Chronogram November 2023 by Chronogram

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november

Sandy Butz performing Unfolding Memories, Passing Through at Glasshouse Art Center in New Paltz on October 14. Glasshouse is a nonprofit and performance space dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of performance art. Photo by David McIntyre

DEPARTMENTS

HOME

6 Chronogram Seen

16 The Old Man and the Sun

COMMUNITY PAGES, PAGE 42

FOOD & DRINK

“Cover Story” opens at Time and Space Limited.

8 Esteemed Reader Jason Stern almost loses a suitcase.

9 Editor’s Note Brian K. Mahoney revisits past glory.

10 Restaurant Profile: Julia’s Local A meet-cute, a pandemic home delivery service, a supper club series—Round Top restaurant Julia’s Local has all the ingredients for a feel-good rom-com. And the food’s good, too.

15 Sips & Bites Recent openings include C. Cassis Tasting Room in Rhinebeck, Morning Sunshine in Ellenville, Enoki Catskill, and Griffin House in Palenville.

Adventure writer David Noland built a small, super energyefficient home in Cornwall to age gracefully in.

HEALTH & WELLNESS 26 Breathing Freely MovingPotential brings trauma-informed yoga and meditation to prisons and recovery centers.

COMMUNITY PAGES 38 New Paltz: Finding the Future Residents of this college town in the shadow of the Gunks are actively addressing challenges in the community.

49 New Paltz Portraits by David McIntyre 55 First Person: Steve Lewis

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 3

WHY WAIT?

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4 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

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MovingPotential brings trauma-informed yoga and meditation to people residing in facilities that include prisons, recovery centers, and rehabilitation centers for young people. Photo by David McIntyre

HEALTH & WELLNESS, 26

ARTS 56 Music Seth Rogovoy reviews Infinite Bach by Maya Beiser. Peter Aaron reviews Inside Voice / Outside Voice by Michael Bisio and Timothy Hill. Michael Eck reviews Leaning In by Open Book.

57 Books Anne Pyburn Craig reviews Edenville, a horror novel by Max Rebelein. Short reviews of The Mind-Body Guide to the Twelve Steps by Nina Pick, No Last Words by Tara Kelly, Overlook: A Rock and Roll Fable by Paul Smart, Disavowals: A Study in Persepctive by Donald Anderson, and My Life as a Prayer by Elizabeth Cunningham.

58 Poetry Poems by Tom Cherwin, Paul Clemente, Darrah Cloud, Russell Karrick, Emily Murname, Augusta Ogden, Ethan Sirotko, Katrina Steier, Marlene Tartaglione, and Jennifer Wise. Edited by Phillip X Levine.

60 30th Anniversary Supplement To commemorate our 30th anniversary, we’ve rummaged through the archives and picked out some choice bits to share from all 351 issues of the magazine, from the ridiculous to the sublime. Take a tour of Chronogram year by year, starting with 1993.

november

78 Profile: Filmmaker Ralph Arlyck Peter Aaron profiles octogenarian Ralph Arlyck, whose latest film, I Like It Here, reckons with getting old.

THE GUIDE 81 Live Music: Time Berne, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and more. 82 Short List: Cold Spring Dance, Buke & Gase documentary screening, Peter Biskind, and more.

83 Joe McPhee and Ensemble at Cunneen-Hackett. 84 Dean Goldberg’s multimedia installation “Kristallnacht.” 86 Eteam’s “Our Non-Understanding of Everything” at CREATE Gallery in Catskill.

87 Museum and gallery shows from across the region.

HOROSCOPES 92 Digging for Fire Cory Nakasue reveals what the stars have in store for us.

PARTING SHOT 96 The Eyes Have It Eyeball Painting by Rebecca Morgan.

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 5

chronogram seen

"Cover Story" Opening Reception On October 15, an opening reception was held for “Cover Story: 30 Years of Chronogram” at Time and Space Limited in Hudson. The show includes all 351 covers of the magazine, from Jane Sanders’s illustration for the October/November 1993 issue to Spencer Tunick’s photo on the cover of the October 2023 edition. It is the first time all the covers have been shown at one time. The event was attended by over 100 people, many of whom were artists we’ve been privileged to feature on the cover. Thanks to our show sponsors, Athens Fine Art Services and Bloomberg Connects, and Upper Depot Brewing Co. and Benmarl Winery for the drinks. A big note of gratitude to Mark Gruber of Mark Gruber Gallery for handling all the framing and Linda Mussmann and Claudia Bruce of Time and Space Limited for hosting the show. And a tip of the cap to our cofounder and CEO, Amara Projansky, for spearheading the installation of this epic exhibition. The show continues through Sunday, November 12. There will be a closing reception and Chronogram Conversation held from 3-5pm on November 12 with artists whose work have been featured on the cover. Photos by Lynn M. Alaimo 6 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

Top row: Cover artists Spencer Tunick, Rodney Alan Greenblat, and Leslie Bender pose with their work. Middle row: Cover artists Jenny Kemp and Marco Anelli pose with their work; Luis Accorsi and Haleh Atabeigi of the New Gallery pose with an article about the Mirza Hamid show at Basilica Hudson. Bottom row: Installation views of the "Cover Story" exhibition. Middle picture: Amara Projansky, Chronogram cofounder (center), talks with Kerry Tinger, Chronogram production director, and Jim Tinger.

EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Brian K. Mahoney brian.mahoney@chronogram.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR David C. Perry david.perry@chronogram.com DIGITAL EDITOR Marie Doyon marie.doyon@chronogram.com ARTS EDITOR Peter Aaron music@chronogram.com

What savvy chefs know about knives— that you should too.

HOME EDITOR Mary Angeles Armstrong home@chronogram.com POETRY EDITOR Phillip X Levine poetry@chronogram.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Anne Pyburn Craig apcraig@chronogram.com

contributors Lynn M. Alaimo, Winona Barton-Ballentine, Mike Cobb, Natasha Chuk, Michael Eck, David McIntyre, Grace Molenda, Cory Nakasue, Seth Rogovoy, Sparrow, Jamie Stathis

PUBLISHING FOUNDERS Jason Stern, Amara Projansky PUBLISHER & CEO Amara Projansky amara.projansky@chronogram.com EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Jan Dewey jan.dewey@chronogram.com BOARD CHAIR David Dell

sales manager Andrea Fliakos andrea.fliakos@chronogram.com

media specialists It’s a matter of feel, balance, sharpness, materials and design. It’s the reason we stock thousands of knives from dozens of countries around the globe— More than other stores offer. Plus, the tools to sharpen, store and to keep the knives in perfect shape. It’s personal, and it’s why our customers come back. Our expert staff is here to help you select the perfect knife. We have the Hudson Valley’s best selection of fine cutlery— Period! Where else would anyone shop for their favorite knives?

Kaitlyn LeLay kaitlyn.lelay@chronogram.com Kelin Long-Gaye kelin.long-gaye@chronogram.com Kris Schneider kris.schneider@chronogram.com Sam Brody sam.brody@chronogram.com

ad operations Jared Winslow jared.winslow@chronogram.com

marketing MARKETING & EVENTS MANAGER Margot Isaacs margot.isaacs@chronogram.com SPONSORED CONTENT EDITOR

Everything for Your Kitchen!

Ashleigh Lovelace ashleigh.lovelace@chronogram.com

• Unique and rare knives from around the world • Cookware, bakeware and barware • Great gifts, and gift wrapping available

administration FINANCE MANAGER Nicole Clanahan accounting@chronogram.com; (845) 334-8600

production PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Kerry Tinger kerry.tinger@chronogram.com; (845) 334-8600x108 PRODUCTION DESIGNER Kate Brodowska kate.brodowska@chronogram.com

intern Ryan Keegan

office 45 Pine Grove Avenue, Suite 303, Kingston, NY 12401 • (845) 334-8600

mission Founded in 1993, Chronogram magazine offers a colorful and nuanced chronicle of life in the Hudson Valley, inviting readers into the arts, culture, and spirit of this place.

6934 Route 9 Rhinebeck, NY 12572 845-876-6208 Mon–Sat 9:30–5:30 And www.warrenkitchenandcutlery.com

All contents © Chronogram Media 2023. ChronogramMedia.com wk&c_chron-cutlery_Nov2023 HPV_r1.indd 1

10/11/23 2:50 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 7 PM

esteemed reader by Jason Stern

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I periodically need to travel to different parts of the world for work. This year, so far, the itinerary has included Egypt, Cuba, the Netherlands, France, Serbia, and Turkey. Tonight I am in a cafe in the Galata neighborhood of Istanbul enjoying a shisha after a week of labor. In Istanbul tonight, a busker with a guitar sings an impassioned song in Turkish to a small audience of walkers. Nearby a hawker calls out his offering of Bosporus mussels opened and eaten on the sidewalk until the early hours of the morning. Just before dawn and at regular intervals the Arabic call to prayer resounds and echoes from near and distant mosques. In Serbia last week I heard a herder calling and singing to his cows on a verdant island in the middle of the Danube. I spent much of the week working as a team with a group of Russians who spoke their own language much of the time. With no understanding of words, the texture and feeling of the voices was delicious. By the end of the week I was able to pick out a few phrases and tried to repeat them, the most useful being Ya ne ponimayu—I don’t understand. When I travel and have a direct experience of each place I am amazed at the multiplicity of pace, food, music, and language of people—the unique patterns of existence in different cultures. I sense that all these simultaneously sounding unique human vibrations are part of the sound of the body of humanity. Each community is an engine of emanations resounding in concert and participating in a whole symphony of emanations. Each time I travel, I receive a deepening sense that the knowing that comes through embodied and sensed participation is a dimensional shift from simply knowing about things. The movement is an initiation across the threshold from an outer circle into an inner circle where information is more robust, dense, and meaningful. I received an email from a friend at home this morning. It read: “I heard Turkey is a hot spot too! Are you OK?” Being here, in this peaceful place with an overarching atmosphere of contentment, the question seems laughable. Particularly surprising as I knew the person had hitchhiked across India and Afghanistan 50 years ago in her youth. Nevertheless, if one’s information comes from the news and “entertainment” media, the world appears to be a dangerous place. On my way to the airport last week I had some time to visit my friend Gennaro in Brooklyn. (I mention him by name because one of his photographs of Roma people appeared on the cover of Chronogram in 1999 and in the cover show at Time and Space Limited in Hudson this month). Gennaro generously bought me an Uber ride from my starting point in Bushwick to his place in Carroll Gardens. The driver was recently arrived from Georgia (the one in Eurasia). He knew slightly more English than I know Georgian (which is none). My driver Giorgi pulled up pictures and videos of Georgian weightlifters and MMA champions while he drove and pointed at them while steering with his knee. He also had a passion for American actors, of which he could name more than me. We shook hands when I got out of the car and Georgi drove away with my suitcase in the trunk. I yelled at the back of the car departing into the distance but it turned the corner and disappeared. Gennaro tried to use the app to get in touch with Giorgi for an hour. We finally spoke to someone who said the company is not responsible for lost items. “That guy’s a real jerk,” Gennaro commented, “stealing your suitcase like that.” We drove to Old Navy to get some clothes and toiletries to replace the stuff in my suitcase. As I shopped, I couldn’t accept that I had been fooled by the friendly and good-natured man who showed me pictures of his twins with their mother in Tbilisi. It just didn’t fit my experience. When we got back to Gennaro’s, Georgi finally called back. He arrived with my suitcase in time to take me to the airport. My faith in humanity (and my capacity to assess character) had trembled slightly but was restored.

editor’s note

by Brian K. Mahoney

Victory Lap

spent the first two weeks of October in the Chronogram archive, leafing through back issues (351!) and picking out choice bits for our 30th Anniversary Supplement (page 61). Along the way, I got to read all my old columns again. Some were great, some were less than great, some I did not remember at all. What follows are six excerpts from the vault, from my first Editor’s Note in 2004 to a letter I wrote to my newborn niece Adeline in 2016. They represent both a personal timeline and a barometer of the changing conditions in the region in recent decades, from early editorial exuberance to would-be Brooklyn expats and the NIMBY opposition. I continue to be grateful to be afforded the opportunity to try and make sense of it all each month. “Hard Pass on the Verbal Pyrotechnics,” May 2004 The Editor’s Note should set the tone for what is to follow, whether contemplative, skeptical, matter-of-fact, blissed-out, pissedoff, celebratory, valedictory, what have you. The Editor’s Note, while reflecting the sensibility of its author (who, by extension, is a kind of author-writ-large of the entire magazine), should not overpower the rest of the writing in grandstanding displays of pinwheeling verbal pyrotechnics whose seemingly sole purpose to edify all and sundry that the editor, having stayed awake in vocabulary class from second through 12th grade (while many compatriots somnambulated), pored over word lists late into the night as a teenager (with occasional expeditions into the dense word forests of Gaddis, Joyce, and Pynchon) and pegged a 780 on the verbal portion of the SATs, is, despite his nagging insecurities, in fact brilliant and capable of shouldering these duties. “Gone to the Dogs,” March 2010 Lee Anne and I adopted our dog, Shazam, 18 months ago. And while I’m ashamed to admit it, we have become the type of pet owners I always found exasperating until now. You know the type. People who leave the party early because they have to get home to their dog. People who talk incessantly about their pets like they were exceptionally bright children. People who accept compliments on behalf of their pets’ good looks, as if they shared DNA. People who worry if their dog is getting along with the house sitter while they’re on vacation.

A recent conversation: Me: Hey, House Sitter, how’s it going? House Sitter: Great! How’s the beach? Me: Good, good. Sandy. Uh…How’s Shazam doing? House Sitter: Do you want me to put him on? Me: If you wouldn’t mind. “Sushi in the Country,” June 2011 My friends Dave and Corinne are contemplating moving upstate from Brooklyn. We all know the story if we haven’t lived it ourselves: They’re in their mid-40s and the go-go life in Gotham has lost its luster. Once that happens, what’s left is a layer of grime on every metal-plated subway fixture. Corinne has the possibility to work out of an office in Albany; Dave’s thinking about returning to his first career—he’s a CIA grad— and opening a bistro. They’ve made a couple of tentative weekend explorations of Rhinebeck and Hudson to look at apartments. They’re excited about renting a space twice as big as their Park Slope apartment for half the price. But they’re unsure. It’s a big move, after all. And Dave and Corinne seem to know that once you move up here full-time, you don’t actually go back to New York very often. Your life is here now. All your friends want to get out of the city anyway, especially in the summer. In a way, your life follows you. Then Dave asks the all-important question: “Can we get sushi in the country?” “Marching Season,” March 2013 Infrequently, you sleep in and don’t have time to walk the dog. You let him out the back door and watch him mope around the tiny yard and sniff the tennis ball that’s been frozen into the pitted crust of snow for the last six weeks. He doesn’t even try to dig the ball out, just stands and flares his nostrils. For some reason, the notgoing-to-the-park dog in the yard is incredibly sad to you in a way that you can’t explain and that is completely out of proportion to what’s actually happening. But it’s still your fault and you feel as if you’ve reduced—albeit by a tiny fraction—the sum total of all things possible in the universe. The guilt and the regret of it are enough to give you a little shiver. You think of something you read recently by Janet Steen: “Will I have too many regrets, not enough, or just the right amount? Will I even have the right regrets?”

