October 2013
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ARTS CHOICE MUSIC • REVIEWS WHAT’S ON GUIDE EATING OUT • POLITICS
London Jaguars MJD and Co. land in the UK – Jax/49ers interviews inside
The Scottsboro Boys’ Forrest McClendon interviewed... ...win tickets to see him in our competition, page 39 PLUS: OUR EXCLUSIVE US/UK ORGANIZATIONS GUIDE
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NOT TO BLOW OUR OWN TRUMPET, BUT Where else can you find a FREE lifestyle magazine for Americans in the UK EVERY MONTH?
The answer – right here! Read The American on your mobile device or computer at www.theamerican.co.uk or get a copy delivered to your home or workplace – the only thing we’ll ask you to pay for is post and packing.
Just some recent interviewees: Actors John Lithgow, Danny DeVito, Cuba Gooding Jr, Leigh Zimmerman, Robert Sean Leonard, Donny Osmond, Harry Shearer, Betty Buckley, Heather Headley; artists Helaine Blumenfeld, Kaffe Fassett; NFL stars Steven Jackson, Nate Solder, authors Jacqueline Winspear, Sara Wheeler, Ken Rijock, musicians Curtis Stigers, Scott Gorham, Eric Church, Adam Duritz...
20% OFF AT THE ATRIUM RESTAURANT THIS SUMMER The Atrium Restaurant offers the best in All American classics in a relaxed environment. Try our succulent steaks and burgers or classic Mac and Cheese amongst an extensive range of American delights. This summer we are offering a 20% discount on your food bill when you show this leaflet on arrival. The Atrium Restaurant within the London Marriott Kensington Hotel is located on Cromwell Road just a couple of minutes’ walk away from both Gloucester Road and Earls Court Underground Stations. LONDON MARRIOTT HOTEL KENSINGTON 147c Cromwell Road,London, SW5 0TH 020 7835 1398 |LondonMarriottKensington.co.uk Offer valid until 31st August 2013. Guests are entitled to 20% off their total food bill only. Drinks are not included in the 20% discount. This leaflet must be produced on arrival at the restaurant in order to receive your discount.
A real monthly magazine for the expat community The American isn’t a mail-out or a webonly download. It’s a real magazine available from (among other places): H The US Embassy, London & US Consulates H The American Museum in Britain H United/Continental & Virgin clubhouses, Heathrow H Automat, Dover Street, Mayfair H Sports Bar & Grill Marylebone and Victoria H All the organizations listed in back of this magazine H USAF bases H Call us now: +44 (0)1747 830520.
The American ®
Issue 726 – October 2013 PUBLISHED BY SP MEDIA FOR
Blue Edge Publishing Ltd. Old Byre House, East Knoyle, Salisbury SP3 6AW, UK Tel: +44 (0)1747 830520
Departments: News, Article ideas, Press releases: editor@theamerican.co.uk Advertising & Promotions: advertising@theamerican.co.uk Subscriptions: theamerican@blueedge.co.uk The team: Michael Burland, Content Director & Motors + Music michael@theamerican.co.uk Sabrina Sully, Content Director & Community Contact sabrina@theamerican.co.uk Daniel Byway, Content Executive dan@theamerican.co.uk Virginia E Schultz, Food & Drink (USA) virginia@theamerican.co.uk Michael M Sandwick, Food & Drink (UK) mms@theamerican.co.uk Mary Bailey, Social mary@theamerican.co.uk Alison Holmes, Politics alison@theamerican.co.uk Jarlath O’Connell, Theater jarlath@theamerican.co.uk Richard L Gale, Sports richard@theamerican.co.uk
©2013 Blue Edge Publishing Ltd. Printed by Advent Colour Ltd., www.advent-colour.co.uk ISSN 2045-5968 Main Cover Image: Jacksonville Jaguars’ MJD (photo © Rick Wilson); Circular Inset: Forrest McClendon; Square Inset: The Scottsboro Boys
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special hello to readers who hail from Goldsboro, North Carolina. It’s an unremarkable enough town, apart from the little matter of two nuclear bombs falling on it in 1961 when a B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air. One of the devices “assumed it was being deliberately released over an enemy target and went through all its arming mechanisms save one” says journalist Eric Schlosser, who’s found out the details under the Freedom of Information Act. If not for one little switch, goodbye Goldsboro, hello World War III. Weaponry features in our political articles this month, in both Syria and Washington, DC. Thought provoking. On a lighter note, a former British Ambassador to the USA remembers Churchill, Peggy Lee finds a great restaurant off the tourist trail, Jim Jordan cathces up with an old Hollywood friend, and we prepare for a football invasion by interviewing players from the Jaguars & 49ers. Enjoy your magazine,
Michael Burland, Content Director michael@theamerican.co.uk
Among this month’s contributors
Natimi Black-Heaven is a sports writer who also happens to be a talented athlete who loves basketball and mixed martial arts. Check out his 2013/14 NBA preview
Dr. Alison Holmes The American’s political ‘Transatlantic Columnist,’ an international relations expert, looks at the Syria crisis and the US-UK special relationship
Ed Hamilton is a writer who lives in - and is trying to save - the most iconic piece of artistic real estate in New York City, the fabled Chelsea Hotel
Don’t forget The American online: www.theamerican.co.uk The entire contents of The American and www.theamerican.co.uk are protected by copyright and no part of it may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information in The American is accurate, the editor and publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or any loss arising from reliance on it. The views and comments of contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers.
October 2013 1
The American • Issue 726 • October 2013
In This Issue... Regular Sections 4 News 7 Diary Dates 11 Escapes 18 Wining & Dining 24 Music 28 Arts Choice 31 Coffee Break 32 Theater Reviews 40 Theater Previews 42 Politics 48 Sports 56 American Organizations 64 The A-List
How the cauldron of the Middle East is linked to the freedom of the press and gun problems back home
6 Churchill Lecture
S ir Christopher Meyer gives The American Museum in Britain’s inaugural lecture
11 Peggy Lee Loves London The little expat pooch discovers a restaurant owned by two Texan couples
12 Trick or Treat Soul cakes sound like a New Orleans specialty but they go back to the origins of Halloween
14 Chelsea Hotel
T he infamous New York establishment has a notorious past, a precarious future and now an eponymous dance piece
16 Auld Lang Syne
J im’s Actor’s Corner becomes a little full as an old Hollywood acting buddy comes visiting - nostalgia and golf ensue
26 Leading the charge US blues bands head this way for a real American invasion!
35 A Love Affair From A2Z
52 Jaguars... Your new favorite team? Maurice JonesDrew, the heartbeat of the Jacksonville offense, heads for Wembley
42 Syria and DC
Mural of Bashar al-Assad alongside the Damascus-Aleppo Highway © JAMES GORDON
B roadaway actress Leigh Zimmerman and Las Vegas musician Domenick Allen relocate to London, co-star in a new show
38 Forrest McClendon Interview
T he performer and educator on The Scottsboro Boys, the Broadway show he’s bringing to London
39 Win Tickets: The Scottsboro Boys
S ee the award-winning Broadway musical in London, courtesy of The American
42 Syria and DC
O ur political columnists Alison Holmes, Alan Miller and Carol Gould discuss the Middle East, press freedom and gun control
48 Heat to three-peat?
ho can win the 2013/14 NBA crown? We W break down the divisional contenders
50 Riders and Eagles and Lions Oh my... we look at the contenders in the British Basketball League
52 Ground Level Football
R ichard L Gale is rah-rah for the Jaguars... and Jacksonville isn’t even his team. Here’s why it’s time to adopt a second team.
53 NFL Wembley interview #1 Uche Nwaneri, Jags Guard, in conversation
54 NFL Wembley interview #2 Donte Whitner, 49ers Safety, in conversation
55 Eagle Eyed Darren Kilfara has a favorite tree - and wouldn’t you know it, it’s beside the second green at The Country Club, Brookline
The American
NEWS Bear Goes To Brown U. The work of British wildlife sculptor Nick Bibby is to appear this month outside Brown University’s new sports facility in Providence, Rhode Island. Bibby’s 15 foot bronze grizzly bear (the species is Brown’s mascot, of course) will be installed October 25th. If you like the look of it, other works by Bibby can be seen at Sladmore Contemporary, 32 Bruton Place, London W1J 6NW.
London to Brighton Half Century for Former Publisher of The American
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his year, the world’s oldest motoring event, the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, marks a milestone for one participant. Sir Ray Tindle will embark on his 50th Brighton Run November 3, as usual in the 1904 single-cylinder Speedwell Dogcart he purchased more than half a century ago to fulfil a childhood dream. From 1976 to 2003 Sir Ray published The American, a newspaper that became (under Blue Edge Publishing) this magazine. Sir Ray’s enthusiasm for the 60-mile trip from London’s Hyde Park to Madeira Drive, Brighton, was originally sparked as a child: “I can recall the exact spot on Streatham Common where my parents took
me to watch these wonderful old machines pass,” he says. “Of course, then the oldest car taking part was probably only about 30 years old but still totally different from their modern counterparts. I remember thinking how wonderful it would be to ride on one of those cars.” Little did he know that later in life he’d be gearing up for his 50th start in the world famous event. Over the years Sir Ray, who was knighted in 1994 for his services to the newspaper industry, has offered seats on the Speedwell to some high-profile and interesting passengers. Back in 1980 the lucky passenger who enjoyed the memorable trip to Brighton with him was American Ambassador, Kingman Brewster.
Ambassador Barzun At Invest in North America Conference The United States is joining forces for the first time with Canada and Mexico to invite UK and European business leaders to learn more about investing in one of the world’s most successful trading blocks. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region offers exporters a market of more than 460 million consumers and has a combined GDP of almost $19 trillion. The Invest in North America: NAFTA Matters one-day conference will be held on October 1 at the Guildhall in the City of London and brings together speakers and panelists from the public and private sectors to share their experience in doing business within the NAFTA region. One session will be introduced by new US Ambassador Matthew Barzun. Investment agencies from all three countries will be on hand during this oneday conference to share their knowledge of North America’s unique strategic global position. www.investinnorthamerica.com
4 October 2013
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Celebrating 34 years Ring in the season and shop for a good cause with the Junior League of London. Boutique de Noel is our annual Christmas market and charity fundraiser with unique gifts for everyone on your list!
Friday, 15th November
Saturday, 16th November
Premier Shopping Evening 6pm - 10pm
Shopping Day 10am - 5pm
£35 including 2 drink tickets £70 including unlimited drink tickets and gift bag
£5 (free for children) Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX
Purchase your tickets securely online! www.jll.org.uk/bdn or contact 020 7499 8159 / jrleague@jll.org.uk
The American
Churchill Lecture
Former Ambassador to Washington gives inaugural Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture On September 16th Britain’s former Ambassador to the United States, Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG, delivered the American Museum in Britain’s Inaugural Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture. Sir Christopher noted that it was in the grounds of Claverton Manor, now home to the Museum, that a young Winston Churchill gave his first political speech, to the Primrose League (a Conservative group) in 1897. He also pointed out that his late great-aunt, Sheila Minto, had been one of Churchill’s wartime ‘garden girls’ who took the Prime Minister’s dictation, sometimes when ‘Winnie’ was in the bath. Churchill was a hero to the peoples of both Britain and America. He was, of course, a descendent of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, an C18th British military hero, and Winston saw action on the North-West Frontier (now the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan), in the Sudan, the Boer War and World War I. But this does not explain why US politicians and military personnel revere him too. After all, Britain and America have fought against, as much as beside, each other over the centuries. It should not be forgotten that Winston was half American. His mother, Jennie, was a Brooklynite, possibly with Iroquois ancestry, the daughter of Leonard Jerome (the “The King of Wall Street”). Churchill was at home in America. During the desperate days
6 October 2013
of 1941, he stayed for three weeks (including Christmas) with President Roosevelt at the White House. Later, in 1943, Churchill was given the run of the White House when the President went away for a while. Churchill was more than a war leader. He was a great historian and writer (he won the Nobel Prize), the author of A History of the EnglishSpeaking Peoples (not, you will note, merely of England). Sir Christopher said that ‘history not only helps us navigate the present, it is, with science, the only crystal ball we have to peer into the future’. He bemoaned the present bias against history in education and public life. Some have proclaimed ‘the end of history,’ easily disproved by events in the Balkans and the Middle East. The price of ignoring history can be a nation’s blood and its treasure. He explored the history of Afghanistan, where Britain and Russia have both failed several times to overwhelm the population by military means, and Mesopotamia - now Iraq - where the same can be said. The failure to read the history of these campaign led, he said, to the mistakes of today.
Its founding constitution was the Atlantic Charter, signed by Churchill and Roosevelt in 1941. It still influences how we behave toward each other and the outside world. The two powers nearly came to blows several times in the C19th, and even the 1920s, and we have had our differences since World War II (for example Suez and Vietnam). But each is still the other’s most important ally and biggest investor. The Special Relationship is one of the great engines of the modern world. Even if we do not always see eye to eye, neglect is not an option. One way to honour Churchill is to remember that we hold in trust for future generations a relationship that remains of inestimable benefit to the British and American peoples. Download a podcast of Sir Christopher’s Churchill lecture at vimeo. com/74671872
The Special Relationship
The Special Relationship, was not, Sir Christopher believes, fatally damaged by the recent UK government vote against intervention in Syria. But he added that we should be clear-eyed about it, separating myth from reality. It is pretty recent.
Sir Christopher during his term as Ambassador in Washington DC
The American
Your Guide To The Month Ahead See our full events listings online: www.theamerican.co.uk List your event FREE in The American – email editor@theamerican.co.uk or call us on +44 (0)1747 830520 British dance: Black Routes International Slavery Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AQ www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk September 13 to March 23
A Matt Goss Residency www.iammattgoss.com October 3 to 9
An exhibition exploring the experiences of Black British dancers between 1946 and 2005, looking at the origins of a variety of dance styles from jazz to hip-hop, ballet to contemporary. On October 25 visitors can meet curators and dancers and take part in a panel discussion.
After taking Las Vegas by storm with his critically-acclaimed headline sellout show at Caesars Palace, Matt Goss brings his dynamic blend of musical talent to London’s Café De Paris.
Great Bath Feast Bath, UK BA1 October 1 to 31 The beautiful city of Bath brings food to the fore in this showcase for star chefs from Raymond Blanc to Nathan Outlaw, plus a host of other events including a competition to win a special Sally Lunn’s tea at the very top of Bath Abbey’s 150 feet high tower!
An Evening with Pam Ayres Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ October 3 Much-loved comic poet Pam Ayres reads new poems from her You Made Me Late Again! collection, part of National Poetry Day.
Café De Paris, 3-4 Coventry St, London W1D 6BL
The 20th annual competition sees porridgistas from around the globe competing for the title of World Porridge Making Champion.
Melton Mowbray Food Festival
The Cattle Market, Scalford Road, Melton Mowbray LE13 1YJ www.meltonmowbrayfoodfestival.co.uk October 5 to 6 Home of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie, the town’s Food Festival promises delicious treats, family fun and masterclasses on making authentic
London Restaurant Festival 2013 Various, London www.londonrestaurantfestival.com October 3 to 21
A citywide celebration of eating out. Join the ‘restaurant-hopping’.
Brighton Comedy Festival
Various, Brighton BN1 / BN2 www.brightoncomedyfestival.com October 4 to 20 Stars of the comedy circuit including Paul Merton, Stewart Lee and American Dave Fulton with his irreverent views on American culture (Komedia, October 15).
World Porridge Making Championships 2013 Carrbridge, Scotland PH23 www.goldenspurtle.com October 5
Prescott American Autumn Classic Prescott Hill, Gotherington, Cheltenham, Glos. GL52 9RD www.prescott-hillclimb.com October 5 to October 6
With the paddock rocking to the sound of the Birmingham Blues Brothers, The Bravo Boys and Michael Ian Brown, the track will be heating up with classic American motors including Transams, Ford Hot Rods, Chevys, Mustangs and even Donald Trump’s original stretch Cadillac, see special displays by American car clubs alongside USAthemed entertainment.
October 2013 7
The American
Melton Mowbray Pork Pies.
Royal Parks Half Marathon
London www.royalparkshalf.com/charity October 6 16,000 runners embark on a 13.1 mile run through four of London’s Royal Parks. This has raised over £15 million for charity in the last 5 years.
American Museum in Britain Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD www.americanmuseum.org info@americanmuseum.org Telephone: 01225 460503 Throughout October Housed in Georgian splendor at Claverton Manor in Bath, the American Museum in Britain remains the only museum outside the US to showcase the nation’s decorative arts. There are exhibitions, workshops, Quilting Bees every Tuesday, kids’ activities and special events, this month including: Making Pucker-Toe Moccasins: Oct 12. Make a pair of woodland Moccasins, inspired by the Museum’s own collection, and learn about the traditional manufacturing methods of tanning, decoration and stitching. Native American Display: Oct 12 & 13. An extensive exhibition of Native American artefacts including ceremonial clothing such as shirts, moccasins, bags, pouches and headdresses. American Ghost Tours: October 30 & 31. Explore the period rooms of the American Museum with a ghostly tale of 17th century colonial Massachusetts at the height of the Salem witch trials.
8 October September 2013 2013
Lady Reid Lecture – Franklin and the Dissenters Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org October 7
House historian, Lady Reid, concludes her series of 2013 lectures with a talk on Benjamin Franklin and religion.
Tewkesbury Mop Fair 2013
Nelson Street, Tewkesbury www.tewkesburyfairsociety.co.uk October 9 to 10 Mop Fairs date back to the 12th century, when farm laborers, employed yearly from October, attended a Fair in their best clothes, carrying an item of their trade and waiting until a local employer hired them. Those who had no specific skills took mops, hence the name Mop Fair. Modern Mop Fairs are now fun fairs with rides, but the event is still commemorated with fairs in towns across the UK including Stratford upon Avon and Warwick.
Horse of the Year Show 2013 NEC, Birmingham B40 1NT www.hoys.co.uk October 9 to 13
The annual event celebrates all things equestrian with top quality competitions and events.
The Roles and Meanings of Garden Buildings in 18th Century Landscapes Painshill Landscape Garden, Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey KT11 1JE www.painshill.co.uk October 10 to 11
This year’s Painshill Conference explores garden buildings from their creation to the present day.
Falmouth Oyster Festival 2013 Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 www.falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk October 10 to 13
The fishing town of Falmouth celebrates the start of the oyster dredging season with a range of events covering music, cooking demonstrations and food stalls.
Esher Hall Antiques Fair
Esher Hall, Sandown Park, Surrey KT10 9AJ www.esherhallfair.com October 11 to 13 Meet top dealers with an array of antiques available to view and buy.
Taste of Autumn Festival – RHS Various, UK www.rhs.org.uk October 12 to 13
RHS Gardens across the country host celebrations of the Autumn season, with food and drink stalls, cookery demonstrations and advice on seasonal produce.
World Conker Championships 2013 The Shuckburgh Arms, Main Street, Southwick, Oundle, Peterborough PE8 5BL www.worldconkerchampionships.com October 13 Whose Conkers are strongest?
The American
1963: A Turning Point in the Civil Rights Movement
Conference Centre, British Library, London NW1 2DB www.bl.uk/eccle October 14 A discussion of the significance of 1963 in the Civil Rights Movement, exploring how events including Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech shaped the history of the movement in the US and abroad.
Chocolate Week 2013
Various, UK www.chocolateweek.co.uk October 14 to 20 A whole week of events on making, eating and preparing chocolate.
Bloomsbury Festival
Various, London www.bloomsburyfestival.org.uk October 15 to 20 Art and culture, knowledge and imagination: a thought-provoking programme of events across 5 days.
Design by John Cheim
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH www.ica.org.uk October 15 to November 17 One half of the New York gallery, Cheim & Read, John Cheim’s career as a book designer is highlighted through this exhibition.
PAD London Art + Design
Berkeley Square, London W1 www.pad-fairs.com/london/en October 16 to 20 One of London’s sparkling fairs for 20th century art and design.
Les Vêpres Siciliennes
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD www.roh.org.uk October 17 to November 11 One of Verdi’s great operas, featuring US tenor Bryan Hymel as Henri.
Ely Apple Festival
The Parish Green, Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire CB7 4DL visitely.eastcambs.gov.uk October 19 Cooking demonstrations, story telling, folk music and even Morris dancing – it’s all part of Ely’s annual celebration of apples.
Arundel Food Festival
Arundel, West Sussex BN18 www.arundelfoodfestival.org.uk October 19 to 20 Arundel celebrates local produce and cuisine with a Farmer’s Market and a series of free, family focused events.
Battle of Ideas 2013
Various, UK www.battleofideas.org.uk October 19 to 20 The Battle of Ideas is an annual forum for thought-provoking ideas and debates. In 2013, subjects cover a range of topics including Art and Culture, Politics and Ideology, and Liberty and Law.
Wear It Pink 2013 Various, UK www.wearitpink.org October 25
The ‘pinkest’ fundraising day of the year, Wear It Pink is all about wearing something pink and donating to the
Breast Cancer campaign.
Rugby League World Cup 2013 Various, England and Wales www.rlwc2013.com October 26 to November 30
England and Wales host the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. The USA Tomahawks team have group matches on October 30, November 3 & 7. See website for details of opponents and venues.
Dylan Thomas Festival 2013
Somerset Place, Swansea, Wales SA1 1RR www.dylanthomas.com October 27 to November 9 Commemorating the Welsh bard. Poetry, prose, drama and music and a day celebrating Dr Who’s 50th anniversary, are all part of this annual event’s charm.
Malcolm Gladwell Live
Various, UK & Ireland www.malcolmgladwell-live.com October 28 to November 1 The New Yorker staff writer tours with his new book, David and Goliath, in a live show telling the stories of underdogs and the art of battling giants: October 28th London, Lyceum Theatre; 30th Liverpool Philharmonic; November 1st, Royal Dublin Society.
Half Term at the RSC
RSC Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire CV37 6BB www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/events October 28 to November 1 The Royal Shakespeare Company hosts a range of theater inspired workshops and events for the family during the half term, with storytelling, crafts and singing.
October 2013 9
The American
18th Century Toy Workshop
Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org October 29 Find out how Georgian children spent the long winter months with this workshop at Benjamin Franklin’s house on 18th century toys – and make a few yourself!
Wozzeck
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD www.roh.org.uk October 31 to November 15 Berg’s psychological drama is brought to the ROH in this production by Keith Warner. American tenor John Easterlin will play the role of Andres.
Halloween Various, UK
Events take place around the country – many aimed at families and children, although watch out for those designed to spook even the most staunch of adults. See www.spoonful. com/halloween for a great list of crafts, decorations, recipes and costume ideas.
