#Westchester County Poets | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

finishinglinepress · 8 months ago

Text

NEW FROM FINISHING LINE PRESS: Not My First Walk on the Moon by Linda Hillman Chayes

On SALE now! Pre-order Price Guarantee: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/not-my-first-walk-on-the-moon-by-linda-hillman-chayes/

Not My First Walk on the Moon takes the reader on a #journey through time and geographies. It moves through seasons and #generations, through cityscapes, seashore, barrier islands, and backyards. The poems reflect on loss and how it reverberates throughout a lifetime including the tiny but continual losses of aging. They also celebrate moments of joy and awe inspired by breeze, light and love. Many of the #poems use a framework of visual art and imagery—including a mother’s love of Turner’s Paintings of the Sea at Margate, a crime scene photo in which the facts fail to tell the story, and a portrait of a family leaving Rockaway beach in late afternoon. The moon slips in and out these poems but takes center stage in one as the author recalls watching the 1969 moon landing and imagines her very own walk on the “moon’s luminescent dustscape”.

Linda Hillman Chayes is a poet and psychoanalyst. Her work explores the ongoing process of knowing who we are in the context of our family’s stories (past and present) as well as our social and cultural environment. Her previous chapbook, The Lapse was published by Finishing Line Press in 2014, and her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Kestrel, The American Poetry Journal, Quartet, The Westchester Review, 2 Horatio, The RavensPerch, The Wild Roof, Beyond Words, and other publications. She practices as a psychologist/psychoanalyst in New York City and Westchester County. She co-wrote and co-edited a book The Voice of the Analyst: Narratives in Developing a Psychoanalytic Identity published by Routledge Press in 2018.

PRAISE FOR Not My First Walk on the Moon by Linda Hillman Chayes

Watch the word “here” as it carries these poems across thresholds and verges—seashore, barrier island, cityscape, season, calendar year. In these deftly observant lyrics, we find ourselves “Here, but going somewhere else,” or “sun-dazed, shoeless, / suspended / between here and / somewhere else.” These wise and meticulous poems move from here to here on the way to an unknown elsewhere—moving through the liminal space between remembrance and the particular slants of light of the present. Painterly, precisely rendered in a muted palette of sepia and twilight, these poems span the duration of a pandemic and reach back into a haunted familial past, an expanse of time that is, like the sky, “open / to interpretation or storm.”

–B. K. Fischer, author of Ceive

“The Facts // are never the story,” Linda Hillman Chayes writes in her sophomore chapbook, Not My First Walk on the Moon. And in richly detailed, nuanced lyrics, Chayes tells the whole story, exploring parenthood, personal history, memory, that which is “here, but going somewhere else.” Formally dexterous and playful, these poems beautifully explore the nature of time itself–how it can bind or rupture, what it gives and what it can take away.

–Nathan McClain, author of Previously Owned

Open to “Turner’s Paintings of the Sea at Margate” and read a bittersweet tribute to the poet’s mother “lit from inside like regret.” Not My First Walk on the Moon offers wit, vivid phrases, and a deep grasp of relationships to bring a multi-generational family to life, its history “shaped like the sweater draped over” a grandmother’s shoulder. This second collection encompasses an ode to New York and an ode to eyeglasses. Through the metaphor of a crime scene, Linda Hillman Chayes persuades a reader “The facts/ are never the story.” Don’t doubt for a moment that she has walked on the moon.

–Marion Brown, author of The Morning After Summer

Please share/repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #read #poems #literature #poetry

#poetry #flp authors #preorder #flp #poets on tumblr #american poets #chapbook #chapbooks #finishing line press #small press

0 notes

whatisonthemoon · 1 year ago

Text

Not exactly a fixer-upper: Unification Seminary in Barrytown up for sale (2018)

Got a spare $20 million on hand? Ready to finally fork over for those 260 acres with nine buildings, gorgeously overlooking the Hudson River and distant Catskill Mountains? For a cool $16,750,000, down from the original asking price of $17,995,000, you can have the former Massena estate in Barrytown, originally owned by the illustrious Livingston family, later bought by John D. Rockefeller so he could build a monastery for the Christian Brothers there, and still later sold to the Unification Church, then led by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, so he could start a Theological Seminary for his huge enterprise in the 1970s. That’s who is selling it now.

And an extra $2 million could go a long way towards making it into whatever one wanted.

“We have to find someone wealthy. We’re thinking in terms of museums, wellness centers, schools,” said Victoria Fischer of the property, being one of two brokers at Marcus & Milchap in Westchester County handling its sale since late Spring. “The place is in great shape; they’re still using the building.”

Fisher spoke about other large properties in the general neighborhood. Edgewater is a storied estate overlooking the Hudson that’s regained its old glory in recent years, after being owned for a spell by a much-younger Gore Vidal. Rokeby, also known as La Bergerie, is the former Astor estate a little to the south, run by the Aldrich family for years as a shared creative bastion where, among other things, New York City’s annual Halloween parade through Greenwich Village gets plotted out each summer and fall. Sylvania, smaller than the rest, remains in a storied family whose name shall go unmentioned; George and Susan Quasha maintain their long-running Station Hill compound for publishing and other artistic endeavors in what could be construed as “downtown” Barrytown (a crossroads of buildings, as it were).

“I’m not one to look behind I know that times must change/ But over there in Barrytown they do things very strange,” sang Steely Dan in their song “Barrytown,” off their 1974 album Pretzel Logic.

“The Banks are lined with elegant villas — thought it was the consummation of Earthly Bliss to live in one of those palaces, on such a Noble River, under such a Government,” wrote a young poet named Davidson in the early 19th century, who later grew Edgewater into a grand mansion while some of the old money was running from the area once a railroad was put in right up the banks of the Hudson, breaking their fabled views (and quiet).

When asked about the Unification Seminary’s largest neighbor, Bard College in nearby Annandale-on-Hudson — which recently bought the historic Montgomery Place estate just to the north of what was once Massena, to be used for events and environmental studies programs, among other things — Fisher said her company has reached out to the college. She added that they said they “were not interested at this point.”

