First Providence Journal feature-length documentary

The Providence Journal this afternoon posted our first original, feature-length documentary: Coming Home, about four veterans of the War on Terror and their families. This nearly hour-long film grew out of our recent eight-part series about several who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Coming Home is now on Youtube and will soon be on the newspaper site. I wrote and co-produced the documentary with editor Cecilia Prestamo and photographer John Freidah. We expect the movie will be broadcast, more on that soon.

War on terror series, now all in one place

The Providence Journal has now created a dedicated page on our website for the eight-part series, with six John Freidah videos, that ran this fall. Sidebars and charts and all.
A very nice resource for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

A writer's (20) places, at a place called Spot Undergound

I will be discussing some of the places my fiction and non-fiction writing has brought me at Spot Underground, the arts and music place in Providence's historic jewelry/knowledge district. Wednesday evening, Nov. 30 as part of PechaKucha Night Providence Volume #32. Twenty slides, 20 seconds each, an entire enjoyable evening with me and several other people from the creative world.

Talk, reading, and wine and cheese at The Redwood

Please join me this Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Redwood Library in Newport for a talk and reading from AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life & Times of Senator Claiborne Pell.

Wine and cheese at 5:30 p.m., talk and reading at 6 p.m. The Redwood is located at 50 Bellevue Ave., Newport, Rhode Island. Phone: 401-847-0292.

Department of Veterans Affairs Award

As part of the VA's Veterans Day ceremonies, Providence Journal colleague John Freidah and I spoke today at the Providence VA Medical Center, where we have been regular visitors for almost half a year as we put together our eight-part series about veterans of the post-9/11 conflicts, WAR ON TERROR: Coming Home. The series, which included five videos, wrapped Monday. In addition to our remarks, we showed the final video, about two Bronze-Star winner Derek Pelletier. Some in the audience of about 100 cried.

It was indeed a powerful ceremony, a tribute to veterans and for John and me, a fitting cap to our efforts.

And then, a surprise: Citations from the VA in recognition of our work. I cannot tell you how honored I was. I have won many awards in my many years a journalist, but this ranks above them all.

The War on terror series wraps up with...

... The Providence Journal's Publick Occurrences forum Monday, Nov. 7, at Rhode Island College. This is a photo from the event of me with my Journal colleagues columnist Bob Kerhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr, left, and photographer/videographer John Freidah. And here is a video from the evening.

Videos and stories from the eight-part series can be found here.

A father mourns, a Bronze Star winner suffers

After five months of work, and publication on six Sundays and two Mondays, my Providence Journal series on the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winds up November 6 and November 7 in The Providence Journal.

Meanwhile, the first of the final two videos accompanying the series is now posted on the Journal War on terror series site. It is especially powerful: The story of a father who lost his firstborn son in an explosion in Afghanistan.

Powerful, too, is the video accompanying the final story, in Monday's paper, about a soldier who won two Bronze Stars -- and came home to a military that initially neglected him, despite his extreme PTSD. That video will be posted later this weekend.

Once we are done, five videos will have been produced, and eight main stories, many with sidebars, written. It has been a long and exhausting few months getting this done. Imagine having to live through what these brave men and women did, and still do...

Humbled by Bob Kerr's column

With three decades in journalism, I can authoritatively state that public praise from a colleague is rare. And so I was humbled by longtime Providence Journal columnist Bob Kerr's praise for my post-9/11 veterans series published in the Journal today.

It is especially humbling, given Bob's service in Vietnam as a Marine -- and for years here, the voice of veterans of all ages. Bob also graciously also acknowledged the incredible videos by staff photographer John Freidah, wonderfully edited by Cecilia Prestamo, that accompany the series.

Series wraps up with Part Seven this Sunday and Part Eight on Monday, this Veterans Week. Two extraordinary stories (credit due the subjects I profile!), accompanied by two more extraordinary videos.

The Home From War series continues...

... with part Six of my exploration of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan coming this Sunday, Oct. 30.
Meanwhile, just posted: The second half of John Freidah's superb video on Sean Judge and Brian Santos, two young men who served with distinction in Iraq, witnessed horrific events, and came home to very different experiences. I have served as Story Consultant on all of the videos that are part of the series, which wraps up Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011.

The horror of war

The Ambush: Day Five of my continuing seven-day Providence Journal series on the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will run on this Sunday, October 23. It's the first of two installments telling the story of Sean Judge and Brian Santos, who served in Iraq and on an August night in 2005 witnessed an incredibly horrific bloodbath of American soldiers. (Part two, their very different experiences on their return home, runs Sunday, October 30. Series concludes Sunday, November 6, with the story of a man who lost his firstborn son in an explosion in Afghanistan that killed eight Americans.)
A 15-minute video of Sean and Brain relating the events of that terrible night is now posted
on the Journal web site.
This documentary, by my Journal colleague John Freidah, is extraordinarily powerful.
Note: The warning of graphic content is justified.

200 at book launch party! And the reviews are coming in...

