As America mourns the death of James Earl Jones — the man the New York Times calls “a stuttering farm child who became a voice of rolling thunder as one of America’s most versatile actors in a stage, film and television career that plumbed race relations, Shakespeare’s rhapsodic tragedies and the faceless menace of Darth Vader” — his many friends and fans at the Westport Playhouse have particularly fond memories.
Jones died yesterday at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y. He was 93.
In May of 2006, the actor graced the Playhouse stage in the stunning world premiere of the one-man show “Thurgood.” He played Thurgood Marshall, the Black attorney who rose from the streets of Baltimore to the US Supreme Court.
He was met backstage afterward by Cecilia Marshall, Thurgood’s widow; Jack Lemmon; Sigourney Weaver; Tom Brokaw; Vernon Jordan; Joseph Califano; Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee; Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and others.
But he made time for many more than those world-famous men and women. Despite exhaustion after his long performance, he met with each person waiting at the stage door, one on one in his dressing room.
He said, “They pay my salary. I owe it to them.”
James Earl Jones, in the Westport Country Playhouse world premiere of “Thurgood.” (Photo/T. Charles Erickson)
He especially enjoyed meeting students. Jones visited Thurgood Marshall Middle School for Social Justice in Bridgeport, to plant a tree.
When asked to say a few words, he flipped his ball cap backwards and began speaking as Mufasa from The Lion King.
That enraptured the hundreds of youngsters. But when he switched to the voice of Darth Vader, the response was thunderous.
Jones talked to the students about the importance of reading, learning and family. He urged them to “find something you love to do and, no matter what anyone else says, do it the very best you can.”
Throughout his life — including his memorable run at the Westport Country Playhouse — James Earl Jones truly did all of that. (Hat tip: Pat Blaufuss)
James Earl Jones, at Bridgeport’s Thurgood Marshall School for Social Justice. (Photo/Patricia K. Weber)
Posted onSeptember 10, 2024|Comments Off on Westport’s Sister City: Report From The Ukrainian Front
Here in Westport, fall feels like the start of a new year.
The opening of school always brings the sense that anything is possible. Energy abounds.
And with so many activities ahead — the Westport Country Playhouse gala and Wakeman Town Farm Harvest Fest this weekend; LobsterFest and Westoberfest next weekend, just to name a few — excitement fills the crisp air.
Five thousand miles away in Lyman, Ukraine, the mood is far different.
Anxiety permeates our sister city. Russian troops lurk within shelling distance. Homes, schools, businesses and hospitals are destroyed. Thousands of residents have fled. Some have died.
A damaged home in Lyman …
But the couple of thousand who remain — including some children — are resolute.
The latest report comes from Bogdan Shestopalov. The other day, the director of operations for Ukraine Aid International — the non-profit founded by Westporters Brian and Marshall Mayer — spoke by Zoom with “06880.”
He was in Kyiv. The electricity was on — not always the case, even in the capital city.
Things are tense there — and all over the country, Bogdan noted.
… and apartment building …
Nearly a year after UAI delivered generators, communications equipment, other supplies — and, for the kids, Christmas gifts courtesy of our other sister city, Marigny, France — another difficult winter looms.
Russia’s front line is just 6 miles from Lyman, Bogdan says. There are trenches, and “active warfare.”
Artillery shells from so close are difficult to shoot down. Often, residents have just 3 or 4 minutes’ warning before explosions rock the town.
After each attack, it takes a while to restore power. Basic tasks like cooking are daily struggles.
… and another structure …
Bogdan estimates there are still 600 youngsters — including 150 toddlers — in Lyman. Because of damage to school buildings, and the dangers of attacks, classes take place in small “study centers” scattered everywhere.
“There’s a constant sense of stress,” Bogdan reports.
“People are tired, but resilient. Of course the longer this goes on, the more difficult it becomes.
“It’s exhausting. But there is no other way out. Ukrainians don’t allow ourselves to give up. That’s part of our culture and tradition.”
… and bridges.
Residents and town officials are grateful for Westport’s help, Bogdan says.
