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Making a Difference
My mother experienced the Armenian genocide as a young child. It never really left her. She was born in 1915, the oldest of three children. To us, her children, she was not open about her early life as an Armenian growing up in the Anatolian highlands. Under sustained questioning she would say that she didn’t…
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Exploring Neopolitan Pizza – Starita
One of the reasons, maybe even the main reason – I wanted to go to Naples, was to eat Neopolitan pizza on its home turf. I was surprised how my priority faded away as I jumped into this truly rich and alive city. I was also surprised at how, instead of me leading the pizza…
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Serendipity
From the time I started using a camera I’ve photographed people. Most of the time I’m completely open about what I’m doing, but I also like swinging the other direction and taking pictures where I’m more surreptitious and people are unaware of the camera. When miniature cameras came into play in the 1930s photographers quickly…
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Meteora II
The fog rolls in before dawn, thick as wool and heavy with moisture. It slides down the stone towers of Meteora, wrapping itself around ledges, dripping from the pine needles, muting the world into a hush. The monastery bells sound closer in this weather, their slow toll absorbed by the air before it can echo…
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The Administrator’s Year: Running Vermont’s Most Radical CETA Arts Program
The history of American federal spending is littered with contradictions — moments when even unlikely leaders championed programs that would have lasting cultural impact. Such was the case with the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), signed into law by President Richard Nixon in December 1973, not out of any particular regard for artists, but…
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Side by Side with Don Cherry: Notes from the Moki Years
Don Cherry was always evolving, both a teacher and a student, moving on a musical and personal journey through many related but different landscapes. In the six years (1970 to 1976) when I knew him well, he was exploring a holistic fusion of life, art, and sound developed with his wife, Moki Cherry. For much…
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Meteora
We had come to see Meteora on a misty morning in November, 2018. The ground-hugging fog drifted like a low cloud across the Thessalian plain, swallowing the road ahead and the hulking silhouettes of rock that we knew were there but could not yet see. Somewhere above, the monasteries of Meteora – “suspended in the…
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Latitude Adjustment | Mexico City
If you wanted to choose a city that’s diametrically opposed to Montreal’s cranky winters, Mexico City would be a good choice. The high altitude brings spring-like weather all year round, with warm days and cool nights. In February the mornings start at 12C warming to 20-25. Only pollution downgrades its perfect ranking. As penance for…
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Savin Rock and Its Flying Horses
At its peak in 1919, Savin Rock welcomed 1.2 million visitors a year, rivaling even the famous Coney Island.
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How Wrong I Was
When we arrived in Naples my first impressions were of physical deterioration, vandalism, and filth. When thrown suddenly into the chaos and traffic just outside the airport the contrast with Montreal felt like too much! A visceral body blow. Looking back now I can see how wrong I was. Yes, Naples is chaotic, smelly and,…
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Catania Market
The Catania food markets continue a tradition dating back at least as far as Roman times, but also picking up on all the cultures that have traveled through Sicily since.
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