Nancy Davidoff Kelton's Blog, page 11

Dance Us to the End of Love

Dear Leonard Cohen,You died the day before Hillary lost.  Did you decide to leave before the shock?  Before we became so angry? So sad? So afraid?Probably not.   I doubt you had much use for this country’s politics. You were on a higher plane.After reading your obituary Friday, I sat down at my piano and playedSuzanneandHallelujahover and over like I played Imagine the day John Lennon died.  No one was around so I sang.Last Wednesday, before we knew of your death and my tears flowed while Hillary spoke, I did what I often do for a soul connection: I turned to Leonard Cohen. I listened to you singYou Want It Darkeron YouTube and then toSo Long, Marianne.As one of 6000 fans at your Radio City Hall concert, I thought you were singing just to me.  I was gone before you opened withDance Me to the End of Love,gone with your skipping onto the stage. After welcoming us with your humor and spirit, you said you didn’t know when we will meet again, but you’ll give us all you got.You did.  That night.  Always.My mother and your sister share the name Esther Cohen. Your son and I share a birthday.  I share a sentiment about you my first best friend, Inez, whom I’ve known since we were six, shared with me on Friday:We will feel his precious absence on this planet but also feel his precious presents deep inside.So deep and so dear. You “stand before the lord of song” and of course, at the head of the class.  Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen! Hallelujah!

Good Sunday, Baltimore

We didn’t see the flasher who lives next door, the drunk on the barroom stool, or discuss the election until dinner and then for three minutes.    I was:--at the Baltimore Museum of Art with my Passager editor, Kendra.  She introduced me to the Cone sisters.  A treat!  So were the Matisses, the sculptural garden, and time with Kendra.--at The Ivy Book Shop event with Marion Winik.  First I read the sections fromFinding Mr. Rightsteinon famous penises.  Two famous penises.  The third, not a famous one, figures into my memoir, but why spill the penis beans here?--interviewed by Marion.  She’s smart and funny in person just as she is on the page and she asked such thought-provoking questions.  I’m still thinking.--enjoying every minute.  At The Ivy, Ed, the owner, welcomed me with his warmth, comfortable chairs, open space, kindness, and great books all around.  I schmoozed before and after with him, new friends in the audience, and the rest of my terrific Passager team: Mary, my other book editor, and Christine, my managing editor.--enjoying our group dinner:  like everyone and everything else in Baltimore last Sunday, the crab cakes were a treat.

What I Expect When I Expect To Be in Buffalo This Week

Larkin Square--Ted’s hot dogs--no snow, I hope--no sleet either, I don’t own a rain bonnet and if I did, I wouldn’t wear it--a talk about “Finding Mr. Rightstein” with Leslie Zemsky at Larkin Square, Thursday, October 20 at 5:30--schmoozing with relatives and friends--Anderson’s frozen custard, probably chocolate--Anderson’s beef on weck--an interview at Entercom Studios with Penny Wolfgang for her radio show. It will be broadcast next weekend and available to listen via podcast (details in my next blog)--beef on weck a second time I’m-not-sure-where.  My Buffalo friends like Charlie the Butcher’s.  Isn’t it so cool that beef of weck got top billing in a NY Times Travel section article on upstate food (Oct. 16,2016)?--a drive by Bennett, PS #66, my house on North Drive, my friends’ houses, Grandma Cohen’s on Jewett Parkway and Grandma Davidoff’s on Colvin Ave--Bennett and Buffalo, thine forever. I’m going and coming home.

