Shelley, David, Plato
RIP Shelley Smith, 70, taken by cardiac arest. Born in Jersey, she earned a Master’s in Psychology from Antioch College and was also a qualified Marriage Family Therapist. She started as a model, gracing the covers of popular magazines. There are 30 titles under her name at IMDb, almost exclusively in TV, screen career spanning 1979-’91. She was a constant presence on game shows. She did guest shots on many prime time series, and co-starred in two that didn’t take off: 13 episodes of The Associates and twelve of For Love and Honor. She was a mom of twins. Well done, Madam. Photo from Google Images:
Born in Latvia, David Bezmozgis emigrated to Canada at six. He earned a Bachelor’s at McGill University and a Master’s from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. His first book, Natasha and Other Stories, was hailed by critics, as was his first novel, The Free World, published in 2011. I just finished it. It’s the story of a Jewish family of eight, three couples and two kids, leaving Soviet Latvia in the ‘70’s, hoping to settle in Canada. The trail leads to Rome, where they await acceptance and tackle the difficulties that arise. Although they’ve found more freedom, life is still life, no picnic, cruelties constant, summed up nicely in this line: “When isn’t it a time like this?” Of the six adult family members, I found the elder, a diehard communist, the most interesting. As a child in Ukraine he witnessed the murder of his father and grandfather by the anti-Bolshevik Whites, and survived combat in the meat grinder that was WWII, while his brother didn’t. He is not happy about the move to capitalism. Here’s a beautiful passage that reflects his mindset. It pertains to a relative he and his brother helped imprison, whose fate is a mystery: “Samuil recalled his cousin’s words from that final night. He had bet on one horse while Samuil and Reuven had bet on another. That night it had seemed that Yankl’s horse had lost. Nearly forty years later, this was no longer so. Now it seemed that Yankl had prematurely conceded the race. But the race had continued. The horses went around and around the track indefinitely, switching places. The race was never lost or won. All that happened was that, in the interim, men died. The trick was to die at the right moment, consoled by the perception of victory. More likely than not, Yankl had died too soon. As for himself, Samuil thought he would die too late.” The other characters do not rise above interesting, although I loved this metaphor pertaining to the younger son, a pretty-boy womanizer reminiscing about his first sexual encounter, which occurred in a moviehouse: “He didn’t even know where his hand was going, but like an advancing army, it took whatever territory was conceded to it.” 110 users at Amazon have rated The Free World, forging to a consensus of 3.8 on a scale of five. I’ll go with 3.25. Bezmozgis has written another novel and short story collection, and has been bestowed many honors. He is the writer and/or director of five obscure films and was a writer-producer on the fifth and final season of Orphan Black, a Canadian sci-fi series. He is a dad of three. Kudos, Sir. Photo from GI:
From a foxnew.com article by Hannah Ray Lambert, quoting an Oregon restauranteur: “Plato works 12 hours a day,” Sherry Andrus said of her new server, programmed to take plates of food from the kitchen to their destination table. “He works from 10 in the morning to 10 at night, and he doesn’t need a break. He’s not taking tips. And that’s just the sad reality.” Minimum wage is $14.20, no exceptions for tipped positions. Photo from GI:
The August doldrums continued today at the floating book shop. My thanks to the three ladies who bought four handbags between them.
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