James Patterson Sends Best Wishes to newlyweds Mrs. and Mrs. Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner

Congratulations to newlyweds Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner!!

    

(Henny Ray Abrams/AFP/Getty Images) - Actress Lily Tomlin married her longtime partner, Jane Wagner, left, on New Year's Eve in Los Angeles. In this 2001 photo, the pair hold up the Tony Award nominations they earned as producers of "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," during a nominees brunch in New York. "Intelligent Life" I saw at KenCen in the 1980s.

 

James Patterson

 

James Patterson at "Fruitvale Station" for 5th Anniversary of Oscar Grant

James Patterson attends 5th anniversary vigil for Oscar Grant RIP at Fruitvale Station. A crowd estimated over 200 held vigil with family of Oscar Grant to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 22-year-old father of one brutally murdered by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police on January 1, 2009, at Fruitvale Station. Grant's mother, girlfriend and 9-year-old daughter were present as was filmmaker Ryan Coogler, and rappers Ras Ceylon and Jasiri X.

Coogler's critically acclaimed 2012 "Fruitvale Station" documented Grant's killing by a white South African BART police officer at the East Bay BART station. The BART officer ordered Grant off the train and ordered him face down on the BART platform. The police officer fatally shot Grant in the back.

The race motivated murder immediately drew international outrage and protests. BART was ordered by a court to pay Grant's daughter over $1 million. The BART officer was eventually arrested and claimed he only intended to use his Taser on Grant and accidentally fired his revolver. The officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sent to prison.

Tatiana Grant, daughter of Oscar Grant, Grant's "Uncle Buddy," pictured here courtesy of a local photographer, were among the many people who wore Oscar Grant t-shirts at the vigil.

When the verdict came down on BART police officer Mehserle, I was in the Burton Federal Building in San Francisco speaking with DHS staff. Top Homeland Security officials advised all employees to leave the building early as riots were expected in Downtown San Francisco. Luckily, we were spared but rioting did break out in Oakland with angry mobs looting stores, breaking store windows, assaulting passersby, and stopping traffic. It was awful to see so many minorities who felt they had no voice in the justice system and reverted violence and theft.

James Patterson and Gish Prize Winner Anna Deavere Smith's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

James Patterson with THE San Francisco ticket of 2014!
Anna Deavere Smith performs "Letter from Birmingham Jail" March 10 at Grace Episcopal Cathedral.

James Patterson has a front row seat for Gish Prize winner Anna Deavere Smith's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," based on the historical letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

James Patterson avec Letty en "Le Vent."

James Patterson avec Letty en "Le Vent"

Gish Prize Winner Smith to perform Letter from Birmingham Jail at Grace Cathedral, March 10.

Monday, March 10, 2014 7:30 pm

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith , Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize winner, returns to Grace Cathedral with renowned violinist Robert McDuffie for a performance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail. This special event is one night only, and also features pianist Anne Epperson. Tickets on sale now - don't delay!
Tickets: $30 - $150

- See more at: http://www.gracecathedral.org/calendar/detail.php?cid=21747#sthash.qW9542Up.dpuf

LDGish.blogspot.com has subscribers and friends flying in for this special one night only event certain to memorable and moving.

James Patterson
1.415.516.3493

Gish Prize Wnner Anna Deavere Smith to Speak at Grace Cathedral March 9

Art and Human Rights

Guests: Anna Deavere Smith and Robert McDuffie

Interlocutor: The Very Rev. Dr. Jane Shaw

 Event is free and Open to the Public

 

 

Anna Deavere Smith

Anna Deavere Smith is an actress and playwright, and is said to have created a new form of theater. Her prizes include a MacArthur fellowship, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Award, two Tony nominations, two Obies and others. She was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for her play Fires in the Mirror and has created over 15 one-person shows based on hundreds of interviews, most of which deal with social issues. These shows include Twilight: Los Angeles, about the Los Angeles race riots of 1992, and Let Me Down Easy, focused on health care in the United States. In popular culture she can be seen in Nurse Jackie, The West Wing, The American President, Rachel Getting Married, Philadelphia, and other movies and television programs. She has received several honorary degrees: among them from Juilliard, University of Pennsylvania, Spelman, Williams, Northwestern, and Radcliffe. She serves on the boards of the Museum of Modern Art, The Aspen Institute and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. She received the Dean’s Medal from Stanford Medical School and is University Professor at NYU. Ms. Smith is a Trustee at Grace Cathedral, and served as the cathedral’s inaugural Artist in Residence in 2012. She continues to develop On Grace, the work she premiered at Grace Cathedral on February 17 and 18, 2012.

(Editor's note: Kerry Stowell and James Patterson saw Twilight: Los Angeles at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC)

 

 

 

Robert McDuffie

Robert McDuffie is a Grammy nominated artist that has appeared with most of the world's major orchestras. He recently gave the world premiere of Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 2, and The American Four Seasons, a work written for Robert McDuffie with the Toronto Symphony.   In the 2010 - 2011 season, Mr. McDuffie completed a 30-city tour of the United States with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, where he paired the Glass Four Seasons with the Vivaldi Four Seasons. He then recorded The American Four Seasons with the London Philharmonic and Marin Alsop on Philip Glass' Orange Mountain Music label. His acclaimed Telarc and EMI recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber, Rozsa, Bernstein, William Schuman, and Viennese violin favorites. Future plans include a collaboration with Mike Mills, of the iconic rock band R.E.M., the Aspen Festival and performances with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. He is founder of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and of the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Rome, Italy.

 

 

 This event is part of the Sunday morning Forum at Grace Cathedral, March 9 at 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Free and open  to the public. Deavere and McDuffiee will appear in a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr play at Grace on Monday, March 10. Tickets range from $30 to $150 for this performance and tickets may be purchased while available from GraceCathedral.org

James Patterson
Member, California Historical Society
Member, Alabama Historical Association
LM Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
1.415.516.3493

LDGish.Blogspot.com Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr Holiday

Karen screened the below on January 20 at The Film Forum. Become a member of Film Forum today and keep classic and international film alive in the West Village.

KING: A FILMED RECORD… MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS Mon, January 20 7:30 ONLY Back by popular demand! In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an epic record of the Civil Rights movement's greatest leader, with the great speeches shown in their entirety, and featuring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, James Earl Jones, Anthony Quinn, and Charlton Heston in sequences directed by Sidney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Here is my 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr holiday card designed exclusively for me by SF King Works Inside I had a paragraph on my dad's Guard service in Alabama in the 1960s. Response came back people wanted more content. My next order will have more about Dad and a paragraph on may issues and values. Thanks for all the great feedback from coast-to-coast and researchers from BFI. James Patterson Member, California Historical Society Member, Alabama Historical Society Member, Agricultural History Society, Annual Meetings at Provo in June