“The C Word,” April 2015 Community is a notional thing. We all live in a physical place in the Hudson Valley—Cold Spring, Catskill, New Paltz, Poughkeepsie, etc. What defines a community, though, is not its geography but its interdependence. A community, unlike a neighborhood, doesn’t have to exist; it is created through intention and mutual interest. We all live in a neighborhood, we don’t all live in a community, though I would say that if you are reading this, you are part of at least one community, that of readers of this magazine. The stories we’re attracted to telling are ones that highlight our interdependence, that invisible bond that connects us to each other and all things around us—stories of community. Community is about dialog, finding shared areas of interest, and investigating shared outcomes that benefit all. This is important to keep in mind as the Hudson Valley is seeing an ongoing influx of new residents, many from New York City or other urban centers. One of the hallmarks of gentrification is a lack of sensitivity to existing social relationships. As the region continues to absorb new residents, we’d all do well to remember that communities are built through dialog, not by those who would dictate the terms of their participation, either by NIMBY-style opposition or a lack of sensitivity to existing residents. “Letter to Adeline,” October 2016 The bright and shiny side of your privilege is that you have the opportunity to chase your wildest dreams. Do that. While you’re doing that, I suggest always choosing the more difficult path. The hard stuff, whether it’s calculus or marathon running, is the most rewarding, and builds something known as character. And don’t worry about outcomes so much—the juice is in the doing. This is sometimes boiled down to the aphorism “life is a journey, not a destination.” Which is true (as all clichés are true), but doesn’t quite capture why you should work so hard: It will help you explain you to yourself and help establish a self you are comfortable with, for we are what we do. In an essay on Kafka (more on him when you’re a bit older), David Foster Wallace suggests that the central joke in Kafka’s work is that “the horrific struggle to establish a human self results in a self whose humanity is inseparable from that horrific struggle. That our endless and impossible journey toward home is in fact our home.” Life is hard any way you slice it. So do the hard stuff, and do it well, and enjoy the struggle, because you can’t avoid it. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 9

food & drink

Heart’s Content

The building housing Julia’s Local was the German bakery Hartmann’s Kaffeehaus for nearly 60 years. Julia Joern and Henning Nordanger. The DIY renovation took close to four years and included a complete overhaul of the interior.

JULIA’S LOCAL IN ROUND TOP By Marie Doyon Photos by Jason Schmidt

meet-cute, a pandemic home delivery service, a supper club series— Round Top restaurant Julia’s Local has all the ingredients for a feelgood romcom. And the food’s good, too. It all started when publicist Julia Joern bought a farmhouse in the Greene County hamlet of Round Top in 1999. In the early aughts, she was in the middle of a renovation project when her builder fell to blows with her painter. “Literally a fistfight in my own home!” she says. “So I had to fire them all.” The house in disarray, projects half-finished, she did what any resourceful person would do and took to Craigslist, where she promptly found an ad for “Norwegian Carpenter.” Her interest—professional and personal—was piqued. Enter Henning Nordanger. Raised in Bergen, Norway, and Escoffier-trained, Nordanger worked at large hotel restaurants and mountain resorts throughout his home country— even cooking for the King of Norway on his yacht—before crossing the pond. In his 20s in New York City, he cooked in restaurants and as a private chef, with boldface names like Vanity Fair’s then-editor Graydon Carter among his list of clients. In 2006, Nordanger moved to the Catskills and started taking on carpentry work in between cooking gigs. “He couldn’t find a job, or one he liked anyway, so he opened his own restaurant,” Joern says. In 2012, he debuted Henning’s Local in Eldred Preserve, serving his Scandinavian spin on American comfort food with hyper-local ingredients like produce and 10 FOOD & DRINK 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

brook trout from sixth-generation family business Beaverkill Trout Hatchery. Later, he moved the restaurant to the space above the historic Heinle’s General Store in Cochecton Center. Joern became a regular at the restaurant and, “he was my carpenter in between,” she says with a laugh. “It was a many, many-year side hustle. And I had a huge crush on him. I was constantly inventing projects for him to do so he’d come back. But we worked really, really well together, and I always thought we should work on a project together.” Somewhere in there, about six years ago, respective burnouts brought them together for a summer, and they haven’t looked back. In spring 2019, they decided to take the dive on a joint venture. At the urging of her neighbor, JD Eiseman, Joern went to see a building for sale a half-mile down the road from her house. Next to the fire department at the intersection of Hearts Content and Maple Lawn roads, the building had housed German bakery Hartmann’s Kaffeehaus for nearly 60 years. It would need work to transform into a full-service restaurant, but the pair weren’t daunted. “Henning and I are pretty handy,” Joern says. “I knew the owner—I went every day. And she really only wanted to sell it to someone she liked and could entrust with taking care of it.” Joern bought the building, and they undertook the renovation—only to be slapped with Covid in the middle. So they changed gears, Nordanger cooking and Joern delivering meals to an ever-widening circle of customers.

“I put 25,000 miles on my VW Bug,” Joern says. “In the early days, before the vaccine, I was the only person a lot of people saw. I met so many incredible people at their doorsteps. I would deliver soup and spend an hour with them.” She went for walks with some customers, others made her cocktails. She took an elderly widower’s dogs out for him. Advertising exec, architectural historian, teacher—she not only remembers names but professions, developing real relationships that continue to this day. “It meant so much to me—it really kept my spirits up and kept us going,” says Joern. “I got to check out a little bit from what was happening in the media and just take care of my people.” Cairo, Windham, Athens—the radius of service just kept expanding, Joern was loathe to turn anyone down at such a tense time. Her online presence was minimal—an ordering platform. This core of 400 families would later become the mailing list for Julia’s Local. “I thought if we could just bring them all together here, that would be great,” she says. “So we did that to launch the restaurant so we could test the space—test the equipment, test the staff, recruit staff.” At the Heart of Everything The DIY renovation took close to four years and included a complete overhaul of the interior. Joern and Nordanger sanded the freshly uncarpeted wood floors, built the tables, tore out the wall paneling, and built out a professional kitchen. They added a wraparound deck with a wheelchair-accessible ramp and painted the whole building a joyful shade of cherry red that’s impossible to miss as you drive by. Julia’s Local soft-launched this spring with a series of themed dinner parties giving priority to previous pandemic-era customers. Where’s the Beef ?, Spring Lamb, Deconstructed Bouillabaisse, Ode to Duck—the 10-course dinners were themed around a central ingredient with a cocktail hour to start. The weekend before July 4th they hosted their final supper, Almost Independence Day, with elevated takes on a summer picnic. “We actually didn’t know the menu until two days before,” Joern says. “Honestly it was one of our customers who was like, ‘I’m booking six people, but I am pescatarian.’ So Henning said, ‘Let’s fucking do lobster.” Corn, lobster, chocolate ganache s’mores. “It was so fun. It’s like everything about us— highbrow-lowbrow.” The dinner parties, which numbered around 30 people and ran weekends from April to July, were attended by young recent transplants, multigenerational local families, friends, even contractors from the build-out. Joern did the seating arrangements for the communal-style dining. “Henning did supper clubs in the city a million years ago,” she says. “It’s not a new idea. Everyone does a tasting menu, but I was just like ‘You know what? I’m going to mix it up and have fun with this.’ We had Academy Award-winning producers sitting next to my plumber of 25 years.” From there, in mid-July, Nordanger and Joern rolled into regular weekly dinner service Thursday through Sunday. A few weeks later, I go to visit on a summer evening. Joern greets me on the porch like she’s known me all my life. She has a warm, casual manner and ushers me inside for a cocktail and a quick tour of the place. As she moves through the space, she points out the handmade dishware that was a collaboration with a local potter, introduces the servers as they pass, and checks in on guests. The restaurant, in an old house, is set up in concentric circles—or, rather, L-shapes. At the center is the kitchen, helmed by Nordanger and two cooks who followed him from the city to work weekends at Julia’s Local (they stay in the apartment above Joern’s garage). Beyond that, a dark, moody bar with antler pendant lights and a wooden staircase to the offices upstairs. Outside that is the L-shaped dining room, with an outdoor deck to match. An Expat (Hudson Whiskey bourbon, lime, Angostura bitters, parking lot mint) and a shared cigarette later, Joern is ready to move. “You have to see the garden, because for me, the garden is more important than even the physical space of the restaurant,” she says. “It’s at the heart of everything we do.” She’s referring to the one-acre culinary garden up the road, across the street from her house on neighbor JD Eiseman’s property, where she and Nordanger grow everything from herbs to cabbage for the restaurant.

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Warm from the Vine A moment later we’re sliding into my car, and off we go, the evening sunlight falling in heavy shafts across the road. Her neighbor’s property is an idyllic old farmhouse with vast swaths of lawn, apple trees, and lilac bushes. She and Nordanger have fenced off an acre with logs from downed trees. She points at things as we pass—berry bushes, peppers, collards, mint, garlic, onions, lettuce, leeks, eggplant, mushroom logs, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, pea shoots, summer squash, kale, cabbage, and the fuzzy tops of bolted asparagus, which they finally harvested for the first time this year. “We can serve stuff warm from the vine, because we pick everything at three o’clock,” says Joern. Everything is started from seed in the greenhouse, which, at this late date in the season, is still incubating the microgreens that garnish many of the dishes. “Oh my god, it’s so good,” Joern says, tasting a sungold. Joern moves through the garden with the excitement of a child. There is a peaceful sense of alignment here, as if the boundaries distinguishing personal life and work have been gently blurred away. “We’re having so much fun,” Joern says, tearing off basil leaves to munch while she walks. “No one’s getting rich. This is just what we’re doing. I almost think we couldn’t do it if we were younger. You ever read that Jane Fonda book, My Life So Far? This is chapter three for us.” And all the while the sun sets behind Blackhead Mountain, visible from the garden. 12 FOOD & DRINK 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

With the proteins determined ahead of time and the produce freshly picked, each afternoon of service, Joern and Nordanger set about tweaking the menu for the night. In late July, the chilled cucumber-sugar snap pea soup is served with yogurt, shallot, lemon, and bronze fennel. The locally sourced Beaverkill rainbow trout sashimi is worthy of a Manhattan restaurant and served with fresh horseradish, soy sauce, and spicy radish microgreens. The juniper gravlax is served with the last of the garden’s asparagus, mild mustard, and Dansk rugbrod. “It is the ultimate creativity to have this incredible garden,” Joern says. An Ode to Simplicity By mid-October, the asparagus has been subbed for broccolini. A Changing Seasons salad brings together delicata squash and dried liberty apples with mustard greens, sunflower seeds, lingonberries, and a savory herb vinaigrette. On the entrees, the pork belly, served with a gorgonzola mash, remains a constant ($28), as does Nordanger’s famous mocha-seared rainbow trout, served with orange-glazed beets and seared kale ($32). While many restaurants have made the move to plant-forward menus, the Norwegian chef has stuck to his roots, dishing up a variety of hearty meat dishes from skirt steak (with grilled sweet onion, roasted garlic shallot butter, and jus, $30) to rack of lamb ($36) and a roasted chicken with parsnip puree and kale ($28). What better way to

Henning Nordanger and Julia Joern with their dog Benji. Radishes and turnips from the couple’s culinary garden on Blackhead Mountain Road.

Roasted red pepper stuffed with quinoa, served with baba ganoush, housemade za’atar, pomegranate molasses, pesto, sprinkled with dehydrated golden oyster mushroom powder. Norwegian krumkake, a crispy wafer pumped with cream, served with lingonberries, dried apple rings, and husk cherries.

welcome in the cold weather than with a short rib bourguignon ($32)? Another standout? The lime-honey-glazed duck breast and duck leg confit straddles the seasons, served with sautéed pepper, onion, shiitake, zucchini, and a blend of brown and wild rices ($34). Having listed most of the menu, the gist is clear: Basically, you can’t go wrong. Well, unless you’re a vegetarian, in which case there is generally only a single nonmeat option. In fall: roasted red pepper stuffed with quinoa and served with baba ganoush and za’atar ($25). You might cobble together a meal out of soup, salad, and vegetable sides, but be clear: This is not a banner destination for your vegan friends. Nordanger isn’t trying to be too many things to too many people. He’s doing what he does best—bringing the crisp freshness of produce, meats, and fishes, sourced as nearby and possible, to bear in an elegant but not overly contrived execution that is as colorful as it is tasty with the true taste of the ingredients always shining through. Drinking has been kept delightfully simple— everything from the craft cocktails to the wine by the glass is $15, freeing you up to make a choice based on mood rather than money. Wines include a Slovenian macerated orange, a Croatian Plavac Mali (akin to Zinfandel), and a spontaneously fermented Alsatian Gentil. On the cocktail side, Nordanger brought Henning’s Local favorite, the Ornery Old Fashioned,

to anchor the list of bespoke drinks. It’s made with Sazerac rye whisky, Amaro Sfumato, oleo saccharum, and Angostura and orange bitters. The list also includes multiple spiritous variations on a mule (Irish whiskey, mezcal), a Hemingway daiquiri, and an elderflower Tom Collins. Dinner parties returned to Julia’s Local in October with a Trout Trifecta dinner on October 11 celebrating Daniel Heartquist, who has run the restaurant’s culinary garden for the past three years. The dinners will continue one Wednesday a month through December, each with a special guest. November 1 honors neighbor and friend JD Eiseman, who leases the couple land for their garden, and December 6 honors Rita Seiko Payne of Beiko Ceramics in Ithaca, the ceramicist behind the restaurant’s vegetally inspired dishware. The multicourse prix-fixe dinners will center around fresh trout from Beaverkill Trout Hatchery prepared four ways, plus soups, salads, and desserts according to garden spoils. Tickets, $85, include a complimentary welcome drink and are capped at 30 people. “We made ourselves a job,” Joern says. “And we’re having so much fun doing it.” Julia’s Local, 1507 Heart’s Content Road in Round Top, is open Thursday through Saturday for dinner, 5-9pm, and Sunday for lunch, 1-6pm. 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM FOOD & DRINK 13

sips & bites C. Cassis Tasting Room

108 Salisbury Turnpike, Rhinebeck With write-ups in Bon Appetit and the New York Times to name a few, Rachael Petach’s take on the classic French elixir creme de cassis was a well-timed addition to the local liquor cabinet. On October 7, Petach debuted the whimsical tasting room for C. Cassis in a rural barn in Rhinebeck. Made with botanicals like cardamom pods, bay leaf, citrus rind, and lemon verbena, the resulting cordial is less syrupy and more herbaceous than its classic counterpart. At CCTR, visitors will be able to try C. Cassis in various bespoke cocktails designed by mixologist and author Natasha David. Limited-edition products like barrel-aged cassis and the canned CC Spritz will also be on offer, as well as a selection of New York State wine, beer, spirits, NA drinks, and shareable snacks.

