November 2009 « Vichy Water

May 2, 2015

SPOTLIGHT: My Conversation with Troubadour, Singer, Songwriter Arlan Feiles after his trip to Selma, Alabama for the 50th Anniversary Jubilee of March from Selma to Montgomery and a Tribute to Viola Liuzzo bY Calvin Schwartz May 3rd 2015

Filed under: November 2009 — Tags: Alabama, Arlan Feiles, Dr Martin Luther King, Dylan, Rosa Parks, Selma, Unitarian Universalist Church, Viola Liuzzo — earthood @ 2:11 pm

SPOTLIGHT: My Conversation with Troubadour, Singer, Songwriter Arlan Feiles after his trip to Selma, Alabama for the 50^th Anniversary Jubilee of March from Selma to Montgomery and a Tribute to Viola Liuzzo bY Calvin Schwartz May 3^rd 2015

with Arlan & Vejai at a Rutgers basketball game

Life can be like a synchronistic loose thick thread. Tethered to a pole, it blows in the wind and if you can plot its movement, there might be a message spelled out. Three years ago, who knew I’d become friends with Arlan Feiles. Two summers ago, before the winds of winter arrived, we shot hoops together in each of our backyards and managed to see Kobe and the Lakers play the Brooklyn Nets. Three years ago, Scott Fadynich, a mutual friend, perseverated that I had to hear Arlan Feiles sing. So I did finally at The Saint in Asbury Park. My reaction was instant and lasting; Arlan is an extraordinarily sensitive, introspective, hugely talented singer songwriter with an unusual (for today’s world) social conscience which emanates, permeates and saturates his soulful songs. I came out of the sixties where troubadours like Dylan, Phil Ochs, Pete Seeger, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Tom Paxton flourished. With Arlan, I felt back home again in the future.

50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal of March from Selma to Montgomery

Arlan asked if I wanted to go to Selma for the Jubilee. The timing wasn’t right but I should’ve been there. Perhaps the next best thing was to sit down with Arlan in his kitchen for two hours after he got back. He was invited by the family of Viola Liuzzo to sing the song he wrote seven years ago, ‘Viola’ at the service at a chapel near her memorial on Route 80 in Selma. It’s best if you check this link out on Viola Liuzzo’s life: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Liuzzo ) Yes, Viola Liuzzo was a housewife in Detroit in 1965, a mother of five and a civil rights activist who went down to Selma to help. She was murdered by the Klan (an FBI informant was in the car that pulled her over) There is still much to the story of courageous Viola that has yet been told. Arlan heard about Viola, the only white woman murdered in the civil rights movement. He was so moved by her life and death, that he wrote the song ‘Viola’ and became part of the Liuzzo family. More on that later. Also, here is Arlan singing ‘Viola’ on You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPpihyVY0JE

in Selma with Edmund Pettus Bridge in background

His kitchen was comfortable; the family dog rested on my left shoe under the table. This interview is streams of consciousness and in the exact order of revelation. I asked about what I read about Viola and the FBI. “Viola got it from both directions. Hoover hated Dr. King and Jimmy Hoffa even more.” Viola’s husband was an executive with the Teamsters in Detroit. Arlan jumped to the flight home. “I flew home with Lucy Baines Johnson and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. We talked about Viola. I gave them both CDs and told them why I was there.”

I mentioned to Arlan about the synchronicity of the night before when I was at a new gig as co-host of Danny Coleman’s Rock on Radio Show. Walking around the 40 Foot Hole Studio, which was really part of the living quarters of the Murray Grove Retreat Center and Universalist Unitarian Church, I saw a poster of a hundred Church members who made a difference including pictures of Albert Schweitzer, Charles Darwin and Dickens, Clara Barton and Pete Seeger. There was Viola’s picture; I was seeing Arlan in the morning. “She was very ahead of her time; One of the first white women to join the NAACP.”

on the road to Selma

“I want to let people know that it’s important Viola’s story be told. Viola is not given her equal due in the civil rights community; A fair plain statement. However the movie, ‘Selma’ has brought a lot of new people to her story. There was a constant flow of people to her marker. It’s half way between Selma and Montgomery exactly where she was driven off the road and murdered. There’s a small church at the roadside where I played the piano. I also stopped at both the Hank Williams Museum across the street from the Rosa Parks Museum.”

I asked Arlan about the current state of information about Viola’s murder. “It’s frustrating that her story isn’t fully realized. The more people that become aware of Viola and what she stood for and what she died for; there will be more hunger to hear the rest of that story.”

Viola Liuzzo Memorial

They flew into Atlanta on the Friday night and drove to Montgomery where they lodged. “A lot of Italians were there. They were interested in the Liuzzo’s. A few young Italian girls were making a documentary about Viola and another one was from the Italian press.” “I wrote the song ’50 miles’ because of the March from Selma to Montgomery.”

“What about Sunday in Selma?” “So many people came into Selma, they were held at the bridge. (Edmund Pettus Bridge) The politicians left on Saturday which was kind of bogus. Sunday was for the real people. A lot of dignitaries, organizers, I think Martin Luther King’s daughter, after the service, were supposed to go over the bridge. There were so many people, they couldn’t agitate them, and so they let some people cross. Well, they soon found out, once you crossed the bridge out of Selma, you could not come back in because the National Guard closed Selma because of the huge numbers of people. Once you cross, you can’t come back. Next thing you know everyone stops on bridge. Many groups did cross and buses picked them up.”

Highway 80 near Viola Liuzzo Memorial

Viola’s mention in Unitarian Universalist poster

I asked if Arlan and the Liuzzo family crossed. “No we didn’t. People were trying to turn around. Police couldn’t insure the safety of the dignitaries, so they cancelled them; wouldn’t let them cross. Many did get over. I saw one group with a banner go maybe 15 feet in 45 minutes. There were some protestors who said when you get to the other side of the bridge; there will no longer be systemic racism. We know racism is still here. But to celebrate the advancement has merit.”

On Saturday night they screened the documentary ‘Home of the Brave’ about Viola Liuzzo. Paola di Florio, the director did the screening. Arlan performed after the Q & A. “Viola is buried in Detroit. The Teamsters took care of getting her back to Detroit.” “When did you write the song ’50 Miles’?” “I was talking to Mary Liuzzo when she invited me to come down. She said you should write a song for the 50^th Anniversary. A few weeks ago I recorded it before I left. It took a few hours to write for the most part.”

