Tag Archives: Kitt Shapiro

Roundup: Twilight Zone, Parks & Rec Registration, Cell Tower …

Posted on March 2, 2022 | 2 comments

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Submitted for your approval: “Westport in the Twilight Zone.”

Rod Serling used that “submitted” phrase only 3 times, as writer and host of one of television’s most acclaimed series ever. But it’s come to be associated with him.

Did you know that? And did you know that — beyond the famed ““Willoughby” episode, featuring a train ride to Saugatuck, Westport influenced other “Twilight Zone”s?

And why not? He lived here in the 1950s.

Find out more about Rod Serling and Westport tonight (Wednesday, March 2, 6 p.m., Zoom) at a free webinar: “Westport in the Twilight Zone.” The host and guide is Westport author/artist Arlen Schumer.

You can journey into that other world by clicking here. The meeting ID is: 884 7739 9778. The passcode is 653762. No advance sign-up is necessary.

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Registration for many Westport Parks & Recreation’s spring and summer programs began online at 9 a.m. this morning. Registration for Camp Compo, RECing and pickleball begins later: 9 a.m. on Monday, March 28.

Spots go quickly. Click here to see all the choices.

Problems? Email recreation@westportct.gov or call 203-341-5152.

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Kitt Shapiro hosted an overflow crowd last night at WEST, the great downtown women’s store she owns.

But the focus was not on shopping. She was there as an author. Her book “Eartha & Me: A Daughter’s Love Story in Black and White” — published in November — is already in its second printing.

It’s a memoir of growing up with her mother, Eartha Kitt. Nearly everyone there had already read it. They asked pointed, poignant and provocative questions. Kitt described her mother’s influence and legacy — on her, and on the world.

The event was sponsored by AWARE (Assisting Women with Actions, Resources and Education), the non-profit that — like Eartha Kitt and Kitt Shapiro — empowers women every day.

Kitt Shapiro, and the WEST crowd. (Photo/John Videler Photography)

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A “balloon test” scheduled for Presidents Day — to show exactly how high a proposed 124-foot cell tower would rise, on private property at 92 Greens Farms Road — was canceled the night before. It was hastily rescheduled for 7 a.m. today.

Westporter Don Bergmann wrote several local officials, expressing anger at the late notice provided to the town and its residents.

At 8 a.m., Jaime Bairaktaris — publisher of Westport Local Press — drove by. He reports not seeing any balloon.

Neither did RTM member Andrew Colabella.

Westporter Steve Goldstein headed to the site an hour later, and saw nothing — except, that is, 2 police officers who had been there since 7.

A cell tower been proposed for the property on the left: 92 Greens Farms Road. (Photo courtesy of Google Maps)

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Jesse and Sefra Levin grew up in the comfort of Westport. Life here is almost always safe.

But for nearly 20 years, the Staples High School Class of 2003 twins have been on a mission: helping prepare people around the globe to survive any kind of disaster, natural or manmade. They’ve taught “readiness skills” to veterans, disaster response teams and entrepreneurs. The Levins call themselves “bespoke readiness outfitters.”

A couple of years ago, they had a pop-up shop in Bedford Square. They outfitted customers with gear, and offered advice and training, for every conceivable emergency.

Now they’re in Poland, at the Ukrainian border. In less than 2 days they gathered medical supplies, and made their first delivery.

Their goal is to ramp up a medical supply chain, and help coordinate between international military veteran first response efforts and in-country operational elements.

A growing network of Polish and Ukrainian contacts helps identify and relay real-time needs from conflict areas, and ensure effective distribution of supplies and equipment to where they are needed most.

(Hat tip: Lynn Untermeyer Miller)

Jesse and Sefra Levin

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There’s less than a month to go before dogs are banned from Compo Beach. Which means we won’t be able to run “Westport … Naturally” photos like this, from April 1 through the end of September.

Tessie on the Compo jetty (Photo/Gwen Tutun)

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And finally … on this day in 1498, Vasco da Gama’s fleet visited the island of Mozambique.