What the realtors have been getting to date, she added, were “nibbles and bites, basically from people who want to make sure they have the money to do what they want.”

She mentioned the recent sale of a large convent, formerly the Kenwood Academy and Doane Stuart School in Albany, that sold to developers looking to create condominiums (Doane Stuart moved to a new location within the past decade). What she didn’t mention was that sale ended up one third under its original asking price.

In Barrytown, meanwhile, the Unification Church property includes a 120,000 square foot main building, shaped like an “H” with an updated “upper” half and older, mid-century-style dorms on the lower half. Ancillary buildings add up to another 150,000 square feet. There’s a chapel, library, dining halls, kitchens. There are offices, classrooms, guest rooms, an infirmary, a two-story gym, a 400-seat auditorium, and a 100-seat lecture hall.

“The Unification people feel as if they’re cutting off their left arm, selling the seminary,” Fisher added. They want to keep it but already have a lot of expensive real estate in midtown Manhattan.”

The Unification Church was founded by Rev. Moon in South Korea in the 1950s, following the Korean Conflict. It began spreading in the United States throughout the 1960s, after which Moon moved stateside in 1971. The Barrytown property was bought in 1974, and eventually the church and Rev. Moon bought numerous other properties, including the old New Yorker Hotel on 34th Street in Manhattan. They founded the conservative Washington Times, started matching couples and marrying couples from his followers in mass ceremonies at Madison Square Garden and other arena venues, and Dr. Moon was jailed for tax evasion for several years. He died in 2012.

Back in 1994, when the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival took place in Saugerties, a number of key acts staying on the east side of the Hudson, including Bob Dylan, were flown by helicopter to the Winston Farm concert grounds from a landing area at the seminary.

It’s official - UTS has been sold

Psychosis and Mental Illness at Barrytown - Moon and Salonen should be held responsible

The Barrytown Property is being sold off for $15 million

#barrytown #uts #unification theological seminary #uc properties #UC assets #properties #moonies #unification church #ffwpu #family federation for world peace and unification #american church #unification church in the united states #unification church in the united states of america #unification church in usa #assets

0 notes

peppynside · 2 years ago

Text

Poems are acts of attention—they can wake us up to the here and now.

—B. K. Fischer, Poet Laureate of Westchester County

0 notes

queenspoetlore · 3 years ago

Photo

Poetry Reading: Aja Couchois Duncan, Roberto Harrison, & Paolo Javier

Sat. Nov. 13 | 7 pm CDT | $Give What You Can | *HYBRID* In-person at Woodland Pattern and live streaming via Crowdcast.

Aja Couchois Duncan is a social justice coach and capacity builder of Ojibwe, French, and Scottish descent who lives on the ancestral and stolen land of the Coastal Miwok people. Her debut collection Restless Continent (Litmus Press, 2016) was selected by Entropy magazine as one of the best poetry collections of 2016 and awarded the California Book Award for Poetry in 2017. In 2020, Sweet Land—a collaborative opera project which brought together composers Raven Chacon and Du Yun, librettists Aja Couchois Duncan and Douglas Kearney, and co-directors Cannupa Hanska Luger and Yuval Sharon—was produced in the Los Angeles State Historic Park to critical acclaim. When not writing or working, Aja can be found running the west Marin hills with her Australian Cattle Dog Dublin, training with horses, or weaving small pine needle baskets. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and a variety of other degrees and credentials to certify her as human. Great Spirit knew it all along.

Roberto Harrison's poetry books include Tropical Lung: exi(s)t(s) (Omnidawn, 2021), Tropical Lung: Mitologia Panameña (Nion Editions, 2020), Yaviza (Atelos, 2017), Bridge of the World (Litmus Press, 2017), culebra (Green Lantern Press, 2016), bicycle (Noemi Press, 2015), Counter Daemons (Litmus Press, 2006), Os (subpress, 2006), as well as many chapbooks. With Andrew Levy, Harrison edited the poetry journal Crayon from 1997 to 2008. He is also the editor of Bronze Skull Press which has published over 20 chapbooks, including the work of many Midwestern poets. Most recently Harrison served as a co-editor for the Resist Much/Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance anthology. He was the Milwaukee Poet Laureate for 2017-2019 and is also a visual artist. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife, the poet Brenda Cárdenas.

The former Queens Borough Poet Laureate (2010-2014), Paolo Javier was born in the Philippines and grew up in Las Piñas, Metro Manila; Katonah, Westchester County; El-Ma’adi, Cairo; Burnaby and North Delta, Metro Vancouver. He’s produced three albums of sound poetry with Listening Center (David Mason), including the limited edition pamphlet/cassette Ur’lyeh/ Aklopolis and the booklet/cassette Maybe the Sweet Honey Pours. The recipient of a 2021 Rauschenberg Foundation Artist Grant, his fifth full-length book of poetry, O.B.B.—a (weird postcolonial techno dream-pop) comics poem that also includes illustrations by Alex Tarampi and Ernest Concepcion—is just out from Nightboat Books.

Attend In Person

Attend Online

#woodland pattern #Roberto Harrison #Aja Couchois Duncan Nightboat Books

5 notes · View notes

coinwealth · 3 years ago

Text

Bitcoin tumbles, leading wider cryptocurrency losses – Oakland News Now

youtube

Oakland News Now –

Bitcoin tumbles, leading wider cryptocurrency losses

– video made by the YouTube channel with the logo in the video’s upper left hand corner. OaklandNewsNow.com is the original blog post for this type of video-blog content.

bitcoin #crypto #bitcoinprice Yahoo Finance Live’s Brian Sozzi and Julie Hyman discuss the volatile nature of bitcoin as the …

via IFTTT

Note from Zennie62Media and OaklandNewsNow.com : this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the YouTube video channel for Yahoo Finance uploads a video it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.

