Westport may be the only place in the world where Tom Brokaw, Calvin Trillin, Wendy Wasserstein, Pete Hamill, Martin Scorsese, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Halberstam and Will Shortz could all appear in the same sentence.
That’s because all have been named “Booked for the Evening” honorees by the Westport Library. Poet/punk rocker Patti Smith joins that diverse, talented list this year. She’ll be honored May 19, at the 13th annual event.
Patti Smith (Photo: Edward Mapplethorpe)
Every honoree is different — but Patti Smith is waaay different. Leaving a factory job in 1967, she fled to New York. There she worked in bookstores, wrote poetry, and hung out with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and playwright Sam Shepard.
Influenced by icons like the Stones, Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Lou Reed, she merged poetry and music. Her debut album, “Horses,” was named the 44th greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
She recorded 11 more albums, and in 2007 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Her art has been shown at the Andy Warhol Museum, and the French Ministry of Culture gave her its highest honor.
Her books include Just Kids, which won the National Book Award in 2010.
Patti Smith is not a presidential historian. She’s not a movie director, playwright or news anchor.
But she has “nurtured a love of learning, and enhanced our understanding of the world.” That’s the criteria for a “Booked for the Evening” honor.
Will Patti Smith read poetry on May 19 — or rock the house? Book a ticket now, and see.
(For ticket or sponsorship information, click here.)
There was a brief period in the mid-70s when the Westport Country Playhouse was the scene of concerts by a few major rock music performers. To see Patti, who was at her gnarliest and scruffiest and most urban ( I mean all of this in a good way) in that “bucolic setting” was quite an experience. Bonnie Raitt did a show there, too, but it was Randy Newman who looked up from his piano after about five songs, gazed around, and observed that he was playing “in a barn.”
Patti’s show back in the 70’s (74?) was great! I wish I could be there for this one!
Wish I lived a little closer. I’d book a ticket to see her. I think she owes some of her fame to Gilda Radnor from SNL. I did get to see Talking Heads at the Playhouse. How fortunate we were to have such access to the music of the day.
Perhaps one element of a downtown revitalization would be to once again book interesting and relevant rock music groups to perform at the Playhouse. Navona- have at it!
Sorry but I don’t find Smith either “interesting or relevant” unless I am completely stoned. Then I can stay home and talk to the television bobbleheads about Osama. They listen too.
Very unDudelike, Dude. Patti is hip, snip.
Sophomoric.
Meyer: Speaking of economics, my good man, Snide Simpson says we are borrowing 40 cents on every buck we spend. What the %#@*????
Meyer,as I am sure you know, is a Keynesian. Keynesians have been out of the loop since 1971. We are borrowing 40% of what Uncle Sap spends, but “What me worry?” Geithner and Helicopter Ben have it all under control. What could go wrong?
Indeed, Meyer was a Harvard dude. So, in the early 70’s, we began this lunacy of borrowing to deficit spend? With what expectation, that revenue would increase as a result???
JFK started running deficits during the Vietnam War. To cover them up he came up with the unified budget; fold SS into the budget and “raid” SS. In 1971 Nixon took us off the gold standard. The high inflation and low real growth that followed for over a decade was incomprehensible to Kenyesians, just as the declining inflation and rising real growth of the next 20 years was a big surprise to them. There was no rationale for deficit spending other than the free ice cream promise. Even Keynesians could see no purpose to deficits at relatively low levels of unemployment. But what could go wrong? Free ice cream for everyone. I got an investment letter from a man who has been a legendary money manager for almost 50 years. His advice to his clients is to buy a ranch, outside the US, Canada will do. Stock the ranch with enough food to last 3 0r 4 years, and buy guns and ammunition for self-defence. No kidding, and this guy was Democrat when I first met him. He sees blood in the streets when the ice cream runs out.
That happens when the Chinese want money for their paper???
I thought in the Bubba years, we ran a surplus OR was that simply Enron accounting with deferred debt while continued deficit spending???
Ummm………are you guys lost?
No more lost than Patti.
Bubba would have had no “surplus” without the SS “trust fund.” When the Chicoms want to be paid off, Helicopter Ben will crank up the presses and pay them of with worthless dollars. Of course that will leave us all with worthless dollars as well. But what could go wrong.
But if we stay in country (as opposed to your buddy’s thought of moving) and we are earning/spending US deflated dollars. Who cares?? Isn’t Ben’s plan to keep the interest rates low so we can build up our exports??? The buck is already weak.
Unfortunately for Ben it doesn’t work that way. If the dollar stays weak , we could export more, in real terms, or import more, in real terms. The outcome is in large part a function of the price elasticity of demand for imports versus exports. If we import oil, and export Cheese Doodles, the relative price elasticity of demand will help determine the net change in direction of trade flows. In either case each dollar will buy less imported oil. Moreover, the inflation engine doesn’t stand still. It will pick up steam, dollars will become worthless, interest rates will be higher; think Germany in the 1920’s; high inflation, high unemployment, and major social unrest.
And along comes Adolf.
After Monday’s election, Canada is looking better and better. No housing bust, better economy, and no Helicopter Ben or Ears. I found a real estate agaent who used to help draft dodgers relocate.
I used to have some property up toward Montreal. Not wild with foreign law in regards to ex-pat ownership after being burned in Mexico. I thought you liked it warm? I hear Panama has some interesting cites and beautiful beaches? Ton of ex-pats, retired military.
You need some place that has some protection for private property. There are some nice islands. Mexico is a definite “no”.
Rental is the way to go overseas. I am partial to Bermuda but xenophobic. Aruba is friendly.
Barbados; British common law tradition.
A bit snippy for me although actually some city cultural attractions unlike most of the islands. Cayman is my fav down that way.
Higher literacy rate than the US, and much lower taxes. Nice beaches and great rum.
Antiqua, Turks & Caicos, St. Martin, Aruba . . . much
the same. Rum is good/cheap and lovely ladies prance on the
beaches. I lived on a 42 foot sail in Maartan for five months. Yachties are a different breed. Borish unless you are drunk which is the custom there.
Junior-highish. Aversion to bores, slobs and fools.
Is she married to John McEnroe?
no, Patty Smyth is married to John McEnroe.
Patti Smith is not Patty Smyth?? Jeez, thank goodness. The Mac should be able to do a little better than that after Tatum. Just saying . . .
Well, this thread really hopped the track.
You are welcome to take the ride.
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