Discount Tix for Twain
Shelley Fisher Fishkin writes (01/13/07):
Dear Classmate,
I hope that 2008 has gotten off to a good start for you!
As one of the producers of "Is He Dead?" the "new" play by Mark Twain that recently had its world premiere on Broadway (see the arts section of the Nov-Dec Yale Alumni Magazine for details), I can make a discount code for tickets available to my friends. And your friends are my friends. So if you'd like to share the fun of "Is He Dead?" with family and friends, feel free to send them this code: IHDBBX4 (Just enter it at www.broadwayoffers.com, or mention it when you order by phone at 212-947-8844.) It lets you purchase $98 orchestra seats for $55,and $78 mezzanine seats for $45 (plus service charge). (The code is good now through February). Enjoy!
All the best,
Shelley
P.S. A large group of Yale students will be attending the Saturday matinee on February 16th, and I'll be leading a talk-back in the theatre after the show with some of the actors and members of the producing team. If you decide to get tickets for that performance, you'd be very welcome to stay for the talk-back.
IS HE DEAD? a new comedy by Mark Twain
"Good humor, good energy, and a sweet underpinning of rue."
Michael Feingold, The Village Voice
"SHRIEKINGLY FUNNY!
I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'VE HEARD A NEW YORK AUDIENCE LAUGH LOUDER OR LONGER."
Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal
"JUST PLAIN HILARIOUS!
THIS IS A SHOW FOR ALL AGES AND FOR ALL TASTES.?ALL YOU NEED TO ENJOY IT IS THE ABILITY TO LAUGH."
-Jacques Le Sourd, The Journal News
"There was gold dust in my eyes."
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"A LOT OF LAUGHS! Michael Blakemore's direction is masterful. David Ives understands the seriousness of a light touch; he's swift and smart. Caprice has its day; in the sure hands of Blakemore, Ives and the well-drilled supporting cast, it also has its victory.
- John Lahr, The New Yorker
"A TWAIN TO CATCH!"
-Clive Barnes, New York Post
"You'll be doubled over with laughter!"
-David Richardson, WOR-AM
"NORBERT LEO BUTZ IS?THE FUNNIEST MAN ON BROADWAY!"
-Daily News -The Star-Ledger -WOR-AM
Adapted by DAVID IVES (All In The Timing) and directed by two-time Tony Award winner MICHAEL BLAKEMORE (Noises Off), IS HE DEAD? stars Tony Award winner NORBERT LEO BUTZ (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) as a struggling artist who stages his own death to drive up the price of his paintings.
Norbert leads a winning cast of comic actors, including Byron Jennings (Noises Off), John McMartin (Grey Gardens), Michael McGrath (Spamalot), Jenn Gambatese (All Shook Up), Tom Alan Robbins (The Lion King), Bridget Regan (Broadway debut), Jeremy Bobb (Translations), Marylouise Burke (Fuddy Meers), Patricia Conolly (House and Garden) and David Pittu (LoveMusik).
More at IsHeDead.com
---And for Shelley's bio at the Stanford English department site, click here.
Query from "Snake" Johnson
Bil "Snake" Johnson writes (01/11/07):
As an educator I'm wrestling with a question I would like to hear members of the Class of '71 respond to.
Having been born in 1949 or so, what in your education prepared you to deal with the world of 1999?
I'm asking this because I think your responses may provide important insights into how we look at preparing a generation of students who will be 50 years old in 2049 and are just beginning school now.
What did you learn (and at what level did you learn it -- elementary, secondary, college, post grad) and how did that prepare you to deal with the 21st century?
Basic literacy is a given, of course. I'm trying to latch on to what other things---the adaptability, the problem solving and critical thinking skills---where and how did that happen for you (if it did)?
You can send responses to me directly at:
bil dot johnson at yale dot edu
I'll report back to the Class Website if and when I have "results."
Thanks in advance.