Oakland News Now Recent Posts

Poet Martín Espada on “Floaters,” the Dehumanization of Refugees, Puerto Rico & His Father December 29, 2021

Arundhati Roy on the Media, Vaccine Inequity, Authoritarianism in India & Challenging U.S. Wars December 29, 2021

NFL John Madden Dead, His Cause of Death, Last Moments Alive and Heart Touching Life Story December 29, 2021

Legend John Madden Dies at 85 | John Madden Passed Away Full Details Of Death December 29, 2021

I don’t even know if that’s PG! #Short December 29, 2021

NFL icon John Madden Passed Away | Rip John Madden | John Madden Cause Of Death December 29, 2021

Omicron cases surge, CDC investigating 86 cruise ships over COVID-19 outbreaks December 29, 2021

US approaches record high of new COVID cases December 29, 2021

Bitcoin tumbles, leading wider cryptocurrency losses December 29, 2021

Occasional showers and low snow. When showers will end. December 29, 2021

U.S. stocks open flat as Dow aims to extend its 5-day winning streak | CNBC News December 29, 2021

Estados Unidos permite que algunos de sus ciudadanos regresen al país con su pasaporte vencido | Noticias December 29, 2021

Westchester County Center Reopens For COVID Testing | NY News December 29, 2021

Controversy over CDC’s new COVID-19 isolation guidance as cases hit new high December 29, 2021

Stephen Curry Changed the Game | Warriors News December 29, 2021

Ice Hoops?

#shorts December 29, 2021

Legendary NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden has died at age 85 December 29, 2021

Pres. Obama: ‘The World Is Better’ Because Of Harry Reid December 29, 2021

Chicago area gets 1st accumulating snow of season | Ruptly News December 29, 2021

Petra Vlhova nabs slalom win with Mikaela Shiffrin absent in Lienz | NBC Sports December 29, 2021

Chicago area gets 1st accumulating snow of season December 29, 2021

Watch The Highlights From House Oversight Hearings, From Voting To Climate Inquiries | 2021 Rewind December 29, 2021

Exclusiva: Así recordaron a Armando Manzanero sus familiares y amigos a un año de su muerte | Noticias December 29, 2021

Head Coach Search Begins | Jags Drive Time | Jags News December 29, 2021

India fears new COVID wave as Omicron infections spread December 29, 2021

Chula Vista mom suffers multiple heart attacks and was brought back to life three times December 29, 2021

Karencici-花園裡的流星雨 Meteor Shower(Official Music Video) December 29, 2021

Riezam Arena & Lee Black – Marah Amarah [Official Music Video with Lyric] December 29, 2021

Top U.S. & World Headlines — December 29, 2021 December 29, 2021

Las Vegas Raiders Vs Broncos in Vegas Tailgate and Game Vlog Dec 2021 December 29, 2021

Don’t Waste Your Money: What to know before quitting your job in 2022 December 29, 2021

Kern’s Kindness: Mural for the blind December 29, 2021

Covered California: What to know ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline December 29, 2021

How Aidan Hutchinson & Jim Harbaugh have made Michigan a player-led team this season | Get Up December 29, 2021

Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: Dec. 28 December 29, 2021

Hugh Jackman confirma que dio positivo a COVID-19 | Noticias Telemundo | Noticias December 29, 2021

Cancelan las celebraciones de Año Nuevo en la Ciudad de México | Noticias Telemundo | Noticias December 29, 2021

2022 returns will be much more tempered, says Morgan Stanley’s Slimmon | CNBC News December 29, 2021

Nvidia stands to benefit from the metaverse, says DCLA’s Sarat Sethi | CNBC News December 29, 2021

LIVE | Bucs Insider December 29, 2021

PITCHSIDE UNSEEN: Southampton 1-1 Tottenham | Premier League December 29, 2021

Darrem – Новый Год (Official Music Video) December 29, 2021

Walter’s Baseball News Report: MLB payrolls drop 4%, back to 2015 level December 29, 2021

GB News Live | Wednesday 29th December 12:00 December 29, 2021

Highlighting John Madden’s Career As A Sports Broadcaster, Video Game Icon December 29, 2021

Visit San Francisco for renewing my passport | SF News December 29, 2021

Nadeemal Perera – E Kaale Wage (ඒ කාලේ වාගේ) Official Music Video December 29, 2021

Get Bihar Evening breaking news of 29th December on omicron update, bihar Mausam,BPSC,Nitish kumar. December 29, 2021

Estafan a familiares de inmigrantes varados o perdidos en la frontera con falsos secuestros December 29, 2021

Piyush Jain Tax Evasion Case: IT Dept Raids Kanpur Transporter Praveen Jain’s Residence | Asia News December 29, 2021

Oakland News Online Links From Oakland’s Only News Aggregator Blog

Oakland News Now Archives

Oakland News Now Archives Select Month December 2021 (36601) November 2021 (32789) October 2021 (8926) September 2021 (1111) August 2021 (843) July 2021 (725) June 2021 (431) May 2021 (393) April 2021 (463) March 2021 (320) February 2021 (315) January 2021 (356) December 2020 (319) November 2020 (349) October 2020 (444) September 2020 (445) August 2020 (496) July 2020 (462) June 2020 (391) May 2020 (301) April 2020 (289) March 2020 (239) February 2020 (221) January 2020 (262) December 2019 (161) November 2019 (183) October 2019 (226) September 2019 (173) August 2019 (231) July 2019 (239) June 2019 (194) May 2019 (137) April 2019 (224) March 2019 (164) February 2019 (142) January 2019 (181) December 2018 (147) November 2018 (168) October 2018 (173) September 2018 (192) August 2018 (183) July 2018 (176) June 2018 (125) May 2018 (28) April 2018 (18)

source https://usapangbitcoin.org/bitcoin-tumbles-leading-wider-cryptocurrency-losses-oakland-news-now/

source https://usapangbitcoin.wordpress.com/2021/12/30/bitcoin-tumbles-leading-wider-cryptocurrency-losses-oakland-news-now/

0 notes

aj-singingpoet · 5 years ago

Photo

Our past only determines our future when the truth be told. PLEASE THROW AWAY European history books and set yourself free! Aj-Poet (at Westchester County, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1f6PaWhUNS/?igshid=1mo7opngpo99b

0 notes

nyfacurrent · 5 years ago

Text

Introducing | NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Program Recipients and Finalists

NYFA has awarded $661,000 to 98 New York State artists working in the categories of Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design, Choreography, Music/Sound, Photography, and Playwriting/Screenwriting.

