December 6 • 1995
Shopping With the King of Kitsch; Frisell on Keaton; Archer Mayor Goes Gang Busters; Ralph Preston Is All Bottled Up; The Tables Turn on Travolta
Message in a Bottle: Retired math professor Ralph Preston follows his passion — with tweezers
Ralph Preston is an armchair shrink’s delight. When he was barely old enough to walk, he loved to curl up under cardboard boxes. As a kid, he dug tunnels for himself in the backyard. As he explains it, “I was enchanted by enclosed spaces.” He still is. Now 69, the Hinesburg resident is one of…
Backtalk: Marion Ettlinger, Pauline Kael on WFAD, Susan Stockton, Tom Paine
HOT SHOT: Photo shoots and book signings. Writers dread them both. Except those lucky authors who end up sitting — or “writhing on the floor” — for ex-Vermont photographer Marion Ettlinger. “Aspiring novelists have asked her to take their pictures before they’ve even written books,” New York Observer noted last week in the first story…
Arts+Culture
Shopping With the King of Kitsch: Art Professor Ed Owre Gives the Gift of Tack
I thought I wanted a Power Mac for Christmas, but since shopping with Ed I’ve changed my mind. Sure, a new computer would facilitate my work, but isn’t that like asking for a sponge mop? I now crave things far less practical. In fact, I want some really cheap, totally useless items. I’ve seen the…
