Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 52

The May Chatter

 

We’ve lobbied really hard for Garrison Keillor to give up life in Lake Wobegone and move to Sharon Springs, but thus far he has not answered our letters or returned our calls.

Sharon Springs has beautiful people and above-average children, too, so on to Plan B.

What is a small town village without a small town paper to keep track of what everyone is doing?

Nancy Pfau, the town historian, is now editor of our own little paper.

Each month you can check back here for a new issue and follow the lives of the real village people. If you pay a real visit, you may even want to submit a story idea of your own!

You may not live in small town, but at least you can pretend.

See below for the May 2014 Issue

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The Chatter for May 2014

5 Beautiful Things

 

Slice of Life

Iconic American painter Wayne Thiebaud has inspired me since I first learned about his paintings in high school. His paintings of everyday objects are visually striking because of their stark settings and repetitious compositions and the very saturated depth of his colour palettes. His most popular subjects were often diner desserts, such as slices of pie lined up for the taking and large groupings of cakes; there were ice-cream cones and lollipops, donuts and cupcakes. His compositions also included multiples of everyday household items like lipsticks and paint cans. The unusual landscapes he painted of winding rivers and San Francisco skylines are worth studying, but his real gift was the presentation of life’s sweeter things.

 

The subject matter renders it almost ‘’pop-culture” in scope, even though his work in the 1940s and ‘50s predates the pop-art movement. Where artists like Andy Warhol were detached and ironic, Thiebaud was the complete opposite: warm and gently comic with a true reverence for the beauty of everyday things. His work is accessible and fun to look at – free of gimmicks and trends. Several printed retrospectives of his work now exist, including a great book called “Delicious.” Below are some examples of his ‘tasty’ work. Click here to read more about the artist.

 

Read more from Andrew on his blog, Martha Moments.  Click here

Walk on the Wild Side

Beautiful Darling

Many fascinating characters have lived in or visited the greater Sharon Springs region over the centuries. We’ve written about some of them in earlier blogs. One celebrated performer of the 20th century now has a presence in Cherry Valley despite never having visited the village while alive – the actress and cultural icon Candy Darling.

Candy Darling was born as James Lawrence Slattery in 1944. His parents were Jim Slattery, described as an alcoholic and chronic racetrack gambler, and Theresa Phelan Slattery, for a time a bookkeeper at Manhattan’s Jockey Club. James grew up in Massapequa Park, Long Island. After his parents divorced, his father had little contact with him. His older half-brother by his mother’s first marriage – Warren – would come to shun him too.

Young James was fascinated with feminine themes and poured through movie magazines and watched old movies. On the Million Dollar Movie series, he could see the same film throughout the week and he studied the mannerisms of his favorite stars, among them Joan Bennett, Kim Novak, and Lana Turner. At school he was mocked by other kids for his girlish ways. When 17, he signed up for a course at a school of cosmetology. He also began frequenting a local gay bar, sometimes dressed as a girl. When his mother confronted him about cross-dressing, he left the room, soon reappearing in feminine attire. Although devastated at the time – a time when female impersonation was a criminal offense – his mother later said: “I knew then … that I couldn’t stop Jimmy. Candy was just too beautiful and talented.”

James began riding the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan and frequenting gay bars in Greenwich Village. He began taking hormone pills and eventually shots. Presenting himself to the world as a woman, he took the name of Hope Slattery, eventually settling on that of Candy Darling. Candy, a he who had remade himself as a she, also fabricated an upbringing involving a family plantation in the South. She had arrived.

In 1966, Candy met Jeremiah Newton from Flushing, Queens, and they became best friends and roommates. Her circle of friends came to include others in the art crowd: Seymour Levy, who ran an informal salon on Bleecker Street where downtown luminaries gathered: Andy Warhol, artist and filmmaker; Taylor Mead, poet and actor; Jackie Cutis, playwright and actor; and Holly Woodlawn, actor. Like Candy, Holly was a transgender performer. Jackie performed as both male and female. All three became part of Warhol’s regulars at his studio known as The Factory.