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Morning Sunshine

3-5 Clinton Avenue, Ellenville Started as a weekend coffee and pastry pop-up in 2021, Morning Sunshine debuted its brick-and-mortar in Ellenville this spring. Launched by Reservoir Studio founders Victoria Messner and Natalia Moena, the new location includes a full coffee bar; cafe with pastries, sandwiches, and other food; and a market of pantry staples. On top of the requisite egg sandwiches, the breakfast menu features multiple types of cornbread. For lunch, customers can get one of many sandwiches alongside creamy lentils, protein salad, or a vegan farro grain bowl. There’s even the option to build a charcuterie board. With high ceilings and bright colors, the spacious new location manages to maintain the feel of the original pop-up.

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Hudson Valley Restaurant Week Various Locations

Biannual culinary tour de force Hudson Valley Restaurant Week returns through November 12. This fall, a whopping 140 restaurants spanning eight counties (Sullivan, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Ulster, Orange, Greene, and Dutchess) are participating. During this two-week event, prix-fixe is the name of the game with flat-cost lunches and dinners at four price points: $24.95, $29.95, $39.95 or $44.95 (bevvies, tax, and tip apart). Whether you use this opportunity to revisit an old favorite like the Arnold House in Livingston Manor or try something new, like Tabla in Tannersville, you’re sure to leave satiated.

Valleytable.com/restaurant-week

Enoki Catskill

393 Main Street, Catskill For many years, if you wanted to source Asian pantry staples upstate, you either had to drive north to Albany or south to New York City. In recent years, stores like Harana Market in Woodstock and Sari Sari in Highland have begun to fill this gap. Enoki, opened in April by Shirley Lim and Tommy Lam, adds to the availability of East Asian grocery items with a market that brings together Chinese, Japanese, and Korean goods along with other popular provisions like Graza olive oil. From chili crisp and tonkatsu sauce to kewpie, kombu, kimchi, noodles, and dried mushrooms, Enoki stocks all the packaged ingredients to cook your favorite East Asian meals. Plus, the shop carries a selection of thrifted vintage, curated by Lam and friend Chad Enzel.

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Griffin House

3311 Route 23A, Palenville Run by husband-and-wife team Simone and Jessie Felice, the Circle W Market in Palenville has something of a cult following for their hearty sandwiches. The duo recently took on another prospect in town, reviving the historic Griffin House. Inspired by the public houses of Ireland, the inn offers cozy, laidback guest rooms and a tavern that is open to the public. The restaurant, led by chef Juan Romero of Lekker catering and formerly of Duo Bistro, serves a seasonal menu of (mostly) British comfort classics from fish and chips to bangers and mash, plus the requisite burger. The bar features 12 beers on tap—Guinness and Smithwick’s, of course, as well as local brewery favorites, and a list of seasonally rotating signature cocktails.

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the house

The Old Man and The Sun Adventure writer David Noland’s passive house in Cornwall By Mary Angeles Armstrong Photos by Winona Barton-Ballentine

Writer David Noland on the porch of his Cornwall home. Despite no formal architectural training, Noland took up the challenge of the home’s zeroemission design himself, mastering Passive House standards and maximizing the layout for sunlight and exposure. “It’s not rocket science,” Noland explains of the home’s passive solar design. “The floors, walls and roof have to be well insulated and airtight. There needs to be proper air circulation and good windows with no thermal bridging. It’s really pretty simple.” 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM HOME & GARDEN 17

he sun is one place David Noland hasn’t been yet. A writer and adventurer, Noland has trekked through some of the world’s remotest corners—climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, hitchhiked the backroads of Belize, and navigated the jungles of Trinidad—all the while detailing those adventures for National Geographic, Outside magazine, and a series of books. However, excluding his stints flying a small-engine aircraft from coast to coast, Noland’s adventures have remained largely earthbound. But no matter: When he set out to build an “old man’s age-inplace home” (his words) he set his sights not on the local Home Depot, but on the star 93 million miles away. Or, more specifically, on harnessing as much of that star’s energy to keep he and his “not-quite-yet-old” wife (also his words, and a more apt description) not just comfortable through all four seasons but with enough juice to power future adventures. “The plan was to make our house small, simple, one floor, close to the road, and without a wood stove,” Noland explains. “Also, in the bargain, I wanted to make it a super-efficient, zero-carbon construction that meets all Passive House standards.” Undertaking that task led Noland on a whole different sort of journey. Like all grand adventures, it required plenty of research, some new skill building, and a vision. As with any great trek, Noland set out with a plan. And like many 18 HOME & GARDEN 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

of those great journeys, the plan inevitably went off the rails. However, as Noland explains in the intro to his essay collection Travels Along the Edge, “It’s not really an adventure unless, at some point during the trip, I say to myself, ‘What the fuck am I doing here?’” Out of the Woods A native of Indiana, Noland first moved to New York City for work and found his way upstate in 1972. “What first attracted me was a girl who lived here,” he says. “Why I stayed? Natural beauty, proximity to the city, and plenty of places to hike, bike, kayak, and windsurf.” With his wife, Lisa DeMartino, Noland lived in a cabin he designed and built deep in the nearby woods. It was home base for many years and where the couple raised their daughter. Eventually their daughter grew up and the cabin’s rustic appeal—the woodstove, long winding driveway, and remote location—began to lose its luster. So they set their sights on a new challenge. They left the deep woods and found a broad, rolling meadow on the outskirts of Cornwall. Surrounded on three sides by undeveloped Storm King Art Center property, the 1.8-acre corner lot has a clear view of the sky and is awash with sunshine throughout the year. The couple bought the property in 2018 with the intention of building their zerocarbon home.

Noland sited the south-facing home on a meadow adjacent to the Storm King Art Center. He carefully designed the home’s pitched roof to take full advantage of the sun, then installed a 12-kilowatt, 30-panel solar array. Attention to those minute technical details, combined with mastery of the right equipment, has had an outsized result. In lighter months, the solar array produces twice the amount of energy he needs to power the home and two electric cars. “There’s an old saying in the aviation world,” explains Noland, who is also a pilot. “You use your super judgment so you don’t always require your superior skills.”

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The southeastern corner of the home is the ideal place for a dining nook with ample views to the surrounding meadow and woods and easy access to the open concept kitchen. Noland utilized triple-glazed glass for the windows and slider and calculated the deep-south facing eves carefully to block the sun in summer.

Playing with Legos Noland drew up the designs himself, tailoring the layout and construction to Passive House standards. The 1340-square-foot rectangle faces almost due south with expansive triple-paned windows along the eastern wall to capture the morning light and warm the home in winter. The south-facing roof plane had to be large and strong enough to support the home’s solar array. “At our latitude, the simple eight-and-twelve pitch roof was the perfect angle to get the most kilowatt hours of sunlight,” explains Noland. “It’s also aesthetically pleasing and easy to build.” A row of triple-paned windows along the home’s southern wall capture heat from the sun’s low roll along the winter horizon, and help naturally light the open concept living area in winter. Noland calculated the roof overhang carefully to shield the windows from the stronger summer sun, helping to keep the interior cool and shaded in summer. After configuring the home’s design, Noland turned to architect Steve Bender to finalize the structural design and draw up the construction plans. Then he hired Passive House specialist Mike Conners of Balanced Builders in Newburgh to construct the home. The home’s entire shell is comprised of structurally insulated panels—or SIPS—made by the Indiana-based company Thermacore. Each sixinch-thick SIP wall panel and eight-inch-thick roof panel has a core of high-density polyurethane foam sandwiched between strand boards which results in an insulation factor

of R-40 for the walls and R-50 for the roof, creating a virtually airtight box with minimal heat exchange between the interior and exterior of a structure. The SIPS included precise cutouts for Noland’s specific window placements and were pre-wired with conduits and electrical boxes. They were cost-effective as well. “Basically we sent Thermacore our design and they cut the panels in their factory then shipped them back to us on a truck,” says Noland. “Then a crane came in and over three days snapped those pieces into place just like Legos.” The Best Exchange Rate The next step was the home’s two-bedroom interior, which needed to be carefully planned for air circulation and maximum efficiency. The interior’s layout was simple—two bedrooms and a full bathroom along the sheltered northern wall of the home, a large living room with vaulted ceilings along the southern wall and a guest bathroom off the hallway between. The rows of south-facing windows, and a slider along the eastern wall, emphasizes the beauty of the surrounding meadow with views of the landscape and the edge of the sculpture park visible throughout the open flowing kitchen, dining, and sitting areas. Maintaining a balance between fresh air circulation and comfortable interior temperature, however, required multiple moving parts. Because the home is so well insulated, air needs to be constantly circulated to keep the interior 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM HOME & GARDEN 21

The entire home was constructed from structurally insulated panels (SIPS) that are designed for maximum insulation. The SIPS are also extremely strong—in the home’s living room a double-height vaulted ceiling gives the space an open, airy feel while still bearing the load of the solar array without rafters or other reinforcement.

Noland designed the home’s east-facing bedroom to capture the morning sun and positioned the bed to face the sunrise. “We love noting exactly where the sun comes up every morning,” Noland says. As an added bonus, the bedroom window faces Storm King Art Center and a few of the art park’s sculptures in the distance. Noland hung paintings by his mother and daughter to complement the view.

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Noland sited the open kitchen along the southwestern edge of the home. The minimal windows in the north and west of the structure protect against hot afternoon sun in the summer and cold winds in the winter. To minimize the power load on the solar array, Noland also incorporated highefficiency appliances into the design, including an induction stove in the kitchen. “The only combustion in this house is the occasional candle for dinner ambiance,” he says.

structure healthy for both people and materials. Noland installed a whole house Zehnder EVR fresh-air circulation system in an open attic loft space which draws stale air from the kitchen and bathrooms, then infuses the living room and bedrooms with fresh air from outside, transferring the outgoing and incoming air’s temperature in the process. In a utility room off the kitchen, Noland installed a water heater and dryer which both utilize heat exchange pumps drawing heat from the surrounding air in the utility room. The whole house temperature is regulated by larger heat exchange pumps drawing outside air to maintain comfort during both summer and winter. All of the home’s energy needs are supplied by the thirty 12-kilowatt Suncommon solar panels on the home’s SIP roof, which is sturdy enough to not require rafters. Wisdom for the Ages (With Battery Pack) Of course, the road from idea to manifested, sun-soaked living lead to detours and took much longer than Noland had initially intended. First the Covid lockdown delayed the planning and initial construction until 2021. Then, with plans in place, he signed a contract to begin construction on the project which was to take six months. That initial six-month plan was extended to two years with supply

chain delays and skyrocketing materials costs. “Getting it built was a frustrating, Covid-interrupted five-year process,” explains Noland, who eventually had to abandon obtaining the Passive House certification due to costs. He never abandoned his original intent, however: The house still conforms to all those original standards—with maximum air tightness and circulation, year-round thermal comfort and maximum efficiency appliances. What’s more, Noland seems to have overshot the sun a bit. “Our solar array actually generates more than enough energy to power our home and our two electric cars,” he explains. “We’ve built up a large credit of kilowatt hours, which should be more than enough to get us through the winter months with zero net energy usage through the year.” That means Noland—who built the home to grow old in—will be largely free of energy costs in his long (long) wait to become that old man. On that adventure, he’ll be mostly oblivious to rising electricity, gas, and oil prices. In fact, with installed back-up Tesla batteries, the only way he’ll even know there’s a power outage is if he gets a notification on his phone. “The results have absolutely been worth the frustrations,” he says. “The home is extraordinarily comfortable. The real adventure of my life was raising my daughter, but building this house has also been a great adventure.” 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM HOME & GARDEN 25

health & wellness

Breathing Freely EVERYONE DESERVES ACCESS TO THE HEALING BENEFITS OF YOGA By Jaime Stathis Photos by David McIntyre

here are no words to describe what yoga does for our residents,” says Stacey Schmouth, a counselor at Fox Run Residential Treatment Program for men in Rhinebeck, one of 40 facilities operated by the New York City-based Samaritan Daytop Village. “We start by educating them and explaining that yoga isn’t just for women and it’s not a religious practice,” Schmouth says. “And then break down the preconceived ideas they have about yoga— that it’s women on Instagram doing crazy poses in colorful tights—and we assure them they can do yoga, too, even if that’s just coming into the room, sitting on a mat, and watching until they feel comfortable participating.” Yoga is offered at Fox Run and other facilities thanks to Hudson-based MovingPotential (formerly Sadhana Service Project), founded by Sondra Loring, who also leads classes and trains teachers at Sadhana Center for Yoga & Meditation in Hudson. MovingPotential brings trauma-informed yoga and meditation to people residing in facilities that include prisons, recovery centers, and rehabilitation centers for young people. In addition, they have a teacher-training program 26 HEALTH & WELLNESS 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

(currently only available at Meadow Run in Rhinebeck) for women who want to be able to teach yoga when they leave the treatment program. MovingPotential provides healing and support to justiceimpacted people who are, in Loring’s words, “housed in a broken system that should be abolished.” MovingPotential currently has active programs at Samaritan Daytop Village (Meadow Run for women and Fox Run for men), Columbia County Jail, ReEntry Columbia in Hudson, and Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood in Hudson (for children with an incarcerated parent). In addition, Loring teaches movement at Greene Correctional Facility through the Wave Farm organization. What is trauma-informed yoga? Most yoga classes start with the teacher in front of the room, welcoming students and explaining what the class will consist of. The teacher may ask students to refrain from drinking water or taking breaks and may go so far as to ask them not to go to the restroom unless it’s an emergency.

Above and opposite bottom: MovingPotential brings traumainformed yoga and meditation to people residing in facilities that include prisons, recovery centers, and rehabilitation centers for young people. Opposite top: Yoga instructor Lea Bender with MovingPotential founder Sondra Loring.

