As The Page Turns – December 18, 2019

Join us with authors Mark Lord, Joel Harris and Bob Verneuille “As the Page Turns”.

Mark Lord, author of “The Theater and I: A Chat with Facebook Friends” –  Must the show always go on? How do you feel about blind casting? What one piece of theatrical memorabilia would you most like to own? Have you ever thought about how YOU might answer each of these questions? Each week, for nearly two years, one theater aficionado and his diverse circle of friends have taken to social media to offer their thoughts on these and other (sometimes) burning issues. The most memorable comments–some surprising, some poignant, some hilarious—have been compiled here, combining for an insightful look into the always intriguing world of the theater. Interwoven throughout the questions and answers is the compelling true story of how a single night at the theater changed a man’s life forever, along with some one-of-a-kind encounters with the likes of Harold Prince and Ethel Merman. Who could ask for anything more?

Joel Harris, author of “Public Parts” – A failed escape? Or a Mob hit arranged by crime boss Meyer Lansky to silence him and save Lepke Buchalter, Bugsy Siegel and Albert Anastasia from the electric chair? Either way, Murder Incorporated hitman turned major crime snitch Abe “Kid Twist” Reles, “the pigeon who could sing but not fly,” encountered the one law he could not evade: The Law of Gravity. Thirty years later in the early 1970s, Larry Levine takes over at PUBLIC AUTO PARTS, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, when his father is forced into abrupt retirement in Florida to avoid questions about the demise of his old friend, Reles. Someone is talking. Larry knows a little of his father’s link to the Mob, but not nearly enough, as he is left to face a relentless police detective, John Mannion, who wants answers and an equally relentless Mob boss, Carmine, who wants cooperation. While trying to protect his father, end Mob sway at Public Parts, deal with Laurie, his dissatisfied wife, and Ann Riordan, his new, beautiful, and enigmatic young assistant, the business burns to the ground. Indicted for arson and other charges, he is defended by Brownsville’s own Harvard trained Bernie the Attorney, once a renowned Mob mouthpiece, now turned Orthodox Rabbi, whose time has long past. Ultimately, Larry’s fate is in the hands of his assistant, whose reluctant testimony about the extent of their relationship and where they were on the night of the fire could save Larry from prison but could also destroy her engagement and his marriage.

PUBLIC PARTS is a black comedy of corruption and error cloaking a classic tale of love and betrayal, death and redemption; a might-be-true legend of its time and place, and Larry is the last man able to tell the tale.

Bob Verneuille, author of “One Thousand Days” – A long-ago walk on Lucas Brook remembered . . . a time when life was unambiguous . . . the certainty of youth . . . a path followed . . . discovery . . . the betrayal of false friends . . . a certainty eroded. Sometimes, reaching back far enough to a time of certainty can help you understand who you are in the present, and maybe who you’re not. At times I felt as though I was in the mindset of my earlier self and at others like a stranger in a strange land. Was it a dream; a reality; a butterfly or a man? This story is about the end of an era, as viewed through the lives of a few Long Island youths living on a mountain at the end of Vermont”s communal movement. There, they chance upon a historical discovery, find an unknown old-growth forest and encounter the world’s largest cannon—so this a historical novel. But these tales are based on memories and are as accurate as four-decade-old memories can be. Remembrances although culled over several years, are rarely stored in volumes; they are just snippets, sometimes triggering new memories. Maybe this is a memoir. Yet as memories fill in, the influence of a muse is not always clear, as descriptive fiction is added linking it all together. I confess a small portion has been influenced by extreme creative license. So, perhaps this is a straight-up fiction. Especially since all of the names have been changed. Besides some fiction will provide cover for those who want it. Either way, enjoy the ride.