Candy’s first acting job – in 1967 – was in Jackie’s off-off-Broadway play Glamour, Glory and Gold. It featured a young Robert De Niro, who played multiple roles in his first stage performance. The next year, 1968, Warhol and director Paul Morrissey gave Candy a short scene in their movie Flesh, starring Joe Dallesandro and Geraldine Smith. Jackie Curtis also had a small part, sharing scenes with Candy. Candy’s acting talent shone through, and Warhol and Morrissey cast her in a leading role as a Long Island socialite in Women in Revolt, released in 1971. She appeared in a number of other independent movies. In 1971, Candy traveled to Vienna to act in two films by the director Werner Schroeter. Only the first, The Death of Maria Malibran, was released.

Candy was up for the leading role in the 1971 mainstream studio movie Myra Breckinridge – based on the satirical novel by Gore Vidal about a character who undergoes a sex-change operation – but, to her great disappointment, did not get the part, losing out to Raquel Welch. She did land bit parts in two mainstream movies released that same year, Klute starring her friend Jane Fonda, who got her the part, and Lady Liberty starring Sophia Loren. As Candy wistfully put it, “I’ve had small parts in big pictures and big parts in small pictures.” Among Candy’s stage performances during this same period were the character of Violet, a femme fatale in Tennessee Williams’ Small Craft Warnings – a part the playwright created specifically for her – and a character called “the White Whore,” based on Marilyn Monroe, in Tom Eyen’s The White Whore and the Bit Player. But Candy made little money for her work – Warhol paid his talent little – and she had to struggle to make ends meet.

How far Candy might have gone in her career and how much a transgender actor might have scandalized audiences with mainstream success are unknowns, because she was struck down by lymphoma in 1974 at the age of 29. Her funeral – at the famous Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on the Upper East Side where Judy Garland had had her funeral – drew hundreds of people, an exotic crowd for the swanky neighborhood. She was eulogized as Candy Darling, her birth name not cited. Actress Julie Newmar (of Catwoman fame from the Batman TV series of the 1960s) delivered Candy’s eulogy.

Candy, born a male but competing with females for female roles, had remarkable success in her short career as an actress. Her charisma – her ardor along with her vulnerability – was inspirational to many. She was photographed by some of the leading photographers of her day, including Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Peter Beard, Cecil Beaton, Bob Gruen, Peter Hujar, Gerard Malanga, Robert Mapplethorpe, Anton Perich, Francesco Scavullo, and Bruce Weber. In addition to a verse about her in “Walk on the Wild Side” (along with verses about Jackie and Holly), Lou Reed wrote the earlier song “Candy Says” that he performed as part of the Velvet Underground. After a trip to New York City, the Rolling Stones wrote about Candy in their song “Citadel.” David Bowie attended her funeral.

Jeremiah Newton became the executor of Candy’s estate. As such he became the keeper of Candy’s writings and he co-edited the book My Face for the World to See: The Diaries, Letters, and Drawings of Candy Darling (Hardy Marks Publications, 1997). Jeremiah also became the keeper of Candy’s ashes. Along with his filmmaker friend James Rasin, he bought a house in Cherry Valley, a second home while he worked as the Film, Video and Television Industry Liaison of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Over the years he had sought a permanent resting place for Candy’s ashes and decided on the Cherry Valley Cemetery, where a headstone reads “Candy Darling – JLS – 1944-1974 – Beloved Friend.”

James Rasin, based in both New York City and Cherry Valley, decided to tell Candy Darling’s story in film and wrote and directed the documentary Beautiful Darling. Jeremiah was one of the producers. The film includes footage of Candy and her friends, excerpts from Candy’s diaries (read by Chloe Sevigny), and interviews, past and recent. Jeremiah is interviewed extensively. Other people who settled in or near Cherry Valley, Anne Loretto and Jessica Marx, were co-producers of the film.

Beautiful Darling premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010. It played over 30 major festivals around the world, including a U.S. premiere at the New Directors/New Films festival, presented jointly by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City. It won first prize for 2010 Best Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival. It was released theatrically in 2011. The film was also invited for special screenings: at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Hirshhorn Museum, part of the Smithsonian, also in Washington; The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; and the British Film Institute in London.

Candy Darling’s story is a powerful one. As the promo for Beautiful Darling states, “Candy’s beauty, humor, and early death, the guts it took to live as a woman, the glamorous parties and the famous friends – most of all the strength of will she demonstrated in her remarkable act of self-creation – moved those who knew her in her lifetime and continue to gather fans today. It’s a story of wild, creative times and of audacious people, but one that has a theme inspiring for anyone, anywhere: whatever the obstacles, be true to yourself.”

