John Henry Hopkins, Jr, Composer (1820 - 1891)

In addition of Winter Wonderland by Honesdale native Richard B. Smith, I've recently learned that another traditional Christmas carol has its origins in Northeastern/Central Pennsylvania.

John Henry Hopkins, Jr. (October 28, 1820 – August 14, 1891) was an American clergyman and hymnist.  Born in Pittsburgh, Hopkins served as rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; he delivered the eulogy at the funeral of President Ulysses S Grant in 1885.

In 1857 in Williamsport, Hopkins composed the words and music of We Three Kings (Of Orient Are) as part of a Christmas pageant for his nephews and nieces.The hymn has since become a traditional holiday carol recoded by musical legends such as The Beach Boys, Ella Fitzgerald, Neil Diamond, Bing Crosby and many others.

Much thanks to Deborah L. for this reference.

Argo (2012)

Brian Fulton, Librarian at The Times-Tribune and all-around groovy guy, went to see Argo, the critically-acclaimed movie directed by and starring Ben Affleck that is generating a lot of awards buzz.


Based on real events, the dramatic thriller Argo chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis, focusing on the little-known role that the CIA and Hollywood played—information that was not declassified until many years after the event.

At one point in the film, President Jimmy Carter's Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan (played by Kyle Chandler) states that "some guy in Scranton is planting a flag a day."

Argo is now playing at Cinemark in Moosic, Marquee Cinemas at Steamtown, and Great Escape IMAX 14 in Dickson City.

Much thanks to the ever-awesome Brian Fulton for this reference.

http://argothemovie.warnerbros.com/

Saturday Night Live (Saturday, October 13, 2012)

Four years ago, Saturday Night Live presented a hilarious skewering of the Vice-Presidential debate between Joe Biden (Jason Sudeikis) and Sarah Palin (Tina Fey), in which Biden ripped into the "hellhole" of his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Four years later, he does it again.

Last night's SNL once again presented a hilarious parody of the Vice-Presidential Debate.  This time Republican nominee Paul Ryan (Taram Killam) is on the listening end of Joe Biden's (Jason Sudeikis) tearing into Scranton.  

The following exchange begins at around the 1:55 mark in the clip below, where moderator Martha Raddatz (Kate McKinnon) questions each candidate on getting the unemployment rate to under 6 percent and how long it will take.

Paul Ryan: 

Martha, Vice-President Biden and I come from very similar places.  I’m from Janesville, Wisconsin and he’s from Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Do you know what the unemployment rate in Scranton is right now? 

Joe Biden:  

Sure do. 

Paul Ryan:  

It’s 10 percent.  And I just wonder what the Vice-President would say to the hardworking people of towns like Janesville and Scranton. 

Joe Biden: 

Well, I’d know what I’d say to my friend AND the people of Janesville.  Things may be bad where you live, but I guarantee you it is a paradise next to the burning coal heap that is Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Do you know that show Walking Dead, The Walking Dead?  It would make a good tourism ad for Scranton.  I mean, if you went to the lowest circle of hell, you’d STILL be 45 minutes outside of Scranton.  And I grew up there.  I love it.  It’s the single worst place on Earth.

Atlas Shrugged Part II Opens Friday; Will It Mention Scranton?

Part II of the Atlas Shrugged film adaptation opens Friday, October 12th at Cinemark in Moosic.  The novel includes a brief Scranton reference on page 836.  I'm curious if the intended film trilogy will include the reference.

www.atlasshruggedmovie.com

Scranton Natives Amy Wilson and Julie Kramer Write, Produce and Star in "The Best of Everything" in NYC

Opening tonight in New York is the theatrical adaptation of the 1958 Rona Jaffe novel The Best of Everything (later adapted into a film starring Joan Crawford).  Julie Kramer and Amy Wilson are Scranton natives who previously collaborated on Amy's one-woman show The Mother Load which has played both off-Broadway and Scranton.  Julie is the writer and director of the new production(which runs through October 20th at the HERE Arts Centre--145 6th Street; click here to purchase tickets), and Amy is playing one of the lead roles.   


