The Friends of Old-Time Radio, a convention

October 24, 2009: The Holiday Inn in Newark, NJ
Wow! RadioLovers.com



This is the very talented, Brian Gari. He is an outstanding panel host who is exceedingly knowledgeable and he moves things along with a huge amount of enthusiasm and contagious joy. He and Stu Weiss moderated a discussion with guests Clay Cole, Eugene Pitt, Tracey Dey, and Billy Goldenberg. The hour included film and audio clips.
Brian is the grandson of Eddie Cantor.
Here is my interview from last April with Brian Gari.


This is the very beautiful Janet Cantor Gari, the daughter of the phenomenal entertainer, Eddie Cantor. She is Brian Gari's mother.


This is the infamous hoaxer, Alan Abel.


This is Tracey Dey, Clay Cole, and Brian Gari.


This is the legendary Joe Franklin. At the convention, he was the host of the Joe Franklin Show with Mary Owen, Lillian Murphy (Harvest of the Stars) and Cherie Becker (wife of Sandy Becker).


This is "Billy" Goldenberg. He is the composer who wrote the scores for many of Steven Spielberg's films and also for the TV series Kojak and the TV series Columbo.


This is the great Eugene Sampson Pitt who sang with "The Jive Five."


I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Owen, the daughter of Donna Reed, at the convention. She told me about letters she found that were written to her mother. Mary Owen speaks in the NYTimes about the G.I. letters sent to her mother, Donna Reed, during WW II.

Holiday Party at The Comic Strip Live, 2009

Hello Bob and Gladys and Dean Obeidallah!


Who is this? Why it's Bob and Gladys and Howard Feller!


This is the very funny Michele Balan.


This is the inimitable Robin Byrd.


This is the great and talented Nore Davis.


See ya next year!


These photos are from the 2008 holiday party at The Comic Strip.










These photos are from a 2008 event at the Drama Book Shop:



These were taken in November 2008, at an event at the Drama Book Shop with Ilene Kristen and Brian Gari. I am holding Brian's book "We Bombed in New London." I also got his mother's book "Don't Wear Silver in the Winter" which is about her relationship with her own mother. I could not put it down and read it in one sitting.

Some Happy Dance Cred

Cyber-analyists at Twitter drew a personality profile about me:
"I know, right? I looked at all three blogs and she had a tough and sad life. I feel sorry for her."
Three blogs? Try six!

I have a "sad life?" Tell me something I DON'T KNOW! LMAO.
Here's some photos to show you how I manage to keep my life marginally happy. It's a hard daily struggle, believe me! LOL
Some photos were taken in October 2008 at the Drama Book Shop and the others are from the 2008 holiday party at The Comic Strip Live. I look darn good for 63, no? Oh, wait. I was 61 when these were taken.

These photos were taken at the Drama Book Shop, in NYC, in October 2008.
This is me with Brian Gari, the grandson of Eddie Cantor. I am holding Brian's book "We Bombed in New London." I also got his mother's book "Don't Wear Silver in the Winter" which is about her relationship with her own mother. I could not put it down and read it in one sitting. You can read my interview with Brian here.

This is me with Ilene Kristen, "Roxy," on All My Children.



These photos were taken at The Comic Strip's holiday party in 2008.
This is me with Alan Colmes.

These are photos of the comics.



This is my wonderful comedy booker, Gladys, and a comic.


I tried real hard to get some comics to go over to Twitter and reply to some of the crap about me in that dopey frenzy. They said it was idiotic nonsense, and they did not want to play! :-(
They said that stupid pile-on activity is for amateur wannabes! LOL

The Friends of Old-Time Radio, a convention

a repost and bumped up:

October 24, 2009: The Holiday Inn in Newark, NJ
Wow! RadioLovers.com



This is the very talented, Brian Gari. He is an outstanding panel host who is exceedingly knowledgeable and he moves things along with a huge amount of enthusiasm and contagious joy. He and Stu Weiss moderated a discussion with guests Clay Cole, Eugene Pitt, Tracey Dey, and Billy Goldenberg. The hour included film and audio clips.
Brian is the grandson of Eddie Cantor.
Here is my interview from last April with Brian Gari.


This is the very beautiful Janet Cantor Gari, the daughter of the phenomenal entertainer, Eddie Cantor. She is Brian Gari's mother.


This is the infamous hoaxer, Alan Abel.


This is Tracey Dey, Clay Cole, and Brian Gari.


This is the legendary Joe Franklin. At the convention, he was the host of the Joe Franklin Show with Mary Owen, Lillian Murphy (Harvest of the Stars) and Cherie Becker (wife of Sandy Becker).


This is "Billy" Goldenberg. He is the composer who wrote the scores for many of Steven Spielberg's films and also for the TV series Kojak and the TV series Columbo.


This is the great Eugene Sampson Pitt who sang with "The Jive Five."


I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Owen, the daughter of Donna Reed, at the convention. She told me about letters she found that were written to her mother. Mary Owen speaks in the NYTimes about the G.I. letters sent to her mother, Donna Reed, during WW II.