Arlan with Viola’s daughters

We talked next about the memorial for Viola. “The memorial has been vandalized many times.” I reminded Arlan about the man (Edmund Pettus) for whom the bridge is named. We both laughed sardonically. Mr. Pettus was a U.S. Senator from Alabama and Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. “The Mayor of Selma did appoint a KKK Dragon to be a member of his council. During the March, the KKK went around house to house with flyers to get people to join and they bought a billboard to promote seeing the Civil War sights.” The billboard is dedicated to KKK founder Nathan Bedford Forrest and contains the quote, “Keep the skeer on ’em.” It features a Confederate flag. I thought to myself about why I’ve never been down south and decided to leave it that way beginning right after I saw ‘Easy Rider’ in 1969. Am I just a damn Yankee?

singing at Viola Liuzzo Memorial on Route 80

There was a lull in the conversation after our Klan talk. We both sensed introspection. Then Arlan continued. “My effort is to get more people to hear her name; to have role models like that for white people to know they can be involved. She died for injustice to people. Viola really believed we are our brother’s keepers. She didn’t see blacks being oppressed; she saw people. She answered that call. If all of us had that ideal ingrained, the world would be a better place. It seems like an easy solution.”

Arlan was back to Saturday. “We had breakfast with Sally and Penny (Viola’s daughters). We met at the Cracker Barrel. I guess I was really down south; had to have biscuits and gravy with grits. I’m going to my cardiologist tomorrow. Sally gets a text from Mary. “We walked out of the Mayor’s dinner last night.” It’s public knowledge. They (the family) were snubbed. There are a lot of times like that. Once in Shreveport; they were there to get an award for Viola. The following morning they go to check out of the hotel. Everyone is gone and left them (the family) with the bill. They were crying. “

at Memorial for Viola

More from the breakfast; “Learned FBI approached Penny and Sally. It’s not a secret. They wanted to talk to them. They felt exploited. There was an FBI informant in car which pulled Viola over and killed her. The family sued the Federal Government for years and years but they lost. FBI informant never went to jail.” Arlan took a deep pensive breath. I waited. “The story is not finished. They are living it. Still a work in progress; they can’t make a movie yet. Viola’s story is a cold case as far as family and advocates concerned.”

“After breakfast, Dan (who documented Arlan’s trip) and I went on an exploratory journey to Montgomery; museums, downtown, Rosa Park Museum, Hank Williams Library. Downtown is almost a ghost-town although it was a weekend. A KIA plant is there with a large Asian population so Sushi is available.”

“Later three buses of Teamsters pulled up; 150 or so. They came out to honor Viola and family and escorted them from the chapel to the marker. Teamsters chanted all the way which the girls participated in. They’re proud to be a Teamster family. Most of the Teamsters were black. A young black women’s group did a reading honoring Viola at the Wright Chapel where I played the piano and sang. 150 people were at the memorial but no politicians. I sent Congressman (NJ) Frank Pallone a note. I’m a constituent in his district. He was in Selma. His presence would’ve been appreciated. No response of course.”

I wondered about President Obama and his knowledge of Viola. “The President has mentioned Viola’s name several times. The whole weekend worked out beautifully for politicians and rock stars on the big stage. The Liuzzo’s keep getting knocked down, half respect, left with the check, yet they pick themselves up and continue to do Viola’s work.”

in Selma

in Contemplation

Arlan’s oldest pre-school daughter, Tessa, walked into the kitchen. I marveled at her animated wondrous face and expressiveness. She was hungry. Her timing was perfect too. We were in a heavy modality and needed relief. Tessa took my pen and created precious art on my yellow legal pad. Arlan plunged back into consciousness. “When Viola’s body came back to Detroit, people threw bricks and shot guns into their house. They were called racial epithets. The family has endured a lifetime of abuse and spent years in courts trying to clear their mothers name. It all started with Hoover (FBI) and it’s documented. Even her autopsy was altered to include needle marks in her arm. They said on the news she was a drug addict.” I asked Arlan if it was to discredit her. “Yes. And even an article blamed her for leaving her family. Still fighting to get the recognition she deserves.”

Logically, I next asked Arlan how he got involved with the Liuzzo family. “Three years ago, during Light of Day, I performed ‘Viola’ at The Watermark. A woman from the Asbury Park Press was interested in the story and wrote about my performing the song and included lyrics and talked about Viola Liuzzo, Civil Rights Martyr. The article came out on Martin Luther King Day. Sally Liuzzo had her Google alerts set for Viola Liuzzo in national press. Google alert said Arlan Feiles performs song, ‘Viola.’ “Who is this guy? I have to hear this song.” She hunts me down and is so overwhelmed, she wrote me a beautiful long letter via Facebook, thanking me. It was followed by two more letters by Mary and Penny with an invitation to join them in Shreveport for Viola Liuzzo Day.”

Tessa was still hungry. I knew it was time. It had been two fascinating intense hours. And I got to know someone just a little bit better. I visualized that string blowing in the wind. And today is May 1^st. There beyond my computer screen is a May Pole. Children are laughing, playing and dancing. The blowing string is spelling out the words, “A caring special soul.”Arlan Feiles.