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has announced the recipients and finalists of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Program, which it has administered for the past 33 years with leadership support from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). The organization has awarded a total of $661,000 to 98 artists (including three collaborations) whose ages range from 25-76 years throughout New York State in the following disciplines: Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design, Choreography, Music/Sound, Photography, and Playwriting/Screenwriting. Fifteen finalists, who do not receive a cash award but benefit from a range of other NYFA services, were also announced. A complete list of the Fellows and Finalists follows.

The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Program makes unrestricted cash grants of $7,000 to artists working in 15 disciplines, awarding five per year on a triennial basis. The program is highly competitive, and this year’s recipients and finalists were selected by discipline-specific peer panels from an applicant pool of 2,542. Since it was launched in 1985, the program has awarded over $31 million to more than 5,000 artists. This year, thanks to the generous support of photography nonprofit Joy of Giving Something, NYFA was able to award an additional five Fellowships in Photography, which has the largest application pool of any Fellowship category.

“We are grateful to NYSCA for this annual opportunity to provide nearly 100 artists from New York State with unrestricted cash grants,” said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA. “What’s most exciting is that the Fellowship impacts artists of all disciplines and career stages and that these artists are being recognized by a jury of their peers. Beyond the financial aspect, it empowers them to keep creating and exploring new possibilities in their work.”

New York State Council on the Arts Executive Director Mara Manus described how the program makes New York communities more vibrant: “The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship recognizes that artists of all disciplines, backgrounds, ages, and career stages make vital contributions to New York’s creative culture. Over the past 33 years, the Artist Fellowship has been a launching pad and a critical source of support for artists whose work helps build healthy communities in all regions of the state.”

On receiving a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Playwriting/Screenwriting, Brooklyn-based Nabil Viñas said: “It is a deeply moving honor to be recognized by NYSCA/NYFA. I took up screenwriting out of necessity, as it became clear that the voices and stories from my life would not appear in works by others. This fellowship tells me our stories matter, and that my voice is worth hearing.”

For Ben Altman, a Fellow in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design from Danby, NY, the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship represents another facet of support from NYFA: “NYFA has informed my artistic practice throughout my 12 years in Upstate New York, providing professional development, fiscal sponsorship, grant application support, workshops, critique, and timely advice. To be awarded a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is as much a tribute to those inputs as it is an important and very welcome recognition of the work NYFA’s support has helped me to produce.”

To Veena Chandra, a Fellow in Music/Sound from Latham, NY, the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship empowers her to “continue to create, promote, and preserve” musical tradition. “I feel blessed to have been playing Indian sitar music for the last 63 years. I am so grateful to my father, who created an environment for me to learn this beautiful music and taught me from the very beginning of my life. To be recognized for my work in performing and preserving Indian Classical music means a lot to me, especially at this point in my career,” she noted.

Fellowship Recipients, Finalists, and Panelists by Discipline and County of Residence:

Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design Fellows

Ben Altman (Tompkins) Kenseth Armstead (Kings) Shimon Attie (New York) Sonya Blesofsky (Kings) Yeju Choi and Chat Travieso - Yeju & Chat (Kings) * Blane De St. Croix (Kings) Sun Young Kang (Erie) Kyung-jin Kim (Queens) Ming-Jer Kuo (Queens)*** Lindsay Packer (Kings) Christopher Robbins (Westchester) Jeffrey Williams (Kings)

Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design Finalists

Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels (Kings) Justin Brice Guariglia (Kings) Pascale Sablan (New York)

Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design Panelists

Ann Reichlin (Tompkins) Ekene Ijeoma (Kings) Nina Cooke John (New York) Victoria Palermo (Warren)

Choreography Fellows

Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie (New York) Justina Grayman (Queens)**** GREYZONE (Kings) Dan Hurlin (New York) Jaamil Olawale Kosoko (Kings) Shamel Pitts (Kings) Melinda Ring (New York) Same As Sister (Queens)* Rebeca Tomas (Westchester) Kelly Todd (Kings) Donna Uchizono (New York) Vangeline (Kings) Adia Tamar Whitaker (Kings)

Choreography Finalists

Parijat Desai (New York) DELIRIOUS Dances/Edisa Weeks (Kings) Netta Yerushalmy (New York)

Choreography Panelists

Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp (Monroe) Robin Collen (St. Lawrence) Trebien Pollard (Erie) Marie Poncé (New York) Kota Yamazaki (Kings)

Music/Sound Fellows

ALMA (Kings)* Lora-Faye Åshuvud (Queens) Newman Taylor Baker (New York) Bob Bellerue (Kings) Leila Bordreuil (Kings) Vienna Carroll (New York) Veena Chandra (Albany) David First (Kings) Micah Frank (Kings) Kate Gentile (Kings) Michael Harrison (Westchester) JSWISS (Kings) Liz Phillips (Queens) Kenneth Kirschner (Kings) Elliott Sharp (New York) Jen Shyu (Kings) Ann Warde (Tompkins) Eric Wubbels (Queens)

Music/Sound Finalists

Lily Henley (Kings) Earl Howard (Queens) Tobaron Waxman (New York)

Music/Sound Panelists

Toni Blackman (Kings) Sarah Hennies (Tompkins) John Morton (Rockland) Margaret Anne Schedel (Suffolk) Elio Villafranca (New York)