Scarefest at Alton Towers
Alton Towers, Alton, Staffordshire ST10 4DB www.altontowers.com October 19 to November 3 Experience the thrills of the theme park with Halloween features including the ‘Scare Maze’ and even ‘Scare Room’ motel breaks.
A spooky walk for dogs and dog owners at one of London’s oldest haunted pubs, the Spaniard’s Inn.
10 October 2013
Tulleys Farm, Turners Hill Road, Turners Hill, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 4PE www.halloweenattractions.co.uk October 5 to November 2 A month of Halloween festivities with everything from haunting experiences to a party which aims to break the record for ‘Largest Vampire Gathering’!
London Horror Festival 2013 Etcetera Theatre, Camden, London NW1 7BU www.londonhorrorfestival.com October 14 to 31
Just in time for Halloween, the London Horror Festival is a chilling ride through the scarier side of the performing arts.
Halloween shows, ghost train, bat cave, pumpkin trails and spooky tours of Longleat house are all part of Halloween holiday at the Elizabethan Longleat Estate.
Halloween Moon Rides
Halloween at Leeds Castle
Spaniard’s Inn, Hampstead, London NW3 7JJ www.alldogsmatter.co.uk October 27
Tulleys Shocktober Fest
Longleat Spooktacular Festival Longleat, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 www.longleat.co.uk/halloween October 19 to November 4
Spooky Halloween Dog Walk
The Holkam estate embraces Halloween with a spooky theater event and other family fun festive treats.
Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent ME17 www.leeds-castle.com October 26 to November 3 Half-term Halloween fun for the family with crafts, face painting and a pumpkin trail.
Halloween at Holkham
Holkham Hall, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk NR23 1AB www.holkham.co.uk October 27 to 31
Greater London W1 www.moonriders.co.uk October 25
Experience this special spooky moon ride through the streets of London with the option to raise funds for a chosen charity.
Halloween at the Eden Project
Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall PL24 2SG www.edenproject.com October 26 to November 3 From holiday activities themed on Halloween, to an eerie night-time walk through a pitch black Biome, the Eden Project offers a great range of events to scare, horrify and enjoy!
The American
From the parks to the watering houses, through the capital’s many famous, unusual and historic locations, The American’s UK canine correspondent, Peggy Lee, seeks out the dog-friendly delights of old London Town.
The Lockhart
22-24 Seymour Place London W1H 7NL T 0203 011 5400 O Marble Arch www.lockhartlondon.com Buses: 159, 414, 436, 6, 7, 16, 10, 30, 73 The Lockhart opened in central London four months ago and is the first restaurant venture by two Texan couples, Gwen and Chris Wren and Shelby and Dunny Wanstrath. The four have been London residents for many years and are very excited to have finally realised their dream of opening a restaurant to showcase their native South West American cuisine with flavors from Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico using local (and seasonal) ingredients. There is a sprinkling of typical South West dishes like the black bean enchiladas, tortilla soup and South West dishes with a twist like the smoked chicken nachos. But the real clue to the menu is in the name. Lockhart is the barbecue capital of Texas, so the menu is dominated by
You know all you really want is the mac ‘n’ cheese ...
steaks, barbecue chicken and pork belly but all done with a difference. Where else in London would you find 21 day aged Sussex fillet served with Oxford blue cheese grits, crispy Cajun onion rings and smoked tomatoes? We ordered the crab hush puppies which came with a Cajun dipping sauce, Dunny’s lobster nachos, boneless chicken wings, mac ‘n’ cheese, house smoked bacon succotash and matchstick fries. Head Chef Andrew Justice who was a 2010 Master Chef quarter finalist has worked with the owners to produce their own Lockhart twist on South West cuisine adding crabmeat to the hush puppies and lobster to the nachos. And then there are the down home staples like succotash – a corn, bean and bacon bits side dish, mac and cheese albeit spiced up with mild green chillies and house
PHOTO © KATRINA LESKANICH
smoked bacon and Lone Star beer – a real blast from the past and quite unexpected in Seymour Place amidst the Edgware road vibe of hookah pipes, halloumi and houmous.
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The American
Trick or Treat! We investigate the origins of today’s Halloween celebrations
A
witch or a skeleton knocking at the door yelling ‘Trick-or-Treat’ is all part of the fun associated with modern Halloween. Centuries ago, however, the festival was considered a much more serious marker of the religious calendar. Pre-Christianity, Celtic groups believed November represented the start of Winter, and the time when the souls of the previous year’s dead traveled to the ‘otherworld’. It was during this time that the Celtic holiday of Samhain (pronounced Sah-Ween) took place. It involved the sacrifice of animals, food and vegetable offerings and the lighting of bonfires in order to protect the living from wandering souls. The onset of Christianity threatened these ‘pagan’ traditions, but in AD601, Pope Gregory I’s attempt to assimilate pagan rituals into the Christian calendar saw the development of All Souls Day, later known as All Hallows Day, on November 1. On this day, people were encouraged to pray for the souls of the dead. Despite this, the original traditions of offering food and gifts to ward off visiting souls continued. The evening before All Hallows later became All Hallows Eve, and eventually Halloween. It wasn’t until the mid 1800s that these customs landed on the shores of America, many brought across the pond by
12 October 2013
Irish immigrants fleeing from the potato famine of 1846. Whereas in the US these customs became part of a wider secular celebration of Halloween involving costumes, parades and parties, in the UK the focus has remained entrenched in these original ‘ghoulish’ origins. Trick or Treating is thought to emanate from ‘souling’, an exercise where children begged for ‘soul cakes’. These children, known as ‘soulers’, traveled door to door singing and praying for the souls of the dead. Each cake was meant to represent the freeing of one soul. Costumes were worn by Celts during early November when leaving home after dark to avoid being recognized by the souls of the dead. Singing and dancing were used to guard the living from evil spirits, and some associate the practice of ‘mumming’ as another contributor to the custom. Mumming involved masquerading and dancing at various holidays during the year. Pomona Day, a Roman Festival, is also thought to have had a part to
Halloween Trick or Treaters at Yongsan Garrison, US Army Korea, 2008 PHOTO COURTESY US ARMY/ EDWARD N JOHNSON
play in the handing out of fruit and nuts. Pomona was the Roman goddess of fruits, trees and harvests. Apple bobbing may also have developed from the Pomona Day celebrations. Jack-o’-Lanterns, another Halloween staple, involved the hollowing out of, and placing of candles in, pumpkins. This was said to be a food offering for the dead, and later a means by which to protect households from evil spirits. Interestingly, the pumpkin is an American tradition – the British tended to use turnips and swedes, or ‘neeps’. Although Halloween was originally a very religious holiday in Europe, it’s now a Transatlantic secular holiday enjoyed by families both sides of the Atlantic. There are even a number of American themed candy stores now available in the UK, so if you want to add an American flavor to your treat offerings, you can appease the spirits with your own Baby Ruths, Hershey Bars, Reece’s Pieces or whatever takes your fancy.
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The American
This iconic NY City landmark, famous for its creative residents over the years, is once again in the news. We talk to Ed Hamilton, current Chelsea Hotel resident, and find out about an eponymous new dance performance touring the UK. © HUGO GLENDINNING
CHELSEA HOTEL A
rthur C Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey there, Dylan Thomas, and Sid Vicious’ girlfriend died there. It has been the home of numerous writers, musicians, artists, and actors, including Bob Dylan, Mark Twain, O Henry, Tennessee Williams, Frida Kahlo, Allen Ginsberg, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gaby Hoffmann, Jobriath, Larry Rivers, Robert Mapplethorpe and Viva, to name but a few. Opened in 1884, this 12 storey block was one of the first private apartment co-operatives located in the then heart of the theater district. This district’s relocation and the popularity of Upper Manhatten led to bankruptcy and a re-opening as a hotel in 1905. In 2011 it was sold to real-estate developers and stopped taking reservations. Some long-time residents are still there, including Ed Hamilton, author of Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living with the Artists and Outlaws in New York’s Rebel Mecca: “I came here to be a writer because it seemed like the place to
14 October 2013
be. And I had always heard about the Chelsea Hotel because American novelist Thomas Wolfe and the Beat Generation writers had lived here. The Chelsea has an energy that’s infectious. I felt it the moment I walked in the door and have never ceased to feel it. Of course part of this is the energy of New York as well, which for me, since I’ve never lived anywhere else in New York, is inseparable from the energy of the Chelsea. “The Chelsea Hotel was a place where the famous and the deviants were welcomed and tolerated, and failure and weakness is understood. Andy Warhol’s film Chelsea Girls (1966), the classic experimental split-screen film, was shot largely in the hotel. Numerous Warhol Superstars including Edie Sedgwick, Viva, and Nico also lived at the hotel. “Bob Dylan stayed up for days in the Chelsea Hotel writing his song Sara. In fact he wrote the whole of his Blonde on Blonde album when he lived at the Hotel and reportedly had an affair with Edie Sedgwick, on which several of the songs in the
Blonde on Blonde album are based. “Leonard Cohen famously bedded Janis Joplin and later wrote a song about it, Chelsea Hotel #2. “The hotel was already being gentrified during the ‘90s and early ‘00s but it wasn’t happening fast enough to please the Hotel’s minority shareholders, who had been putting pressure on the Bard family demanding a greater return on their investment and pressuring them to sell the Hotel. Because of Stanley Bard’s reluctance to sell (among other things) they pushed the Bard family out in a hostile takeover in 2007. “The minority shareholders used the interceding four years to prepare the building for sale. Those four years were critical. Several tenants, including myself, waged a very public, aggressive battle to support the Bard family. The “Bring Back the Bards” battle was fought through the courts, online and in the streets. Because we were unsuccessful, The Chetrit Group, a billion dollar real estate concern, bought the Hotel in 2011*. They immediately
The American
©CHRISTOFFER TORRIS OLSEN
*sold to hoteliers King & Grove, August 27
The Chelsea Hotel in Dance The award-winning Cardiff based dance company, Earthfall, is touring their dance performance CHELSEA HOTEL starting this month. They pay homage to the C20th influence of the hotel through radical dance, live music and film, capturing significant moments in the history of the rebel artists’ mecca. The four performers and three musicians take audiences on a voyeuristic journey of discovery through the inhabitants’ lives, loves and longings. Tour venues: October 1st Caernarfon, Galeri; 3rd Newport, Riverfront Theatre; 8th Lincoln, Drill Hall; 10th Spalding, South Holland Centre; 16th Plymouth, Peninsula Arts; 18th Canterbury, Gulbenkian; 21st Bath Spa Live; 23rd Bromsgrove, Artrix; 25th Oxford, Pegasus Theatre; 29 to 30th Wales Millennium Centre; November 1st to 2nd Liverpool Unity Theatre; 5th to 16th London, Riverside; 19th to 20th Salford, The Lowry; 26th Edge Hill University Arts Centre; 28th Salisbury Arts Centre; December 3rd Aberystwyth, Arts Centre; 5th Bournemouth, Pavilion. top: David Combs painting in the lobby right: Hotel Chelsea facade left, top: from the play Chelsea Hotel
© DAMFREDERICH
closed it to tourists and began mass destruction of the building. Practically all of the rooms that were not occupied by tenants at the time the Chetrit Group purchased the hotel have been demolished. They’ve completely gutted the rooms tearing out all of the old molding and features in an attempt to turn the Hotel into some sort of cookie cutter boutique hotel. “There will always be tourists and transients who will want to come to partake of the last vestiges of the Chelsea’s Bohemian élan even if the Hotel is nothing more than a shell of its former self. For now, it looks like when the present tenants go, that will be the end of the place as an artist’s haven. This is a real shame. On the other hand, most of the Chelsea community has been dispersed over the years anyway; just because people leave the Chelsea doesn’t mean they cease to be residents in spirit. Despite recent changes, the hotel is also a place where the past is alive, coloring and influencing the lives and struggles of the artists of the present day. The legends of the past continue to grow and develop, and new legends take shape daily.” See the resident’s blog http://legends typepad.com.
October 2013 15
The American
Auld Lang Syne
Friends from home (US) and abroad (UK): Gregg Henry (on left) and Michael Winsor
It’s a real (plural) Actors’ Corner this month as James Carroll Jordan, The American’s resident thespian, muses on the expat life as he spends some quality time with an old Hollywood buddy
M
ost of our readers are expats. Meaning we are Americans through and through, only we aren’t living back in the good ole U S of A. Some of us come here for a short time and go back, but others like myself are here for what seems like another life time. And what we miss most, besides the obvious things of what America is and has to offer, is the close friends we have left back home. Sure we meet new ones here and get on quite admirably, but nothing can replace a best pal from home. Well, I had that dream come true. I got a call from out of the blue from my best friend from America, Gregg Henry. Gregg and I go way back. Almost forty years actually. We starred together in our first big break Rich Man Poor Man Book 2. It was a high profile number one show worldwide at the time and put us both on the map. I stuck around for
16 October 2013
a decade or so in Hollywood playing the game and having varying degrees of success. During this time we saw each other almost every day and did silly things like playing one on one baseball and pick-up basketball games at the local school together. In the mid ‘80s I did a series in Toronto where I met mwy second wife Shelagh, who was English. To make a long story short, I came to England with her and never went back. It was an easy decision for me. My career was sliding a bit and I had always loved England, having lived here as a four year old and gone to Drama School in my late teens. When I settled here I got quite a bit of work, and found that out of twelve months I was working nine and only ‘resting’ about three. In LA it was reversed, plus as I am a major party monster I found that I delved into dissipation a lot during those nine months of no work. Since the thing I loved most
was acting, not ‘being an actor’ the choice was a simple one for me. One fact remained, I was leaving my friends and country. In a serious way. I found I could cope with leaving America, with a few visits home, but leaving my close friends behind was another thing altogether. There was nothing I could do about it after two kids and a third and final wife came into my life here, but deep down I missed my high school and University buddies more than I can tell you, especially Gregg. We were the type of friends who never questioned each other, rarely advised one another and totally loved and trusted one another. You really don’t find that often in life. So when Gregg rang me out of the blue saying he was here in London for a couple of weeks and wanted to get together... I was over the moon. Here was my best buddy just forty miles away in a hotel in
The American
Richmond, raring to see me and my family, house and life that he knew very little about. I had him down for Sunday Lunch and it was like we’d only seen each other yesterday. My wife Jan and my daughter Lacey and son Charlie just loved him. Charlie kept saying how cool his voice and accent was. Lacey thought he was dishy. And Jan, I think, breathed a sigh of relief that I now had a true friend to talk and play with again. I am sure she had harbored a deep guilt about somehow being the reason I was apart from my other, American life. I never felt this way but I had a strong hunch that she did. Our lunch was grand with Jan putting on the dog spectacularly, and Gregg and I swapping stories and lies of the past to the wide eyes and ears of the kids. The kids asked what he had been in, and the normally reticent Gregg filled them in on his career. We knew he was on one of our favorite shows, Gilmore Girls, but as the list of hit series and movies grew they couldn’t believe it. Charlie subtly snuck to his room to verify all the shows on Google and came back extremely impressed. After Gregg went back to his hotel Charlie asked me why I didn’t stay in Hollywood and do the same. I pointed out that a new family and home and life kind of took up all my time and that I hadn’t had a chance to go back. He asked if I regretted it. After thinking on it, I told him “No, not really”. What God and fate gave me in return was a very happy life with a wonderful wife and family (not to mention the three idiot dogs) and a fairly consistent career. Not one of fame and stardom, but one that was satisfying enough. After all the hoopla that came with Rich Man I’d had my fill of ‘fame’ and really wanted no part of it. Well, I did want
offers coming in without the stress and worry and effort of reading for parts, but that aside, I really don’t miss ‘La La Land’. To my surprise Gregg told me that most of my contemporaries who were famous around the same time had all quit the business and gone into other things. Some of them had passed away, some from old age and some from too much partying. I reflected that I might well have been one of the latter if I had stayed. Ya never know. I couldn’t leave it at one Sunday Lunch so I arranged through a good friend who was a member of the Richmond Golf Club, Michael Winsor (TV fox puppet Basil Brush for the past thirteen years but nobody knew as he had to be incognito) to play a round there. Mike at 135 lbs plays off a three handicap (and drives the ball 270 yards to my horror) while Gregg and I are both duffers, but it didn’t matter, I had the chance to entertain my pal with three or four hours of manly fun on a gorgeous golf course on a beautiful sunny day. I tried to explain how fortunate we were with the weather, but Gregg quipped that I was becoming so English. So I shut up, climbed into the golf cart and roared off to shoot the worst eighteen holes I have ever shot. But that didn’t matter either. Michael took us both on shot 73 and soundly beat us by four holes. Gregg, to my surprise, got four pars and kept us close for the first nine holes. I hacked and cursed my way around and didn’t make par once. I usually make two or three pars when I play. And you know what? I didn’t care one bit about that either. Now I can relax a bit internally and really enjoy my life here without niggling thoughts of ‘what if’ eroding the different, wonderful life
that I made here in England. Gregg enjoyed our meeting up again as much as I did and I am sure he went home full of fun stories of “Jimmy J” and his family for his wife Lisa. I know there are a lot of us here in England in my situation and I dearly hope the same good fortune of having a very close friend come visit happens to you all. Gregg is starring in a new series from ABC that is playing over here called Scandal. Catch it if you can. I have a movie I did a year ago coming out September 1 on DVD called Dead In Tombstone. If you care to, buy it and have a laugh watching Mickey Rourke’s steroid-bloated face, Danny Trejo’s truly scary mug and me playing a drunk crazed town preacher. And watch out for my Poirot episode, The Big Four.
Above and below, left to right, Gregg Henry and Jim Jordan, separated only by a few decades
October 2013 17
The American
The Orange Tree WINING & DINING
D
escribing Torbay as the ‘English Riviera’ is seen as somewhat tongue-in-cheek these days, but the resorts of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham in Devon are quickly rekindling the reputation for high quality restaurants, fresh local produce and relaxing holiday breaks which first saw the region compared to the south coast of France in the early 1920s. The Orange Tree, tucked in the quiet streets of Torquay harbour, is the perfect example of fine dining for those who venture to the area. The interior, smart and light, creates an ambience of relaxation which is reflected in the calm, enjoyable manner in which dinners are laid out. Unlike the rush and hurry of a London bistro, at The Orange Tree you book your table, and it’s yours for the entire evening. I’m rarely a fan of the music played in restaurants, but the soft instrumental soundtrack was the perfect accompaniment to the style of this place.
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14-16 Parkhill Road, Torquay, Devon TQ1 2AL • Tel: 01803 213936 www.orangetreerestaurant.co.uk • Reviewed by Daniel Byway
My companion and I started with the Baked Goats Cheese and Apricot Chutney (£7) and the Brixham Crab Bisque (£9) respectively. As far as starters go, these two dishes could easily have been the main course and we’d have been satisfied. The menu lists the local farms, butchers and fishmongers used by Chef Bernd Wolf to prepare his meals, and the combination of his cooking skills with the top quality produce available is very noticeable. Another nice touch was the offering of freshly made bread along with the starter. For the main, I opted for the Herb Crusted Loin of Lamb (£19.50), whilst my friend splashed out on the Orange Tree Tournedos with Fois Gras (£25). Worth every penny! The glazed shallots and red wine jus with the lamb were beautifully prepared, whilst the fillet of beef and foie gras was proving a hit with my fellow diner. The menu is accompa-
nied by a very good value selection of wines. I was so impressed by the food that I have to confess all I remember of the wine we chose was that it was red … and delicious. You can’t go far wrong with desserts after such a meal, and the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Rosemary Apples (£6.50) was the perfect finale. My accomplice opted for the Chocolate Tart with Peanut Butter Ice Cream (£7.50) and was equally delighted with his choice. The menu’s combination of variety and quality means that The Orange Tree is a restaurant you can return to for a completely different taste sensation each time, but with the same wonderful service and relaxed atmosphere. Whether you live nearby, are planning a trip to the area for the Holiday season or looking towards your next summer vacation, The Orange Tree is a reminder that the English Riviera justifies its nickname.
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The Lamb Inn Hindon, Wiltshire SP3 6DP • www.boisdale.co.uk/lamb-at-hindon Reviewed by Richard L Gale Not long ago, when late summer still warmly and wilfully beat down against the British stereotype, I visited The Lamb at Hindon, not one of the West Country’s loudesttoasted foodie destinations, but one that deserves its quiet plaudits. When caravans clog the South West artery, spurn the A303 crush before Wiltshire is spent, and the Lamb – country pub, restaurant, inn, and haunt of many a shooting party – is merely five minutes into the open air. That The Lamb is Boisdale’s country cousin is hinted at by a representative choice of select cigars and 50 whiskies, but the relationship is a subtle one. The pub decor is eclectic yesteryear, a hint of heritage earned rather than rolled out, with antique prints rather than repro ‘atmosphere’, dining areas punctuated by snugs, and a couple of staunch fireplaces for winter months. On the evening we visited, these were far from necessary. Deciding that the weather was simply too darned hot for alcohol, I elected to stick to cool water but not before enjoying a crisp, fruity South African Stellenbosch (Welmoed Chenin Blanc 2010, £4.25 a glass/£16.50 a bottle) alongside my starter, crispy breaded whitebait (£4.95). It proved a fine partner, while the whitebait defied its uninspiring name; perfectly cooked, as this was,
20 October 2013
it’s an underappreciated little sprat. The tartare sauce, thick and clearly residential rather than from the local supermarket (there isn’t one) boded well. My dining partner selected the pea and lemon thyme soup (£4.25), its perfectly judged consistency set off with garlic crème fraîche and three Wiltshire ham wontons that were slightly chewy – in a good way, I hasten to add – textural rather than a melt-in-the-mouth waft in the direction of a starter. For the main course, I had Wye Valley Asparagus, Ricotta and Sage Cannelloni (£8.75), topped with a Parmesan and onion seed brittle, a jocular hi-hat to the bass tempo of the thick pasta, while a picante pucker of ratatouille and tapenade whistled a wistful provençal melody. It was only later that I realized that
with no hint of anchovy in the tapenade, Captain Roast Beef here had been slyly tricked into thoroughly enjoying a vegetarian main course. A ‘go back for’ dish when in season. My dining partner also dined against type, opting for the Dangerously Hot Burger with chipotle ketchup, Dorset bacon (perfection) and jalapeños (£7.75). She didn’t confuse things with Wookey Hole cheddar cheese (£1), but we did add a side order of hand cut chips (£2), which arrived in a miniature pail. Neither wedges nor chips, they seemed a little unsure of their identity and were a tad overcooked. Everything else about our main courses was an unbridled success. My partner, being of Thai origin, is a particularly keen judge of what constitutes ‘dangerously’ hot (she considers anything that doesn’t hospitalize you as ‘mild’), but declared the spiciness more than acceptable. I found that it delivered the heat in a perfectly pitched manner, allowing the rich taste of a properly sourced and ground local burger to poke through any appeal for bravado. It wasn’t dangerous, but full-flavored and we highly recommend it. Dessert suggested something of a challenge in such weather, so we shared a bitter dark chocolate creme brulée (£6), accompanied by chilli shortbread, the gentle sting of which dodged the tongue to tease the back of the throat and encourage the breaking of the brulée’s bronzed frozen lake. It was actually the sumptuous chocolate below that eventually beat us. Or perhaps it was the Morris dancers, who chose that moment to unleash themselves upon the nearby green. There was no special occassion for there to be Morris dancers, there just were. Like The Lamb itself, they were the genuine article.
