June Stuff ‘n Love ‘n Eloise
I had a paint job. Not me, my home office/daughter’s onetime bedroom. Walls before: either very pale yellow or very, very off white. It’s been a while. Walls now: soothing grey.
My dental issues: a 5-session procedure. The root canal guy only hurt my wallet. Tooth man #2 hurt my wallet more. His office is a block from Bloomingdales. I bought a sofa for my soothing grey room.
My mental issues: the same.
I am invited to give a writing workshop/Finding Mr. Rightstein talk at a favorite place, The Strand Bookstore, August 23 at 7 pm. (Details when the Strand puts it on its website)
Ask the Rebbetzin—Alana, my erstwhile student and a terrific writer, is a mother, a wife of a rabbi, and my friend. I just submitted a question about a work matter to her ‘Ask the Rebbetzin’ column in The Forward. My students teach me tons.
My favorite pen pal’s recent signed drawing is on my fridge along with his other signed drawings, and with photos of him and his little sister. Great thing about working at home: I get to look at them. Bad thing about working at home: I open the fridge a lot.
Hunter Symposium-I spoke on the memoir panel with Sydney Offit, Daphne Merkin, Patricia Volk and Malachy McCourt. Loved all the panels and speakers. I met Writing Center Director, Lewis Frumkes, decades ago when he moderated an ASJA humor panel. I was an attendee. During the Q & A, I asked why his panel was all male. “We’re funny, too,” I said. ( I really said ‘too’ as in ‘also.' I was in my 20s.) The following year, I was a humor panelist. I've been on Lewis’s humor and other panels ever since. At Hunter last week, he asked if I noticed the number of women speaking. You betcha!
Yesterday at the New-York Historical Society Press Event for the Eloise exhibit, (June 30-October 9), Hilary Knight spoke.His original 1956 Eloise portrait vanished in 1960, a headline event, until 1962 when it was recovered. Knight stored it in his closet for 55 years. It is now in public view for the first time in decades.
The painting at the top (which my tech wiz cannot figure out how to place here) was done by Mr. Knight's mother, one of the first American women to study art in Japan. It was the inspiration for Eloise. As the irrepressible resident of the Plaza Hotel 's top floor says "Charge it please. Thank you very much."
