Arizona Republic
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Sunday A&E E ve r
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Travel: Fifteen years to the day after their ÿrst trip there, a Sun Lakes couple revisits the remarkable historical treasures of Egypt. D8
g aft er Chris August is touring in support of “Everything After,” a ÿve-song EP. BE MUSIC MANAGEMENT; PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL VAN BLANKENSHIP/ USA TODAY NETWORK
Chris Augu st dis cusse s new lywed life,
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Randy Cordova Arizona Republic | USA TODAY NETWORK
Chris August got married two years ago this month, but he still sounds like a newlywed. The singer-songwriter, a three-time Dove Award winner, enjoys creating tunes that celebrate his marital relationship alongside more spiritually centered songs. h “When I sit down to write a song, I have no rules,” August says during a recent phone call. “I’d never do anything inappropriate, that’s for sure, but why would I not want to write a song for my wonderful wife? Why would I not want people to have songs that are appropriate for husbands and wives to dance to?” h A sample of August’s See AUGUST, Page 7D
How to write a love letter — and why Karina Bland Columnist Arizona Republic USA TODAY NETWORK
I keep mine in my underwear drawer, where women tend to keep important things. Baby teeth. Pressed flowers. A high school class ring. And love letters. The letters are as di“ erent as the men who gave them to me. His block handwriting in straight lines across pale blue paper. A few lines of slanted cursive over small water color paintings of sunsets on thick
cream-colored paper torn from an art pad. Tiny print covering all the available white space on the inside of Far Side greeting cards. A child’s scrawl on a piece of folded notebook paper: “I love you Mommy.” I went in search of them after signing up for “How to Write a Love Letter,” a workshop my friends Amy Silverman and Deborah Sussman were teaching at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix. I wasn’t sure who I wanted to write to, but I was interested in learning how. I had tried before. It was hard to get started and when I did, my attempts had felt corny, more like a Hallmark card than real sentiment. I had ÿgured no one probably writes love
STRICTLY LIMITED ENGAGEMENT “DAVID IVERS’ DIRECTING DEBUT FOR THE COMPANY... IT’S A SMASHING ONE: BEAUTIFULLY CAST, PACKED WITH A RHYTHMIC PACE AND ATMOSPHERE.
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE THIS PLAY AND NOT FEEL BUOYED BY IT, TOUCHED BY IT AND SEDUCED BY IT.” – KATHLEEN ALLEN, ARIZONA DAILY STAR
PERFORMING AT
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letters anymore, the art lost to emails and text messages with heart emojis in every color. I think people used to write love letters when they were apart, particularly in times of war when the future could seem uncertain. Now we can reach each other anytime, anywhere in an instant. But after rereading these letters in my underwear drawer all these years later, even the single sentence from my son when he was 4, I’m overwhelmed by the power of those words. I’ll learn later that isn’t just in my mind.
Putting pen to real paper Amy and Deborah, both journalists, have
FEBRUARY 15 – MARCH 04
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been teaching writing together for 16 years, most notably a program called “Mothers Who Write.” It was the ÿrst time they had offered this workshop. The timing was good, a little over a week before Valentine’s Day. For some people, bombarded by jewelry store ads, dogged by stu“ ed animals spilling out of those pop-up tents in grocery store parking lots, this is the one time of year they make a show of their love. Even the most cynical of us might make an e“ ort to say a little something. The way Amy looks at Valentine’s Day is that it isn’t just for kids and lovers but a time See BLAND, Page 5D
TONY AWARD
®
N O M I N AT E D BE S T P L AY!
FROM THE ACADEMY AWARD, TONY AWARD, AND PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF DOUBT AND MOONSTRUCK. ®
By
John Patrick Shanley
®
Directed By David
Ivers
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