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Posted in Local business, Looking back, Media, Politics, Staples HS, technology

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Roundup: Alcohol In Westport, Album Cover Design, Cell Tower Balloon Test …

Posted on February 19, 2022 | 8 comments

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“Can I drink if my parents are with me?” “How old were you when you started drinking?” “If pot is legal, how can it be bad?”

If you’re a Westport parent, your child may ask you those or similar questions. How would you respond?

To help frame your answers, the Westport Prevention Coalition offers “Don’t Wait.” The 52-minute short film helps parents start conversations about substance use.

It’s available free to Westporters throughout March, thanks to a grant. You can watch at home whenever it’s convenient, or join other parents for a virtual group showing. There are follow-up discussions online too.

To watch, click here, then enter promo code PD2022. To register for a group showing and/or follow-up discussion, click here.

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In related news, on Thursday Positive Directions hosted a virtual discussion on “Mindful Drinking: Reimagining Our Alcohol Habits, and How They Impact Our Relationships.”

A panel — including professionals, parents, a recovering alcoholic and a Staples High School student — gave clear, honest accounts of their own experiences with drinking in Westport.

The discussion is online, and available at any time. Click here; then scroll down underneath “How Are You Coping in 2022?” to view.

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Interested in seeing how high the proposed cell tower at 92 Greens Farms Road — 124 feet — really is?

A “balloon display” is scheduled for Monday (February 21) at 7 a.m. It should last around 4 hours.

The tower would be built on a private residence, adjacent to I-95 near Hillspoint Road. (Hat tip: Don Bergmann)

A cell tower been proposed for the property on the left: 92 Greens Farms Road. (Photo courtesy of Google Maps)

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Interested in designing an album cover?

The Westport Library invites artists to submit work to be featured on upcoming vinyl. It will also be sued for digital and print promotions.

Fairfield County painters, illustrators, designers, photographers, collage makers — and all other visual artists — can apply.

The competition is part of the Library’s first-of-its-kind “Verso Records Compilation, Volume 1.” The independent record will feature emerging tri-state musicians in genres from jazz and rock to folk and indie. All tracks are recorded live at the Library’s state-of-the-art Verso Studios.

The Artists Collective of Westport will oversee an independent jury committee. Among them: Neal Smith, a founding member of Alice Cooper.

Along with the honor of designing the cover, the artist chosen will receive $1,000.

12” x 12” artwork should be in TIF, JPEG, PNG or PDF format, with a minimum of 300 dpi. The Library’s art department will add text and crop materials at their discretion.

For more information, click here. The submission deadline is March 25.

Part of the Westport Library’s Verso Studios.

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Sarah Bernhard is coming to the Westport Country Playhouse.

The actress/singer author presents “Sandra Bernhard: An Evening of Comedy and Music” on Sunday, March 12 (8 p.m.). Running time is one hour; no intermission. Explicit language.

Her film credits include “The King of Comedy” with Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, directed by Martin Scorsese. Television credits include “The Sopranos” and “The Larry Sanders Show.”

Broadway World says, “Sandra Bernhard takes no prisoners and pulls no punches. She will set the place afire with her white-hot intelligence. She is authentic, unapologetically pissed, heartbroken, and of course, hilarious.“

For more information and tickets click here; email boxoffice@westportplayhouse.org, or call the box office: 203-227-4177.

Sandra Bernhard (Photo/Brian Zeigler)

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AWARE is one of my favorite organizations.

The acronym stands for Assisting Women with Actions, Resources and Education. Each year, members partner with a local non-profit. They volunteer with that group, organize an educational event and host a fundraiser.

Their next event is March 1 (WEST, 117 Post Road East, 7 p.m.). WEST owner Kitt Shapiro will talk about her new book, “Eartha & Me: A Daughter’s Love Story in Black and White.” It’s a memoir of growing up with her mother, Eartha Kitt.