In an earlier blog we write about the non-profit Committee on Poetry and its East Hill Farm, and through them Cherry Valley’s connection to Beat and post-Beat writers and artists. It was the Committee on Poetry “family tree” that led Jeremiah Newton and James Rasin to Cherry Valley. It would seem that Candy Darling would be happy with her final resting place in the multicultural and tolerant village.

Beautiful Darling is now available on Netflix streaming. Click here

It can also be purchased on DVD from Amazon or directly from the distributor, Corinth Releasing.  Click here

 

The History Boys are

Chris Campbell has made his permanent home in Cherry Valley, NY. The Campbell family dates back to 1739 in this town, situated about eight miles from Sharon Springs. Some family members were captured by Tories and Iroquois allies in the Cherry Valley Massacre of 1778 during the American Revolution and taken to Canada, released two years later in Albany as part of a prisoner exchange. Chris is a rare book and map collector and has had a lifelong interest in history, especially relating to upstate New York and colonial land patents. He was the founder and first chairman of the Cherry Valley Planning Board and has worked as a surveyor and realtor as well as a researcher for the Otsego County map department. His hobbies include Ham radio.

 

Carl Waldman, also living in Cherry Valley, is a former archivist for the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown. He is he author of a number of reference books published by Facts On File, including Atlas of the North American Indian and Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, both originally published in the 1980s and both in their third editions. He is the co-author of Encyclopedia of Exploration (2005) and Encyclopedia of European Peoples (2006). Carl has also done screenwriting about Native Americans, including an episode of Miami Vice entitled “Indian Wars” and the Legend of Two-Path, a drama about the Native American side of Raleigh’s Lost Colony, shown at Festival Park on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. His hobbies include music and he works with young people in the Performance and Production Workshops at the Cherry Valley Old School.

 

If you wish to learn more about the greater Sharon Springs area, you can order our eBook The Sharon Springs Timeline: A Microcosm of American History with Dates Relating to a Remarkable Village and Neighboring Regions, from the 16th Century to Modern Times. It can be purchased for $4.99 from Alva Press at the following link: http://www.alvapressinc.com/alva_thesharonsrpingstimeline.html

… or it can be ordered from Amazon.com or Kobo.com.

5 Beautiful Things

 

Willow Street, Sharon Springs

 

It has been almost a year since I last visited Brent and Josh in Sharon Springs. I traveled there from Toronto with my friend Jessica Hodgson, whom I’ve known since we were small children. Jessie is a talented photographer and this was her first time to the town. We spent many hours together scouring its streets to look for inspiration. Jessie found so many beautiful compositions in all the hidden places of this storied place and took over 1,000 photographs during our four-day stay. Below are five of Jessie’s photographs of some of the magical places we discovered on Willow Street. They were all taken almost exactly a year ago.

 

On Willow Street, between Washington St. and South St., there is a beautiful spot we discovered. It is a vacant lot that someone had planted with ferns and beautiful wildflowers. As we were driving home after a visit with Michelle Curran we noticed how the late morning sun seemed to be shining down almost exclusively on this little paradise. Jessie captured the essence of that moment perfectly.
In that same hidden garden, Jessie got down low to the ground and attached the macro lens to her Nikon. She became one with the thrilling microcosms of tiny leaves, flowers and insects, peering into a secret world. I love the colors in this photograph (perfect inspiration for a painter’s palette) and the idea that everywhere – under every leaf – there is a story to be told.
Across from this little park are the remnants of this great hotel, left to the effects of Time’s meddling fingers. Both Jessie and I were captivated by the contrasting textures and shadows and the ghostly reflections in the windows. We wondered about who once occupied those rooms, the romances and dramas that went on behind the now-decaying walls.
At the base of this hotel Jessie discovered this Torah, torn and soaked with rain. We both got chills, knowing the history of Sharon Springs as a former summer vacation destination for Jews from New York City. Neither of us can read Hebrew and we are not sure if the book was opened to this page for a specific reason. Regardless, it was a very special discovery!
Further along Willow Street we came upon this old carriage house that was almost completely overgrown with vines. They were just starting to bud and show signs of new life.

I can’t wait to see Sharon Springs again and hopefully it will be soon. Few places have moved me so deeply.

All photos by Jessica Hodgson.