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The American
BOULESTIN T
he past few years have seen a huge renaissance in French eateries in London. It seems therefore fitting to pay tribute to the man who pioneered our first affair with French cooking. Xavier Marcel Boulestin was born in Périgord and moved to London in 1906. His first book, Simple French Cooking for English Homes, published in 1923 was such a success that
22 October 2013
5 St. James’s Street, London SW1A 1EF www.boulestin.com Reviewed by Michael M Sandwick
it was followed by 11 more. This success prompted him to open his first restaurant which later moved to Covent Garden and became the original Boulestin. The restaurant was the first to be decorated in the Parisian style and served classic French food that was prepared fresh. This was evidently quite an innovation at a time when it was customary to dish up a meal
out of a simmering pot. This “new” approach to food was not without cost however and Boulestin was reputedly the most expensive restaurant in London in 1927. Today's Boulestin is far from the most expensive in London. Though it is situated in the heart of fashionable St. James, it is possible to have a very reasonably priced meal. There is a prix fixé menu at £19.50 for 2 courses and £24.50 for 3. One can of course, spend considerably more. 50 grams of oscietra caviar for example, will set you back £120 and a bottle of wine costs anywhere from £22 to £390. There is also an informal café serving less expensive fare, a lovely courtyard and a private dining room. In short, something for everyone. The opening party was canapés and cocktails in the formal dining room, a beautiful atrium dominated by an enormous skylight, so I wasn’t able to sample the menu. Other than gougère and rillettes, the canapés seemed to be inspired by Danish cuisine so, though delicious, the food I had didn’t seem to be particularly representative of the usual fare. We'll find out on a return visit.
The American
Cellar Talk By Virginia E. Schultz
Roaring ’20s Cocktails
“I
’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.” – Mae West
A fully-loaded French 75 PHOTO: GARY J WOOD
A few days ago I received an invitation to a Roaring Twenties Party to be held on Halloween. It has been years since I’ve been to a party where I’m to go in costume. I hate to use the phrase, ‘when I was young,’ but even celebrities nowadays don’t hold events like this anymore. Dinner parties have become fewer as well which is surprising when we seem to have more programs on cooking on TV in England and the States than ever before. As much fun as my friend’s party might be, there’ll be no Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald dancing up a storm. Still, I go to my closet and debate what to wear. A trouser suit like Marlene Dietrich, or perhaps my ‘Chanel’ gown (by Ralph Lauren,
who copied her style) which I haven’t worn for years. There’ll be a speakeasy, and cocktails will be served. ‘Speak easy!’, the bartender would say when warning his clients the cops were on their way. Because of Prohibition during the twenties, drinkers seemed to crave alcohol more than ever before. As Will Rogers, the famous comedian said at the time, we should pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anyone from learning anything, and if it worked as good as Prohibition
did, we would have the smartest people in the world. As she was serving cocktails that evening, my friend asked me to send several recipes. Below are a few. And don’t you love the names?
Bees Knees
Sidecar
French 75
In the 1920s, if something was ‘Bees Knees’, it was something one was excited about. 1½ ounces of gin 1 teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Ice Shake and strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a lemon rind
1 cup Cognac 1 Cup Contreau Lemon juice to taste Ice Shake and pour into a Martini glass rimmed with sugar.
It was said drinking this was like being shot with a rifle. 1 ounce gin ½ ounce lime or lemon juice 1 teaspoon powdered sugar Crushed ice Then fill the flute glass to the top with Champagne or a sparkling wine.
October 2013 23
The American
MUSIC Hayseed Dixie
From out of the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States they came. Barley Scotch (vocals, guitar and fiddle), Reverend Don Wayne Reno (banjo and vocals), Deacon Dale Reno (mandolin, guitar and vocals) and Jake “Bakesnake” Byers (bass and, you guessed it, vocals). And rockgrass was born. Much against their (and possibly everyone else’s) expectations they’ve become a huge success with their bluegrass take on AC/DC and other classic rock and they’ve now sold over 500,000 records worldwide, successfully spreading like a virus to every continent except Antarctica. (Watch out penguins, you’re next!) The boys will be bring their Complete AC/DC Album plus Requests Tour to these dates: November 2nd Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms; 3rd Leicester, Academy; 4th Hatfield, The Forum; 5th Norwich, Waterfront; 6th Nottingham, Rescue Rooms; 8th Cambridge The Junction; 9th London, The Garage; 10th Shoreham, Ropetackle; 11th Guildford, The Boileroom; 13th Newcastle, Think Tank; 14th Edinburgh Liquid Rooms; 15th Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree; 16th Glasgow, ABC [Show No. 1,000!]; 17th Sheffield, The Leadmill; 19th Manchester, Academy; 20th Leeds, Cockpit; 21st Port Talbot, Princess Royal Theatre; 22nd Newbury, Arlington Arts Centre; 23rd Totnes, South Devon Arts Centre; 24th Bristol, The Fleece; 25th Southampton, The Brook; then on to Scandinavia! Right: Ben Taylor
24 October 2013
LIVE AND KICKING Baroness
The Savannah, Georgia, based hard rockers’ career was nearly ended in a freak crash near Bath, England last year when their tour bus fell 30 feet from a viaduct onto a road below. Undaunted, they are back to health and back on the road. Their Fall schedule sees the band touring The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, then these UK dates: October 19th Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms; 20th Glasgow, Cathouse; 22nd Manchester Club Academy; 24th London, Electric Ballroom. Following that they’re off to warmer climes as they play five gigs in five cities at the Soundwave Festival in Australia.
Ben Taylor
Ben Taylor (scion of the James Taylor-Carly Simon dynasty) releases his fourth album Listening on Iris Records this month, his first in four years. A self-described musical ‘late bloomer’, Ben didn’t start singing until his early 20s. Fear of failure? Overshadowed by his stellar parents? Who can say? Well Ben can, actually, in his interview in The American next month. Before that you can see Ben on October 14th, headlining at The Islington, London.
Above: Hayseed Dixie
Slaid Cleaves
Honest, witty, heartfelt, clever without being cynical, Slaid Cleaves’ lyrics have been widely praised. Stephen King says “I’m glad I found Slaid Cleaves, because my life would have been poorer without him” and he’s been compared to the great John Prine. ‘Men go off to war for a hundred reasons / But they all come home with the same demons / Some you can keep at bay for a while / Some will pin you to the floor / You’ve been home for a couple of years now, buddy / But you’re still fighting the war,’ he sings on the title track of his new album, Still Fighting The War. Cleaves is in Britain for a rare tour: September 24th Kelvedon, The Institute; 25th Basingstoke, The Forge at The Anvil; 26th Portstewart, Flowerfield Arts Centre; Belfast, The Errigle Inn; 28th Dalkey, Co. Dublin, Ireland, The Queen’s Pub; 29th Nottingham, The Maze; 30th London, The Slaughtered Lamb; October 1st Sheffield, The Greystones; 2nd Leek, Foxlowe Arts Centre; 3rd Glasgow, CCA Americana Festival; 4th Newcastle, The Cluny; 5th Preston, The Continental; 6th Hitchin Folk Club at The Sun Hotel; 7th Brighton, The Greys; 8th Bristol, St. Bonaventure’s; 9th London, The Slaughtered Lamb.
plus special guests
NOVEMBER 2013
DECEMBER 2013
FRI 29 Birmingham Institute SUN 01 Manchester Ritz SAT 30 Glasgow O 2 abc MON 02 London Forum buy online at ticketmaster.co.uk livenation.co.uk a live nation presentation in association with wme
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The American
Leading the charge Craving some gen-yoo-wine American rocking blues? The wait is over, writes Darren Weale
P
aul Lamb’s choice is “My hat and my church key [bottle opener]. I can wing the rest.” Billy Walton’s? “Duct tape and Jack Daniels”. These are the musical good ole boys’ indispensable tour items, essential as they’re two of the many American musicians who will soon be bringing some genuine American music to these shores. We spoke with them ahead of their Transatlantic trips. First, Paul (below), the singer in a distinctive, black Stetson hat. PHOTO LUC BUNT
26 October 2013
His band, P-A-U-L Lamb and the Detroit Breakdown, creates a big racket. If you’re familiar with the rasping voice of Joe Cocker and the punched-up rock of ZZ Top, you’ll get a handle on what this stirring rock-blues band sounds like. “I’m looking forward to being in the UK again in November,” Paul reflected, taking a break from recording his new album Ready, Fire, Aim. “We always have a great welcome from the fan base we’ve been building for the last few
years, and this time we’re bringing them some new tunes. Is this our best album to date? We think so. Our friend and fellow blues singer Joanne Shaw Taylor is on the album too, and she made a great contribution. We played the award-winning Hebden Blues Festival earlier this year. One commentator said that we are a ‘brilliant, thrilling and roaring trio.’ Wasn’t that nice?!” The Billy Walton Band is another regular visitor to the UK. For two years Billy was the guitarist for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, inspiring him to add some classic Asbury Park saxophone (à la Southside and Springsteen) to his own guitar work and superb original songs. We congratulated Billy on his developing sound and he said, “Yes, having a sax in the band has made a big difference. It has opened up new musical opportunities, like the guitar-sax duel in my song The Night The Deal Went Down.” We’ll publish longer, exclusive interviews with Paul and Billy on their UK tours in November. Check out tour dates and listen to some music on their websites. Other top quality US acts joining the charge to the UK include Mud Morganfield (interviewed in The American, September 2013), Ryan McGarvey, Kirsten Thien, Stacie Collins, The Pat Travers Band, and Skinny Molly. Remember – if a band takes the trouble to cross the Atlantic to play, they’re worth supporting.
The American
ALBUMS THEOF MONTH Reviewed by Paul Eggington, Michael Burland and Daniel Byway
George Strait
Love is Everything & The Cowboy Rides Away: The Definitive Collection Humphead George brings all his 30 plus years of experience to Love is Everything and has written some of the freshest and most modern sounding music of his career, well-crafted, beautifully performed and a credit to the ‘quiet man of country’. The album has a fuller sound than earlier recordings, with tracks I Can’t Go On Dying Like This and I Believe. Though the instrumentation is more traditional, a great sound is generated for The Night is Young and I Thought I Heard My Heart Sing. There are still George’s hallmark ballads, but there’s a sense of this country stalwart finding swing and rhythm – definitely some new tricks have been learnt. The Cowboy Rides Away is a 50 track set that has style and traditionalism, but little deviation throughout which can, over three CDs, make for somewhat tedious listening. The freshest, more dynamic songs; Twang, River of Love and We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This are sparsely placed and the ballads can get too stacked up. Unlike on Love is Everything there is only one song here that has been co-written by George. A sad omission, considering his huge and influential writing history. The ‘king of country’ deserves better. – PE
The Beach Boys Made In California Universal Music
The Beach Boys’ vault doors have been thrown open for this new six-CD collection, the culmination of the band’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. It’s a chronological journey through the career of a true genius of American music (sorry Mike, I mean Brian) and his band. The hits are here, of course, but the seven and a half hours of music includes more than 60 previously unreleased tracks original songs, home demos, alternate takes and mixes, and live concert, television and radio performances. Fans of the early surf and hot rod singles will be satisfied, and so will aficionados of the complex later pieces that led to Brian Wilson being dubbed the 20th Century Mozart. Buy the deluxe set and you’ll get it presented in a high school yearbook-inspired hardbound book with personal recollec-
Anamanaguchi Endless Fantasy Alcopop
Chiptune is a style of electronic music produced through classic video game consoles and arcade machines. Those familiar with the soundtracks of ‘80sand ‘90s games like Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario will feel right at home with Anamanaguchi’s music. For those who’ve never come across Chiptune, the New
tions from the band’s members, replicated classic artwork and memorabilia, photos from the band’s archive (some previously unpublished) including Brian’s 1959 high school essay My Philosophy and handwritten inscriptions from the remaining original BBs Brian, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks. Previously unreleased material includes Goin’ To The Beach, California Feelin’, Soul Searchin’, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, and You’re Still A Mystery, plus seventeen unreleased live recordings. Carl and Dennis Wilson are remembered with rare and previously unreleased lead vocal recordings. A final CD of rarities, From The Vaults, selected by the band and their producers includes a cappella mixes of This Whole World and Slip On Through, alternate versions of Don’t Worry Baby, instrumental tracks, plus newly-discovered BBC Radio live recordings from 1964 of Wendy, When I Grow Up (To Be A Man), and Hushabye. – MB ! York City band’s new album is a great place to start. Chiptune is all about excitement and energy. For retro gaming , the sound is the essence of the playing experience. Endless Fantasy has a lot of pep, and tracks such as John Hughes, Everything Explodes and the single version of Endless Fantasy all fuel a lively atmosphere. Some tunes, such as In the Basement, bring back nostalgic memories of gaming favorites, but with a modern twist. Retro style music that’s bang up to date. – DB
October 2013 27
The American
CHOICE David Hockney: Early Reflections Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool L3 8EL www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk October 11 to March 16
An iconic artist who lives in London, Yorkshire and California and is associated with the Pop Art movement. It seems that no arts year can go by in the UK without Hockney’s work headlining, or influencing, a major exhibition. It is pleasing that this one lets Hockney’s work speak for him without tying him down to a nation or a movement. The exhibition is split into four sections: In the Mood for Love, with early paintings from his time at the Royal College of Art, 19591962, at the advent of the swinging
‘60s, during which his homosexuality could be expressed legally, in art at least, including We Two Boys Together Clinging (1961); Picturing Poetry, etchings for the book Illustrations for Fourteen Poems From Cavafy (1966) which included translations of homoerotic poetry (this exhibition is part of the Homotopia Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary with events across Liverpool during November); On Reflection, a collection of Hockney’s water-themed paintings including Peter Getting out of Nick’s Pool (1966); and Familiar Faces, a selection of portraits from the Arts Council Collection, including a depiction of Hockney’s father, Portrait Surrounded by Artistic Devices.
David Hockney, Peter getting out of Nick’s Pool 1966, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 84 in. @DAVID HOCKNEY, PHOTO RICHARD SCHMIDT, COURTESY WALKER ART GALLERY
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge © TATE IMAGES
An American in London: Whistler and the Thames
Dulwich Picture Gallery Gallery Road, Dulwich London SE21 7AD www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk October 16 to January 12 American painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler spent so many years (1859-1903) in London that he is often adopted by - or at least listed by - British art and London society as one of their own (see, it can happen!) despite critic and art patron John Ruskin suggesting Whistler was ‘flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face’. Whistler’s love affair with the capital is captured in this major exhibition featuring 70 works depicting the Thames and Victorian London both with an eye for the urban and riverside landscape of London and its people. The exhibition includes drawings, watercolors, pastels, prints and paintings, including Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge (1872/1873), Brown and Silver: Old Battersea Bridge (1859-1863), and Battersea Reach from Lindsey Houses. If you want to pay homage to the Transatlantic genius, Whistler is buried in St Nicholas’s Church, Chiswick.
The American
Hamish Mackie
The Gallery in Cork Street, 28 Cork Street, London W1S 3NG www.galleryincorkstreet.com October 7 to 19
A selection of items from the Cheapside Hoard
The Cheapside Hoard
Museum of London 150 London Wall London EC2Y 5HN www.museumoflondon.org.uk October 11 to April 27 Discovering a secret stash of glittering treasure buried in the cellar sounds like something from a movie, but it happened in Cheapside, London in 1912. For the first time in a hundred years, these jewels will be displayed together, and a magnificent, staggering set it is, the 16th-17th century objects including the iconic emerald-and-diamond Salamander brooch, a cameo featuring one of only 30 surviving portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, a gold and enamel scent bottle, and perhaps most amazing of all, a unique watch set in a large hexagonal Colombian emerald crystal. In all, there are nearly 500 jewels and gemstones. The exhibition will explore London at the center of the Old and New worlds, and the ongoing mystery of who originally owned the hoard, why it was hidden, and why nobody returned for it.
© MUSEUM OF LONDON
Turner & Constable: Sketching from Nature
Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate, Kent CT9 1HG www.turnercontemporary.org October 5 to January 5 The rural detail of John Constable and the proto-impressionist seascapes of JMW Turner - the twin titans of British landscape art - take a trip to Margate with several of their contemporaries. This exhibition would be easy to under-appreciate, so regularly-admired are these artists, but the depiction of the environment in its apparent form, rather than as a contrived composition is something all struggling oil painters should appreciate, and these 75 works - a major outing for the Tate’s collection - are a fine reason to encounter them away from big city galleries. The show also tours to the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle, January to May 2014. Also of note at Turner Contemporary: American artist Dan Graham’s outdoor pavilion Two Cubes, One Rotated 45° (1986) which will feature there until March 2014; Spanish sculptor Juan Munoz’ Conversation
If you’re very quick, you can catch a solo exhibition of 50 new sculptures by Hamish Mackie, renowned for his portrayals of British wildlife, as he displays for the first time works created during his travels around the world during the past three years. Despite that very Scottish name, he grew up on a livestock farm in Cornwall and is a keen supporter of the Countryside Alliance, while his public commissions include clients such as Merrill Lynch, The National Trust, and Barclays Bank. He enjoyed a highly successful show at Mallett, New York last year.
Hamish Mackie, Launch Pad PHOTO © STEVE RUSSELL
October 2013 29
The American
Piece III (2001); and from October 5 to January 5, Dorothy Cross: Connemara, which features works inspired by the Irish sculptor and photographer’s home region, in many cases using materials found on the Connemara shores, in some ways linking Cross’ relationship with her own seaside environment to Turner’s history in Margate.
The Male Nude
The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN www.wallacecollection.org October 24 to January 19 Fans of life drawing should make a beeline for this exhibition subtitled ‘Eighteenth Century drawings from the Paris Academy’. Nearly 40 French drawings include works by Rogaud, Boucher, Natter, Carle van Loo, Gros and others, many of whom are represented in the Wallace Collection, which contains one of the greatest collections of 18th century French paintings in the world. Depiction of the male form was considered a core of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, founded in 1648, and the presence of this exhibition begs a visit to the Wallace Collection, if you haven’t done so before. Jean-Baptiste Lagrenée Seated man lean ing on his right arm, 1789 © ENSBA Paris
JMW Turner, The Thames near Walton-Bridges, 1805 © TATE IMAGES
Thinking Big
The Sorting Office, 21-31 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1AP www.christies.com/sales/ thinking-big-london-october-2013/ October 12 to 18 Prefacing an auction at Christies on October 17, the Saatchi Gallery has an exhibition of monumental sculpture and installations so large it has to be housed at a disused sorting office (interesting how many new uses sorting offices are being put to - see Theater page 32). Thinking Big includes the work of 50 artists who have been shown at the Saatchi Gallery in the past, including Tracey Emin and the Chapman brothers, Conrad Shawcross, Sterling Ruby, and Gert and Uwe Tobias.
Jeff Elrod
Simon Lee Gallery 12 Berkeley Street, London W1J 8DT www.simonleegallery.com October 15 to November 23 Texas and New York-based artist Jeff Elrod (b.1966) has his first UK exhibition this coming month (following his acclaimed showing at MoMA in New York), with large-scale abstract paintings that combine ‘analogue’ use of acrylic, tape and spray paint with
30 October 2013
‘frictionless’ digital drawing using Abode creative programs. A second series - the Echo paintings - again incorporate Photoshop blurring techniques to digital drawings before rendering the works in UV ink on canvas, once again challenging those who consider works on paper to be something tactile rather than screendriven, while his application and destruction of line form are occasionally reminiscent of some of NY artist Christopher Wool’s works, another Simon Lee favorite.
Jeff Elrod, Endo, 2012, Acrylic, spray paint and tape on canvas, 90 x 73 in. © JEFF ELROD, COURTESY THE ARTIST AND SIMON LEE GALLERY, LONDON/HONG KONG
The American
Coffee Break
The iconic Model ‘T’ Ford, but how quickly could they make them?
QUIZ 1 What made its first appearance on October 10, 1886
at the Tuxedo Park Country Club, New York?
2 Why is it traditional to dress up on Halloween? 3 The outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker and Harry
Longabaugh were better known as whom?
4 Who was the first Hollywood actress to appear on a
postage stamp?
5 What is the fear of Halloween known as? 6 What was designed by Childe Harold Wills, Joseph
A. Galamb and Eugene Farkas, and was colloquially known as the “Tin Lizzie”?
7 Which two continents are home to vampire bats?
PHOTO: HUW WILLIAMS
It happened 50 years ago... 15 October 8: Sam Cooke and his band are arrested after
trying to register at a ‘whites only’ motel in Louisiana. What song did he record about this? a) A Change Is Gonna Come, b) Wonderful World, or c) You Send Me
16 October 10: The second James Bond film From Russia
With Love, opens in the UK. Which non-Bond Ian Fleming novel did Cubby Broccoli also turn into a film in 1968?
17 October 30: Car manufacturing firm Lamborghini is
founded. Which car manufacturer now owns it? a) Audi b) Chrysler c) Fiat
Quiz answers and Sudoku solution on page 64.
8 The OSS was the predecessor of which organisation? 9 In Ireland, the Irish had a history of carving Jack
O’Lanterns for All Hallows Eve out of what?
5
6 7 1
10 What is the largest US city named after a British PM? 11 What was French-American John James (or John-
Jacques) Audubon (1785 – 1851) famous for?
12 Who drove the Turbo Terrific in the Wacky Races
television cartoon?
2
2
8 1
8
9 7
13 October 7: The Ford Motor Company began using
5 3
a moving assembly line, with each worker assigned a separate task. By how many hours did this cut car production time? signalling the completion of the Panama Canal?
5 8
6 3
It happened 100 years ago...
