The first annual Algonquin West Hollywood Literary Award Soiree event will be held on Saturday, September 29 at the Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90069, at 7:00 p.m. The event will honor the literary achievements of acclaimed author Mark Salzman and will be a benefit for PEN in the Classroom, a writing program that focuses on under-served high school students in Southern California. Tickets are $20.
The benefit will include a performance of Gertrude Stein's "Miss Furr and Miss Skeene" and a staged reading, "Celebrating Dorothy and Her Friends", created by local theatre artist Michael Kearns and featuring a host of celebrated actors (including Bruce Davison, Mary Jo Catlett, John Glover, Tonya Pinkins, Gordon Thomson and Chloe Webb with Wayne Moore on piano). Material will be culled largely from the writings of Dorothy Parker and other members of the legendary Algonquin Round Table (a group of writers, critics, actors and wits who met for lunch every day at New York's Algonquin Hotel in the wake of World War I).
If you are interested in attending, please contact Corey Roskin at croskin@weho.org with your name, phone number and number of people in your party. Please also send your check made out to PEN USA to the following address. No actual tickets will be issued, but you will receive a receipt of payment after we receive your check -- and your name will be on a guest list at the door.
Send checks to:
City of West Hollywood 8300 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 Attn: Corey Roskin
LONG BRANCH, New Jersey – The Dorothy Parker Day Committee has announced that the world-renowned poet, writer and critic born in Long Branch will be celebrated in a unique way on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007.
The day-long Sunday program pays tribute to four things Mrs. Parker herself enjoyed: books, luncheons, her dogs, and cocktails:
The Long Branch Free Public Library will present Parker's work;
A "Round Table luncheon" will channel her spirit at local eateries;
A dog parade will pass Parker’s birthplace on Ocean Avenue;
A late afternoon speakeasy party will toast her wit and charm.
Dorothy Parker was born at her family's beach cottage on Aug. 22, 1893, in West End, a village in Monmouth County, some sixty miles south of New York City. Her parents, Henry and Eliza Rothschild, were middle-class residents of Manhattan who vacationed in the charming seaside town. Parker, who died in 1967 in New York, was a bestselling poet and short story writer. She gained immortal fame as a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a collection of writers, playwrights, actors and wits who lunched at the Algonquin Hotel in the 1920s. Parker was also an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, a playwright, and the first female drama critic on Broadway. She also was a tireless fighter for social justice, civil rights and left-wing causes.
The Dorothy Parker Day Committee is made up of members of the Long Branch Historical Association, the Long Branch Council of the Arts, the Long Branch Free Public Library, West End Merchants, and the Dorothy Parker Society.
“Dorothy Parker Day is a nice tribute to an author with ties to the community, and we believe our activities pay tribute to her in a meaningful and fun way,” said Beth Woolley, of the Long Branch Historical Association.
"Mrs. Parker might be remembered for being a quintessential New Yorker, but her life started on the Jersey Shore, and we're happy to commemorate that," said Kevin Fitzpatrick, author of “A Journey into Dorothy Parker’s New York.” 2007 DOROTHY PARKER DAY SCHEDULE: Long Branch Free Public Library, 328 Broadway Library Program 10:30 A.M. - Coffee and refreshments - Opening Ceremony - Readings of selected Dorothy Parker works - Screening of “The Sexes” a short film based on Parker’s 1927 short story
Lunch at the "Round Table" West End, 12:30 P.M. Participating eateries will take the place of the famous Algonquin Hotel for lunch with friends.
Dorothy Parker Dog Parade St. Michael’s Church, 796 Ocean Avenue (gather in parking lot on North Lake Drive), 2:30 P.M. Dorothy Parker adored her dogs, so dog lovers are encouraged to walk their pets in a parade past the literary landmark where Mrs. Parker was born. Owners are encouraged to dress their dogs up as famous literary characters. Walk begins in parking lot on North Lake Drive and will pass Mrs. Parker’s birthplace on Ocean Avenue.
The turnout to celebrate Dorothy Parker’s birthday at the Algonquin Hotel last night was the biggest we have ever had in the nine years we have been doing it. More than 25 dropped by to toast Mrs. Parker on the 114th anniversary of her birth in Long Branch, NJ.
It was also a crowd of diverse talents sitting at our (round) table and corner booth: actors, singers, writers, and musicians. The bar tab did not break $500, but we tried. The lobby was filled with fun people.