As winter approaches, there are new needs: generators, devices for heating and cooking, power banks, hygiene products.
As it has done since the war began, Ukraine Aid International uses cash donations to purchase goods in Europe, then deliver them directly to where they’re needed most.
Autumn 2024 is near. As we look forward to fun and fundraisers here, we also remember our friends in our sister city who anticipate a very different time.
(To donate to Ukraine Aid International, click here. Then click the “I want to support” box; next, select “Support for the City of Lyman.” Scroll down on that page for other donation options (mail, wire transfer and Venmo.)
Marshall Miller, co-founder of Ukraine Aid International, in Lyman.
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New signs on the (relatively) new fence on the way to Compo Cove note that this part of Sherwood Mill Pond is private property. But — as is also noted — fishermen are welcome. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Kitt Shapiro is a longtime Westport resident. She has an eclectic background, including owning WEST — the women’s boutique on Post Road East — and writing a book about her mother, the legendary Eartha Kitt.
She also produced Eartha Kitt shows and projects around the world. And she honors her mother’s legacy by raising awareness of colon cancer, and women’s health issues.
The other day, Kitt stopped by for an “06880” podcast chat on the Westport Library stage. We talked about WEST, women-owned small businesses here, and Westport in general; growing up as Eartha Kitt’s daughter, and much more.
Posted onSeptember 9, 2024|Comments Off on Roundup: Justin Paul’s EGOT, Paralympics Bronze, NASCAR Silver …
Justin Paul got his EGOT!
The 2003 Staples High School graduate, and his writing partner Benj Pasek, joined the ultra-exclusive group yesterday.
Their Creative Arts Emmy for “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?,” from “Only Murders in the Building,” completes the prestigious 4-play.
They previously earned a Grammy for the cast album of “Dear Evan Hansen,” an Oscar for the “La La Land” song “City of Stars,” and 2 Tonys (for the score of “Dear Evan Hansen,” and as producers of “A Strange Loop”).
Only 19 other people have won EGOTs (for an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). The list includes Richard Rogers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sir Elton John.
So with his EGOT, we now have even more proof: Justin Paul is the GOAT! (Hat tip: Fred Cantor)
Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, with their earlier Grammy Awards.
Yesterday’s CT United Motorcycle Ride honored the victims and first responders of 9/11 in its traditional way.
The largest motorcycle ride in the state began at Sherwood Island State Park. Hundreds of riders headed south on I-95, then north on Route 33 up Riverside Avenue and Wilton Road. The ride continued through Wilton and 7 towns, before ending at Bridgeport’s Seaside Park.
It was quite a sight to see — and hear.
Bob Levy reports: “Police, firefighters and ordinary people were there to honor that day.
“My family was there. Each of us were glad and touched we were. My little granddaughters asked if they will have this every year.”
They sure will. And it’s an honor for our town to be the starting point.
Start of the CT United ride, at Sherwood Island State Park. (Photo/Bob Levy)
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The Paralympics ended with a bang for Matthew Torres.
The Westport Weston Family YMCA Water Rat swimmer won a bronze medal, as part of the US 4×100 mixed freestyle team.
It was Matthew’s 2nd Paralympics bronze. He earned his first 4 years ago, in Tokyo.
Matthew also raced this year in the 400 meter freestyle, where he finished 5th; the 100 meter backstroke (10th), and 100 meter freestyle (15th).
Matthew Torres in the water …
The Ansonia native was born with amniotic band syndrome. He is missing half his right leg, has deformities on both hands and moderate hearing loss.
He began swimming in 2008, after watching Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics. The rest is history.
Congratulations to Matthew; his teammates, friends and family, and his coaches at the Y and the national level. You made Westport proud! (Hat tips; Maggie Gomez, Christina Schwerin)
… and on the podium.
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Speaking of sports: Parker Kligerman tied his best career Xfinity Series finish in Atlanta Saturday.
The 2009 Staples High School graduate — perhaps the only former Wrecker to become a NASCAR driver — came in second, just behind winner Austin Hill.
