NYMysteries Nov. 3

 

 

I’m basking in the memories of my recent trip to Palestine. Brief recap: Martin Randall Tours sponsored Palestine, Past & Present, October 15-23. Our leader was Curator Felicity Cobbing who’s excavated throughout the Middle East and who has written extensively about the history and archaeology of the Levant. We stayed in Bethlehem, Jericho and Jerusalem, exploring in the three cities and their environs. 

On our fourth day in Palestine, we had an all day excursion to Jerusalem. We walked on the Ramparts from Jaffa Gate to Damascus Gate. Jerusalem is a cauldron of history, religion, politics and architecture.  It is exciting and chaotic to see so many people celebrating their beliefs:Jews with untrimmed beard and pe’ot, Midwesterners with Jesus written across their t-shirts, Catholic nuns in traditional habits, groups marching and singing religious chants. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it had the enchantment of the Lexington Avenue subway at rush hour. Once again, the most fascinating spectacle for me was watching people embrace their religious beliefs.  Women lay prostrate on what is deemed Jesus’s empty tomb. We, along with everybody else in the universe, including their motorcycles, walked along the Via Dolorosa to the Ecce Homo Convent where there is a portion of a Hadrian arch. Like King Herod, Hadrian was a great builder (Remember the Pantheon?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerusalem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking down from the Jerusalem ramparts
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  Oct. 27

NYMysteries  Oct. 27

Yesterday I returned from the U. K. A few days before I had spent a week in Palestine. The Martin Randall Travel group was led by Felicity Cobbing, the curator of the Palestine Exploration Fund, founded in 1865 to study the Levant region. I asked her about the purpose of the PEF. It’s to examine the history of the region. It’s not political and it’s not philanthropic. As we all know, the region is mired in politics. Our small group of nine traveled to Bethlehem, Jericho and Jerusalem. We started our tour at Solomon’s Pools, south of the Palestinian village of al-Khader where Palestinian and

The Walled Off Hotel,
Bethlehem
Wall Art, Bethlehem
Art at The Walled Off Hotel
The Wall, Bethlehem
Wall Art, Bethlehem
Wall Art, Bethlehem

American scholars are restoring Herodion’s reservoir system. In Bethlehem we women wrapped our arms and head in scarves so the group could visit nearby Hebron’s Haram Al-Khalil, the Tombs of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives. We stayed near Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem and had several delightful meals, surrounded by conceptual art about the current political climate. The photos are of the wall the Israelis built and of art in Banksy’s hotel.  Next week: the Samaritans and lunch in a Bedouin camp

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  Sept. 30 – Oct. 6 

 

A busy week. Frustrated at not getting into the Whitney last Tuesday, I returned on Monday and went to an interesting exhibit on the sixth floor. Programmed Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965-2018. No, I don’t know what it means but do names of installations mean much? It’s big and bright and covered one wall. 

One flight up was Selections from the Whitney’s Collection. It was like running into old friends: Joseph Stella’s The Brooklyn Bridge, lots of Edward Hopper’s, Georgia O’Keeffe’ Summer Days. 

 

A  friend was delayed from an early supper before NYCB so I ducked into The American Art Museum.The art of Orra White Hitchcock was featured. Mrs. Hitchcock was an accomplished artist and illustrated many of her husband’s scientific treatises. Her husband said his wife’s illustrations were better than his writings.

The evening at the NYCB was perfect: music by Tschaikovsky, Bernstein etc., choreography by Balanchine, Wheeldon and dancing by Tiler Peck.

Thursday night I went to “Cauldron of Forgotten Memories” – 2018, a crowded, jolly exhibit of Preston Trombly’s wonderful, colorful, vibrant acrylic on canvas works.

Preston Trombly “Cauldron of Forgotten Memories”

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Rules, Codes and Choreographies in Art
The Whitney
Joseph Stella’s Brooklyn Bridge
The Whitney

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  Sept. 23 – Sept. 29

I finally got to the Neue Galerie when it was open. It’s one of those museums with detailed and unique hours of operation.  The exhibit many tourists and I were interested in was Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. In addition to being great artists, they both have an agonizing history. They both died in 1918. Klimt made it to his fifties. Schiele, at twenty-eight, died in the flu epidemic. Some twenty years later, Klimt’s work was admired and swiped by the Nazis.  Schiele’s work was condemned because he drew the human figure in great detail.

