Literary Arts
Mitchell Kaplan: A Man for All Seasons
Introduction to Mitchell Kaplan. 1:46 min. Edit: John Perez. Music: Carmen Cicero. Photo & design: Raymond Elman. Everybody who reads books in the Miami area knows that Mitchell Kaplan is the highly successful founder of the independent bookstore group, Books & Books, and co-founder of the Miami Book Fair, the largest book fair in the United States. A while back, Inspicio published a written interview with Kaplan, focused on Books & Books and the Miami Book Fair, both of which are over 30 years old. What...
read moreDaniel Okrent’s 2004 New York Times Column Even More Relevant Today
Editor’s Note: In October 2003, Daniel Okrent was named the first public editor for the New York Times (NYT) following the Jayson Blair scandal. Okrent served in that position until May 2005. In June 2004, he wrote the piece below about the overuse and misuse of ANONYMOUS SOURCES. Given the current howling about anonymous sources, the constant declarations about “fake news,” and calling the press the “enemy of the people” during the Trump era, I thought it would be worthwhile to reconsider Okrent’s 2004 column and a follow-up comment he...
read moreIOUs from Baghdad
The day Sergeant Cartwright’s Humvee rolled over an improvised explosive device (IED) and detonated on notorious Route Irish, we returned to the outpost to learn that Stinky, our goat, was inside bleeding, and screaming. The outpost was an abandoned school in the center of Bagdad. A large, concrete structure with echoing halls, two guard towers and a barbed wire perimeter. We lived in what was once the gym, our cots lined up like dominos; ammo, rifles, body armor and pads crowding the slim walkways between beds. I was in the...
read moreA Conversation with Author Debra Dean
Introduction to Debra Dean. 0:46 sec. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. Music: Soul and Mind by E’s Jammy Jams Debra Dean is the bestselling author of four critically acclaimed books that have been published in twenty-one languages. Her debut, The Madonnas of Leningrad, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice novel, a #1 Booksense Pick, a Booklist Top Ten Novel, and an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year. It was long listed for the IMPAC International Dublin Literary Award. Confessions of a Falling...
read moreA Video Conversation with
Poet Campbell McGrath
Introduction to Campbell McGrath. 1:39 min. Video montage: Jade Cheek. Campbell McGrath grew up in Washington, D.C. where he attended Sidwell Friends School. He received his B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1984 and his MFA from Columbia University’s creative writing program in 1988. He currently lives in Miami Beach, Florida, and teaches creative writing at Florida International University. McGrath has been recognized by some of the most prestigious American poetry awards, including the Kingsley Tufts...
read moreKilling Griffin
By Anne Bernays
Excerpt from Killing Griffin, chapter one. “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” — Ernest Hemingway Union Square is to Somerville what Harvard Square is to Cambridge, that is, its very heart. There all similarities end. But that’s not quite accurate: there’s no store that sells underwear in either place. For an idea of the international character of Somerville, all you have to do is look at the range of places where you can sample the international cuisine — such as it is...
read moreA Video Chat with Pulitzer Prize-Recipient Jane Smiley
Introduction to Jane Smiley. 3:00 min. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. Video Montage: Jade Cheek. Music: Hard Times Come Again No More · Stephen Collins Foster · Alisa Jones Wildwood Flower. Jane Smiley (b.1949) was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. She obtained a BA in literature at Vassar College, then earned an MA, MFA, and PhD from the University of Iowa. While working toward her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a...
read moreCelebrating National Poetry Month 2018
To celebrate National Poetry Month 2018 and O, Miami 2018, Inspicio has mashed together video recorded readings by notable poets Campbell McGrath, Marie Howe, Richard Blanco, Denise Duhamel, and Mark Doty. For more information about O, Miami and National Poetry Month activities, check out the following websites: O, Miami Poetry Festival The Betsy Hotel The videos below are organized by poet and run between 44 seconds and 4 minutes. Tap on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos. CAMPBELL MCGRATH: 4:08...
read moreMorton Dean: A Noble Career in Broadcast Journalism
Introduction to Morton Dean. 2:23 min. Painting: Raymond Elman. Pictured Above Is At Least One Person Who Loves the Boston Red Sox and Edward Hopper’s House. 60 x 40 inches. Oil & digital collage on canvas. Morton Dean (b.1935) is an award-winning American television and radio news anchor, broadcast news correspondent, documentary film director, and author. Dean is a former weekend news anchor for CBS Evening News, as well as ABC’s Good Morning America. While a correspondent for CBS News for 20 years and...
read moreThe Remarkable Jonathan Plutzik
Introduction to Jonathan Plutzik. 5:53 min. Drone video: Zachary Plutzik. Music: The (New) Beethoven Quartets. The 32 Piano Sonatas Reimagined. By Jeffery Briggs. Piano Sonata in C-minor, op. 13. Performed by the Amernet String Quartet. Photo & Design: Raymond Elman. How does the son of a poet become the owner of the most culturally advanced hotel in the world? Practice, practice, practice. (The hyperbole is mine until proven otherwise.) And with a “little” help from his family and friends — for the...
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