There’s a power dynamic shift from the start, which amps up further when the movement begins. The teacher tells students when to breathe, how to place their feet, and where to gaze. The language in yoga classes is often commanding and may encourage students to push through pain and discomfort. The teacher may offer modification for beginners or advanced practitioners, which sounds gentle but actually creates a hierarchical structure to the movements. Students may be told to close their eyes or lay still. This dynamic can be triggering for many people— particularly those with a history of trauma. Unfortunately, a practice intended to create peace and calm may instead spark chaos and agitation. Trauma-sensitive yoga (used interchangeably with trauma-informed yoga) is a phrase coined by Dave Emerson, founder and director of Yoga Services for the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, which he shared with the world in his 2015 book, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy: Bringing the Body into Treatment. “Trauma-informed teaching is all about the quality and intention that you bring to the studio,” explains Lea Bender, one of MovingPotential’s instructors, who also teaches private and group classes in Rhinebeck. Bender previously taught at Rikers Island through Prison Liberation Yoga and at recovery centers in Brooklyn and Harlem, and she believes all yoga should be traumainformed. “You never know what people are coming in with, what their history is, or what could be upsetting to them,” Bender says. “But in a jail, prison or rehab—where we know people are in a position where they do not have much, if any, control over their present circumstances— offering choice and options is key.” “Each class is offered as an exploration of movement and stillness,” explains Elle Renaldo, who teaches at Rhinebeck Yoga Studio and at Meadow Run, Samaritan Village’s all-female facility. “Poses are taught in a variety of approachable ways to invite all to participate, especially those who’ve never been to a class before,” she says. All of MovingPotential’s teachers hold a nurturing, caring space and pay close attention to what is happening in the room, but unlike most yoga teachers, they don’t walk around the room during class and don’t offer hands-on adjustments. “As a general rule, the poses are invitations rather than commands,” Bender says, “And I do most of the class along with them.” Savasana (corpse pose) is often excluded from trauma-informed yoga, but MovingPotential’s teachers tend to include it. However, instead of leaving the students in a dark, quiet room flat on their backs, MovingPotential teachers give the students positioning options—they can rest on their back, curl up on their side, or stay seated—and then they guide the class through a simple meditation because silence in a dark room is triggering for many people. Loring points out that she doesn’t have students clasp their hands behind their backs or neck in traumainformed classes because of possible triggers from previous interactions with law enforcement. “We’re analytically, critically, and lovingly looking at the yoga tradition and making it more inclusive,” Loring explains. Renaldo thinks of it like “choose your own adventure” yoga, explaining that MovingPotential’s classes are the opposite of yoga classes where the vibe is competitive. In some studios, students warm up doing handstands 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM HEALTH & WELLNESS 27

or advanced balancing postures that intimidate beginners from even entering the room. “The yoga that we’re teaching is more geared toward choice in the self,” Loring says, “The yoga that we teach is for every single person and every single body.”

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How does yoga help people in recovery? Fox Run’s biweekly yoga classes fill up every time, and a few staff members usually join. Schmouth points out how stressful it is to work in the residnetial facility environment and how counselors also need coping strategies and support. “Everyone benefits from taking a yoga break in the middle of the day,” Schmouth says, adding that she rarely misses a class and is grateful to work where she can practice yoga. As part of her work as a counselor, Schmouth teaches anger management classes, and learning to use the breath is a major component for those learning how to manage their emotions in stressful situations. Someone might say, “I already learned this in yoga,” which Schmouth loves because the more exposure clients get to mindfulness techniques, the better they’ll be when they’re released from the program, which, for most of them, is court-mandated. We could list how trauma-informed yoga helps people in recovery, but there’s nothing more powerful than reading what the students say about yoga’s impact on their lives: “It gives me a chance to find myself and helps me to relax my body and free my thoughts from the outside world.” —C., Fox Run, August 2023 “Before I went to class I thought to myself it would be a breeze, something to pass the time by. I mean it’s yoga, what the hell. As I went through the motions I soon realized that it wasn’t just a series of moves, but moves with meanings for your body and soul as well as your mental awareness of finding peace in your mind. I bonded with that inner peace.” —yoga student, Samaritan Daytop Village, 2023 “I have found yoga to be the most accessible and most holistic method of healing for me. Practicing yoga showed me that at my core, beneath the sense of darkness, separation, and total devastation, there was an unshakable, unified and life-affirming desire and ability to heal. Yoga was my first introduction to real acceptance. Yoga continues to teach me coping and life skills. Yoga soothes me. That is a priceless gift. Yoga allows me to distill my grief down to its essence, which is love. I would love nothing more than to be of service and give to others what yoga has given me.” —D., yoga student and teacher-training participant at Meadow Run, 2023

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“One of our yoga instructors, Lea, reminds us that we can always use our breathing to bring us back to the present moment. This has been a huge help, even outside of yoga, because my mind wanders the majority of the day with thoughts of using drugs or some of the behaviors that come with using drugs. I am so appreciative for the tools and lessons I learn while practicing yoga and am glad I can apply them to my life outside of the class. I know this is something I will want to continue to practice even when I leave this facility.” —A., Fox Run, August 2023 How can you help support this program? Yoga teachers tend to be empathetic, aware, and progressive people, and getting teachers to volunteer isn’t a problem, getting them paid is. If you’d like to support this vital program that impacts not only those in the residential treatment facilities but everyone in the community, you can make a tax-deductible donation to MovingPotential through the Flow Chart Foundation, their fiscal sponsor. Go to Flowchartfoundation.org and designate MovingPotential in the “in honor of ” box.

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Forming Lifelong Learners At Mountain Laurel Waldorf School, Education Starts with Inspiration

he Waldorf school tradition views the arts not just as a thread in the tapestry of education; it’s the loom through which all areas of learning pass. From early childhood through middle school, Mountain Laurel Waldorf School in New Paltz offers a holistic experience that promotes creativity, critical thinking, and a lifelong love for learning and equally engages the head, the hands, and the heart. The lessons provided by a Waldorf education—a pedagogy based on the principles outlined by Austrian philosopher, scientist, and educator Rudolf Steiner—go far beyond the ability to paint a portrait or play a song, however. Learning an instrument and handcrafting create dexterity. Understanding music stimulates the mind, akin to learning a new language. Storytelling expands the imagination, creating outside-the-box thinkers. “Waldorf schools take an experiential approach to education that incorporates the arts, inspiring children to become lifelong learners by meeting students where they are, developmentally,” explains Patricia Dewitte-Kuyl, Mountain Laurel’s head administrator and enrollment director. “The key is inspiration. Inspired students are more engaged, and you’ll see that in our classrooms. There’s joy in learning when it’s a soul education.” The school, which was founded in 1983, offers pre-K through eighth grade. Its curriculum focuses on social-emotional intelligence through play,

creativity, and storytelling for the younger set, and continues experiential learning through middle school with rigorous academics that are infused with the arts. “At Mountain Laurel, our students receive a full introduction to the classics, two world languages, history, geography, mathematics, and science: the subjects today’s child needs to be prepared to meet the challenges of our world and the future— with clarity of thought, love of learning, a caring heart, and confidence to initiate change,” says Dewitte-Kuyl. “Our teachers provide a balanced, comprehensive curriculum that engages the child at every developmental age.” When students learn about ancient India, for instance, they might take a correlating sculpture class that will incorporate what they’re learning through creation. Even with a focus on play-based learning, worldly education starts young: Students begin learning Mandarin Chinese and Spanish in the first grade. “Every student participates in chorus, orchestra, sculpture, handwork, and farming, where they learn that with patience, discipline, will, and hard work, you can make something beautiful.” DewitteKuyl adds. For example, eighth graders are tasked with creating a wooden stool from scratch. It’s a challenge that comes with ups and downs, but a gratifying result. Being centrally located in New Paltz means

48 COMMUNITY PAGES 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

students have access to mountains and rivers, village culture, and living history—with Huguenot Street, America’s oldest street, just down the road. The school’s environment for learning has also been intentionally designed to have just as much beauty, history, and inspiration as its surroundings. “The building itself is a historic Victorian mansion built in 1887 with meticulously maintained original wood details. Natural materials such as silk, wool, wood, and beeswax are used and displayed throughout the classrooms,” DewitteKuyl says. “When new families tour the school, they always say how warm and welcoming it is here; that it feels like a home.” For families interested in learning more, Mountain Laurel is hosting an open house on November 18 from 10am to 12pm. Parents can meet teachers, view samples of student work, and enjoy an enchanting puppet show. The school will also be hosting two beloved annual events that are open to the public. The annual clothing sale on November 12, a fundraiser for the third-grade class to visit a working farm, offers gently used clothes and toys for sale. The Winter Gift Making Fair on December 10 is a whole-family event where guests can make their own holiday gifts, purchase crafts made by students and parents, try candle-dipping, and more. Mountainlaurel.org Produced by Chronogram Media Branded Content Studio.

community pages

New Paltz Pop-Up

Portraits by David McIntyre Sylvia Zuniga Ostrander, owner of Androgyny New Paltz with Thumper and Mimi-Chi

On September 30, Chronogram held a community portrait shoot at Water Street Market in New Paltz. The day started out rainy and dreary but with the help of the indefatigueable local residents, we turned the day into a triumph! Thanks to Walter Marquez and Water Street Market for hosting the shoot. Thanks as well to Grazery for the sandwiches, Mudd Puddle for the coffee, and Yard Owl for the cold beverages.

Join us for the November issue launch party at the Lemon Squeeze, 107 Main Street, on Wednesday, November 1 from 5 to 7:30pm.

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM COMMUNITY PAGES 49

Top row: Walter Marquez, Manager at Water Street Market and Cosmo Lizzi, owner of Antiques Barn at Water Street Market; Stacie Flint, artist; Alexia L. Brown and Kenneth Barrett, RoseBud Entity Cannabis Consulting; Judy Gonzalez, vintage clothing dealer. Middle row: Howie Slotnick, Slotnick Signs & Designs; Jeanine Stoddard, Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty; Azana Campbell, student and Bianca Liebmann, student; Christiana Fortune-Reader, SUNY New Paltz Music Professor with Kiefer and Juniper. Bottom row: Xiomara Bonano, Gilberto Camacho, Maria Camacho, and Melissa Camacho; Jim O’Dowd, environmental activist; Johanna Herget, owner of Five Leaves Acupuncture; David Sterman, financial planner; Phoenix R. Kawamoto, Town of New Paltz Community Education Coordinator. Opposite, top row: Susan Slotnick, dancer, painter, and writer; Richard Librizzi, Domus Studios Architecture; Katherine CerinoJones and Rabbi Adam Cerino-Jones, Jewish Congregation of New Paltz; Mathew Swerdloff, Maya Gold Foundation; Anna Davydov, graduate assistant and Adina Gutierrez, therapist. Middle row: Rosemary Saldan-Pawson, Gail Herman, Nadine Thomas, Lucinda Ho, New Paltz Gardens for Nutrition; Heather Hammond, regulatory labeling director; Gabriela Mayr, registered nurse; Donna Rowan, Keira Rowan, and Cameron Hodge. Bottom row: James Van Alstine, Woodstock Herbal Products with Victoria and Vincent; Julian Baker, Logan Brown, Kael Torres-Diaz, and Gala Dixey of JB’s House of Music; Wendy Toman, Second Nature Refillery, with Frisco.

50 COMMUNITY PAGES 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM COMMUNITY PAGES 51

Top row: Justin Blejer, Blejer Architecture, with Ana; Marley Ihne, Sophie PopowichIhne, Justin Ihne, Rowan Ihne, and Ethan Ihne with Ollie; Ryan McClintock, chef at Runa. Middle row: Max Kempler, student with Peter Kempler, retired; Sunshine Guardino, senior sales associate at Maglyn’s Dream and Raven Bayer-Sela, Rhino Records; Alexandria Wojcik, Village of New Paltz Deputy Mayor; Brian Schiazza, digital communications manager with mom Carol. Bottom row: Michelle Walsh, Mudd Puddle Cafe/Yard Owl Beer; Jemma Schwartz, clinical social worker; Lindsey Ercolino, Stevens Real Estate.

52 COMMUNITY PAGES 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

Top row: Bianca Tanis, special education teacher; Harley DiNardo, owner of Hairrakesh Salon; Lori Ruth Federman, Alexandra Voukitchevitch, and Elise Gold of Wellness Embodied; Casey O’Connell, communications specialist and Cody Schatzle, graphic/web designer. Middle row: Angelo Massari, physician’s assistant and Mollie Keller, marketing associate, with Maeby; George Fischer, retired IBM engineer and Cami Fischer, graphic illustrator; Svetlana Kaiz, Owen Smith, and Julie Brown; David, Jenna, and Dima Zelenetz. Bottom row: Juliana Freiberg, student and Michael Grosso, video editor for Spectrum News; Grace Molenda, writer.

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM COMMUNITY PAGES 53

Top row: Michael Frank, journalist; Alexandra Voukitchevitch, psychotherapist, with Vera Victoria Michaela Johnston, Nina Grace Johnston, and Alexander Miles Johnston. Bottom row: Kate Johnson, graphic designer; Hevin Sonirth, visual artist.

54 COMMUNITY PAGES 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

first person

A Dot on a Ripped Road Map, 50 Years Later By Steve Lewis

udget cut from my teaching job at the University, Patti and I sold our house on the east side of Milwaukee, loaded both kids, three dogs, and two cats in a tricked-out Dodge Tradesman van and headed east to New Hope, Pennsylvania in 1973. Flush with cash from the sale of the house and an ascendant vision of ourselves leading some ‘70s back-to-the-land caravan, we ran out of hope right away. I’m embarrassed to say now that we lit out without first checking real estate listings back east. Turned out that $23,000 would barely buy a falling down barn in tony New Hope. Young and undaunted, we spread a ripped Rand-McNally road map across the sloped hood of the van and eyed New Paltz an “upstate” college town I’d heard about. And several hours later, driving down the comfortably frayed-at-the-edges Main Street, we glanced at each other, shrugged, and silently agreed we could probably hang here for a while, maybe even a few years. This was a real town. A little gritty. Not Currier and Ives cute like New Hope. Not a faux hipster haven like Sedona or Brattleboro. A real town with real people, farmers, IBMers, truck drivers, rednecks, academics, hippies, beatniks who arrived in the 60s and never left. We crossed the rusted steel bridge over the Wallkill River, cornfields and hayfields flanking the country road ahead, the Shawangunk ridge and Mohonk tower looming over it all…and instantly knew we could raise our kids here for a while, let the dogs run free, walk in the woods, have goats and ducks in the backyard. A place I could continue my aborted teaching career, the place where I’d write the next Great American Novel. Then, of course, we’d move on. Of course, you know where this is going. And, of course, we did not. We bought a 200-year-old brick house on Coffey Road—just down the lane from the Coffey ladies’ small dairy farm—and settled in. Purchased a riding mower for our two acres. Took the milk

can up the road to Johnson’s farm to buy raw milk. Listened to the sump pump drain the basement four or five times a year when the river flooded. Added baby number three, Addie, in 1974; joined the local Rescue Squad; wrote an unpublishable novel; got a job at a local community college; Patti opened a children’s store in town. And by 1979 we had filled up the sweet brick house off Springtown Road with two more kids, Clover and Danny, born in the yellow wallpapered bedroom upstairs. Which apparently was the cue to get moving again, time to pack up and leave. No reason, it was just time. 1979. Maybe someplace warmer, a place where I didn’t have to climb down into the stone well to unfreeze the pipe. There were weekend fact-finding trips to Chapel Hill, Charlottesville, Wilmington, NC, over the next few years, but nothing ever felt homier or easier on the spirit than this frayed-at-edges college town. So we stayed around just a while longer, built a house big enough for five kids in the middle of the woods a mile up the road. Put up a tree house between some pines. Nailed together a bus stop shelter out of rough-cut wood out on the road. Constructed a pole barn and then a gazebo … and yes, surprise-no surprise, over the next three years welcomed two more kids into our increasingly complicated, unplanned, apparently unplannable lives. At some point, we realized we were dug in, knee deep in the shale and clay, though it’s still not clear when it happened, or who—or what—had been doing the digging. This fall we will have lived in New Paltz for 50 years. So long that we’ve known the Town Judge and County Commissioner of Jurors since they were on the same nine-year-old little league team with our oldest son, Cael; the Chief of Police since he was in high school with our oldest daughter, Nancy; the Ulster BOCES Superintendent of Schools since he was in kindergarten with our daughter Clover. The mayor’s brother played center forward on my little league soccer team. Addie’s friend since 3rd grade is now Nancy’s doctor.

