I ride the 23 bus to and from court a few times a week, and it's one of the joys in my life. The 23 may not have a great reputation, bit it winds through three different neighborhoods of Boston, is always packed with kids headed to and from school, and gives me the only uninterrupted hour or so to listen to all the radio programs I love. Today I listened to a Fresh Air episode from October 17, 2008. The show had two great interviews conducted by Terry Gross, the first with Charles Ardai, founder of Hard Case Crime, "publishing group that reprints classic crime fiction and publishes new pulp fiction in paperback editions. Ardai, who writes under the pen name Richard Aleas, has won the Edgar Award for mystery writing." In addition to honoring the writing style and content of pulp fiction, the press also creates new covers to mirror the now infamous cover style. (The one at left is for Ardai's addition to the collection). The talk between Ardai and Gross touches on British Romantic poetry, pulp fiction, and the Holocaust - yet another example of Gross' peerless interviewing skills. I can't wait to get home and pick up some of the Hard Case collection! Every time I go for too long without reading a great mystery, I realize something's been missing...The second half of the program is a replay of Gross' previously recorded interview with photographer William Claxton. Claxon "got his start taking photos of jazz musicians in natural settings instead of smoky lounges. His 1967 film Basic Black was considered the first fashion video." His photos of Chet Baker, in particular, are well known. Listening to Claxton reflect on the process of getting casual and classic shots of these sometimes difficult subjects is great and, as I commonly feel hearing about the glory days of jazz, makes me heartbroken that I wasn't alive to see it. William Claxton died this year, at age 80.
No comments:
Post a Comment