Richard Linklater's film Boyhood an interesting study in kids growing up

The compelling acting in Richard Linklater's, Boyhood, which follows a family over an arc of 12 years, is what isEllar Coltrane as he ages in Boyhood kept my son and I rivted during the three-hour film. The film is as much about parenting as it is about a boy growing up. All four main actors -- Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, and Ellar Coltrane -- bring a poignancy and intelligence to their characters. The film follows Patricia Arquette and her two children as she is estranged from her husband (Hawke) although they are both intent on raising the kids. 

The storyline seems to be somewhat autobiographical for Linklater. It ends, coincidentally, just where Dazed and Confused might begin.

The interested buzz on the film is coming from my teenage son, Linklater fans, people aware of indie films, and even family members over 80 who occassionaly see films. What does that say? To me it's that this film is going to be around for awhile, maybe into Oscar season. I would like to see it again before that.

Read the review on RogerEbert.com for a more thorough analysis.

Mary Poppins, P. L. Travers & ISU connections, an interview on WGLT

Thanks to Judy Valente for her delightful interview of me on WGLT about Mary Poppins as both a delightful filmJulie Andrews as Mary Poppins and P. L. Travers, author of the book and a popular children's book as well as a small, but interesting connection of ISU to P. L. Travers. Judy is such a great interviewer.

Disney's Mary Poppins film was released 50 years ago this week. As we learned in the recent Disney film Saving Mr. Banks, P. L. Travers, the author of the Mary Poppins series, was never happy with the adaptation. Pamela Travers was opinionated, but thoughtful, and certainly had a wide range of interests including Zen Buddhism and mytical Sufism. 

In the WGLT interview, Judy asks why Mary Poppins, the film, has such a long-standing appeal with both adults and children. I think that it is partly because Travers understood that children whose lives are in even a small amount of dissarray fantasize about order and everything working out. But it is also because Walt Disney understood the humor and charm of the story and could add the studio's magic to make it wonderful entertainment. Finally, the film causes adults to not only reflect back on their childhood but to consider how they are as parents; are they fulfilling their own hopes and dreams for their family?  The film is more complicated than we perhaps realized when we saw it as children, but that, in turn, makes seeing it again just as fulfilling.

Thanks, again, to Judy Valente for the opportunity to thoughtfully reflect on the delightful film as it turns 50.

Obituary for my dad, Dr. Stanley V. Susina

My dad passed away on Saturday.  He was a great guy and I was glad to have been able to spend some time My dad and I in our family home in Birmingham, Alabama, a few years ago.with him while he was in the hospital. 

"A man's life of any worth is a continual allegory and very few eyes can see the mystery of life." Jean Keats (1819).  I believe my father's life is an allegory for the good life, what it means to be a good person.  His life showed what is worth living for.

Here's the longer version of his obituary.  The shorter version is in today's Birmingham News.

Stanley V. Susina — a pharmacist, professor at Samford University and University of Illinois, World War II veteran, Lutheran church leader, volunteer, Rotarian, world traveler, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather – died peacefully Sept. 1, 2012.  A resident of Hoover, AL, Stan was born 14 April 1923 in Berwyn, IL, son of Jan and Anna Susina.   He is preceded in death by his siblings, John, George, and Ludmilla (Ryan).  Stan attended public and Slovak schools in Chicago. During World War II, he studied meteorology for the Army at the University of Chicago. He served in the Pacific campaign and Japan, receiving a Bronze star.  He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant in the 20th Weather Squad. While he was stationed in Los Angeles, he was a soldier extra in the 1944 film Music for the Millions starring Jimmy Durante.Three generations of Susina guys.

He received bachelor and R.Ph. degrees in pharmacy from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1948.  At UIC, he met his future wife Betty (Knauss) who also graduated in pharmacy. He continued at UIC in pharmacology, receiving a master’s of science in 1951 and a PhD in 1955.  At UIC, he taught for ten years and was promoted to associate professor of pharmacy. He and his family lived in Lombard, IL.  They were active in St. John’s Lutheran church where their children attended school.  In 1962, he became a professor at Samford University’s school of pharmacy (now McWhorter School of Pharmacy) where he also served as acting dean for several years.  He and Betty and their children -- Jan, David, and Margaret -- settled in Hoover.  Betty and Stan were active in the Hoover community.