Photography Fellows

Manal Abu-Shaheen (Queens) Yasser Aggour (Kings) Aneta Bartos (New York) Lucas Blalock (Kings) Matthew Conradt (Kings) Debi Cornwall (Kings) Robin Crookall (Kings) Tim Davis (Dutchess)****** Eli Durst (Queens) Nona Faustine (Kings) Jonathan Gardenhire (Kings) Rachel Granofsky (Kings)***** Carlie Guevara (Queens) Gail Albert-Halaban (New York) Daesha Devón Harris (Saratoga)****** Gillian Laub (New York) Jiatong Lu (Kings)****** Diana Markosian (Kings) Rehan Miskci (New York) Rachelle Mozman Solano (Kings) Karina Aguilera Skvirsky (New York) Erin O'Keefe (New York) Paul Raphaelson (Kings) Victor Rivera (Onondaga)****** Jahi Lateef Sabater (Kings) Nadia Sablin (Kings) Derick Whitson (New York) Letha Wilson (Columbia)****** Alex Yudzon (Kings)

Photography Finalists

Mike Crane (Kings) Julianne Nash (Kings) Dana Stirling (Queens)

Photography Panelists

Nydia Blas (Tompkins) Carmen Lizardo (Hudson) Lida Suchy (Onondaga) Sinan Tuncay (Kings) Penelope Umbrico (Kings)

Playwriting/Screenwriting Fellows

Rae Binstock (Kings) Benedict Campbell (Bronx) Sol Crespo (Bronx)**** Amy Evans (Kings) Stephanie Fleischmann (Columbia) Robin Fusco (Queens) Myla Goldberg (Kings) Ryan J. Haddad (New York) Susan Kathryn Hefti (New York) Holly Hepp-Galvan (Queens) Timothy Huang (New York) Fedna Jacquet (New York) Nicole Shawan Junior (Kings)** Serena Kuo (Kings) Kal Mansoor (Kings) Michael Mejias (Kings) Joey Merlo (New York) Rehana Lew Mirza (Kings) Joél Pérez (New York) Keil Troisi (Kings) Nabil Viñas (New York) Craig T. Williams (New York)

Playwriting/Screenwriting Finalists

Iquo B. Essien (Kings) Becca Roth (Kings) Sheri Wilner (New York)

Playwriting/Screenwriting Panelists

Sheila Curran Bernard (Albany) Clarence Coo (New York) Randall Dottin (New York) David Ebeltoft (Steuben) Julie Casper Roth (Albany)

* Collaborative artists ** Geri Ashur Screenwriting Award *** Joanne Y. Chen Taiwanese American Artist Fellow **** Gregory Millard Fellows made with the support of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Gregory Millard Fellowships are awarded annually to New York City residents chosen in several categories. The award was established by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in 1984 in memory of poet and playwright Gregory Millard, who served as Assistant Commissioner of Cultural Affairs from 1978 until his death in 1984 and championed the causes of individual artists. ***** Deutsche Bank Fellow ******Joy of Giving Something Fellow

Funding Support

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships are administered with leadership support from New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Major funding is also provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA). Additional funding is provided by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, Taiwanese American Arts Council, The Joy of Giving Something Inc., and individual donors.

Find out more about the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Program, a $7,000 unrestricted cash grant awarded to individual artists living and working in the state of New York. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more news and events from NYFA. To receive more artist news updates, sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News.

Images from Top: Lindsay Packer (Fellow in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design ’19), False Fold, 2019, colored light and found objects, Photo Credit: Lindsay Packer; Donna Uchizono (Fellow in Choreography ’19), March Under an Empty Reign (Sextet), 2018, performers Natalie Green and Aja Carthon, Photo Credit: Ian Douglas; Eli Durst (Fellow in Photography ’19), Bread (Cross), 2017, archival pigment print; Veena Chandra (Fellow in Music/Sound ’19), Image Credit: MARS Fotographi

#afp #nyscanyfafellows #dcla #deutschebank #deutsche bank #artist news #artistnews #announcements #nyscanyfafellowship #new york state council on the arts #nysca #instagram #TAAC #taiwanese american arts council #taiwaneseamericanartscouncil #thejoyofgivingsomething #the joy of giving something

0 notes

blackkudos · 7 years ago

Text

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and civil rights activist. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun (1961). Her other notable film roles include The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), and Do the Right Thing (1989).

For her performance as Mahalee Lucas in American Gangster (2007), she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

She was a Grammy, Emmy, Obie and Drama Desk winner. She was also a National Medal of Arts, Kennedy Center Honors and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award recipient.

She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed, until his death in 2005.

Early life

Dee was born Ruby Ann Wallace on October 27, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Gladys (née Hightower) and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace, a cook, waiter and porter. After her mother left the family, Dee's father remarried, to Emma Amelia Benson, a schoolteacher.

Dee was raised in Harlem, New York. She attended Hunter College High School and went on to graduate from Hunter College with a degree in Romance languages in 1945. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta.

Career

Dee joined the American Negro Theater as an apprentice, working with Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Hilda Simms. She made several appearances on Broadway. Her first onscreen role was in That Man of Mine in 1946. She received national recognition for her role in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story. In 1965, Dee performed in lead roles at the American Shakespeare Festival as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew and Cordelia in King Lear, becoming the first black actress to portray a lead role in the festival. Her career in acting crossed all major forms of media over a span of eight decades, including the films A Raisin in the Sun, in which she recreated her stage role as a suffering housewife in the projects, and Edge of the City. She played both roles opposite Poitier.

During the 1960s, Dee appeared in such politically charged films as Gone Are the Days and The Incident, which is recognized as helping pave the way for young African-American actors and filmmakers. In 1969, Dee appeared in 20 episodes of Peyton Place. She appeared as Cora Sanders, a Marxist college professor, in the Season 1/Episode 14 of Police Woman, entitled “Target Black" which aired on Friday night, January 3, 1975. The character of Cora Sanders was obviously, but loosely, influenced by the real-life Angela Y. Davis. She appeared in one episode of The Golden Girls' sixth season. She played Queen Haley in Roots: The Next Generations, a 1979 miniseries.