And if that’s not enough, four of my kids married people they met in school. One, Clover, married the 97-pound boy she first dated in 8th grade, Despite all the changes wrought over decades by the gentrification carpetbaggers, this is still a real small town, not some BS Hallmark creation or a fictional village concocted by some angry country singer drunk on the Trump Kool-Aid. The farmers, IBMers, truck drivers, rednecks, academics, hipsters, weekenders I run into at the Bakery or at the post office or walking along our dead-end road, still pretty much abide each other in a kind of edgy working harmony. And the spectacular view I still see crossing the Wallkill River every day, hayfields and cornfields on the other side, the Mohonk Tower up on the ridge, is pretty much the exact scene that Patti and I saw through the dirty windshield of that Dodge van when we first drove through town. Achingly beautiful. And just as it was in ’73, there are still tractors slowing me down on Springtown Road as I head home into the woods where I can still take a breath, look out any window and see bears, foxes, coyotes, deer, fisher cats…wandering freely across the yard. So yeah, we’re dug in. In fact, we’re so dug in after 50 years, that although we find ourselves at the precipice of being too old to keep up—much less afford—this rather homey (read: well-lived-in) seven-bedroom home with a sweeping front porch in the middle of 20 acres of woods, Patti and I decided recently that rather than sell—clearly the sanest next move, financially and otherwise—we’d rather go broke than move away. As Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim told us, so it goes. We simply can’t find it in ourselves to turn away from this sweet and not-so-sweet small town. It’s tempting to say something schmaltzy and predictable here about leaving the place where our kids grew up, but that’s not our story to tell. For Patti and me, New Paltz is that serendipitous dot on a ripped roadmap that has somehow taken root in our DNA. The place where we will live out our lives in ways we never imagined for ourselves.

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM COMMUNITY PAGES 55

music

Maya Beiser Infinite Bach (Islandia Music)

Did the world really need yet another recording of Bach’s cello suites? Judging by Maya Beiser’s new take on them as reflected on Infinite Bach, the answer is a definite yes. Beiser’s three-CD set of Bach’s six suites for solo cello is at once a staggering performance and a technological wonder, capturing her live performance as well as the acoustical nuances in overtones, reflections, and reverberations that lend the sound a multidimensional, breathy quality—a “spatial audio mix.” But all this technology would not amount to a hill of beans if Beiser—who recorded the album in a barn studio at her Berkshires home with the assistance of engineer and sound mixer Dave Cook of Saugerties—had not brought something new and personal to the music, which, as one

Michael Bisio/ Timothy Hill Inside Voice/Outside Voice (Origin Records)

The title of this heart-stopping collaboration by Gloversville bassist Michael Bisio (Matthew Shipp Trio) and Beacon vocalist and acoustic guitarist Timothy Hill is rich in layered meaning. Recorded in one continuous take—with no edits or pauses— this sublime set takes its sweet, soft time meandering through jazz standards (Coleman’s “Law Years,” Coltrane’s “Wise One”), Great American Songbook ballads (Cahn and Styne’s “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” Coots and Lewis’s “For All We Know”) and spontaneous originals, with everything moving freely and naturally between structure and improvisation—inside and outside. “[H]is expressive touch is distinctive,” observes the New York Times of Bisio’s deft technique, which is on glorious display in the solo “Bridge,” while Hill’s vocalizing draws on Chet Baker and the Tuvan and Hindustani styles he’s studied. Carve out a quiet moment and, like the duo suggests, listen to this album in one sitting. You’ll be deeply rewarded. —Peter Aaron

Open Book Leaning In (Independent)

Serene and quietly compelling, you’d swear Open Book’s final long-player, the appropriately titled Leaning In, was an acoustic record—that is, until you realize that the plethora of instruments and sounds (including Lloyd Maines’s perfect pedal steel) swirling around behind the gossamer blend of Michele and the late Rick Gedney’s voices are made with electric instruments. That’s when you might search for Daniel Lanois’s name in the production credits—but you wouldn’t find it: Instead, that ethereal honor goes to Austin’s Billy Masters. Not just because of a song title like “January Knows,” Leaning In, perhaps as a result of its being recorded during the pandemic, feels like a cool-weather record, perfect for frosty Hudson Valley mornings and long, dark nights in the couple’s hometown of Beacon (see the haunting, Cheri Knight-like “Windows”). While the album is, thankfully, not as twee, nor obviously as British, at moments it has certain sonic similarities to Mike and Sally Oldfield’s The Sallyangie—and what could be wrong with that?

sound check Ryan Jewel Each month here we visit with a member of the community to find out what music they’ve been digging. Since I’m often pretty busy working with different artists on recording sessions and live gigs, the majority of my music-listening time is actually in preparation for upcoming gigs or things that I’m absorbing for my own daily practice habits. That being said, I’m constantly getting excited and inspired by different music and DO just listen for fun, especially on drives. It’s always changing, day to day. One of my biggest joys is diving deep into different producers and session musicians that were behind the scenes to bring records to life. Since I’m a drummer first, lately I’ve been going especially deep into an era of late ’70s R&B and pop session drummers like Steve Ferrone, Jeff Porcaro, James Gadson, Larrie Londin, and Ricky Lawson. Example song: Chaka Kahn’s Whatcha Gonna Do for Me. I just hung out and jammed with a personal hero, engineer and dub legend Scientist, so I’ve been reinspired and revisiting so much of his singular style and creative catalog, like Scientific Dub. I sometimes do some projects composing and scoring for film, so I sometimes go into periods of

56 MUSIC 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

would expect from this globally recognized virtuoso (a cofounder of the Bang on a Can All-Stars who has recorded works by the likes of Philip Glass, David Bowie, Tan Dun, Steve Reich, Nirvana, and Howlin’ Wolf), she does. This is not another austere, mathematical rendition of what Bach put to paper, but rather a highly personal, soulful, impassioned rendition of the work. Beiser successfully navigates the divide between rigorous classical approach and her avant-garde leanings. While she breathes new life into it, Bach’s “text” is never toyed with, because Beiser is a fervent believer that Bach’s genius opens the door to “endless interpretation,” or, as the title suggests, “infinite Bach.” —Seth Rogovoy

—Michael Eck listening to film/TV scores. Lately some favorite composers I’ve been listening to are Jerry Goldsmith (his score for 1968’s Planet of the Apes), Hildur Guonadottir, Johnny Greenwood, Terence Blanchard, Jon Brion, Elisabeth Lutyens, Vangelis, and Bernard Herrmann. In the fall I end up listening to a bit more acoustic music, country, and Americana. New music from Denitia (Highways), Anna St. Louis, and classics from Lucinda Williams have been on heavy rotation. For years I spent a lot of time working with extended techniques, electro-acoustic improvisation, and musique concrete-style composition, recording sounds and using tape machines as an instrument and the medium. I’ve slowed down from that music the past couple of years, but I’m starting to get the desire to start again, and these are two brand-new tape-centric albums I enjoy: Graham Lambkin’s Aphorisms and Refract by BlankFor. ms, Jason Moran, and Marcus Gilmore. Ryan Jewell is a Hudson-based drummer and multiinstrumentalist, composer, educator who has worked with Ryley Walker, Nels Cline, Andrew Bird, Marshall Allen, and many others.

books

The Mind-Body Guide to the Twelve Steps Nina Pick NORTH ATLANTIC BOOKS, 2023, $18.95

The Mind-Body Guide to the Twelve Steps offers a comprehensive approach to recovery. Pick, an educator who previously worked as a counselor at a Waldorf School in Ghent, employs insights from various disciplines. Attachment theory, polyvagal theory, somatics, and spirituality all work together to transform the Twelve Step practice into a profound journey of soul recovery. In each chapter, you’ll find actionable steps for personal growth, along with additional recommendations for practice, illuminating the roots of trauma and addiction as mechanisms used for self-preservation against pain. No Last Words Tara Kelly EASTOVER PRESS LLC, 2023, $19.99

Robert Willis was more than just a man; he was a sailor, a father, a restauranteur, and a lover of life, all wrapped up in the struggle of alcoholism. In Millbrookbased author Tara Kelly’s poignant memoir, she paints a vivid picture of her life alongside Willis, from wedding toasts and boating trips to rehab and relapse. This couple’s luxurious lifestyle masked the struggles of not just financial strain and alcoholism, but also the quest for self-control and sobriety. Kelly’s memoir is an honest exploration of two intertwined lives that is never judgmental, free from any desire to settle old scores. Overlook: A Rock and Roll Fable Paul Smart RECITAL PUBLISHING, 2023, $15

Overlook will resonate with those seeking to unravel the mysteries of music, art, and the human spirit. Author Paul Smart pulls from decades of experience as a Catskills journalist to tell the tale of a fictionalized version of legendary member of The Band Richard Manuel. When Manuel returns to his beloved home in Woodstock, he crosses paths with Klokko, a solitary mountain man on his own quest for meaning beyond the music that has always been his refuge. In this captivating exploration of musical legacy, Smart delves deep into the enigmatic world of intuitive talent and artistic creation. Disavowals: A Study in Perspective Donald Anderson CKBOOKS PUBLISHING, 2023, $13.99

On a picturesque summer weekend in the Hudson Valley we’re introduced to a web of intricate relationships centered around psychologist Marguerite Ariston and her upcoming third marriage. Anderson’s narrative unfolds with promises made and promises broken, as characters grapple with their emotions and connections to Marguerite and each other. Key figures include Marguerite’s estranged parents, her reclusive halfbrother, a teenage hitchhiker, her intended spouse, and an unexpected figure in the mix: enter Babette, a cigarsmoking midwife, who further complicates the intricate dynamics. This tale weaves together a multitude of viewpoints and possibilities to challenge our perceptions and highlight the intricate dance of human connection. My Life as a Prayer: A Multifaith Memoir Elizabeth Cunningham MONKFISH BOOK PUBLISHING, 2023, $18.95

Hudson Valley-based author Elizabeth Cunningham is best known for The Maeve Chronicles, a series of award winning novels about a Celtic Mary Magdalen. In My Life as a Prayer, Cunningham enters the realm of nonfiction with a reflective journey about faith and the ever-evolving questions that shape it. As the daughter of an Episcopal priest, Cunningham’s spiritual odyssey encompasses an expansive range of religious experiences, from childhood liturgy to Quaker meetings, interfaith ministry, and even hermitage in her own backyard. Throughout this personal narrative, Cunningham gracefully intertwines prose with poetry, prayers, and intimate journal entries to illustrate what it means to live life as a prayer. —Ryan Keegan

Edenville

Sam Rebelein

WILLIAM MORROW, 2023, $30

When we meet Campbell and Quinn, they’re inhabiting their “first together apartment” in Park Slope, and their lives are already a bit off-center. Campbell’s a published novelist whose one success came to him in a nightmare, but he’s having a rough time finding fresh inspiration while tutoring ungrateful high schoolers. Quinn’s slinging drinks at the Red Yard, so named because the original lady of the house hacked her husband into shreds there; her portrait hangs on the tavern’s wall. Quinn is fine with this, less fond of the fact that Campbell is a regular at the horror-themed open mic, where he reads the same passage from his single triumph, The Shattered Man, over and over. Quinn is sorta done with Campbell, who’s dismissive and full of himself, but too unsure of her own abilities to leave. Their occasional good moments tend to happen over Indian takeout and horror movies. Given this mutual failure to launch, it’s no surprise that Cam is vulnerable to the blandishments of a mysterious stranger who shows up at the Yard and claims to be a huge fan. She’s there to offer him a writer’s residency at Edenville College, located about three hours upstate. Quinn, who grew up near Edenville, is pretty sure this is a bad idea but allows her intuition to be overruled by Cam’s excitement at being taken seriously. What they don’t fully understand is that something on this campus is horribly wrong. In lesser hands, this could be the setup for a forgettable piece of genre fiction. But debut novelist Rebelein, a Vassar grad and Poughkeepsie resident, crafts an atmospheric and wildly imaginative adventure in which something cosmically rotten infests not just the college’s creative writing department but the entire county surrounding it. Renfield County’s exact geographic location is indistinct—it’s near the Taconic but also in Catskills foothills called the Billowhills—and exactly what’s so wrong with it is equally obscure at first. There are bad stories under every rock and a string of mysterious disappearances nearly a century long; locals warn their kids away, and Quinn’s own childhood bestie vanished the night that the pair dared to drive up Billows Road to take a peek into Renfield. Despite the pastoral vibes of the little old ladies running the candy store, the library and seemingly everything else, darkness rules. Cam, whose overarching ego got them into this mess, soon learns that he’s been recruited because his novel rings alarmingly true to life for a rogue faction among the creative writing faculty who are determined to open a portal to other worlds. Still, he’s not ready to turn and run, so vulnerable to their sense of his importance that he won’t turn tail even after his first spot at the campus coffeehouse mic, when he’s informed that his work mirrors a famous case of Renfield County familicide and he’s taken into the tunnels under the campus and inducted into the portal-opening project. Quinn, meanwhile, left to her own devices, finds the woods inhospitable and the little old ladies distinctly odd, especially after she realizes that the community theater’s most beloved staple is an annual reenactment of that same horrific tragedy. She holds out hope that she may somehow be able to rescue Cam, and uncover the truth of what befell her friend Celeste. The rancid evil of Renfield County is salted with just enough Catskills to ring true. The history of lumbering and quarrying, the recycled Colonials and barns, the bulletin boards with missing posters amid notices of “piano lessons and plumbing services” evoke an ungentrified sense of place that a casual visitor might not recognize but a local might find nostalgic—were it not for the demonic forces turning Rip Van Winkle’s long dream into nightmare fuel. The campus seems rather ordinary on its surface—lots of venerable brick, a glassy science building covered in solar panels, loitering students—but even a swath of sunflowers has a sinister feel, and the English department—subtly hilarious in spots to anyone familiar with academic mores and power struggles—puts the horrific fun in dysfunctional. As Renfield County’s scabs are rapidly ripped loose and the infected blood flows every which way, Rebelein is a fearless guide, ratcheting up the tension, salting it with humor. Lovers of horror will lap it all up, while finding plentiful grist for the philosophical mill among its twists and turns. —Anne Pyburn Craig 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM BOOKS 57

poetry

Understudy The lamp post rolls my shadow flat along the walk: The ghost who wants to be me, the ghost who’s where I’m not. She almost got the part, dancing, now, on the nether-stage, imitating all that I do: She studies my jaw, my bones, my lines, but I’ve yet to break a leg, her anguish spreading like glue at my feet. She just won’t quit: It’s a wonder. She’ll stick with me through thick & thin— her proud pantomime egging me on, haunting all the places that I’ve been & not been—howling right on through my old-age. But she’ll finally have her chance to shine when she dances on my grave, the Understudy who became the Star— the Steady One gone under. —Marlene Tartaglione Wings of the Beast Because it is this way With us Each a separate wing Dipped in honey and vinegar On either side of the beast aloft Panicking when the other wing Stops its flapping Too dazzled by sun of self To restrain ourselves To learn whisper glide Sustained notes easy In mercury sky Sweet with abstinence Matchless compassion Our lives braided together By flight Heightened fear aloft Looking down Beat down Tread upon Souls I try to get To your side But the beast plunges When we’re in total agreement —Ethan Sirotko

