Bob Gruen: “I’m With The Band”

Growing up on Long Island, Bob Gruen’s parents wanted him to work 9-5.  And for much of his life, he did.  9PM-5AM.   He’s spent 60 years documenting rock ‘n roll through photographs.  Bob wasn’t photographing the scene.  He was part of the scene, earning the trust of musicians, hanging out with th…

Mike Richter: From Goaltending to Green Technology

Former athletes have all kinds of second careers once their playing days are over.  There are lawyers and doctors, business people and broadcasters, lots and lots of broadcasters.  But I know of no other former great athlete who has pursued the world of green technology.  Mike Richter was always on…

Justin Vivian Bond: Entertaining And Educating With A Microphone

In the world of downtown cabaret and theater, Justin Vivian Bond is nothing less than an icon.  For more than 30 years, their performances have compelled audiences, initially in small performance spaces and eventually at Carnegie Hall and beyond.  They created their most memorable character while s…

Lea Carpenter: Writing In The Present…And The Past

Lea Carpenter has had an unlikely and compelling path to becoming a writer of novels about espionage: Princeton and Harvard, working for both Senator Biden and Beau Biden and a 10 year magazine publishing career working for the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and John F. Kennedy Jr.  There is a power…

Kenny Vance: A Musical Lifer

I first met Kenny Vance at one of the hardest times in his life.  It was a few months after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and his house on the beach in the Rockaways of New York had been completely destroyed.  And yet even that couldn’t dampen his sweet spirit, his good humor and the joy he has gotten ou…

Sarah Jarosz: The Tradition Continues

There’s no need to categorize the music of Sarah Jarosz.  OK, you can put it in one category: good.  She has a contemporary sound and a sensibility that pays homage to the musical shoulders on which she stands.  She is thoughtful in music and conversation, about the musically vibrant Texas small to…

Nick Hornby: About A Writer/Music Buff/Arsenal FC Fan, Part 2

Talent will always win out.  At least, I hope so.  Talent and creativity and humor and perseverance.  But all of us need a moment that opens the window to the rest of our lives.  That window opened for Nick Hornby during a conversation with an agent that was not going particularly well.  Nick decid…

Nick Hornby: About A Writer/Music Buff/Arsenal FC Fan, Part 1

Nick Hornby has never written the phone book, to use an old expression.  But if he did, I’d read it.  Hornby is one of those writers who elicits unbridled enthusiasm from his unabashed admirers.  Count me in, thanks to books like High Fidelity, Fever Pitch and About A Boy.  He always had a love of …

Darlene Love: Making A Joyful Sound

You don’t need to be a great musician like Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen or Paul Shaffer to understand the greatness of Darlene Love.  Perhaps they understand it on a more musical level, but anyone who has ever heard that amazing voice gets it.  Her songs radiate joy, none more so than the cl…

Mike Massimino: The Sky’s The Limit

Mike Massimino is smart.  No surprise there.  He’s a graduate of Columbia, MIT and the NASA space program.  But he’s also incredibly thoughtful about the lessons while preparing for his two space shuttle flights, the time he spent in space and the clarity it gave him about life back on earth.  And …