Friday, July 22, 2011

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.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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.