             Stan taught generations of pharmacy students at Samford and UIC.  At Samford, he received the John Buchanan Award for teaching excellence in 1966, an all-campus award. During the 1960s, Stan developed and taught the first clinical pharmacy courses at Stamford. He earned a law degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford. He retired in 1992. In 2002, Stan and Betty received the Distinguished Service Award from the McWhorter School.My dad at Karly's wedding two years ago.

A member of national, professional, and scientific organizations, he was president of the Chicago Retail Druggist Association (1960-62) and Jefferson County Pharmacy Association (1984-86).  Recently, he served as JCPA’s secretary. He also served on the Board of Directors of Jefferson County Mental Health Association and Jefferson County Drug Abuse Coordinating Committee. Stan integrated the Jefferson County science fair program. He received the A. H. Robbins Bowl of Hygeia Award for Outstanding Community Service in Pharmacy in 1974.  Joseph Dean, Dean of Samford’s pharmacy school in 1993, wrote, “Stan served as a voice for independent pharmacy practice for more than thirty years while an educator/practitioner in Illinois and Alabama.  Stanley V. Susina is a man worthy of recognition by the profession for his commitment, dedication, and lifelong love of pharmacy and pharmacy students.”

He was 50-year member of The Lutheran Church of Vestavia Hills, where he served in many capacities including on the board of elders and the Lutheran Braille Ministry.  He traveled on mission trips with the church to Slovakia, his parents’ native country. In 2007, Betty and Stan received a 25-year service award for volunteering to serve meals at the Firehouse Shelter.Three Susina guys in Aldridge Gardens, having a good time.

Stan was a charter member of Hoover-Riverchase Rotary Club.  Betty and Stan were involved in the Birmingham Audubon Society. He especially enjoyed taking care of the Bluebird Trail and going to Mentone nature camps. Stan learned how to make wine and was well known for his dandelion and elderberry wines. His family still drinks his vintage wines. Stan and his family were Hoover (Green Valley) Country Club members, enjoying tennis and golf. Recently, he volunteered with the Daybreak Grief Support Ministry.  Stan enjoyed reading, particularly mysteries, and was a regular at the Hoover Library.  While he was able, he participated in water aerobics at the Hoover Rec Center.

Stan and Betty traveled throughout the world.  They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on a six-week trip to India.  Often traveling on Friendship Force tours, they visited Central and America, and Europe.  Betty and Stan’s last trip was a National Geographic cruise to Russia three years ago.

 While he was physically color blind, Stan also was color blind in his worldview, interested in helping everyone.  His wife of 63 years, Betty preceded him in death.  He is survived by his children: Jan (Jodie) of Normal, IL; David (Donna) of Alpharetta, GA, and Margaret of Oak Grove, AL.  Stan was deeply involved in the lives of his grandchildren: Nicole (Sam) Swiney, Katie, Karly (Daniel) Sisco, David, Dana, Carey, Jacob, and his great-grandson Harrison Swiney.  Stan Susina will receive a military funeral in a private internment at the Alabama National Cemetery, Montevallo, AL. Memorial contributions may be sent to the church, the pharmacy school at Samford University, or the Hoover Public Library.

 

Maurice Sendak, brilliant picture book creator, dies

Maurice Sendak — the acclaimed, innovative, and challenging children’s picture book illustrator and writer — Maurice Sendak signing the ""Faithful Nutcracker"" lithograph at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York, 1984. Kenneth Tyler Photographerdied Tuesday at 83 in his Connecticut home.  Sendak’s detailed knowledge of book illustration combined with his ability to create beautiful picture books that dealt with difficult subjects for children positioned him as a acclaimed traditionalist who brilliantly broke conventional boundaries of children’s literature.  He is the Randolph Caldecott of American picture books. 

[Since I have posted this, WGLT's Charlie Schlenker posted his interview of me today about Sendak.  Here's a link to that interview where I add to this blog post.]

Sendak distinctly changed children’s literature with his famous trilogy of Where The Wild Things Are (1963), In the Night Kitchen (1970), and Outside Over There (1981).  He said that these books are about the same themes —boredom, fear, frustration, jealousy — and how children manage to come to grips with the realities of their lives.  He was often confronted by adults who found his books “troubling and frightening.” He accused them of wanting to sentimentalize childhood.  Sendak understood that children want to confront their fears and work through them.