Bil "Snake" Johnson
www.biljohnson.com
www.johnsoneducation.com
Mintkeski Holiday Letter
Below is the full text of Walt's 2007 holiday letter, as forwarded by Harry Levitt:
Year 2007 brought several happy changes for our family. Younger son Charlie and his partner Rachael (both 26) left December 6, 2006 for a 3 month adventure in New Zealand. We visited them for 2 weeks in February, arriving in Christchurch on Valentine's Day. After meeting us at the airport and showing use around town, they took us to dinner. Shortly after we sat down, Charlie raised his beer glass and said: We have an announcement. We are engaged! Vicki and I could not have been more delighted, since we have been waiting for this to happen for the last year. What we did not anticipate is how fast they would act on their decision. At the end of March, they returned to Portland, moved to Missoula, Montana, and began planning their wedding for September 15 in Crested Butte, Colorado, near Rachael's home town of Paonia. The small wedding was held outdoors in a beautiful meadow overlooking the West Elk Mountains. At the conclusion of the ceremony, hail and rain fell for about 3 minutes, after which a magnificent double rainbow appeared. Everyone took photos of the couple centered under the multi colored arches. What a fantastic and auspicious beginning to a life together!
Older son Tyler and wife Maureen (both 29) bought a house in Seattle, WA. Vicki and I helped them move from their nearby condo just before Christmas 2006. Two weeks after Charlie and Rachael's wedding they announced that they are pregnant! So we will be grandparents in June, and will be making a lot more trips to Seattle.
Vicki continues to paint watercolors, teach a weekly watercolor class, and tend her urban chickens and 15 year old dog. Watch out, pets. You will soon be displaced by a grandchild. Needless to say she is very excited about being a grandmother.
My 97 year old father still lives at Willamette View Health Center where he has 24 hour help. He recovered very quickly from gall bladder removal surgery in May. Although he has slowed down a bit this fall from an infection lingering from his hip replacement surgery in December, 2005, he is still very alert and enjoys watching me race my Laser sailboat and going out to dinner on Sundays.
This year was also busy with travel. In addition to our wonderful two weeks in New Zealand during February, we visited Charlie and Rachael in Missoula during August and then spent a few days touring Glacier Nation Park. After their September 15 wedding, we spent time in the Silverton, Colorado area, hiking and enjoying the beautiful fall colors. The golden aspen leaves will surely appear in Vicki's future paintings. In early May, I did a week long volunteer service trip on the Escalante River in southern Utah, removing invasive Russian Olive trees. The following week, I joined 6 other Portland friends on a 6 day, 40 mile backpack trip through the Paria Canyon and Buckskin Gulch Wilderness Area on the Utah/Arizona boarder north of the Grand Canyon. What colorful, expansive country! Finally, at the end of May, I chartered a 42 foot sailboat with4 other men from Portland and sailed in the San Juan Islands of Washington and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia for a week.
It has been over three years since I left my full time career as an Environmental Engineer. My focus since then has been volunteer environmental activities: serving on the boards of the local Johnson Creek Watershed Council (JCWC) and the local chapter of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV), campaigning for ballot measures and candidates endorsed by OLCV, as well as managing a summer evening sailboat racing program for kids at the Willamette Sailing Club. As I have learned more about the potential consequences of global climate disruption, I have decided to focus my efforts on sustainability, energy conservation, and renewable energy as ways to reduce our collective carbon footprint. Other than participating in energy audits for the local offices of the JCWC and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and maintaining the solar panel system for TNC, I have found very few volunteer opportunities in these areas. Therefore, this fall I decided to look for employment. So far I have had several informational interviews and have established a network of contacts. If you know of opportunities in the Portland area, please let me know.
So, that is our news. I look forward to hearing from you and would love to have you visit us in Portland. Your have my address and phone number below. Keep in touch, and best wishes for the Holidays.
Walt Mintkeski ... mintkeski at juno dot com
Strom Named Vice Dean
Below, forwarded by Harry Levitt, is an announcement from the School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania about Brian Strom's new roles as Vice Dean and Senior Advisor to the Provost:
November 30, 2007
We are delighted to announce that Brian Strom, M.D., M.P.H., George S. Pepper Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Chair and Professor of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, and Director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, has been appointed to the newly created positions of Vice Dean for Institutional Affairs in the School of Medicine and Senior Advisor to the Provost for Global Health Initiatives. He assumes his new positions today.
As Vice Dean, Brian will lead the School of Medicine's critically important relationship with the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center (PVAMC). The School's longstanding association with the PVAMC has provided exceptional opportunities for faculty and residents to diversify their professional experiences across SOM's core missions. We are most grateful to Bernie Johnson for his leadership in stewarding this relationship during the last several years. Brian will build upon Bernie's work to develop strategic partnerships with SOM's chairs, leverage the expertise of faculty, and form collaborative relationships with the senior administration of the PVAMC, so as to advance mutual goals in clinical education, research, and patient care. Richard Citron, the newly appointed Director of the PVAMC, is enthusiastic about Brian's appointment and eager to begin their work together.