Kligerman predicts a win is coming, for the Big Machine No. 48 crew. (Hat tip: Frank Rosen)
The other day, “06880” gave a shout-out to Ruben, at the Westport Post Office.
Less than a week later, here’s another. Denise Torve writes: “Last week I stopped in to the PO, took care of business, then headed to Trader Joe’s — only to discover my wallet was missing.
“I went straight back to the PO, fingers crossed, to see Ruben waving the wallet when he saw me come in. He was a lifesaver, given what was in it.
“He had also already posted on Facebook that I had left something there. So thank you Ruben — and thank you Dan for your positive, good news posts!”
They celebrated Friday, with a Saugatuck Rowing Club bash. The event included dinner, dancing, a silent auction, tributes to founder Jessica Bram and former executive director Valerie Ann Leff, and a special storytelling session.
Funds raised will help underwrite WWW’s outreach programs serving underrepresented populations, like the Bigelow Senior Center, Moms of Children with Disabilities, and STAR.
Westport Writers’ Workshop founder Jessica Bram, and executive director Blake Schnirring.
Yesterday’s New York Times‘ “Found in the Files” feature — a weekly look at something from the newspaper’s clippings library — focused on Alan Abel.
The longtime Westporter was known for his hoaxes — including convincing the Times to print his obituary, even though he was very much alive.
The “Files” story focused on Abel’s first big effort, in 1959, about a non-existent non-profit called the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals. Its mission was to clothe dogs, cats, horses, cows and others, to protect children from lewdness.
Click here for the full Times story. (Hat tip: Les Dinkin)
Alan Abel, with a (supposed) copy of the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals newsletter.
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Westport native and longtime resident Janet Aley died peacefully at home on July 21. She was 98.
Her family calls her “a kind, warm, intelligent, creative person, with a twinkle in her eye and a whimsical sense of humor. She loved life: family, friends, children, pets, nature, art, music, and travels with her family. She found wonder and joy in wordplay, poetry, song, and the view out her back window.”
Janet attended Westport schools, then graduated in 1944 from the Thomas School in Rowayton.
As a student at Bedford Elementary, she was one of several children chosen by WPA artist Robert Lambdin to pose for the 3-part mural, “The Spirit of Adventure” that still hangs outside the auditorium of what is now Town Hall. Janet holds a tennis racquet on the right.
After Black Mountain College in North Carolina, she became the society editor of the Westport Town Crier.
She left in 1948 to join an American Youth Hostel group in the Netherlands, repairing roads bombed in World War II.
Following her marriage in 1948 to Robert Jonathan Aley, Janet worked for 7 years in the promotion merchandising department at Look Magazine. She refused the job of department head in favor of motherhood. The family moved to Westport in 1960.
Janet volunteered for or served on the boards of many organizations, including PTAs, Intercommunity Camp, the Interfaith Housing Program, the Arts Council, and the Westport-Weston Counseling Service, primarily in producing publicity and newsletters. For many years, she also volunteered with the oral history program of the Westport Historical Society.
After her husband died suddenly in 1974, Janet returned to work — first in the selectman’s office, then in the Planning & Zoning Department. From 1983 to ’88 she was an assistant town clerk and secretary for the Planning & Zoning Commission in Weston.
She retired in 1988 and joined the Democratic Women of Westport, where she was co-president. She received the organization’s Silver Donkey Award, and regularly rode with DWW in the Memorial Day Parade.
Janet is survived by her children Jennifer Aley (Steve Gold), Judith Aley, Judson (Maria Cheung) and Jonathan (Ellen Louer); grandchildren Nathanael Jonathan Ranson, Ruby Alice Ranson and Dylan Tam (Alex McClaren).
In addition to her husband, she was pre-deceased by her daughter Judy’s husband Paul Ranson, and her brother Charles Harvey Ramsey.
Services will be held September 21 (Saugatuck Congregational Church, 1:30 p.m). Donations in Janet’s name can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Homes with Hope or PAWS (Pet Animal Welfare Society).
