Last week I demonstrated my new webcam with a tune, but I didn't actually purchase it to fill your lives with the glories of music. I had an ulterior motive, which I shall now reveal.
There
is a group of folk music fans in New Jersey called the
Folk Project, and they have retreats twice a year where people go to a camp and play
music together. Good times.
My
answer: not as scary as putting words in the mouth of Tom Paxton.
After all, Tom is still alive. Therefore I was extremely careful to
make him a sympathetic character. (Even though he offered to be the
murderer. And he graciously gave me the following blurb: "Spooky. If
I'd have known he was watching us so carefully, I would have been MUCH
better."
There
is a group of folk music fans in New Jersey called the
Folk Project, and they have retreats twice a year where people go to a camp and play
music together. Good times.
Well,
recently they added a new feature to these weekends: a book club. The
coordinator chooses a book related to folk music and you can guess the
rest.
A
few months ago the title was announced for the spring retreat: SUCH A
KILLING CRIME, a mystery set in Greenwich Village during the great folk
music scare of 1963.
One
member of the Folk Project is Lori Falco, and she and I have been
friends since we met while waiting for a bus on the first day of high
school. quite a few years ago. Lori asked the coordinator: "Do you
know the author of that book used to be a member of the Folk Project?"
The
coordinator had not known that. But I was promptly invited to come to
the retreat for the discussion. That wasn't possible but I got a
webcam and a skype account and made a virtual appearance.
It
was a lot of fun. Oh, the usual technical hiccups (no matter how long
Lori and I spent prepping before the show started). Interested people
asking good questions. My favorite: "What was it like putting words in
Phil Ochs' mouth?"
My
answer: not as scary as putting words in the mouth of Tom Paxton.
After all, Tom is still alive. Therefore I was extremely careful to
make him a sympathetic character. (Even though he offered to be the
murderer. And he graciously gave me the following blurb: "Spooky. If
I'd have known he was watching us so carefully, I would have been MUCH
better."
Well,
I had a good time and I would like the chance to chat with ALL the folk
music book clubs in the world. Unfortunately, I suspect I just did.
On a related note, Kearney Street Books informed me this week that SUCH A KILLING CRIME is now available on Kindle, for those who don't care to
read their books, uh, acoustically.
Not the future anyone was expecting in 1963, huh?
A lot better than the future that I expected in 1963, which was short and involved global thermonuclear war.
ReplyDeleteRob, what a clever and interesting way to tell us the book is now available on Kindle. Can I still buy it in print? Gotta read it!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy Fran, are you suggesting I had a commercial motive? My motives, as always, are pure. But if you want a print copy of the book I am fairly certain my publisher could be persuaded to part with one for a reasonable contribution: http://kearneystreetbooks.com/crimeSummary.html
ReplyDeleteZeke, yesterday on Facebook I pointed out a depressing article from the National Archives magazine about just how close we came to that in 1962.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't resist, Rob. I just bought the book on Kindle. We have quite a bunch of musical SleuthSayers. We should do something about it one of these days. Um, virtual hootenanny, anyone?
ReplyDeleteOMG! I've got an old Paxton LP!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Jeff. Liz, sounds good.
ReplyDeleteSo many of us are interested in music in one genre or another. How wonderful!
ReplyDelete[CDs are on sale in the lobby.]