2022
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Hope all is great with you. Happy new year. Here is my annual newsletter for 2022. It's time for the annual review and once again I was surprised at how much I did.
One of the highlights of the year was in May when I met Lech Walesa* (see photo) the winner of the 1983 Nobel Peace prize. In 1980 he led Poland's Solidarity movement and was elected president a few years later in Poland's first free election. After he spoke (in Polish) for an hour, he allowed all who wanted to have a photo taken with him. It was a thrill just to see him and the photo was an unexpected bonus. I've seen three others from a distance who won this prize: Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama and Mikhael Gorbachev (a bit of his talk at ). I'd seen Doris Kearns Goodwin three times before and have read eleven of her books, so it was wonderful to see her again. This time she was interviewed by Don Carleton about her amazing life, having helped LBJ write his autobiography, met numerous times with Obama and dined with Queen Elizabeth at Obama's invitation. () I read a Pete Souza books two years ago and seeing him speak at the LBJ was another highlight. He was Obama's white house photographer and shot 1.9 million pictures during those eight years. He also was one of President Reagan's photographers. It was a fantastic presentation with lots of his pictures and a few short videos. The library's podcast is at . Before Peter Baker and Susan Glasser's great presentation on their new book "The Divider" () a familiar-looking old man arrived who was getting lots of attention. I thought he was a Texas politician, but learned it was Dan Rather. I'd seen and spoken to him twice before, many years ago, and did so again this time. He's 91 and his hearing is no longer very good, but he looked great. It was a relatively slow year for acting roles. I had a role in Melanie Hinostroza's video, "Who Am I" () and spent several days over a few months acting and helping her with it. It should be complete early in 2023. In April I was a religious fanatic in an RTF short, "Godhead." (). It screened in December and my part was small but effective. In October I played a priest in "God, Golf, and Glory". Again, a small part but fun to see at the screening, also in December. I was reacting to a five-year-old girl mini-golf wiz and collecting my successful bet on her. () The last day of the year we lost Donise Hardy*, who was a major part of the Austin acting community. I met her about twenty years ago after I started my casting list and she was a good friend. She cast many films and taught classes on acting technique and helped start the Austin Network mixer many years ago. In August I had a very scary experience. I was waiting for the bus; a man was sitting on the bench with a backpack. I placed my backpack at the other end of the bench. The guy walked away for a while looking at a creek. When the bus finally arrived, I noticed he had moved my backpack next to his. I tried to pick it up but he fought me knocking me to the ground two or three times claiming that the backpack belonged to his buddy (who got off the bus). The bus drove off since I was pulled back by the guy holding my backpack. I finally was able to get it back and pick up my billfold, camera, earbuds, and the fat library book (the only thing inside the backpack) which had all fallen off during the fight. The buddy asked the guy how old he was (the guy didn't answer) and suggested that he had serious mental issues. I then walked to the next bus stop to get away from this crazy asshole. The next bus was late to top it all off. I had bruises on my forehead, elbows and knees, but otherwise was okay. I was able to walk the two miles back from the library with no problem. Sadly, there were no "Overheard with Evan Smith" tapings; the last one was just before the Covid shutdown in 2020. Evan did have an interview with the mayor of Austin on the day the new studios for PBS Austin opened in August. Tapings are scheduled to resume in 2023 at that new location. While he was stationed with the Air Force in the South Pacific during World War II my father shot some film of some native women dancing. I found a place () that digitized it at no cost and added it to their online library. See it at . Due to the nudity, you'll have to log in to see it. Early in the year I was diagnosed with cataracts; a doctor replaced the lens in each eye in April and May. It was a relatively quick surgery that required me to get rides home. After the first one, I had major lower back pain for a few days. That was a lesser problem after the second surgery. After the first surgery I noticed something weird: the world seemed to be much brighter in one eye. The lens that was replaced in each eye was "cloudy"; and the new lens allowed me to see the world without that problem. Other than the surgery, my health was good. In October I got my second Covid booster. As usual I walked a lot and logged 6,090 miles this year, an average of 16.69 miles a day. I had eleven twenty-mile days. I walked at least ten miles every day (the days of my surgeries were the days were I walked the least, spending a lot of time in bed, logging some distance before the surgery). I only drove my car 33 days and needed to fill up the tank only two times. Luckily the second time was before the big spike in prices. In May the UIL wind ensemble state festival resumed, after two years of Covid cancellations. It was great to see fifteen bands from around the state perform. The