Here's a loss to us all:
Live at Paolo Soleri: Stewart Udall’s Life

On Sunday morning as Tom Udall welcomed the people who had come to commemorate his father’s extraordinary life, the Senator explained why the event was taking place at the Paolo Soleri amphitheater at the Santa Fe Indian School. It was Stewart Udall who, as Secretary of Interior, contacted Mr. Soleri more than 40 years ago and asked him to work with students from the Institute of American Indian Arts to design and build the theater with its unique Flintstone-like style. Later when the elder Mr. Udall needed to raise money to defend the claims of Navajo uranium miners, he persuaded Pete Seeger and Edward Abbey to perform there. When his wife, Lee, died nine years ago, it seemed only fitting that the services take place, on Mother’s Day, at the Paolo Soleri. Now on Father’s Day it was Stewart’s turn.


Senator Tom Udall at the Paolo Soleri, June 20, 2010
“The Paolo Soleri is a very special place for us,” the Senator said. “It is specifically where dad asked that we do the celebration.”

Joshua Madalena, governor of Jemez Pueblo, gave a blessing, and one by one, friends, dignitaries, and family members took the stage. There were folk songs — “He was a Friend of Mine,” “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” and “This Land Is Your Land” — and readings from the grandchildren.

And throughout this all, there was not a mention of the fact that the unique amphitheater we were all sitting in is about to be destroyed.

At one point the Senator asked governors from the various tribes — who as members of the All Indian Pueblo Council have approved the demolition — to stand and take a bow. “Thank you,” Mr. Udall said, “for running a good school and focusing on education.” Tacit approval perhaps of Superintendent Everett Chavez’s declaration that the theater must be removed because it has become inconsistent with the school’s “progressive educational agenda.”

We were reminded during the speeches that it was Stewart Udall who was so crucial to the passage of not just the Wilderness Act and the Endangered Species Act but also the National Historic Preservation Act, which, properly applied, might have saved all those buildings on the old campus as well as the Paolo Soleri. It’s too late now.

Calabaza Consultants, the Native-owned PR firm recently hired by the school to more efficiently deliver its obfuscations, has announced that two previously scheduled concerts (Lyle Lovett and Modest Mouse) will be allowed to continue before the Paolo Soleri is closed. In return the promoter, Jamie Lenfesty of Fan Man Productions, who stood to lose money if the shows were cancelled, seems to have grudgingly agreed to give up the fight. Not much more than a week ago, Mr. Lenfesty called on members of the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee to help save the theater. “There will never be another Paolo Soleri,” he told them. “There is a spirit and a soul. Every musician I have had the pleasure of presenting there has left Paolo moved by its power.”

Now, in the news release announcing the final events, he recognized the “unfortunate reality” that the Paolo Soleri is on school property and agreed with the Pueblo Council that it “would be better suited to a different location where the activities of concert goers would not be deemed a threat to education and student life.”


George Johnson
The Santa Fe Review




© 2010 BY GEORGE JOHNSON. WORDPRESS THEME ADAPTED BY THE SANTA FE REVIEW FROM VERYPLAINTXT BY SCOTT ALLAN WALLICK

Had to post this. Jim used to come to OBS ITW a lot before he became ill, and he always said hello to me and my wife there. He will be missed.

He is best remembered for his role as the manager of the Cleveland Indians in the film, "Major League."



James Gammon, the gravelly voiced Hollywood actor who owned a thoroughbred
farm in Marion County, died Friday morning at age 70.


Diagnosed with cancer several years ago, Gammon died in Costa Mesa, Calif.,
where he and his wife, Nancy, lived part-time with one of their daughters
and her family.


Nancy said James had been diagnosed with cancer several years ago but they
thought he had beat it. Then, about a month ago, he ended up in the hospital
where they found cancer in his adrenal gland and liver, she said.


At his age, surgery and chemo were out of the question, she said. He chose
to come home and be with his family.


The couple owned and operated Milagro Farm in Marion County, a property
named for the 1988 movie "The Milagro Beanfield War" in which Gammon played
Horsethief Shorty.


They considered Marion County home, and Gammon loved horses as much as
acting, said Lair Glaudell, a longtime family friend who manages Milagro
Farm.


"Jim was a very passionate man about everything he did," Glaudell said. "He
loved his horses. He was a terrific family man. As an actor, he was
immediately recognized by people."


With his weathered face and gravelly voice, Gammon was a scene stealer who
often played second fiddle to A-list stars on film and TV. He played Don
Johnson's father in TV's "Nash Bridges." He played Charlie Sheen's coach in
"Major League." He played pioneer Esco Swanger in "Cold Mountain," which
earned Renée Zellweger a Best Actress Oscar in 2004.


Among a long list of credits dating back to TV's "Gunsmoke" in 1966, Gammon
played a Korean War veteran on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and Steve Strange in
the 1980 John Travolta smash "Urban Cowboy."


On Broadway, Gammon was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the 1996
revival of Sam Shepard's "Buried Child." The role did win him a Joseph
Jefferson Award for Best Principal Actor.


"That gravelly voice. There wasn't anybody who talked like him," said Mary
Britt, executive director of Ocala Civic Theatre. "I would be in the other
room and hear that voice, and I'd know instantly it was him."


Britt met Gammon in 2002, when the actor approached her about gathering some
local actors for a reading of "King Lear." He was to perform the work in
California, and Britt said he wanted to do some "homework" in Ocala.


He sat with local actors for the reading and then left for California for a
month or so. When he returned, he asked Britt about performing a staged
reading with costumes. He and a large cast of locals performed the show in
2003.


"He remembered every person he saw (at OCT), even my mother who worked in
the box office," recalled Susan Moring, who starred in the staged reading
with Gammon. What a charming man. A thoroughly nice man. And he made a
marvelous Lear."


Gammon is survived by his wife, Nancy, daughters Allison Mann of Costa Mesa,
Calif., Amy Gammon of West Hollywood, Calif., and two grandchildren, Hudson
and Henry Mann. Nancy said few arrangements have been made yet, but the
family plans to have a memorial service in the coming days at the MET
Theatre, which Gammon founded in Los Angeles in 1973.


In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to the American Cancer
Society.

So sorry to hear about him. I've seen some of those movies he was in...

One of Little Feat has passed on:

http://www.seattlepi.com/pop/1403ap_us_ ... yward.html

RIP...

Yeah. Drummer Ritchie Hayward. Great drummer. Good guy.

Oh so sorry to hear that.

Before Elvis, there was Eddie Fisher. My sister had a huge crush on him back in the day.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainme ... html?flv=1


mikey

The director of Alice's Restaurant (the movie) and more importantly (for his career) Bonnie & Clyde - Arthur Penn, passed away today...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_en_ce/us_obit_penn

Movie star legend Tony Curtis died at age 85...R.I.P.

http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article ... articleID=

RIP to them both...

RIP, Phoebe Snow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13206358


mikey

She had such a beautiful and unique voice.....

So sorry to hear about her. I had no idea she had a stroke. I remember her Poetry Man song. And she also did a hit song with Paul Simon called Gone At Last which was a gospel song.

I heard she had to put her underwear in the freezer to hit that one note in Poetry Man...

Rob Grill of the 60's group The Grassroots has passed on. We were so sorry to hear about him. I had a Grassroots album and a few 45's of them. Mike and I also saw them in concert with the Monkees yrs ago. RIP...

http://tommyjamesmessageboard24205.yuku ... 51?page=-1