Rally Around

15 Sep

Tom Hanks said the iconic line “There’s no crying in baseball,” in the movie A League of Their Own.” But, I will tell you that I shed a tear in the endearing newly-released movie Rally Caps.

The movie stars award-winning actor Judd Hirsch as the grandfather of a tween baseball player who attends overnight camp, while his mom is actor Amy Smart. The young baseball player goes to camp after a traumatic experience and befriends a camper with a Cochlear implant. Here’s a short recap here from the American Cochlear Implant Alliance.

A surprising element in the movie is the role of Curtis Pride. Curtis Pride is a former professional baseball who is deaf. His son played the role of the child with a Cochlear implant and his daughter is in the movie as well. Both children have hearing loss.

The movie is directed by Lee Cipolla. I’m photographed below with my grandson and Cipolla.

 Rally Caps is based on the book written by Jodi Michelle Cutler and Stephen J. Cutler, based on a real life experience. Jodi’s son has a profound hearing loss and a Cochlear implant.

I attended a screening with the some of the actors including Judd Hirsch. Judd Hirsch (below) is in the middle flanked by director Lee Cipolla and actor Colten, Pride’s son.

Rally Caps is streaming on Amazon and Apple. The movie is a must see for baseball lovers and families.

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A Benevolent Bully: Woof! Woof!

25 Jul

No need to run to the pet store. Your pet’s treats and toys can be delivered to your doorstep monthly with Bullymake. My Bullymake box arrived with three bags of treats and two toys. Juno, my dog (above), loved it — especially the orange toy where you can insert a treat in the cut-out slot. All the treats and toys are made in America except one rope item. The Bullymake team designs the durable toys catered to power chewers.

Bullymake offers a one month, three month, six or 12-month plan. You can customize your box. They are flexible with returns and cater to needs of the dog, even if your dog has allergies.

Bullymake is the perfect gift for dog lovers.Your first box is $19 with this code: Box19. Check out all you need to know at their website www.bullymake.com

I requested a Bullymake box for my dog in exchange for a post on my blog. We both were excited and happy with the box.

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Summer Reading 2024

21 Jun

It’s that time of year again, when you can curl up with a good book in the hammock, on the beach or on your sofa. I’ve curated a treasure trove of sites where you can visit and choose the perfect book for your mood.

So, let’s start with the popular “celebrity” sites. Oh yeah, O is for Oprah. So, click here for her complete list. Her 106th pick is Familiaris by David Wroblewski.

Reese Witherspoon has been recommending books since 2017. Click here for Reese’s list. I’ve personally read many of her choices. Most recently, I read First Lie Wins, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, Tom Lake, and Yellowface. I’ve enjoyed them all.

Next up is GMA Book Club featured on Good Morning America. My personal book club will be reading The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, and I heard it’s terrific. Click here for GMA picks.

Read with Jenna is another popular book club. Click here for Jenna’s choices. She is always so animated when she talks about books on NBC.

If you are on Facebook, there are many reading groups where you can find interesting books . Here are some Facebook groups: Friends and Fiction, Renee’s Reading Club and The Girlfriend Book Club.

I also check out the The Good Book Fairy and listen to The Bookcase Podcast with Charlie and Kate Gibson.

If you haven’t heard of Zibby. Let me introduce you to her. Just click here. She’s latest force in the book world. She’s an author, a podcaster, a book publisher and an owner of a book store. Here’s a photo of me and Zibby (right) at a book talk in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

For book reviews, my go-to-person is Maureen Corrigan on NPR. When I listen to her reviews, the books become alive.

But summer reading would not be complete without mentioning the podcast Books, Beach & Beyond with bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books. Hilderbrand is the epitome of summer reading with her books set in Nantucket, and her author interviews with Ehrenberg are just as captivating.

Happy Summer Reading!

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A CUBAN JOURNEY

11 May

Author Aaron Hamburger transports the reader on an immigrant’s journey from Russia to Cuba to Detroit in his novel Hotel Cuba. It’s a personal story because it relates the travels of his grandmother from the village of David-Horodok in Belarus to Cuba and then onto Detroit.

