J.D. Salinger, who wrote The Catcher in the Rye, passed away yesterday.
NBC called the school where I work, John Burroughs High School In Burbank, and wanted a teacher’s view on the importance of Salinger and Catcher as part of the high school English curriculum. My principal called me and asked if I would be interested.
I was testing my students yesterday, so if there were cameras in the room they wouldn’t see anything and I normally don’t teach the book until the very end of the school year. I told him the teacher across the hall, Lee Carlton, who teaches the same curriculm as I, would be a great choice. NBC came by later in the afternoon and interviewed her. She ended up on NBC Nightly News and CNBC. Here is the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/35133795#35133795
Lee is as great as she appears on the segment. I mentored her through her first two years at JBHS, she continues to make a positive impact on the lives of her students and she is a fantastic colleague.
Check her out on line!
Years ago I lived on Spaulding Avenue in the Fairfax part of Los Angeles, and among the people I met there was an artist named Jack Zoltak. Jack painted non-stop and had one room of a two bedroom apartment filled with canvases of all kinds of ideas that flowed out of his artistry. My apartment was nothing but empty walls, so I asked him if I could take some of the paintings and hang them around the wall space. He gave me about five huge paintings and I hung them up to fill up the huge empty spaces of my apartment. He asked for a couple of the paintings back within a year of hanging them up in my place. I managed to hold on to three of them for a few more years as I moved from Fairfax to Sherman Oaks to North Hollywood. He asked for another of the canvases back within five years of giving them to me, but I managed to keep one with me throughout all my moves. He designed the sets for a couple of plays I worked on at the Coronet Theatre in Hollywood and whenever I get out to Santa Monica I try to stop by his studio and see what he is working on. Jack knew I had the painting, and still claimed ownership, but let me carry it around as long as I took care of it.
We also remain friends.
Jack called me earlier this week that he had a gallery showing at the Dowmtown LA Artwalk on Thursday January 14 and invited me to the opening – hence the invitation card at the top of the post. I made plans to go because I like the guy, and since we are no longer neighbors, don’t see each other regularly. Whenever we do manage to get together, we laugh and talk about art and how much older we have gotten.
Sam and Jack
The gallery is small walk up space in a new burgeoning art district in Downtown LA. I was clearly not hip enough for the space. Jack’s paintings and drawings were hanging all over the room, some in conventional frames and some hung in a more “guerilla art fashion” with just push pins.
I have seen so much of his work at this point that I can clearly see trends, evolution, and growth in his painting and drawing. The more I see his stuff, the more I like it. I see him as a true artist – someone with an idea and definite style, who seems to soak up everything he sees and experiences and is able to incorporate it into his work.
a sample of the art
We were able to spend a few moments chatting and laughing. As always, I enjoyed seeing him and seeing how much he continues to expand as an artist. He is in his element at an opening, when he can explain his ideas to people and where he draws his inspiration and on what new directions he is moving.
And he GAVE me the painting he lent me years ago. In front of witnesses, and he wasn’t drunk.
So I can say I am the proud owner of an original painting by Jack Zoltak.
my painting
Sorry – I am still excited about the fact that I got a royalty check for my play 
Check out the last post below if you haven’t heard about it already. Encore! is helping me sell the play by giving it some good advertising on their website as a fall play for schools. I showed the link to my classes today and they were even more excited than I am to see all the info about the play.
Anyway…..
Now that the holiday season is over, here’s a brief recap of our Christmas at KK and Bill Uberti’s place in Poway on the actual day itself, Christmas. They had a little gathering (small compared to the gatherings we would have at Aunt Caroline’s every year) and the big excitement for me was to see Patrick Uberti and his groovy wife, Karen, who flew out from Virginia to spend a warm week in California with KK and Bill. Michael was fresh off the plane from his quarter in Brazil and it was fantastic to see the brothers Uberti hanging out. Patrick and Karen have bought a house in Virginia and Patrick is finally working “only one job!” while Karen is taking some Literature classes at the Community College – we talked some good talk about American writers – Karen and Michael both like Dave Eggers, so I told them about meeting him at the book signing and the way he signed my copy of “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” I always look forward to seeing them. Karen is a great addition to our family. Terry, Chris, and Amada Aaron also came, and Amanda is looking more “grown-up” every time I see her, although I have to say I am a little disappointed she hasn’t contacted me about helping her write her 11th grade English essays. Maribeth brought Nathalie and Joy and they looked fantastic! As you can see from the photo, Joy and Nathalie have the same wonderful smile they inherited from Maribeth. My brother also came and brought his family, and his children are the cutest ever (notice how I use gender neutral, vague language to describe them? That’s how my brother wants it. He’s shy about being mentioned in a blog). Joanie, Nathan, and Zach were unable to make it and I missed them – Zach has offered me ideas about the kind of writing he does at his job that he thinks my 12th grade students should know and I was hoping to hear more of what he has to say. Finally, Mom and Dick were there and Mom got to the the part of family Matriarch, a role which suits her nicely. The afternoon was warm and sunny – I have never experienced a White Christmas. A good holiday for me was just like the one we celebrated in Poway.
Here are some pictures of almost everyone. The pictures aremostly of the kids, especially since I never get to see them. They are a handsome looking bunch. I was playing around with my new camera, so the good pictures are an accident and the less good ones are because I am not used to the camera yet.
Nathalie Kuglen
Patrick and Karen
Joy and Joan
Amanda and Nathalie
Amanda and Patrick
Mike, Karen, Mom, and Patrick
Maribeth, KK, and Terry
Patrick Uberti
and last, but certainly not least. . .
Mike Uberti
I received a royalty check in the mail today.
A theatre group in Deep Run, North Carolina, did a production of my play “The Gruesome, Gory, Grotesque Stories of Edgar Allan Poe.” (UPDATE 1/11/10) CLick on the link below to the Encore! Performance Publishing webpage, then click on the link of the page, which takes you to a brief synopsis of the play. Up in the right hand side of the page, there are 3 more links, one containing production information. The play had one performance by Theatre Group in Deep Run, North Carolina! Woohoo!
The play is published by Encore! Performance Publishing: here’s a link http://www.histage.com/encore/default.asp . Right now there is a sidebar advertising plays for next fall and my play is prominently mentioned! (Look on the right side of the webpage) Poe was a winner in the 1995 Unpublished Play Contest sponsored by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE). It was originally produced by the Serendipity Theatre Company in an Equity production at the Coronet Theatre in Hollywood, CA. Obviously I got the play published, but it has not been produced for a looooong time.
I made a grand total of $29.91.
I didn’t make anything for my adaptation of “Pinocchio,” which is too bad because it is actually a pretty good theatrical version of the book. If you know of anyone interested in producing some quality theatre for youth, please send them my way.
If you speak to me this weekend, I’ll happily be calling myself a professional writer.
