington Post PEEP show is NightPeeps

a recreation of Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks- a dark urban scene infused with marshmallow pink and yellow.

Here are some other favorite Winners and Finalists from the Sugar Chick Gallery :

PEEP on a Wire-Washington Post-2009

Washington Post-2009

Washington Post

Double PEEP Strike, Bunnies Survive-2009

Project PEEPWay -Washington Post 2008

Washington Post

PEEPS are a Girl's Best Friend 2008

Pages of Gifts-A Few of My Favorite Things

Levenger

Just wrap a beautiful book-I'm Happy!
One problem, where to put them all?... but I stack and shelve and place them in spots of honor...and I give them! Here are some Display Books that I love, want, share and adorn my world.

But first, Gifts I love for Book Lovers from Levenger

and Bernard Maisner

Back to Classics- Appointment Watching,The New Season of Masterpiece

I grew up on a Sunday ritual of Masterpiece Theatre. Each week a new episode filled with great characters and stories. The original mini-series format can be found in Masterpiece's Upstairs Downstairs and the Forsyte Saga. The heart of the original series,however were the classics. I really do think that one of the reasons I am a Reader is because of time spent with Masterpiece Theatre.

Oliver Twist

That is why I was thrilled when the all new Masterpiece was launched last winter. Now divided into three formats, Masterpiece Classics, Masterpiece Mystery and Masterpiece Contemporary. I once again have a weekly appointment with PBS! Tonight Masterpiece celebrates its beloved and iconic host Alistair Cooke on his 100th birthday with The Unseen Alistair Cooke featuring the 8mm footage that Cooke took to chronicle his travels throughout his career.

This week Rebecca Eaton, Masterpiece's executive producer, unwrapped Christmas early with the announcement of the new 2009 season which will begin on January4. A perfectly! cast new host, Laura Linney, will present Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles followed by, grab the Kleenex,Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights on January 18, February 1 brings a reprise of Sense and Sensibility (LOVED!) and then the cream of the season with an "Incomplete Collection" of the writer Masterpiece belongs with, Dickens!- February 15 a 2 partOliver Twist ,March 15 an encore showing of David Copperfield , March 29 a 5 part! Little Dorrit ,and May 3 Old Curiousity Shop. The season ends with encore showings of last season's Persuasion on May 10 and My Boy Jack on May 17.

The Old Curiousity Shop

Television can never be a replacement for books and the joy of being drawn into a story through reading...but if Masterpiece can introduce young readers, and not so young readers, to Dickens and Bronte and Hardy and Austen...then it is indeed a Masterpiece! Go Read then Go Watch!!!

The Good StoryTeller-In Appreciation, Studs Terkel

"My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat..."

He was an Author, an Actor, an Activist,a Radio Personality and an American Original. He devoted his life to a simple act-listening. Studs Terkel also had a lot to say and through his writing and radio show he chronicled his conversations that recorded the social history of the second half of twentieth century America. He told the stories that define the American fabric. He celebrated the uncelebrated lives in this country.

Studs Terkel was a national treasure. It is so sad that he would leave us just days before an historic election filled with stories he would have loved to tell.

He was born in 1912, "...as the Titanic went down, I came up" . In his youth his family moved to the most American of cities, Chicago, where he would become a part of that cities rich literary tradition., he became a symbol for the city that beats the heart of this country. Born Louis Terkel he borrowed his name from Chicago writer James T. Farrell's literary character Studs Lonigan. Trained in the law he found his life's work through one of FDR's work projects in the Depression. The Writer's Project brought Terkel to writing for radio and later the golden days of television with his own show Stud's Place which took place in a tavern. Changes in television and blacklisting by McCarthyism would bring him back to radio.

When he was in his 50s Terkel started his next career- writing books that chronicled conversations he had with the famous and most especially the everyday workers. This would become his theme, telling American stories, tales of workers and jazz musicians, heroes and history, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, The Good War, An Oral History of World War Two are some of his most lauded work...filled with real lives, real stories and the truths of America as told to Terkel. These brought him acclaim and prizes, the Pulitzer, the National Arts and Humanities medal..., but he remained the conduit of Everyman and the activism of his times.

