Yes, Edward Kennedy Ellington was a teenager in Washington, DC. He played music at parties. He attended Armstrong High School. He had a job at the Griffith Stadium. He was a visual artist as well as a musician. And he had friends. He had a best friend named Edgar McEntree. The two young men took this photo which was in my late aunt’s photo album. Edgar was her uncle. Two days ago, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington would’ve been 114 years old. You never hear the story of Edward and his “friend, crony, and buddy” Edgar except in Ellington’s own words. I have no idea what became of Edgar McEntree who gave Edward the name “Duke.” I’m sure New Yorkers took the credit for giving this stylish musical Washingtonian a title. No. Edward was “Duke” before there was a “Renaissance.”

Boston Globe front page via the Newseum

Suspects have been identified. The questions remain.

Is it time to pull the plug on 24/7 cable news [CNN]? Too much time to fill and report wrong information.

Watch Boston Marathon on PBS. See more from Makers: Women Who Make America.

How will the bombing affect the future of the Boston Marathon? The marathon will go on. It’s had its history of controversy (Katherine Switzer, the first woman to run the marathon – 1967), but not of this magnitude. What will this chapter compell next year’s marathon runners to meet the challenge?

Chechnya? Should we review the 2003 Moscow theater hostage crisis?

What happens to the people who were falsely accused (New York Post, Reddit)? Their lives will not be the same or safe for some time, I’m sure. I guess for the Murdoch corporation which also owns Fox, comedy is stranger than truth (see below). Reddit has issued an apology and a help chat for the person their news service mis-identified as a suspect.

Will religious affiliation be part of our personal pro-files? Attacks and bogus home inspections of Muslim residents in Massachusetts were reported while suspects were still at large.

How do the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing affect the immigration debate?

Does technology make us feel safer? Are we as smart as we appear to be in the movies?

Will anyone see this movie ["The Company You Keep"] now?

I’ll say “yes.” A “NOT” for “The Family Guy,” and UK Film4 channel’s “Four Lions” (2010). Back to grandma’s saying – “There’s a lot of truth in a joke.”

If the numbers support that the majority of mass murders are carried out by one gender, will there ever be a serious study of the male genetic, psychological, social construct before the human species becomes extinct? Even some of the caring men I know brush this one off as “it is what it is” therefore, a man has to lead this discussion very seriously.

Lockdowns – a new norm? I don’t get out much anyway.

Where do we start to build community? So many ways to keep us apart.

Sequestration to force rolling closures of some Smithsonian art galleries: Art lovers and archivists will soon… wapo.st/17kI0kL

— DCSocial (@SocialInDC) April 16, 2013

Read between the lines in the First Lady’s testimonial opening remarks as she hails Rachel Robinson and the story of the film. These two women are in the circle of historical “racial firsts.” And I’m sure Michelle Obama was not just talking about Rachel and Jackie Robinson when she describes the taunts, name calling, and verbal abuse from the stands. Listen carefully. She’s telling US something.

The actor playing Jackie Robinson is Chadwick Boseman. I was introduced to Chad in ’99 when he co-starred in my first full-length play Iola’s Letter about Ida B. Wells and the launch of her anti-lynching crusade in 1892. Ida may not have been a first, but she most definitely joins Michelle and Rachel’s circle of black women who’ve had to take the heat. Ida was taking the heat on her own, and packing it as well. “Iola’s Letter” was written at the request of Vera J. Katz, professor of drama at Howard. She was approved by her department to direct “a reading.” But it turned out to be a performance, fully staged, fully costumed, and a set — the actors memorized the lines and carried the scripts in their hands to stick to the original bargain. Eight performances readings were scheduled for the black box theater. A ninth had to be added to accomodate audience enthusiasm (the 8 were sold out). ’99 turned out to be a great season. Here’s a clip from Act I, scene 1 from a the fairly damaged VHS recording. I hear you Marty Scorsese (2013 NEH Jefferson Lecture).

’42 opens in theaters April 12.

