Author's posts
Clean Up Your Act 2-10-26
Ospreys and peregrine falcons…whose populations in North America crashed in the mid-20th Century…are now doing well in Iowa.
Soundtrack to the Struggle – Nat King Cole’s Quiet Activism
It’s April 10, 1956, and singer Nat King Cole is assaulted on stage at a whites-only show in Birmingham, Alabama. In all, six men from a white supremacist group are charged with attempted kidnapping and intent to commit murder. Cole is injured in the attack and ends the show. “I can’t understand it,” Cole said …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – Ellington and Nixon: An Unexpected Party
On the evening of April 29th, 1969, President Richard Nixon and Duke Ellington stood together in the Easter Room in the White House. Nixon, along with an all-star cast of jazz legends including Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Dizzy Gillespie, and Gerry Mulligan spent a night honoring Ellington for his 70th birthday. Honoring the Duke for …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – John Coltrane and Amiri Baraka
It’s July 17, 1967, and poet/activist Amiri Baraka whistles John Coltrane charts from his New Jersey jail cell. He’d been beaten and arrested for his part in Newark’s violent protests – the “rebellion,” as he called it. Music keeps his mind off the pain, and his ears distracted from the tanks rolling in the streets …
Talking Pictures 2-4-26
“Send Help” (2026 Horror/Comedy) and “Marty Supreme” (2025 Sport/Drama) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Monica Schmidt.
Soundtrack to the Struggle – The Trial of Betty Boop
It’s 1934, and performer Helen Kane sues cartoonist Max Fleischer and this studio. Kane asserts that Fleischer appropriated her physical characteristics, her “baby vamp” performance mannerisms, and squeaky “boop-boop” scat style for Fleischer’s character Betty Boop. Fleischer holds his ground. At the trial, before the New York Supreme Court, he testifies that his true inspiration …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – John Coltrane in Nagasaki
In July 1966, the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane embarked on a tour of Japan with his wife Alice Coltrane and the rest of his band. When they arrived at Tokyo airport Coltrane was shocked by the hundreds of fans who welcomed them. Coltrane and some other US jazz musicians had a massive following in both …
Soundtrack to the Struggle – Coletrane in Nagasaki
In July 1966, the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane embarked on a tour of Japan with his wife Alice Coltrane and the rest of his band. When they arrived at Tokyo airport Coltrane was shocked by the hundreds of fans who welcomed them. Coltrane and some other US jazz musicians had a massive following in both …