"I hope for peace and sanity — it's the same thing."


His show ended in 1998 and he then spent his time at the Chicago History museum which houses over 9,000 hours of his conversations, memories of lives and history-"Vox Humana:The Human Voice" Visit Studsterkel.org to listen to Studs Terkel's Conversations with America

He never stopped working, writing, having conversations. Despite ill health and the devastating loss of his wife of over 60 years he kept talking, listening, writing. His last book will be published this month, P.S.: Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening . He spoke his mind and spoke up for those who needed a voice.

Dressed in his signature red and white check shirt Terkel was known not only for his being a character but also for his character. He became the American conscience, telling the stories of people in need, writing to tell the truths of history, working for civil rights-he wrote one of the most revealing books on race in this country-Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession
His conversations and his life's work were dedicated to making this country just.

With age his mind and his enthusiasm remained sharp and passionate. In an interview with the Huffington Report's Edward Lifson on this election and Barack Obama he said,

"Community organizers like Obama know what's going on. If they remember. The important thing is memory. You know in this country, we all have Alzheimer's. Obama has got to remember his days as an organizer. It all comes back to the neighborhood. Well I hope the election is a landslide for Obama. "

Thank you Studs Terkel and as he always closed his show-"Take it easy...but take it."

Trail Break-Politics on the Shelf, History on View

Duck for President

`Barack Obama is taking a break from the Trail, his beloved Grandmother is very ill and he has left the campaign just 12 days before the election-remarkable, admirable.

Well, if Barack can take a break I guess we can too. I think we all need one...I really don't care how much Sarah spent at Neiman's...it didn't help! She should have asked Cindy to take her shopping...

With under two weeks to go in this amazing election year it is a good time to step back, regroup,reflect and breathe. Revisit School House Rock!!
Study Up!! before you Step up to the voting booth.

Recent films and books illuminate the lives and lessons of American history. The HBO miniseries based on David McCullough's John Adams is now out on DVD
...go watch or read! I promise you will come away with a new outlook on what the first Tuesday in November is really all about. WWJAS, What would John Adams say about his country today?? Wouldn't you love to see Ben Franklin chiming in on AC 360?? Thomas Jefferson on SNL?

Feeling overwhelmed by all the issues, all the talking heads, all the emails, phone calls, ads, all the NOISE!??? KISS...Keep it Simple Silly, Go Visit the Kids room at the local Library or pick up one of these terrific Kid's Books, they explain it all, and trust me...Kids Get it!!



Oh, Where is President Bartlett when we need him!

So, turn off CNN,escape the noise, and curl up with classic politics-films that make you think, laugh, cry, ponder, reflect and remember that after the polls close there are 4 years minimum to live with the decisions we make that day...but for now, go watch Jimmy Stewart!

...Or Go Read up on why we are, who we are, where we are...12 more days, take a break!!

Take the Picture! Take the Picture! Silent Stories-The Portraits of Richard Avedon and Yousuf Karsh

1955 Dior, Dovima with elephants

"Everyone wanted to be photographed by him...they wanted to see what he saw in them." John Lahr

His work defined intimate. When you look at the photographs of the legendary Richard Avedon you are drawn into the subject- be it the fashion images that would become iconic or the faces and personalities of history, culture and political change that he recorded.

slate.com

Avedon's fashion work is instantly recognizable and he defines what fashion photography should be, an art. In the 1957 film Funny Face Avedon's influence on the fashion world was celebrated. He would contribute to the opening photography and it is believed that the Fred Astaire character was loosely based on Avedon himself.

Funny Face

Fashion may have been how he made his name and his living

1947 Dior 1957 Cardin

but it was the people of his times and the lives that were seldom revealed that really motivated Avedon. His work capturing the humanity of the history of the Civil Rights Movement,the American West, the Brandenburg Gate, and politics reveal the "who" of late twentieth century America.

"I have a white background; I have the person I'm interested in and the thing that happens between us."

Marian Anderson

This month a new book, Performance: Richard Avedon,
chronicles those decades through the extraordinary eye that revealed in silence the changes and players of the time.

