Update 7-5-11

Hi,

Another quick update from the road.

I had a great day on Wednesday.  I took the train into the city from Valley Stream.  The station's been remodeled, probably in the last 10 years, and the trains seem cleaner and more efficient than I remember.  Of course, it now costs nearlly 15 bucks for the round trip, where I think it used to cost two-and-a quarter.
     I got to New York a bit early, so I walked around the theater district, which seemed tiny and antique.  I can't believe I spent almost 20 years of my life, from 15 to 35, in the audiences of so many of those buildings.  Then I had lunch with Alan Finder, in the fairly new Times building.  The Times offices are great -- and quiet -- niothing like the old Front Page.  Afterwards, Alan gave me a quick tour, but it was a lot more fun talking with him and hearing about his work.
     Next, I walked 5th Avenue to 57th Street, stopping in for a minute at St. Patrick's, which was open -- and busy -- when I passed.  I was heading to the Wally Findlay Gallery, to see Mary Sipp-Green's painting, as promised.  The paintings are large and lovely, and there are about 20 of them -- Mary is the featured artist in the present show, which will continue until July 15th.  I'd seen small reproductions of several of the paintings, in a catalogue the gallery sent out, but even though they were good reproductions, they don't show the scale and detail of the paintings.
     Finally, I took the subway from Carnegie Hall to Canal Street, to see a 1933 steamboat some friends of mine have moored at the newly renovated and reopened Pier 25.  My friends rescued the boat 8 years ago and created a foundation to preserve and restore the nearly 80-year-old ship.  It's about the size of a tugboat, and if you'd like to see pictures, go to:  lilacpreservationproject  .  org.  After my friends closed up the ship -- it's open for free tours and to attract volunteeers -- we had dinner in Tribeca, where my friends' family has had a tool company since the 1920s.  The area looks great, and it certainly has changed since I used to drive around it in the mid-70s on the decaying West Side Highway.

Today, I drove to South from my mother's house opposite Forest Road School -- yep, she still lives there.  It's 4/5s of a mile from the parking lot of Forest to the Jedwood parking lot of South.  That's about a 12 minute walk.  I seem to remember it was a 10-minute walk to get to South using the bridge.

I had intended to see Liz King Giordano, but she's off on vacation this week.  There's also a company de-asbestosing the school, so portions of it are closed off.  Asbestos is a word I learn in Mrs. Sussman's second grade, when our class walked -- walked -- to the firehouse near town in Valley Stream.  "A-S-B-E-S-T-O-S.  A fire-proofing material."  It used to be our friend.

I should be back in Los Angeles next week.


The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65

Please delete any spaces in links or e-mail addresses before using them. And remember the latest update is now also posted on Facebook, at Valley Stream South High School Class of 1965 -- Discussions.  (But not this week, because it seems I can't sign in to Facebook from this computer.)


Rich