EDITED BY Phillip X Levine

Dear Helen (Letter in the Pocket of a Soldier) Wish I could give these words to you With my own hand or not have to give Them at all but some part of me has got To come home to you some leftover to Keep I’m sorry this has to be true but We are all just dust that learned to dance And a measure of stars in motion and I Remember you despite it I remembered you The moment your eyes met mine that first Time I walked you home in the snow and You were the moon so steady so serene Is there meaning does it matter I knew I remembered you from no man’s land Your ivory face bent low over me if you Read this believe me it happened just as I Remembered you in the winter sky and my Brief plain purpose to place you there. —Emily Murnane Massacre To the innocent Israelis And to this distracted world, The massacre seemed To come out of nowhere. But it didn’t. We just weren’t paying attention. It came out of years of misery, Years of a hopeless existence In an open-air penitentiary, Where the choices are between Hate or resignation; Where grief and despair Are not choices, But requirements. My own grief-filled heart Weeps for the Gazans, Pawns in Hamas’s hell; Weeps for the Israelis, Pawns in Netanyahu’s greed; Weeps for our world And its sinful inattention. Now, attention must be paid. I just pray That the payment— In more years of squalor, In the lost lives of innocents, In the strangling ropes of grief— Is not another massacre. —Tom Cherwin

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Planning Board Secretary Sees All The twins will be fine on the floor for an hour with a lunar module so that I can find the map of Vail Farm, the one drawn by the County not the Conservancy. The former is all borders, and numbers, the latter, just fields as if drawn by someone crawling on his belly, feeling the ground all the way. If the twins don’t get into a fight, I’ll find the map in one of the seven stacks of old farms or maybe a cabinet drawer too heavy for me to open alone, misfiled long ago, an error that still won’t save it. I stand at the edge of the room as if on the surface of the moon, my children playing in moondirt, and all I have to do is find proof of an old man’s memory and his work so he can sell it all off and go south leaving his children who love every rock alone to find their own ways. It’s not his fault it’s the economy. From the moon, I can see them all standing together down in their north field. The map I find will scatter them, and if they’re like the others they’ll start to drink and wreck twenty years building roads through the old alfalfa for the rich man who is buying it, who will never know what it feels like to crawl on his belly, flip over and lie down on his own ground to look for the man in the moon. —Darrah Cloud Winter XII I am dreadful. My skies, blank and bird-less. Blueness creeps and peels your lips like old paint. Watch as my dour temperament elongates Black moods of night, stiffens sky to starless, Sneers down from the moon. I’ll choke and harden Dirt, water, and trees. My fingers, bayonets; Each snowflake dripped from them, my creations. I give them to you. I am not heartless. Yet how you hate. How you injure my artistry. Only I can individualize snowflakes. Are you jealous? Is my misery apparent? I see what you see, a monstrosity. My bitterness whips, cracks, retaliates; You are the child, and I am the parent. —Jennifer Wise

Calving The captain was surprised. He had never seen the great crumbling icecap shear itself into the inlet with such force and urgency. We, itinerant travelers on a tourist boat, had no working knowledge of glacier-dynamics, no day-to-day experience, no point of reference beyond what we had seen on documentaries and in the icy froth that remained at the bottoms of our cocktail glasses. For us in our geologic infancy, the calving, the ice plunging from the shelf into the bay, transforming into bergs, could have been as common an occurrence as an autumn spectacle —ochre leaves flowing off October aspen— a perennial blessing, not an irregular and ominous indicator of catastrophic changes. We were dancing partygoers on a sinking ship. We cheered on each successive explosion, each ancient ice block careening off the precipice, each gladiator, and each new victim. We were agog, intoxicated by the immensity of what we were witnessing, while at the same time being struck by the duality of words and matter. Traveling back to a June dairy barn, a one thousand-pound blue-ribbon Holstein in labor, a veterinarian up to his shoulders in uterus, birthing-chains secured around a breached-fetus, the powerful muscle-walls of the mother exhausted and failing, a mass of ice finally breaks free, still born, and begins to dissolve in the warming tide. The bloodied cow rises, the thermally expanding sea rises, to her own forgiveness, her own baptism, as we follow. —Paul Clemente

the scarecrow groaned dismally a thin mist was threading around the cornstalks, slowly deciding its resting place oh how tiresome this is, said the scarecrow to stand here, year after year, staring at this vegetable i am certain that there must be more beyond the hills i see i have dreamt of twisted gray corridors winding up tall towers with echoes of books shutting and chains clanking against the walls but I’ve not been there sometimes the spiced wind will bring the smells of murky water lazing in lonesome pools and scents of blood stained driftwood and perfumed lace, perhaps a fevered kiss blown to a white brow within the wind’s howl i have heard fires sputtering out spells and the hooves of thousands of horses running across the golden lined clouds but I’ve not seen them the crows scoff at my stationary position and gossip about recent traffic within their gray sky i swear i have heard some lone artist in an attic long forgot, play old ballads on a violin that has seen mountain tops with bells on them bells that rang and rang across the globe, but have since retired sometimes children run through my fields but are gone with the rain clouds i wish someone would read to me, even an advertisement would suffice the straws entwined underneath my cloth figure are restless like the chattering leaves i wish they would resign to this fate and daydream as i do i imagine when my final day is nigh i will slowly disintegrate onto this wooden pole my straws will migrate down into the earth, blending with the soil i will grow with the corn and look to the sun’s face but i will never venture beyond —Katrina Steier

Hungry Sparrow

From the Shadow

A woman lets down her black hair, and darkness falls over my shoulders.

Dark. Snow. Outside, looking in a window, There is light Warmth Food People. The snow is deep. The way is dangerous. But I ask, Would you know That light within, The warmth The food Were it not for me?

I kiss her as if I love her with my eyes closed and invite the sparrows in the gutters to sleep here, to fill the small gaps between her body and mine,

Full submission guidelines: Chronogram.com/submissions

to rush the dawn with their mournful brown beaks, to translate this sorrow into song. —Russell Karrick

—Augusta Ogden

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM POETRY 59

Meet your true neighbors.

We know some neighbors you’ve never met: the statues, abstract portraits, and curious ﬁgures of the Hudson Valley. Here, you’ll ﬁnd the most unexpected but exceptional cast of characters at Magazzino Italian Art, Storm King Art Center, Dia Beacon, Art Omi, The Dorsky, and The Loeb. And with the Bloomberg Connects app, you’ll get information about them through behind-the-scenes tours, audio, artist interviews, curated videos, and more in the palm of your hand. Access these organizations and hundreds more anytime, anywhere—for free. Download now. You never know what—or who you’ll discover next.

Storm King Art Center, Zhang Huan, Three Legged Buddha, 2007 © Zhang Huan Studio, Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo by Jerry L. Thompson

60 FEATURE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS Hot Water Solutions Gateway Hudson Valley

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

To commemorate our 30th anniversary, we’ve rummaged through the archives and picked out some choice bits to share from all 351 issues of the magazine, from the ridiculous (misspelling Febuary on the cover of the February ’97 issue) to the sublime (Alex Grey’s painting Praying, which appeared on the cover of the November ‘99 issue). Making this magazine over the past 30 years has been a labor of love and a labor of labor as well as a deep privilege. Thanks for reading Chronogram through all its permutations. Our evolution continues.

30 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM FEATURE 61

1993

“What qualified us to start a magazine? Nothing much other than the hubris and daring of youth.” —Jason Stern, Chronogram cofounder

So It Begins Chronogram lauched as a bimonthly, calendar-driven publication with an October/November issue. Flip-book format (think Mad Libs), black and white, and 72 and 86 pages respectively. The two issues were mostly filled with calendar listings, including a performance of “The Pirates of Penzance” by the Hudson Valley Gilbert and Sullivan Society at the Bardavon Opera House, a concert by the Fighting McKenzies at the Rhinecliff Hotel, and a Wiccan Tradition and Ritual workshop with Rose St. Hilare at the Alternative Concept Center.

Editorial Stirrings There were also a handful of articles: Film critic Jermiah Horrigan took a trip to the video store and recommended Citizen Kane; Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O’Sullivan in Tarzan and His Mate; and Anthony Minghella’s Truly, Madly, Deeply, starring the “radiantly homely Juliet Stevenson.” Joseph Campbell scholar Stephen Larsen reflected on the role of the shaman in society. There was also a meditation on backyard fauna, “The Return of the Wild Turkeys,” by Steve Lewis, who also contributed an essay for this issue (p. 55).

A New Age Magazine

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1993

Jane Sanders Untitled illustration Art Director: Amara Projansky

1994

Cofounder Amara Projansky remembers the magazine’s birth this way: “When Jason suggested we start a New Age magazine, I let the idea settle in me for a minute. I liked magazines, and I liked reading, and I liked the area, and I even liked thoughtful, New Age kind of stuff. But I realized it was going to need more content than that—we should include arts and culture as well as the spiritual. We focused the magazine on helping people enjoy the area as much as we did.”

“The reason we started Chronogram: To seek out the hidden cultural gems of the Hudson Valley, and make them known to all who would have an interest. To serve the little guys who don’t have the resources to spread their own word.”

Art & Accessibility

—From an unsigned “Statement of Purpose” printed in the August issue

A Night in June

Todd Paul, who would go on to serve as arts editor and contribute to the magazine for over a decade, profiled nontraditional art spaces in the region in the February/March issue: “One of the uplifting aspects of life in the Hudson Valley is that you don’t have to go to a gallery to find art,” Paul wrote. “There is a plethora of semi-gallery, nongallery, restaurant, and storefront venues showing quality work—work which is often more accessible than that carried by the old, established galleries.” One artist featured in the piece, Joel Griffith, would provide three covers for Chronogram.

A Change in Tempo After three bimonthly issues and a warm reception from readers and advertisers, the magazine switches to a monthly publication schedule with the April issue, which featured a profile of ska band Perfect Thyroid.

Calendar listings continued to make up the bulk of the magazine’s content. On Friday, June 17, readers’ choices of events included a Freestyle Frolic dance in Rosendale, George Thorogood and the Destroyers at the Chance, Commander Cody at Tinker Street Cafe, and “Fifth of July” at Shadowland Theater.

Cultural Footing SEPTEMBER 1994

Keith Haring From the “Lightbulb” series oil on canvas Art Director: Amara Projansky

62 FEATURE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

The magazine really began to find its footing with its cultural coverage, previewing performances by notable local artists like Ed Sanders and the Fugs, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Claudia Bruce, Arm-ofthe-Sea Theater, and Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.

Chronogram Personals In the February issue, Chronogram Personals launched. Readers were encouraged to send in 40-word listings “saying anything you want about yourself and the person you’d like to meet.” Listings— about two dozen—were printed in the March issue, including this listing from a 40-year-old administrator from Hopewell Junction: “To be honest, without being egotistical, this tall, Italian, handsome, physically fit, romantic, dashing and charming man longs to meet a woman whose beauty and charms he can complement.”

Debut of Poetry Poetry was featured for the first time in the May issue, including Frances Donovan’s “Why Newt Gingrich and the Selfish Right Should Be Impeached.” To date, Chronogram has published over 3,000 poems.

Spill the Wine In a review of Spanky’s, a Cajun restaurant in Poughkeepsie, our reviewer Megan Park looked favorably on the affordable wines: “We chose a pleasant ’93 Beaujolais, reasonably priced at $10 a bottle.”

“Everything that’s present in the audible environment is part of the performance.”

1995

—Pauline Oliveros From a profile of the legendary composer and Kingston resident published in the April issue

Cover Lines Our brief dalliance with cover lines began in March 1995 and continued through November 1998 when we banished any type other than our logo on the cover to better showcase the art featured there.

NOVEMBER 1995

Rosel Grassman Bodypainting photograph Art Director: Amara Projansky

Missing Issue No January issue was ever printed. It is rumored that the printer was unhappy about tardy bill payment. The February issue featured a format switch to a slightly larger 5 1/2” x 10 1/2” digest size with a saddle-stitch binding.

First Mag on the Moon In April, Chronongram.com was launched. In the November issue, an article titled “Web Wanderings” by a writer going by the name of Guide Web opened with this sentence: “If you don’t know what the World Wide Web (WWW) is by now (or don’t want to know), then you may as well skip off to the next article in this magazine.” Most contributors were still faxing in their articles in 1996.

The War on the War on Drugs The first overtly political article to appear in the magazine— “Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The War on Minimum Mandatory Drug Sentencing” by David Gracer—was published in April.

Growing Pains A note of apology ran in the December issue, quoted here in its entirety: “Chronogram apologizes for the sometimes inappropriate humor printed last month in these pages and we regret any inconvenience caused to the artists and organizations involved, especially Stephen Busch, R&F Encaustics, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Camerata Chorale, Albert J. Blodgett, Cuneen-Hackett Cultural Center, and the SUNY New Paltz School of Fine and Performing Arts.”

“Sooner or later, one of these days, you will realize yourself. You will realize what the Buddha realized, and when you do—acknowledge it, throw it away, and keep going. This Dharma is boundless. It has no edges. Don’t create any edges with anything you realize. Most important of all: don’t put another head on top of the one you already have.”

1996

—John Daido Loori From “A Koan of the Way of Reality” by the abbot of the Zen Mountain Monastery FEBRUARY 1996

Mary Frank Desert Quartet: An Erotic Landscape monoprint Art Director: Amara Projansky

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM FEATURE 63

1997

“Keep up the guts. The United States is built on a tilt and every loose marble rolls into the Hudson Valley.” —Norman Schiffman From a Letter to the Editor in the February issue

High Esteem The January issue held the first installment of Jason Stern’s Esteemed Reader column, excerpts of which were published as the 2010 book Learning to Be Human. An excerpt: “We have forged another installment, deep in the drunken nights of December, which heralds the darkest days. We labored long, burning away the dross of stupefaction, and again we glimpsed the secret dimension.”

A Big Boo-Boo The word February was misspelled (“Febuary”) on the cover of the February issue. It was also the first time Letters to the Editor were printed, including the following anti-mountain biking screed by Richard Leavitt: “This article [on mountain biking in the June ‘96 issue] is disgusting and vicious. The style is gushy, pretentious, and inflated. The phony mysticism is banal and silly. Considering Chronogram’s pretensions to ‘spirituality,’ this is a monstrous incongruity. And by dressing things up in phony mysticism it encourages even more people to go out and tear up the trails, annoy people who walk, frighten animals, and destroy plants.”