Additionally, Brian will work closely with Drs. Marjorie Bowman and David Asch to develop and promote the educational and research missions of the Center for Public Health Initiatives (CHPI) and Leonard Davis Institute (LDI). He will also play a significant role in developing and implementing the PENN Medicine Biomedical Informatics Initiative.
As Senior Advisor to the Provost, Brian will work closely with the provost, deans, and provost's senior leadership team to implement the university's global health initiatives. He will coordinate public health activities across the university, help the provost develop and fund new programs, and work with key groups to advance Penn's commitment to public health, global health, and health services research.
We are confident that Brian will be a tremendous partner in all our public health initiatives, across the university and around the world. He is an accomplished leader who knows how to forge collaborative relationships; and his dual appointment both recognizes his outstanding leadership and gives us all an opportunity to advance our collaborative work in these vital areas. His skill and experience will be a great asset to the university and to our critically important relationship with the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center.
Brian is a global leader in pharmacoepidemiology research, the application of epidemiologic methods to the study of drug use and effects. Editor and an author of Pharmacoepidemiology, the field's major text (now in its fourth edition), he has written or co-written 475 papers, been principal investigator of over 200 grants, and served as President of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology and Editor for the Americas for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, its official journal. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and one of only a handful of clinical epidemiologists ever elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and American Association of Physicians.
A faculty member of the School of Medicine since 1980, and winner of a 2004 Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, he earned a M.P.H. in Epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980; an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1975; and a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 1971.
Honor for Scott Atlas
Harry Levitt forwards a press release on the 21st Leon Jaworski Community Service Award to be conferred on Scott Atlas by the Houston Bar Association Auxiliary this coming March:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2007
Contact: Sandy Norris
713.827.0442; swnorris at comcast dot net
HOUSTON BAR ASSOCIATION AUXILIARY
ANNOUNCES WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES, LLP ATTORNEY SCOTT J. ATLAS
AS RECIPIENT OF 21st ANNUAL LEON JAWORSKI
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Award ceremony to take place at Houston Club on March 4, 2008
HOUSTON -- The Houston Bar Association Auxiliary has selected Scott J. Atlas of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP as the recipient of its 21st annual Leon Jaworski Community Service Award.
In 1988, the Houston Bar Association Auxiliary (HBAA) inaugurated the Award to honor lawyers for long-time community volunteer service. In recognizing the efforts of an outstanding lawyer each year, the HBAA honors all lawyers who help make the legal profession an abiding source of community good.
The award ceremony and luncheon will take place on Tuesday, March 4, 2008, at 11:30 a.m., at The Houston Club, 811 Rusk in downtown Houston. Individual tickets to the annual luncheon are $50 or $450 for a table for 10 people. Tickets may be obtained by calling Leon Jaworski Award chairperson Sandy Norris at 713.827.0442.
The keynote speaker for the luncheon will be Mr. Dave Daniels, Corporate Relations Manager of Houston Habitat for Humanity. Mayor Bill White will introduce Mr. Atlas and present him with a Mayoral Proclamation at the luncheon.
Mr. Atlas is a partner in the Litigation/Regulatory Department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP. In addition, he regularly serves on the board or advises a number of nonprofit organizations in connection with their legal affairs, including universities, arts organizations, social service agencies, and other charities.
Mr. Atlas graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Yale University in 1971. He graduated with honors in 1975 from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was selected Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Law Review. In first year moot court, he was on the winning team and selected as best speaker. He was elected to the Friars Society, the oldest honor society at the University of Texas.
In addition to leadership roles in various professional and bar associations, including chairing the American Bar Association's 70,000-member Section of Litigation, Mr. Atlas has devoted many years to volunteerism and leadership in the Houston community. He is an Ex-officio Member of the Governor's Criminal Justice Advisory Council, long-time pro bono General Counsel for The Alley Theatre, a Director of Alliance for Judicial Funding, an Executive Committee Member of The University of Texas Chancellor's Council, and Regional Chair-Elect of the Anti-Defamation League. He served on the Executive Committee of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and was the founding president of the Houston Shakespeare Festival Board.
