| Magic Penny Award | |||
In September I was honored with the Magic Penny Award by the Children's Music Network (CMN), a national organization of songwriters, educators, performers and parents who work with children and music at the grassroots level. The award honors musicians who have dedicated their lives to empowering children through music and past honorees include Ruth Crawford Seeger, Ella Jenkins and Woody Guthrie. The award was named for its first recipient, Malvina Reynolds, who wrote the song ÒMagic Penny.? I was really moved to receive the recognition, since it's from people in the field and in the trenches. Awards from your peers mean a lot. Debbie and I went to the national gathering this year, just north of Chicago on Lake Michigan, and had a great time with people from all over the |
Photo by Alvin McGovern |
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| country sharing songs and trading stories. If you work with music and kids, if you are a family that enjoys singing together CMN is a great place to get recharged and reminded of why you do what you do. Thanks to everyone there for making me feel so welcomed and so special. | |||
| Night of the Spadefoot Toads | |||
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Speaking of long-time projects, this month Peachtree Press releases my middle grade novel Night of the Spadefoot Toads, a book whose first draft I wrote ten years ago. IÕm very excited and proud of this book ?Ben Moroney starts fifth grade at a new school after his move to a small town in Massachusetts. There he meets a very unusual science teacher who fosters his love for the outdoors. ItÕs got toads, snakes bullies, and late science reports in it, and is getting a lot of good feedback already. IÕm especially proud of it because it addresses an issue that deeply troubles me ?how we make sure thereÕs room for our children to explore and grow to love nature and the outdoors. I hope it encourages kids (and the adults around them) to take a little more time to get to know the place where they live. Peachtree did a beautiful job with it; you can order them from my office (IÕll autograph) or get it online or at your local bookseller. | ||
| Yes to Running goes to Beantown (Bill Harley on WGBH) | ||
We just received the great news that WGBH, the public television station in Boston, is airing an hour of my concert video, "Yes to Running!? during their fundraising drives this fall and winter. As some of you know, WGBH is a leader in the PBS network, and it makes it more likely that other folks around the country will get a chance to see the hour long special of me doing what I do. The first showing is scheduled for Saturday October 25 at 3:30pm and Sunday October 26 at 11am. Be sure to check their website and TV listings. And of course, you can get the full-length DVD or CD from us. |
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| Same Moon | ||
| I need some help from all of you. IÕm working on a performance piece that includes stories about people who are separated from each other, look at the moon in the night sky and think of each other. This is a trick we have used in our family for years. In addition to some personal stories, IÕve got material from books (When the Emperor was Divine) movies (La Misma Luna ?Under the Same Moon) and songs ("I See the Moon" by Meredith Wilson). Do you have a story about people looking at the moon and remembering a loved one far away? Would you care to share it with me? Please let me know by emailing info@billharley.com. Especially you folks who were separated from loved ones by circumstances beyond your control. I hope to start performing the piece in the New Year. |
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| Books | ||
Yikes. I just counted forty books by my bedside, waiting to be read. Not to mention all those New Yorkers turning yellow. Onward.
Debbie is reading and enjoying The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama and next on her list is Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez & Kristin Ohlson. |
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Oh man, I have to go pack. Maybe IÕm coming to see you. Stay warm. Ride your bike. Wipe your nose. Be kind.
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