Christmas Special

JANUARY 1997

Pahari (possibly from a Kangra workshop) Krishna riding a composite elephant gouache on paper Art Director: Amara Projansky

1998

“To pay taxes for art and war, people seem to feel, is bad enough; to have to experience them firsthand is insufferable, often fatal. Even among artists, tolerance for art not their own is marginal. How many poets choose to read poetry, over say, going to a Giant’s game?”

Theme Issues

—Todd Paul

Best Of the Mid-Hudson Valley

From “Why Art?” in the September issue

JULY 1998

Joel Griffith The Re-emergence of My True Nature wood, found objects, acrylic Art Director: Molly Rubin

64 FEATURE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

In December, we published “Christmas Special,” Dennis Doherty’s meditation on the holidays: “The way it should be. I actually lived the idyllic Christmas seasons of greeting cards, the Never Never Land nostalgia of Hollywood stories. I could show you the preserved celluloid eight-millimeter procession of one waggy Labrador and eight children, our cheeks red and round as sentiment itself.”

We tinkered with theme issues in ‘98, likely influenced by The Sun magazine and the recently launched radio show “This American Life,” which explores issues via a single theme each episode. Themes included sex, death, animals, work, health, travel, and religion.

Roswell Rudd Profile In April, Todd Paul profiled legendary jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd (1935-2017), who had this to say: “You blow in this end of the trombone, and sound comes out the other end and disrupts the cosmos.”

Community Supported Agriculture Thomas Wanning reported on the efforts of Dan Guenther, the director of Phillies Bridge Farm Project, one of the earliest community supported agriculture farms in the region. Today there are nearly 80 CSA farms in the Hudson Valley.

We published our first “Best of the Mid-Hudson Valley” issue in September, having invited our readers over the previous months to take a survey printed in the magazine and mail it back in to us. Some of the winners included Cafe Pongo (Restaurant), Mikhail Horowitz (Poet), Rosendale Cafe (Performance Space), and Barner Books (Bookstore). We would discontinue this feature after two years. It would be revivied in 2020 with the launch of the Chronogrammies.

Very Tech Boom Art director Molly Rubin chose a new logo font for Chronogram, Template Gothic Bold, starting with the January issue. (Wikipedia: “Template Gothic is considered one of the most defining fonts of the 1990s grunge aesthetic.”) It replaced the Art Nouveau-style logo originally designed by Amara Projansky.

Hauling Ashes Some of the pieces we published in `99: An interview with Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt; a firstperson account from the fires and destruction of Woodstock ‘99; an investigation into cost overruns in the building of the Ulster County Jail; and a day in the life of a local flower seller by Pauline Uchmanowicz, who would go on to write over 50 pieces for the magazine and help to define its prose style.

The Big Time Our large-format debuted in October 1999 with a lurid pink birthday cake on Astroturf featured on the cover. Following the size change, one reader wrote in to complain the magazine “no longer fit on the back of the toilet.” Our ongoing apologies in that regard. In addition to doubling in size, we also expanded our editorial coverage, hiring Beth Wilson to write monthly art reviews and Sparrow to pen a column of his quirky and wonderful poetic imaginings. A new section dedicated to news and commentary, Room for a View, also debuted, edited by Lorna Tychostup and Todd Paul. This kicked off a decade of muckraking journalism by the pair in Chronogram.

Times Flies Unsure of exactly what would happen when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1999—anyone remember Y2K?—we commissioned a cover from illustrator Zak Pullen of Father Time plummeting. Local retailer Alan “Just Alan” Eisenson paid us the privilege of posing for Pullen’s illo.

Watching the Watchmen In January, we published a first-person account of the protests against the World Trade Organization that occurred in Seattle in December ‘99 by Josh Robinson. While mainstream news outlets were reporting on what was termed a riot of youths burning and looting, Robinson told a story of a group of nonviolent protestors attacked by police.

The Digital Frontier In March, we launched 8-Day Week, a weekly digital newsletter of cultural events in the region. Twenty-three years and many iterations later, we publish four weekly digital newsletters under the Eat.Play.Stay. banner.

Cohousing We reported on Cantine’s Island, a cohousing community experiment in the November issue. We featured the Saugerties-based intentional community again in the May 2022 issue and found it thriving.

“We think news is like the weather; it’s all connected. Too often, local papers present local issues as though we here in the Hudson Valley were totally disconnected from the rest of the world—as though we create and solve our problems in isolation. The truth is, we’re not, and we don’t.”

1999

—From a Statement of editorial intent for “Room for a View” in the October issue

NOVEMBER 1999

Alex Grey Praying oil on linen Art Director: Molly Rubin

“I’ve been blessed with delusions of grandeur. If someone ever picks up on it and wants to do something with it, I’ll be ready. One of my theories is, ‘True art is what you spend all your money on, fake art is what you make all your money with.’”

2000

—Peter Head From an interview in the December issue with the Pichfork Militia frontman

JANUARY 2000

Zak Pullen Father Time oil on board Art Director: Molly Rubin

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2001

“A difficult person is in your life for a reason. If you can come to understand the changes in your life that need to take place, the difficult person no longer needs to be in your life to make your life miserable.” —Mark Rosen From “How to Deal with Difficult People,” an article in the May issue by Sandra Gardner

Eerily Prescient With George W. Bush recently inaugurated after some Supreme Court shenanigans regarding the vote in Florida, we decided to create a little game for the February issue we called “Pin the Tail on the World,” asking readers to tell us which country the US was most likely to attack now that Bush the Younger was president. A little over a year later, we’d be at war in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Patriotic Backlash We published an essay by Todd Paul the month after 9/11 that triggered an anti-Chronogram backlash, resulting in a number of nasty letters and a few lost advertisers. Instead of blindly waving the flag like so many were doing at the time, we dared to suggest that US foreign policy was complicit in the causation of 9/11, and that the US should choose its next course of action carefully. An excerpt: “We feel powerless. For a mighty country about to kick some major butt—just as soon as we decide whose butt needs kicking—we feel mighty powerless, don’t we? Why? Three reasons: 1) Deep down inside, we know we’d probably be safer if we refrained from kicking some major butt this time. 2) The major butt-kicking that’s about to commence is completely out of our control. 3) We can’t trust our government to kick the right butts, for the right reasons, and tell us the truth about it.”

MAY 2001

Paul Heath Dunce Boy acrylic Art Director: Carla Rozman

2002

“The trampoline was actually invented by tramps. Hobos would find industrial rubber, pin it between branches, and bounce upon it— often after a swig or two of rotgut whiskey. One such tramp, Elbert Ruley, eventually settled down and became an inventor. He called his first creation the ‘trampoline’ in honor of his itinerant friends.” —Sparrow From “Etymology Report” in the February issue AUGUST 2002

Ryan Cronin The Dust Mask Rust-Oleum on board Art Director: Carla Rozman

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Everything Old Is New Again In January, we checked in with filmmaker Ralph Arlyck, who was then working on a follow-up to his documentary Sean, which portrayed the less-than-idyllic conditions of a child growing up with hippie parents in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Arlyck, now 82, is about to release his latest film I Like it Here. Peter Aaron’s profile of Arlyck appears on page 78 of this issue.

ELF Off the Shelf In March, we published an interview with Craig Rosebraugh, who had just stepped down after four years as de facto spokesperson for the radical environmental group the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), known for its direct action/eco-terrorism, depending upon your point of view. Rosebraugh is a documnetary filmmaker currently living in Pasadena, California.

Life in the Balance Susan Piperato wrote the initial entry for our Life in the Balance column for the April issue, which explored local and foreign sustainability projects and provided resources and tips for living sustainably before “sustainability” became one of the buzziest buzzwords of the decade.

Gray Area Ahead of a performance at the Egg in Albany, monologist Spalding Gray sat down for an interview with Sparrow for the May issue, detailing his mental struggles following a car accident. Gray would be pulled out the East River—it is believed he jumped off the Staten Island Ferry—less than two years later.

Charismatic Megafauna In January, we chronicled the work of Heinz Meng, a SUNY New Paltz biology professor who spearheaded the effort to bring peregrine falcons back from the brink of extinction in the 1970s. Peregrine falcons were taken off the endangered species list in 1999.

Poetry Man In June, Phillip Levine became Chronogram’s fifth and longest-serving poetry editor. His work is ongoing–Phillip refuses to quit and cannot be fired. In his 20 years as poetry editor, he has published thousands of grateful poets in these pages.

The Tastiest Cake is Yellowcake In 2002, former diplomat Joe Wilson traveled to Niger to substantiate claims by the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein had bought uranium yellowcake for weapons of mass destruction. Wilson found no evidence of this. On July 6, 2003, the New York Times published an op-ed by Wilson that stated, in part: “some of the intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.” A week later, Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, Wilson’s wife, in an attempt to discredit Wilson. Lorna Tychostup’s interview with Wilson in December was published while the grand jury investigation into what became known as Plamegate was still underway.

Return to Baghdad Senior political editor Lorna Tychostup returned to Baghdad after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and reported on a chaotic tangle of foreign businessmen on the make, tribal feuds, media-hungry peace activists, and a populace emerging from fear. This would be the first of many reports from Tychostup in post-war Iraq.

Banns & Circuses On February 27, Jason West, New Paltz village mayor, performed 25 same-sex weddings. The New York State Department of Health refused to issue marriage licenses to any of the couples and West was charged with violating state marriage laws. Amanda Bader interviewed West for the April issue.

Messing with the Masterpiece In the first of a two-part series in the April issue, Lorrie Klosterman reported on several of the region’s environmental damage legacies and the organizations working on repairing the damage.

Wag the Elephant In one of her first profiles of local writers, Nina Shengold profiled Larry Beinhart, author of Wag the Dog. (Beinhart would go on to write a political column for the magazine for a decade.) Shengold served as books editor for a dozen years. Much of her work for Chronogram was gathered in River of Words: Portraits of Hudson Valley Writers (SUNY Press, 2010), accompanied by photos by Jennifer May.

“The roots of censorship go right back to the Bible. God—our God, Yahweh— is the first censor, and he’s a failed censor. He forbids Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and they eat. Why? Because they’re human! God doesn’t understand or appreciate human nature.”

2003

—Joe Raiola From an interview with the Mad magazine editor in the October issue

MARCH 2003

Nora Scarlett Thread photograph Art Director: Carla Rozman

“We’ve forgotten how to take care of ourselves when we’re sick. You take a painkiller and go to work, but you’re infecting people around you and you get sicker by not redirecting the immune system to the appropriate place. You need to know how to convalesce. Lie down and rest, because the body’s trying to heal.”

2004

—Herbalist Jennifer Costa From “Flu Shot Frenzy” in the December issue

NOVEMBER 2004

Soody Sharifi Oh Enrique! digital print Art Director: Carla Rozman

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2005

“There is just no evidence for the existence of God. Evolution by natural selection is a process that works up from simple bginnings, and simple beginnings are easy to explain.” —Author Richard Dawkins From a interview in the June issue

Fowl Feast Susan Gibbs visited Hudson Valley Foie Gras in Sullivan County, the world’s largest producer of finequality foie gras, as bans on foie gras production were being enacted into law in California and across Europe, for the February issue.

Prison Parchment Jay Blotcher traveled to Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch to report on the graduation of 11 men from college via the Bard Prison Initiative, a program founded in 1999 by Bard student Max Kenner for the March issue. To date, the program has faciliated degrees for 600 incarcerated students.

New Blood With the May issue, Chronogram had a new art director, David Perry, who continues in that role to this day.

Running on Empty David Bryce reported on how oil industry experts were predicting that the top producers were about to peak in the April issue. We haven’t always been right about everything.

Deep Read DECEMBER 2005

Patrick Milbourn The Black Shirt oil on canvas Art Director: David Perry

2006

Chronogram 5/06

A R T S . C U L T U R E . S P I R I T .

“We didn’t know when we started that it would make such a big splash. We didn’t really even know what we were doing. But Brian [Lee] and I would constantly remind each other: There are guys in the back woods with no teeth and a kindergartenlevel education making money on this? How hard can it be?” —Ralph Erenzo Looking back on the launch of Tuthilltown Spirits in 2019 MAY 2006

Julian Opie Sara dancing (sparkly top) continuous computer animation Art Director: David Perry

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The 2005 Literary Supplement, edited by Nina Shengold and Mikhail Horowitz, featured short stories by Brent Robison, Jack Kelly, and Carol Bugge; essays by Casey Kurtti, Greg Correll, and Mary Louise Wilson; and illustrations by Carol Zaloom.

Hudson Valley Hooch From Jennifer’s May’s profile of the man who started New York’s small-batch distillery boom: “Ralph Erenzo stumbled into the whiskey trade. After purchasing a 36-acre parcel in Gardiner in 2000, complete with historic farmhouse and 200-year-old gristmill, his neighbors blocked his every attempt to develop the climbing, camping, and bunkhouse concept he had imagined. So he turned to booze.” There are now over 200 craft distilleries in New York.

Casting Giant For the December issue, Ann Braybrooks visited Polich Art Works outside Newburgh where internationally renowned artists had their ideas made into reality: “With sparks flying from welding torches, hammers pounding, and machines rumbling, the foundry resembles a giant toymaker’s workshop, with one-of-a-kind pieces of art by artists instead of dolls and model trains. When CEO Dick Polich talks about the excitement of working at the foundry, he compares it to being ‘like Christmas every day.’”

Beinhart’s Body Politic Larry Beinhart waxed poetic about Democratic gains in the mid-term elections in December: “The black cloud from Mordor has lifted. Life has reappeared. We’ve pulled back the curtain. The Wizard of Odds is revealed as just a man. We believed in the Wizard. We believed that with a wave of his wand he could convince the whole world—or at least the United States—that black was white and day was night. With good reason. After 9/11 he sold the delusion that failure was strength and that hysteria was courage.”

Po Better Blues Peter Aaron profiled Poughkeepsie multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee for the June issue. An excerpt: “McPhee is widely revered as one of the most important avant-jazz musicians to take the 1960s ‘new thing’ ideas of icons like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, and Pharoah Sanders to the next level. His incendiary early albums burn with radical political themes, their rousing, often funk-fueled sound a preternatural balance of aggressive experimentalism and melodic sensibility.” A preview of an upcoming concert by McPhee, now 83, is on page 83.

Tea Master John Harney started his tea business in 1983, in the basement of his home in Salisbury, Connecticut, not far from the company’s current location. Ann Braybrooks profiled Harney and his thriving business in the July issue.

The Subprime Squeeze In October, Don Curtin reported on a coming storm in the housing market: “Thirty-two subprime lenders folded their tents between early 2006 and May of 2007; $1.3 trillion in subprime loans are currently outstanding, and $235 billion of that debt is expected to be reset at rates that could be as high as 12 percent. All of which is likely to translate to a couple of million foreclosures in the US.”

Capital Region Chronogram Seven issues of a standalone Capital Region edition of Chronogram were published in 2007.