Dee was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, winning once for her role in the 1990 TV film Decoration Day. She was nominated for her television guest appearance in the China Beach episode, "Skylark". Her husband Ossie Davis (1917–2005) also appeared in the episode. She appeared in Spike Lee's 1989 film Do the Right Thing, and his 1991 film Jungle Fever.

In 1995, she and Davis were awarded the National Medal of Arts. They were also recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. In 2003, she narrated a series of WPA slave narratives in the HBO film Unchained Memories. In 2007 the winner of the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album was shared by Dee and Ossie Davis for With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together, and former President Jimmy Carter.

Dee was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for her portrayal of Mama Lucas in American Gangster. She won the Screen Actors Guild award for the same performance. At 83 years of age, Dee is currently the second oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actress, behind Gloria Stuart who was 87 when nominated for her role in Titanic. This was Dee's only Oscar nomination.

On February 12, 2009, Dee joined the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College orchestra and chorus, along with the Riverside Inspirational Choir and NYC Labor Choir, in honoring Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday at the Riverside Church in New York City. Under the direction of Maurice Peress, they performed Earl Robinson's The Lonesome Train: A Music Legend for Actors, Folk Singers, Choirs, and Orchestra, in which Dee was the Narrator.

Dee's last role in a theatrically-released film was in the Eddie Murphy comedy A Thousand Words, in which she portrayed the mother of Murphy's protagonist. Perhaps, her penultimate film role is in 1982, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was released on home video on March 1, 2016. It is unknown whether her final role will ever be seen, as King Dog was in production at the time of her death, and no release date has ever been announced.

Personal life and activism

Ruby Wallace married blues singer Frankie Dee Brown in 1941, and began using his middle name as her stage name. The couple divorced in 1945. Three years later she married actor Ossie Davis, whom she met while costarring in Robert Ardrey's 1946 Broadway play Jeb. Together, Dee and Davis wrote an autobiography in which they discussed their political activism and their decision to have an open marriage (later changing their views). Together they had three children: son, blues musician Guy Davis, and two daughters, Nora Day and Hasna Muhammad. Dee was a breast cancer survivor of more than three decades.

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Dee's name and picture.

Dee and Davis were well-known civil rights activists. Dee was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1963, Dee emceed the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Dee and Davis were both personal friends of both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, with Davis giving the eulogy at Malcolm X's funeral in 1965. In 1970, she won the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League.

In 1999, Dee and Davis were arrested at 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the New York Police Department, protesting the police shooting of Amadou Diallo.

In early 2003, The Nation published "Not In My Name", an open proclamation vowing opposition to the impending US invasion of Iraq. Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were among the signatories, along with Robert Altman, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon and Howard Zinn, among others.

In November 2005 Dee was awarded – along with her late husband – the Lifetime Achievement Freedom Award, presented by the National Civil Rights Museum located in Memphis. Dee, a long-time resident of New Rochelle, New York, was inducted into the New Rochelle Walk of Fame which honors the most notable residents from throughout the community's 325-year history. She was also inducted into the Westchester County Women's Hall of Fame on March 30, 2007, joining such other honorees as Hillary Clinton and Nita Lowey. In 2009, she received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Princeton University.

Death

Dee died on June 11, 2014, at her home in New Rochelle, New York, from natural causes at the age of 91. In a statement, Gil Robertson IV of the African American Film Critics Association said, "the members of the African American Film Critics Association are deeply saddened at the loss of actress and humanitarian Ruby Dee. Throughout her seven-decade career, Ms Dee embraced different creative platforms with her various interpretations of black womanhood and also used her gifts to champion for Human Rights. Her strength, courage and beauty will be greatly missed."

“She very peacefully surrendered,” said her daughter Nora Day. “We hugged her, we kissed her, we gave her our permission to go. She opened her eyes. She looked at us. She closed her eyes, and she set sail.” Following her death, the marquee on the Apollo Theater read “A TRUE APOLLO LEGEND RUBY DEE 1922-2014".

Dee was cremated, and her ashes are held in the same urn as that of Davis, with the inscription "In this thing together". A public memorial celebration honoring Dee was held on September 20, 2014, at the Riverside Church in Upper Manhattan.

Work

Filmography

Features:

Short subjects:

Lorraine Hansberry: The Black Experience in the Creation of Drama (1975)

The Torture of Mothers (1980)

Tuesday Morning Ride (1995)

The Unfinished Journey (1999) (narrator)

The New Neighbors (2009) (narrator)

TelevisionStageDiscography

The Original Read-In for Peace in Vietnam (Folkways Records, 1967)

The Poetry of Langston Hughes (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, no date, TC 1272)

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (with George Grizzard. Caedmon Records, 1970, TC 1324)

Tough Poems For Tough People (with Ossie Davis and Henry Braun. Caedmon Records, 1972, TC 1396)

To Make A Poet Black: The best poems of Countee Cullen (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1971, TC 1400

To Be A Slave (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1972, TC 2066)

The Lost Zoo, (Caedmon Records, 1978, TC 1539)

Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears and Other Tales with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1978, TC 1592)

What if I am a Woman?, Vol. 1: Black Women's Speeches (Folkways, 1977)

What if I am a Woman?, Vol. 2: Black Women's Speeches (Folkways, 1977)

Every Tone a Testimony (Smithsonian Folkways, 2001)

American Short Stories, Vol 2: Various Artists(eav Lexington, no date, LE 7703)

American Short Stories, Vol 3: Various Artists (eav Lexington, no date, LE 7704)

I've got a name, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1968, CSM 662)

At your own risk, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1968, CSM 663)

Conflict, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1969, CSM 816)

Sight lines, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1970, SBN 03-071525-3)

Roses & Revolutions, Various Artist (D.S.T. Telecommunications,Inc. Production, 1975)

New Dimensions in Music (with John Cullum. CBS Records, 1976, P 13161)

Awards and nominations

Awards

1961: National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress – A Raisin in the Sun

1971: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance – Boesman and Lena

1971: Obie Award for Best Performance by an Actress – Boesman and Lena

1973: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance – Wedding Band

1988: Induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame

1991: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie – Decoration Day

1991: Women in Film Crystal Award

1995: National Medal of Arts

2000: Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award

2003: Women of Vision Award - Women in Film & Video-DC

2007: Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album – With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together (tied with Jimmy Carter)

2008: African–American Film Critics Best Supporting Actress – American Gangster

2008: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – American Gangster

2008: The Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal Award

2008: She was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.

