Sam I am

I’m assuming that the New York Times will fix this problem quickly, but it was amusing to read the following paragraph in the middle of an article on stifling discussion on climate change:

Normally, Ms. McCarthy would not be free to describe such conversations to the news media, but she agreed to an interview after Mr. Acosta, at NASA headquarters, told The Times that she would not face any retribution for doing soI said I’d indicate this to help inoculate her against later tsuris. – andy.

The article was written by Andrew Revkin; the last sentence is almost certainly supposed to be a non-printing editorial note from the author to the editor. The error is especially interesting to me as part of my job at Sports Illustrated and Time Inc. is to make sure that technical problems are never the cause of such a mistake. Good use of the word “tsuris,” though.

[Update: A new version has been posted without the editorial note less than 30 minutes after I sent the New York Times a note regarding this error.]

I sent the following letter to the editor of the New York Times this evening. I thought both columns and the referenced essay were very interesting and thought-provoking. You have to be registered to read the New York Times; in addition, you have to be a member of Times Select to read David Brooks’ columns. If you are a subscriber, you are a member of Times Select. Even if you don’t read Brooks’ column, I recommend reading both Terry Martin Hekker’s column and Linda Hirshman’s essay.

“The Year of Domesticity” versus “Paradise Lost (Domestic Division)”

To the Editor:

I found David Brooks’ column, “The Year of Domesticity” (Jan. 1), very interesting, especially as I had just finished reading “Paradise Lost (Domestic Division)” by Terry Martin Hekker (Modern Love column, Sunday Styles section, Jan. 1). While Mr. Brooks dismisses an essay by Linda Hirshman that exhorts women not to comprise their careers as “1975 time-warp feminism,” Ms. Hekker writes of the difficulty of being divorced and single after a life of raising children and being a housewife without a career. In addition, Ms. Hekker discussed how the column she wrote for the New York Times in 1977 regarding her fulfilling life as a housewife now makes her “cringe.” If anyone should be accused of having a view from the 1970s, it’s Mr. Brooks. Ms. Hekker needed 25 years and a divorce to realize that women need to have skills and experience beyond keeping a household and raising a family; how long will it take Mr. Brooks?

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Tom Dowdy (a.k.a. Butter Pig) linked to a really interesting page of spices earlier today. It is a great site containing descriptions of thousands of spices.

My friend Sarah Cullen is a producer at Jim Brown productions. She has been working for him for several years. The production company has done a ton of music documentaries. One of their recent films, Isn’t This a Time, is now showing at Quad Cinema in New York City. Sarah is an co-produceer for the film.

This movie is terrific, and you should see it.

The film delivers a strong message that people have the power to change the world. The people in this movie have been on the forefront of any number of just causes, and they have paid a personal price for their stances.

The 2003 tribute concert for Harold Leventhal provided the backdrop of the film. He is a concert producer who helped deliver the message of many people in this movie. One of the most prominent acts he produced was the Weavers. After being blacklisted in the 1950s, the Weavers were not able to perform and the group broke up. We don’t really have a “blacklist” today. In the 1950s, it meant that the Weavers were not able to perform or be played on the radio. To allow the Weavers to be heard meant risking being hauled in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)–not to mention being blacklisted yourself. There was no Internet, and realistically, being blacklisted meant you would never be heard.

Harold Leventhal took a stand when no one else would. He brought the Weavers back together for a concert at Carnegie Hall. His influence did not stop there. He managed any number of folk musicians and produced hundreds of concerts. And as Woody Guthrie became sick, he became a second father to Arlo Guthrie, later becoming Arlo’s manager.

Ronnie Gilbert is one of the Weavers. In the movie, she described the current political climate being worse than that of the 1950s. I can hardly disagree, because she was there and I was not. And yet, I cannot imagine how much worse the world would have been if she; the rest of the Weavers; Pete Seeger (a founding member of the Weavers); Peter, Paul, and Mary; and the other people in this film had not taken the stands they did. We take the ability to perform civil disobedience in the United States for granted now; it is only because of the people who came before us that our country can accept this kind of behavior.

There was a party before the movie; Ronnie Gilbert was there and sang a couple of songs. Her voice is amazing.

I went with my Mom, who said, “I’ve been in love with Ronnie Gilbert for 50 years!” My mom was thrilled to be able to meet her.

Thank you, Sarah, for a fun night and an amazing film!