Please check out: http://www.arlanfeilesmusic.com

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April 12, 2015

It’s heavy. It’s not my brother or a hard rain but the old Upstage Club in Asbury Park, NJ, USA A Memorial? April 12, 2015 By Calvin Schwartz

Filed under: November 2009 — Tags: Asbury Angels, Asbury Park, Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Potter Devening, Joe Petillo, Margaret and Tom Potter, NJ Discover TV, Tara-Jean McDonald Vitale, Upstage Club, Vini Lopez — earthood @ 4:55 pm

It’s heavy. It’s not my brother or a hard rain but the old Upstage Club in Asbury Park, NJ, USA A Memorial? April 12, 2015 By Calvin Schwartz

the facade of the old Upstage at midnight. a meditative place

the ascension of psychedlic stairs

This op-ed blog or whatever it is, structurally, is best designed to be that stream of almost absurd consciousness that I’ve grown accustomed to these past few literary years. Suddenly, last summer, I heard The Everly Brothers singing ‘Bye Bye Love’ in a pinball amusement place on Ocean Avenue in Belmar, New Jersey. It’s 1957 and my parents rented a bungalow for August. If I behaved all week, watched my three year old sister Hildy, walked her in a stroller around the block every weekday morning, then when my father came down by Jersey Central rail train on the weekend, the family would go to Asbury Park’s boardwalk on Saturday night. My first experienced love of the city.

local percussionists on the boardwalk. part of the musical magic of Asbury Park

with the President on the boardwalk by Convention Hall in a steady rain

I’ll get to the Upstage. What I’m doing now is creating the background to suggest I am eminently qualified to deliver all kinds of coinage (two cents) about the city of Asbury Park and this special place on Cookman Avenue that launched a thousand musical ships, future careers and dreams. Well maybe not a thousand. Let’s cut to four years ago. Suddenly, during the summer of 2011, I became a journalist covering all aspects of Monmouth County life. The epicenter of that life for me was Asbury Park. I’ve covered the President visiting the boardwalk, Zombie Walk, Jersey Shore Dream Center (food pantry & kitchen), NJ Hall of Fame Induction, Light of Day, Hurricane Sandy, Asbury Lanes and Dr. Sketchy, all the historic music venues, Asbury Park Musical Heritage Foundation, Asbury Park Comedy Festival, Bamboozle, Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, Jersey Shore Arts Center (the old Neptune High Building, hmmm?) and have spent countless days and nights, seemingly full-time becoming a denizen of the boardwalk.

As much as four or five times a week, I absorbed music all over the city; even a collection of indigenous drummers, percussionists and hula-hoop purveyors on the boardwalk, before police would chase them away, all reveling naturally in self-expression before a setting summer sun. Yes, the ingredients of a real music city.

my posing in 2012 .at the Upstage. the pose was suggested to me by a special photographer.

Bruce Springsteen posing at the Upstage in 2011

A few years ago, I got off a tour bus in Asbury Park, part of the Springsteen Symposium at Monmouth University, and heard local historians/journalists(Jean Mikle and Stan Goldstein) talk about Bruce, Convention Hall and the Stone Pony. Later, we stood in front of a building signed ‘Extreme,’ (back in 2001, the first floor was a shoe store) the top two floors, windows extant but covered over with concrete, like deliberately sealing a part of its past; a sarcophagus perhaps. They explained the hidden floors were the old ‘Upstage Club,’ founded by visionaries Margaret and Tom Potter, where Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Little Steven Van Zandt, Vini Lopez, Garry Tallent and Danny Federici were all regulars from 1968 to 1971 until it closed permanently. The door was padlocked and the last four decade history was explained to the group. Actually there is no history just endless abandonment and rumors that it might be torn down for condos. Back then, it was an almost all night (no alcohol) club where creative young musicians performed and explored until early morning hours. It was all for music’s sake; a brilliant concept and launching pad of expression and destiny. How synchronistic; the granddaughter of Margaret and Tom Potter, Carrie Potter Devening, published this wonderful book, ‘For Music’s Sake’ giving the history of the Upstage Club. I was haunted standing there, looking up, imagining what it must’ve been like all those years ago with incredible musical talent that has gone on to the global stage. This was my first ‘Upstage’ exposure and the early particulates of the molecular energy that birthed my love affair with the building, its history, founders and supporters.

I was smitten with sentimentality and history. On several occasions, over the years, around midnight,(like the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere) I went to Asbury Park on a meditative sojourn, stood outside the Upstage Club, looked up to a snow flurry or a starry summer sky and dreamed what was and what could be. I took pictures of the silence of the building and posted on social media. That’s when Carrie Potter Devening saw my posts, pictures and we became friends.

the first class of Asbury Angels

Tara-Jean McDonald Vitale interviewing Tony Pallagrosi for NJ Discover TV at Angels Induction.

My dream collection process was accelerated; why couldn’t Asbury Park take its place as an international music destination so that one day it would be impossible to find a parking space on Cookman Avenue in the dead of winter; the city would be frenetic and alive with the sounds of music and the Upstage Club would again become that creative purist musical mecca. If you want to make it in New York, you have to make it at the Jersey shore first. If the club was crowded, I’d even sit on the floor, stare at vintage art on the walls and dreamily listen to music until 4 am, with just a cup of espresso. The music closed my eyes to dreams. I remember Robert Kennedy’s quote, “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” The streams of consciousness remind me of a scene from Henry Fonda in ‘Mister Roberts.’ What’s this I hear, that so many in the Asbury Park concentric circles of commonality, are letting the concept of Margaret and Tom Potter, musical creativity and even the brick and mortar of the Upstage Club disappear.

at Angels Induction with Kevin John Allen, Carl Tinker West,Vini Lopez, Carrie Potter Devening

with singer musician Joe Petillo who played at the Upstage.

More streams. There’s a skeleton of a building, concrete pillars and a make-shift fence surrounding the massive property; a project started and quickly abandoned years ago. It’s on Ocean Avenue, a few blocks from Convention Hall. Of course, it’s an eye-sore, but for me it dramatizes a part of the Asbury Park experience. On several occasions, I conducted tours of Asbury Park and explained to foreign visitors, this was actually a commissioned sculpture depicting the future rising of Asbury Park. I can’t remember if I ever finally told them the truth. It doesn’t matter. The only truth is there are so many circles (‘interest’ groups) that want Asbury Park to finally arrive, but with so many different agendas on pastel brick roads.