 

Mother’s Day Cocktail

 

Is your mom sweet like honey?  Warm and comforting like a cup of tea?  Or even a little spicey?  Klaus has never met his own mother, but that doesn’t stop him from celebrating all the moms in his life.

So he’s concocted a cocktail for all moms–no matter what shape or form they come in.

Springtime brings flavor into the equation because after the long winter we had, all Klaus wants is simplicity and flavor.

So what does Klaus want?

Fabulous Rio Red Grapefruit syrup, grenadine, Barr Hill Gin, Tenneyson Absinthe and Bitter End Thai Bitters???

Bitter End Bitters out in Santa Fe, New Mexico makes Thai Bitters that are like delving into a bowl of Thai Chilies. There is that heat element that is for certain…But then there are the flavors that open up, drop-by-concentrated-drop in a cocktail. I’ve tasted dozens of bitters and there really is nothing on the market that has the character of the Bitter End. Don’t get me wrong, I love bitters and could wax poetic for hours using them in my drinks. Bitters are just about the best thing for a hangover, according to Klaus. He knows.

Fruitations from Massachusetts are a most gorgeously concentrated, pure fruit syrups that are just exceptional in any kind of cocktail or mocktail. I just go gaga over the grapefruit syrup because it is like tucking into a juicy, ripe grapefruit. Less is more with this high quality syrup. You don’t have to use much, it’s that good!

A hit of Tenneyson Absinthe Royale is necessary. Try it and you’ll know why. It’s a secret otherwise!

 

 

Klaus’s Mother’s Day cocktail

(for two)

 

FIRST,  make a pot of Beekman 1802 Mercantile Blend tea – please serve it steaming hot to warm you deeply before, cooling yourself with this spring cocktail.

Ingredients:

4 oz. Barr Hill Gin, made from Raw Honey and grain with juniper berries

½ oz. Tenneyson Absinthe Royale

2 oz. Grenadine

6 oz. Fruitations Rio Red Grapefruit Cocktail and Soda Syrup

 

Preparation:

Pour yourself a cup of Beekman 1802 tea and while you enjoy the smoky demeanor of this very elegant tea

In a Boston Shaker, fill ¾ with bar ice

Pour over the Barr Hill Gin

Add the Grenadine

Add the Fruitations Rio Red Grapefruit cocktail and soda syrup

Cap and shake hard for 15 seconds

Pour into a Collins Glass with several hand cut ice cubes

Drip four drops of the Bitter End Thai bitters over the top. If this is too spicy, cut back to two drops

 

Cheers to whatever person in your life you call ‘Mom’!

 

 

 

 

Run For the Hills!

One of the largest challenges of small towns across America is providing First Responder services for their citizens. Fire services. EMT. Rescue Squads. These are expensive endeavors that small villages struggle to afford.

Unlike large cities or suburbs, Sharon Springs simply doesn’t have a tax base large enough to pay for fire engines and staff. So we depend on volunteers and fundraisers to keep us safe. If (God forbid) either the farm or mercantile ever caught fire, we would literal call on volunteer neighbors to battle the blaze. Likewise for any health emergencies.

This year, Garth Roberts, (co-owner of the American Hotel and husband of Mayor Doug,) conceived of an organized 4 mile run/walk to raise money for Sharon Springs First Responders. As a marathon runner himself, Garth has been active in raising money for First Responders following last year’s Boston tragedy.

Check out our photos of this exciting event, which raised over $3000 to keep our village safe. It’s yet another great example of how the people of Sharon Spring work together to help out their neighbors. If you’re a frequent visitor to Sharon Springs, and you’d like to help Sharon Springs purchase some firefighting equipment, the Fire Department would welcome your contribution. Checks can be made payable to the Sharon Springs Fire Department, and mailed c/o The American Hotel, 192 Main Street, Sharon Springs, NY 13459

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An Italian Spring Feast

 

Each Spring, in honor of the Sharon Springs Garden Party Festival, the 204 Main Bar & Bistro hosts an extraordinary feast using the best of the ingredients from our local farms.

This year, they have partnered with our local culinary superstar, Rose Marie Trapani, who draws on her Italian heritage to create mouth-watering meals.

 

An Italian Spring Feast

The 2014 Garden Party

This is our fifth annual Garden Party Festival in Sharon Springs–our little celebration of making it through another long, upstate Winter!
Check back right here up until the day of the event for the latest details.