Amy Wilson is also the author of the 2010 book When Did I Get Like This? (which features numerous references to Scranton).

Julie and Amy were recently profiled in The Times-Tribune.  Click here to read the full article.

Click here for an article from Playbill.com about the adaptation and opening of the new play.


Much thanks to Peter Cupple for this reference.

"Remembering the Scranton Sirens" Documentary Wins Emmy

Congratulations to the creative team behind the documentary Remembering the Scranton Sirens, which recently won an Emmy award for Best Documentary.  The documentary, produced by WVIA and directed by Scranton native Gregory Matkosky (Stories From the Mines), won the award at the 30th Annual Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Ceremony, held in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 22nd in Philadelphia.

Click here for more information on The Scranton Sirens.

Click here to read more about the Emmy win.

Much thanks to Evelyn Gibbons for this reference.

Pittston/Scranton Native Jay Parini To Sign Books at University of Scranton Saturday, September 29th

The University of Scranton’s Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library will present the 2012 Royden B. Davis, S.J., Distinguished Author Award to Jay Parini, an award winning poet, biographer, fiction writer and educator. This ceremony is one of a series of events planned throughout 2012 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

The award ceremony will be held on Saturday, Sept. 29, in the Rev. Bernard R. McIlhenny, S.J., Ballroom of the Patrick and Margaret DeNaples Center. The reception begins at 5 p.m. with dinner and the award ceremony following at 6:30 p.m. Reservations are required to attend the ceremony.

In addition, a book signing which is open to the public, free of charge, will take place on Sept. 29 from 4 to 5 p.m. on the fourth floor reception area of the DeNaples Center.

For further information or to reserve a ticket for the award event, contact Kym Fetsko at The University of Scranton at (570) 941-7816 or kym.fetsko@scranton.edu.

Jay Parini was born in 1948 in Pittston, Pennsylvania and raised in Scranton. His novel The Last Station was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film with Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren.

Click here to read previous blog entries on Jay Parini.

I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me by Joan Rivers (2012)

It's weird how these things happen.

Last night I was reading Joan Rivers's new book and randomly thought, "I haven't updated the Entertainment blog in over a month, and my Wilkes-Barre/Scranton references have run dry."  Then, out of the blue, I came across a Wilkes-Barre reference on page 153 of the book.

I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me is the hilariously offensive (or is it offensively hilarious?) new book by Joan Rivers in which she comically details what annoys her about every conceivable type of person and situation.  A New York Times Bestseller, the book was also banned from sale by retail chain Costco due to profanity on the book's back cover (on August 8th, Rivers staged a media coup by handcuffing herself to a shopping cart at Costco and selling her book in the parking lot).

Page 153 of the book details why Joan Rivers hates private planes:

"...because I'm a guest that means whoever owns the jet is a lot more rich and famous than I am and if that private jet goes down, the obituary in The New York Times will read: INTERNATIONAL OIL MAGNATE SHEIK ABDULLAH MUCKETY MUCK AND FOUR OTHER (POORER) PEOPLE DIE IN PLANE CRASH.  I haven't spent forty years playing one-nighters in Wilkes-Barre to die as an 'other.'"

Joan Rivers will next be appearing in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, April 27th at The F.M Kirby Center. Click here for more information on her upcoming appearance. 

Click here to place a hold on I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me.

http://www.joan.co/

Free Tickets Now Available For Upcoming Library Lecture Tuesday, August 7th

Free tickets for the next Library Lecture are now available at all Lackawanna County Libraries.

John Anthony Gilvey, author of "Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City," will be the next presenter at the Matthew F. Flynn Library Lecture Series Tuesday, August 7th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center. 

Actor Jerry Orbach (1935-2004) was Baby's father in 1987's Dirty Dancing and the voice of candlestick Lumiere in Disney's Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast.  He was Detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law & Order.  And he was a Tony Award-winning Broadway star whose roles include Billy Flynn in 1975's original Broadway production of Chicago.

But did you also know his mother was a native of Plymouth, PA and he spent part of his childhood living in Scranton?