Nominations

1964: Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role – The Doctors and the Nurses: Express Stop from Lenox Avenue

1979: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special – Roots: The Next Generations

1988: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special – Lincoln

1990: Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – China Beach: Skylark

1993: Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Evening Shade: They Can't Take That Away from Me

1995: Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Whitewash

2001: Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Little Bill

2002: Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actress – Saint Lucy's Eyes

2003: Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Little Bill

2008: Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – American Gangster

2008: Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – American Gangster

2008: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture – American Gangster

2009: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries – America

2010: Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Event – America

Wikipedia

#Ruby Dee #10-27 #06-11

42 notes · View notes

stoneycliffs · 8 years ago

Text

Living In: Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.: A Magnet for the Eclectic

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/realestate/croton-on-hudson-ny-a-magnet-for-the-eclectic.html?partner=rss&emc=rss Nestled by two rivers and abounding in natural beauty, this Westchester County village has attracted poets, actors and Communists over the years.

1 note · View note

maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick · 2 years ago

Text

2 notes · View notes

nyslovesfilm · 5 years ago

Text

Now Coming to a (Big, Small, or Both) Screen Near You

The Irishman and Others Bring Jobs and Spend to New York State

Streaming services are rising stars in film and television production in New York State and three of the 36 productions that shot or posted in New York, premiering between now and January, are proof of that trend; after limited theatrical runs, The Irishman (Netflix), Uncut Gems (A24) and Marriage Story (Netflix) will begin streaming on Netflix. There is increasing crossover between the traditional film and TV studios and the streaming services when it comes to content creation, but one thing is clear—the future of film in the streaming age points to continued growth in New York State.

The 27 feature films and nine series set for release in the next two months represent more than $586 million in estimated New York spend and almost 24,000 hires. More than a third of those shows (36%) are from Disney +, Amazon, Netflix and Apple TV+. WarnerMedia and NBC Universal will soon be launching streaming channels, joining CBS All Access, HBO Now, Facebook Watch, Hulu and many others. The growth is remarkable—from just five projects in the state’s film tax credit program in 2014, created for two streaming services (Netflix and Amazon) with estimated New York spend of $180 million and 11,000 hires. So far in 2019, 34 streaming projects have entered the program, representing seven different streaming services with an estimated New York spend of $1.2 billion and more than 46,000 hires.

Producers have noticed growth in the number and scale of productions with the rise of streaming services. “Whether [the film] is projected on a 75-by-100 foot screen or a 2-inch iPhone I go about my business as usual,” said Richard Baratta, Executive Producer of The Irishman. “From my perspective the approach is the same.” And screen size does not affect the economic benefits to New York State. On The Irishman, for example, the production’s art department alone used a list of some 226 small businesses and vendors, from A&S Windows in Glendale to Zarin’s Fabrics on the Lower East Side. Cooksburg Lumber in Preston Hollow (Albany County) supplied the production with shredded bark— for what exactly is unclear. Shot over 118 days in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan as well as in Putnam, Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties, the economic impact was felt by thousands of crew, workers, talent, service providers, small businesses and suppliers.

Other notable features among the 36 on this year’s fall and winter schedule include: Motherless Brooklyn (Warner Bros.), starring and directed by Edward Norton; American Son (Netflix) with Kerry Washington; and The Report (Amazon) with Adam Driver and Annette Bening. Series premieres include Hailee Steinfeld as poet Emily Dickinson in Dickinson (Apple TV+) and a live-action pre-school series, The Hoopsters (Apple TV+), from the makers of Sesame Street. Returning shows starting new seasons include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), Ray Donovan (Showtime) and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Paramount/Amazon).

The exceptional quality of New York’s crews and talent base, range and diversity of cinematic locations, and competitive film and television production and post-production tax credits continue to make the Empire State a top destination for productions destined for all screens.

0 notes

wpiprobate · 7 years ago

Text

10 Most Unusual Last Wishes & Testaments

1 Angel Pantoja: wanted to be standing at his own funeral

Angel Pantoja: wanted to be standing at his own funeral A funeral home in Puerto Rico used a special embalming treatment to keep the body of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for a three-day wake in his mother’s San Juan home. Donning a New York Yankees cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in the living room. “Angel wanted to be happy, standing,” told his brother Carlos to the “El Nuevo Dia” newspaper. The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press that Pantoja’s mother had asked him to fulfill her dead son’s last wish. Pantoja was found dead underneath a bridge in San Juan and buried 3 days later. The police were investigating.

2 Helmsley: left $12 million to Trouble (her dog)

Helmsley: left $12 million to Trouble (her dog) Some may refer to Leona Helmsley as the ‘Queen of Mean’, but I think her dog would disagree. Helmsley died at the age of 87 and her will was made public. In it, she provided quite nicely for her dog Trouble, creating a $12 million trust to ensure that the Maltese lives out the rest of her life in the luxury she is no doubt accustomed to. The trust will be overseen by her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, to whom she left $10 million. When Trouble’s days on Earth are over, she is to be buried next to her mistress in the $1.4 million mausoleum in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Westchester County, New York. Talk about a pampered pooch. She was less generous to her late son Jay Panzirer’s children, cutting Craig and Meegan Panzire out completely for “reasons which are known to them” and leaving a relatively paltry $5 million each to David and Walter Panzirer.

The billionaire’s grandchildren contested her will.