And finally … Otis Redding was born on this day, in 1941. He died in a plane crash just 26 years later.
The Macon, Georgia native quit school at 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard’s band. Over the next decade he became an international star.
But his biggest fame came after his death.
(“Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” became the first posthumous #1 record on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. He then received many other honors, including 2 Grammys, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame,[5] and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
(Since 2009 — without missing a day — “06880” has been your hyper-local source for news, information, features, photos and more. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Comments Off on Roundup: Justin Paul’s EGOT, Paralympics Bronze, NASCAR Silver …
As the founder of Village Pediatrics, Dr. Nikki Gorman is used to soothing anxious parents.
In recent years though, she’s seen a rapid rise in another anxious group: her patients.
It’s no secret that anxiety and related issues are rampant in teenagers. There are many reasons — cellphones, social media, COVID — along with the “helicopter parenting” prevalent for a while now.
(Or — even worse — “snowplow parenting”: forging forward, ensuring no obstacles lie in a child’s path.)
“As pediatricians we focus on the end goal: raising healthy human beings, who thrive personally and give back to the community,” Dr. Nikki says.
Dr. Nikki Gorman
Recently, she and her staff have seen a trend: Younger parents are “starting to understand that the parenting my generation is guilty of is not good for anyone. Not for the kids, or the parents.”
Because “we’re all too accessible,” she says, “parents feel they always need to be there. But developmentally, we need to empower our kids, so they can learn to trust themselves, and trust their gut.”
There are limits, of course. “A 5-year-old brain is not mature enough to know how to cross the street.” But, Dr. Nikki says, empowering a child at that age will enable her, at 8, to cross by herself.
Even younger children — 2- and 3-year-olds — want power. The pediatrician advises giving it to them within reason: letting them choose what to wear, what fruit to eat.
“The more we’re in that mindset, the more we decrease anxiety,” she says. And that means parental, as well as child, anxiousness.
Not empowering children can come from the environment of a community like Westport. “When ‘success’ is defined as and focused on things like goals and education,” that sets up unrealistic expectations.
“No one is happy all the time,” Dr. Nikki notes. “But if you can feel good about yourself, your relationships, your role in the community when things are not going great — that’s good.
Kids can have fun in many ways.
“It’s a big job, worrying all the time about what’s going on in school, what team or league your child is playing, and all the rest. We’ve lost the ability to step back and ask, ‘What’s the goal here?'”
The goal, she suggests, is not to ensure that all obstacles are plowed en route to a college athletic scholarship, professional sports career — or any other spectacularly high achievement, in any career.
It should be to enable youngsters to grow, thrive, and feel good about themselves in a variety of ways.
“When one parent heads off on the weekend to a 10-year-old tournament on Long Island, and the other takes the other kid to Washington = what happened to Sundays together?” Dr. Nikki asks.
“What about family meals?”
Her fantasy, she says, is for children to be able to play middle school sports — with their friends, in a community-wide effort.
“Kids don’t want to be strapped in a car for 2 hours after a game,” she says, repeating what she hears and observes.
“There’s nothing wrong with stepping back.”
Children “want to please their parents, their teachers, their community,” she says. “They take their messages from us.” Too often, the message they hear is that they please us only by performing at the highest level for us.
A child’s dream — or the parents’?
I told Dr. Nikki that Jimmy Izzo — a 1983 Staples High School graduate, and longtime Westporter — says that one of the reasons he closed his Crossroads Hardware store was because Saturday customers had largely disappeared. Every weekend they were somewhere else, on kid-related activities or trips.
She nodded. “Kids now miss out on going to the hardware store with their father, asking what this or that is for. And then going back to help around the house.”
But, she adds, she and her Village Pediatrics colleagues are seeing a new trend.
Their “very active” weekly group of parents of babies “clearly understand what’s going on.”
Post-pandemic, she says, parents are spending more time at home — and doing more things there with their children.
“The number of fathers in our parenting groups is mind-blowing,” Dr. Nikki says. “They come to exams, too. They want to be involved. They want to hear with the experts are saying.”
