This conversation with Joseph LaMarque is the seventh in my series of profiles on African-American fine artists and leaders of cultural organizations in St. Louis which now include (in alphabetical order): Rene Dimanche Jr., Ron Himes, Joseph La Marque, Edna J. Patterson Petty, Robert Powell, Freida L. Wheaton, and Rochleigh Z. Wholfe for a total…
A creative person has to create. It doesn’t really matter what you create. If such a dancer wanted to go out and build the cactus gardens where he could, in Mexico, let him do that, but something that is creative has to go on. —Katherine Dunham…click here to read her bio in the Black Collegian.
What is the future of African American Arts in St. Louis? “One of the strongest purveyors of African American culture is African American theater. It’s a place where we can strongly control the images portrayed,” said Himes. Ron Himes, director & founder, St. Louis Black Repertory Company, which makes its home at the Grandell Theater…
Alan Brody worked for twenty-two years with the UN Children’s Fund, most recently as UNICEF Representative in Swaziland (1999–2006), and before that with assignments in China, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Nigeria. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Iowa, and served for over seven years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana…
“Audience Buzz,” a newsletter of World Audience, Inc. (303 Park Avenue South #1440, New York, NY 10010-3657, United States,Tel: (646) 620-7406)–“A 21st century publishing corporation, owned by its writers”–featured my poem “Crocus” in their January 2008 issue. You can read “Crocus” on the sidebar of Riehlife under the “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” category. Then, go…
Check out Susan Tweit’s Podcast on “The Nature of Life” with some great stories and perspectives on the power of intention that came from some surprise 2007 resolutions. Susan says: It seems to me that if we don’t write from our hearts and say the things we believe most deeply, there’s no point in writing….
II. Africa Maun, Botswana Afternoons, I teach schoolchildren to swim in the flooded waters of the Tamalakane. Two fingers support wiry bodies that sink every chance they get. “Arch your back! Spread out your limbs! Float! Kick! Paddle!” Until one student travels under her own speed. We collapse on the bank, gasping with sputtered water…
Listening to NPR yesterday I heard a long forgotten place name on the globe: Rishikesh. I traveled to Rishikesh in the mid-1970s in the middle of my Peace Corps tour in Ghana. Imagine: West Africa, Egypt (stopover), 6 weeks of Northern Indian travel on third class trains, then back by way of the Middle East…
I. India Rishikesh Strolling on the banks of the Ganges Sacred gravel crunches underfoot. A sadhu* stretches boldly over high drop-off to collect holy water in just-cleaned leather pouch. I finger the rushing stream just delivered from melting mountains. Then, pull out my finger, fast. Frozen hot pink, finger drips a blessing to forehead, throat,…
My father Erwin A. Thompson, grandson of E. A. Riehl, writes fondly of Lee Maupin, his boyhood neighbor…and how Pop changed the course of Lee’s life…with a big boost from my Great Aunt Mim. Lee is gone now. And the farm is completely changed. Pop and I still visit Kay Maupin up in Otterville. Kay…