AWARE members have been reading the book this week.

This is not a fundraiser — just a fun event with AWARE member Kitt. Plus, she’s offered 20% off merchandise to anyone that night.

PS: I’ll be introducing Kitt. I’m “aware” of what an honor that is!

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Once again, Tyler Hicks has the lead photo on the front page of the New York Times.

The 1988 Staples High School graduate/Pulitzer Prize winner’s shot today shows a

(Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)

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Last year, COVID forced Suzuki Music Schools’ Connecticut Guitar Festival into cyberspace.

It’s back for a 5th year March 11-13 — both live at the Westport Library, and online (free!).

The event opens with a Kickoff Concert, starring classical and jazz greatsPaul Galbraith, Adam Levin, Adam Del Monte and Leandro Pellegrino.

It continues all weekend with a guitar expo, “GuitART,” and performances and events with Similar Kind, Matt Rae, Rami Vamos, Benjamin Verdery, CGF artistic director and Grammy-nominee Mak Grgic, and many more!

For a full list of events, click here. For an overview of the festival and artists, click here.

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To celebrate its 1-year anniversary, Westport-based FLB Law donated 1,200 cans of soup to the Filling in the Blanks SOUPer Bowl Food Drive. The Norwalk nonprofit provides weekend meals to needy children in Fairfield and Westchester Counties.

Other recent FLB initiatives include packing backpacks with holiday treats, toys and a dental kitfor Filling in the Blanks, and making birthday boxes for the Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

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Amy Schneider knows the kinds of photos I like for our “Westport … Naturally” feature.

So, she asks with a smile, “Did this get to Compo Beach naturally?”

(Photo/Amy Schneider)

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And finally … Beverly Ross died recently in Nashville. She was 87.

You may not know her name. For a while, she was one of the most successful pop and rock songwriters in America — and one of its few females.

Her short career ended when a work relationship with Phil Spector turned sour. She said that he stole a riff they were working on, then turned it into “Spanish Harlem” — which he credited to himself and Jerry Leiber. Click here for a full obituary.

Among her credits:

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Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Library, Local business, Media, Westport Country Playhouse

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Eartha & Kitt: A Love Story In Black And White

Posted on April 26, 2021 | 3 comments

In 1957, Eartha Kitt starred in the Westport Country Playhouse production of “Mrs. Patterson.”

She was already famous. The actor/singer/dancer had debuted on Broadway a dozen years earlier. Her 1953 recordings of “C’est Si Bon” and “Santa Baby” both hit the Top 10. Orson Welles had called her the “most exciting woman in the world.”

She had homes in Beverly Hills and London. But in 2001 — after her daughter Kitt Shapiro had married Allan Rothschild, and moved into his Westport house — Eartha Kitt bought a home in Weston.

She loved it: the people, the river, the proximity to New York (and her grandchildren).

Kitt and her kids thrived here. She loves living in “a unique area, with eclectic people.” Three years ago she opened WEST, a very cool Post Road East boutique.

Eartha Kitt died in 2008. Kitt had worked closely with her, on business matters.

Now Kitt has written a book. Eartha & Kitt: A Daughter’s Love Story in Black and White details their wonderful relationship. And much, much more. It will be published May 4, just before Mother’s Day.

Eartha’s mother was of African and Cherokee descent. Eartha never knew her father; he may have been white.

“I was meant to be her daughter. I gave my mother roots and grounding,” Kitt — who was born in 1961, during Eartha’s 4-year marriage to John McDonald — says. “That’s not always easy, for people in that industry.”

Eartha Kitt was sometimes “too light-skinned for Black people, and too dark for white people,” Kitt Shapiro says.

Kitt herself has been attacked on social media for being “too light to be Eartha Kitt’s daughter.”

Eartha Kitt and her daughter.

“The gene pool does what it does,” she says. “My mother thought that treating people a certain way just because of their skin color was preposterous. She couldn’t understand the need of society to pigeonhole people as one particular thing.”

