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Photo
by:John Whipple
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Cassandra
Speaks
It
was her world, and we got a chance to visit it when smart,
snarky New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd (pictured)
read from her new book Bushworld: Enter At Your Own Risk
on Tuesday, Sept. 14, at UAlbany’s Page Hall. To say that
she was greatly appreciated is an understatement. For the
first time in living memory—mine, anyway—Page Hall was standing
room only, with people packed in up to the last row of the
balcony. (I can verify this. I was in the last row of the
balcony.) The evening was indeed a lovefest, and a smashing
start to the New York State Writers Institute fall program.
It was a lovefest with a palpable undercurrent of anxiety,
however. The swankily dressed Dowd read one essay from the
book, and then opened the floor to questions. New polls showing
a substantial convention bounce for George W. Bush had just
been released, and one nervous questioner after another asked
variations on “How can John Kerry be screwing this up?”
This was the kind of audience that accepted, as a point of
departure, that W. is a dangerous moron. There was even a
woman peddling anti-Bush buttons in the balcony.
Dowd was witty and charming, and pulled no punches in her
analysis of the political venality and overwhelming sense
of entitlement that make the Bush dynasty what is: a danger
to the republic.
After an hour or so of question time, a table was set up onstage
for Dowd to sign copies of her book. Too bad the Writer’s
Institute indicated that it was a “reading-only” event on
their Web site, or yours truly would have brought enough money
to buy one and get it signed. Even journalists can be starstuck
on occasion.
—Shawn
Stone
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Photo
by:
Martin Benjamin
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Homecoming
King
Last Saturday (Sept. 18), Schenectady native and world-class
filmmaker John Sayles returned home for a day of fun, festivities
and film to raise money for the ongoing renovation of Proctor’s
Theatre. Sayles and his producing partner Maggie Renzi pressed
the flesh, sat on a panel discussion of film and politics,
introduced their brand new flick Silver City and were
feted by the mayor and other local poobahs. Pictured here:
(l-r) Proctor’s CEO Philip Morris, Lisa Stratton, Sayles,
Renzi and Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton.
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Columns
& Opinions