It’s personal for me as well. My family is also from the village of David-Horodok, and I wrote an article in The Detroit Jewish News where there is a memorial to those who perished in World War II due to the Nazis. I, like the author, grew up in Detroit.

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Hamburger about his book Hotel Cuba on a Zoom call with Descendants of David-Horodok. He relates a fascinating story of how the book came about. He met with Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Detroit to talk about immigration, and she suggested he write a book about his grandmother’s plight. Through family interviews, recordings, research and trips to Havana, Hamburger weaves a rich tale of two sisters travelling to unknown countries.

The book is as inviting as the cover.

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Fire Island Read and More

29 Mar

If you’re heading to Fire Island or you just want a beach read, On Fire Island by Jane Rosen is the prefect choice. I had the opportunity to meet authors Jane Rosen and Zibby Owens, author of Blank, at the recent Bagel and Book event at the JCC in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

What’s unique about On Fire Island is that the narrator is dead. As the narrator observes her spouse, family and friends from the afterlife, Rosen weaves in a story of community, overcoming mourning and humor. Yes, there are losses and grief, but the hilarious scenes, and the poignant prose make it enjoyable, fast-paced and uplifting.

In the photo below, I’m with Jane Rosen (right) and Zibby Owens in the middle. Owens is the author of Blank, about writer who has writer’s block and the twists and turns in her hectic life. Amazon describes the book as “a hilarious debut novel about family, friendship, success, and exhilarating self-(re)discovery.” Owens is an author, book publisher, podcaster and so much more. At a later date, I will devout an entire blog to post to her.

At the event I ran into some attendees with Detroit roots. What a pleasure to speak with the mother-daughter duo of Linda Warner (left) and her daughter Amanda Warner. Amanda met Zibby virtually through her podcasts.

Both novels On Fire Island and Blank are worth reading.

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Making An Impact

12 Mar

I recently attended an event for Impact Palm Beaches. It’s group of dynamic, philanthropic women devoted to creating change through strategic grant making. The luncheon, held at the Kravis Center for Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, featured author Diane Bergner.

Eileen Berman, a Palm Beach philanthropist and former financial advisor for UBS, interviewed Bergner about her former role as the vice president of philanthropy at the Kravis Center, and they discussed her book the Royal Coconut Beach Lunch Club. Bergner shared her philanthropy acumen. She also highlighted her debut novel where the protagonist is a fund raiser for a performing arts center. Many in the audience wanted to know if her novel was based on real people. Bergner will leave it to the readers of the Royal Coconut Beach Lunch Club to decide. Bergner also confesses “Fiction is a work of art where the imagination can go wild.”

President Lisa LaFrance of Impact Palm Beaches addressed the group, which is based on Impact100 founded by Wendy Steele. Members donate $1,000 annually and for every 100 women, the group gives a $100,000 donation to a local nonprofit.

Diane Bergner (left) is interviewed by Eileen Berman.

Diane Bergner flanks Karen Ruben, author of Ruff Riders, and myself at the Impact Palm Beaches event.

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A Great Guy

23 Dec

I had the opportunity to interview Guy Stern several years ago for my column in the Detroit Jewish News. This remarkable man passed away recently at the age of 101, just before his 102nd birthday. He came to the United States to stay with an uncle and escape Nazi Germany, hoping his family would follow. Unfortunately, his family perished in the Holocaust.

Guy Stern was honored as the “Veteran of the Game,” at the University of Michigan in October, 2018. This photo appeared in the December 21, 2023 edition the Detroit Jewish News. Michigan photography

His fluency in German and his intellectual prowess enabled him to be part of an elite intelligence unit called the Ritchie Boys. He was trained as a prisoner of war interrogator. In my interview, he relayed a chilling story about interviewing a member of his athletic team as a youngster. He disguised his voice and then asked questions revealing names of friends and family. The prisoner was astonished and frightened. He received the Bronze star for his service.