Also this month in a timely exhibit this election season, "Richard Avedon Portraits of Power" will be on exhibit at the Corcoran in Washington D.C.


Avedon was continually drawn throughout his career to the people who lived their lives not necessarily publicly but who were often the power force of history and society and influenced their time. The Family,1976 chronicled the Presidential campaign through the 69 images of the elite movers and shakers of that era as seen in Rolling Stone Magazine.

The Chicago Seven

Selected original prints from the new book will also be on view in at:

-Pace/MacGill -November 14-January 3 ,NYC

Fraenkel Gallery Nov.6-Dec. 27 San Francisco
Richard Avedon's work will be the subject of a major exhibit in the fall of 2009 at The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

"The endless fascination of these people for me lies in what I call their inward power. It is part of the elusive secret that hides in everyone, and it has been my life's work to try to capture it on film. The mask we present to others and, too often, to ourselves may lift for only a second - to reveal that power in an unconscious gesture, a raised brow, a surprised response, a moment of repose. This is the moment to record." Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh Self Portrait 1962

Richard Avedon's lens recorded grace and elegance in his fashion work and the humanity and psyche of those who played on the stage of American history in the late twentieth century. Yousuf Karsh's lens on the other hand recorded biographies . The renowned portraitist photographed the most famous people from politics to the stage from 1940-1990. Karsh approached his work as a biographer, interviewing his subject extensively before photographing them. In so many instances the images that Karsh took became the defining image of the personality. 1956 Audrey Hepburn


Karsh's portraits give access to lives that were private...
1957 Ernest Hemingway


changed history...

1941 Winston Churchill




...helped to define their age...

Muhammed Ali 1970

and remain icons
Sophia Loren 1981


The faces of Yousuf Karsh's work go deeper than just the "face" that the subject wanted seen...the face is real and so is the story told within it.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of acclaimed portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh Boston's MFA is currently exhibiting "Karsh 100 a Biography in Images"
through Jan. 19 Boston

The Reluctant Icon-In Rememberance, Paul Newman

" I was part of my times", Paul Newman to Barbara Walters,2008

"I'm a great believer in luck..good luck, bad luck, medium luck... my interest in philanthropy is a composite picture of all that..what could be better than to hold your hand out to people less fortunate than you are..."

He believed it was all about luck. He was an Actor with a capital A. He was a Director, an Activist, an extraordinary Philanthropist, a passionate and successful Race car driver("Racing gives me grace", he would say)...and Yes he was a Legend...a word that we toss around too lightly and one that would certainly make him cringe. He defined Cool. He was sexy, seductive, tough, charming, funny,smart...perfect even in his flaws.

Butch Cassidy screenwriter William Goldman said of him "...I don’t think Paul Newman really thinks he is Paul Newman in his head.” He spent most of his career avoiding being "Paul Newman"...the "Paul Newman" the world created was not how he led his life and he would credit his success to "Newman's luck".

'If my eyes should ever turn brown, my career is shot to hell," he once said. Yes, there were those penetrating, unsettling, pools of blue that were so much a part of his icon status. He was considered the most beautiful man in film...and he was, but he hated it.

He wore dark glasses and often went out in public in disguise to avoid attention. If someone asked him to take off his glasses to see "those eyes" he would reply"..If I do that my pants will fall down"

Paul Newman Lived his life. Everything he attempted he did with drive and focus. He never wanted or sought the blinding fame he achieved but he maintained his own style and his mystique through decades in the spotlight. Paul Newman lost his very private battle with cancer Friday and suddenly we all feel old. Though his loss is not a shock given the reports of his declining health, it is still hard to believe that this gorgeous lion of the acting world is gone...he always seemed indomitable, and certainly on film he always will be.

Hud

Paul Newman once said ...acting is like letting your pants down...you're exposed."

He began his career at the Actor's Studio and got his first major role in Somebody Up There Likes Me playing Rockie Graziano, a role James Dean was slotted to play and he died in a car crash before shooting began. The rest is screen history-characters and films that will be benchmarks of Hollywood history and tutorials in acting style...Hud, Fast Eddie Felson, Brick, Butch,Harper, Cool Hand Luke... He didn't want to be a star, his celebrity he felt cut off his freedom to do the work he wanted to do ...the fact that he was able to dismiss his star status and do great work on screen, stage and behind the camera illustrates Paul Newman,his commitment to doing it his way.