It’s really not my place here to talk about the haunting history and emotional evocation of this magical place, The Upstage Club; so much has been said, written, talked about on radio or in restaurants up and down our Jersey shore. It’s the lighting of a fire, somewhere (someone) and installation of commitment to keep the concept within the city alive (or perhaps a block away?). Carrie Potter Devening has been tirelessly working for the past ten years to keep it alive; perhaps make it a museum and night club (without alcohol) again. There are efforts to raise money to buy the building, petitions to all those circles rolling around.

with singer Sharon Lasher at the last walk through

with Tara_Jean McDonald Vitale on assignment with NJ Discover TV at Upstage

In 2012, on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, was the Asbury Angels first induction ceremony. The Angels are people who’ve passed, but contributed much to the rich musical history of the city going back way before Margaret and Tom Potter, who were also inducted that September day. Music came to Asbury Park basically from the day it was born in 1871. From John Phillip Sousa and the city’s own Arthur Pryor, one of the greatest trombone players, to the clubs along Springwood Avenue on the city’s Westside where the likes of Billie Holiday (who would’ve turned 100 as I’m writing this) Count Basie, Lionel Hampton and many other jazz and blues greats performed, to the Upstage, and right up to today, music is Asbury Park.

a view of the silence of the Upstage

with Vini Lopez on stage by the famous holes.

I met Carrie at the Angels Induction Ceremony, after her book, ‘For Music’s Sake’ signing in Convention Hall Arcade and later she facilitated my first visit to the Upstage Club. The building owner had graciously opened (for a few) the top two floors, left absolutely intact since 1971, with the walls still replete with unique psychedelic art. In the men’s room, I saw scrawled on the wall, ‘Steel Mill 1971.’(Springsteen’s early band). There was a strange silence walking around; one of those hard to explain moments. I stopped in front a brightly painted psychedelic wall and posed for a picture by a photographer who took the same picture of Bruce Springsteen just a year earlier, when he stopped by for ostensibly the last time. Sentimentality crosses barriers of time, space and people.

with Carrie Potter Devening on the third floor

Steel Mill 1971 scrawled on the mens bathroom wall.

Walking around in the sounds of silence of the Upstage, I asked questions of a few who were there when it mattered. Tom Potter wanted a place with no peer pressure, where you can refine your skills and play music if you were too young to play at bars; the beauty of a non-alcoholic stage and the fact the Upstage was never a business just a club. I wonder who wrote the book of love and if all the ‘circles’ realize this. Jam sessions would seemingly never finish. Vinnie Roslin once started a song and it lasted 140 minutes. Things happened fast at the young club. Sometimes before a band could come up with a name, the band broke up. But those days are long gone. Things are different now; sound, technology, smart phones, fracking and internet.

welcome to the Upstage

Carrie Potter Devening book “For Music’s Sake” all about the Upstage

My impulse as a sentimental journalist (oxymoron?) is to find a way to save this part of Americana and musical history. ‘You Can’t Go Home Again,” by Thomas Wolfe rings in my ear like a troublesome tinnitus. Perhaps you really CAN get home despite his admonition; so I’d like to believe. That’s why I’m doing this writing. Then slowly I turned around, came full circle and an epiphany (it was that strong) slapped sense and sensibility which means inevitability and probability. I heard what one of the E-Street Band members said that The Upstage is only brick and mortar and the memories last forever; some truth and maybe not an evasion. But what’s really important is the future of Asbury Park, NJ, USA. The concept of the Upstage Club must never fade away like an old general. The spirit must endure so today’s young musicians have something to propel Asbury Park into the future and a place where they are nurtured. And the future is slowly getting there. I have that dream of seeing Asbury Park as a global musical destination. Another ingredient is a first recording studio which is now here. So to my ‘now’ epiphany, if its only brick and mortar, that’s alright ‘Mah’, we just have to keep the concept alive. The Upstage could find a different format if or when all the ‘circles’ decide to let the old tired walls come down.

the LAST jam session. and they all have wondrous smiles.

the LAST picture in Black and White reminiscent of the black and white movie ‘The Last Picture Show’

Sometimes I ask myself, whom I’m going to call now. Ghostbusters or all those ‘circles’ I know of? A few weeks ago, I received an invite to presumably the last walk through of the Upstage. Then the best; I went back to the future when Vini Lopez, Paul Whistler, Joe Petillo, Rich Gulya, Jon Sebastian Brice and Sharon Lasher took the stage with all the holes behind them, paint was peeling from ceiling and walls and they jammed for a last time like there is a tomorrow. A box of plaster pieces for souvenirs rested to stage right; we stuffed our pockets with history; a Berlin wall? I closed my eyes for a few seconds while the band played on. I dreamed again. Being there fueled my writing this piece. I’ve now said my peace. One final thought as the clock on my computer approaches 4:44 AM Sunday morning. There’s a wonderful historic building a block from Asbury Park that used to be the old Neptune High School a long time ago. Now it’s the Jersey Shore Arts Center. I wrote a feature article about them for NJ The Shore Thing last September. Yet another Calvin epiphany hit me a year ago; a new Upstage Club? And I wonder who really wrote the book of love.

Post script: Watch for acclaimed director Tom Jones’ film about The Upstage Club to be released next year.

Carrie Potter Devening book link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/For-Musics-Sake-Asbury-Parks-Upstage-Club-and-Green-Mermaid-Cafe/127404970667418?pnref=story

GoFund Me to raise money to buy the building: http://www.gofundme.com/6d1l6k

Sign the Petition at change.org to save The Upstage Club: http://chn.ge/1aGM1Zs

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March 16, 2015

Hold On To A Moment: A Journey to Jersey Centenarians: A Blog Series: Meet William Theodore Zimmerman; World War II Veteran March 16, 2015 Calvin Schwartz

Filed under: November 2009 — Tags: centenarians, Cherbourg, Hoboken, USS Arkansas, William Theodore Zimmerman, WWII — earthood @ 9:29 pm

Hold On To A Moment: A Journey to Jersey Centenarians: A Blog Series: Meet William Theodore Zimmerman; World War II Veteran March 16, 2015 Calvin Schwartz

with William Theodore Zimmerman after interview

For years, I’ve been watching Willard Scott’s segment on ‘The Today Show’ where the face of a centenarian (100 years or older) appears on a jar of jelly for a brief moment while he recites a sentence or two about their lives; perhaps mentioning a life style or diet which helped longevity. For decades, I’ve observed that life is for the living. As soon as you can’t shoot hoops, or drive at night, or put eye drops in, or remember President Kennedy, it may be time for assisted living or a nursing home or an obscure room in a finished basement; out of sight, mainstream and utilization. Invisibility is a factor. It’s hard to notice seniors on the beach, in a mall or at a football game; but they’re there. How often are they engaged? These are heavy thoughts. I hope to capture them all; they’ve been floating around my sensibilities since 1965 when I was a student at Rutgers College of Pharmacy. Sitting in the back of a lecture hall, doodling in a notebook, I decided not to age traditionally; a long story and my upcoming second novel.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about all those relatives who’ve passed and how it seems I didn’t hold them longer and embrace time. Fists are clenched in a futile gesture of wishing for a few more moments; if only. A few months back, I came to the stark realization that I am the family patriarch now. How did that happen?