Gustav Klimt, Neue Galerie,  Adele Bloch-Bauer

 

 

 

Who knew the Whitney was closed on Tuesday?We arrived about 2 p.m. wondering where everybody was. They weren’t at the Whitney. We had a peculiar lunch in theirground floor restaurant, Untitled. It’s open even if the museum is closed because now every public domain sells food. After a very slim and sleek wait person extolled the Arctic Char Poke and Japanese Pancake we ordered the two dishes. They were tasty if tapas tiny. Their pedigrees were more substantial than the food. It struck us as hilarious. All we had wanted was an open museum and lunch. Instead, we had a near religious experience.   We escaped to the nearby High Line, almost deserted because of the inclement  weather.

Rated Black: An American Requiem was presented at Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop. Kareen M. Lucas, the writer and performer, was accompanied by a terrific four person choir. Lucas went through the travails of being an American black. Rated Black is part three of a trilogy that examines the life of a black Brooklyn poet. It was rousing and funny. The music was great.

The September 27th Villager has an article on Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done, MOMA’s exhibit about the vibrant dances of the 60s created in Judson Memorial Church’s workshops.It runs through Feb. 3, 2019 and features live performances by the following companies: Deborah Hay, David Gordon, Lucinda Childs,

Gustav Klimt, Neue Galerie, The Dancer

 

 

Gustav Klimt, Neue Galerie
Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer

Steve Paxton, and Trisha Brown. 

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is a great organization with an unwieldy name. It’s holding a St Denis Hotel demonstration to save the structure today, Saturday,  9/29/18 at noon. As much as I hate demonstrations, I’ll be at 11th and Broadway in front of the 1853 hotel. Scary, the way glassy office towers are dominating our landscape. 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  Sept. 14 – Sept. 22

The Judson weekend was held at Incarnation Camp on Sept. 14 through 16. It’s a perfect time of year to be near Ivoryton, Conn. Fall is arriving. The leaves are a mix of green and yellow and the private lake is shimmering.  Along with a gang of kind people, I helped a friend who is suffering from dementia. His wonderful daughter stayed with him and the rest of us spelled her occasionally. We had a talk about dementia and what it does to families. As my friend’s wife said, wisely and sadly, it’s not going to get better only worse. I felt vaguely saintly, helped by the Saturday night margaritas.    

Bart Boehlert’s photo of Camp Incarnation’s lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday evening I attended Sisters in Crime. The meeting was held at Jefferson Market Library. The evening with Matt Martz, Publisher, Crooked Lane Books was wonderful. Mister Martz answered thoroughly the Sisters in Crime secretary’s penetrating questions about editing, contracts, foreign rights, the market, submissions, etc. 

Wednesday evening a friend and I went to the Morgan Library and Museum to hear an amusing and lively talk about Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and Art’s Gothic strain. On October 12 the Morgan is opening the exhibit, It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200. The exhibit will include scholarly work, after all, it is the Morgan and lots of comic book illustrations, film posters and Elsa Lancaster in the 1935 Bridge of Frankenstein. Perfect for Halloween.   

Theatre Poster advertising PRESUMPTION!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  Sept. 9 – Sept. 14

 

The Generation Women creator, Georgia Clark, gave a super party in her and her partner’s splendid Williamsburg apartment. Most of us had appeared at Caveat and exchanged impressions and thoughts on performing in public. From every window there’s a glorious view of the Williamsburg bridge. It spans the East River between Manhattan’s Lower East Side and Brooklyn’s Williamsburg. Hop on the L while it’s still operating and you’re there in thirty minutes. 

 

 

Ms. Georgia Clark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Williamsburg Bridge

The Salmagundi Club was founded in 1871 and it’s still displaying American art. Friends and I stopped by to see a recent exhibit in the Fifth Avenue brownstone.

The Salmagundi Club

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Salmagundi Club

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  Sept. 2 – Sept. 8

A lovely Sunday: Film Forum twofers: Purple Noon and Strangers on a Train. Alain Delon was gorgeous in the 1960s French version of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley mystery. The Hitchcock was like a much loved story being told to children, this time the children were 50+ and packed the Film Forum. I assume that most of the audience had seen the movie a million times. There were giggles and guffaws when Robert Walker was his most awful Bruno self. Afterwards, a bar on Second Avenue and Thirteenth street to celebrate an Australian friend’s birthday, followed by supper of pork pie, tomatoes.

On one of those ghastly NYC days with humidity 1000 %, a friend and I dove into a movie house with a.c. like a refrigerator and saw Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. It was serious and entertaining. The KKK was presented in its ridiculous outfits. I appreciated the scorn Lee heaped on them and the way their racial slurs were ridiculed. 

A shout out for Via Quadronno on East 73rd Street. Ever other Monday I have an early lunch of their beautifully cooked asparagus and divine olive oil. 

 

Early lunch at Via Quadronno

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend and I took a short walk in Riverside Park. He very patiently explained to me the mysteries of Instagram. Here’s an effort.