The Sting

Eventually he became more comfortable in the skin of his fame and learned to make it work to create change and do good."...I didn't turn in my citizenship card when I got my screen actors card..." he said. He was one of a select group of actors who marched with Dr. King and in 1968 he campaigned for Eugene McCarthy resulting in finding himself on Nixon's enemies list.

1958,DNC Convention

In 1982 he started his salad dressing business as a joke since his neighbors all clamored for his homemade recipe.

Like everything he did with both fun and determination the company turned a profit in the first year. The business expanded to sauces, popcorn...resulting in over $250 million dollars donated to charities. In 1988 the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps,named from Butch Cassidy's gang, was founded to welcome children with cancer and blood related illnesses and provide them with a place to be just kids. There are now camps all around the world providing fun and a sense of normalcy to ill children.

“I wish I could recall with clarity the impulse that compelled me to help bring this camp into being. I’d be pleased if I could announce a motive of lofty purpose. I’ve been accused of compassion, of altruism, of devotion to Christian, Hebrew, and Moslem ethic, but however desperate I am to claim ownership of a high ideal, I cannot. I wanted, I think, to acknowledge Luck; the chance of it, the benevolence of it in my life, and the brutality of it in the lives of others, made especially savage for children because they may not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it.” - Paul Newman.

The extraordinary thing about Paul Newman is that his life lived in the spotlight outshone that light. He was not the cardboard star and the footprints he left on this world were not simply made of the iconic celluloid images we cherish. His legacy is his work- Not just as an actor, whose gifts we may never see again, but also as a man who recognized that what he saw as his luck could bring joy and hope to so many whose lives were met with simple bad luck. Thank you Paul, I hope you know the impression those eyes left on the world inwhich you acted.

To make a donation to the Hole in the Wall Camps visit Hole in the Wall Camps

Something to Talk About-wowOwow, "A New way for Women to Talk Culture, Politics and Gossip"

“There’s some deep, atavistic need women have to get together with each other and talk. It’s as essential to us as food, shelter and love. Maybe it’s something ancient leftover in us from when the cavemen went off to hunt, and we sat in a circle with each other back at the cave, waiting. When we go a long time without this kind of female conversation we feel deprived. And when we do sit and talk, we feel better.” Lesley Stahl



I am sure you have noticed that as women we have a lot to say! We are passionate, we care, we feel, we cry, we laugh,we think and we love to talk!


I am dating myself here but I grew up in the days before text messaging-I totally don't get text messaging. ..pick up the phone and call me! Anyway, growing up I spent a lot of time on the phone talking to my friends and come to think of it I still do that. We talk about life and love and books and gardening and politics and knitting and try solve the world.


In this new on-line planet there are lots of ways to "talk", communities" to join,and places to express how you feel on any and every subject under the sun...social sites, networking sites, yeah dating sites...places where book lovers meet, knitters chat,gardeners help with rose advice,places to weigh in on the topics of the day. I have never found most of these that appealing as it always seems I am late to the party and there are "threads" that have gone on for weeks without me---who has time to chime in all day everyday and often the chatter is just that.


But did you ever sit in a restaurant and overhear a fascinating , sparkling, fun conversation and want to jump in? Imagine if you got to eavesdrop on some of the most interesting women and their conversations and were asked to join the group...women such as Lesley Stahl, Marlo Thomas, Cynthia Mcfadden,Candice Bergen, Whoopi Goldberg, Joan Juliet Buck,Lily Tomlin, Joan Ganz Cooney,Sheila Nevins, Julia Reed, Mary Wells, Liz Smith,...women who have been friends for years and now are inviting us into their circle to chat.


wowOwow-Women on the Web-was created and is run by Joni Evans, publisher and literary agent, along with some of her very well known and respected friends from diverse fields who all wanted to share their conversations and experience in a wider more accessible way with other women who also lead varied lives and have a lot to say about things they care about.