New Sofa, New Month, New Year

New Sofa, New Month, New Year1.      Donating furniture is harder than getting into college, as I wrote here before.  Our sofa was rejected. Housing Works didn’t say why. Then, an acquaintance wanted it, moved it with assistance to his apartment, and now loves taking naps.2.      After my NYU Bookstore event Thursday, an attendee told me she took my New School class 27 years ago, had an essay she wrote in class published, moved out of NY,  recently retired, moved back in August, and signed up for my October 15 workshop.  “Time to get cracking again,” she said.3.      “Heisenberg” is giving me lots to chew on.  The performances and the writing—Wow!!  The actor, Denis Arndt, is making his Broadway debut at age 77.  That’s a lot to chew on, too!4.      At age 5, Mo Willems wrote Charles Schultz and asked, “Can I have your job when you’re dead?” That was on the audio at The New York Historical Society Willems exhibit.   Lucky for us, Elephant, Piggy and the Pigeon came alive.  Later this month, a new Willems character, Nanette, will make her debut.5.      My favorite big guy bought the original art work of my ‘Finding Mr. Rightstein’ cover for my birthday.  Simply beautiful!6.      My favorite little guy’s birthday party is Saturday.  Time to get packing. California, here I come!

Osgood, So Good, So Long

My tears fell from 9:00 yesterday morning when Charles Osgood, in his Sunday best, showed up for his last show until he sang, “So Long It’s Been Good to Know Yuh” at the piano a little before 10:30.Is there a better show than ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ on network television?  Is there a classier host?Between his colleagues’ well-deserved praise, Osgood played the piano and banjo, showed us his family, shared clips from earlier shows, and spoke. He said nothing can’t be improved by making it shorter. And that it’s important to like one’s work.  Absolutely!  My father used to tell me that. Osgood’s passion for his work is apparent. He’s made Sunday mornings our joy, too.I love that he plays the piano and banjo.  And composes music and rhymes.  His family is important to him.  Love and work, Freud said.  Osgood’s life is balanced.What gets me most: who he is.  Classy, warm, engaging, present.   Early on in her career, Meredith Vieira tried to unfurl his bow tie to see if it was fake or real. It came undone.  Not fake.  Of course not! Charles Osgood’s ties are like him.  The real deal.

September Stuff

1.School days, school days: My husband is not going to his high school reunion. The committee emails him updates, anyway. Last week’s said cheerleaders get a discount. Does anyone else wonder why?2. Nine students, who’ve been in my home workshop from one to nine years, returned for the fall semester, not because they flunked. They’re good writers.They’re committed to the process. They brought their best manuscripts to the first fall session last Wednesday. An exciting night!3. Sept 27: My New School ‘Writing from Personal Experience’ class begins.All new students. I love that journey, too.4. Between classes: I bought a beige sofa. Lighter beige with a narrower seat than my current beige sofa on which I look and feel like Lily Tomlin’s Edith Ann. To donate it to Housing Works, I made two calls, filled out a lengthy form, took pictures and now wait. Donating is harder than teaching, harder than getting into college.5. The grey pants I bought in Bloomingdale’s on sofa-buying day do not need shortening. A rarity for me. When a sofa, pants, anything, or anybody fits, it’s a hallelujah day.6. I’ll wear the pants to one of the two faculty parties Wed/Thurs this week at 63 Fifth Avenue. During both, I’ll be on hand at the new New School store on the first floor to sign copies of FINDING MR. RIGHTSTEIN. If you live or work nearby, stop in.7. Sept. 29 Eventhttp://www.bookstores.nyu.edu/events/I’m giving a workshop at the NYU Bookstore from 6-7:30 for aspiring to longtime writers. Refreshments. Inspiration.  (Check out 'events' and 'classes' here atwww.nancykelton.comfor other workshops and talks).8. I pulled out “llama, llama, red pajama” and reread it after author Anna Dewdney died last week. Simple. Touching. The greats sure make it look easy. Ha!9. My favorite little guy is turning 4.My present is about music. I am turning ‘something else.’ My favorite big guy’s present is also about music. I’m grateful for the music. On Birthdays. Everyday.

