Summertime and the livin’ is… George Gershwin Once upon a time, the very first fireworks were concocted in a cooking pot: cooked up by a Chinese cook in her kitchen. At least, so the legend goes. Apparently the combustible ingredients were right there in her spice cabinet: saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur, and a dash of who…
Summertime and the livin’ is… George Gershwin The very first plane ticket I ever held in my fat little hand – I won in a contest. It was an essay contest sponsored by Eastern Airlines (now long defunct). I was twelve. 500 words on “The Duties of Citizenship” launched me into the friendly skies for the very first time.…
Read more Leaving on a Jet Plane (or) A Trip to the Duty Free Store
Summertime and the livin’ is… George Gershwin Midlife crisis. He had all the outward and visible signs. He started wearing a baseball cap to cover his balding head. In his late forties, he got a tattoo for the very first time. And he got a getaway car – the classic imported convertible kind. Even used,…
Summertime is one of Janie Piemonte’s favorite songs. Before you read her lovely poem below, pause for a few minutes to dwell with George Gershwin’s beautiful tune. Close your eyes and listen to the lilting melody played on the piano and violin. Then with eyes open, listen again as you read Janie’s verse, her hopeful…
Summertime and the Livin’ is … George Gershwin I blame COVID-19 for the loss of Beverly Bettencourt. Oh, she didn’t die. Nothing like that. This isn’t that kind of story, not really. You see, before the pandemic, our little neighborhood – all four blocks of it – revolved around Beverly and her tiny kitchen. Year…
Read more The Pandemic Year of Beverly Bettencourt (A Short Story)
“Summertime and the Livin’ is…” George Gershwin Get set for the largest disco on the East Coast to let loose in the trees above your yard this month. The biggest boy band on earth is cranking its amp to over 100 decibels and will be singing at the top of their boom boxes all day…
“Summertime and the Livin’ is…” George Gershwin A bibliophile, my book stack is always piled high. There are so many reasons why I read but the beauty of a book, no matter what it is about, is that it can be read anywhere. Portable inspiration, intellectual inquiry, history, mystery, biography, theology, romance, and travelogue. Over…
I’m not much of a poet, but I felt compelled to write this poem almost a year ago, during the height of the pandemic, while waiting for the arrival of our daughter, Georgie, who is almost 10 months now. With a full heart, we took this pic together on our first family vacation to Newport,…
George Gershwin composed “Summertime” — the iconic song for the opera Porgy & Bess in 1933. A reviewer writes: “Gershwin wanted to craft a spiritual in the style of an African American folk tune. The lyrics, based on Heyward Dubose’s poem, were inspired by the lullaby “All My Trials.” The song sings of a summer…
Read more “Summertime and the Livin’ is Blank.” : Blog Prompt on Voices!
Emmanuel Voices 