Some 200 people came out on a beautiful fall afternoon Oct. 16 for the launch party at Salve Regina University's Pell Center. I signed 100 books -- after that, the publisher ran out. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse spoke, along with Congressman David Cicilline; all were greatly influenced by Pell. Also speaking were grandsons Nick and Clay Pell, and Salve president Sister Gerety and Chancellor Sister Antone. I did a reading. The wine flowed and the food, including cucumber sandwiches, was scrumptious.

Meanwhile, reviews are starting to come in, including from Publisher's Weekly. They're good. Links to them can be found at the official book site's reviews page.

Upcoming events include a reading at signing at Newport's Redwood Library, Nov. 17, and a presentation at the Nov. 30 Pecha Kucha in Providence. Details soon.

Two books now on iTunes

As publishers continue deeper into electronic publishing, two of my books have made it not only onto Amazon's Kindle but also now, iTunes:

-- KING OF HEARTS, an account of the inventors of open-heart surgery, and

--- AN UNCOMMON MAN, published in October 2011.

For Kindle and other editions of my books, visit the Books page of my web site.

Party time!

Please join me this Sunday, October 16th, at Salve Regina University's Pell Center for the launch party for my eighth book, AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life & Times of Senator Claiborne Pell.
Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse will speak, along with Salve president Sr. Jane Gerety, Salve chancellor Sr. M. Therese Antone, Congressman David Cicilline, and Nick and Clay Pell, Claiborne's grandsons. I will do a reading.
The event runs from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pell Center, 518 Bellevue Ave., Newport, R.I. Wine and other delights will be served. Legendary Providence Journal columnist M. Charles Bakst and other notable guests will be there.
More on the book at the UNCOMMON MAN site.

The War on Terror: Coming Home, Providence Journal series beginning this weekend

Photographer John Freidah and I have spent the last several months producing a seven-part Providence Journal series about veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It begins Sunday, Oct. 2, and runs every following Sunday through Nov. 6, but the first video, about a vet with PTSD, was posted online today at about 2 p.m. Very powerful.

Nice words accompany Phoenix interview!

David Scharfenberg, editor of The Providence Phoenix, had some very nice things to say in introducing an interview with me about my soon-to-be-released new book, AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell. And let me return the compliment: David, whose own fine writing I got to observe when he was on the staff of The Providence Journal, has done a superb job at the helm of his fine weekly, which I have been reading forever. Thanks, David!

UNCOMMON MAN available now on Kindle

The hard copy release is still on the horizon, but Amazon has released the Kindle version of the book. You can read it now! Details at the Amazon Uncommon Man site.

Books in Hand!

Pre-sale copies of AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell, my eighth book, seventh non-fiction, arrived at my home and I am delighted. University Press of New England did a fabulous job! After inscribing one to Yolanda, to whom the book is dedicated, I brought copies to Nuala Pell, who was similarly pleased. Nula and many other Pells, along with Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and lots of other folks, political and otherwise, will be joining me 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, at Salve Regina University's Pell Center for the book release party. Please join us. Books are expected to go on sale, through Amazon and in bookstores, about the end of September.

Back by popular demand!

More showings, more free DVDs... Join us this weekend at the Jane Pickens in Newport!

Bruce G. Sundlun, 1920 - 2011, RIP

I became a friend, and a bit of a biographer, of Bruce Sundlun in his later years, and so I was honored to write his obituary, published in today's Providence Journal. I have never met anyone like Bruce, and expect I never will again. God speed, Bruce.

Special Newport screening of HEDGEROW

NEWPORT, R.I. –– The Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center on Monday, August 8, will present a special one-year-anniversary showing of the 2010 hit documentary, BEHIND THE HEDGEROW: Eileen Slocum and the Meaning of Newport Society. Thirty-five people attending the showing that evening will receive free DVDs of the movie with bonus footage.

The feature-length film takes viewers inside the private world of aristocratic Newport –– a world of privilege that began with the Gilded Age, when Vanderbilts and Astors reigned. The story is told through the focus of Eileen Gillespie Slocum, the last of Newport’s grand dames and one of the last grand dames anywhere.

The opening-night feature of the 2010 Rhode Island International Film festival, BEHIND THE HEDGEROW received four stars from The Providence Journal, and was called “shockingly refreshing and funny” by Newport Mercury, “daringly intimate” by Newport Patch, “fascinating” by WRNI 102.7 FM/NPR Morning Edition, and “don’t miss” by Rhode Island Monthly.

The movie will screen at 6 p.m. Monday, August 8, at Jane Pickens, Touro Street, downtown Newport. Tickets will be $10. The first ten people to order online will each receive a free DVD. In addition, the first 25 people buying tickets at the box office will each receive a free DVD; tickets will go on sale at 5:30 p.m. that evening and will not be sold in advance, except for online purchases.

All ticket-buyers, online and box office, who do not qualify for the free DVD will be able to purchase it at a special one-time-only price of $12, a discount of 50 percent.

This is the movie that I wrote and co-produced with director Dave Bettencourt.

Pell bio pages and index proofed...