Another birthday party cake

A long winding road has taken me from pharmacy and eyewear careers to writing and journalism and rock music with a few green rooms for socialization. It’s like I want to yell, “Hey Mah, look no hands and I fit in perfectly and I’m the oldest one.” A few years ago, I was invited to journalistically cover the 101^st birthday party for Emily Cook. We became friends and I eventually interviewed her on camera for national media; she invited me back to her room on camera. (Video link available) That was a special moment for me; she was vital, funny, worldly, out-spoken and replete with knowledge and experience wanting to share. I went to her next birthday party and visited during the year as a friend. Her Herbert Hoover and Depression stories fascinated. The lesson was how precious, energetic and insightful she was and that I could learn from her; Use it or lose it deal.

a scene from ‘On the Waterfront’ in Hoboken

All of the aforementioned are the yellow brick road components to my journalistic journey to meet and absorb our precious centenarians in an on-going series and eventually a novel (book). And now, meet William Theodore Zimmerman.

As a Jersey journalist, I was thrilled to be in the shadow of Rutgers stadium, an area rich in colonial history, interviewing a centenarian in a house that was built in 1830; all key energetic ambiance factors for me. Then Warren Zimmerman, from the State Theater in New Brunswick, escorted his father William Theodore Zimmerman, the 100 year old birthday boy into the living room. William was perfectly appointed wearing a herring bone sport coat; his big family party was an hour later. There was no way William was 100; maybe 80. Once we started talking, I was convinced he was a few decades younger. His voice resonated with a certain excitement, authority and youth.

“How does it feel to be 100?” “No different.” He chuckled. I asked what he did for a living. He was quick to answer, smiling coyly. “I am nothing. All I am is a Jack of All Trades and a Master of None. I did everything you can imagine.”

“Years ago, you only worked as long as they needed you. I worked in the shipyards of Hoboken. You went down there and got picked out of a crowd to do a job. Maybe you got three days of work; maybe one. If you were a good worker, they picked you more often.” All of a sudden I had a flashback of Marlon Brando and the movie, ‘On the Waterfront,’ which took place right where William worked.

“You grew up in the Depression?” What I liked about interviewing William, was his ever-present smile and rapid fire responses. He is so sharp; a gift. “There’s a lot of difference between a Depression years ago and today. The whole country was in a depression and everybody was poor with no work. It was a hard time to get food. In the city where we lived (North Bergen) if you couldn’t buy food, you didn’t eat. When we finally moved to Piscataway, my mother had three or four acres so we grew our own food.”

the Depression President Hoover

I always get a kick out of asking about President Herbert Hoover akin to my son asking me about President Kennedy. “I was a kid. How much did I know about politics? I thought he was good. But we had to move a lot when we ran out of money and couldn’t pay rent. We searched around and hired a horse and wagon to move our stuff. There was no car.” The horse reference was like a gentle reality slap to my face to snap out of it. William really went back 100 years.

There was a chronological order to my planned interview. Next was World War II although Warren mentioned a few days earlier that his father never talked about the war. But then William started to talk with a special vigor. “I was in the Navy. This guy tricked me. I was a welder and worked for GM then. GM got a big contract to teach employees different things. They taught me chrome-moly welding; then the war. I enlisted in the Navy. I said to the guy that I was taught welding. I have a certificate which I didn’t get yet. He said don’t worry about it. They were going to give me rate of third class petty officer. He tricked me right into it.” Then I had another movie flashback thinking of Goldie Hawn, in ‘Private Benjamin’ when she was tricked into thinking the Army accommodations were like Club Med.

William was in the Navy for 3 ½ years. He worked up to 2^nd class ship fitter. I asked if he saw any action. He laughed loudly. “Quite a bit. I was on the battleship Arkansas. When I first got on, they told us convoy duty taking cargo and people to Europe.” Once again I had a flashback. Coincidentally, a month earlier, I watched the ‘Victory at Sea’ series from the 1950’s featuring the music of Richard Rodgers. An hour show was devoted to convoys and their ever-present danger from German subs.

A heavy German coast artillery shell falls between USS Texas and USS Arkansas while the two battleships engage the German battery in Battle of Cherbourg just as William described.

“Then they talked about the coming invasion.” William’s peaking enthusiasm at this juncture made me think I was talking to a 40 year old. “They put us into the New York Navy Yard and rebuilt our ship which was built in 1914. The biggest guns we had was 12” and we didn’t have the 16” like newer ships. Now we became a fighting ship. Then the invasion; our target was Juno beach. Since we were an older ship, they told us because our big turrets shot only so far, that we had to beach our ship and then fire. The Germans were fortified. We figured the end of us. We got there at 3 AM and opened fire at day break. Then when we opened fire, we did so well; we got orders not to beach it. After the invasion, Cherbourg was a powerful German fortress and we got orders with the (USS) Texas and other ships to go in and draw their fire.” Being a good reporter, I went to Google and checked out his story. William was right on. I even found a picture of the Arkansas and Texas being fired upon. He is so sharp.

After a while they shipped William and the Arkansas to the Pacific. “We went to Guam and Iwo Jima where they put the flag.” I knew it’s one of the most famous military pictures. “That was our target 2 ½ miles off the coast. We saw the flag. It was beautiful. After Iwo Jima we went to Okinawa but I’m not sure if it’s the right order. Then we were in a typhoon. Then we were supposed to go to Japan but they dropped the bomb.” William reinforced my memory of President Truman deciding to drop the bomb rather than risk all those American and Japanese lives during a prolonged land invasion.

