Among the many arts

     Lately I have been enjoying the work of actors, authors, and other creative people.

Black Pearl sings

      Judy and I  went downtown with Betsy and Les to the Gerding Theater to see Black Pearl Sings.    It is an adaptation of a true story from the 1930s.  John Lomax, folk song collector from the Library of Congress, heard the singing of Hudie Leadbetter in Angola Prison Farm  in  Louisiana.  Lomax brought Leadbetter, known to us as Leadbelly, to New York to perform.   In  the play Susannah, a  folk song collector, meets Pearl,  who is in prison in Texas for murdering a man who needed killing.  Susannah helps Pearl get  parole, and leads her to New York to sing at Carnegie Hall.  Pearl dresses in her finest clothes.  At the Gerding, the audience gasped when Susannah brought out prison stripes for Pearl to wear at her performance.   Pearl's singing was strong and rich throughout the play, with Susannah's Appalachian tunes as a counterpoint.

Goats for the old goat

     Sheila and I went to the screening of a documentary about Ellen Ratner, political commentator for the Talk Radio News Service.  Ratner spoke after the screening, and inspired all of us with her drive for humanitarian work in South Sudan.  For her sixtieth birthday, Ratner founded a charity called Goats for the Old Goat.

Proud Pat with her books

     My friend Pat Lichen, author  of Kidnapping the Lorax,  organized a  successful Author's Fair at church.  Over 40 writers participated in workshops and sold lots of books.  I was in my church lady mode as I helped at the accompanying bake sale.

Sheila's new puppy

    Sheila and I drove  on Saturday to the county fairgrounds at Canby for the Master Gardeners' plant sale.  The nursery growers of Clackamas County filled the fairgrounds with glorious plants.  Sheila adopted a new pet.

Bryan Bowers

      Later Judy, Donna and  I drove south to  a small American Legion hall in  Salem to hear Brain Bowers, preeminent autoharp player and storyteller.    Brian gave  his usual fine performance, but I couldn't help but notice that most of his songs were about old age or death.   We had some time before the show, so I explored the grounds of the Chemawa Indian School.  The cemetery, from 1886, is closed off by a chain link fence tenderly topped with artificial flowers.

Chemawa totem pole

Bob Moore signing his biography

    On Tuesday I talked to Bob Moore, founder of Bob's Red Mill here in Milwaukie.  A few years ago Bob to celebrated  his retirement by  giving his very successful nationwide company to his employees.  This year he and his wife Charlee gave $ 5 million to  Oregon State University to found a center for research and outreach in the fields of nutrition and childhood obesity.

    

Maxine dancing November 2011

     My favorite art of the week came during a Skype call with  Maxine.   Maxine is preparing for a dance recital next week, and  she showed  us her some of her moves.