He has received several awards for community service including the Karen Susman Jurisprudence Award presented by the Anti-Defamation League in 2002; the Distinguished Alumnus for Community Service awarded by The University of Texas School of Law Alumni Association in 2000; and the Leon Green Award presented by the Texas Law Review Association "for outstanding contribution to the legal profession" in 1997. He has also received numerous awards for pro bono service, including: the Civil Rights All-Stars Award presented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for "outstanding contributions in civil and human rights in Houston" (2005), the American Bar Association Pro Bono Award "for having contributed significant work toward developing innovative approaches to the delivery of voluntary legal services to the poor" (1986), and Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award from the Pro Bono Institute "in recognition of his extraordinary and wide-ranging pro bono leadership" (2003).
He has been married for almost 25 years to Nancy F. Atlas, who is a federal district court judge. They have two adult sons.
The Leon Jaworski Community Service Award is named for Leon Jaworski (1905-1982), whose life and achievements reflected a deep commitment to public service.
Past recipients include Thomas D. Anderson; Tom Martin Davis; Herman P. Pressler; William C. Harvin; Gibson Gayle, Jr.; Gail Whitcomb; Sam W. Davis, Jr.; Wyatt H. Heard; Searcy Bracewell; Charles A. Saunders; Bruce La Boon; J. Kent Friedman; E. William Barnett; Daniel C. Arnold; Harry M. Reasoner; Neal Manne; Julius Glickman; Harry Gee, Sr., Charles Szalkowski, and Jonathan Day.
Each year, the HBAA solicits nominations from various arts, health care, service, social, religious and civic organizations in the Greater Houston area. A committee of community leaders considers each nomination and elects the recipient.
This year's Selection Committee of community leaders included Curtis D. Mooney, Ph.D., President and CEO of Depelchin Children's Center, as Chairman; Mrs. Sue Burnett, President of Burnett Staffing; Dr. Mary B. McIntire, Dean of Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University; Dr. David McKechnie, Interim Pastor of First Presbyterian Church; Dr. Tommy Thompson, Executive Vice President and COO of CanCare; W. Thomas Proctor, Houston Bar Association President; and Mrs. Jane Larkin, Houston Bar Association Auxiliary Representative.
# # #
Review: Diamonds, Gold & War
BOOK REVIEW
Martin Meredith: "Diamonds, Gold and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa"
By Martin Rubin, Special to The LA Times
January 1, 2008
THE story of how the discovery of diamonds and then of gold transformed the agrarian backwater of South Africa has been told many times before, but never with more vividness, clarity and verve than in the engrossing "Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa" by Martin Meredith.
Filled with colorful characters and fascinating events, this book has an energy and authority that will engage readers who want to find out about this corner of history. Even those who are more conversant, like this reviewer who has been reading about this subject for 50 years, will find a freshness in this illuminating historiographical enterprise.
When Britain occupied the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa during the Napoleonic Wars at the turn of the 19th century, there was a small settler population of mixed Dutch and French Huguenot descent there since the 17th century. These Afrikaners -- the Dutch word for African -- continued to speak Dutch and run their fruit and wine farms with slaves of mixed African, Asian and European extraction.
But when slavery became illegal in the British Empire in 1834, many, but not all, Afrikaners moved to the interior of South Africa beyond the reach of British rule. By the early 1850s, they had founded two isolated nations, the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. These were oligarchies run along democratic lines for the white populations: blacks and those of mixed race had no political rights, unlike in the British-ruled parts of South Africa where there was a colorblind suffrage based on property and education and small but significant numbers of nonwhite voters. Under pressure from Britain, though, there was no actual slavery in the two Boer (the Dutch name for farmer) republics.
Britain was happy to maintain this status quo as long as there was nothing it wanted in the Boer territories. But as Meredith pithily puts it:
"Then, in 1871, prospectors exploring a remote area of sun-scorched scrubland in Griqualand, just outside the Cape [Colony]'s borders, discovered the world's richest deposits of diamonds. Britain promptly snatched the territory from the Orange Free State. Fifteen years later, an itinerant English digger . . . stumbled across the rocky outcrop of a gold-bearing reef on a ridge named by Transvaal farmers as the Witwatersrand [Reef of White Waters]. Beneath the reef lay the richest deposits of gold ever discovered. The gold strike transformed the Transvaal from an impoverished rural republic into a glittering prize. . . .
