On a cold January night in 1960 a 29 year-old African American dancer and choreographer named Alvin Ailey premiered a piece called Revelations at the 92nd St Y. Inspired by what Ailey called blood memories of his rural Texas childhood, and by Negro spirituals, gospel and the blues, Revelations is about tribulation, human tenacity and the saving grace of music and dance. That night at the Y, Ailey and his young troupe brought down the house and Revelations made modern dance history...
Last month when I wrote here about my friends Celia and Dick, (See A CUP OF SUGAR, Nov 5, 2014) I knew Dick’s health was failing. Sadly that big heart gave out on November 17. Dick Lidz was a wonderful guy – bright, warm, witty, cultured, well-read and world-travelled, a gourmand and a bon vivant, an historian and founder of a prestigious educational publishing company he ran for decades. And Celia and Dick had a wonderful marriage – their biggest...
One day, soon after we moved to the city, I was at home still unpacking cartons when the doorbell rang. I opened the door to a young woman about my age. “Welcome to the building!”, Celia said introducing herself. “I’m baking and believe it or not, I’ve just run out of sugar. May I borrow a cup?” I invited her in and over tea we discovered that Celia and my husband grew up in the same Queens neighborhood, and had...
I didn’t start playing tennis regularly until I was middle aged. I really love the game but sure wish I had started playing when I was younger! My parents were both athletic, in fact my father was a really good tennis player in his youth. After he died we found his old Wilson racket at the back of his closet, still in its wooden press. And my mother played basketball in high school, and was an excellent swimmer. Growing up in the Rockaways, she said, you learned to...
As you know if you’ve been faithfully reading this blog, I’m a fairly new weekend vegetable gardener. (See GARDEN PLOT, Oct. 18, 2013). But let me tell you, I’ve been learning a lot, especially about weeds. Many weekends this summer we unexpectedly found ourselves stuck in the city, and though someone was watering my plants, I hadn’t thought about the weeds. Sure enough getting back up to the country after two weeks or so, I found my garden plot looking...
Welcome to my blog World Thru Brown Eyes! Enjoy the read and please leave a comment and tell me how this old world looks thru YOUR eyes!
