Carolina Thanksgiving

November 26, 2011



Moon Lake

Michael, Marta & Marika

Kathy

Carolina Thanksgiving

Following our trip to the book fair in Miami, Kathy, Marta & I returned to Key West for two days prior to hopping on a plane together and heading north to spend Thanksgiving in North Carolina. We had plans to meet at my sister’s home with my sister Marika and her husband Brian, along with some of their friends and Kathy’s Aunt Kathy, Uncle Al and cousin Alex- who were planning to drive from Massachusetts. Unfortunately Aunt Kathy suffered a minor health set-back that kept them from being able to join us this year. She is doing fine, and we hope to be able to all get together again at some point down the line, but we sure missed having them.

Susan Orlean



Before we even left Key West, a small piece of the book fair followed us down the Keys as writer Susan Orlean came down to give a reading at the Tropic Cinema of her new book on the legendary canine Rin Tin Tin. We went to her excellent reading and stayed to watch a classic 1925 Rin Tin Tin silent film, “Clash of the Wolves”. It was a fun evening of literature and film and a sold out audience enjoyed the event.

Jack



Winston-Salem

We flew out of Key West on Tuesday evening, arriving in Charlotte and driving through a pouring rainstorm to Marta’s home in Winston-Salem. We stayed one night and part of the next day there, taking Marta’s dog Jack to the local dog park and eating at the wonderful new little neighborhood restaurant Willow’s Bistro before driving the 45 minutes out into the country to the beautiful property owned by my sister and brother-in-law, Moon Lake.

Willow's

Priddy's



The rain had long vanished, replaced by stunning sunshine and warmth with temperatures in the 70s and bright perfect skies that lasted through the rest out our stay in North Carolina. We stopped at the historic Priddy’s General Store, just up the road from Moon Lake on our way in to stock up on Cheerwine. Priddy’s is a throwback that still functions pretty much the same as it has since opening in 1929.







Upon arrival, we settled in to the guest house and then gathered for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner along with Marika’s good friend Coleman. Coleman has written some successful screenplays and happens to be a member of the Academy and as such had a number of preview copies of current films that are under consideration for Oscars and so we were able to join her in screening current films like “J. Edgar”, “Contagion” and “the Help”.
Their neighbor and friend Kay T just happened to have an amazing screening room built in to his fantastic lake side home and we had just about the perhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giffect situation for the private screenings.





Kay T



Thanksgiving was yet another perfect, beautiful day at Moon Lake and we gathered with Marika, Brian, Marta and a small group of their close friends for a wonderful and traditional Thanksgiving feast. It was so nice and delicious as well, incredibly relaxing after seeming having been going non-stop for months.

Coleman, Marta & Kathy

Brian & Marika



After eating, we lounged about on the beautiful property before heading next door to Kay T’s place for another film session. On the way over, we paused to admire the beautiful totem pole that he has carved and created from a log taken from the property. It is a beautiful and amazing piece of art.

the ladies in green







Priddy's General Store

Book Fair Day 2

November 24, 2011







Book Fair Day 2

The second day of the Miami Book Fair always seems just a little bit calmer to me, the excitement of having arrived has worn off a little and you get settled in and it always seems like the schedule is less full and rushed than day one. Of course this isn’t actually the case and other than starting a half hour later, there is not much to differentiate the two full and thrilling days of literary riches.





Alan Cheuse

Once again, Marta, Kathy and I started off together in the large Chapman auditorium for the opening session and then split apart for the rest of day, weaving in and out of other sessions, sometimes together and other times on our own. The first session of the day was a great one and featured three terrific writers, Russell Banks, Michael Ondaatje and William Kennedy each reading from their latest works.

Russell Banks

William Kennedy



Any one of them alone would have been worthy of attention, but having them together was fantastic. I especially enjoyed Banks reading from his new novel, “Lost Memory of Skin”, though they were all really enjoyable. At the conclusion of that session, Kathy & I hurried over to hear a reading by our friend and fellow Key Wester, Roz Brackenberry.







Roz has been receiving tremendous and well deserved accolades for her latest novel, “Becoming George Sand” and it was great to see her included on the program of esteemed authors speaking at the book fair. She was speaking with two other women writers and I am proud to say that she really stood out in the group and did a fantastic job.



Suenalo





The rest of the day, I spent going off on my own. I was very interested in the really incredible line-up of musicians and bands that were on the Sunday afternoon schedule on the World stage. A fantastic array of Miami-based bands, most members of the “Tropical Bohemia” movement that includes a number of diverse Latin infused funk rock bands.

Nicole Henry



Robert Massie

The schedule on Sunday included PALO!, Afrobeta (described as electro-ghettofunk, lingerie-store-disco, alt-reggaeton, neo-freestyle), and my old favorite Suenalo. I also watched a performance by gifted jazz vocalist Nicole Henry. All together it was an exceptional day of musical entertainment by some of the hippest and best musicians that Miami has to offer. It was cool to see these bands get such positive exposure to a wider audience and attendees were literally dancing in the streets in one big fun street party. It was almost enough to make me forget that I was at a literary event.

Dyan Cannon

Marta & Jim Lehrer

Tea Obrecht

Among the literary highlights were sessions by biographer Robert Massie, Alan Cheuse, Dyan Cannon, Isabel Wilkerson, Susan Orlean, Jim Lehrer, Tea Obreht, Hillary Jordan and Jaimy Gordon. It was yet another wonderful experience and the book fair proved once again why it is one of my favorite, must see events of the year.

Isabel Wilkerson & Marta

Hillary Jordan