14 October 10: Which US president exploded the Dike,
9
7 1
4 4 5
1 2 6 October 2013 31
The American
The Drowned Man
– A Hollywood Fable. 31 London Street, London W2
www.punchdrunk.com / www.nationaltheatre.org.uk ‘Til December 8
T
his is an unreliable review. It was just me and what I saw will bear little resemblance to what you will experience - such is the heady serendipity of a promenade production by Punchdrunk. For some time now the masters of immersive theater, they have created here an outrageously audacious theatrical event, which excels in every department. The result will mesmerise you or it might bore you but it will certainly haunt you for weeks after. If your idea of a good night out is a Dame of the British Empire behind a proscenium arch, then this is not the show for you. On arrival you are issued with a white face mask and you set off through a dark maze, ears assaulted by menacing music. A recorded announcement welcomes you to a movie studio, which you’re told is about to close and you’re invited to hang around for the final wrap party. You’re told you must wear your mask at all times, you must not converse and you are strongly persuaded to go off on your own. Amazingly, everyone complies. Led by a glamorous employee into a large elevator, a small number of you are then unceremoniously bundled out and you find yourself abandoned, in near darkness, to
32 October 2013
negotiate grim corridors, feeling totally unnerved. The audience is gradually dispersed at various levels throughout this cavernous disused sorting office (just beside Paddington Station) and are left to wander at will through spaces lovingly converted by a design team led by Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan and Beatrice Minns. The four vast, dimly lit floors recreate soundstages and dressing rooms, or a mini version of smalltown America, or a forlorn trailer park in a forest clearing, or sepiatoned bedrooms straight out of a heated film noir. The attention to detail in the set dressings is insane and all the while, hidden speakers blare out eerie soundtracks or mournful ‘50s pop songs. Stagger through a door and you might find yourself in a vast new space or alone in a small bedroom with a character in mid crisis. Under the expert direction of Barrett and Maxine Doyle (who also choreographs) the large, spirited cast remain generally oblivious to your presence, which just adds to your sense of ghostly isolation. While two intensely passionate love triangle plots unfold before you, very loosely based on Buchner’s Woyzeck, you will only ever glimpse
PHOTO © PARI NADERI
Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell fragments of these, depending on where you wandered in. Comparing notes with others afterwards will only reveal just how much you missed. This is not so much an ‘unreliable narrator’ as a reader abandoned to the twists of fate. This lack of narrative heft is a weakness. Without enough of a cohesive storyline to help the spectators along, the piece often struggles to engage beyond the merely voyeuristic. But, to paraphrase Woody Allen, hey don’t knock voyeurism. Devotees will of course keep rushing back and that is fine too, but at £40 a pop, is it that totally fair? Another missed opportunity was in the staging of the final jazz club scene. Here, the singers lacked power and their interrupted numbers never really soared when they should have been balm for the weary wanderers. These are quibbles, though, in a piece which will stay long in the memory. Note, you can still get in - it runs until Christmas - and bear in mind these practical tips: travel light, as all bags and coats must be checked (too much prop pilfering apparently), try and use contact lenses instead of spectacles, and wear comfy shoes.
THE
PRIDE
The American By Alexi Kaye Campbell
Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, Westminster, London SW1A 2DY ‘Til November 9 www.thepridewestend.com Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell
I
t’s taken 5 years for this Olivier award-winning play to reach the West End, after an acclaimed debut at the tiny Royal Court Upstairs and a hit run off Broadway. Its subject, the changing attitudes to homosexuality, couldn’t be more topical however, as in the interim, a number of countries have legalised same sex marriage, whilst in Russia the clock has gone backwards. Here Kaye Campbell contrasts the stories of two sets of gay men and a straight woman between 1958 and 2008. In 1958 Harry (Harry Hadden-Paton) is a solid middle class businessman, married to book illustrator Sylvia (Hayley Atwell), who falls into an affair with Oliver (Al Weaver), his wife’s rather effete and tweedy work colleague. Fifty years later we meet another gay couple, also called Harry and Oliver, who are breaking up as a consequence of Oliver’s addiction to promiscuous sex and here, the Sylvia is Oliver’s straight soul mate. While the 1950s story might be overly familiar from so many films and plays, Kaye Campbell counterpoints the psychological misery of the unhappily married couple from 50 years ago with the equal misery of the modern gay couple and so takes the piece beyond a reflection on the insidious nature of prejudice and explores instead more universal themes: lack of esteem, lack of self knowledge and the search for love – gay or straight. This is therefore not a ‘gay play’, whatever that might have meant in the first place. The writer is blessed with Jamie Lloyd’s wonderfully fluid direction,
Soutra Gilmour’s stunningly simple set (a huge mirror) and a topnotch cast of four up and coming young stars who make it fly. This is Lloyd’s third production as part of Trafalgar Transformed and they just get better. Kaye Campbell has a fine ear for period dialogue and HaddenPaton, so great in Flare Path, fits this 1950s world like a glove. Atwell too switches with effortless ease between the clipped 1950s lady and the more emotionally naked modern woman, caught up in an intense relationship with her gay best friend, struggling to ensure her own Italian lover is not squeezed out of the picture. The standout is Al Weaver. His modern Oliver gets by on wit and charm but has never found ease with himself. Weaver inhabits the part so totally it is almost uncomfortable to watch. He brings such color and nuance to the character it’s as if it were written for him. There is also light relief, in every sense, from TV star Matthew Horne (from Gavin and Stacey), who plays a trio of totally contrasting supporting parts – a comic triumph as a middle aged rent boy looking for respect, a spine-chilling turn as a 1950s clinician taking sadistic pleasure in administering aversion therapy and a delightful ebullience as a brash Lads Mag editor who employs Oliver and quips “You gay guys innovate in so many areas: music, fashion, dogging”. It’s a poignant, funny, richly ambiguous and utterly compelling piece.
Above: Hayley Atwell Below: Al Weaver & Harry Hadden-Paton PHOTOS © MARC BRENNER
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The Tricycle Theatre 269 Kilburn High Rd, London NW6 7JR Reviewed by Tim Baros
PHOTO © MARK DOUET
C
34 October 2013
olman Domingo tells the story of his life through music and dialogue in his one-man show A Boy and His Soul, which has just finished its run at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn. Domingo created A Boy and His Soul in 2010 and has been performing it since. It won several awards, including the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theatre and the New York Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo show. In the show, Domingo tells his story of growing up in blue-collar Philadelphia. The set is a fantastic recreation of the basement of his parent’s home, a home which is getting ready to be sold due to his parents’ illness, with old memorabilia including a treasure trove of LP’s, long playing vinyl albums of classic soul music. It is through the songs in these albums that Domingo tells his tale of growing up and of coming out, of his parent’s relationship and of his relationships with his brother and sister. Some of the tunes include Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross (appropriately I’m Coming Out), the Isleys
and Aretha. ‘Keep a song in your heart and you will always find your way’ his mother tells Jay, Domingo’s name in the piece (although you know it’s really Colman) and he has patently taken this advice in real life too. Domingo mimics the voices and mannerisms of his step-dad Clarence, mom Edie, sister Avery and his streetwise older brother Rick, who he comes out to in a pivotal moment in the show, in a very funny and poignant way. Locations from an Amtrak train and its deep south bus terminus, to a gay bar and a life-changing Earth, Wind and Fire concert are evoked by clever lighting, the all-important soundtrack, and Domingo’s force of personality - his sheer charm, charisma, comic-pause-timing and sideways glances at audience members bringing it all alive. A Tony Award winner for his performance in 2010’s Broadway production of The Scottsboro Boys, Domingo keeps our attention throughout the show, with his high energy level and exuberant spirit punctuating each moment of this show. Last month Domingo told The American magazine “I love being on stage with my family for two hours every evening.” It shows, and we love him back for sharing it with us. Although A Boy and His Soul has ended its London run, you can see Colman Domingo in The Scottsboro Boys with Forrest McClendon (see interview in this issue on page 38).
The American
L
eigh Zimmerman was our cover star in March when she told us about her starring role in A Chorus Line. She loved the West End so much that now she has relocated to the UK capital, along with her musician husband Domenick Allen and family. We caught up with the two stars in their new London home. So, what led the couple to the big decision to move home across the Atlantic? Leigh: It's not the first time we've been here. We lived in London for seven years, then back in the States for the last five. My rule is that if you've loved somewhere for seven years you can call it home. I feel like we've been welcomed back here with open arms. We're happy both sides of the ocean. The West End loves Leigh - as well as Sheila she's played both Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly in Chicago and Ulla in The Producers. Did that help with the relocation decision? Leigh: Absolutely. I wasn't new to the city, or the industry here. As I started doing A Chorus Line word got out that I was back and I was so happy with the reception. Then I won an Olivier award. The industry opened up to me, which I'm grateful for. It made it clear to us that this is where we want to be right now. Relocating is a big decision, especially with a family, and they have been quoted as saying they’re moving to London permanently. Really? Domenick: Yes, as permanently as permanent can be in show business. For me it's even more of a coming back home because I was born in Scotland. It’s great to be back here, and also to see how Lon-
Leigh Zimmerman & Domenick Allen Welcome (or rather, Welcome Back!) to the expat showbiz couple as they launch their new show in London Photos by Michael Wharley. don has changed and evolved, even in the past five years or so since we were here before. I'll still be working in the States - I have another booking in November for my show Vinyl, the Classic Rock Experience and my special guest in it is Denny Laine who formed the Moody Blues and was then in Wings with Paul McCartney. I've worked with Denny before – he's just fantastic. Leigh: For Domenick it doesn't matter where we live because he's going out all over the world doing
concerts, where we live is a base. Domenick: I get my mail delivered to Heathrow Terminal 3! It's not the most pleasant thing, I love being with my girls, my wife and beautiful daughter. Musicians often say after a while that they'd like to get off the road and into a residency – or at least a job at Tesco! Las Vegas is kind of like that – we still have our house in Las Vegas, and a car, most of my guitars are there, so it's like getting home too, I can pick up where I left off.
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Leigh: For me it has to be New York or London, really. Moving back has been wonderful because it gives you a fresh perspective to live somewhere familiar but also new after not being here for a few years. Domenick: London feels like home to us both. That's why we’ve decided to première our new show here rather than Las Vegas. The new show, in which Leigh and Domenick team up as co-stars, is called A Love Affair From A2Z which tells the story of love – and their own story – through music. Leigh: We've kind of done pieces of it before in Domenick's show, I've gotten up and performed some of the selections that we're doing in the show with him, same with our daughter Kayleigh, but this is a new shape, with the two of us telling stories of our worlds and how they co-exist. Domenick: We even have a song called A to Zed which plays on the differences between here and there. As well as their own songs, Leigh and Domenick have chosen numbers by, among others, Kander & Ebb, Led Zeppelin, Charles Aznavour, Bonnie Raitt, Cy Coleman, Jimi Hendrix and Stephen Sondheim. That's an eclectic selection. Leigh: Can you imagine what it's like living in our house?! Domenick: In our twisted little universe they all live in synchronicity. And in our show we don't do a Hendrix song and follow it with a Sondheim tune. We weave them all together. You will hear Kander & Ebb with Robert Johnson, and Sondheim with Led Zeppelin.
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Although both very talented, the couple come from different musical backgrounds. Did they have to change their style or technical approach when it came to writing and performing together? Leigh: I don't think so. Domenick's done a lot of theater and I've done a lot of concerts and pop stuff, so although my musical theater doesn't allow for much pop style, and he wouldn't break out into Sondheim in the middle of his classic rock, when we work together we've found a way to weave them together, especially Domenick in the writing and orchestration of it. And as you know, Jesus Christ Superstar and other rock musicals have found a way for those styles to live together. Domenick: And the songs tell the story - not just ours, but the story of relationships. It doesn't matter if it's a man and a women, two men, two women, a cat and a giraffe. If it's about love... Leigh: ... and the evolution of relationships, from when they're new, to when they're falling apart, and getting back together again. We've been married twenty years in November and Domenick always says that's a golden anniversary in show business. We're very lucky, we understand each other personally and professionally. The new show means they're together 24 hours a day, How's that working out? Domenick: We love it. Let me amend that – I love it! Leigh: I love it too! I think if you start that way it's fine but if you have to convert to it, it's a big adjustment, but we've always had that. And of course, I go to the theater in the evening, and Domenick goes on tour, so there are times
“ Moving back has been wonderful because it gives you a fresh perspective to live somewhere familiar but also new after not being here for a few years.” we're together 24/7 and other times we miss each other desperately. A Love Affair From A2Z is part of the inaugural season of the London Festival of Cabaret. Do Leigh and Domenick see it as cabaret? Leigh: It's funny, when we’ve described the show to people they wonder if it's too big for cabaret, too big for the room. But we believe that music's a universal thing; it can exist in your living room or an arena. The material we're working with is slightly geared toward the cabaret but it has a through-line and story-telling. It can be as big or small as you wish, but the intimate setting of cabaret is lovely for connecting with your audience. Very different from what we do elsewhere. We have piano, bass and drums, but some of it's been used in Domenick's big band, fifteen pieces, and we've scaled it down for cabaret. Domenick: It's an entertainment, first and foremost. I was raised in a show business family that goes back five generations and I was always taught [in Scottish accent] 'Don't educate them son, entertain them'. There's always that little critics that says, 'Are you getting too heavy?'
Leigh: We've always lived like this. Our own wedding was a production - we both played instruments and sang songs. Domenick: Hopefully people will come away from the show having heard music that they perhaps haven't listened to before, and the way we're doing it they'll want to hear more. Leigh: The way we've done it, they’ll hear the lyrics differently. Domenick: There is some great poetry in the lyrics of Chuck Berry! Finally, what's the best thing about being Leigh Zimmerman & Domenick Allen? Domenick: I'll answer first she'll take longer! The best thing about being Domenick Allen is having Leigh Zimmerman as a partner, a lover, a mate, a confidante and now as a fellow performer. Leigh: I can absolutely second that. I can't imagine my life without Domenick. And to add to that, we're open to new things. My mom always taught me that if you’re open to change you can weather a lot. Whether relocating the family, or taking a new job, one of our best qualities is to be adaptable, and we're lucky to be creative too.
A Love Affair From A2Z is at the St James Studio, on October 13 and will then go on tour - we’ll let you know when dates are confirmed. It forms the opening night of the London Festival of Cabaret [www.londonfestivalofcabaret.com], which runs at cabaret venues and West End theaters throughout London until November 17.
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Forrest McClendon tickets
The American caught up with stage actor, singer and educator Forrest McClendon as he prepared to fly to London for his role in The Scottsboro Boys
H
ow I became a performer: I was born into a large family in one of the largest housing projects in Norwalk, Connecticut, about 50 minutes outside of New York City. My mom was a single mother and I had nine brothers and sisters. My mother ran a community center that would do theater trips into New York, and my high school teacher, Lewis Cisto, would take us to see Broadway shows. That gave me the hankering to do it. In Middle School we went to see the High School’s production of Guys and Dolls with different kinds of people and busy streets portrayed on stage, and I really wanted to be up there! I went to the University of Connecticut as an Engineering major. My family was working class, so I wanted to get a good job, to be able to support myself and a family. That probably wasn’t a very good idea because I wasn’t very good at math! Just as the School of Engineering was kicking me out, the School of Fine Arts threw me a lifeline and I changed my major to Vocal Performance, Classical Singing. Oh, oh, oh, how lucky I was! Why performing and teaching are
38 October 2013
inseparable for me: In engineering I was accustomed to getting concrete answers to a problem. When they talked about ‘singing to the top of my head’ I struggled. Luckily my University
had one of the leading Speech Pathology departments in the country. A student in my dorm had a book with pictures of the vocal tract of the larynx, with all the muscles used in vocal production. That’s what I wanted to know! I began directed study in vocal anatomy
and physiology. In the Music department my mentor made me a voice teacher, giving voice lessons for the masters students in acting. From that moment on I have been an actor and an educator, right up to the present. My schedule doesn’t allow me to do a full semester at the University of the Arts now, so last year when I was in Othello, I did residencies in High Schools and some master-classes at the University. When I was at the Vineyard, then on Broadway, in The Scottsboro Boys people said I’d have to give up teaching. Why would I do that? When I’m teaching and not performing, or vice versa it doesn’t feel quite right. I like to stretch both my musical and dramatic muscles and this year I’m going from Shakespeare to Susan Stroman to Shakespeare again. The center of it is a great story, well told - whatever form it takes, musical or dramatic. The Scottsboro Boys cried out for the musical form for the story to be told. And now we’re bringing it to London for the European première. The Scottsboro Boys Nine African-American boys aged thirteen to 21 were wrongfully
WIN tickets to accused in 1931 of raping two white women. They were on a train that left Chattanooga in search of work. Outside Scottsboro, Alabama, a fight broke out. The white boys who started it were ejected from the train. Word was sent ahead to Scottsboro and the Sheriff arrived with a posse and arrested the black boys. An all-white jury convicted them. Many spent a long time in prison and one was killed there. The musical looks at the many trials and tribulations that the Boys experienced during decades. The case ultimately led to the desegregation of juries and also the idea of fair and adequate legal representation. I think it changed attitudes too. It could be called a seedling of the civil right movement, because for the first time you had blacks and whites together, protesting together against the injustice. The musical was the last thing that John Kander and Fred Ebb worked on together. After Ebb died, Kander, David Thompson (who wrote the book) and Susan Stroman (director and choreographer) came together and agreed that John Kander would channel Fred and finish writing it himself. It’s such an important chapter in American history, and the musical packs a really hard punch. It has everything, from minstrel show and Vaudeville turns to realism in the style of Chekhov and O’Neill. It’s a feast for the actors. It’s had a huge effect on me in so many ways, not least in my perception of black actors as my brothers and not my competition. See Forrest McClendon in The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic from October 18 - or win tickets with The American (see right).
From Kander & Ebb, the legendary creators of Chicago and Cabaret... Nominated for 12 Tony Awards... It’s showtime, boys…
Kander and Ebb’s exhilarating, dazzling, provocative musical receives its UK première, directed again by Susan Stroman, five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer of international smash hit, The Producers. 1931. Nine black teenagers board a train to Scottsboro, AL, in search of a new life. By the end of their journey, their lives – and those of every American – would be changed forever. Accused of an unspeakable crime, their trial would divide a nation. But behind the screaming headlines was the devastating story of nine young men, desperate to prove to the world that they mattered. Nominated for a remarkable 12 Tony Awards on Broadway including Best Musical and Best Director,The Scottsboro Boys is bold, wildly inventive and a daring modern classic of musical theater. Olivier-winning actor and Game of Thrones star Julian Glover will perform alongside Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon, stars of the original Broadway production. Step right up and meet the Scottsboro Boys. Their story will change everything… At the Young Vic Theatre from October 18 Book now: www.youngvic.org / 020 7922 2922
Question: What are Kander & Ebb’s first names? For a chance to win a pair of tickets email your answer, with your name, address and telephone number to theamerican@blueedge.co.uk with SCOTTSBORO in the subject line; or send a postcard to: SCOTTSBORO, The American, Old Byre House, Millbrook Lane, East Knoyle, Salisbury SP3 6AW, UK; to arrive by mid-day 15 OCTOBER, 2013. You must be 18 years old or over to enter. Only one entry per person per draw. The editor’s decision is final. No cash alternative. Tickets are for any performance from October 18 to November 16 (not Oct 29) and are not transferable. You are responsible for any travel, accommodation and other expenses.
The American
THEATER PREVIEWS From Here to Eternity
Handbagged
A new musical world première in the West End is big news. Bigger is the fact that it’s written by Tim Rice, his first new stage musical for over a decade. This time he’s collaborating with Stuart Brayson (music, making his West End début), Bill Oakes (book), and director Tamara Harvey. They have a lot to live up to: James Jones’ début novel, based on his own army experiences with the Hawaiian Division’s 27th Infantry, won the National Book Award for fiction, and Fred Zinnemann’s movie, starring Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Ernest Borgnine, Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed, won 8 Oscars.
Handbagging is defined by Macmillan as the ‘verbal and psychological beating of opponents or colleagues,’ named for the treatment suffered by many a British politician and journalist at the hands of Margaret Thatcher. Moira Buffini is a serial writer of interesting plays for the London independent stage. Her new play focuses on the relationship between two of the towering figures of the late twentieth century, the British monarch, and her most powerful subject. One believed there was no such thing as society. The other had vowed to serve it. (Guess which was which.) Marion Bailey plays ‘Q’, an older Queen Elizabeth II, against Stella Gonet’s ‘T’, an older Margaret Thatcher. The younger versions are Clare Holman as ‘Liz’ and Fenella Woolgar as ‘Mags’. Other characters in the story include Nancy Reagan/Neil Kinnock/ Kenneth Kaunda/the Archbishop of Canterbury (all played by one man) and Ronald Reagan/Denis Thatcher/ Peter Carington/Geoffrey Howe (all played by another).
Shaftesbury Theatre, 210 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8DP www.FromHereToEternityTheMusical.com from 30 September
Darius Campbell plays Warden and Rebecca Thornhill is Karen in Tim Rice’s new musical, From Here to Eternity PHOTO: NICK CLEMENTS
The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Rd, London NW6 7JR www.tricycle.co.uk 26 September 26 to November 9
Tracy Morgan
Various venues, UK www.tracymorgan.net October 15 to 20 Tracy Morgan, star of hit US shows 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, crosses the pond for a series of
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stand up shows starting October 15th Nottingham Royal Concert Hall; 16th Edinburgh Usher Hall; 17th Apollo Manchester; 19th Birmingham Symphony Hall and 20th London Hammersmith Apollo.
Macbeth
The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH www.thecockpit.org.uk October 10 to 26 Mac in the City! After last month’s preview of Dunsinane comes this contemporary reading of Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy. ‘The Scottish play’ is newly set in the treacherous world of finance and double-dealing in the City of London (cue Bank-quo puns?). As Dunsinane Hill Ltd tries to stave off a hostile takeover by Birnam Wood, and Steven Maddocks is a banking Macbeth in the Infinite Space Theatre’s contemporary reworking of Shakespeare’s ‘Scottish play’
The American
Dance Umbrella: Trisha Brown Dance Company, I’m going to toss my arms – if you catch them they’re yours
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth unravel under the consuming force of greed and determination, Hecate and her journalist witches snoop and report on the proceedings, but can they be trusted in an era of phone hacking and press scandals? Sounds juicy.
Ghosts
Almeida Theatre, London N1 1TA www.almeida.co.uk September 26 to November 23 Ibsen is the flavor of more than the month. This production overlaps with the Young Vic’s A Doll’s House (currently at the Duke of York’s) and two other adptations have been seen recently in Manchester and Edinburgh, while Sheridan Smith was a hit in the Old Vic’s 2012 Hedda Gabler. Now Richard Eyre, former director of the National Theatre, returns to the Almeida to adapt and direct Ghosts. Helene Alving has spent her life suspended in an emotional void after the death of her cruel but outwardly charming husband. She is determined to escape the ghosts of her past by telling her son, Oswald, the truth about his father. But on his return from his life as a painter in France, Oswald reveals how he has already inherited the legacy of his father’s dissolute life.
