A blog about New York City, my books, and my cats. Mostly.
Looking down from my roof into a backyard garden party. It was insanely loud for such a small group of people. It must have had something to do with the small space surrounded by brick and concrete. Because I’m in the front I am not subjected to the noise, but my poor neighbors in the back have to deal with this all summer.
But what are you going to do, tell people not to use their courtyards? Don’t have parties?
Some scenes from my life publicizing my book. The first shot is at the Books Beneath the Bridge series at Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the next two are from the WCBS Author Talks Radio podcast recording (that’s reporter Peter Haskell, the host, in the third shot). I also recorded a podcast for The Curious Man, but that was over the phone so I don’t have a picture of that!
I was so nervous before my talk at the Merchant’s House Museum Garden on Thursday, but it was delightful. Margaret Halsey Gardiner, the executive director of the Museum, couldn’t have been more welcoming, as was Tim Ranney, who invited me. Then afterwards I joined the group tour of the museum.
The Merchant’s House is a building on West 4th Street that was bought by a hardware merchant, Seabury Tredwell, in 1835. His family lived there until his youngest child, Gertrude, died there in 1933. It’s now a museum with most of its original furniture and contents (clothes, decor, etc.)
On the floor for the servants was a list of people who had worked there at one time or another. I plan to research whether or not any of them ever ended up on Blackwell’s Island. I can’t research “Bridget Murphy,” or “Mary Smith,” because it would be too difficult or impossible to determine if one of the Bridget Murphys I found, for instance, was the one who used to work in the home of Seabury Tredwell. But there the names of three women were unusual enough to give it a try. Even better, they were 40 years old, so the chances are a little less likely that they married and changed their names.
I used to feed pigeons on the roof of my building, but I had to stop due to landlord complaints, and the expense. The pigeons would wait for me every day and it broke my heart when I knew they’d be waiting in vain. Sob. I took this picture of a pigeon on my roof a couple of weeks ago and I thought I had already posted it. I love it because it looks like a painting.
I’ve got two book events coming up, both in very lovely settings. One is tomorrow. TOMORROW. It will take place in the Merchant’s House Museum garden as long as it doesn’t rain! The other one is on Monday, July 16, at Brooklyn’s Books Beneath the Bridge series in the Brooklyn Bridge Park. My reading there is sponsored by Freebird Books. Thank you so much, Freebird Books!
A detail from a drawing of prisoners on Blackwell’s Island.