...and the Rhode Island Monthly excerpt is set for their popular August issue. This for AN UNCOMMON MAN, which hopedully will prove to be an uncommon book...

AN UNCOMMON MAN now on Amazon

AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell, is now available on Amazon. This biography, my eighth book, will be in bookstores in October.

The end of bin Laden and the Muslim world

Many writers are of course weighing in on this subject, but I find this essay contributed to CNN to be especially insightful.

More very nice press for HEDGEROW (again!)

In the days leading up to tonight's Rhode Island PBS broadcast premiere of the documentary, we've received lots of continued great coverage. Having been around (and in) the media for many years, I know it doesn't come gratuitously (or every day). And so thanks to the critics and reviewers who have said such nice things.

This review especially, in today's examiner.com Providence, was appreciated.

Critic Brandon Akers wrote, among other things: "The filmmakers’ passion for storytelling bleeds through every scene as the historical narrative unfolds. Through a series of vintage still photography, perfectly restored stock footage and live interviews, they masterfully capture every detail of this revered local culture. The filmmakers’ artful transitions, skilled scene framing and mindful scoring make for a heart felt telling of local history."

Thanks, Brandon, and all others who have been so kind.

PBS broadcasts of Hedgerow

Starting Wednesday, April 6, at 8 p.m.

New photos keep coming to the Pell bio slideshow

As I comb through Pell's personal scrapbooks and other sources, I am adding new photos to the UNCOMMON MAN web site. I have almost 60 up there now, all nicely organized and captioned, with many, many more to come.
Here's a rare shot of the Pell in swim trunks, from the 1960 campaign year.
Check the rest of them out at the UNCOMMON MAN slideshow.

Hedgerow heads for PBS broadcast premiere

March 22, 2011
For immediate release

NEWPORT, R.I. –– The critically acclaimed documentary BEHIND THE HEDGEROW: Eileen Slocum and the Meaning of Newport Society makes its broadcast debut at 8 p.m. on April 6, 2011, on WSBE/Rhode Island PBS.

The feature-length film takes viewers inside the private world of aristocratic Newport –– a world of privilege that began with the Gilded Age, when Vanderbilts and Astors reigned. The story is told through the focus of Eileen Gillespie Slocum, the last of Newport’s grand dames and one of the last grand dames anywhere.

The opening-night feature of the 2011 Rhode Island International Film festival, BEHIND THE HEDGEROW received four stars from The Providence Journal, and was called “shockingly refreshing and funny” by Newport Mercury, “daringly intimate” by Newport Patch, “fascinating” by WRNI 102.7 FM/NPR Morning Edition, and “don’t miss” by Rhode Island Monthly. It enjoyed a long theatrical run at Newport’s Jane Pickens Theater during the late summer and fall of 2010.

The April 6 PBS premiere will be followed by broadcasts at 7 p.m. on April 9 and 11 p.m. on April 10, among other times. Details at the Rhode Island PBS site.

The HEDGEROW director’s cut DVD with bonus footage is available now and may be ordered at http://www.behindthehedgerow.com/purchase.php. It is also available for purchase at gift shops of The Preservation Society of Newport County, which operates The Breakers, Marble House and other Newport mansions and sites.

BEHIND THE HEDGEROW is the second title from Eagle Peak Media, the production company founded in 2008 by writer G. Wayne Miller and director David Bettencourt. ON THE LAKE, EPM’s first title, premiered in February 2009 and has been broadcast in PBS markets across America. It was nominated for an Emmy by the New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

For more, visit The Hedgerow site or Eagle Peak Media.

Pell Bio excerpt to run in RI Monthly

I have just reached agreement with Rhode Island Monthly allowing the magazine to run a substantial excerpt of AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell in their August issue, which is their biggest newsstand seller of the year. This will be an enormous boost for the book, and I am grateful to the magazine for their interest!

New Pell biography web site is up and running!

A few tweaks remain, but the dedicated web site for AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell, due for publication in October, is now live.

The site features an excerpt from the book and a photo gallery, among other attractions. I am still organizing the gallery, adding captions and more photos. Eventually, I expect this to be a great resource not only for the book, but also to those interested in Pell and the period from JFK to Clinton.

Since we do not have the cover yet, nor a page on Amazon, some links are not yet operative. Still, I invite you to visit -- and offer any suggestions you might have.

Pell bio launch plans advance...

A firm date has been set for publication of AN UNCOMMON MAN: October 11, 2011. Fortuitously, the New England Independent Booksellers Association's Fall Convention is in Providence this year, and we will have a strong presence there.

And the official launch party has been set: it will be 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, at Salve Regina University's Pell Center. Salve is such a great place, and they have been very kind to me over the years, most recently with the Newport premiere in August 2010 of BEHIND THE HEDGEROW. We expect a great crowd at the book launch, including many of the people who enjoyed Hedgerow on that hot August day.

I also will soon have the redesigned Pell bio web site. EasyWeb Creations, which has designed several, is roughing out the pages now.

Be well (and warm).

News on the Pell biography

A new title, book launch planning and more at The Pell biography blog.