Richard II
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon & Barbican, London www.rsc.org.uk October 10 to January 25 Ex-Doctor Who turned stage hero David Tennant (below) tackles the first of a new RSC ‘Henriad’. Richard II has long had to play prequelic Hobbit to the Henry trilogies’ Lord of the Rings’ thanks to schoolroom obsession with young Prince Hal and Falstaff. However, with Tennant as R2, Michael Pennington as John of Gaunt, Oliver Ford Davies as the Duke of York, and Nigel Lindsay as Bolingbroke, Shakespeare’s tale of power and plotting will be getting the star treatment. Book tickets very quickly for one month runs in Stratford Upon Avon and London.
PHOTO: LAURENT PHILIPPE
Dance Umbrella: Trisha Brown Dance Company Various locations, London www.danceumbrella.co.uk October 3 to 20
Dance Umbrella, a major annual dance festival in London, specializes in bringing new dance from around the globe to the capital, and 2013 sees its 35th anniversary. A new format for this year sees events concentrated in two areas of the city, King’s Cross (in north London) and Stratford (to the east). Fresh artistic voices combine with established artists in performances, outdoor events, talks, photo exhibitions, installations and other happenings, many of which are free. Among the veterans is Trisha Brown, a founding member of the innovative and influential New York based Judson Dance Theater, whose Company first appeared in the festival 30 years ago. Brown is one of the most important figures in post-modern American dance and her Dance Company performs several of her major stage works, including the UK prémiere of I’m going to toss my arms – if you catch them they’re yours (2011), in the UK for one last time before the Company radically changes shape: Platform Theatre, Central Saint Martins, King’s Cross, October 9 to 11.
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Syria and the West
Far from a sign of weakness, was David Cameron’s ‘defeat’ by Parliament over Syria just what Barack Obama was looking for? Alison Holmes investigates.
“B
ritish Prime Minister ‘slapped down’ by Parliament. The Brits ‘Opt out of Acting in Syria’.” The headlines were clear: the ‘no’ vote during a recall of Parliament to discuss the increasingly desperate situation was deeply damaging to David Cameron’s credibility. Regrettable as it may be to take our sense of outrage out of foreign policy deliberations, the Prime Minister may have reason to be grateful for the outcome. Perhaps his setback was essentially a ’hit for the team,’ that the result was the intention all along. Consider the economic and military realities. In their quieter moments, surely neither the Prime Minister nor the President really want to do anything ‘serious’ in Syria. The British body politic is still coping with the survivor guilt of a Labour Prime Minister (Blair) who believed that ‘ethical foreign policy’ requires expensive interventions in the affairs of other sovereign states, up to and including preemptive action. The political process now operates under a lingering shadow of self-doubt as to the decisionmaking machinery that took them into what is now widely perceived on both sides of the Atlantic as a mistaken war in Iraq. On the individual level, Cameron must face down the ‘America’s favorite pooch’ image while heading a coalition in which the Liberal Democrat partner party was against Iraq from the outset. Decisions are always more
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complicated in government, as both halves of the Messrs Dee & Dum partnership now realize. On the US side of the Atlantic, Obama has spent his entire Presidency slamming a previous president for wars on foreign soil that were not, so his argument goes, about national interest but political hubris and a misguided notion of democracy promotion. However, instead of ‘walking the talk’ of his campaign promises, he has managed to not deliver on most of his anti-war rhetoric while not suffering unduly in the polls. Guantanamo is still open, Executive orders continue to pour out of the Administration, and drones, like most video games, are proving addictive. Yet he has clearly not forgotten the huge strides he gained by promising to bring the troops home, or his unspoken, but implied, promise they would not be going away again anytime soon. The United States was getting out of the ‘getting in’ business. Intervention and certainly regime change were decidedly off the table. Seems clear so far, but events are never as linear as we might like. Elsewhere in the Middle East, there began what became dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’. The crowds in favor of reform swelled and were welcomed around the world in (nearly) every society. The only rumblings came from the allies of the old regimes and even they would probably have
gotten over it if/when power settled again. Perhaps those most worried were the immediate neighbors who had to deal not only with the refugees pouring over their literal borders, but also with the prying eyes of the international community, leering over their ideational borders and eyeing them up for signs of revolt. It was reality TV-meets-global politics and leaders seemed to be ‘voted off’ every week. Tragically for the countries involved - but meat and drink to the journalist war hounds who live for such moments - the hopeful scenes turned blood soaked. It became almost impossible to discern what was actually going on, but we were determined to see it all, even as chaos flooded daily life. As the actions of the Syrian government or more accurately those who implemented their extreme views through the tools of government - became more deadly and depraved, Western rhetoric was stepped up several gears. However, as with all rhetoric, there is no sound more hollow or more dangerous than an empty threat. It is a truism of war that ‘Loose lips lose lives’ - but there was no resisting the high moral tone and the gauntlet was thrown by leader after leader all eager to express their indignation. The next part of the story has been almost too painful to watch. Indiscriminate and heinous acts were carried out against the Syrian
The American
PHOTO © WHITE HOUSE / PETE SOUZA
people by person and persons as yet unproved - though the evidence is thick against the government forces. Back in the capital cities of the world, it was now time to put up or shut up. Obama had been rattling his sabre, and every piece of cutlery in the drawer, while remaining distinctly short of drawing his sword. There is a very American tradition of brinksmanship. In the Wild West it was ‘going for your gun.’ In baseball it’s the ‘broken wrist’. In both situations the judgment call rests on whether the intention is so overwhelmingly present, the act is effectively done. Obama ensured he left the micro-fraction of room necessary for doubt. Cameron, by rushing to recall Parliament, used a time-honored tactic to express a government’s total focus and high alert, but ultimately delaying action. It may be totally incorrect, and probably shamefully cynical, but it looked like a blinder of a UK/ US strategy. The politicians were pontificating themselves blue and
the American media were champing so hard at the bit they had all but declared war themselves, so sure were they that the President was going to press the button. The slide to a place no one wanted to go was getting steeper and more slippery by the moment. We all wondered what on earth could pull it back? The answer came in the form of Cameron’s rush to take a decision before the Americans could muster. A dramatic move, the recall gave him some kudos and despite the defeat, enabled him to forestall any whisper of dog talk. In the longer term (and going into party conference season) as the situation continues to deteriorate - and it will - he will be able to say ‘I wanted to go in - you wouldn’t let me’. The Labour Party and others will be forced to explain their lack of action and the Prime Minister will undoubtedly not miss the opportunity to draw attention to the contrast of his approach to that of Labour in the past, ‘slavishly’ following the US and taking the country
into an unpopular and costly war. Sermons are cheaper than troops and Cameron is now free to bemoan the situation without costing the Chancellor a penny. Back in the States, the President threw up his hands and expressed his surprise if not dismay that his ‘closest ally’ should baulk at the gate - but the fact remains that the British vote opened a chink in the wall of escape he was desperately looking for. In a brilliantly executed handbrake turn, both governments managed to make a great deal of smoke and noise while providing each other with the perfect alibi for doing nothing. If the French want to sort it out, let them. Who says the British don’t have influence in the special relationship? Looks hand in glove to me. H Dr. Alison Holmes is an international relations scholar, Associate Fellow of Oxford University, Churchill Memorial Trust History Fellow and former Fellow of Yale.
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A recent poll suggests that 70% of Americans believe Syria should not be bombed by the US. Alan D Miller argues that sometimes to do nothing is the right thing.
PHOTO © VOICE OF AMERICA
The American
FSA rebels cleaning their AK47s
Freedom for Syria and the Press I
nternational headlines are currently dominated by whether or not President Obama will win Congressional authorization for military strikes on Syria in response to the gas attack on Syrian citizens on August 21, where more than 1,400 people were killed, including 426 children. The President had declared that any use of chemical weapons on citizens would be “crossing a red line” and released information by US intelligence analysts stating it was clear Assad’s regime was responsible, although other reports outlined there was still a lack of clear evidence demonstrating responsibility. Some have asked why the 1,400 are so different to the previous 100,000 who have died since the Syrian civil war began. Others wonder what exactly a military attack is meant to achieve. Hillary Clinton argued that Obama’s plan sends a message to other chemical and nuclear weapons-owning regimes that the US will not tolerate such behavior. The President has promised “no boots on the ground” in Syria, saying this would be a “shot across the bow”. Many critics have
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said that this seems like a ‘nonplan’ – a gesture of disapproval, with no clear strategy or objectives. Secretary of State John Kerry has been the most hawkish, consistently speaking of the ‘moral duty’ to intervene and attack. This says much about western leaders, who worry more about how they may be judged if they sit back and “do nothing”, as though it is the evaluation of their existential attitudes that matters, not the consequences for ordinary Syrians of a military assault. Ironically, both the UK and US have already significantly increased tensions and steered the civil war. Hillary Clinton’s decision to recognize the Syrian National Council as the legitimate (aka US favorite) opposition in an over-simplified “yay, go good guys” versus evil narrative has had wider international implications, impacting Turkey, Lebanon, Israel and beyond. While many in the UK are congratulating themselves on preventing intervention, they have missed the point that ‘intervention’ does not solely have to be military. The more western leaders take positions through
threat of force, the further violence and situation escalates. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says it has received “the expected” account by Syria of its chemical arms programme. John Kerry has stated this would de-scale the situation. However, the situation demonstrates an existential black hole at the heart of western leadership. Freedom is a hard won victory, and something that cannot be parachuted – or bombed – in. Recent history shows how backing dubious opponents with radical religious backgrounds has not worked out well for the US and others. Freedom has to be won by the people. However hard it is to stomach for outsiders, sometimes to do nothing is the correct thing.
Free press and speech
Freedom of the press is a key cornerstone of our society and freedom of speech is enshrined constitutionally in the US. Exisitng in Britain for over 300 years, emanating from the Enlightenment, a free press has recently been under attack. There was much concern about the deten-
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tion for nine hours at Heathrow Airport of David Miranda, a Brazilian citizen and partner of Glenn Greenwald, a Guardian journalist. Miranda had been visiting Laura Poitras, a documentary film-maker who has been working on Edward J Snowden’s leaks in Berlin, and was carrying information that some regard as a threat to national security. Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters then oversaw the destruction of hard drives of US National Security Agency material at The Guardian. Josh Earnest, The White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, helped distance the US from this, saying it was “difficult to imagine” a scenario in which this would be appropriate. Strange then that we have heard so little in the way of opposition and outrage over the treatment of other journalists as part of three police operations into phone and computer hacking and payments made to public officials by journalists. Over the past year and a half 59 journalists in the UK have been rounded up. While many have been on bail there has not been a single conviction. The British public was understandably shocked by revelations of tabloid phone hacking into missing teenager Milly Dowler’s mobile phone and it was The Guardian that pushed the police to use the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act against tabloid ‘hacks’. However
the double-standards of broadsheet publications who believe their freedom should be sacrosanct and ‘matters’ more than that of the tabloids is, aside from being elitist, just plain wrong. Ironically much broadsheet journalism has tended to be far from objective and dispassionate; from calls to intervene in countries to taking a stand on female mutilation, the sex industry or beyond, it has become popular to push particular views hard. The broadsheets’ view of the tabloids is like that of George Orwell’s ageing, bankrupt, alcoholic British colonialists in his first novel Burmese Days who thought of the locals that “natives were natives – interesting, no doubt, but finally...an inferior people.” Much of what has been done to journalists since Lord Justice Leveson presided over the taming of British freedom has been regarded as acceptable because tabloid journalists - and their readers - are seen as…well, inferior. It should come as no surprise to journalists at The Guardian that if they encourage the state to clamp down on part of the press, at some point it will clamp down on all press. In the US twenty AP journalists recently had their phone records seized by the Justice Department and New York Times journalist James Risen has been ordered to reveal the source for his book State of War. We need, in Britain and America,
to insist upon absolute and universal freedom of expression and the press, no exceptions. If you believe in a free press, but not in the case of x,y, or z, ultimately it is no longer a free press. As adults we are rational and can handle the truth and a free press is imperative for a free society and autonomous humans. I shall be moderating a panel in NYC at Columbia School of Journalism entitled ‘Freedom, speech, the press and beyond…’ on October 2 as part of the Battle of Ideas International Satellite Festival. There will be panels across Europe and at The Barbican in London on October 19 & 20. Central to these discussions is the motto ‘free speech allowed’ where discourse and debate is encouraged. Indeed, it is the only way to get to clarity about where we are – and what we may want to do about it. I do hope you will come and participate. H Alan D Miller is Director of The New York Salon www.nysalon.org and co-founder of London’s Old Truman Brewery and The Vibe Bar www. vibebar.co.uk He will be at The Battle of Ideas www.battleofideas. org.uk on 19-20 October at The Barbican, London. left: Anti-Syria War March, Chicago © MIKASI right: wounded civilians arrive at hospital, Aleppo © VOICE OF AMERICA
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Not all Americans are Carol Gould writes in the wake of the Washington Navy Yard shootings, and remembers a young man struck down in the US capital seven years ago
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n the weekend of July 8th 2006 the Prince of Wales represented Great Britain at the sombre commemorations of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in which hundreds of thousands of young men lost their lives in one of the most costly military undertakings in modern history. Young men from countries around the globe had volunteered to fight with patriotic zeal. 200,000 French, 420,000 British and 500,000 German troops fell in the Somme campaign. That same weekend in 2006, Alan Senitt, a 27-year-old Briton who would, without doubt, have volunteered with passion for his country had a world conflict developed and who was destined for greatness, was murdered in cold blood in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC. His attackers were three young knife-wielding men and a woman, one of whom
was fifteen. At the Somme there were, it is said, fifteen-year-olds who had lied about their true age in order to serve their country. Alan Senitt is reported to have died gallantly defending the honor of his female companion, who was being raped by the fifteen-year-old. Alan’s chivalry cost him his life; one of the attackers did not just rob the pair but found it necessary to slit his throat. His sparkling young life, highlighted by sterling work for a string of British charities, for Lord Janner and for Muslim-Jewish organisations was obliterated by a gang of young people who roam the streets of Washington - and more recently Chicago - and terrorize its population. In the wake of the shooting of Gabby Giffords and the dreadful gun massacres at Virginia Tech, Aurora, Sandy Hook and now in Washington’s Navy Yard, resulting
in passionate debates in the media about a ban on guns in the USA, I am going to play devil’s advocate. Had Alan had a gun he would have been able to shoot the assailants and save his life. Washington had been under a strict gun ban; after Alan and a well-known social worker were stabbed to death, along with many other innocent victims, the police department was compelled to declare a ’crime emergency.’ Before everyone writes to condemn my ‘NRA’ stance (I am not, by any means, an NRA supporter and consider the ousting of two Colorado state senators in September 2013 for supporting stringent background checks on gun owners a disgrace) I wish to point out that I was living in Washington in 2006 and was equally terrified of being shot dead or stabbed. One of the Senitt murderers had told his mother earlier in the day that he ‘wanted to go out and cut someone.’ Well, he cut down a sapling that would have grown into a mighty tree. Alan would have been alive today had he been able to stop their merciless rampage with one shot. There is no doubt in my mind that the young British lawyer David ap Rhys Price, stabbed to death by two youths on the eve of his wedding in Kensal Left: Shotguns for sale. © SEAN SVADILFARI Background: Houston Gun Show. © M GLASGOW
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gun-toting maniacs Green, London in January 2006, might have had a chance had he been able to defend himself. It is notable that his murderers, caught when they used his Oyster travelcard, were reported to have shown no remorse in court. Alright, that ends my NRA-style rant. In July 2006 an early evening curfew was extended to 16-andunders. Washington DC Mayor Anthony Williams made this statement: “Dozens of cities across the United States have similar curfews, ranging from Philadelphia and Denver to Santa Barbara and Cleveland. Curfews will keep our children safer, and encourage parents to take a stronger interest in the activities of their children and to take responsibility for their whereabouts.” In London there are an estimated 171 gangs and the death toll from knife crime is tragic. And yes, I agree that if guns were as easy to buy as they are in the US there would be a high homicide rate. What is my point? Notwithstanding the anti-gun campaign that has caused Piers Morgan, the CNN talk show host, to be the focus of a nationwide petition to have him deported back to Britain, I do not believe that Americans as a nation are ‘gun crazy.’ Every incident of mass gun murder has been perpetrated by young men with emotional disorders. Had they had knives they would still have murdered many. The vast majority of gun-owning Americans are
responsible citizens. And yes, four presidents and Dr Martin Luther King have been assassinated by gunmen, but so was the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo -- the incident that launched World War I. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated at gunpoint. Gunshots rang out at Indira Gandhi as they did at Benazir Bhutto. On a tangent, if violent movies and video games are causing gun massacres, did they influence the most murderous maniacs of the past century, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin? The millions murdered in Cambodia, Rwanda and Sudan vastly outnumber the statistics rolled out every time a fiend perpetrates a massacre in the US. I knew Alan Sennitt from the reputation he had garnered at B’nai B’rith Youth, a worthy organisation that helps send youngsters of all backgrounds to Israel for hard work, tough outdoor pursuits and character-building ‘Machon’ summer camp. Alan was a hero to the BBYO participants who came into my office at Hillel House when I was Administrator for Machon. I attended Alan’s funeral in North London on July 14th, 2006. The grief in the air was palpable. One expects the old and the ailing to be mourned by predominantly mature friends and family, but here were scores of youngsters sobbing, some unable to remain standing as the coffin of the 27 year-old lay at rest in the packed chapel. The British Chief
Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, lined up with the rest of us to shovel earth onto Alan’s casket after it was lowered into the grave, and the line of mourners was formidable. At the memorial service on Sunday evening, Lord Janner recounted the unbearably tragic story of a gift Alan had given him before he had departed for his secondment to Washington: a necktie which he was now wearing at the service. He also told the enormous gathering that Alan had sent him a baseball cap with ‘Lord J’ emblazoned on it, and that this gift had only just arrived with a note telling him ‘all was OK in DC.’ One prays that the young soul of Alan Senitt can be at peace, and that in time the ugly waves of hate that seem to be engulfing the world once again can be turned into glimmers of hope by other young men and women as noble as he. One also prays that deranged young people receive the care necessary to stop them from engaging in mass-violence. H Carol Gould is a broadcaster and author of Don’t Tread on me anti-Americanism Abroad and Spitfire Girls. She has appeared the BBC’s Any Questions? and on many programmes on BBC, ITV, Sky News and al Alam. She was Drama Commissioner at Anglia TV for eleven years.
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Not one, not two... Heat to three-peat? PHOTO @ NBA PHOTOS COURTESY OF MIAMI HEAT
Who can win the 2013/14 NBA crown? Natimi Black-Heaven breaks down the divisional contenders Miami is on a roll after back to back titles, but as they go into the fourth season since LeBron James first promised an NBA dynasty, the clock is ticking on how many championships the Heat can line up before finances or age begin to whittle away the winning formula. James may be declaring himself a South Beach lifer and his talent seems to know no bounds, but Dwyane Wade was less than 100% healthy in 2012, Chris Bosh (pictured left) may be a shade off ‘superstar’ and Mike Miller left in the offseason. As the finals showed, a three-peat is no slam-dunk. The Heat will have to keep earning those titles.
ATLANTIC
Without a doubt, the Atlantic division made the most noise this offseason thanks to a blockbuster deal that created a new powerhouse with potential to do serious damage when things kick off. The Brooklyn Nets acquired Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry while managing to keep Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and big man Brook Lopez. They are now the most dangerous team in the Atlantic division, with five starters capable of making an all-star team. Not too far back is another of the NBA’s top teams in recent seasons. Last year, the New York Knicks, led by dynamic scorer Carmelo Anthony finished atop of the Atlantic Division while besting their state rivals four games to one. If the Nets and Knicks didn’t have a rivalry before, they most definitely have one now. The race for Atlantic division supremacy is on and with these two teams so far ahead of Boston, Toronto and
Philadelphia, whoever comes out on top could make a run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
CENTRAL
He’s back! Not only Chicago Bulls fans but the whole NBA community has been anticipating the return of Derrick Rose. The 2011 NBA MVP is back to claim what’s his and he’s ready to make an already formidable Chicago Bulls team even more dangerous. But Rose isn’t the only superstar to be making his long awaited return back to the league. The Indiana Pacers’ lead man Danny Granger was out most of last season by way of injury but just like Rose, the all-star small forward will be making a good Pacers squad that came out on top of the Central division last season – and that took the Miami Heat to game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals – even better. The Central division also probably holds the NBA’s biggest dark horse. With some serious offseason
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moves, the Cleveland Cavaliers may have put themselves back in the playoff picture for the first time since LeBron’s infamous 2010 departure. The addition of 2013 1st overall NBA draft pick Anthony Bennett as well as proven dominant big man Andrew Bynum will surely add that muchneeded ‘below the rim’ presence that the Cavs have been searching for. And it’s never a bad thing to have Kyrie Irving leading the charge!
SOUTHEAST
The Southeast division is owned by the Miami Heat and with LeBron James recently announcing that he wants to “finish his career in Miami”, it seems like the division will be a 2nd place race for the foreseeable future. The Heat has been struggling in the ‘big man’ stakes, but recently acquired Greg Oden, the former 2007 1st overall draft pick, as a free agent. If the former Ohio State superstar can avoid his career long plague of injuries and play low block defence and grab rebounds, then the Heat will be on their way to another 60+ win season. The reacquisition of Michael Beasley after three years away gives an already deep bench (if aging – Ray Allen is 38, Shane Battier 35, Udonis Haslem 33, Chris Andersen 35, Juwan Howard 40...) increased fire power that will only help the defending champs. With competition coming from Atlanta, Washington, Charlotte and Orlando, the Heat will yet again be able to wrap up win after win and make their case as the team to beat going into to the 2014 NBA Playoffs.
NORTHWEST
The Northwest division will likely be led again by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although not as dominant as the Heat in the Southeast
division, Oklahoma still has a sizable advantage against the rest of the opposition – Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the always improving dynamic duo are the key to Oklahoma’s success. As long as they stay healthy, this team is straight up nasty and a terrible match-up for any opposition. The Denver Nuggets will be a problem for most opponents but with the departure of Andre Iguodala the Nuggets they may find it difficult to produce a new first option scorer with the same poise and ability. On the upside, they still remain maybe the most athletic team in the NBA with Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee patrolling the paint, as well as one of the quicker point guards in the league, Ty Lawson, running the offense. Another team to watch out for in the Northwest is the Utah Jazz. Although the team failed to make the playoffs in 2013 they should be in a decent position this season to make a push. With some Western Conference playoff teams losing key players – most notably Iguodala from the Nuggets and Dwight Howard from the Lakers – Al Jefferson and the Jazz may find themselves in contention come April.