USS Arkansas circa 1944

When William came home, a lot of people wanted him to talk about the war but he wanted to forget. “So many people were killed but it had to be.” He also realized he was on the luckiest ship. He told me about D-Day and the German planes flying so close overhead, he could see their large swastika. He was up on deck manning a 3” anti-aircraft gun. The next day they heard that a German plane had a bomb on it that got stuck and crashed and exploded. “It could’ve sunk us.”

It was time to change subjects. “What do you like best about New Jersey?” “Everything; I love New Jersey.” The biggest change for William was population growth. Being a movie buff, I had to tap into his history. He laughed when I mentioned movies. “I have to laugh. Charley Chaplin used to tickle me. I got a kick out of him and Harold Lloyd, the guy with glasses. Jerry Lewis was very talented.” William likes all kinds of music and the big bands like Glenn Miller and Dorsey. He plays a little piano, played football in Weehawken, basketball and tennis as well but doesn’t like hockey because “all they do is fight.”

He reiterated all the jobs he had working for GM, Ford, Rutgers Prep, floorcovering, home improvements. He helped build his mother, sisters and his own house. “I don’t know how I had all this energy or lived this long. I don’t know how good vitamins are. What I did all my life was listen to my parents.”

more birthday celebrations

more family pixs

We were winding down our time together. The front doorbell rang as party guests started to arrive. He volunteered this next segment. “Bill, what can I do to live as long as you? Women especially asked that.” He chuckled when he said that. What a sense of humor. “I had two good parents, two good wives. I did everything in moderation; everything but smoke. My mother was a practical nurse who hated smoking. My generation; we were poor but happy. My parents taught us religion. We didn’t always have to go to church; you have it in your home. Just look at my two boys. There is a supreme being; too many miracles in this world.”

Miracles; a good word to finish my time with William; It fit perfectly. I’ve got to come up with reasons to spend more time with him. We hugged and I thanked him. Then I told him the one word in my mind from the beginning of our hour; enchanting. And he is perfectly so.

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February 21, 2015

Me and Meryl Streep: Particulates of My Acting Career or Could I Have Been a Contender? A Blog in Honor of the Upcoming Academy Awards. Calvin Schwartz February 21, 2015

Filed under: November 2009 — Tags: Chris Eilenstine, Destiny's Bridge, Edison Valley Playhouse, Frankenstein, Jack Ballo, One True Thing, The Soulless, Vichy Water — earthood @ 12:36 pm

what i looked like when i crashed that private Prince concert at Club USA

When I was young, impressionable and growing tall quickly as if I were a weed growing in soil enriched with radon, I liked going to the movies (25 cents) especially to see John Wayne. We were the same height when I stopped ascension. Wayne’s father was a pharmacist and so was I for a while; enough commonality for me to list him as one of my favorite actors. And I suppose deep inside my subconscious were fantasy elements of becoming an actor so that one day I might walk on a red-carpet with people yelling my name in adulation. Perhaps many of us imagine acting at one point. However, the smell of greasepaint and roar of a crowd was never strong enough to send me down the acting career path but there were brief episodes of tip-toeing which is what this blog is all about. Maybe it means I never had the right stuff and intestinal fortitude to knock on Lee Strasberg’s acting school door.

at a dinner at NY Hilton with James Earl Jones & Dr. Ruth who orchestrated pix back in the 90’s

me and Dr Ruth at a Rutgers lecture. She's standing up

me and Dr Ruth at a Rutgers lecture a few months ago. She’s standing up

By 1981, I had been a pharmacist for 12 years and grew weary. Looking back on the whole career choice deal, it really was my mother who pushed me into the profession of dispensing medicine because her brother and two nephews were druggists. I was always confused by the word’ druggist’ and chuckle when I realize no one really uses it anymore. There was always a restlessness in my soul; hard to define, explain or understand. On the morning of February 8^th, 1981, I heard a voice that told me to quit Pharmacy and move on. When that voice disappeared, another real voice on an easy listening radio channel I listened to on Sunday mornings told of try-outs being held at the Edison Valley Playhouse for the play ‘Frankenstein’ which had opened and closed in one day on Broadway. This was divine intervention at its most theatrical. Here I am quitting my profession and being apprised at the same moment of an acting gig of playing Frankenstein monster. I was physically perfect for the part at 6’5” tall.

with Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller. I wished them a Happy Festivus

a group shot at NY Hilton

I drove to the Edison Valley Playhouse and filled out a resume which highlighted my only relevant acting ‘credit’ as pretending I was ‘Frankenstein’ and scaring my young sister Hildy. Then they handed me a script and I went on stage. Having never seen a script before, I even read the material in the parentheses. I never realized the script called for the ‘monster’ to have a huge speaking part as the intent was to discover how the creature felt being put together with other human body parts. As they say, I’m still waiting for a call-back.

Next I got a call from a friend asking if I was still interested in acting. By that time, I drifted into optical sales management. The friend gave me casting information for ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ starring Robert De Niro and told me they are looking for ‘big’ people. I’m tall(big) so I hastily put together, from old family Kodaks, a bit of a portfolio and sent it in to the casting director. Yes, I’m still waiting for a call-back. The film was released in 1984, the same year as George Orwell’s title novel.

with actress Aida Turturro from ‘The Soprano’s’

with Henry Winkler.

As synchronicity and Kismet would have it with my non-acting career, my Uncle Dave, a successful movie and screenplay writer living in Beverly Hills, who wrote ‘Robin and the Seven Hoods’ for Frank Sinatra, came to visit my parents in New Jersey. Of course I asked Uncle Dave how to break into acting and told him of my travails and feeble attempts. His heartfelt advice was for me to wait on tables in New York for ten years and enroll in the Lee Strasberg School of Acting and then call him. My reply sounded like Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol’ when I told him that “I am too old to change.” We shook hands, said goodbye and I was never to see him again.

