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.
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.
Clarks Summit native and character actor Warren Stevens passed away on Tuesday, March 27th at the age of 92.
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.
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. 
My colleague Evelyn Gibbons emailed me a New York Times article that announced the release of a DVD featuring Jason Miller's second film appearance (after The Exorcist). The film, 1974's The Nickel Ride, was directed by Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird) and is paired as a double feature with 99 And 44/100% Dead on the DVD, released on December 13th by The Shout Factory.
Mindy Kaling, writer and co-star of the NBC sitcom The Office (set in Scranton), has recently published a collection of humorous essays about her life and work titled Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), in which she includes a brief reference to Scranton.
Three-time Tony winner and Wilkes-Barre native Santo Loquasto is the Scenic Designer for Broadway's Relatively Speaking, which opened last night (Thursday, October 20th) at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in NYC.
"Well, I don't remember talking with him (JFK) about Scranton."
Congratulations to documentary filmmaker and Wayne County native Josh Fox for winning an Emmy for Outstanding Direction for Nonfiction Programming for his film Gasland.
My colleague and fellow avid reader Michele L. told me about "the most random reference to Scranton" she ever came across in a novel--Robert Masello's latest book The Medusa Amulet.Aided only by a beautiful young Florentine with a conspirator’s mind and dark secrets, Franco is soon caught up in a life-and-death struggle from which there is no escape. Relentlessly pursued by deadly assassins and demons of his own, in the end he must confront—and defeat—an evil greater than anything conjured in his worst nightmares."
The two Scranton references appear towards the very end of the novel:
This reference comes from Brian Fulton, Librarian at the Times-Tribune and webmaster of the Pages from the Past blog of their website. In a blog entry he wrote on May 18th, 2011, Brian wrote a great piece on the 2006 "nonfiction novel" Thunderstruck by Erik Larson and its connections to Scranton, PA. Click here to check it out.
Terri Libeson, a native of Kingston, PA and author/artist of the nationally syndicated comic strip The Pajama Diaries, will be signing copies of her new book The Pajama Diaries: Deja To-Do at Barnes & Noble at The Arena Hub in Wilkes-Barre on Friday, August 19th from 7 PM to 9 PM. Libeson's book commemorates the 5th anniversary of the debut of her comic strip.
