Park Theatre
37 North Main St.
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Built 1888
Destroyed by Fire 1975
"Woonsocket Opera House was completed in 1888 on North Main Street near Monument Square. Later converted to a movie theater named the Park Theater, it showed its last movie in 1963. Fire destroyed this impressive structure on September 22, 1975". - woonsocket.org
Park Theatre aka Woonsocket Opera House - My Home Town on the Web
Park Theatre - Cinema Treasures
Woonsocket, Rhode Island - wiki
Note: The exhibit closed yesterday. But you can still see samples at the Deborah Page Gallery web site.
Lori Petty- imdb
Lori Petty - wiki
Happy 78th Birthday!
John Astin
Born March 30, 1930
"We all struggle, and I had plenty of that, but I've had a great time. I've done hundreds of TV shows and 30 to 40 movies, and I love acting. I'm very happy having done the Poe. That's been really terrific."
Besides bringing to life the legendary character Gomez Addams, actor John Astin has played Poe. This You Tube clip is a sample of his portrayal. He has toured in the one-man play Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight, written by Paul Day Clemens and Ron Magid. (I saw an earlier version of this play years ago in Hollywood with Clemens in the title role. Clemens and his wife attended our POE HUMOUR event in 2001.) John Astin currently teaches acting and directing at his alma mater Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, his home town.
John Astin - imdb
John Astin - wiki
Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight - starring John Astin
Poe Humour - PoeForward.com
"The Raven" - Poe Funeral text
John Astin: Actor, Director, Professor
These clubs were here when I was a kid in the 1960s. They were and still are on Western Ave. near Rosecrans Blvd. In those days, Rosecrans was the informal DMZ between South Central and Gardena. I think the actual line is 135th Street, where the city limits end, so I may have to correct myself. I grew up on 148th Street, just a few blocks south of Rosecrans in North Gardena where most of the Japanese-Americans lived. Gardena was SIN CITY in the 1950s and 60s. Poker was legal and Gardena had the card clubs. My father worked the bars on Vermont Ave. near all the card clubs on the Gardena side of the railroad tracks. The strip clubs kept a low profile. Even as kids, we took them for granted and never gave them a second look. I never saw a naked woman running around the neighborhood.
Julianna Redding Crime Scene
1527 Centinela Ave.
Santa Monica, CA
Julianna Redding - imdb
Aspiring Model Found Dead in Santa Monica Apartment - LAist
Juliana Redding - The Homicide Report - L.A. Times
Aspiring Model Juliana Maureen Redding Found Dead in Santa Monica - abc7.com
Coincidence?
Alexander "Sasha" Merman - Santa Monica Homicide - The Homicide Report - L.A. Times
Another Apparent Santa Monica Apartment Murder - LAist
New Poe Forward Dead Girl:
Julianna Redding
1987 - 2008
RIP
Julianna Redding - imdb
Aspiring Model Found Dead in Santa Monica Apartment - LAist
Juliana Redding - The Homicide Report - L.A. Times
Aspiring Model Juliana Maureen Redding Found Dead in Santa Monica - abc7.com
Coincidence?
Alexander "Sasha" Merman - Santa Monica Homicide - The Homicide Report - L.A. Times
Another Apparent Santa Monica Apartment Murder - LAist
Poe Forward's Dead Girls - PoeForward.com
The Original Dead Girl: Mary Rogers - Marie Roget - PoeForward.com
September 21. 1997
MY FIRST MISTER
Screenplay by Jill Franklyn
Synopsis by Brian Aldrich
Seventeen year old JENNIFER ANNE WALTERS is an angry young woman. She wears black, has several different face and body piercings, and spends most of her time relaxing in the cemetery. Her hippie father left her Donna Reed mother when she was a child and Jennifer grew up alone, lonely and resentful. After graduating high school, anti-social Jennifer finds it impossible to keep a job until she goes to work in a Century City clothing store owned and operated by RANDOLPH, a paunchy fortyish fellow, who treats her with understanding and respect.
Randolph and Jennifer become friends. Her teaches her how to dress and helps her get an apartment away from her mom, SYLVIE, and her stepfather, BOB. Although there is a sexual attraction, Randolph and Jennifer remain platonic friends. Randolph reveals he was once married long ago, but the marriage didn’t work out. Eventually, Jennifer finds out Randolph is dying of cancer. He encourages Jennifer to embrace what family she has and get to know and appreciate them. So, as Randolph lies dying in a hospital bed, Jennifer visits her long lost hippie father, BENJAMIN, and his former mistress, now his wife SHEILA. Jennifer even apologizes to her mother for being a poor daughter and promises to be friends. Mom faints.