Gilvey's multimedia presentation will include clips and photos of Orbach's work on stage, screen and television, as well as information on Orbach's roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Hope to see you there. 

In the meantime, check out this wonderful essay by Dr. Gilvey about Jerry Orbach's childhood in NEPA.


Click here to place a hold on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City.

Click here for a previous blog entry on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City. 


Click here to like the Library Lecture Series on Facebook.

John Anthony Gilvey, Author of "Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City," To Speak at Library Lecture Series Tuesday, August 7th

Author John Anthony Gilvey, author of Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City, will be the next presenter in the Matthew J. Flynn Library Lecture Series on Tuesday, August 7th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center.  Tickets will be available the beginning of July and will be FREE with your Lackawanna County Library Card.

Actor Jerry Orbach (1935-2004) was Baby's father in 1987's Dirty Dancing and the voice of candlestick Lumiere in Disney's Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast.  He was Detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law & Order.  And he was a Tony Award-winning Broadway star whose roles include Billy Flynn in 1975's original Broadway production of Chicago.

But did you also know his mother was a native of Plymouth, PA and he spent part of his childhood living in Scranton?

Gilvey's multimedia presentation will include clips and photos of Orbach's work on stage, screen and television, as well as information on Orbach's roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit the Lecture Series's Facebook page.

To place a hold on John Anthony Gilvey's book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City, click here. 

Click here for a previous blog entry on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City.

"Touring The City With Fresh Eyes" From The New York Times, Friday, May 4, 2012

Check out page C37 of this past Friday's New York Times (May 4, 2012) for an article on the Jane Walk Tours, founded in 2007 and named after Scranton native Jane Jacobs.

Sam Robert's article, titled Touring the City With Fresh Eyes, features the following:

"One Jane’s Walk tour starts at the Christopher Street subway station in Greenwich Village, where Jacobs arrived after moving from Scranton, Pa., to pursue a writing career."

Click here to read the full article.

Much thanks to Dr. Peter Cupple for this reference.

Jay Parini, Native of Pittston and Scranton, Will Receive University of Scranton Award in September

It has recently been announced that award-winning poet and author Jay Parini will receive the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award from the Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library at University of Scranton on Saturday, September 29th.  This is one of several planned events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

Novelist and poet Jay Parini was born in 1948 in Pittston, Pennsylvania and raised in Scranton.  His 1990 novel The Last Station was adapted into a 2009 Oscar nominated film starring Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer.

Click here for more information. 

Actor Paul Dano, Who Has Roots in Scranton, To Appear At Pocono Community Theater Friday, April 27th

Actor Paul Dano, who has roots in the Scranton area, will be attending a screening of his latest film Being Flynn, co-starring Robert DeNiro, followed by a Q-and-A session on Friday, April 27th at 7:30 PM at the Pocono Community Center (formerly Pocono Cinema & Coffee Shop) in East Stroudsburg, PA. Tickets are $15 per person.

In addition to Being Flynn, Dano has appeared in films such as Knight & Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, The Extra Man with Kevin Kline and Katie Holmes, There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day Lewis, and Little Miss Sunshine with Steve Carell.

Though born in New York City, Dano's father grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In addition, Dano's grandfather (a lawyer) and Aunt Olga have also lived in Scranton in the past.

Click here for more information about the upcoming screening.

poconocommunitytheater.org

Brian L. Patton (AKA The Sexy Vegan) (1978 - )

My friend and colleague Michele L. told me recently that a popular YouTube sensation turned bestselling cookbook author is a native of Hazleton, PA. His name is Brian L. Patton, but he is more popularly known by his moniker The Sexy Vegan.

In the introduction to his recently published debut cookbook The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food From An Ordinary Dude, Brian L. Patton was born in Hazleton, PA on February 16, 1978. After graduating college and moving to Hollywood, Patton topped the scale at 260 pounds. In turn, he started a vegan diet and over time shed several pounds.