Special guest authors Thomas Mallon (Watergate), Ann McLaughlin (The House On Q Street), and editor Adam McKible (When Washington Was In Vogue) will be at the event with readings from their books. After the reading, a Q&A with the authors and crime novelist George Pelecanos (Right as Rain, Soul Circus, The Night Gardener, and many others) will follow to discuss why they chose Washington, DC neighborhoods as the setting for their stories. There will also be a dramatic reading by Chivonnie Gius from “Common Law,” featured in Edward P. Jones‘ short story collection All Aunt Hagar’s Children. Launch curator Kim Roberts, who’s created several walking tours of literary DC (and is editor of Beltway Online Poetry Quarterly), will read from The House On Q Street. The launch will be MC’d by former DC Citypaper Arts Editor Mark Athitakis who was the lead judge for Citypaper’s 2013 Fiction issue. Old school music from the 20s to the 70s will be mixed by DJ 2Tone Jones.

…the stakes are higher for D.C. fiction, because unlike any other metropolis it battles the perception that those monuments are the city.

— Mark Athitakis

DC By the Book is a website featuring a custom map that allows anyone to explore the landscape of DC through the eyes of local and nationally-known authors. When a user clicks on a map icon, the popup box displays a passage from a work of fiction describing that location, as well as the book title (which links to the DC Public Library catalog record for the item), author, and other ancillary information about the work. Users will be able to browse the map or search using various filters, so that they could, for example, view only locations linked to a single author, or locations only described in crime fiction, or locations from a specific era.

However, in order for the map to have any icons on it, passages from DC fiction will need to be entered. This is done via a simple form on the website that anyone can access as they’re reading a book set in Washington, DC. Several “mapathon” events will be held across the city in 2013 where anyone can drop by, read a book, and enter passages. This excerpt from Mallon’s Watergate is included in the slide show (by Michon Boston) that will accompany the author’s reading at the March 27th kickoff.

Bring your laptop to the kickoff or go to a station at Busboys and Poets (they have WiFi) to take the grand tour, and start reading and entering locations by authors ranging from Henry Adams, Stephen Collins, Ward Just, Susan Richards Shreve, George Pelecanos, Kia DuPree, and more.

Visit DC By the Book at www.dcbythebook.org, and explore passages from great works of fiction about DC and upload content from your own reads. Contact info[at]dcbythebook[dot]org to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE “DC BY THE BOOK” segment on WAMU’s “KOJO NNAMDI SHOW” (March 21, 2013)
Guests
Susan Richards Shreve
Professor, George Mason University; co-chair, PEN/Faulkner Foundation Board of Directors; author.
Anthony ‘Tony’ Ross
Librarian, D.C. Public Library; co-creator, DC By the Book
Dana Williams
Professor and Chair, Department of English, Howard University

Read the semifinalists’ pie stories on www.shoutbakingchallenge.com. Everything may not be a piece of cake, but everyone can have a slice of the pie.

Here’s the menu:

SEMIFINALS PIE MENU
P-Chocobana Pie
Raspberry Rhubarb Pie
German Chocolate Pie
Fruits of the Forest Pie
Dottie Sweet Potato Pie
Mint Chocolate Custard Pie
Triple-Crust Cast-Iron Skillet Apple Pie
Old-Fashioned Vinegar Pie
Chocolate Chess Pie
Peach Cobbler
Cheryl’s Nice and Naughty Sweet Potato Pie

SEMIFINALISTS/BAKERS
Annalee Ash (DC); Cece Cooper (Stafford, VA); Matt Gyory (DC); Cora Gaines (Alexandria, VA); Tiffany Hall (Brentwood, MD); Angela Johnson (Arlington, VA); Meredith Newark (Silver Spring, MD); Maureen Severin (Crofton, MD); Cheryl Thompson (DC); Patricia Volpe (Arlington, VA); Lindsey Wahowiak (DC)

THE OFFICIAL JUDGES
Austin Brown, Winner 2012 Makes-Me-Wanna SHOUT! Chocolate Layer Cake Challenge; Rebecca Layton Gunter, Founder & President, Operation: Eatery; Melissa Harris, Publisher, Foodshed Magazine; Brenda Rhodes Miller, Author, The Church Ladies’ Divine Desserts and Sweet Recollections;
Demetri Recachinas, Assistant Director of Food Programs for Martha’s Table; Andy Shallal, Owner, Eatonville Restaurant, Busboys and Poets

Michael Astrue, former Social Security Commissioner
aka A.M. Juster, poet

source: Library of Congress

Listen to Michael Astrue’s complete interview on NPR – Michel Martin’s “Tell Me More”