Sample publications
"My Dive Into Adventure," Scuba Diving magazine
Photo © 2006 Jennifer Podis
Interview with Grammy-winner Kurt Elling
Photo by Marc Hauser
Book review, George Gershwin: His Life & Work
As a writer of serious music
He could dream for a while in the stars
And step down from the heights of Grand Opera
To a chorus of 32 bars
-Irving Berlin on George Gershwin
As one of America’s finest musical exports, George Gershwin has had many previous biographers, but with 15,000 items now archived at the Library of Congress, there is room for one more. Much has come to light since the first attempt in 1929, and Howard Pollack draws upon a wealth of recordings, manuscripts and publications – some of which revise history – to offer the most deeply informed study yet. Born in Brooklyn to Russian Jews in 1898, Gershwin spent most of his adolescence living on the Lower East Side and in Harlem. He recorded piano rolls and plugged songs for Remick Music before he first tasted fame at the age of 21, when he wrote an international hit for Al Jolson called “Swanee.” That same year he wrote his first Broadway show, La-La-Lucille!, marking the beginning of a prolific and varied career that would only end with his death in 1937 from a brain tumor. The man who said he wanted “to represent the life and spirit of this country” was uniquely molded by it, and his biographer traces how the influence of both serious and lighter music from home and abroad equipped him reflect our lives back to us in such a compelling way. Whether writing concert pieces or musical comedies, Gershwin’s compositions reflect an appreciation that spanned from Italian opera to Irving Berlin. In fact, it was his “extraordinary ability to absorb a wide spectrum of seemingly incongruous styles and materials” that distinguished him from contemporaries like Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers. Still, he encouraged his peers’ efforts and was enthusiastic about their contributions. He held what amounted to musical salons at his home, where fellow songwriters could critique each other’s work (as a radio host in 1934, he told his audience to imagine, “you had simply dropped in at my house or I at yours, to run over a few tunes….”).
One of the most satisfying aspects of this book is its exploration of this kind of camaraderie with the likes of Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and Harold Arlen. Music history lovers will especially appreciate Part II of the book, which is devoted to the reception of his work, show synopses and production notes – from to his earliest composition at age 14 to blockbusters like Funny Face and Porgy and Bess. We also learn that, despite the composer’s downplaying of his formal learning, he was in fact a meticulous student of music, studying classical scores and striving throughout his career to improve his technical skills. While working within the confines of American theater, Gershwin raised the genre to a higher level while keeping it accessible to the average listener. In his private life, he was an energetic athlete, a serious art collector and an artist himself, focusing on portraiture that endeavored to capture the complexity of his subjects. Pollack, too, has painted a perceptive portrait, illustrating the development of a talent that still makes our hearts soar to “Summertime” and our feet tap to “'S’ Wonderful.”
George Gershwin: His Life and Work
Howard Pollack 909 pages / 51 b&w photographs January 2007 University of California Press.
[This article originally appeared on http://jetsettinthewest.com.] 
Dinner: Impossible
Every day en route from the office, working mothers do mental strategizing on a question that’s taken for granted: what to serve for dinner that can be prepared quickly and please everyone at the table? It’s a small-scale challenge, but a mission that one deserves a pat on the back for accomplishing. Imagine, though, being given 17 hours notice that you are to feed 4,000 people at an Inauguration Ball. It happened not long ago to celebrity chef Robert Irvine, on his Food Network show, Dinner: Impossible.
After two years of planning, the series was launched in January of 2007. The crux of each episode is an unusual circumstance, menu or both, which is sprung on him with very little notice.
Irvine explains, “They don’t tell me where I’m going. A car picks me up at 5a.m., and I’m issued tickets. They might fly me to
Read the full Robert Irvine article on www.celebstaff.com.
Supernanny Sequel:
Every week, grateful viewers tune in from around the world to watch Jo Frost tame toddlers and empower parents. The structure, if not the execution, is simple. Frost demonstrates how to transform behavior that’s, well, childish; then mom and dad try the techniques. The results have everyone from David Letterman to Newsweek deeming it must-see TV. Ricochet is now expanding on that credibility by launching a related series, and Nick Gilhool, the production company’s casting director, says they’re casting a wide net for their newest host.
[Read the full article on Supernanny at www.celebstaff.com.]
PR Legends: Lizzie Grubman, Julian Myers and Michael Levine
Michael Levine is an example of how far a self-educated businessman can go. He’s a frequent guest commentator on the Today Show, Nightline, CNN, MSNBC and others, and he authored the enormously successful public relations guide, Guerilla PR – yet he says the odds of him being successful were a million to one. His message? “The game is not easy or fair, but it’s winnable.” [Read more on Michael -- and publicists Lizzie Grubman and Julian Myers -- at www.celebstaff.com.]
Whimsical Wildlife: The Art of Andy Cobb
A crane looking through binoculars, a frog painting a landscape: These are the types of figures Andy Cobb coaxes from copper. It’s a cast of characters that would be at home in a children’s storybook – in fact, his first frog was inspired by The Wind in the Willow – but adults around the country find them immensely appealing. [Read the full article at http://copper.org/copperliving/arts/2007/may/supplement.html#s1]
Book review
Gypsy at Sea
Chasing Dreamtime:
A Journey Through Memory and Myth
by Neva Sullaway ISBN: 0-9707649-2-8
336 pages, January 2005 $15.95
Neva Sullaway intended to be the first
woman to sail alone around the world,
but a more unpredictable path awaited her.
Before establishing herself as a photojournalist
and champion sailboarder, she spent her 24th
year sailing the South Pacific at the mercy of the elements, wild animals
and the people that call the ocean their home. A survivor of abuse in
both the Catholic Church and a marriage, Sullaway begins her voyage
running from demons, only to find new ones sharing a ship with her.
After a sailor gets her out of Tahitian jail for a visa violation, she
fights off sharks, tropical fever, and an island prince who wants her
for a bride. Eventually dumped with no resources on a Fiji island,
she signs up as crew with a violent “captain” who refuses to chart
their course on the open water – a dangerous negligence that compels
her to do the navigation secretly while he sleeps. She escapes his
menace after docking in Australia, and after bicycling 1200 miles
up the coast, takes a cooking job on a prawn trawler in the Gulf of
Carpentaria. The Gulf is known as “Never-Never” for its isolation,
and it is here that she’s nearly traded to another boat against her will.
The author brings these characters vividly to life – from simple foul
tempers to men that have lost their minds to the sea – and the book
was rightfully chosen as Best Travel Book 2005 by the North American
Travel Journalists Association, and as finalist for the 2005 National
Outdoor Book Award. By the end of her journey, Sullaway is lucky
to be alive, but more than that, the skills she develops dealing with
the chaotic conditions on board help her finally put her turbulent
past to rest. Between the drug smugglers, deadly sea snakes and
fingers broken on the mast, there are moments of beauty and
clarity for this young traveler. Aside from the obvious hardships
in her stories, readers will find themselves imagining the smell of
ocean air, the feel of wind in their hair, and even signing up for
sailing lessons. - VF
Also by Neva Sullaway:
Sailing in San Diego: A Pictorial History for the 1992/95 America’s Cup
One with the Wind: A Guide to Sailboarding in Australia
Freesail Australia, a windsurfing magazine
Woodcarver, award-winning short film
"Of Fish and Flesh," Whole Life Times
(p.s., the vegetarianism was temporary)
