In 2007, when former islander Benita Staadecker turned 60, the last present she expected was a play commissioned in her honor. After all, when Benita’s husband Charlie asked her what she wanted, she said, “Surprise me.” Surprise her he did with a play commissioned via Seattle’s ACT Theatre. “Becky’s New Car” will have its island premiere this weekend and next at Open Space for Arts & Community.
Band plays sweet soul at the Bike
As a storyteller and school librarian, islander Bob Jonas knows what kids like to read. As a writer of young adult fiction, he knows how to hook his audience — create a challenge for the youthful protagonist in a tough position and see how they do. In his latest novel, “Imposter,” a 16-year-old American boy at an international school in Saudi Arabia masquerades as an online cleric, and the stunt causes serious fallout. Jonas will discuss “Imposter” at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at Vashon Bookshop.
Call it luck. Call it synchronicity or even fate, but the stars aligned on the day in 1953 when an elite fighter pilot flew a stolen Soviet MiG-15 jet out of North Korea and defected to the West. The story of his escape, North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung’s subsequent rise to power and the United States’ seldom-discussed role in the Korean War are the focus of best-selling author Blaine Harden’s riveting historical thriller, “The Great Leader and The Fighter Pilot: A True Story About the Birth of Tyranny in North Korea.” Harden will read and discuss his newly-released paperback at 6 p.m. Thursday at Vashon Bookshop.
Former Vashon poet laureate, painter and sculptor Ina Whitlock will read from her latest book of poems, “Moments Out of Time,” at 6 p.m. Friday at Vashon Bookshop.
In honor of National Poetry Month, The Academy of American Poets spotlighted the Stories of Arrival: Refugee and Immigrant Youth Voices Poetry Project, a program founded by poet and long-time islander Merna Ann Hecht.
A house concert is an easy way to experience live music in an intimate and warm setting and is an up-close and personal way to meet musicians. Islanders have an opportunity to attend a house concert with the acoustic strings and harmonizing voices of Marla Fibish and Bruce Victor of Noctambule, and Tim Connell in a Vashon living room at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Blaine Harden, former reporter for The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine, will read and discuss his latest book, “The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: A True Story about the Birth of Tyranny in North Korea,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at the Vashon Bookshop.
Most galleries and art spots are open from 6 to 9 p.m.
From inside Ina Whitlock’s living room, rainbows can be seen arching over the north end of the island. Step outside and the colorful arcs often curve right over the artist herself.
Vashon Film Society presents the Academy Award-nominated film “Anomalisa”
For an island with a small population, Vashon boasts a large number of poets. According to island poet laureate Cal Kinnear, the number is upwards of 80.
Some 15 years ago in Philadelphia, island musician Kat Eggleston told her friend Utah Phillips about her father’s memories as a child in the Dust Bowl, one of the greatest agricultural disasters in American history.