Jennifer wants to make Randolph happy. She drives to Arizona to find his long lost wife, SARA, but learns she has recently died from her handsome son RANDY, 19, who learns from Jennifer that his never-seen father, Randolph, is dying. Jennifer and Randy drive back to L.A. in his van. They enjoy one another and their mutual attraction is obvious. Meanwhile, Randolph moves back home to die, accompanied by PATTY, his friend and nurse. Jennifer and Randy arrive to find Randolph and Patty having sex. Jennifer holds a once-in-a-lifetime family dinner including Sylvie and Bob, Benjamin and Sheila, Randolph, Randy and Patty. It is a special night of forgiveness. After Randolph dies, she reflects on how he changed her life and looks forward to a future with Randy.
Summary Criticism: The characters are three-dimensional and sympathetic; the plot is engaging and humorous.
My First Mister (2001) - imdb
My First Mister (2001) - wiki
Old Orchard Beach, Maine was the favorite summer vacation haunt for the New England French-Canadians. The Parenteau family went there frequently. My mother Doralice and her best friend Jeanne are featured in this series of photos. According to my mother, my father showed up unexpectedly in Old Orchard to join them. Was he keeping an eye on her? Was it a prideful statement of independence after not being invited? Or was he invited, but with no room in the family automobile, he had to hitchhike? I like to think it was the romantic in them both.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke
December 16, 1917 - March 19, 2008
RIP
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke - wiki
Poe dabbled with science fiction. In "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," the scientist uses hypnotism (mesmerism) to prolong life beyond death. In "Some Words with a Mummy," a team of scientists use a galvanic battery to resurrect the dead. Even "The Balloon Hoax," "Maelzel's Chess Player" and Poe's Moon Hoax "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" contain elements of science fiction.
Towards the end of his life, he began formulating his own cosmology. While this is the work of an early 19th century man, Poe is a modern, schooled in the classics at Jefferson's University, and living among the best of American intellect and letters. When you read Poe's "Eureka," it is amazing how much of it turns out to be on the right track, even when it's wrong. Known for his hoaxes, many thought Poe had written a satire on Transcendentalism, a movement he detested. In my opinion, I think that while Poe detested the formal "movement" aspect of Transcendentalism, he shared, to some degree, the Transcendentalists' desire to fuse the intellect with the spiritual.
Eureka (1848) is a lengthy non-fiction work by American author Edgar Allan Poe which he subtitled "A Prose Poem," though it has also been subtitled as "An Essay on the Material and Spiritual Universe." Adapted from a lecture he had presented, Eureka describes Poe's intuitive conception of the nature of the universe with no scientific work done to reach his conclusions. He also discusses man's relationship with God, who he compares to an author. It is dedicated to the German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Though it is generally considered unscientific, many of Poe's theories predate later accepted scientific theories including Black Holes. - wiki
"Eureka: A Prose Poem - An Essay on the Material and Spiritual Universe" (1848) - wiki
People Poe Influenced - Poe Forward
"Some Words with a Mummy" - Poe Forward Events: Poe Humour
Poe Humour - Poe Forward Events
Transcendentalism - wiki
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" - wiki
"The Balloon Hoax" - Poe Forward Events: Poe Humour
"The Balloon Hoax" - wiki
"Maelzel's Chess Player" - wiki
"The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" - wiki
The Great Moon Hoax - wiki
I have absolutely no idea who the kid is with Audrey. He must've lived in the neighborhood. 148th Street and Normandie, Gardena
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre - Hollywood
American Cinematheque - Grauman's Egyptian Theatre - Hollywood
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre - Hollywood - wiki
Precious Blood Catholic Church
94 Carrington Avenue
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Built 1881
Precious Blood Catholic Church in Woonsocket, Rhode Island was the home parish of the Parenteau family. My mother and father were married here in 1950. I was baptised there in 1955. I took this photograph in the summer of 1985. This image was scanned from a faded print in 2008.
Precious Blood Catholic Church - Woonsocket, RI - My Home Town
Eglise Precieux-Sang - Woonsocket, RI - Quebec History
Donna is my Godmother's daughter. This is a picture I took in the back seat of the car enroute to visiting Plymouth Rock and Plymouth Plantations in the summer of 1970. I remember having great fun with my effervescent new friend who shared the same interest as myself in the popular music of the period. If you look closely in this series of photos, you'll see me wearing a peace medallion and frequently giving the peace sign. I'm so embarrassed, but youth is frequently filled with pretensions and mine was overflowing.
My Godmother Jeanne is/was my mother's lifelong best friend. Across this site, you will see (or already have seen) many photographs of my mother Doralice and Jeanne together. You'll see them in their Catholic girl schooldays and the vacations in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. You'll see them at the mill, the cafes, and the neighborhoods in their hometown Woonsocket, Rhode Island. They spent their motherhood years living apart from each other on separate coasts, but we visited sometimes, certainly not often enough. Through letters they shared the experience of watching their children become adults. Jeanne and her husband Fred adjusted their Hawaii vacation to attend my wedding. I danced with my godmother at my wedding. How sentimental of me. My parents visited them in Cumberland for a final time. I have the pictures. From their schooldays to their senior years, you'll always see them together smiling and having fun. These two French Canadian gals were the archetypical best friends.