PACIFIC
Although the biggest storyline of the offseason belonged to the Atlantic division, the Pacific division certainly had the most storylines. First, let’s mention Los Angeles. While the Lakers’ storylines were focused on the departure of one particular athlete, the stories focused around the LA Clippers included the addition of personnel that will surely improve the quality of basketball in Lob City. Having brought in new head coach Doc Rivers, the Clippers now have
the leader they needed and that will bring championship caliber coaching to a team that has all the tools to be champions. Also, with the return of Jamal Crawford, JJ Redick and Matt Barnes, and the additions of Nick Collison, Jared Dudley and first-round pick Reggie Bullock, the Clippers are probably the deepest team in the league. Having ended the season without Kobe and dealing with the ongoing drama surrounding the imminent departure of Dwight Howard, the LA Lakers have suffered an offseason they would much rather forget. Not only that, but defensive beast Metta World Peace was let go and it now looks like the Lakers will yet again be relying on a 35 year-old, 17-year NBA veteran in Kobe Bryant to carry the team by himself. Not to put anything past Kobe – the guy seems to be invincible – but the Lakers need help and we saw first-hand last season that Pau Gasol and Steve Nash aren’t the players that will secure the Lakers consistency. The injury bug is a big issue with this team and unless one of the new additions – Chris Kaman, Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson – can play at a close to all-star caliber level, then the Lakers will find themselves struggling for a playoff position yet again. Last year, it seemed as if the Golden State Warriors kept improving as the season went on. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were lights-out from down town and the shooting performance of the team and especially Curry was as impressive as it gets. The only thing the Warriors failed to do as well as other teams was get to the rim and capitalise on open lanes. With the offseason addition of ex-Nugget Andre Iguodala, the Warriors now have that threat. If you’ve ever seen
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him play, you’ll know he can take it to the hole as well as anyone in the league. Not only that, but he throws it down pretty good as well. Look for the Warriors to continue at least where they left off.
SOUTHWEST
Without a shadow of a doubt, this has to be the most competitive division in the league with Dallas, Memphis, Houston, and of course San Antonio. Although not as good as they were a couple of years ago when they won the title, the Dallas Mavericks are in a semi-rebuilding stage yet continue to be a dangerous opposition for many NBA teams due to the versatility of shooting big man Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs just need one or two more pieces that will be able to push them back into the playoff picture. For now, this division is just too strong for them to make any meaningful run with the team they currently have. The Memphis Grizzlies had the best season they’ve had in years as they made it to the playoffs with the five seed in the West and defeated the Clippers in the first round. Unfortunately they were matched up against a far superior San Antonio Spurs team in the second round and were dealt a rather embarrassing four game loss. That said, through the season Memphis were impressive. The contributions by the whole team were what made the Grizzlies a formidable opponent throughout the 2013/14 season. And like Golden State, this team is only on the rise. The Houston Rockets only just managed to scrape a playoff spot last season as they were battling it out with the Utah Jazz for the 8th seed in the East. For a lot of last
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season, the Rockets’ backcourt – headlined by all-star guard James Harden and showstopper Jeremy Lin – led the league in scoring and were producing highlight plays on a nightly basis. New acquisition Dwight Howard is arguably the league’s best big man, adding defensive and offensive improvements to make the Rockets playoff certainties. D12 gives them a good opportunity to make the Western Conference Finals... although weren’t we saying the same about the Lakers this time last year? Last but not least, the San Antonio Spurs will be back with the same squad that took Miami to seven games in the 2013 NBA Finals. The triple threat of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginóbili will continue to strike fear as long as they’re in the league but for this team, the future is in the youth. Let’s face it, these three guys won’t be around for much longer and the organization knows this. Although the Spurs will probably make the Western Conference Finals again and maybe even the Finals, the question is: will they be able to sustain an 82 game season and then the Playoffs at 100% efficiency? They did last year but they’re a year older now, so look for head coach Gregg Popovich to have a deeper rotation with Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green getting increased minutes as floor generals. After their amazing play last season, much more will be expected of the two throughout this season, and with Parker, Duncan and Ginóbili still around and still being dominant, it seems almost ridiculous to think the Spurs won’t make a run throughout the 2013/14 season and continue through the 2014 NBA Playoffs.
BBL Writer Joe Hewison looks at the British Basketball League season, now getting underway
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he BBL’s top two teams, the Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders, met five times last season – and on each occasion it was the East Midlanders who came out on top. Undisputed champions, Rob Paternostro’s Riders collected three of the four pieces of hardware on offer, the BBL Championship, BBL Cup and BBL Playoffs; while the Sheffield Sharks snapped up the BBL Trophy. And, rather ominously for the rest of the league, with a series of shrewd offseason moves, the Riders retain the core members of that treblewinning team. The likes of Jamell Anderson, Jorge Calvo, Conner Washington and Texan Jay Couisnard have all saddled up for another ride but most importantly, Great Britain captain, and last season’s MVP, Drew Sullivan also returns. Determined, team defence was undoubtedly the key to the Riders’ success last term but Sullivan was the one who stepped up when needed and got things done on the offensive end. The last time the Newcastle Eagles finished a campaign without a trophy, as they did last season, they returned to win all four the following season. Somewhat uncharacteristically, for the famously stable Eagles, this summer has seen a high turnover of players. Stalwarts Darius Defoe, Charles Smith and the ultra competitive Fab Flournoy remain but several additions have been made, including old Eagles Drew Lasker and Paul Gause – as well as Notre Dame forward Scott Martin. This points to an unpredictable tussle at the top but that is not to say
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Riders, Eagles, Lions among BBL’s silverware contenders some of the chasing pack can’t challenge the top two. The Glasgow Rocks have assembled an interesting mix of established starters with a couple of imports. They could improve on last year’s 21-12 mark. Their frontcourt appears especially formidable with GB international Gareth Murray being joined by Daniel Northern, ex-MK Lions and Tennessee Tech. The Lions have since moved to London and will this term play their home games at the Copper Box in Queen Elizabeth Park. The ‘box that rocks’ is a former Olympic venue and it will be interesting to see whether the home court is to the Lions’ advantage or if it will see opponents up their game to suit the stage. One Health Sheffield Sharks are a side you can always count on to be competitive. Coach Atiba Lyons has had a busy summer building a side that returns BBL veterans Mike Tuck and Olu Babalola while adding fresh blood. Perhaps the most exciting prospect for Sharks fans will be to watch the continued development of young British guard Nick Lewis. He will be complimented by Californian Brian Barbour, who has just completed his senior year at Columbia University in New York City. Worcester Wolves will hope to lift themselves up the table this year too, and have put themselves in a good position to do so with a couple of standout signings. Serbian forward Stefan Djukic will provide a focal point in the frontcourt while
Caylin Raftopoulos, signed from Surrey, American duo Will Creekmore and Ian Salter, along with former Rider Zaire Taylor, form an exciting roster for England coach Paul James to work with. Worcester will certainly be one the teams to keep an eye on in the BBL this season. Two unknowns will be the Surrey Heat – who have undergone an ownership change during the offseason and are still in the process of roster refinement – and the Plymouth University Raiders. Long-time Raiders player and coach of three years Gavin Love was sacked just three weeks before the first tip, The Lions played Iowa Hawkeyes at the Copper box PHOTO © STEPHEN BARTHOLEMEW
having already put together a strong line-up, securing the signature of ‘number one priority’ Andreas Schreiber and adding former Loyola forward Shane Walker to the mix. Big men Calvin Clemmons, originally from Charlotte, NC, and Frenchman Masse Doumbe will shoulder much of the load for the Cheshire Phoenix, who have held together the skeleton of last year’s 10-23 squad. Durham Wildcats equaled that tally last term and have since swiped Joel Madourie from local rivals Newcastle. He will have a point to prove in a likely elevated role. Manchester Giants will hope to build on a solid first year in the league. They re-signed five of the players that led them to a 12-21 record in their maiden BBL campaign. In a similar position for 2013 are the newly-formed Birmingham Knights. Basketball belongs in the country’s second city, which does a consistently great job of hosting the BBL’s showpiece events at the National Indoor Arena, and it is up to experienced playcaller Paul Douglas to ensure that performance on the floor reaches the same level. A young, local core is joined by American guard Brent Benson, who spent last season with the Springfield Armor – the NBA D-League team of the Brooklyn Nets – and will bring much-needed experience and leadership. H More info: www.bbl.org.uk
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Ground Level Football Richard L Gale is feeling rah-rah for the Jaguars... and Jacksonville isn’t even his team. He explains why now’s a great time to adopt a second team.
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he British love an underdog. And a good job too if the NFL is to sell them the Jacksonville Jaguars. In case you hadn’t noticed, they’re not very good right now. However, for anyone wanting
to adopt an NFL team (such as any of your British friends who may have a toe in the NFL waters and are yet to swear allegiance), this is a great time to get in at the ground floor and enjoy the ride. If last season’s 2-14 record doesn’t fill you with confidence that the Jaguars-49ers game at Wembley Stadium, October 27, is going to be a barnstormer, it’s worth remembering that when this International Series started – in torrential rain – back in 2007, a Dolphins team destined for 1-15 faced off against the eventual Super Bowl winning Giants... and that stayed close at the end. But they were just passing through. The Jaguars are here for the long (...long...) haul. When star back
Maurice Jones-Drew, Cecil Shorts III and insert-QB-here step onto the Wembley turf, it will be the beginning of something Jaguars and Fulham FC owner Shahid Khan intends to be big enough by the end that it will be the pride of two cities. Cheering the storied, playoffbound 49ers is going to be all too easy this coming month, but for those of us who already cheer different NFL teams, take this moment to follow the @Union_Jax fan club, buy yourself some teal attire, and declare yourself, for the next four years at least, a Jaguars fan... for better, for worse, and hopefully not in that order. After, all, you can’t tell a rags-to-riches story without starting at the rags. Or a Jags-to-riches story, for that matter.
Finding NFL Fan Clubs in the UK
Maurice JonesDrew remains the heartbeat of the Jacksonville offense... (which also means when he stops, it’s over) PHOTO © RICK WILSON/ JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
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Most NFL teams have a UK fan presence, whether organized fan clubs with newsletters or just regional drinking buddies who get together at a sports bar to enjoy the game. It begins with the Jaguars own official UK fan club, the cleverly-named Union Jax (twitter: @Union_Jax), launched this year and already having witnessed a visit from former Jags tackle Tony Boselli. Other officially-recognized fan sites over here include the two other Florida teams, the Miami Dolphins (www.dolfan-uk.com), the active and vociferously supported Bucs UK fan club (www.bucsuk.org), the New England Patriots (www.ukpatriots.com), and more surprisingly, given the distance to a game, the Seattle Seahawks (www.seahawkers.org.uk). Dedicated UK websites and blogs also exist for other teams including www.uk-jets.com, www.steelernationuk.com, www.ukravens.co.uk (Ravens), www.overseasorangearmy.co.uk (Broncos), www.orfcgb.org (Raiders), www.kcchiefsuk.co.uk, www.BritishEagles.co.uk, www.beardownuk.com, http://thelionsatlanticroar.blogspot.co.uk, www.arizonacardinals-uk.com,
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Uche Nwaneri Jaguars Guard In conversation with Josh Modaberi
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he Jacksonville Jaguars are going to be making London their second home over the next few years playing four regular season games at Wembley Stadium. Near-seven-year veteran Uche Nwaneri thinks this is a positive move not only for the team but for the city of Jacksonville. “I really feel as though coming over to London for the next few years is going to benefit our city a lot, and it’s going to benefit the Jaguars a lot,” Nwaneri continued. “With Shahid Khan purchasing Fulham Football club it creates a direct connection to London. Hopefully we will have fans from London come over to Jacksonville, see our city, see the Jaguars, and it will definitely create a level of familiarity and I think it will help to extend our fan base.” Nwaneri gave us an insight to what type of owner Shahid Khan is. “Mr. Khan is a very cool owner.
He’s really easy to talk to, very approachable, but at the same time he’s a businessman and there’s a level of professionalism that he expects from every player. He’s obviously not afraid to put resources towards improving the environment of a franchise and that’s what he’s done with the Jaguars in the two years that he has been the owner. He’s changed our uniforms, our locker room and Uche Nwaneri enters his seventh season with Jacksonville PHOTO © RICK WILSON/JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
www.falconsuk.webs.com, and www.ukpackers.co.uk, while http://ukcowboys.wordpress.com includes a blog from erstwhile contributor to The American, Gary Jordan. For social networkers, there’s various unofficial enthusiasts out there. Via Twitter, check out @STLRamsUK @PanthersUK @NYGiantsFansUK and @TexansUK, while facebook-based groups are located at: www.facebook.com/BillsBackersUk www.facebook.com/NewOrleansSaintsFansuk www.facebook.com/IndianapolisColtsFansUk www.facebook.com/pages/Minnesota-VikingsUK/122202174526910 www.facebook.com/pages/San-Francisco-49ers-UKFans/155450784633634?ref=hl www.facebook.com/groups/britishbulldawgsbrownsbackers/
he is changing our stadium. I really wouldn’t expect less from his purchase of Fulham. I think he will do every-thing he can to improve whatever he feels needs to be raised up a notch, that’s just the kind of owner he is. He really looks to give the players and the coaches the best environment possible.” The Jaguars last reached the playoffs in 2007 and last season finished with a dismal 2-14 record. So how have they approached 2013? “Coach Bradley preaches competition,” The 29 year-old guard said. “He preaches raising the bar each day, getting better. We go into practice with that mentality: get better, raise the bar, and as a player personally that’s part of my philosophy. Those things will lead to more personal accolades down the road. “As a team putting that kind of effort and preparation into your daily work, your craft, you will see the results. It doesn’t necessarily happen overnight, but being able to come out, prepare ourselves, work hard, compete relentlessly every day – that will allow us to reach bigger goals. “I feel like that process is starting now. The fans in London will see that this season and they will continue to see it over the next four years.”
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Donte 49ers Whitner Safety
In conversation with Josh Modaberi
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an Francisco safety Donte Whitner and the rest of the 49ers could be forgiven for having their sights a little further down the line than London. Last season, the team made it to Super Bowl XLVII but lost to the Baltimore Ravens 34-31, the first time the Niners had made the big game and not hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy. “Losing the Super Bowl last year against Baltimore definitely spurs us on,” Whitner says. “We are making steps each year, and we don’t have any excuses for last year’s loss. We have a young talented football team and the nucleus is still there. All we have to do is go out and make sure that we’re very detailed, to continue to work how we worked to get to where we were last year. Sometimes when you lose a Super Bowl it can be a drop off but we don’t want that. “Now we are going to have to start from day one like every other team in the NFL and work as if we didn’t make the Super Bowl last year; work as if we haven’t made the playoffs in the last ten years and we’ll be right where we want to be.” So how has the 2012 Pro Bowler been spending his time during the offseason? “I did some MMA stuff. I actually work out of Miami, Florida in extreme heat. Every offseason you have to try and find something different. You have to tweak the way you eat, what you eat, when you eat. Sometimes you might have to workout twice a day, sometimes you might have to do some cross-fit, just throw different things in there
54 October 2013
to take your body to the max. That’s what I’ve been doing and that’s what a lot of my team mates have been doing, so hopefully it pays off.” Not that anyone is forgetting about the International Series trip to Wembley Stadium October 27, which matches the 49ers with the Jacksonville Jaguars. “This isn’t a preseason or an exhibition game, this is a real game and all wins count, especially if you want to go where we want to go and that’s back to the Super Bowl and winning it. “So we can’t worry about any of the conditions, we can’t worry about travel, we can’t worry about anything. We are coming over here to win a football game and that’s what we plan on doing. We have to prove ourselves right off the back. Our goal is to come to Wembley Stadium on October 27 undefeated [Seattle had other plans – ed.]. It’s going to be tough, but with hard work and the guys we have in the team we believe it’s possible.” Donte also offered some suggestions for new and breakout 49ers to watch for at Wembley and this year. “Anquan Boldin is a really big pick up. He’s a really hard nose guy. Any guy that can go out there in the middle, get his jaw broke and a couple of weeks later play, is a guy you want to go to battle with each and every Sunday.
Donte Whitner made his first Pro Bowl last year PHOTO © SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
“Nnamdi Asomugha has a really big chip on his shoulder. The last two years he’s been a scapegoat in Philadelphia, so he’s getting with a good team, good defence, good front seven. He likes to press man-to-man and I believe he will have another break out year.” “AJ Jenkins was a first round pick last year but he didn’t play much. During offseason and mini camp workouts he’s really been one of our top receivers, especially after Michael Crabtree went down.” [...although since this interview, Jenkins was traded to Kansas City – ed.] During the offseason, the San Francisco 49ers also picked up British Olympian Lawrence Okoye during the draft. He’s on Injured Reserve now, but Whitner feels the Brit has a bright future: “Physically he’s big, strong, tough, and we think he’s going to be a really good player. We’ve seen him in LTAs and mini camp like every other player, but you really get a good look at them when the helmet and shoulder pads go on. “Hopefully he embraces the physical nature of the game and he’ll be a really good player so we’ll have to wait and see.” H
The American
Eagle Eyed Darren Kilfara begins the long sobs of Autumn golf he arrival of autumn makes me remember my favorite tree in the world. Yes, I have a favorite tree – a tall and round oak which stands 30 yards short and to the right of the second green at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. It isn’t a strategic obstacle to be carefully circumnavigated; rather, it stands proudly alone and aloof to the side, like a guardsman’s bearskin at Buckingham Palace. But in the autumn, it bursts into the most intoxicating blend of yellows, oranges and reds… the trees in my native Georgia changed colors in the fall, but not like this. As a freshman on the Harvard golf team, playing golf at Brookline taught me what autumn in New England can look like, and that golfing scenery can be just as beautiful in the quiet repose of autumn as it can in the spectacular brilliance of Pebble Beach or Cypress Point. Of course, from a practical point of view the glories of autumnal golf are fleeting: when the foliage falls to the ground, you need a leaf blower to clear the greens and a dimple detector to find wayward shots in the rough. (No joke: I once lost a putter head in the autumn leaves at Brookline.) And on a windy day, the putting path you’ve laboriously cleared to the hole can quickly disappear. I now play most of my golf on linksland courses, and I do occasionally miss the tree-lined courses of my youth, but never now – never in the autumn. In a Ryder Cup-free autumn such as this, the joys and indeed the meaning of professional golf are buried under
similar detritus. The dullness began in August with the turgid WGC event at Firestone, which is to tree-lined golf what Monopoly is to family boardgames. The PGA Championship suffers from identity crises in its choice of venues and course setup, its parade of mediocre champions, and its format – a return to matchplay or perhaps even medal-matchplay (i.e., head-to-head strokeplay) would be most welcome. The FedEx Cup Playoffs are a pathetic attempt to stay relevant at the height of baseball season and the start of football season by throwing money at the über-rich. I enjoyed watching the Solheim Cup, but Team Korea would wipe the floor with its winners if given the chance, and because of it the US Amateur (at Brookline!) wasn’t on UK television. The Presidents Cup features an “International” team – shorthand
Darren Kilfara formerly worked for Golf Digest magazine and is the author of A Golfer’s Education, a memoir of his junior year abroad as a student-golfer at the University of St. Andrews.
Darren’s oak tree on the second green at The Country Club Brookline
PHOTO COURTESY THE COUNTRY CLUB
T
for “Everyone Ineligible for the Ryder Cup” – and as such cannot be taken seriously. Do you remember when the Skins Game used to be a big deal? Me neither. The European Tour actually comes into its own in the autumn: some of its venues can be very watchable (e.g., at the KLM Open and the Dunhill Links Championship), Ryder Cup points have started to accrue, and the Race to Dubai is at least intuitive to follow. But still, when the state of Tiger Woods’ back seems more important than the result of the tournament you’re watching, perhaps it’s time to look elsewhere for your professional sporting fix. Or go outside and find your own lovely tree to stare at and meditate upon. It’s OK: golf will still be here when you get back. H
October 2013 55
The American
American ORGANIZATIONS
American Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery Kathleen Bice, Development Officer, Members and Patrons 020 8299 8726 www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/support_us/ american_friends.aspx
An index of useful resources in the UK If your group or organization is fundraising, has upcoming events, or is running something you’d like more people to know about, get in touch with Sabrina at The American. If your entry needs amendments please let us know – we rely on you to keep us up to date! Telephone 01747 830520, Fax 01747 830691, sabrina@theamerican.co.uk. We would be pleased to receive profiles, news or short articles about your organization for possible publication in The American.
ESSENTIAL CONTACTS EMERGENCIES Fire, Police, Ambulance
999 or 112 (NOT 911)
001 100 155 153 151
MEDICAL ADVICE LINE NHS Direct delivers 24-hour telephone and e-health information services, direct to the public. www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk 0845 4647 and being phased in for non-emergencies: 111
CIVIC & SERVICES
56 October 2013
American Friends of the Jewish Museum London Stephen Goldman Tel. 020 7284 7363 stephen.goldman@jewishmuseum.org.uk www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/american-friends
American Red Cross RAF Mildenhall Tel: 01638 542107, After Hours 07031 15 2334 red.crossv3@mildenhall.af.mil
American Friends of the Lyric Theatre Ireland Crannóg House, 44 Stranmillis Embankment, Belfast, BT9 5FL, Northern Ireland Angela McCloskey info@americanfriendsofthelyric.com www.americanfriendsofthelyric.com/
American Friends of the Almeida Theatre, Inc. Kenneth David Burrows, 950 Third Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, USA or Lizzie Stallybrass, Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London N1 1TA, UK www.almeida.co.uk/supportus/individual-support/ american-friends
American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery Stacey Ogg and Charlotte Savery, Individual Giving Managers 020 7312 2444 individualgiving@npg.org.uk www.npg.org.uk/support/individual/americanfriends. php
American Friends of Chickenshed Theatre U.S. Office: c/o Chapel & York PMB293, 601 Penn Ave NW, Suite 900 S Bldg, Washington, DC 20004 UK Office: Chickenshed, Chase Side, Southgate, London N14 4PE 0208 351 6161 ext 240 AdamG@Chickenshed.org.uk www.chickenshed.org.uk/659/individual/ american-friends.html
For more details go to www.theamerican.co.uk and click on Life In The UK
American Church in London Senior Pastor: Rev. John D’Elia. Music Director: Anthony Baldwin. Sunday School 9.45am Sunday Worship 11am, child care provided. 79a Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TD (Goodge St. tube station) Tel: 020 7580 2791/07771 642875 churchsecretary@amchurch.co.uk www.amchurch.co.uk
American Friends of the Donmar Inc. Stephanie Dittmer, Deputy Director of Development 020 7845 5810 sdittmer@donmarwarehouse.com www.donmarwarehouse.com/p46.html
American Citizens Abroad (ACA) The Voice of Americans Overseas, 5 Rue Liotard, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland +41.22.340.02.33 info.aca@gmail.com www.americansabroad.org
TRANSPORTATION London Underground 020 7222 1234 www.tfl.gov.uk National Rail Enquiries 08457 4849 50 www.nationalrail.co.uk National Bus Service 0990 808080 www.nationalexpress.com TELEPHONES Direct Dial Code, US & Canada Operator Assistance, UK Operator Assistance, Int. International Directory Assistance Telephone Repair
American Friends of the British Museum Mollie Norwich. The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. 020 7323 8590 www.britishmuseum.org
American Institute of Architects Mailing address: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX Tel: 0203 318 5722 chapterexecutive@aiauk.org membership@aiauk.org www.aiauk.org
Here are some crucial telephone numbers to know while you are in the UK.