Stuck at home during the lockdown, “young parents learned they need to work as a team — to manage jobs, home, the family. Fathers saw how hard that is. They realize that both parents are important to kids’ mental health. That was the greatest thing to come out of COVID.”
So, Dr. Nikki says: “It’s okay to take things down a notch. Before you sign them up for an activity, have a conversation with your child. It’s great to expose them to different things, but limit it.
“Let them go back to playing outside. Don’t overschedule kids. Respect sleep.”
And — above all — keep the snowplow where it belongs: in the garage.
(“06880” is invested in Westport — especially its young people, and newest residents. To be invested in “06880,” please make a tax-deductible contribution by clicking here. Thank you!)
It took oh, I don’t know, about 20 years for the town to agree to put lights on the Staples football field.
(Full disclosure: My parents’ neighbors — though not them — on High Point Road were some of the biggest obstacles.)
The lights have been there for over a decade. The result: increased attendance and enthusiasm at football and lacrosse games, and other sports. More opportunities for practice for athletes on many teams.
And no issues with neighbors.
The lights at what is now called Paul Lane Field were the focus of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)
Diane Bosch, Diane Silfen and Dan Vener all correctly identified the scene.
There were not a lot of responses, on Labor Day weekend.
Maybe everyone was out playing games.
Now — just in time for the change of seasons — here is this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Patricia McMahon)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
One of the most popular subjects on Facebook’s Westport Front Porch page is “wrong deliveries.”
Nearly every day, someone posts a photo of a package outside a door, saying: “Amazon (or FedEx, UPS, etc.) says they delivered this package to me. But this is not my house. Did anyone get this by mistake?”
Just as regularly. similar posts note: “This was delivered today, but it’s not mine. If you know [name of intended recipient], please tell them I have their package.”
A different kind of mysterious delivery photo appeared yesterday. Here it is:
The text explained: “This bench mysteriously appeared on our lawn some time last night, cemented into the ground. I’m thinking maybe it was accidentally installed at the wrong house. Anyone recognize?”
Here’s a close-up of the inscription:
No one said they were missing a bench (and cement).
But many folks wished they got that delivery too. (Hat tip: Frank Rosen)
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Westport Country Playhouse knows the importance of introducing young people to the theater.
This fall, they introduce a new children’s education program.
Playhouse Playmakers is a 6-week program for middle schoolers. They will create an original play — including writing, acting, rehearsing and production — culminating in a performance on the Playhouse stage for family and friends.
Playhouse Playmakers runs on Sundays from October 13 to November 17 (1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The performance is November 24. Class size is about 15 students.
Program directors Evette Marie White and Stacie Morgain Lewis promise creativity and fun.
The fee of $575 includes technical rehearsal, materials, and 4 tickets to the performance. Five scholarships are available, covering the full cost of classes and transportation reimbursement.
Stacie Morgain Lewis (left) and Evette Marie White.
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The Westport Business Networking International chapter’s next Visitor’s Day is September 19 (United Methodist Church, 7 a.m.; networking, business meeting, coffee and homemade baked goods).
Westport BNI has 55 members, with only 1 per category. Classifications available now include estate attorney, residential contractor, interior designer, HVAC contractor, salon, restaurant, hotel, home security, personal trainer, photographer, caterer or bakery, commercial real estate, florist, event/wedding planner, travel/tour operator, automotive repair, physical therapy, promotional products and more.
In the past year, the group has passed over $3.3 million in closed business.
All visitors must pre-register. Contact debra.lomma@therealreal.com, cmagistrale@hearstmediact.com, or stc@warefressola.com. Click here for the BNI website.
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This summer marked the 50th anniversary of the blockbuster “Jaws” film.
It’s taken half a century, but the famed shark — or at least a boating facsimile — finally arrived on the Saugatuck River.
(Photo/Susan Garment)
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Westport resident Lina Elwood, a freshman at Hopkins School, recently participated in a 2-week music festival in Warsaw, Poland.