Sendak believed that children deserved well-designed, beautiful books.  At the same time, he fearlessly wrote about difficult subject matters.  While parents, critics, and librarians may not have warmed to some of the topics, Sendak’s books were best sellers precisely because the topics they addressed touched a nerve while being stunning works of art. 

Not only was Sendak a brilliant picture book creator, he was also an insightful critic.  His brilliant essays in Caldecott & Co.: Notes on Books and Pictures (1990) ought to be read by anybody interested in children’s literature and picture books.  Sendak had an appreciation and sweep of understanding of both illustration and picture books that informed his work and is evident in these valuable essays.

In 1997, I nominated Sendak to be an Honorary Fellow of the Modern Language Association.  He is the only children’s picture book author to be in the company of authors who were nominated and elected since 1959 including such writers as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, Toni Morrison, Tom Stoppard, Margaret Atwood, and Seamus Heaney.  While Sendak was unable to attend that year’s MLA, he was courteous and collegial in our correspondence.

Sendak said that

“a picture book is not only what most people think it is, an easy thing to read to small children with a lot of pictures in it.  For me, it is a damned difficult thing to do… very much like a complicated poetic form that requires absolute concentration and control.”

A fitting book to read upon Sendak’s death may be Higgelty Pigglety Pop! or There Must be More to Life (1967), which he later developed into an opera – one of many opera projects that he collaborated on beginning in the 1980s.  Containing some of his best illustrations, the book is about Sendak’s beloved shaggy dog Jennie, a Sealyham Terrier.The Little Bear series is great for early readers. This illustration is from A Kiss for Little Bear with illustrations by Sendak, story by Elsie Holmelund Minarik

To read more about Sendak, I would suggest John Cech’s Angels and Wild Things: The Archetypal Poetics of Maurice Sendak and Amy Sonheim’s Maurice Sendak in the Twayne United States Author Series. The Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia has Sendak's papers and always celebrates his work with stylish enthusiasm.  Worth visiting if you are in Philadelphia.

And to see perhaps one of the last interviews of Sendak, check out Stephen Colbert’s interviews with him in January 20120 (here's part 2). In this lively interview, Sendak is curmudgeonly, gracious, gregarious, spunky, liberal, gay, free-wheeling, slightly mean, and smart.  "I don't write for children.  I write and somebody says that's for children.  I didn't set out to make children happy," he says.

Yesterday,  I gave my final exam in the ENG 372: Studies of Contemporary Literature for Young People.  Sendak appeared in his illustrations and quotations.  I am sure he would have hated it, but his place in the canon of children’s literature is undeniable.

Here's a link to more materials I have compiled about Sendak, particularly in relation to the book and film Where the Wild Things Are.

Sendak's bookplate

Disneyland!

Disneyland is still the most magical place on Earth I'm happy to report. Like so many kids who watched Disney's Sunday night TV show, I was fascinated with Disneyland in California.  My parents took our family once, in the late 1960s.  When we arrived in Disneyland, I wanted to go everywhere, see everything that I had seen on television.  Instead, my parents made us stop on Main Street.  Not to watch a parade, or wait in line to see Mickey Mouse, or anything interesting like that.  No.  My parents, always pharmacists, wanted to hang out in the drug store on Main Street USA.  It's not like they hadn't seen drug stores before.  They worked in them.  They even collected a few antique drug store items.  But they couldn't budge for what seemed like an hour as they looked at every detail of that drug store.  I don't remember them complaining something was wrong with it -- as Disney people work hard to get the essence right.  But I do remember being enormously disappointed at my introduction to Disneyland.

This year, my son, my wife and I visited Disneyland before going to MLA in downtown LA.  We have been wanting to go for years.  Some of us have never been and some of us hadn't been for a very long time.  So the experience was new and exuberant for us.  I'll post some of the photos from our trip over a few blog posts.There's always a light in the apartment above the fire station to remember when Walt Disney lived at Disneyland.

Main Street Disneyland at night. The drug store isn't there any more. We did have to check.The fireworks over the castle were particularly spectacular. The firework show told a story and featured a flying Tinkerbell.We had to get our photo taken with the Mad Hatter and Alice, of course.