In 2006, Patton launched his online vegan cooking show on YouTube under his nickname The Sexy Vegan and it became an Internet hit. In 2010 Patton was offered a publishing contract from New World Library, and his debut cookbook was published on March 21, 2012.

The Sexy Vegan Cookbook is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; click here to place a hold.

Much thanks to Michele L. for this reference.

www.thesexyvegan.moonfruit.com

Warren Stevens (1919-2012)

Clarks Summit native and character actor Warren Stevens passed away on Tuesday, March 27th at the age of 92.

Born on November 2, 1919 in Clarks Summit, PA, Stevens appeared in over 40 films such as The Barefoot Contessa (directed by Wilkes-Barre native Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Deadline U.S.A. with Humphrey Bogart, and perhaps his most famous film, 1956's sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet.

Steven's career include television appearances on E.R., The Man From U.N.C.L.E, and Rawhide.

Click here to read Warren Steven's obituary from The New York Times.

Much thanks to Dr. Peter Cupple for this reference.

Body of Proof: Season 2, Episode 18: Going Viral, Part 1 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)

My colleague Ernie Reich excitedly told me today about a Scranton reference in this week's episode of the medical drama Body of Proof. The hit show, which airs Tuesday nights at 10 PM on ABC, stars Dana Delaney as Megan Hunt, a Philadelphia medical examiner whose unique approach to solving crimes puts her at odds with her superiors.

In the episode Going Viral: Part 1 (which originally aired this past Tuesday), Megan and the team are faced with a city-wide outbreak of a mysterious, lethal virus that puts everyone at risk. About a half-hour into the episode, Detective Bud Morris (John Carroll Lynch) is on the phone with his wife encouraging her to get out of town to escape the mysterious virus. He tell her:

"Jean…Jeanie, for once in our relationship, this cannot be an argument. I need you to get your keys, get in the car, and drive to your sister’s in Scranton."

Click here to watch the full episode. The Scranton dialogue occurs at 32:18.

Much thanks to Ernie Reich for this reference.

abc.go.com/shows/body-of-proof

Band of Brothers: Episode 10: Points (2001)

Presented by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the epic WWII miniseries Band of Brothers originally aired in 2001 on HBO in 10 parts to critical acclaim and massive ratings. I know several people who have seen and raved about the series, but no one ever mentioned two references to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania until I got an email from Annie:

"It appears at around 2:36 (the clip is 7:32 minutes long), Harry Welsh is sitting with Carwood Lipton and the voice over narration says:

'Harry Welsh! He married Kitty Grogan, became an administrator with the Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania school system.'"

The Wilkes-Barre reference occurs at approximately 2:36 in the YouTube clip below.

Annie also told me there is a second reference to Wilkes-Barre elsewhere in the Band of Brothers miniseries.

However, Annie also pointed out that Wilkes-Barre is not referenced at all in the book that was the basis of the miniseries--Stephen E. Ambrose's Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest--although she points out that a Wilkes-Barre reference was included in another book she read on Company E.

Band of Brothers is available to borrow on both DVD and Blu Ray from the Lackawanna County Library System.

Nancy McDonald "If You Can Play Scranton" Book Signings

Author Nancy McDonald has scheduled 2 book signing events in Scranton during the next few weeks to promote the recently published revised edition of her book If You Can Play Scranton:

Saturday, January 28, 2012
1-3 p.m.
Library Express
The Mall at Steamtown
300 Lackawanna Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 558-1670

Friday, February 3, 2012
6-9 p.m.
Wendell and Company
in the former Ritz Theater
222 Wyoming Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503

IfYouCanPlayScranton.com

Miller's Tale, Jason Miller Documentary, Now Available To Purchase on DVD

Miller's Tale, Rebecca Marshall Ferris's excellent documentary on the life of Scranton native Jason Miller, is now available to purchase on DVD. In addition to the 56-minute documentary, the DVD also includes the film trailer, additional interviews with William Friedkin and Stacy Keach, and an interview with director Rebecca Marshall Ferris.

Click here to purchase a copy of Miller's Tale on DVD.

millerstalemovie.com
www.facebook.com/millerstale