Since I was a language major from Wayne State University, we spoke about language and authors. He was a distinguished professor at Wayne State University in German literature and culture and an expert in the influential German writer Goethe.

His obituaries in the Detroit Jewish News and the New York Times tell of his illustrious life, numerous awards, charitable work and appearance on 60 minutes. Please click here to read the fascinating obituary by Detroiter Alan Muskovitz in the Detroit Jewish News.

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What If?

21 Nov

What if you could take the road not travelled? What if you could follow your dream? Meet Alisha Fernandez Miranda (right) who chronicled her journey in the memoir My What if Year. She became an intern at age 40. She pens an upbeat, fun, life-changing adventure. She literarily takes a break from motherhood and her job to become an intern on Broadway. She also worked in fitness, art and the hotel world. Her book is inspiring. I had the opportunity to meet the author at the recent Celebrating Sisterhood Luncheon in North Palm Beach, Florida.

When I returned home from the luncheon I turned on my Linkedin app to read about someone who also followed her dream. A Detroit cardiologist I know took a three-month sabbatical and trekked to 12,000 feet in the Himalayas.

What is your What If?

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The Ultimate Dream Home

17 Oct

Detroiters Robert Taubman and Julie Reyes Taubman created an architectural legacy. They sought to renew modernist architecture in East Hampton with the team of architects Diller Scofidio +Renfro, builder Ed Bulgin, landscape architect and designer Michael Lewis.

Architecture Critic Paul Goldberger weaves the story of this remarkable home in the book Blue Dream and the Legacy of Modernism in the Hamptons published by Delmonico Books. Goldberger describes the significance of this extraordinary home. “In the end, the house the Taubmans built is important in three distinct ways: as a significant event in the architectural history of East Hampton, as a notable chapter in the development of Diller Scofidio +Renfro’s work, and as a major statement in the long history of distinguished and architecturally ambitious modern houses.”
As you can see below, the complex design is daring. The home faces the ocean with no defined staircase and evokes a futuristic abode.

Unfortunately, Julie Reyes Taubman passed away before living in her dream home. But her vision survives. The Taubman’s love of architecture was inspired by Robert Taubman’s father, A. Alfred Taubman.

On a personal note, as a former Detroit journalist, I interviewed the senior Taubman several times. I met Julie Reyes Taubman at a Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit MOCAD event many years ago. She was an integral part of the founding and organized the first major fundraiser.

Goldberger mentions the name blue dream was a homage to her friend the late author, Elmore Leonard, who liked the strain of marijuana “blue dream.” Leonard was also a Detroiter. See my post My date with Elmore, on this blog.

Perhaps one day, architecture aficionados will view Blue Dream like they visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water.

Photographs by Iwan Baan 

Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

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ME is for Maine

7 Aug

I visited Maine for the first time. It’s a flora and fauna fantasyland with the bluest waters and an abundance of seafood. But as a Motown aficionado, I can describe it as Northern Michigan on steroids. Remember, the Michigan motto, “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” The state motto for Maine is neither as inviting nor catchy. It’s “I lead.”

Mottos aside, the trip was lovely. The hikes are glorious. In the photo below, I’m with my granddaughter on a winding path leading to the ocean. I must confess. I did not complete the final part of the hike where it was rocky, but the family members who finished said it was an impressive view.

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens with the Caterpillar Lab is a perennial favorite. I learned, along with my grandchildren, that inchworms are caterpillars. Please see the photo below on how the inchworm camouflaged on the branch of a tree.

This botanical site boasts beautiful gardens along with some interesting sculptures of trolls. Thomas Dambo, a recycle art activist, created the trolls that are scattered throughout the gardens.

We stopped at many small towns near Portland including Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor. The shopping and the ice cream were superb. Note the many ice cream flavors and the boutique shop.

For me personally, I really liked ME. What about you? Do you have a favorite ME town?

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