3 Bratt: left 330,000 pounds with the condition his wife would smoke 5 cigars a day

Bratt: left 330,000 pounds with the condition his wife would smoke 5 cigars a day Samuel Bratt used his will simply to get even. His wife never allowed him to smoke his favorite cigars. When he died in 1960, the embittered Bratt returned the favor. He left her £330,000. To get it, however, she had to smoke five cigars a day.

4 9-year-old Jayla: wanted to get married before dying

9-year-old Jayla: wanted to get married before dying Every little girl dreams about her wedding day, complete with visions of a big beautiful white dress and, of course, the perfect man. But 9-year-old Jayla Cooper doesn’t have a lifetime to wait for Mr. Right. The Southlake, TX, girl has been battling leukemia for two years, a battle that could end in just a matter of weeks. But what Jayla does have is a groom. He’s her best friend, Jose Griggs, a fellow patient at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. “He is very cute,” Jayla giggled, “And I love him.”

Jayla and Jose recently tied the knot to fulfill her final wish: Getting married in a beautiful wedding, surrounded by family and friends. From the flowers to the banquet hall, donations poured in to give a North Texas bride the wedding of her dreams.

5 T M Zink: donated his Money for the creation of a womanless library

T M Zink: donated his Money for the creation of a womanless library Iowa attorney T.M. Zink, who died in 1930, had such a strong disdain for women that he wished to use his savings to establish a library that would allow no works by female authors or artists, and would prohibit female patrons. In his will, Zink stipulated that his $35,000 be placed in a trust for 75 years, and the accumulated sum be used to build the Zink Womanless Library, where every entrance would bear a sign with the words “No Women Allowed.” Zink’s daughter, who was left $5 in the same will, challenged it successfully, and the female-free learning zone was never built.

6 Heine: left all his money to his wife with the condition of she remarrying

Heine: left all his money to his wife with the condition of she remarrying In 1841, the poet Heinrich Heine married Eugenie Mirat, an uneducated, boorish, and absurdly vain clerk in a Parisian bootshop. Heine’s affection for Eugenie was not without its ambiguities. In his will, Heine left her his whole estate, on one condition: that she remarry. Why? “Because then there will be at least one man,” he explained, “who will regret my death.” The German poet died in 1856.

7 Rodenberry (Star Trek creator): requested to be cremated and sent into space

Rodenberry (Star Trek creator): requested to be cremated and sent into space Gene Rodenberry, the creator of the Star Trek TV phenomenon, loved space and science fiction so much that he requested that his body be cremated and sent into space. His final wishes were honored and he was carried away from Earth on a Spanish satellite in 1997. His ashes were shot into the atmosphere as the satellite orbited the planet. His wife joined him in space after her death about 10 years later.

8 Young disabled Nick Wallis: asked for a hooker to lose his virginity

Young disabled Nick Wallis: asked for a hooker to lose his virginity A young disabled man who receives care for his life-limiting illness at a hospice run by a nun spoke of his decision to use a prostitute to experience sex before he dies. Sister Frances Dominica gave her support to 22-year-old Nick Wallis, who was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sufferers usually die by their thirties. Mr Wallis told staff at the Douglas House hospice in Oxford that he wanted to experience sexual intercourse. He explained that he had hoped to form an intimate and loving relationship with a woman, but his disability had acted as a barrier. According to him “it took me two years to decide this and I discussed it with my carers and my parents. Telling my mother and father was the hardest part, but in the end they gave me their support”.

Arrangements were made and he finally got the visit of a prostitute. He said it was not emotionally fulfilling, but the lady was very pleasant and very understanding.

9 Benny: made arrangements to have one rose delivered to his wife everyday

Benny made arrangements to have one rose delivered to his wife everyday Jack Benny wanted to get the right things to the right people at the right time. Jack and Sayde Marks (better known as Mary Livingstone, the character she played on his radio show) had been married 48 years when he died on the day after Christmas 1974. Their marriage was far from ideal. According to one source, she was sharp-tongued, demanding and vain. He was a philanderer. After he died, she claimed that his signature gesture of holding one hand to the side of his face came from trying to hide scratches she inflicted after he took a phone call from a female admirer. But he loved her and was devoted to her. The day after Benny’s funeral, a florist delivered a single long-stemmed red rose to her. She received another the next day. And the day after that and the day after that. Some stories say she called the florist and demanded to know where they were coming from. More likely is that she just read his will. In his will, Jack set aside money to get a rose to her every day for the rest of her life. She lived another 9 years with that daily reminder of her husband’s love.

10 Ms Edwards: donated her pacemaker to a dog

Ms Edwards: donated her pacemaker to a dog Having died at the age of 80, Dorothea Edwards left instructions with her family that her pacemaker be donated to an animal. A little-known fact is that, while U.S. federal regulations prohibit person-to-person pacemaker donations, there is no such restraint on offering the item to a dog, cat, pig or other animal that shares a human’s cardiovascular arrangement. Ms. Edwards, an organ donor, understood this and made provisions to leave her pacemaker to the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Veterinary Medicine. The lucky beneficiary was "Sunshine”, a 9½-year-old German Shepherd mix who has, until now, had a life’s worth of hard luck.

Several years ago, Sunshine was adopted by neighbors Cindy and John Wren when the dog’s home was raided by SWAT teams and the occupants were arrested for running a drug and prostitution ring. Sunshine’s owner turned out to be #2 on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. After that, the Wrens went to extraordinary lengths to rehabilitate the dog, both physically and mentally. But in 1998, Sunshine became very listless, lost her appetite and began fainting often. Medical examinations revealed that she had a congenital heart defect and required a pacemaker to be surgically implanted.

After several unsuccessful procedures, Ms. Edwards’ life-saving legacy (a brand new, state-of-the-art pacemaker) was attached to Sunshine’s heart, and the surgery was declared a complete success. Thanks to Ms. Edwards, one very excited dog is expected to live out the rest of her natural life.

#will

0 notes