Stacy Horn

A banner for our spring concert is on the fence at Grace Church! Doesn’t it look great?? I love how it gives you a great look at the inside of the church from the outside. Gorgeous church.

Next up in friends with new books out is Chasing the Last Laugh: Mark Twain’s Raucous and Redemptive Round-the World Comedy by Richard Zacks. So far it’s gotten great reviews, including a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and praise from authors like Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Greenblatt:

“Chasing the Last Laugh is a funny and poignant account of Mark Twain’s late, epic struggle against debt and death. Richard Zacks has a brilliant eye for detail and the narrative gifts needed to bring out all that is strange, zany, and ultimately inspiring in this remarkable story of money, honor, and literary genius.”

And Carl Hiaasen: “Chasing the Last Laugh is an intimate and fascinating account of what was basically the world’s weirdest book tour, starring the funniest writer America has ever produced. Mark Twain’s own notes and letters enrich every chapter, illuminating not only his cranky genius but the private fears and turmoil that compelled him to pack up his family and hit the road.”

From Zacks: “Twain went broke, and almost ruined his life but he saved himself and his reputation by performing for a year in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa. Here is a seriously funny man caught in a bind through his own reckless investing. I had access to unpublished letters and notebooks. All his maxims start making more sense: “Man will do many things to get himself loved; he will do all things to get himself envied.” “Few of us can stand prosperity; another man’s I mean.” The book is only a little bit business and a lot of Twain’s travels and private life.”

Congratulations! I know you are a serious and first-class researcher so I’m sure this book is a treasure.

Literally! As you can see from this shot from my walk through Central Park. But now you must excuse me. I’ve got a dentist appointment at 2 and I have a lot of moping to do.

I’ve got a couple of friends who have new books out. First up, A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer by Mary Elizabeth Williams.

If you’re in New York she is doing a reading and Q&A on Monday, May 2 as part of a series called Above the Bridge. “Instead of our $5 cover charge, this is a by-donation event with 50% of the proceeds going to Gilda’s Club.” More info here.

A couple of snippets from the reviews:

“This highly recommended account demonstrates the value of cutting-edge cancer research, but it is also beautifully crafted, and many readers will find it entertaining and—though the author might not like this term—inspiring.”—Library Journal, starred review.

“Exhilarating and entertaining…Williams delivers a complex tale about a complex disease.”—Kirkus, starred review.

I wish my writing had a fraction of the humor and heart Mary Elizabeth Williams’s writing has. You won’t regret picking this up. That reminds me, she wrote this great piece, How to Talk to Someone With Cancer. I live in fear of saying or doing the wrong thing in those circumstances and she gave such great advice. I hope that made it into the book in some form.

I was at the Municipal Archives, researching one black man who was killed during the July, 1863 Draft Riots in New York City, when I noticed a lot of children were killed during the riots as well. If you don’t know about the riots, you can google it, but for three days people went on the rampage here in New York City. I don’t know a lot about it myself, and I’m getting the sense that scholars disagree about just what the riot was about, but for now I want to note the children who died.

I started looking into it, and I believe more children died than what I initially found, but here are the names listed in the Coroner’s Inquest Journals. A number of children, some of whom were participating in the riot, were killed when soldiers fired on rioters at the Armory at 2nd Avenue and 21st Street

Unnamed boy, 13, who died from injuries received at Armory.
Jane Barry, 10, killed by furniture thrown out of the window of the Colored Orphan Asylum.
William Boyle, 19, shot by soldiers on 7/16.
Mary Ann Carmody, 10, shot 10th Avenue and 42nd Street.
Patrick Casey, 10, gun shot, 7/15, 42nd Street near 11th Avenue.
William Conway, 14, gunshot.
John Costello, 12, burned to death at the Armory.
Peter Farrell, 13, gun shot, 10th Avenue.
Charles Fisbeck, Jr., 10, gun shot at Armoy.
Patrick Garvey, 14, shot by soldiers, 11th Avenue, 7/16.
Ellen Kirke, 2, gun shot, at 206 East 35th Street.
William Joyce, 19, gun shot, 7/16.
James Lee, 19, blows from riot.
Elizabeth Marshall, 6, gun shot, 7/15.
Francis McCabe, 18, gun shot, 36th Street and 9th Avenue.
William [Murphy or Mulley] 9, shot by “negro”, 32nd Street near 6th Avenue, 7/15.
Honora Murphy, 11, shot, 7/14.
William Stevens, 3, gun shot, 7/14.
William Henry Thompson, 10, shot by military while rioting, 7/14.
Catherine Waters, 12, shot by military while rioting, 7/14.

I didn’t know which picture to post today, but this one seems kinda appropriate. It’s a picture of an arrest in Washington Square Park that I passed by last week. I was a little taken aback by the holiday atmosphere of the crowd around the arrested man, but I don’t know the backstory.