American Friends of ENO – English National Opera Denise Kaplan, American Friends Coordinator London Coliseum, St. Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4ES 0207 845 9331 Americanfriends@eno.org www.eno.org/support-us/individual-giving/ american-friends/american-friends.php
American Friends of Contemporary Dance & Sadler’s Wells U.S. Office: Celia Rodrigues, Chair 222 Park Avenue South, 10A, New York, NY 10003 +1.917.539.9021 americanfriends@sadlerswells.com www.sadlerswells.com/page/american-friends UK Office: 020 7863 8134 development@sadlerswells.com
American Friends of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Inc. Jennifer Davies, Development Director jennifer.davies@philharmonia.co.uk www.philharmonia.co.uk/support/friends/afpo/ American Friends of the Royal Court Theatre U.S.: Laurie Beckelman, Beckelman and Capalino +1.212.616.5822 laurie@beckcap.com UK: Gaby Styles, Head of Development, Royal Court Theatre 020 7565 5060 gabystyles@royalcourttheatre.com or info@afrct.org
American Friends of the Royal Institution of Great Britain U.S.: c/o Chapel & York Limited, PMB #293, South Building Washington, DC 20004
The American
UK: The Development Office, Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS 020 7670 2991 kdodd@ri.ac.uk www.rigb.org
American Friends of the Royal Society http://royalsociety.org/Overseas-Donations American Friends of St. Bartholomew the Great U.S.: John Eagleson 2925 Briarpark, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77042 UK: 20 7606 5171 admin@greatstbarts.com American Friends of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust U.S.: John Chwat, President 625 Slaters Lane, Suite 103, Alexandria, VA 22314 +1. 703.684.7703 info@americanfriendsofsbt.org www.americanfriendsofsbt.org American Friends of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Inc. U.S.: Diana Seaton, Executive Director 61 Londonderry Drive, Greenwich, CT 06830 +1.203.536.4328 diana.seaton@afvam.org www.afvam.org UK: 020 7942 2149 American Friends of Wigmore Hall U.S.: c/o Chapel and York, 1000 N West Street Suite 1200, Wilmington DE 19801 UK: 020 7258 8220 mhosterweil@wigmore-hall.org.uk American Museum in Britain Director: Dr Richard Wendorf Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD. 01225 460503. Fax 01225 469160 info@americanmuseum.org www.americanmuseum.org American Women Lawyers in London www.awll.org.uk info@awll.org.uk Anglo American Medical Society Hon. Sec.: Dr. Edward Henderson, The Mill House, Whatlington, E. Sussex, TN33 0ND. 01424 775130. ed@themillhouse.eclipse.co.uk Association for Rescue at Sea The UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Association does not have an American Branch but if you wish to make a tax-efficient gift to the RNLI, contact AFRAS. Secretary: Mrs. Anne C. Kifer P.O. Box 565 Fish Creek, WI 54212, U.S.A. 00-1-920-743-5434 fax 00-1-920-743-5434 email: ackafras@aol.com Atlantic Council Director: Alan Lee Williams. 185 Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UF 0207 403 0640 or 0207 403 0740. Fax: 0207 403 0901 acuk@atlantic-council.org.uk
Bethesda Baptist Church Kensington Place, London W8. 020 7221 7039 office@bethesdabaptist.org.uk Boy Scouts of America Mayflower District Field Executive: Wayne Wilcox 26 Shortlands Road, Kingston, Surrey KT2 6HD 020 8274 1429, 07788 702328 wpwilcox@gmail.com BritishAmerican Business Inc. 75 Brook Street, London, W1K 4AD. Tel. 020 7290 9888 www.babinc.org ukinfo@babinc.org British American-Canadian Associates Contact via The English Speaking Union – esu@esu.org
Has your group done something you’re proud of? Tell us email sabrina@theamerican.co.uk
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 66-68 Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2PA 020 7584 7553 adcockmp@ldschurch.org https://lds.org.uk http://mormon.org Church of St. John the Evangelist Vicar: Reverend Stephen Mason. Assistant Priest: Reverend Mark Pudge. Assistant Curate: Reverend Deiniol Heywood. Hyde Park Crescent, London W2 2QD Tel: 020 7262 1732 www.stjohns-hydepark.com parishadmin@stjohns-hydepark.com Circumcision Matters Problems arranging circumcision for your new-born boy? If so go to www.circumcisionmatters.com or call 020 7390 8433 Commonwealth Church Rev. Rod Anderson, PO Box 15027, London SE5 0YS www.savestmarks.com Democrats Abroad (UK) Box 65, 22 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JE Regular updates on events, chapters throughout the UK (and specific email addresses), and DAUK newsletters: www.democratsabroad.org.uk Register to vote and request an Absentee Ballot: www.votefromabroad.org Tel: 020 7724 9796 www.democratsabroad.org/group/united-kingdom Farm Street Church 114 Mount Street, Mayfair, London W1K 3AH Tel: 020 7493 7811 www.farmstreet.org.uk Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) Department of Defense, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington DC 20301-1155. Director: Ms. Polli K. Brunelli UK Toll Free Tel: 0800 028 8056 US Toll Free Tel:1-800-438- VOTE (8683). www.fvap.gov vote@fvap.ncr.gov
Friends of St Jude London Debbie Berger Tel. 07738 628126 debbie.berger@stjude.org www.friendsofstjude.org/london Grampian Houston Association Secretary: Bill Neish 5 Cairncry Avenue, Aberdeen, AB16 5DS 01224-484720 wineish@sky.com International Community Church (Interdenominational) Our Vision: “Everyone Mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28) Pastor: Rev. Dr. Barry K. Gaeddert Worship on Sundays: 10.30 am at Chertsey Hall, Heriot Road, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 9DR Active Youth programme. Church Office: 1st floor, Devonshire House, 60 Station Road, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2AF. 01932 830295. churchoffice@icc-uk.org www.icc-uk.org Junior League of London President: Jennifer Crowl 9 Fitzmaurice Place, London W1J 5JD. Tel: 020 7499 8159 Fax: 020 7629 1996 jrleague@jll.org.uk www.jll.org.uk Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 19 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PT. Tel: 020 7713 2030 Fax: 020 7713 2031 info@jdrf.org.uk www.jdrf.org.uk Liberal Jewish Synagogue 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA Services 6.45pm Fridays and 11am on Saturdays except for first Friday each month when service is held at 7pm with a Chavurah Supper. Please bring non-meat food dish to share. 020 7286 5181 ljs@ljs.org Lions Club International Lakenheath & District 105EA, 15 Highfields Drive, Lakenheath, Suffolk IP27 9EH. Tel 01842 860752 www.lionsclubs.org Lutheran Services, St Anne’s Rev. Timothy Dearhamer. Lutheran Church, Gresham St, London EC2. Sun 11am-7pm. Tel. 020 7606 4986 Fax. 020 7600 8984 info@StAnnesLutheranChurch.org www.StAnnesLutheranChurch.org Methodist Central Hall Westminster, London SW1H 9NH Services every Sunday at 11am and 6.30pm. Bible study groups & Monday guilds also held. Tel: 020 7222 8010 www.methodist-central-hall.org.uk church@mchw.org.uk North American Friends of Chawton House Library U.S. Office: 824 Roosevelt Trail, #130, Windham, ME 04062 Tel:+1.207 892 4358
October 2013 57
The American
UK Office: Chawton House Library, Chawton, Alton, Hampshire GU34 1SJ Tel: 01420 541010 www.chawton.org/support/nafchl5.html
Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner 5th Floor, Counting House, 53 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QN 0207 211 1500 info@oisc.gov.uk www.oisc.gov.uk Republicans Abroad (UK) Chairman Dr. Thomas Grant chairman@republicansabroad-uk.org www.republicansabroad-uk.org Rotary Club of London 6 York Gate, London NW1 4QG. Tel. 020 7487 5429 Royal National Lifeboat Institution Head Office, West Quay Road, Poole BH15 1HZ 0845 045 6999 www.rnli.org.uk The Royal Oak Foundation Sean Sawyer, 35 West 35th Street #1200, New York NY 10001-2205, USA Tel 212- 480-2889 or (800) 913-6565 Fax (212)785-7234 ssawyer@royal-oak.org www.royal-oak.org St Andrew’s Lutheran Church Serving Americans since 1960. Whitby Road & Queens Walk, Ruislip, West London. (South Ruislip Tube Station). Services: 11 am 020 8845 4242 pastorvan43@hotmail.com www.standrewslutheran.co.uk Other Lutheran Churches in the UK: www.lutheran.co.uk T.R.A.C.E. P.W. (The ‘original’ Transatlantic Children’s’ Enterprise reuniting children with G.I. father’s and their families) Membership Secretary: Norma Jean Clarke-McCloud 29 Connaught Avenue, Enfield EN1 3BE www.tracepw.org normajean78@hotmail.com United Nations Association, Westminster branch Chairman: David Wardrop 61 Sedlescombe Road, London SW6 1RE 0207 385 6738 info@unawestminster.org.uk www.unawestminster.org.uk www.wethepeoples.org.uk USA Girl Scouts Overseas – North Atlantic Stem Kaserne Bldg 1002, Postfach 610212 D-68232, Mannheim, Germany. +49 621 487 7025. girlscouts@cmtymail.26asg.army.mil www.norags.com
SOCIAL American Club of Hertfordshire President: Lauryn Awbrey
58 October 2013
63-65 New Road, Welwyn, Herts AL6 0AL 01582 624823 amclubherts@aol.com
American Expats of the Northwest of England The Ruskin Rooms, Drury Lane, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6HA. expatsnw@gmail.com American Friends of English Heritage 1307 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington DC 20036. 202-452-0928. c/o English Heritage, Attn: Simon Bergin, Keysign House, 429 Oxford Street, London W1R 2HD. 020 7973 3423 www.english-heritage.org.uk American Professional Women in London Rebecca Lammers, Flat 9 Hanover Court, 5 Stean Street, London, E8 4ED 075 3393 5064 abwinlondon@gmail.com www.meetup.com/American-Business-Women-inLondon/ www.facebook.com/groups/293890040710041 Twitter: @USAProWomenLDN American Society in London c/o The English Speaking Union 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED info@americansocietyuk.com 020 7539 3400
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American Stamp Club of Great Britain Chapter 67 of the American Philatelic Society. Hon. Publicity Secretary: Stephen T. Taylor 5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS. 020 8390 9357 American Womens Association of Bristol awabristol_membership@fawco.org American Women of Berkshire & Surrey P. O. Box 10, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 4YP. www.awbs.org.uk awbscommonground@yahoo.co.uk
American Women’s Club of London 68 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LQ. 020 7589 8292 awc@awclondon.org www.awclondon.org American Women’s Club of Central Scotland P.O. Box 231, 44-46 Morningside Road, Edinburgh, EH10 4BF info@awccs.org www.awccs.org American Women of South Wales 07866 190838 awsouthwales@fawco.org The Anglo-American Charity Limited Jeffrey Hedges, Director. 07968 513 631 info@anglo-americancharity.org Association of American Women in Ireland aawireland@fawco.org Association of American Women of Aberdeen PO Box 11952, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB13 0BW email via website www.awaaberdeen.org British Association of American Square Dance Clubs Patricia Connett-Woodcock 87 Brabazon Road, Heston, Middlesex TW5 9LL 020 8897 0723 tricia_baasdc@btinternet.com www.squaredancing.co.uk Canadians & Americans in Southern England 023 9241 3881 contactcase@casecommunity.com Canadian Womens Club 1 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 4AB Tues – Thurs 10.30-3.30 0207 258 6344 info@canadianwomenlondon.org www.canadianwomenlondon.org Chilterns American Women’s Club PO Box 445, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, SL9 8YU membership@cawc.co.uk www.cawc.co.uk Colonial Dames of America Chapter XI London. President Anne K Brewster: AnneBrewster@hotmail.com
American Women of Surrey PO Box 185, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3YJ. www.awsurrey.org
Daughters of the American Revolution – St James’s Chapter Mrs Natalie Ward, 01379 871422 nattyward@aol.com or UKDARStJames@aol.com http://mysite.verizon.net/jean.sutton/main.htm
American Women’s Association of Yorkshire The Chalet, Scarcroft Grange, Wetherby Road, Scarcroft, Leeds LS14 3HJ. 01224 744 224 Contact: Carol Di Peri
Daughters of the American Revolution – Walter Hines Page Chapter Diana Frances Diggines, Regent dardiana@hotmail.co.uk www.dar.org
The American Women’s Club of Dublin P.O. Box 2545, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 IRELAND www.awcd.net info@awcd.net
Daughters of the American Revolution – Washington Old Hall Chapter, North Yorkshire Mrs. Gloria Hassall, 01845 523-830
The American
Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Great Britain President: Mrs. Sheila Roberts, Morvan House, Shoreham Lane, St. Michaels, Tenterden, Kent TN30 6EG email: saroberts123@aol.com www.deltakappagamma.net Delta Zeta International Sorority Alumna Club Mrs Sunny Eades, The Old Hall, Mavesyn Ridware, Nr. Rugeley, Staffordshire, WSI5 3QE. 01543 490 312 SunnyEades@aol.com The East Anglia American Club 49 Horsham Close, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 7HN Tel: 01440 766 967 Email: eaacexpats@karej.co.uk English-Speaking Union Director-General Peter Kyle Dartmouth House, 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED. Tel: 020 7529 1550 Fax: 0207 495 6108 esu@esu.org Friends of Benjamin Franklin House Director: Dr. Márcia Balisciano Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven St, London WC2N 5NF 0207 839 2006 www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org Hampstead Women’s Club President - Betsy Lynch. Tel: 020 7435 2226 email president@hwcinlondon.co.uk www.hwcinlondon.co.uk High Twelve International, Inc. Local Club Contact – Arnold Page High Twelve Club 298 Secretary, Darrell C. Russell, 1 Wellington Close, West Row, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 8PJ Tel. 01638 715764 email: russelld130@btinternet.com. International American Duplicate Bridge Club Contact: Mary Marshall, 18 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RP. 020 7221 3708 www.ycbc.co.uk/american.htm Kensington & Chelsea Men’s Club Contact: John Rickus 70 Flood Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5TE. (home): 020 7349 0680 (office): 020 7753 2253 johnrickus@aol.com
West Midlands. B93 8ZY T: 0870 720 0663 info@naconnect.com www.naconnect.com
020 7794 5861 www.womenwriters.org.uk info@womenwriters.org.uk
MILITARY
Northwood Area Women’s Club c/o St John’s UR Church, Hallowell Road, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 1DN 01932-830295 info@northwoodareawomensclub.co.uk www.northwoodareawomensclub.co.uk
AFJROTC 073 Lakenheath High School. Tel: 01638 525603 Air Force Sergeants Association European Division Timothy W. Litherland CMSgt, USAF (ret). Chapters at RAFs Alconbury, Croughton, Lakenheath, Menwith Hill and Mildenhall. tim_lith@msn.com www.afsadiv16.org
Petroleum Women’s Club Contact: Nancy Ayres. Tel: 01923 711720 nanayrs@btopenworld.com Petroleum Women’s Club of Scotland pwcscotland@yahoo.co.uk www.pwcos.com
American Legion London Post 1 Adjutant: Jim Pickett PO Box 5017, BATH, BA1 OPP Tel: 01225-426245 www.amlegionpost1london.org.uk info@amlegionpost1london.org.uk
Pilgrims of Great Britain Allington Castle, Maidstone, Kent M16 0NB. Tel. 01622 606404 Fax. 01622 606402 sec@pilgrimsociety.org
Bentwaters/Woodbridge Retirees’ Association President: Wylie Moore. 2 Coldfair Close, Knodishall, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 1UN. 01728 830281
Propeller Club of the United States – London, England propellerclubhq.com Royal Society of St George Enterprise House, 10 Church Hill, Loughton, Essex IG10 1LA. Tel.+44 (0) 20 3225 5011 info@royalsocietyofstgeorge.com www.royalsocietyofstgeorge.com
British Patton Historical Society Kenn Oultram 01606 891303 Brookwood American Cemetery (WW1) Brookwood, Woking, Surrey GU24 0BL 01483 473237 www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/bk.php
Stars of Great Britain Chapter #45 Washington Jurisdiction. Lakenheath, England sogb45@yahoo.com http://starsofgreatbritainchapter45.com
Cambridge American Cemetery (WWII Cemetary) Superintendent: Mr. Bobby Bell. Asst. Superintendent: Mr. Tony Barclay. Coton, Cambridge CB23 7PH. 01954 210350 cemetery@abmc-er.org www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/ca.php
St John’s Wood Women’s Club Box 185, 176 Finchley Road, London NW3 6BT membership@sjwwc.org www.sjwwc.org Thames Valley American Women’s Club Contact: Miriam Brewster PO Box 1687, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 8XT. 0208 751 8941 www.tvawc.com membership@tvawc.com
Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces Europe US Naval Forces Europe-Africa - US Sixth Fleet www.c6f.navy.mil CNE-C6FPAO@eu.navy.mil Eighth Air Force Historical Society Gordon Richards/Michelle Strefford UK Office, The Croft, 26 Chapelwent Road, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 9SD 01440 704014 www.8thafhs.org
UK Panhellenic Association Contact Susan Woolf, 10 Coniston Court, High St. Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex HA1 3LP. 020 8864 0294 susanrwoolf@hotmail.com
Kensington & Chelsea Women’s Club President: Susan Lenora. Tel. 0207 581 8261 president@kcwc.org.uk Membership: 0207 863 7562 (ans service). membership@kcwc.org.uk
UK Anglian Shrine Club (Master Masons) Secretary: David A. Mostyn Long Furlong House, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7DD 01263 740223 davidmostyn@longfurlong.plus.com
New Neighbors Diana Parker, Rosemary Cottage, Rookshill, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 4HZ. 01923 772185
W.E.B. DuBois Consistory #116 Northern Jurisdiction Valley of London, England, Orient of Europe Cell: 0776-873-8030 mjack36480@aol.com
North American Connection (West Midlands) PO Box 10543, Knowle, Solihull,
Women’s Writers Network Cathy Smith, 23 Prospect Rd, London, NW2 2JU.
Friends of the Eighth Newsletter (FOTE News) Chairman: Mr. Ron Mackay. 39b Thorley Hill, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 3NE. 01279 658619.