The Flatiron Building and Other Cool Spots

--Post Pan Mass Challenge Celebration:  So what if the planes flying into Logan Airport almost landed on our heads?  My last meal would have been a huge, un-mayonnaise-y lobster roll at Belle Isle with my in-laws and Buffalo cousins, now Boston residents.  Cousin Michael and I shared memories of our clan. Love revisiting where I came from. Love a great lobster roll.--I learned interesting facts about architecture and architects on Sunday night’s repeat—my first viewing-- of NYC Treasures on PBS about the Flatiron Building.  Living seven blocks away, I walk up Fifth by it, around it, towards it, every which way. It excites me every time.--My Treasures are not as close.  Geographically.  On my way. Talk about excitement! California….here mom/grandma comes!

The Whole Megillah: Questions About Writing, About Everything

Link: My Q & A on The Whole MegillahWriter, Barbara Krasner emailed me that she read my memoir and would like to interview me.  I love her thought-provoking questions, her website and her credentials.  Thank you, Barbara!

My Biker Guy, Woody and Phil

My husband’s bike went to Boston today.  In my stepson Matthew’s car.   Jonathan and I will take the train to Boston Friday.  He will ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge Saturday with our nephew, Jeff, in loving memory of our niece, Jill.   Jeff and Jonathan rode last August.  Those of us in the car following them got to the finish line after they did.  I hope we have better directions Saturday.  My biker guy is better prepared.Woody Allen’s “Café Society,” while not “Annie Hall” or “Manhattan” or one of his many other gems, is totally worth-seeing and beautifully shot.   The choices we make and the regrets with which we live are among the major threads.  I’d regret not seeing a Woody movie.   With or without the humor in “Sleeper” he gives viewers so much to chew on, mull over.  I get  a lot from his work.My second movie this week—a rarity, so is one—was “Indignation.”   PEN/America had a screening.  I liked the book.  A good adaption of a Philip Roth novel—of any literary novel—is a  feat.    The director, James Schamus, and his cast pulled it off.

How Do I Love Talking Leaves (this is a blog, not a sonnet)

Let me share some ways:--independent bookstores (synonym: heaven) excite me.  Talking Leaves on Main Street* across from my grandfather’s 1920s-30s tailor shop, and my old stomping grounds: University of Buffalo’s original campus, Parkside Candy, the Granada Movie Theater, and the University Plaza with a W.T. Grants where my mother bought me my turtle, Myrtle, is the realest real deal.--the owner, Jonathon Welch, had out cheese, crackers, cookies and wine at my June reading.  Talking Leaves fed me and feeds its customers more.--seven hours before my store event, I felt nurtured by Tim, a staff member, who came to my library talk, sold copies of FINDING MR. RIGHTSTEIN, and laughed.--walking into Talking Leaves later, I was welcomed by my people, customers I didn’t know, and Jonathon in his imaginative, comfortable store, a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s.  It reminded me of The Strand.--Jonathon, a store customer when he came to Buffalo in the early 1970s as an English graduate student during the Leslie Fiedler, John Barth, Robert Bly, Robert Creeley days, had no retail experience.  He and a few other people got loans and bought what was then called Everyman’s Bookstore.  They changed it to Everyone’s and eventually to Talking Leaves.--the store’s involvement with the library system, schools, and the city’s literary organizations is wonderful and strong. “It is important for independent bookstores to be rooted in their communities,” Jonathon told me. He and his staff stay connected to all that's going around them and to their customers.  They love recommending books.--Rebecca Solnit, John Berger, Colum McCann, Wendell Berry, Richard Russo, Toni Morrison, James Joyce, George Eliot, and Ralph Ellison are among Jonathon’s favorite authors. INVISIBLE MAN is a favorite book.   “Take a chance on someone and something new,” Jonathon tells customers.--“independent and idiosyncratic” is the store’s motto.  It is exciting and inviting, too.  Home.  The writing on the restroom wall—a riot--almost kept me there after closing.  I can’t wait until October. I'll return to Buffalo to Larkin Square. Now, I’m taking a chance on John Berger’s WAYS OF SEEING.--Thank you Jonathon and Talking Leaves for our talks.*Talking Leaves has another store on Elmwood Avenue.