 

Saturday

 

8:00am  

Tours begin of Beekman Farm.  For ticket information, click here 

9:00am-11:00am 

At this year’s Garden Party, we are getting down and dirty.

Plant your roots in Sharon Springs!   Join us as we all come together to continue the renovation work on the village park which was flooded during Hurricane Irene.

Guests will be able to plant a lilac in memory of a loved one and have the plant listed on the official park map.

10:00am

start browsing over 100 vendors selling seeds, plants, crafts and food

11:30am

Become an honorary citizen of Sharon Springs!  Mayor Doug Plummer will lead a “swearing in”  ceremony.  Line up to shake his hand and get your authentic certificate of citizenship

12:00-3:00

Guest speakers and musicians take the “stage”–the future home of the performance pavilion in the village park

7:00pm

Festa Italiana—an Italian Spring feast at 204 Main Bistro.  For reservations call:  518.284.2540.  Click here for more information and to get a peak at the menu

The new Beekman 1802 cookbook debuts at Garden Party Festival. We’ll be signing!

Sunday is for Shopping and Strolling

 

10:00am

Start browsing over 100 vendors selling seeds, plants, crafts and food

12:00-3:00

Guest speakers and musicians take the “stage”–the future home of the performance pavilion in the village park

♦



Additional info:

 

Hours:

All vendors will be set up and ready to greet you by 10:00am and will be open for business until 5pm

Parking information: 

Parking is at the Sharon Springs Central School on the corner of State Route 10 and US 20 (just behind the Stewarts Station).  Shuttle buses will run on the half-hour throughout the day.  Additional parking available at Sunnycrest Orchard on US 20.  Shuttles are also available from this location. Street parking is discouraged on festival days for safety reasons

Fabulous Frances

At Beekman 1802, we believe in heirlooms. We believe that heirlooms are anything that has an emotional value greater than its monetary value. Whenever we are designing something, we always think about whether it has that quality. If it’s a food product, it has to be something so unique that you’d want to share it. If it’s a product for the home, it has to be something made with such quality that it will last to the next generation.

Even our recipes are meant to be so simple and delicious that you’ll make them over and over again for your family, thus making them heirlooms for your table.

When we started planning out our new cookbook, Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable, our intent was to create recipes that highlighted and flattered every single vegetable in our garden.

We used many of artist Frances Palmer‘s extraordinary ceramic pieces in the book.   When we were setting up shots during the photo shoot we often “cheated” the plates and platters a bit towards the camera–given them little bit of a lift.

Why don’t we do this when we are setting a platter of extraordinary food on our table?  It should receive its best “presentation”.

Working with Frances we came up with the idea of a unique platter that has just the slightest “heel” so that it truly elevates any culinary creation you put in it. The angle is minimal and the dish deep enough that you don’t have to worry about anything sliding out.  Every time you set the dish on your table, it will look just like a page out of the Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook!

“It is wonderful to be a part of Josh and Brent’s new cookbook, Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable,” says Palmer.  “I share their commitment to quality, farming organically and making delicious meals with the best ingredients.  I am delighted to design a special Beekman 1802 platter in celebration of the book’s publication.”

I was intrigued by Brent’s request for a tilted foot.  I looked to Dutch still life paintings that present vegetables and flowers in this way.  I designed a baroque shape with scalloped edges and fluting that follows round organic forms.”

Each scallop, each bead, and each mark is hand-made and completely food-safe.

 

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Click here to see the platter in the Beekman 1802 Mercantile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Beautiful Things

 

The Art of the Vegetable

French sculptor Jean Paul Gourdon is a master at rendering organic shapes. Using a variety of pottery techniques and styles, this modern-day potter fashions both large-scale and smaller sculptures that usually touch upon themes of agrarian breauty: wild game, cattle and the harvested vegetable, to name a few. With Brent’s and Josh’s Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook coming out in a couple of weeks (May 13), the third volume in a series of books devoted to homegrown cooking, I wanted to celebrate the art of the vegetable. Jean Paul Gourdon’s vegetable sculptures seemed like the ideal way to do so. Most of his vegetable works are what’s known as faience – a French word referring to a matte, tin glaze over a buff earthenware body – a kind of pottery originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The bare, desaturated look is what reveals the true beauty of the shape.