summer was extremely hot. It was the warmest May-July in Austin ever, two degrees warmer than 2011 and 2018. We had 68 triple digit days (short of the 90 in 2011). I had new roofing installed in March. In February I had a tree removed that was too close to the house. Other larger purchases included a new microwave oven, a camera, and a Tivo. I saw nineteen former students this year. For some of them it felt like a variation of a movie title from 1994: "Three funerals and a Wedding". I saw Cynthia, America and Augustine Lopez at their dad's funeral. Denise Shed Warner hosted her dad's funeral; Janet and Joel Burka were at a special memorial at the LBJ Library for their dad (who worked at "Texas Monthly" for many years). I was Michael Zornes' guest at his wedding. I saw Shametra McGregor and Justin Rodriguez at their work place and Cynthia Rodriguez Nieto at her daughter's baby shower. And Angela Jordan, Taurean Hall, Shane Martinets, Andy Brown, Camille Seyler, Raymond Cathey, Kevin van Siriboury, and Brandon Williams as I was walking around town. For several years I've been trying to find more Dobie Middle School yearbooks to post on the Facebook page I created. I was able to get only two this year. When the principal who had helped me was suddenly replaced, the supply was stopped. I now have posted 28 books, just over half of the total. I only saw three plays in person this year and sadly none were very memorable. I was very pleased to add to my library four albums by Stephan Micus as well as four by Sheila Chandra. I also added two Vujicsics albums, Le Mystere de la Voix Bulgare 3 and the musical "Song of Norway" (all of the music was composed by Edvard Grieg - ) I've been a member of the Austin Film Society for many years and have now seen over 1000 films at AFS Cinema. This year I saw 225 (including a few shorts collections); more than ever before. I was at AFS 180 days, never less than 11 days in a month; and in July I was there 24 days. The only theater where I've seen more movies was the Arbor, which sadly, closed in September; I saw1210 movies there. I uploaded "Real: The Northland Story", a film I had a small role in many years ago () I saw 20 films at the Austin Film Festival, and 20 at SXSW (after two years of online versions it was great to see it in person. (SXSW was the first big event canceled by Covid; I already had my film pass, which SXSW allowed access to the online films the previous two years). Some were in my list of favorite films. Feature films were "Apollo 10 ?: A Space Age Childhood", "RRR", "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio", "The Fabelmans", "Holy Spider" and three older films: "High and Low" (Kurosawa), "Stormy Weather", and "Shall We Dance". My favorite documentaries include "Have You Heard About Greg" (Alzheimer's), "The Perfect Candidate" (A determined young female Saudi doctor's surprise run for office in the local city elections), "Deep in the Heart" and "American Ocelot" (two fantastic documentaries about wildlife in Texas by the same director), "Horton Foote: The Road to Home", "Claydream" (Claymation pioneer Will Vinton revolutionizes animation in the 1980s and 1990s.), "The Other Fellow" (men who all share the same name: James Bond - three were at the screening), "Shouting Down Midnight" (the Wendy Davis filibuster of 2013 - by chance I talked to its director a couple of days later), "Facing Nolan", "The Pez Outlaw", "Bad Axe", and "Second Chance." (inventor of the bulletproof vest). One of my favorite TV shows from the 1950s was The Phil Silvers Show (in which he played Sgt. Bilko). It was one of the top rated shows then and won three Emmies for best comedy. After I found season one at the public library (learning that George Kennedy was hired as a military advisor which then led to his acting career and that a very young Dick Van Dyke was in one episode), I'm slowly working my way through the next three seasons. All four seasons are at . As always, I read 365 books this year. About 40 were books I found at Little Free Libraries and 22 were ebooks. Some of those are in the list below. It was a real treat to discover some new authors and find the books they've already written. The list of the best in groups. Nonfiction Autobiographies: "Educated" (Tara Westover - powerful story of growing up in a extremely fanatically religious family and leaving the toxic atmosphere and eventually earning her PhD at Cambridge), "Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood" (Danny Trejo), "This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman" (Ilhan Omar), "Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom" (Carl Bernstein), "All about Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business" (Mel Brooks), "The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row" (Anthony Hinton), "Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South" (Anne Moody), "Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer" (Lynne Cox), "Here Comes Trouble" (Michael Moore), "Mama's Bank Account" (Kathryn Forbes - the basis of the play and movie "I Remember Mama"), "Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement" (John Lewis) Biographies: "Elvis and Gladys" (Elaine Dundy – Presley's early life; Gladys was his mom), "Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray" (Rosalind Rosenberg – bio of an amazing influential woman), "The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King" (Rich Cohen), "Mike Nichols: A Life" (Mark Harris), "Jennie: The Life of the American Beauty Who Became the Toast - and