In her early years in New York, Eartha had to be “either a jazz singer or a gospel singer. She couldn’t be just ‘a singer.’ She fought against that, and we’re still fighting that today.”

That’s one of the themes of Eartha & Kitt. Kitt felt this is “the right time to talk about race, and a woman who was a trailblazer. She was a Black woman, a role model who spoke out.”

Eartha Kitt certainly did that. In 1968 — at a White House luncheon — she sharply criticized President Johnson’s handling of the Vietnam War. The CIA called her “a sadistic nymphomaniac,” and her career stalled in the US. She continued to perform, with great success, in Europe and Asia.

In 1978 she returned triumphantly to Broadway, in “Timbuktu!” She gained new generations of fans with voiceovers in movies like “The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story,” New York cabarets and much more.

Kitt Shapiro’s new book is “for anyone who had a relationship like we did — whether it was with a mother, a mother figure or a sibling.”

Its message, she says, will resonate with many: “We all have a right to be here. We are all unique. We can embrace and learn from each other. That was my mother’s philosophy, and it speaks to a lot of people.”

When Eartha Kitt died, her daughter says proudly, she had 200,000 Facebook followers. Many were women between 18 and 35 years old. They admired “a woman who never compromised who she was. She always spoke the truth.”

Now Kitt Shapiro brings that message to a new, even wider audience.

(Click here to order Eartha & Kitt: A Daughter’s Love Story in Black and White. Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer; Kitt Shapiro is raising funds for the American Cancer Society’s “Women Leading the Way to Wellness” project. Stop in to WEST at 117 Post Road East; for $125 you get a signed copy of her book, a scented candle, and beaded bracelet.)

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Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Local business, Media, Westport Country Playhouse

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“Santa Baby” Sequel: Weston’s Eartha Kitt Lives On

Posted on December 7, 2020 | 3 comments

Once upon a time, Christmas music was — well, Christmas music.

“Silent Night.” “Adeste Fidelis.” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”  You know — songs about Jesus, the Magi and the manger.

In 1953, Eartha Kitt released “Santa Baby.” It was — well, earthy.

Eartha Kitt

The 26-year-old entertainer sang seductively about gifts from a sugar daddy Santa — you know, a yacht, sable and ’54 convertible.

Despite being banned in parts of the South, it was the best-selling Christmas song of the year.

In the nearly 70 years since, it’s been covered by dozens of artists, including Madonna, Kylie Mingoue, Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Michael Bublé, RuPaul and Homer & Jethro.

It’s been found on lists of the best — and worst — Christmas songs of all time.

And it opened the door for an entire new category of offbeat holiday tunes. Had it not been for “Santa Baby,” we might never have known the singing chipmunks, the Kinks’ violent “Father Christmas,” or the song that truly is the worst of all time — in any category — “The Christmas Shoes.”

Eartha Kitt died in 2008 — fittingly, on Christmas Day — in her Weston home. Her daughter Kitt Shapiro has lived in Westport for 20 years. She owns WEST, the great boutique on Post Road East.

“Santa Baby” sure has legs. Last Friday, Sony Music released a new, animated video version of the song.

It’s quite a story. Directed by Kelly Jones (founder of a Black-owned visual media and design house) and produced by Cousins (a queer-owned production studio), it’s an homage to Eartha Kitt’s life and career. Smooth, sexy animation draws viewers right into the singer’s dreamy wish list.

In this COVID-stricken year of 2020, Santa may be paring down his gift list. He might be careful about how many homes he visits.

But if Eartha Kitt has her way — wherever she is now — Santa will hurry down her chimney that night.

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Posted in Entertainment, Local business, Media, People

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Westport Means Business

Posted on April 11, 2019 | Comments Off on Westport Means Business

The event was called “Westport Means Business.”

But the crowd that packed the Westport Country Playhouse barn Tuesday night enjoyed plenty of laughs — plus wine and food — as 4 women described the many highs and few lows of owning a local business.

