Marta

February 20, 2020

Marta

 



Deb, Michele, Marta and Matt

Marta and Kathy



Marta

Bringing my mother Marta to Key West was something more of a challenge than we expected when we planned the event and booked her trip a few months ago. Health issues including being hospitalized for heart issues before suffering an extensive stroke threatened to cancel the trip all together or worse, but having made a promise and most of the arrangements, we have been using the idea of the trip as a sort of carrot to dangle in front of her to keep her rehab efforts going, telling her that if she did all the work and was given doctor’s approval to travel that we would make the trip happen.

Michele and Marta

Susan, Lynn and Ginny

Jenn



She was quite a trooper and has put in long hours of work in rehab and recovery and while she is still a far cry from her old self, she was certainly good enough to make the journey, provided that she was able to travel with someone, so I made a quick trip to go up to Winston-Salem and get her and bring her back for the release party for her new memoir entitled, “Leaves from an Unexpected Life: A Refugee’s Journey”

Meg, Rev and Breezy

Larry and Pru





Betty and Cathy

Here is the description of the book from her publisher: Illustrated with 36 stunning photographs, Márta Blades' immersive and enchanting memoir is an invitation into the remarkable journey of a Hungarian-born World War II refugee who has found wisdom, glory, gratitude in the dramatic and often traumatic events of an unexpected life.





Chuck and Sue

Ancestrally Blades' royal roots extend into the Windsor family, as well as to Prince Vlad Tepes III, the prince who was the model for Dracula. Born into a life replete with privilege and all the possibilities of a first-class private education, Circumstances Beyond Control (also the title of her poem in the book) twisted her family's fate, causing a heartbreaking geographical split between her parents during the WWII as they conspired to ensure Márta's safety. A tender reunion preceded Márta's return to high school, wherein she earned a scholarship to Marian College in the United States. Next she made the brave solo voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on the General C.C. Ballou to pursue the American Dream.

Carol and Michael

Erika, Betsy and Eric



Her college years proved a prelude to a marriage and the birth of three cherished children, a fantastical career in the Indianapolis arts scene, the real-life struggles of divorce and diagnoses, two marvelous return sojourns to her Motherland, and, ultimately, a blissful retirement under her beloved Carolina blue skies. Her story inspires recognition of the good fortune of living in times of peace, when the pursuit of our fondest dreams is possible. By the time readers turn the "last leaf," may they find no distinction between Blades' inspirational life, her grateful heart, and their own.

Nadene, Rev and Breezy

Tom and Lucy

Liz, Meg and Michele



Kathy and I did a lot of work preparing the house and getting ready for the Saturday afternoon party. I had invited a large number of friends, not so much to pressure them to buy a book, but more to come and say hello and hopefully make my mother happy with the turnout. Everything went amazingly well. Our friends turned out in droves as well over 100 people showed up to support Marta. Most of them had not had the opportunity to meet her and I know showed up out of respect for Kathy and I and for that I am eternally grateful.





Rev, Breezy, Paul and Ashley

Darci and Kevin

My sister Michele was also on hand to assist Marta in selling the books and greeting the line of people who were on hand to meet her. People were all so kind and gracious and so many of our friends were on hand it was tough to get around just to say hello to everyone, I felt like I rarely even saw Kathy. The event which I had scheduled to last only until 7 PM figuring Marta would tire and need a respite, was still going until almost 11 PM and Marta held up remarkably well, reveling in the attention and interest in her book. We sold almost our entire allotment of 50 books, which is truly remarkable. Thanks again to everyone who made the effort to come out. Anyone still interested in the book can check it out on the Amazon link below.













It was just a fantastic evening with a ton of family and good friends. After taking a day to sort of relax and recover, I took Marta and Michele out for a fun Key West vacation day before I had to take her back to North Carolina. We started off at the Key West Butterfly Conservancy. It was a place that my sister really wanted to visit and we were able to navigate through the tropical rainforest setting complete with exotic birds and thousands of beautiful butterflies.

Marta and Michele









In spite of the large crowds of tourists who were on hand to tour the facility,
we still managed to enjoy a nice visit and both my mother and sister really had an awesome time. Next stop was a beautiful day at the beach at Ft. Zachary Taylor state park. We got a picnic table in a nice shady area under the Australian Pines and relaxed with a wonderful ocean breeze slipping through the shady pines. It was a spectacular conclusion to a wonderful weekend.













https://www.amazon.com/Leaves-Unexpected-Life-Refugees-Journey/dp/1947708376/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Marta+Blades&qid=1582826472&sr=8-1
 

And the Oscar Goes to….