Clay Cole, RIP

This photo of Clay Cole was taken by me in October 2009, when I attended The Friends of Old Time Radio Convention. Here is Clay Cole with Tracey Dey and Brian Gari.
Clay Cole passed away today.

Some More Photos

Ilene Kristen (Roxy) is on "One Life to Live" today. So, here is a photo of me with Ilene taken at the Drama Bookshop in 2008.



This is me with Brian Gari, who is Eddie Cantor's grandson. I interviewed him last year. You can read the interview here.



And this is me with Alan Colmes, at the Comic Strip's holiday party of 2008!




I read and worked those rooms like Perez Hilton at a Vanity Fair Oscar party! LMAO Why should I miss some great opportunities for good photo ops? OK, fangirl out!

Brian Gari, at "Don't Tell Mama"

Tonight, I went to "Don't Tell Mama" to attend a show by Brian Gari which honored the Beach Boy songwriter Brian Wilson on his 67th birthday. Brian Gari performed his complete album, "Brian Sings Wilson," which features rare songs by the legendary songwriter. In his description of his show, Brian Gari writes, "for this special event, Brian Gari will utilize the layered vocal and instrumental tracks of his CD to replicate the Beach Boys sound he created on the original album. He will also be playing electric guitar along with these tracks to enhance the concert performance."
In the audience were Joe Franklin, Janet Gari, who is the daughter of Eddie Cantor and Brian Gari's mother, Alan Colmes, and Yvonne Roome, a singer who performs in many NYC cabaret clubs.

Brian Gari, songwriter/performer/author

photo credit: Marjorie J. Levine © 2009

I first saw Brian Gari on October 24, 2008 at the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention held in Newark, NJ. He moderated a very interesting panel discussion with guests such as Lucie Arnaz, Betty Rose, and Ervin Drake. Joe Franklin was there, too. Brian presented a loving tribute to his father, Roberto Gari, who passed away in January 2008. 

I was very impressed with Brian's participation, so I went to the Drama Book Shop and I bought his book, "We Bombed In New London," to learn more about him and his career. I sent this on April 15, 2009: Brian: I am almost finished reading "We Bombed In New London," and I am loving it so much I am not wanting it to end. This is a fascinating story of a true journey... and I think what is so amazing is how the narrative is factually presented with visual memorabilia and is also written with layers of extremely dark wit and humor. It is hilarious! I am just astounded by so many parts. And it is so well presented that I feel as if I am actually watching the "vignettes" unfold. The book has sort of Larry David "Curb Your Enthusiasm" moments: p. 47: "(David Susskind) wasn't on the phone more than ten seconds when he screamed, "I'll never get involved in musicals again!" I guess he was right; he died a very short time after my phone call." p. 115: "He didn't give a shit. He would report me. Imagine continuing to ride with this obstinate jerk." p. 116 "I was flattered. My songs being bootlegged? What fun!" p. 182 "Gee. I was shaking in my boots. I had incurred the wrath of the great Cindy Adams." 

"I think you did a great job showing in subtle ways how people interact and relate to each other. Brian, your book is just wonderful. Let me put it this way: it's a book that is the best independent film I have ever read. 

Marjorie."  

Shortly after I sent the above E-mail to Brian, I wrote to him again and asked if he would be interviewed for this blog. He immediately replied, "sure," and we met on Thursday, April 30th, at noon... in the Key West Diner on upper Broadway. We started to talk, and right away I was impressed with Brian's straightforward, honest, and down-to-earth manner. He spoke about his musical, "Late Nite Comic," and he said he realized the show's "time (on Broadway) was short." He discussed, in a very forthright manner, how the last few days of the show turned into a "free-for-all" because the performers were not getting the response they expected. He wrote "Late Nite Comic" based on his relationship with his girlfriend at the time, named Janet. Janet never saw the show. Brian says in his book she blocked all communication with him. This was a huge disappointment to him that he lives with to this day. We then discussed Brian's "Love Online," which is based on his real-life experience about finding love on the internet. He met a woman on AOL who answered his written ad. They had many E-mail exchanges and telephone conversations... and he fell in love with her "through her words." He fell in love with her phrasing, the depth of her conversations, and her life story. And after they finally met, the romantic relationship lasted two and a half years. He was strongly emotionally involved and their connection was deep. Brian insists it is possible to fall in love before meeting because... he "lived it." 

 Brian has an extensive list of accomplishments. He has a salute to Brian Wilson, which he will be performing at Don't Tell Mama and he has done a Christmas album as well as a Brazilian album. He did a salute to the music of Roger Nichols and Paul Wiilliams. Brian is still writing songs and doing speeches with his mother about his grandfather, Eddie Cantor. He is also working on a musical about his grandfather. This was an enjoyable interview for me and I thank Brian very much for sharing his insights and pieces of his personal experiences. He is an extremely talented man and he is as heartfelt in person as he is in his writing.