Scandal - of Two Continents, Ruled an Age and Raised a Son - Winston Churchill - Who Shaped History" (Ralph Martin), "Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life" (James Curtis). Two exceptionally wonderful animal books "Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived" and "Zamba: The True Story of the Greatest Lion That Ever Lived" and (Ralph Helfer). History: Four great books by A.J. Baime: "The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Ford Motor Company, and Their Epic Quest to Arm an America at War", "The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World", "Dewey Defeats Truman: The 1948 Election and the Battle for America's Soul" and "White Lies: The Double Life of Walter F. White and America’s Darkest Secret." Two by Malcolm Gladwell "Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know" and "The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War." "Devil's Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco" (Julie Salamo), "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" (John Carreyrou - and now the subject of the book has been found guilty and convicted), "Naked in Baghdad" (Anne Garrells), "She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement" (Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey - the movie is also great), "The Body" (Bill Bryson) "Careless Whispers: The Lake Waco Murders" (Carlton Stowers), "Code of Silence: A Federal Judge, a Reluctant Whistleblower, and a Culture of Cover-Ups in Our Nation's Courts" (Lise Olsen), "The Carving of Mount Rushmore" (Rex Smith), "The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy" (Kliph Nesteroff), "Premonition: A Pandemic Story" (Michael Lewis). "Hitler: Downfall, 1939-45" (Volker Ullrich), "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America" (John Barry), "Forget the Alamo: The True Story of the Myth That Made Texas" (Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, Jason Stanford), "Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family" (David Cay Johnston), "Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America", (Marie Till-Mobley - the author's son Emmett Till), "The Fight of Our Lives: My Time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine's Battle for Democracy, and What It Means for the World" (Iuliia Mendel – she was Zelenskyy's press secretary when he was elected), "Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980" (Rick Perlstein). Four powerful books by John Pilger: "Freedom Next Time: Resisting the Empire" (removal of natives from the island Diego Garcia), "A Secret Country: The Hidden Australia", "Hidden Agendas", and "The New Rulers of the World" Fiction Fantasy Nine books by John Flanagan: "The Battle of Hackham Heath", "Emperor of Nihon-Ja", "Lost Stories", "Royal Ranger: A New Beginning", "Red Fox Clan", "Duel at Araluen", "The Missing Prince", "Escape from Falaise", "Tournament at Gorlan." The first eight of Shannon Messenger's "Keeper of the Lost Cities" books (I will read the ninth (published recently) early in 2023). I picked up the first five books at a Little Free Library. Sarah Kozloff: The Nine Realms series ("A Queen in Hiding", "The Queen of Raiders", "A Broken Queen", "The Cerulean Queen") Kate O'Hearn: The Titans trilogy ("Titans" "The Missing", "The Fallen Queen"), the rest of the Pegasus series ("The Flame of Olympus", "Pegasus and the Rise of the Titans", "The End of Olympus"), the Valkyrie series ("Valkyrie" and "The Runaway") "An Ember in the Ashes" (Sabaa Tahir), "A Tale of Sorcery" (Chris Colfer), "Ida and the Unfinished City" (Carolyn Cohagan), " Magyk Septimus Heap" and "SandRider" (Angie Sage), "Constance" (Matthew Fitzsimmons), "Foundryside" (Robert Jackson Bennett), "Gilded" (Marissa Meyer) "Skyhunter", "Steelstriker" and "Rebel" (Marie Lu) Historical "The War That Saved My Life" (Kimberly Brubaker Bradley) and three great books by David Ball: "Ironfire" "Empires of Sand", and "China Run" Crime Seven by Nick Petrie – his "Peter Ash" books - "The Drifter", "Burning Bright", “Light it Up”, "Tear it Down" "The Wild One", "The Breaker" and "The Runner" "Point of Impact" and "Black Light" (Bob Lee Swagger books by Stephen Hunter). "Win" and "The Match" (Harlan Coben), "The Dark Hours" (Michael Connelly), Squeeze Me" (Carl Hiaasen), "Better Off Dead" (Lee Child), Novels Stuart Gibbs: the first nine "Spy School" books (#10 came out in 2022 - will read it in 2023), the three "Moon Base Alpha" books, and the first three FunJungle books (five more to read in 2023) "Stranger than Fanfiction" (Chris Colfer), "Worser" (Jennifer Zeigler), "A Wish in the Dark" (Christina Soontornvat), "The War That Saved My Life" and "The War I Finally Won" (both by Kimberly Bradley), and "The Rose Code" (Kate Quinn). And finally, one of the all-time best cartoon strips, "Pogo" (Walt Kelly), is in the process of publishing a complete collection in twelve volumes. I read the next three volumes of the great comic strip: Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Vol. 4 – 6, and "Equal Time for Pogo". I added some new BBC shows to my collection. I've greatly enjoyed listening to these shows and have many more hours of them to listen to. I continued listening to "Quote Unquote", "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue", "Just a Minute", Alistair Cooke's Letters from America" "The Now Show", "Composer of the Week" and "Dead Ringers". Hoping that 2022 is a great one and will see an end to the pandemic. All previous newsletters are at /g/DanEgglestonChristmasNewsletter |