February 15, 2020

Michael, Mandy Patinkin and Marta



Kathy and Erin

Marta



And the Oscar Goes to….

Kathy always tells me that I can’t say no to anyone when they ask me something and I must admit there is some truth to that statement. It is my natural inclination to want to help people out and so I always want to assist in any way that I can. So when I was asked recently to join the Board of Directors of the Tropic Cinema, I once again agreed with a little trepidation but also a lot of excitement.



Andy and Jamie

Christa

Carla

I knew that the Tropic had been experiencing some troubles finding its footing recently, but thought I could possibly bring some new thoughts and insight to the organization which I truly love. It got off to a rough start as the director of the theater, who is a close friend resigned over some artistic differences with the board at my first official board meeting. That hurt me personally a little, but I resolved to stick it out and work to make this transitional period as smooth as possible and to be a part of what I hope will be an exciting new period for what is truly one of the cultural jewels of the Key West community.



Gwen



Randy and Elissa

To start that process off, Kathy and I attended our first official event at the Tropic since I joined the board, the annual Oscar Gala held at the theater to watch the Academy Award show. There was a good vibe and a great crowd on hand for the party and I already feel pretty good about the future of the Tropic. I know there are a bunch of dedicated people ready to do what they can to make sure that the future is bright. We can’t do it alone so I would urge all my friends who enjoy great cinema to support the Tropic, either by making a financial donation, or by coming out and seeing some of the best cinema ever at the theater.





Meg with young fans



We were back at the Tropic the next evening for the weekly Friends of the Library lecture series where our friend Meg Cabot was the featured speaker. A packed house was on hand to hear Meg's hysterical powerpoint presentation about her latest work. Even though I have seen the talk a few times, i never tire of hearing it as Meg is funny and interesting and just plain enjoyable to be around and listen to.



The biggest event of the week, at least for us personally is the trip this week bringing my mother Marta and my sister Michele to Key West. Months ago when my mother announced that her memoir was going to be released, both of my sisters and myself all agreed to host book release events in our respective homes. The first was to be held in December of last year in Winston-Salem, NC where my mother lives as do my sister Marika and her husband Brian.

Marta and Kathy

At that time Kathy and I began planning to host an event for Marta around the Valentine’s Day holiday as it happened to coincide with a visit to Key West by one of my mother’s favorite performers, Mandy Patinkin. I believe that seeing Mandy in concert certainly was the impetus for Marta to visit in the first place. Unfortunately, before even the first book event took place, my mother suffered some heart issues and while in the hospital recovering from those suffered a serious stroke that prevented her from attending the event in Winston-Salem and put in serious jeopardy any trips to Key West or anywhere else for that matter.


Marta on stage at TWFAC

Mandy



I honestly did not think she would ever be up to traveling again but used the planned trip to Key West as something of a carrot to dangle in front of her to keep her doing all the rehab and recovery that she had to undertake. Last week we got confirmation from her doctors that she had done all the work and was well enough to travel, so long as she was escorted by someone. So I flew up to North Carolina and picked her up and brought her to Key West.

Marta and Mandy



It was a pretty good trip and my sister Michele joined us in Atlanta from her home in Indianapolis and we all came down in time to attend the Mandy Patinkin concert at the Tennessee Williams Theater. Marta and Michele had front row seats, while Kathy and I sat in our standard seats a row behind, we always get season tickets for the theater. Afterwards my friends at TWFAC had graciously arranged that Marta and I could sneak backstage and meet Mandy, a kind gesture that I cannot thank them enough for arranging the opportunity which Marta loved.
 
Mandy with Stanley and Judy Zabar

Mandy could not have been kinder and spent a good deal of time chatting with her and posing for photos, it was a pretty magical way to start off Marta’s Key West adventure and seeing her that happy made all the trouble of a somewhat difficult journey worthwhile. I took mother back to TWFAC on Monday evening, this time to see the traveling Broadway production of Jersey Boys which was terrific. At the same time Kathy and Michele were across town at the Key West Theater attending a concert by iconic singer Judy Collins.

Judy Collins









https://www.tropiccinema.com/