The whole notion of celebrity and Hollywood was never far away from consciousness. One midnight after dinner and drinks with optical industry professionals in New York City, I was strolling down Broadway near Times Square and looked down the cross street at ‘Club USA’ and an extremely long line of people, many dressed for an early Halloween, waiting to get into the club, one of the hottest city night spots. I asked what was going on so late and why the lines? A flamboyant person responded, “Prince is coming at 2 AM to do a private concert but only celebrities are getting in.” I knew what to do. My hotel was near-by. I combed my long hair, put on a black leather coat and shades and went back to Club USA to the police and security check point. (See picture top left) They took one look at me, dispensed with checking the guest list, asked, “How you doing man? Go right in.” It was Howard Stern they supposedly let in not me. I hung-out on the arena-like second floor from which club-goers could gaze down and watch the happenings below. I smiled the whole time, still wearing my shades for protection and absorbed Prince and sociology, exiting via the fire escape after 4 AM. My hair is much shorter today but longer than some hippies I met during a recent trip to Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco.

with actress Lesley Ann Warren

My scene in the movie ‘The Soulless’ with actor Michael Chartier

In September, 1989, I finished an optical company dinner at Gallagher’s on 52^nd Street in New York City. My group congregated on the street which was lined with news vans and limos. Curiosity propelled me down the street to investigate. It was the opening night for the revival play ‘Orpheus Descending’ starring Vanessa Redgrave at the Neil Simon Theater. I camped out by the stage door for an hour to watch celebrity guests leave then disappear into the city night in their limos.

After eleven I arrived back at my hotel, The Marriot Marquis in Times Square, got into an atrium elevator, pressed the eighth floor for the revolving bar and then looked down to see a ticket on the floor. My hands shook in disbelief. “Admit One Opening Night Cast Party” for ‘Orpheus Descending’ in the Grand Ballroom. I knew what to do. Still dressed in a suit from dinner, I gleefully rode the escalator to the ninth floor standing just behind Christopher Reeve. Before the security check-in, actress Amanda Plummer asked me for a cigarette. I preached; she walked away. My name was not on the guest list but I had a ticket and said to security, “My Uncle Lou Marx, the famous producer sent me the ticket. You do know Lou Marx?” They knew him and sent me inside to the ballroom. There never was a Uncle Lou Marx; an imaginary character.

I’m in the Christmas scene in this movie. a non-credit performance.

‘The Soulless’ cast & crew

Deciding not to sit and eat their food, I hung around a small bar refreshing my mineral water. Then John Bedford Lloyd, who played Tom Hanks’ brother in ‘Philadelphia’ called me over to his table, introduced me to his wife Anne Twomey who was in the play and said, “I know you but can’t place you.” We went back and forth. I exhorted, “You don’t know me and never met me. Trust me. That’s the only sure thing you’ll hear tonight.” I congratulated his wife on the play and knew it was time to exit.

In November, 1997 my sister Hildy called to tell me that a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger and William Hurt was being filmed in our old hometown of Maplewood, New Jersey and do I want to watch them film a scene in the town center. Maplewood was right out of a Currier and Ives painting right down to the train station.(also the cover of my 1^st novel, ‘Vichy Water’) The film, ‘One True Thing’ is based on Anna Quindlen’s novel and tells the story of Kate Gulden (Meryl Streep) who has cancer and daughter Ellen and husband George must confront their changing lives. Streep was nominated for a Best Actress Award.

When we arrived at 7PM, most of the town business district was barricaded and fake facades covered stores as the town in the movie was upstate New York in the late 80’s. After an hour, the police offered to let citizens go through the barricade onto the set for pizza or groceries at a Kings Market as they would not be shooting for several hours. Hildy and I opted for a slice of pizza. We masticated a single slice each for two hours setting a time consumption record while watching a snow making machine for the Christmas scene. Suddenly the activity peaked so we walked out, leaving the crust, and stood underneath the art-deco marquis of the Maplewood Theater called Langhorne, the fictional town name.

Finally listed in the credits of a movie

Finally I’m listed in the credits of a movie

At Haight Ashbury. My hair is longer than his.

A few minutes passed and I sensed a presence next to me. Meryl Streep was right there followed by Renee Zellweger, William Hurt and Carl Franklin, the director. Slowly I turned and told her how much I admired her work and we had a bit of a conversation. Just then, a production assistant approached and assumed I was part of the entourage and said to me, “We have to place you now.” I gently elbowed my sister in the rib. We followed the assistant as he placed us right in the middle of the set. He asked, “Do you know everything you have to say and do?” I said, “It’s been a long day. Please go over everything again.” So I was the ‘biggest’ actor in the Christmas tree lighting scene although I never got mentioned on IMDB. But I still have several copies of the movie. Eight months ago, my future daughter-in-law watched ‘One True Thing’ on cable. A few days later, at dinner, she mentioned seeing an actor in the movie that looked just like me.

Destiny’s Bridge documentary.

on the set of another documentary in Philadelphia with Don Ward.

With my success in ‘One True Thing,’ several years later, a friend called to tell me about auditions for Steven Spielberg’s ‘War of the Worlds’ which was largely filmed in Newark, my orginal home town. On a Saturday morning after a deep scale dental cleaning, something came over me. I drove to Newark where the auditions were held. I had an acting resume now and stressed there are not many 6’5” actors around. Weeks later, I got a call from casting. I chickened out not wanting to take off work for eight days but told them if anything else came up to call. On the following Monday morning, they called again, offering me another extra part. Their persistence went to my head. Now I wanted a guarantee for screen time. Casting laughed, “Even Tom Cruise doesn’t get that.” I messed up. I could’ve been a contender.

Recently I received a credit acknowledgement for my assistance in Jack Ballo’s powerful riveting documentary, ‘Destiny’s Bridge’ dealing with a tent city of homeless people in Lakewood, New Jersey. As a journalist now, I became very aware and involved in homelessness and hunger in America.

Finally, a few years ago, friend and film maker Chris Eilenstine asked me to write a story on the making of his New Jersey based zombie film, ‘The Soulless,’ a cerebral, surreal and haunting tale of zombies and survival. He also asked if I liked to be in the movie as well; to be a zombie with four hours of make-up or a reporter playing myself, interviewing a guilty scientist. I’m a reporter in the movie who gets eaten alive by zombies. That didn’t faze me. Now I have real acting credits and a page on IMDB. It took 34 years but who’s rushing. “Hey Uncle Dave look at me now and I never waited on tables.”

http://vichywater.net

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj2ko9gcC_M

my novel cover is the Maplewood train station

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December 16, 2014

MY HOLIDAY BLOG 2014: Holiday Movies, ‘A Christmas Carol’ and 40,000 Food Pantries and America Saves $350 Million a Day on Low Cost of Fuel. December 16th 2014 Calvin Schwartz

Filed under: November 2009 — Tags: A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties, March of the Wooden Soldiers, Tent City, Tiny Houses — earthood @ 5:27 pm

MY HOLIDAY BLOG 2014: Holiday Movies, ‘A Christmas Carol’ and 40,000 Food Pantries and America Saves $350 Million a Day on Low Cost of Fuel. December 16^th 2014 Calvin Schwartz

A bucket list thing for me. I was one of Santa’s elves at 6’5″ on the Asbury Park Boardwalk. This pix was all improv.