The center of the site is the daily "Conversation" which the women post on a free style of topics that can range from how to dance around aging, the unhappy would-be First Ladies, what books to take on a desert island,and of course the election. Surrounding the daily conversation are posts from the contributing women such as Marlo Thomas on the advice her Dad gave her,and topics ranging from good books, fashion, history, the energy crisis, the economy,politics,relationships, flirting over 40,religion, changing the planet...all of which sets the stage for a revolving, evolving dialogue that is so much fun to be a part of that you don't know where to read first. Ashley Judd has an amazing journal from her travels in Rwanda, Liz Smith will pop in with gossip and interviews, Candice Bergen talks about her favorite book of the summer...Then to spark further conversation there are interesting poll questions-"Should men open doors for women?" Questions of the day-"What music makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? What does being a woman mean to you and when did you know it?...even Edith Ann puts her two cents in, now how can you resist a conversation with Edith Ann?

Always up to the minute and filled with not only topics of the day but also the subjects that we care about and want to learn about, think about and talk about! At wowOwow there are lots of interesting lives and lots of interesting women to get to know, but most importantly there is a lot to learn and share. wowOwow is that sizzling, sparkling, fascinating,wonderful conversation at the next table and I am glad to pull up a chair-thank you for inviting me Women on the Web!

Beach Bag Books

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx

I am a "Reader"! Books inhabit most every corner of my world. I just love when a book "eats me", when I can't wait to get back home to curl up with it and find out what happens next...books that pick me up and take me into lives and places I would never otherwise live in or visit.

Of course I read 12 months a year, but in summer my brain, and my reading style, shifts down. During long winter months I choose to read heavier than I do in summer...non -fiction, history, biography,non-fluff fiction...This time of year though I go through books like some people go through chips and I often read 2 and 3 at a time. I pick up fun, light, smiley books, I also go back and reread favorites-Dickens, Austen... and catch up with books I missed. There are usually at least two or three old friends in the mix.

Some of my favorite books of all time I read while my toes were in the sand or while the ballgame played on in the background-Charlotte's Web, The Secret Garden, Emma...Summer is simply the best time of year to just read for the joy of reading-so go turn a page!

Here are some picks ready to go into the Beach Bag...Enjoy!

Sunday Mornings with Tim

I am blessed with the opportunity to spend an entire week reading and thinking and preparing for Meet the Press. It is sobering to think that on a Sunday morning across the table at Meet The Press you are making history,but you are ....Tim Russert

He was my Sunday morning steady date. Sure I "wandered" out with George from time to time, but Tim was the guy I could always count on. On Friday his family, his network and his viewers lost one of the true "Good Guys". Tim Russert died suddenly in his office, he was just 58 years old.

In an age of chiseled, buffed and coiffed anchors, Tim was a Teddy Bear of a man who as Tom Brokaw reminisced had three tailors-"L, L and Bean". He was an "every day" guy, from humble roots, with a a strong sense of family, country and faith. A smile and laugh that made you know this guy was the real deal. A voice like your favorite old sweatshirt, comfortable and familiar. He was a real sports fan who adored baseball and rejoiced in his Buffalo Bills. His son Luke was the light of his life. I can remember how he described picking up his son from school on September 11 and the discussion of what it all meant with his young son. I never knew Tim Russert but if this sounds as if I did it is because he came across to his audience as the man he was.

Beyond the warm and gregarious gentle man was an extraordinary mind. He was perhaps the most brilliant political observer in the country. The consummate political junkie who prepared and studied so that his guests would all but fall off their chairs with what Tim Russert hit them with, and his audience could just sit back and listen.

Each Sunday morning he would greet viewers with "our issues this Sunday.." and welcomed them in as he would welcome his guests. He was a wonderful Host, but a Host that could disarm the most belligerent, difficult, determined guest with not only his charm but especially his tough unequaled preparedness. He could match wits and stand toe to toe with anyone who sat in that guest seat ...they never saw him coming, you don't see a Teddy Bear coming at you. This Teddy Bear,however, had a prosecutors quick analytical mind and a sense of politics honed while working with Mario Cuomo and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He never came to a Sunday without an arsenal to work his guests, if they were not as prepared as Tim,if they couldn't run the Russert gauntlet, they paid the price.

