November 22, 2007
Curator of Photographs with the Mostest
Popped into see the Pop Art Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Afterwards, Terence Pepper, the NPG's Curator of Photographs (he's also in Who's Who!) dragged me to a lecture on Tony Snowdon in the gallery and treated me to lunch.
I first met Terence at the late John Kobal's house decades ago and we've been friends ever since. I gave him a copy of Crushed and Frantic. In return, he gave me his gorgeous looking books: Angus McBean Portraits and Horst Portraits which I consider to be a very good barter indeed, especially when Terence reminded me he read the first draft of Frantic years ago. Terence, who is now curating the forthcoming Vanity Fair exhibition (and also completing a fully illustrated book to accompany the show) at the NPG in May 2008, showed me round the two displays of the current exhibition he has curated: the fascinating Born 1947-Camera Press at 60 (Tom Blau started the agency in 1947 and was the chief promoter of Karsh of Ottawa, before he represented Tony Snowdon, Patrick Lichfield, Norman Parkinson and all the other 'greats') and the Shutting Up Shop exhibition, which shows John Londei's unique snaps.
Posted by frances on November 22, 2007
November 5, 2007
Book Trade News
I was fascinated to read the Times' latest story on PDF, the 'troubled' literary and theatrical agency on Book Trade Info, the informative Book Trade News Digest which I receive by e-mail every morning. Twenty three of the firm's thirty six agents have departed, most of them to set up a new company, United Agents, which will start operating in the new year. According to the article on PDF's latest shenanigans, they have now hired two new agents, so this could be a good time for non-represented writers to get in there!?
Posted by frances on November 5, 2007
November 5, 2007
Elvis Gives Good Charity
Luckily, Elvis Costello is a good friend of Austin de Lone, my Mill Valley based musician brother-in-law: on November 8th, he has offered to give two concerts for free at the Great American Music Hall, a two-show benefit for the new nonprofit organisation, the Richard de Lone Housing Project. My nephew suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, a little-known chromosomal disorder that is the leading genetic cause of morbid obesity. (See today's article in the San Francisco Chronicle).
Elvis and Austin have known each other since 1987, when Austin played keyboards with Elvis's touring band, the Confederates after their mutual friend Nick Lowe introduced them. Austin suggested that Elvis play his entire debut album, My Aim Is True at the benefit concert. They have even rounded up most of the musicians from Clover, the band who backed Elvis in 1977. [The original line-up included Huey Lewis]. Although they were one of the top country/rock outfits of that era, and reputedly one of the best bands Marin County ever produced, they couldn't get a break in England. Not surprising. I did see them play at the Hammersmith Palais around this time, but their music seemed archaic then. The audience were mainly interested in punk. All we wanted to see was the mesmeric Wilko Johnson, the then guitarist with Dr Feelgood, who appeared with a giant safety pin in his lips and wowed us into musical oblvion. Clover did not.
Austin is opening both shows with Bill Kirchen, and I was just about to book a return ticket to San Francisco in order to see the show, when I was told not to bother as both concerts are a sell out.
Posted by frances on November 4, 2007
Archives
2008
February / March / April / May / June
2007
January / February / March / April / May / June / July / August / September / October / November
2006