They ranged in age from 30s to 50s. They’ve been in operation from 20 years to just 1. Yet the quartet share joy in what they do, gratitude for the opportunity to do it — and a firm belief that Westport is a great place to pursue their dreams.

Second selectman Jennifer Tooker’s shirt motto — “Be Bold” — set the tone for the evening.

The evening was sponsored by the Westport Library, with support from the town. Second selectman Jennifer Tooker moderated, with ease and grace.

Julie Fountain and Dana Noorily — founders of The Granola Bar — are rock stars on the entrepreneurial scene. In 6 years they’ve gone from making desserts in their kitchens to owning 6 restaurants, here and in Westchester.

Interrupting each other, finishing their partner’s sentences and laughing often, the pair talked candidly about the challenges women face, from banks to stereotypes. They even pulled the plug once before they started, then forged ahead after Dana’s husband encouraged them to follow their dream.

When a mentor suggested that their planned granola manufacturing facility include something in the “front of the house,” they did not know the term.

Today they do. Proof of their success came a couple of weeks after they opened their first restaurant. It was filled with people they didn’t recognize. Their friends and family had supported them along the way — but now they had real customers.

Julie and Dana are proud to be setting an example for their young children, as “stay around” — rather than “stay at home” — moms. As they grow their business, there will be more obstacles — family and professional — to overcome. But they’re confident, excited, and proud that their journey began in their home town.

Jamie Camche has owned JL Rocks for 3 times as long: 18 years. Opening a jewelry store was a leap of faith. But her husband has supported her. She’s developed a strong and loyal clientele.

She noted the importance of having local ties too. Jamie was on a buying trip in Europe last September, when heavy rains flooded her Post Road East store.

Thankfully her landlord Mike Greenberg was there, hoisting buckets and bailing her out. He was at the Playhouse barn on Tuesday as well, supporting Jamie.

Participants in the “Westport Means Business” event included (from left) Kitt Shapiro (West), Jamie Camche (JL Rocks), 2nd selectman Jennifer Tooker, and Dana Noorily and Julie Mountain (Granola Bar).

Kitt Shapiro is 57. Yet she calls herself “the new kid on the block.” She’s owned West — the cool Post Road East clothing store — for only a year.

She’s been a 20-year resident of Westport, though. Those ties propelled her “leap of faith” into something she’d never done before.

“I feel so committed to this town, to small businesses, to being part of the tapestry of the community,” Kitt explained. “It’s my home.

West is just around the corner from Main Street, on Post Road East.

“We all know retail has changed,” she added. “But I truly believe local retailers are not going away. People want to touch, see and feel merchandise. They want to interact with other human beings. They’ll seek out people who are kind and smile.”

When Tooker asked for questions, an audience member wondered why none of the 4 businesses were on Main Street.

“We can’t afford it,” Julie said. “But we can’t afford a lot of Main Streets.”

“A town is more than Main Street,” Kitt added.

Third selectman Melissa Kane agreed. Getting the word out about options beyond that small, chain-dominated stretch of downtown is important to retailers and town officials alike, she said.

“We have not done a great job of that,” she admitted. “We need a professional initiative.” Kane said the town is working with a national wayfaring firm, developing signage and strategies to help residents as well as visitors realize the wealth of small, local businesses surrounding Main Street — and where to park, and walk to find them.

Julie praised Westport officials from departments like Fire and Health, for making life easy for entrepreneurs. Westport is the easiest to work with, of their 6 locations (Westchester is the toughest).

“The first health inspection could have been the scariest experience of our life. It wasn’t,” she said.

In her opening remarks Tooker noted that the town, library, Westport Downtown Merchants Association and Chamber of Commerce are all spreading the news: Westport is a great place to live, raise a family — and grow and launch a business.

Or, as Julie Mountain, Dana Noorily, Jamie Camche and Kitt Shapiro reiterated: Westport is open for — and to — business.

 

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Posted in Downtown, Library, Local business, Organizations, People, Restaurants

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