It is spring, theoretically, that is, and I suppose it is time for me to put it out there for all to know. As a golfer, my game leaves a lot to be desired. What leads me to this admission are my thoughts about my dear friend, former board member and good humored golf companion […]
Frank Sinatra struck a chord when he sang “I did it my way.” Artist/designer Denise Proctor heard the call. It defined her life. She poured her artistic spirit and her soul into her vision for a school for little fashionistas – the Westchester Fashion Institute. From her perch on the 6th floor of ArtsWestchester’s building, she […]
There aren’t too many Besses. There’s Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth the First. There’s Forest Bess. But he’s really a Forest, not a Bess. There’s Bessie Smith, the most popular blues singer of the twenties and thirties, known as Empress of the Blues. There is also The Bessie Award given each year for innovative achievement in […]
New York and Queens both lost a fighter for the ordinary people with the passing of Mario Cuomo. As a Queens native and former planning board chairman in Whitestone/Flushing, I and my colleagues were dazzled by him up close and personal in the early seventies. Cuomo, as the attorney for a group of mostly Italian […]
What’s in a life? Last weekend, friends and relatives gathered at separate memorial services to honor and celebrate two artists whose lives resonated widely, but ended too soon. Artists have a way of building our engagement by presenting us with ideas and new ways to think about things. Their messages live on through their work […]
Ruby Dee was never too busy. That is how I remember her. Would she record a TV spot for ArtsWestchester? Happy to do so. Would she say a few words at a local school? In a heartbeat! A poetry reading with her family at ArtsWestchester? Of course! Accept an arts award? Yes…but…heaven knows she didn’t […]
It was perfect synergy to be sitting in the historic Music Room at Caramoor on the day that Pete Seeger passed away. Yes, I am old enough to remember the Weavers, the group that brought Pete Seeger to lasting fame. For those of you who have ever had a Kumbaya moment, you can thank and […]
Every new year, I try to take stock, checking out gains and losses. For me, this is not about finance, but about people who have crossed my path during their lifetime, but sadly have left us in 2013. First, of course, is the incomparable Nelson Mandela, my model for graceful compromise, inclusiveness and patience. He […]
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