---To read the full review in the LA Times, click here.
Krasilovsky Film Honored
Alexis Krasilovsky writes (12/29/07):
I'm proud to let classmates know that my 90-minute documentary Women Behind the Camera won the 2007 Spirit of Moondance Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The film screened recently at the Plus CamerImage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography in Lodz, Poland and the Muestra Internacional de las Mujeres en el Cine y la Television at the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico City.
It's an official selection of several upcoming festivals as well, including the Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh in January, where I'm excited to be a keynote speaker.
Women Behind the Camera (2007) - 90 minutes
Directed by: Alexis Krasilovsky
"WOMEN BEHIND THE CAMERA" reveals the lives of camerawomen in Hollywood and Bollywood, Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, and the U.S.
"Exciting!" -- Haskell Wexler, ASC
"What gutsy characters she found--from the Chinese women who filmed Mao as he traveled the countryside in the 1950's to the Afghan women who secretly recorded Taliban atrocities, to an African American who earned her way into the white-boys' club of cinematographers. The filming itself was a communal effort, with interviews recorded by lenswomen around the world." -- Ms., Fall 2007.
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
Dhaka International Film Festival
Dhaka, Bangladesh
January 10-18, 2008
Through Women's Eyes Film Festival
Sarasota, Florida
February 1, 2008
The Art of Gender in Everyday Life Conference
Idaho State University
March 5, 2008
Women's Film Festival
Brattleboro, Vermont
March 19 & 21, 2008
Female Eye Film Festival
Toronto, Canada
March 27-30, 2008
Women Behind the Camera is available on DVD at www.womenbehindthecamera.com, where you can also view a trailer for the film.
Photo: Walt Mintkeski
Walt Mintkeski writes (12/23/07):
Younger son Charlie and his partner Rachael (both 26) left December 6, 2006 for a 3 month adventure in New Zealand. We visited them for 2 weeks in February, arriving in Christchurch on Valentine's Day, when they announced to us their engagement! At the end of March, they returned to Portland, moved to Missoula, Montana, and began planning their wedding for September 15 in Crested Butte, Colorado, near Rachael's home town of Paonia. The small wedding was held outdoors in a beautiful meadow overlooking the West Elk Mountains.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, hail and rain fell for about 3 minutes, after which a magnificent double rainbow appeared. Everyone took photos of the couple centered under the multi colored arches. What a fantastic and auspicious beginning to a life together!
[Click the thumbnail image below to see the photo]
Bruner on Art and Business
In the December 24 Washington Post, Robert Bruner writes, in an article entitled "The Brush Strokes of Business":
Recently I saw the Edward Hopper exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. You must see it. Hopper was one of the leading American realist painters of the 20th century. He captured moments of city life seen in cafes, diners and through apartment windows. If you look for growth in technique across his career, you will be disappointed: His human figures remain imperfect. But what his brush strokes lack in detail, his paintings make up in mood. Hopper's special gift was to portray certain emotions of life in a big city, such as loneliness, detachment and introspection. His scope was not life triumphant, but rather, everyday life, the kind you have to work at. I like his work very much. But for me, the special impact of the exhibition came from a comment by a guide, halfway through the show: "If Hopper had been a better painter, he wouldn't have been as good an artist." Think about that. . . .
[For the full article, click here or visit www.washingtonpost.com; to see the National Gallery's website presentation on the Hopper exhibition, click here or visit www.nga.gov.]
The Real Sweeney Todd...
'The Wonderful and Surprising History of Sweeney Todd' by Robert L. Mack
Exploring an urban legend
By Martin Rubin, Special to The (L.A.) Times
December 20, 2007
There is seemingly nothing on the subject of the tale of Sweeney Todd -- from its roots in reality, to its finding its way into folklore and subsequently literature, and then onto innumerable stages and the screen -- which Robert L. Mack has not explored in "The Wonderful and Surprising History of Sweeney Todd: The Life and Times of an Urban Legend." It is an immensely detailed and far-reaching book that might be considered the last word in program notes to Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's stage musical and its movie version directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, which opens Friday. ...
---For Martin's complete review, click here, or go to the LA Times home page, http://www.latimes.com/ and search for sweeney todd mack --the search box is at center of the home page just under the masthead.