Riverside Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, a nine-year-old and an eighteen year old have in common? Murder. Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man..

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  Aug. 25 – Sept. 1

Stephen Maing’s Crime & Punishment is a documentary about the NYPD treatment of minority officers. I learned about Crime & Punishment at a Mystery Writers of America Meeting. Officers Pedro Serrano, Ritchie Baez and Derek Waller presented evidence of discrimination and disrespect. In the documentary, twelve courageous minority cops demonstrate how they’re pressured to arrest other people of color to meet an illegal but still prevalent arrest quota.  The documentary was shown at Sundance. It’s on Hulu and at IFC in NYC. I went to an early screening at IFC, along with about five others. It’s an engrossing examination. Congratulations to the 12 officers who participated and to Director Stephen Maing.

Off to MOMA to see The Rest I Made Up. It’s Michelle Memran’s documentary about Maria Irene Fornes, the Cuban-American playwright who influenced generations of other writers. Memran and Fornes develop a loving, joyous film friendship as they travel to Cuba, Miami and Seattle. Fornes’s encroaching Altzheimers is poignant. The Rest I Made Up shows early footage of Maria Irene Fornes teaching and directing. I had hoped for more coverage on her work with Al Carmines at Judson Memorial Church. 

One of the Judson members is a boat fanatic and she entrances us with lively stories about NYC waterways. The latest was about the John J. Harvey fireboat.

 

 

NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned a murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, Ja nine-year-old and an eighteen year old have in common? Murder. Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

NYMysteries Aug. 19 – Aug. 25

It’s been one of those weeks where I am grateful I don’t own a house: a bookcase’s shelves collapsed, the Verizon landline was once again not working, and the toilet …I’ll leave it to your imagination. 

We Judsonites are decking the halls of MOMA. There’s The Maria Irene Fornes documentary, The Rest I Made Up. This morning I received the MOMA member calendar for Sept. and Oct. On page 6 there’s an article about the Judson Dance Theater plus photos of Trisha Brown and Anna Halprin.  Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done has member previews Sept. 13-15. 

Do you think the Guggenheim is lively, fun, glamorous? I do.  A friend Giacometti at the Guggenheimand I went to the Giacometti exhibit. The museum was teeming on Sunday afternoon. Like the Pantheon, the Guggenheim has an oculus. It’s great fun to watch visitors snapping the oval ceiling before starting to walk up the ramp or hop into a tiny elevator. The exhibit was beautifully displayed. Has an other artist concentrated on skinny sculpted figures like Giacometti? 

I signed up for Joyce DiDonato masterclasses. My friend suggested we go to the first and last masterclass to see the progression of DiDonato’s students. 

Joyce DiDonato

 

 

 

Crime and Punishment is at IMF. It tells the brave and true story of how minorities are treated in the NYPD.

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned a murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, a nine-year-old and an eighteen year old have in common? Murder. Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man..

: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

NYMysteries    Aug. 12 – Aug. 18

Writers Digest Conference 2018 was held at the Hilton. It was well organized and the staff were very helpful. I think there are more writers than readers. Estimating how many people were at the conference, I’d say between 800 and 1000. Pitching was amazing. You had one hour, 90 minutes with each agent to sell your story. Waiting to begin was like waiting for your own execution but once in the enormous, well organized room it went smoothly. Lots of good suggestions: Don’t wait in a long line. Find an agent with a short line and talk to her. Make sure you approach an agent who’s interested in your genre. There were signs over each agent’s desk describing his interest. Writers Digest had provided us before hand with a layout of the room, the names and specialties of the agents and their photos. In addition there were excellent discussions about craft, the business of publishing and lots of opportunities to speak to other people. It was an intense, wonderful experience. Well done, Writers Digest!

 

Don Swanson’s Landscape

The Frick Staff Art Show on Frick’s Staff Day was terrific. Two examples are Don Swanson’s Landscape Marbleized paper

Lorenzo De Los Angeles

and Lorenzo De Los Angeles’s Like the gilt-bronze mounts by Jean Godille …paper, mat board, glue, paint sold tissue, crushed glass and acrylic medium.

 

 

Writers Digest Pitch Line in Back of Me
Writers Digest Pitch Line in front of me

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned a murder case at the  prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed while Kulchek was buying cigarettes? Escaping an attempted car bombing?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

Graphic Lessons: What do a teacher, a nine-year-old and an eighteen year old have in common? Murder. Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old, the only witness to the stabbing and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man..

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Mary Jo Robertiello

http://www.nymysteries.com

Mary Jo Robertiello's mysteries and life