The best-dressed pair, hands down, was actor-singer-dancers Jennifer Wren and Stephen Wilde. Jennifer channeled Mrs. Parker and bought the piece of chocolate cake that served us all one bite. Stephen played Parker pal Marc Connelly in the long-running cabaret show The Talk of the Town. Some of the other names making the scene: Emily Gordon from Emdashes, seeing her awesome blog on an iPhone for the very first time; Laura and Joelle took the ferry from Long Branch, they are on the Dorothy Parker Day Committee and reminded us it will be Oct. 14; Jemme Aldridge, looking stylish as always; Kara Bernatowicz, cracking wise again and again; Jessica Weil and Brian Diedrick planning world domination from the choicest spot in the whole place; Lanny Meyers, just back from Los Angeles and prepping for another tour with Maude Maggart; Marion Meade taking a break from her upcoming biography; Melissa Evantash charmed everyone; and many more who never let their glasses go empty.
The video clip above is Dorothy Parker's birthplace in West End, a village in Long Branch, New Jersey. It is the only Literary Landmark for an author's birthplace in the entire state (the landmarks are designated by Friends of Libraries USA, and the Dorothy Parker Society co-sponsored the plaque in 2005).
On Wednesday, August 22, we will be celebrating her birthday at the Algonquin Hotel from 6-8 p.m. in the lobby.
Long Branch is having its annual Dorothy Parker Day on Sunday, Oct. 14. More details later.
Celebrate Dorothy Parker's birthday in Baltimore. Niki Lee presents a one-woman musical, "Here Lies Dorothy Parker," Aug. 23, 6-7 p.m. at Daedalus Books & Music, 5911 York Road. Free. 410-464-2701. Niki performed some of this show at Parkerfest a few years back, it was terrific. Check it out if you live in the area, Niki is super talented.
I love this clip so much. See what has become of the former office of William Shawn of The New Yorker. I do not know if this was also Harold Ross' office. This is the former office on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, not too far from The Algonquin Hotel.
Our friends at Revolution Books, the people who hosted our event to mark the 40th anniversary of Dorothy Parker's death in June, are doing something else related (a little) to The New Yorker. They sent us this press release:
Join Sparrow and the Myk Freedman Band in a benefit for Revolution Books.
Sunday, August 19, 6:00 pm Revolution Books, 9 West 19th Street (Btwn 5th & 6th Ave) 212-691-3345
Sparrow created quite a stir in 1995 when he picketed The New Yorker magazine, holding a placard reading, "My Poetry is as bad as yours." His poetry has since appeared in that magazine as well as The Quarterly, The New York Times and other erudite journals. He was also featured in the PBS series The United States of Poetry and can be heard, along with his legendary band Foamola, on the poetry compilation Poemfone: New Word Order (Tomato). He is a gossip columnist for the Phoenicia Times, a contributing editor to Chronogram, a substitute teacher, and the author of: Yes, You ARE a Revolutionary! Republican Like Me America: A Prophecy (Soft Skull Press).
Jordan and Kim with Dorothy, just after the adoption.
Two members of the Dorothy Parker Society stepped up and adopted a rescue cat at the Algonquin Hotel on Wednesday, during a birthday event for Matilda, the lobby's feline fixture. Jordan and Kimberly from West New York, N.J., immediately named the black and white domestic shorthair Dorothy.
Adoptions outside the hotel.
The reception in the Round Table Room.
Matilda sits out the party in her carrier.
The North Shore Animal League, which claims to be the largest no-kill animal adoption and rescue organization in the world, set up a mobile adoption agency at the curb in front of the hotel, on West 44th Street. A member of the league said a total of seven cats were adopted during the one-day event. The hotel hosted the event for Matilda for about 60 guests.
Matilda, a ragdoll, spent the party in a double-wide pet carrier. She was oblivious to the event going on around her, which included a cat fashion show. Keeping the cat is a longtime tradition at the famous hotel, home to the Round Table. Legend has it that the hotel's first general manager, Frank Case, took in a stray cat around 1930. His friend John Barrymore, a frequent Algonquin guest, suggested that any cat at the hotel must have a literary or theatrical name. Hamlet was chosen, possibly to honor one of Barrymore's finest roles. Legend has it that all male cats at the hotel are named Hamlet; females are Matilda. Nobody knows where the name came from.
On Wednesday, guests saw cats on the catwalk. A company that makes costumes for cats provided outfits for the poor things. A pirate, Elvis Presley, a butterfly and several other costumes were trotted out on the cats. Most behaved. A young Hollywood star was in attendance to help. Josh Flitter, from License to Wed and Nancy Drew, held onto a leash nearby.
Josh Flitter helps a Superman cat.
Matilda was feted; tomorrow she will be back in one of her usual spots around the lobby or front desk.
![[Click to enlarge image]](http://dorothyparker.com/nj/tn_29.jpg)