Joint RAF Mildenhall/Lakenheath Retiree Affairs Office Director: Col. John J. Valentine, USAF (Ret) Unit 8965, Box 30 RAF Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk, IP28 8NF Tel. (01638) 542039 rao@mildenhall.af.mil Marine Corps League
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Detachment 1088, London, England Commandant Mike Allen Creek Cottage, 2 Pednormead End, Old Chesham, Buckinghamshire HP5 2JS detachment1088@mcl-london-uk.org www.mcl-london-uk.org
Military Officers’ Association of America www.moaa.org msc@moaa.org
Navy League of the United States, United Kingdom Council Council President: Steven G. Franck steven.franck@googlemail.com www.navyleague.org Non-Commissioned Officers’ Association (NCOA) – The Heart of England Chapter Chairman: Ronald D.Welper. Pine Farm, Sharpe’s Corner, Lakenheath, Brandon, Suffolk 1P27 9LB. Thetford 861643. The Chapter Address: 513 MSSQ/SS, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk. Society of American Military Engineers (UK) UK address: Box 763, USAFE Construction Directorate. 86 Blenheim Crescent, West Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 7HL Reserve Officers Association London Col. B.V. Balch, USAR, 72 Westmoreland Road, Barnes, London SW13 9RY memberservices@roa.org www.roa.org Society of American Military Engineers (UK) UK address: Box 763, USAFE Construction Directorate. 86 Blenheim Crescent, West Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 7HL London Post. President: W. Allan Clarke. Secretary: Capt. Gary Chesley. Membership Chairman, Mr. Jim Bizier. US Army Reserve 2nd Hospital Center 7 Lynton Close, Ely, Cambs, CB6 1DJ. Tel: 01353 2168 Commander: Major Glenda Day. US Air Force Recruiting Office Bldg 239 Room 139 RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk IP28 8NF +44-1638-54-4942/1566 phillip.guffa@mildenhall.af.mil
Retired Affairs Office, RAF Alconbury Serving Central England POC: Rex Keegan Alt. POC: Mike Depasquale UK Postal Address: 423 SVS/RAO, Unit 5585, Box 100, RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs PE28 4DA Office Hours: Tuesday and Friday, 10:30am–2:30pm 01480 84 3364/3557 Emergency Contact: 07986 887 905 RAO@Alconbury.af.mil 2nd Air Division Memorial Library
60 October 2013
The Forum, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1AW 01603 774747 www.2ndair.org.uk 2admemorial.lib@norfolk.gov.uk
USAF Retiree Activities Office Director: Paul G Gumbert, CMSgt (USAF), Ret 422 ABG/CVR Unit 5855, PSC 50, Box 3 RAF Croughton, Northants NN13 5XP Phone: 01280 708182 e-mail: 422abg.rao@croughton.af.mil US Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) UK Chapter President: Allison Bennett bennett.ac@gmail.com Facebook: Kings Point Alumni - London/United Kingdom USNA Alumni Association UK Chapter Pres: LCDR Tim Fox ’97, timfox97@hotmail.com Vice Pres: Miguel Sierra ’90, mrsierra@chevron.com Treas/Membership Coord: Bart O’Brien ’98, bartonobrien2@yahoo.com Secretary: Matt Horan ’87, matthoran@btinternet.com Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Commander: Ernest Paolucci 24, rue Gerbert, 75015 Paris, France 00 33 (0)1.42.50.96.34 Western UK Retiree Association President: R. Jim Barber, MSgt (USAF), Ret Phone: 01280 708182
EDUCATIONAL ACS International Schools ACS Cobham International School, Heywood, www.acs-england.co.uk Alconbury Middle/High School RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE17 1PJ, UK. www.alco-hs.eu.dodea.edu AlconburyHS.Principal@eu.dodea.edu American Institute for Foreign Study 37 Queensgate, London SW7 5HR 020 7581 7300 www.aifs.co.uk info@aifs.co.uk American School in London 1 Waverley Place, London NW8 0NP Tel: 020 7449 1200 Fax: 020 7449 1350 www.asl.org admissions@asl.org American School of Aberdeen Craigton Road, Cults, Aberdeen. 01224 861068 / 868927. Benjamin Franklin House 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF. Tel 020 7839 2006 Fax 020 7930 9124 info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org
Boston University – London Graduate Programs Office 43 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7244 6255 www.bu.edu/london British American Educational Foundation Mrs. Carlton Colcord, 1 More’s Garden, 90 Cheyne Walk, London SW3. 020 7352 8288 www.baef.org anncolcord@compuserve.com BUNAC Student Exchange Employment Program Director: Callum Kennedy, 16 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0QH. 020 7251 3472 www.bunac.org enquiries@bunac.org.uk Butler University, Institute for Study Abroad 21 Pembridge Gardens, London W2 4EB 020 7792 8751 www.ifsa-butler.org/england-overview.html Centre Academy London 92 St John’s Hill, Battersea, London SW11 1SH Tel: 02077382344 Fax: 02077389862 info@centreacademy.net www.centreacademy.net Centre Academy East Anglia Church Rd, Brettenham, Ipswich, Suffolk IP7 7QR Tel: 01449736404 Fax: 01449737881 admin@centreacademy.net www.centreacademy.net Central Bureau for Educational Visits The British Council Director: Peter Upton 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN 020 7389 4004 Wales 029 2039 7346, Scotland 0131 447 8024 centralbureau@britishcouncil.org Council on International Educational Exchange Dr. Michael Woolf, 52 Portland Street, London WIV 1JQ Tel 020 7478 2000 Fax 020 7734 7322 www.ciee.org contact@ciee.org Ditchley Foundation Ditchley Park, Enstone, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 4ER Tel 01608 677346 Fax 1608 677399 www.ditchley.co.uk info@ditchley.co.uk European Council of International Schools Executive Director: Jean K Vahey Fourth Floor, 146 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9TR Tel 020 7824 7040 www.ecis.org ecis@ecis.org European-Atlantic Group PO Box 37431, London N3 2XP 020 8632 9253 justinglass@btinternet.com www.eag.org.uk Florida State University London Study Centre
The American
Administrative Director: Kathleen Paul 99 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3LH. Tel 020 7813 3233 Fax 020 7813 3270 www.international.fsu.edu/london/ intprog1@admin.fsu.edu
Missouri London Study Abroad Program 32 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7373 7953. www.umsl.edu/services/abroad/universities/ molondon.html web_office@umsl.edu
Fordham University London Centre Academic Coordinator: Sabina Antal 23 Kensington Square, London W8 5HQ 020 7937 5023 londoncentre@fordham.edu www.fordham.edu
Regent’s University London Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NS. 020 7486 9605. www.regents.ac.uk exrel@regents.ac.uk
Fulbright Commission (US-UK Educational Commission) Dir. of Advisory Service: Lauren Welch Battersea Power Station, 188 Kirtling Street, London SW8 5BN 020 7498 4010 www.fulbright.co.uk Harlaxton College UK Campus, University of Evansville Harlaxton Manor, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG32 1AG. Grantham 4541 4761. Tel 01476 403000 Fax 01476 403030 harlaxton.ac.uk. Huron University USA in London 46-47 Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 4JP Tel +44 (0) 20 7636 5667 Fax+44 (0) 20 7299 3297 folu@huron.ac.uk www.huron.ac.uk Institute for the Study of the Americas Director: Professor James Dunkerley. Tel 020 7862 8879 Fax 020 7862 8886 americas@sas.ac.uk www.americas.sas.ac.uk International School of Aberdeen 296 North Deeside Rd, Milltimber, Aberdeen, AB13 0AB 01224 732267 www.isa.aberdeen.sch.uk admin@isa.aberdeen.sch.uk International School of London 139 Gunnersbury Avenue, London W3 8LG. 020 8992 5823. www.islondon.com mail@ISLondon.com International School of London in Surrey Old Woking Road, Woking GU22 8HY Tel +44 (0)1483 750409 Fax +44 (0)1483 730962 www.islsurrey.com mail@islsurrey.com Ithaca College London Centre 35 Harrington Gardens, London SW7. Tel. 020 7370 1166 www.ithaca.edu/london bsheasgreen@ithacalondon.co.uk Marymount International School, London Headmistress: Ms Sarah Gallagher George Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 7PE Tel: 020 8949 0571 info@marymountlondon.com www.marymountlondon.com
Richmond, The American International University in London Richmond Hill Campus,Queen’s Road Richmond-upon Thames TW10 6JP Tel: +44 20 8332 9000 Fax: +44 20 8332 1596 enroll@richmond.ac.uk www.richmond.ac.uk Schiller International University Royal Waterloo House, 51-55 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TX. Tel. 020 7928 1372 www.schillerlondon.ac.uk admissions@schillerlondon.ac.uk Schiller International, Wickham Court School Layhams Road, West Wickham, Kent BR4 9HW. Tel 0208 777 2942 Fax 0208 777 4276 Wickham@schillerintschool.com www.wickhamcourt.org.uk Sotheby’s Institute of Art Postgraduate Art studies, plus day /evening courses 30 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3EE Tel: 0207 462 3232 www.sothebysinstitute.com info@sothebysinstitute.com Southbank International Schools Kensington and Hampstead campuses for 3-11 year olds; Westminster campuses for 11-18 year olds. Director of Admissions: MargaretAnne Khoury Tel: 020 7243 3803 Fax: 020 7727 3290 admissions@southbank.org www.southbank.org Syracuse University London Program Faraday House, 48-51 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AE http://sulondon.syr.edu TASIS England, American School Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, Nr. Egham, Surrey TW20 8TE. Tel: 01932 565252 Fax: 01932 564644 http://england.tasis.com ukadmissions@tasisengland.org UKCISA - Council for International Education 9-17 St. Albans Place, London N1 0NX 020 7354 5210 www.ukcisa.org.uk University of Notre Dame London Program 1 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG 020 7484 7811 london@nd.edu www.nd.edu/~ndlondon/lup/future/
introduction.htm
Warnborough University International Office, Friars House, London SE1 8HB. Tel 020 7922 1200 Fax: 020 7922 1201 www.warnborough.edu admin@warnborough. edu Webster Graduate Studies Center Regent’s College, Regent’s Park, Inner Circle, London NW1 4NS, UK. Tel: 020 7487 7505 Fax: 020 7487 7425 www.webster.ac.uk webster@regents.ac.uk Wroxton College Fairleigh Dickinson Univ.,Wroxton, Nr. Banbury, Oxfordshire OX15 6PX. Tel. 01295 730551 http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=326 admin@wroxton-college.ac.uk
ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS Alliant International University (formerly United States International University) England Chapter Alumni Association Chapter President: Eric CK Chan c/o Regents College London, Inner Circle, Regents Park, London, UK University: www.alliant.edu chane@regents.ac.uk Amherst College Bob Reichert RAreichert26b@aol.com Andover/Abbot Association of London Jeffrey Hedges ‘71, President 07968 513 631 hedgeslon@hotmail.com Association of MBAs Leo Stemp, Events Administrator Tel 020 7837 3375 (ext. 223) Fax 020-7278-3634 l.stemp@mba.org.uk Babson College Frank de Jongh Swemer, Correspondence W 020 7932 7514 babson.alumni@btinternet.com Barnard College Club Hiromi Stone, President. Tel. 0207 935 3981 barnardclubgb@yahoo.co.uk Berkeley Club of London Geoff Kertesz Email: berkeleyclublondon@gmail.com http://international.berkeley.edu/LondonClub Facebook: www.facebook.com/ groups/223876564344656/ Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/groups/BerkeleyClub-London-4186104 Boston College Alumni Club UK Craig Zematis, President
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+44 7717 878968 BCalumniclub@gmail.com www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/BTN/cpages/ chapters/home.jsp?chapter=41&org=BTN
Boston University Alumni Association of the UK Will Straughn, Snr International Development Officer, University Development and Alumni Relations, 43 Harrington Gardens, Kensington, London SW7 4JU 020 7244 2908 020 7373 7411 bstraugh@bu.edu Brandeis Alumni Club of Great Britain Joan Bovarnick, President http://alumni.brandeis.edu office@alumni.brandeis.edu Brown University Club of the United Kingdom President: Tugba Erem. Vice President: Caroline Cook Secretary: Pinar Emirda. Treasurer: Mikus Kins Events: Ramya Moothathu. Communication: Patrick Attie. Alumni Club & Liaison: Vanessa Van Hoof Former President: Ed Giberti edgibertiwgcuk@aol.com. Brown Club UK, Box 57100, London, EC1P 1RB contact@brownuk.org www.brownuk.org Bryn Mawr Club President: Lady Quinton. c/o Wendy Tiffin, 52 Lansdowne Gardens, London SW8 2EF Wendy Tiffin, Secretary/Treasurer wendytif@ukgateway.net Claremont Colleges Alumni in London Hadley Beeman hadley_beeman@alumni.cmc.edu Colgate Club of London Stephen W Solomon ‘76, President 0207 349 0738 swsolomon@hotmail.com Columbia University Club of London Stephen Jansen, President london@alumniclubs.columbia.edu www.alumniclubs.columbia.edu/london Cornell Club of London Natalie Teich, President nmt4@cornell.edu www.alumni.cornell.edu/orgs/int/London Dartmouth College Club of London Sanjay Gupta, Officer Andrew Rotenberg, Officer sanjay.gupta.96@ alum.dartmouth.org andrew.l.rotenberg.92@alum.dartmouth.org www.dartmouth.org Delta Kappa Gamma Society International For information about the Society in Great Britain go to our website www.deltakappagamma.org/GB. There are links to all the USA and other international members’ sites. Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity
62 October 2013
London Alumni Chapter. Ashok Arora, P O Box 1110, London W3 7ZB. Tel: 020 8423 8231 bertela@yahoo.com www.dspnet.org
Duke University Club of England Ms Robin Buck buckrobin@yahoo.com Tim Warmath timwarmath@yahoo.com Kate Bennett jkbennett@btinternet.com www.dukealumni.com/england Emory University Alumni Chapter of the UK Matthew Williams, Chapter Leader 079 8451 4119 matthew.eric.williams@gmail.com www.alumni.emory.edu/chapters-and-groups/ chapters/international.html Georgetown Alumni Club Alexa Fernandez, President GeorgetownLondon@Yahoo.com Gettysburg College Britt-Karin Oliver brittkarin@aol.com Harvard Business School Club of London www.hbsa.org.uk
Details changed? Let us know email sabrina@theamerican.co.uk
Harvard Club of Great Britain Brandon Bradkin, President president@hcuk.org www.hcuk.org Indiana University Alumni club of England Anastasia Tonello, President 020 7253 4855 iuinlondon@yahoo.com www.alumni.indiana.edu/clubs/england KKG London Alumnae Association emilymerrell@gmail.com LMU Alumni Club London (Loyola Marymount University) Kent Jancarik 07795 358 681 kent@jancarik.com Marymount University Alumni UK Chapter President: Mrs Suzanne Tapley, 35 Park Mansions, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7QT. Tel 020 7581 3742 MIT Club of Great Britain Yiting Shen, Flat 8a, 36 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6PB Tel: 0789 179 3823 yshen@alum.mit.edu http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/uk/ Mount Holyoke Club of Britain Rachel L. Elwes, President rlelwes@yahoo.com Karen K. Bullivant Vice-President kkbullivant@alumnae.mtholyoke.edu www.mtholyoke.co.uk
Notre Dame Club of London Hannah Gornik, Secretary: ND_Club_London@yahoo.co.uk NYU Alumni Club in London Jodi Ekelchik, President alumni.london@nyu.edu NYU STERN UK Alumni Club Matthieu Gervis, President sternukalumniclub@hotmail.com Ohio University UK & Ireland Frank Madden, 1 Riverway, Barry Avenue, Windsor, Berks. SL4 5JA. Tel 01753 855 360 Fax 01753 868 855 frank@madant.demon.co.uk Penn Alumni Club of the UK David Lapter Tel. 07957 146 470 david.lapter@alumni.upenn.edu Penn State Alumni Association Penn State Alumni Association Ron Nowicki - 0207 226 7681 pennstatelondon@yahoo.co.uk www.alumni.psu.edu Princeton Association (UK) Carol Rahn, President Jon Reades, Young Alumni carol.rahn@orange-ftgroup.com jon@reades.com www.alumni.princeton.edu Rice Alumni of London Kathy Wang Tel. 07912 560 177 kathyw@alumni.rice.edu Skidmore College Alumni Club, London Peggy Holden Briggs ‘84, co-ordinator 07817 203611 peggyhbriggs@gmail.com Smith College Club of London Kathleen Merrill, President smithclubgb@googlemail.com http://alumnae.smith.edu Stanford Business School Alumni Association (UK Chapter) Robby Arnold, President Lesley Anne Hunt, Events robby@blueyonder.co.uk lesley.hunt@blueyonder.co.uk www.stanfordalumni.org.uk Syracuse University Alumni UK Faraday House, 48-51 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AE SUalumniUK@syr.edu www.facebook.com/SUalumniUK Texas Tech Alumni Association – London Chapter David Mirmelli, Ferhat Guven, Bobby Brents president@texastechalumni.org.uk www.TexasTechAlumni.org.uk Texas Exes UK (UKTE) President: Carra Kane 7 Edith Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8TW
The American
0778 660 7534 carrakane@alumni.utexas.net www.fornogoodreason.com/UKTEMain.htm
Texas A&M Club London Ashley Lilly, Co-President Devin Howard, Co-President london@aggienetwork.com http://clubs.aggienetwork.com/londonamc/ The John Adams Society Contact: Muddassar Ahmed c/o Unitas Communications, Palmerston House, 80-86 Old Street, London EC1V 9AZ 0203 308 2358 johnadamssociety@unitascommunications.com www.johnadamssociety.co.uk Tufts - London Tufts Alliance Vikki Garth Londontuftsalliance@yahoo.com UK Dawgs of the University of Georgia Rangana Abdulla ukdawgs@hotmail.com UMass Alumni Club UK Julie Encarnacao, President (0)20 7007 3869 julesje32@gmail.com University of California Matthew Daines (Program Director) 17 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA 020 7079 0567 matthewdaines@californiahouse.org.uk University of Chicago UK Alumni Association President c/o Alumni Affairs and Development – Europe University of Chicago Booth School of Business Woolgate Exchange, 25 Basinghall Street, London EC2V 5HA Tel +44(0)20 7070 2245 Fax +44(0)20 7070 2250 www.ChicagoBooth.edu University of Illinois Alumni Club of the UK Amy Barklam, President 07796 193 466 amybarklam@msn.com University of North Carolina Alumni Club Brad Matthews, Club Leader 2 The Orchards, Hill View Road, Woking GU22 7LS brad.matthews@alumni.unc.edu http://alumni.unc.edu University of Michigan Alumni Association Regional Contact: Jessica Cobb, BA ’97 +44 (0) 788-784-0941 jesscobb@yahoo.com http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/umich_uk_alumni/
usclondon@gmail.com www.usclondonalumni.org
University of Virginia Alumni Club of London Kirsten Jellard, 020 7368 8473 londonuvaclub@yahoo.com http://members.aol.com/UKUVACLUB/UVA-london.htm
US Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) UK Chapter President: Allison Bennett bennett.ac@gmail.com Facebook: Kings Point Alumni - London/United Kingdom USNA Alumni Association, UK Chapter President: LCDR Greta Densham ‘00 (gretaj@mac.com) Vice President/Treasurer: Tim Fox ‘97 (timfox97@ hotmail.com) Secretary: Mike Smith ‘84 (Mike.Smith@polycom.com) Facebook Group - USNA Alumni Association, UK Chapter Vassar College Club Sara Hebblethwaite, President 18 Redgrave Road, London, SW15 1PX +44 020 8788 6910 sara.hebblethwaite@virgin.net Warnborough Worldwide Alumni Association c/o International Office, Friars House, London SE1 8HB Tel. 020 7922 1200 Fax. 020 7922 1201 www.wwaa.info admin@warnborough.edu Wellesley College Club Ana Ericksen, President. ana@ericksenuk.com Wharton Business School Club of the UK Yoav Kurtzbard, President Claire Watkins, Administrator 020-7447-8800 ykurtzbard@youngassoc.com cwatkins@youngassoc.com Williams Club of Great Britain Ethan Kline: ethankline@gmail.com Yale Club of London Joe Vittoria, President president@yale.org.uk Scott Fletcher, Events events@yale.org.uk Nick Baskey, Secretary secretary@yale.org.uk www.yale.org.uk Zeta Tau Alpha Alumnae Kristin Morgan. Tel: 07812 580949 kristinamorgan@gmail.com www.zetataualpha.org
CIVIL WAR SOCIETIES
University of Rochester/Simon School UK Alumni Association Ms. Julie Bonne, Co-President 0118-956-5052 julie_bonne@yahoo.com
American Civil War Round Table (UK) Sandra Bishop, 5 Southdale, Chigwell, Essex IG7 5NN sandra-bishop@hotmail.com www.americancivilwar.org.uk
University of Southern California, Alumni Club of London Jennifer Ladwig, President Chuck Cramer, Treasurer
Southern Skirmish Association (SoSkan) Membership Secretary, Bob Isaac, 3 Hilliards Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3TA membership@soskan.co.uk www.soskan.co.uk
ARTS North American Actors Association Chief Executive: Ms. Laurence Bouvard Americanactors@aol.com 07873 371 891
SPORTS Eagles Golf Society Sharon Croley c/o Eventful Services, 49 Hastings Road, Croydon, Surrey CRO 6PH sharoncroley@blueyonder.co.uk English Lacrosse PO Box 116, Manchester M11 0AX Tel: 0843 658 5006 info@englishlacrosse.co.uk www.englishlacrosse.co.uk British Baseball Federation/ BaseballSoftballUK 5th Floor, Ariel House, 74a Charlotte Street, London W1T 4QJ. 020 7453 7055 British Morgan Horse Society 01942 886141 www.morganhorse.org.uk admin@morganhorse.org.uk Ice Hockey UK 19 Heather Avenue, Rise Park, Romford RM1 4SL Tel. 07917 194 264 Fax. 1708 725241 www.icehockeyuk.co.uk ihukoffice@yahoo.co.uk Infinity Elite Cheerleading (founded by C.A.C) Mondays 4.30-8.30 – Maiden Lane Comm. Centre, 156 St. Paul’s Crescent, London NW1 9XZ. Tumble: Thursdays 6-8 – Paget Centre,18-28 Randells Rd, Islington, London N1 0DH. Tel. 077 9132 0115 http://londoninfinityelite.clubbz.com www.facebook.com/InfinityAllstars Herts Baseball Club Adult & Little League Baseball www.hertsbaseball.com LondonSports Instruction & competitive play in baseball, basketball and soccer, boys/girls aged 4-15, newcomers or experienced players. Sports in a safe, fun environment. We welcome children of all nationalities. www.londonsports.com vll@me.com London Warriors American Football Club Contact: Kevin LoPrimo info@londonwarriorsafc.co.uk www.londonwarriorsafc.co.uk Mildenhall EELS Swim Team International and local competitions for ages 6-19. Contact Coach Robin flv4@hotmail.com
Every effort is made to ensure that these listings are correct and current. If your entry requires amendments please notify us immediately. We rely on you to keep us informed. Telephone 01747 830520, Fax 01747 830691 or email us at sabrina@theamerican.co.uk. We would be pleased to receive profiles, news or short articles about your organization for possible publication in The American.
October 2013 63
The American
Suppliers of quality products and services hand-picked for you To find out whether you’re eligible to advertise your products and services here, and for rates, call Sabrina Sully on +44 (0)1747 830520. You’ll reach Americans living in and visiting the UK as well as Britons who like American culture and products.
ACCOUNTANCY & TAX BDO LLP The UK member firm of the world’s fifth largest accountancy organisation. 55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU 020 7486 5888 info@bdo.co.uk www.bdo.uk.com Jaffe & Co., incorp. American Tax International Comprehensive tax preparation and compliance service for US expatriates in the UK and Europe. America House, 54 Hendon Lane, London N3 1TT 020 8346 5237 www.jaffeandco.com Tax & Accounting Hub Professional service at affordable prices. Fixed fee U.S. Expatriate tax preparation service in London. Federal/ State, Foreign bank account/IRS audits response +44 (0)20 3286 6445. M: +44 (0)79 1439 3183 152 Burford Wharf, 3 Cam Road, London, E15 2SS www.taxandaccountinghub.com Xerxes Associates LLP Fixed Fee US & UK Individual Tax Compliance, Consulting & Planning. Tel: +44(0)207 411 9026 Fax: +44(0)207 411 9051 www.xerxesllp.com
ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES Stephen T Taylor Your American stamp dealer in Britain since 1995. 5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS 020 8390 9357 info@stephentaylor.co.uk www.stephentaylor.co.uk
64 October 2013
EDUCATION
DRIVING INSTRUCTION
Florida State University in UK Over 50 years of experience in international education. 99 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LA 020 7813 3223 www.international.fsu.edu
Alison Driving School A well established, well known International Driving Instructor covering the area south and west of London, ideal for new drivers and for Americans who want to drive in the UK. www.alison-driving-school.co.uk alisondrivingschool@yahoo.co.uk 01784 456 037, cell 07956 220389
GROCERY
COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY Transitions Therapy Psychotherapy & Counselling for Expatriate Individuals, Couples, Families & Adolescents in the West End. London, England, United Kingdom 07557 261432 in the UK or 0044 7557 261432 from another country. Skype sessions available around the world. transitions_therapy@hotmail.com www.transitionstherapy.co.uk
Lidgate Butchers Organic meats from a 150 year old business now run by the fifth generation of the same family. 110 Holland Park Avenue, London W11 4UA Tel. 0207 727 8243 www.lidgates.com
LEGAL Kingsley Napley LLP Family lawyers with particular experience in dealing with cases involving Americans living here and abroad. 020 7814 1200 www.kingsleynapley.co.uk
Coffee Break Answers
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1.The Tuxedo dinner jacket; 2. So that the spirits won’t recognize you; 3. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; 4. Grace Kelly; 5. Samhainophobia; 6. The Model T Ford; 7.North America and South America; 8. The CIA (OSS: Office of Strategic Services); 9. Turnips, potatoes, or anything else carvable; 10. Pittsburgh (after William Pitt the Elder); 11. His incredibly accurate bird paintings; 12. Peter Perfect; 13. Seven hours, from 12 ½ to 5 ½ hours; 14. Woodrow Wilson; 15. a) A Change Is Gonna Come; 16. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; 17. a) Audi, itself a subsidiary of Volkswagen.
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