Tim Russert was given the role of host of Meet the Press in 1991-he had no on camera experience...what he did have was an unmatched political eye, the ability to communicate on a level that was easy and open, filled with trust, he spoke to and with his audience, not at them or above them-there was no elitism to this man who sat with every major newsmaker for over 17 years. He could make the most complex issues clear and he cut through the Washington speak. He understood that in Iowa they just want the truth and thus transformed the venerable news show.

It is somehow both tragic and fitting that the tribute Meet The Press show hosted by Tom Brokaw aired on Father's Day. Tim Russet was a devoted son who wrote in his book Big Russ, one of the loveliest tributes to a Father, that the person he most wanted to interview was not some elusive world leader or newsmaker but his own Dad. Anyone who knew of Tim Russert also knew of his son Luke -a relationship that was inseparable. "Luke I am proud to be your Dad he said on a Father's Day close. Luke who just graduated from Boston College has said that Meet the Press was his Dad's other son. Luke, just setting out on his life has been thrown a curve ball unlike any other. For those of us who have lived through(not survived, but lived through) the sudden death of someone we love, we know too well the pain that will never leave Luke as he walks his journey without his beloved Dad.

It is Tim cutting through it all that I will always remember. Through the endless Election night of 2000 Tim chose a simple white board and marker with the words "Florida, Florida, Florida" to make the point that it all came down to that state for the outcome. That marker and white board will forever represent the Russert way, easy, to the point, on the mark. He has been quoted as saying he "couldn't believe" he was getting paid to cover this election, it was that much fun for him, and he made it even more fun for us. Oh how we will miss him this November election night...no one will or could do it better. "If it is Sunday, it is Meet the Press" can be no more...Sunday mornings are now dark. Thank you Tim Russert.

Crazy about Cranford!

Have you missed the days of Masterpiece Theatre when Sunday nights meant spending time with old friends at Eaton Place in Upstairs Downstairs , being transported to another world in Jewel in the Crown ,or eavesdropping on the lives and loves and treachery of the emperors in I, Claudius ?

Masterpeice has a new look but retains a commitment to its wonderful roots. This season the new Masterpiece was unveiled in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of perhaps PBS' signature series. Gone is the "Theatre" and in its place will be a rotation of "Masterpiece Classics" "Masterpiece Mystery(formerly Mystery) and "Masterpiece Contemporary" dramas. Launched in January with much fanfare with its Complete Jane Austen ,the new Masterpiece is striving to be "today" while staying true to its past. Gillian Anderson as the new host doesn't seem comfortable in the role, but she she has some big shoes to fill. Alistair "Cookie" will always be missed.

With the premiere of its current series Cranford, Masterpiece is back! Cranford is a celebration of everything there was to love about spending a Sunday night with Masterpiece Theatre. The success of Masterpiece almost always began with a wonderful book. Cranford is based on Elizabeth Gaskell's love letter to life in a 19th century English country village.

. Filled with quirky, charming, funny,sweet characters, Cranford is a place you will be happy to visit and eavesdrop on the gossip. A town steeped in its "ways" and standing proud and determined against the tide of "new" that is inevitable. Lives and loves, joy and sadness are reflected in the simplicity of the characters lives throughout one year that will change it forever.

Those lives are portrayed by some of the best of the British acting world and the casting is perfection-Eileen Atkins, Francesca Annis, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie...and at the center Dame Judi Dench as Miss Matty. Judi Dench can read the yellow pages and I would watch but I adore her in this role. We watch as her safe corner of the world is shifting away. Miss Matty faces life without her guiding sister and must now decide whether to live by her own rules or continue to cling to her sister's determined tradition. Eating an orange, burning a candle, reconnecting with a lost love are all new trails for her. You will cheer her on, applaud her new found "pluck", laugh and cry and love life in Cranford.

Welcome back Masterpiece, wonderful to look forward to Sunday nights with you again!

If you missed an episode of the 3 part series PBS is running video online-an experiment I hope they continue!! Cranford is also available on DVD!!