She performed at 6 concerts, as a top prize winner of the Chopin Avenue International Piano Competition.
The most memorable was with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra at their concert hall, where she played Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor.
The pianist also received the Best Performance of a Chopin Work Award from the president of The Fryderyk Chopin Society of Warsaw.
Lina has won prizes at local and international competitions, and performed at Carnegie Hall, Vilar Performing Arts Center in Colorado, and Conservatoria de Musica in Spain.
And finally … in honor of “Jaws,” and the Saugatuck River:
(“Jaws” is 50 years old. “06880” is only 15. But in that time, we’ve never missed a day. We keep pumping out everything you need to know about our town. Please click here to support us. Thanks!)
One hundred years after his birth — and half a century after his death — Rod Serling’s legacy remains strong.
His TV scripts — for “Kraft Television Theatre,” “Playhouse 90” and most memorably, “The Twilight Zone” — explored themes of censorship, racism and war that still resonate today.
Serling wrote a few of his best-known scripts in Westport. He lived here in the 1950s, before moving with his wife and daughters to California.
Later this month the Westport Library explores Rod Serling’s impact, with a 4-day symposium. It includes landmark “Twilight Zone” episodes, films inspired by the series, and discussions of his life and work.
The event kicks off Thursday, September 26 (6 to 9 p.m.), with Serling’s most Westport-themed work: “A Stop at Willoughby.”
In what Serling called his favorite show of the first season, an overstressed ad executive naps on the train ride home. The conductor calls out an upcoming stop: “Westport/Saugatuck.”
He awakens to find the train stopped in Willoughby — in the year 1888. He asks about the idyllic town, but the conductor tells him there is no such place.
Is there?
The familiar face of Rod Serling reappears at the end. In his trademark voice, he says:
Willoughby? Maybe it’s wishful thinking nestled in a hidden part of a man’s mind, or maybe it’s the last stop in the vast design of things, or perhaps, for a man who climbed on a world that went by too fast, it’s a place around the bend where he could jump off.
Willoughby? Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity, and is a part of the Twilight Zone.
Arlen Schumer — author of “The Five Themes of The Twilight Zone” — will screen “Willoughby.” It will be followed by “The Swimmer,” the Burt Lancaster film based on John Cheever’s 1964 short story, which has thematic ties to “Willoughby” — and was filmed partly in Westport.
On Friday, September 27 (6 to 9 p.m.), Schumer talks with author Nick Parisi about his books “Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination,” and “America’s Twilight Zone: How Rod Serling Foreshadowed the Age of Trump.”
Two episodes will be screened: “Walking Distance” (about another ad executive’s desire to return to the past), and “He’s Alive” (a rare 1-hour episode from 1963 starring a young Dennis Hopper as an American neo-Nazi who is visited by the ghost of Adolf Hitler).
Saturday, September 28 (5 to 9 p.m.) features a conversation with Schumer and author Mark Dawidziak about his book, “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone.”
Their talk is followed by a screening of the Oscar-winning “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (based on the Ambrose Bierce short story), and “Jacob’s Ladder,” a 1990 film inspired by that episode.
The festival ends Sunday, September 29 (1 to 5 p.m.) with a pop-up art show of Staples High School student artwork inspired by Serling’s “Eye of the Beholder” — the mind-bending episode in which today’s standards of beauty and ugliness are reversed.
A screening of that show will be followed by “Number 12 Looks Just Like You,” set in a dystopian future in which every adult has their body surgically altered into one of a set of physically attractive models. It will be shown complete with original commercials from its 1964 air date.
The final event is a screening of the cult classic 1975 movie “The Stepford Wives.” It shares of “Number 12″‘s themes — and was partially filmed in Westport.
DEE-DEE dee-dee DEE-DEE dee-dee…
(Click here for full details of the 4-day Rod Serling symposium.)
(“06880” is “where Westport meets the world.” Today, for example, Rod Serling meets the 2024 Library — and we travel back to his 1950s years here. Please click here to help us continue our work!)
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