It’s complicated for me writing a holiday blog; emotions run all over the place. Holiday movies fuel the energy of creativity and magic carpet me around my Garden State memories. Soon I’ll bring up some points about Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ that are hauntingly real and timeless. I love this time of year; the spirit behind the holiday with its giving, sense of family, togetherness and awareness of poor and less fortunate. I treasure every moment of holiday absorption and begin listening to the season’s music the day after Thanksgiving; Sirius Channel 17, 106.7,Time-Life Treasury of Christmas Music and You Tube. I get around.

I decided to do my holiday blog today; it’s supposed to snow this weekend and maybe I’ll get a chance to use a snow blower; I’ve reached that age of obviating shoveling. On Thanksgiving, I start to gear up for the holidays and watch ‘March of the Wooden Soldiers’ with Laurel and Hardy. I’ve been watching that movie for over 60 years, the last 24 with my son just as I watched with my father.

For me, that movie kicks off the Christmas season and imparts lessons about life, togetherness and family and living in a shoe. My thoughts about the movie’s meaning; I think the movie shows an early example of robots (wooden soldiers) being used productively by humans. The movie (from 1934) was a pioneer in other relevant areas such as animal rights by harshly depicting the banishing of pig-nappers to Bogeyland. The film also deals with a powerful contemporary issue of affordable housing or as they’re newly called, tiny houses for the homeless. Even as we speak, New Jersey is wrestling with legislation to provide tiny houses for homeless; the legislation in part promulgated by homeless advocate and friend Sherry Rubel. ( https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/create-and-sign-law-national-homeless-protection-bill-rights/pSC3VxqM) One more staggering homeless fact: The National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013. Back to the movie: The three pigs lived in tiny houses in Toyland in the film. I’m into pig issues since I’ve not eaten anything with four legs since 1975 so I’m cognizant about their plight as a species.

Moving on to one of my favorite movies (holiday and all year), ‘A Christmas Carol’ starring Alastair Sim from 1951. There have been a number of actors playing Scrooge. For me it’s only Alastair Sim. The tech noir film ambiance lends itself perfectly to the time Charles Dickens wrote the novella in 1843. A few things about the movie still hold on to my soul. The Ghost of Christmas Present reveals to Scrooge two emaciated children, clinging to his robes, and names the boy as ‘Ignorance’ and the girl as ‘Want’. The spirit warns Scrooge, “Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”, dramatizing the book’s social message.

Here’s where the movie’s theme gets relevant, timely and fascinating. “Want” is a powerful force. In 1843, people wanted and needed. Of course Scrooge asked, “Are there no work-houses?” In 1980, there were 40 Food Pantries/Food Banks in America and today there are 40,000; a devastatingly incomprehensible example of want and need beyond most of our comprehension. A dollar donated to a food bank can buy three meals. Last week, this factoid about the low prices of gas was published and astonished me. Because of the low price of gas (fuel) America is saving $350 million a day. I played around with the numbers. If all of us took $1 of savings a week and donated to local food banks, can you imagine what a special Christmas season and all year for up to 50 million Americans who are hungry?

Scrooge right before he stands on his head Christmas morning with Mrs Dilber watching.

WANT and Ignorance. It seems nothing has changed since 1843

Continuing Charles Dickens’ theme of “WANT” in the movie ‘A Christmas Carol’, I bring to this blog the news about a report that NASA had some involvement in: “NASA Study Concludes When Civilization Will End, And It’s Not Looking Good for Us.” “It is an independent study by university researchers utilizing research tools developed for a separate NASA activity.” There are five risk factors for societal collapse (population, climate, water, agriculture and energy). The report says that the sudden downfall of complicated societal structures can follow when these factors converge to form two important criteria. “The two key solutions are to reduce economic inequality so as to ensure fairer distribution of resources, and to dramatically reduce resource consumption by relying on less intensive renewable resources and reducing population growth.” What does this all mean to me in this Holiday blog? Dickens was enduringly smart. Want is the root of so many problems. The holidays should be a good time for all us Earth inhabitants to look at the less fortunate; a powerful message of the season.

As a journalist and human, nearly three years ago, I became involved with Tent City in Lakewood, New Jersey where 100 homeless humans lived in tents for up to 12 years because Ocean County had no provision for the homeless. Then two years ago, I became involved with the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, writing several articles about hunger and “want” and need. Then I went to an all-day event in Red Bank dealing with hunger. Then there’s Dickens in 1843 warning about ‘Want’ and I say to myself nothing has changed here on earth and in America since 1843. Want and Ignorance and Hunger not only exist but have grown in scope from 40 to 40,000.

A great scene from Holiday classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

At the Food Bank

On a more upbeat(after all it’s the holidays) extraction from the movie; the scene on Christmas morning when Scrooge wakes up and realizes he’s still alive and can change the course of his life by being a better, giving, and grateful human. The sheer joy and excitement of revelation propels Scrooge to stand on his head on a sofa which is priceless.Later on, I love what he says to Bob Cratchit, “I haven’t lost my senses, I’ve come to them.” Therefore I’ve added this scene to my bucket list. Someday I’ll come to that moment of sheer joy and find reason to stand on my head; hopefully on a morning local television program. Scrooge and I are about the same age so if he can stand on his head so can I. If we could move in the right direction fighting hunger and homelessness, I’d stand on my head.

It’s the holidays which are full of dreams and wide-eyed children. I’m wide eyed right now finishing this blog and wishing everyone the same thing Tiny Tim wished.

Have a Merry Happy Healthy Wondrous.

Calvin

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Visit My Novel website: http://vichywater.net The novel makes a unique cerebral gift.