Any Port in a Storm Tricia Hagerty-Wenz formed Safe Harbors of the Hudson in 2000 and bought the 13,000-square-foot Hotel Newburgh in 2002 with a $3.1 million grant. The complete gutting and rehabilitation of the dilapidated welfare hotel—where 88 people were living in squalor and drug dealers and prostitutes transacted business in the hallways—took two years, and cost $21 million. Safe Harbors now acts an an achor for the entire neighborhood. Brian K. Mahoney spoke with HaggertyWenz for the February issue.

Punk Tapas “Elephant, which celebrated its one-year anniversary in late April, is the brainchild of Rich Reeve and his wife Maya Karrol, former owners of Brady’s Public House in Poughkeepsie. Reeve has brought the passion for tapas he debuted there to his latest endeavor, giving it a decidedly punk edge.” We reported in the May issue on the burgeoning of the Uptown Kingston dining scene, through the lens of Elephant Wine Bar, which was part of the cultural revival of the city.

“I don’t know what I’m doing. My books are all flawed. I don’t outline, I don’t rewrite, and I don’t allow editing. I hand it in, it goes to the copy editor, and God have mercy on all our souls.”

2007

—Daniel Pinkwater The author talking about his writing process for the August issue NOVEMBER 2007

Martin Puryear Ladder for Booker T. Washington ash and maple Art Director: David Perry

“What’s the point of trying to please everybody? We can’t fit them in here anyway.”

2008

—Chef Rich Reeve From a profile of Elephant Wine Bar in the May issue

The High Price of Plastics Ilyse Simon looked into possible negative health outcomes regarding plastics in the July issue: “Plastic is the material of choice for items too numerous to tally. At the same time, many of us have simmerings of concern that plastic may be exposing us to harmful chemicals when it is heated, boiled, microwaved, frozen, left in the baking sun, dishwashed, scrubbed, chewed on, or dropped for the umpteenth time.”

DECEMBER 2008

Jennifer Grimyser Change is Now black acrylic ink Art Director: David Perry

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2009

“He’s a loving father and a good man.” —Randall Roberts The cover artist stating his unequivocal opinion of Homer Simpson in the August issue

Financial Crisis Fallout In the January issue, Lorna Tychostup interviewed Diane Reeder, who ran the soup kitchen Queens Galley, for an article on the local fallout from the financial crisis. Reeder noted a sharp increase in the number of free meals she serves in a month—close to 10,000, up from 1,200 when she opened in 2006. “And it’s not the stereotypical people coming in either,” Reeder said. “My newest clients are not people on social services, but people who have jobs, who are looking to stay off social services.”

Roy G. Biv With the February issue, Chronogram was printed in full color throughout the magazine for the first time.

Take it to the Bridge Peter Aaron banged on the Mid-Hudson Bridge with Bridge Music composer Joseph Bertolozzi for the March issue: “Pulling a pair of hammers from his bag, Bertolozzi snaps into a sumo-esque stance, feet spread far apart, and begins to bang out a rhythm on the handrail. His long coat flaps crazily in the heavy gusts. Trucks roar by not eight feet away. The occasional weather-braving runner and arctic-clad dog walker passes through, throwing Bertolozzi confused looks.”

Award Season AUGUST 2009

8/09

2010

Randal Roberts Portrait of Homer Simpson acrylic on canvas Art Director: David Perry

“Having to write melodies and chord progressions and then trying to come up with words that fit is almost a form of tyranny to me. By doing it the other way around—getting the mood of a poem and then using the structure as a skeleton makes me the tyrant; a tyrant informed by the lyrics.” —Natalie Merchant Discussing the songwriting technique for her album Leave Your Sleep in the February issue FEBRUARY 2010

Mark Seliger Untitled photograph of Natalie Merchant photogpaph Art Director: David Perry

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In 2009, we were nominated for an Independent Press Award by Utne Reader for our health and wellness coverage. We didn’t end up winning, but it was a well deserved tip of the hat to Lorrie Klosterman, our health and wellness editor from 2002-2010.

In the Flesh Nina Shengold profiled the author Julie Powell for the Febuary issue as she prepared to release her second book, Cleaving—in part about apprenticing as a butcher at Fleisher’s Meats in Kingston—on the heels of the runaway success of Julie and Julia. Powell died at the age of 49 in 2002 in Olivebridge.

Hold the Firefight James Foley reported from an embedded position with the US Army in remote Afghanistan for the June issue: “Outpost Badel is a hilltop surrounded by rock-faced mountains and terraced wheat fields separated by stacked stone. Enclosed by an outer cordon of razor wire, fortified by rock and sand-filled cardboard-andwire barriers, and secured by heavily armored trucks topped with grenade launchers and automatic machine guns, it’s one of the few remaining outposts in lower Kunar province.” Foley was reporting from Syria in 2014 when he was abducted and later murdered by ISIS.

Pray and Work Peter Barrett wrote about Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette, a Benedictine monk at Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery in Lagrangeville who had become renowned for his painstakingly crafted, superlative vinegars.

The Pig Dies at Noon Peter Barrett went full farm-to-table for the May issue when he attended a BBQ where the pig would be slaughtered, butchered, cooked, and eaten on the same day: “Richard and the pig arrived, and he described how the pig would meet its end. He slipped a couple of ropes around the animal. Tate loaded the .22, and they worked out who would stand where. There was a bit of tumult as the animal came off the back of the truck, and I remember thinking for a moment as Richard yelled, ‘Shoot it now! Shoot it now!’ that there was a real chance that the whole operation could go badly off the rails.”

Hiking Beacon Mountain We excerpted Akiko Busch’s Patience: Taking Time in the Age of Acceleration for the June issue: “The switchback trail threads its way through a forest of maple, hemlock, and oak, thickets of white birches or thin groves of black birches, their trunks etched with silver hieroglyphs. Laddered with roots, the path is carved by stone and strewn with rocks and gravel. Where the slope levels off, a bed of ferns has taken root. Every rift in the granite offers its own still life—a pocket of citrus-colored moss, or a handful of wild grass. A tiny, orange spider negotiates its way across both of these; a red eft scurries across an oak leaf in its own vignette of determination.”

2011

“If the human race is still here in 100 years, it will be because of lots of people doing lots of little things. Bigger things can get co-opted or bought off by the powers that be. But if there are many, many little things going on it will be too hard for them to keep up with all of them.” —Pete Seeger From the February issue

Birdbrain

Eye Candy Paul Smart sat down with Geddy Sveikauskas, founder and publisher of the Woodstock Times (now HV1), for the September issue. When asked if he viewed Chronogram as a competitor, Sveikauskas unleashed this sick burn: “Some within our company call it ‘eye candy.’ For me, there isn’t the content I’m used to. So we’re not competitive in the ways we want to cover a community, but we are in terms of advertisers’ limited dollars. I’m just not interested in putting something out like it. Because it’s expensive to produce, the aim seems to be for it to produce an illusion of a classier reality rather than that reality which reflects the communities it serves. My life is about finding the right way of expressing something; Chronogram’s view seems different.”

Power to the Plant Eaters In November, Wendy Kagan wrote about the increasing number of people switching to a plant-based diet: “Not just a political statement made by tattooed PETA warriors and pretzelbodied yogis, adopting a plant-based diet can be a powerfully effective way to take charge of one’s own health and wellbeing. ‘People are wanting a way out of the insanity that is our healthcare system,’ says Kris Carr, a self-described wellness activist, author, and ‘cancer thriver’ who lives in Willow.” Kagan served as Health and Wellness editor from 2010-2022.

FEBRUARY 2011

Fionn Reilly Pete Seeger photograph Art Director: David Perry

“And so Levon Helm has left us now, his spirit going back into the soil, dust, and sepia tones it seemingly rose from, threading itself into the rich tapestry of American culture with the great artists who so inspired him. But the music, the light, and the love he gave us are still here.”

2/11

Writer Jana Martin and photographer Roy Gumpel teamed up for a piece in August on the Northern Catskills Pigeon Racing Club, a group of 15 men, mostly 50 to 70, who raise and race pigeons over hundreds of miles across the state.

2012

—Peter Aaron In Memoriam for Levon Helm, from the May issue MAY 2012

Catherine Sebastian Onteora High School, December 2010 color photograph Art Director: David Perry

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2013

“People say, ‘Beacon has come a long way’—I say, ‘Compared to what?’ I’ve been here since the beginning. It’s a revival—hopefully we can keep that going. I know we can.” —Randy Casale The mayor of Beacon responding to reports of the city’s rebirth in the May issue

NOVEMBER 2013

David Perry Chronogram 20th Anniversary digital collage Art Director: David Perry

2014

“Catholic children, back in the `50s, were told that, yes, good Protestants could go to heaven, but the Catholics would live in big houses and drive Cadillacs, while the lesser, non-Pope-obeisant Christians would reside in tract housing and, at the very best, drive Buicks.” —Larry Beinhart From “Heavenly, Heavenly Divine Markets” in the March issue

DECEMBER 2014

Frank Spinelli Hug Deli photograph Art Director: David Perry

72 FEATURE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

Frack Watch In the February issue we launched a new column, Frack Watch, in which Lynn Woods reported on the fight over whether or not to allow hydraulic fracturing in New York. It was eventually banned in 2015.

Kegel Power Wendy Kagan investigated pelvic floor restoration in the July issue: “In these hinterlands of the flesh, more can go wrong for women than for men. Pregnancy and childbirth can put tremendous pressures on pelvic floor muscles, ligaments, and fascia (connective tissue)—and even for women who never carried babies, the area is vulnerable particularly after the hormone changes of perimenopause.”

Block Party To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we decided to organize a little shindig in mid-August. We shut down the street in front of our office, organized some music and other entertainment, and partied with a few thousand of our closest friends. The Chronogram Block Party continued for five years.

Kind Words For our 20th anniversary issue in November, we asked some locals to write a few words on our behalf. Natalie Merchant: “Over the past 20 years, Chronogram has helped us to forge a regional identity.” Stephen Larsen: “Chronogram somehow hit the right note of aesthetic, cultural sophistication, and practical usefulness.” David Rothenberg: “Chronogram never lets us down.”

Hops Spring Eternal In September, Karen Angel reported on New York’s resurgence as a hop-growing hotbed: “In 1880, New York State was the largest producer of hops in the country with 40,000 acres. A mildew epidemic, followed by Prohibition, put the kibosh on the industry. The Pacific Northwest— Washington, Oregon, and Idaho—emerged as the leader in hop production and currently corners 98 percent of the market. But New York is resurging, with some 250 acres under cultivation—up from just 15 four years ago—making it the fifth-largest hop producer in the nation.”

Free Range Childhood Hillary Harvey spoke with author Richard Luov (Last Child in the Woods) about nature-deficit disorder in October. Luov proselytized keeping kids active: “Much of society no longer sees time spent in the natural world and independent, imaginary play as ‘enrichment.’ Technology now dominates almost every aspect of our lives. Technology is not, in itself, the enemy; but our lack of balance is lethal. The pandemic of inactivity is one result. Sitting is the new smoking.”

The Binuclear Option For the December issue, Brian K. Mahoney profiled the Poughkeepsie home of Arthur and Margery Groten, known as the McComb House, which was built in 1952 by Marcel Breuer, the renowned modernist architect known for designing the Whitney Museum and the UNESCO Building in Paris.

Pop Goes the Restaurant For the January issue, Max Watman wrote about the recent proliferation of pop-up restaurants in the region. One outfit, Lucky Mee, was a roving noodle shop run by Michael Pardus, a chef and CIA instructor. “The whole concept is based around the broth,” said Pardus. “We have potential investors, but they wanted to see it live.”

Man of the House When the Towne Crier Cafe moved from Pawling to its current location in Beacon in 2013, rocker Darryl Hall saw an opportunity and opened his own club. Hall spoke with Peter Aaron for the March issue about his love of small venues. “I believe in clubs. For musicians they’re a great place to really learn your craft,” Hall said. “And I like the atmosphere. I started my career in clubs.”

Summer Arts Preview In the June issue we published our inaugural Summer Arts Preview, which has turned into an annual check-in on all things cultural in the region.

The Pot RX On the cusp of medical marijuana being legalized in New York, Wendy Kagan examined some possible health perks of weed for the December issue.

“We’ve collectively bought into some big misconceptions: that birth is problematic by nature, that it is likely to go awry and must therefore be handed over to the ‘authorities,’ that it is ‘safe’ to be completely passive in birth, that if we question, we put our own lives and the lives of our babies at risk.”

2015

—Elisa Albert From “Mommy Darkest,” a profile of the novelist in the April issue JULY 2015

Carolita Johnson Dollar ink on paper Art Director: David Perry

Stitched Together In the home profile most commented upon by readers, Mary Angeles Armstrong profiled the Rosendale home of Kat O’Sullivan and Mason Brown for the June issue. The couple’s DIY renovation features rainbow-painted exterior walls that stop passers-by in their tracks to take pictures.

Jack Comes to Kinderhook Sparrow reviewed “Winter in America,” an art show at The School, an exhibition space opened by Jack Shainman in the former Martin Van Buren High School that kicked off a cultural revival in the town.

Way Down in the Hole Leander Schaerlaeckens wrote about the massive public works projects happening beneath our feet in the April issue: “A few yellow hardhats bob amid the gray sheen of the shale that has yet to be coated in concrete. It took two years of methodical blasting to delve this far. The big, gaping hole in the ground, some 34 feet in diameter, is called Shaft 6. It’s 675 feet deep, 600 of those feet below sea level, just north of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River in the Town of Wappinger. This will be the end point of the new RondoutWest Branch Tunnel, where a bypass is being built to circumvent a section of the Delaware Aqueduct that has been leaking for over 25 years.”

“We need to disentangle the concept of punishment from accountability. We live in a culture that equates those two things. We make this assumption that when we put someone away, they’re going to reflect on what they did and the harm they caused, but that’s not necessarily what’s happening at all.”

2016

—Mika Dashman From “Restoring Community” in the March issue

NOVEMBER 2016

Tim Davis Hobo Supermen photograph Art Director: David Perry

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2017

“People think about [the Seed Vault] as a time capsule, something we’ll walk away from and rediscover in a hundred years. It is not that. It is a living institution and facility. The facility operates like a safety deposit box. It is an insurance policy.” —Cary Fowler From “The Most Important Room in the World” from the April issue

Resistence is Fertile An estimated 500,000 demonstrators showed up in Washington, DC, for the Women’s March following the election of Donald Trump. For the February issue, Elissa Garay reported from the March: “Creative signage prevailed, with messages like ‘Hell hath no fury like a pussy grabbed’; ‘Make America Think Again’; and ‘Science is not a liberal conspiracy.’ Dozens of march chants rang out. Cries of ‘This is what democracy looks like’ came interspersed with digs at Trump, like ‘We want a leader, not a creepy Tweeter’ and ‘He’s orange, he’s gross, he lost the popular vote.’”

The Most Important Room in the World Marie Doyon profiled Cary Fowler, the Rhinebeckbased scientist and biodiversity advocate responsible for the Svalbard Seed Vault, in the April issue: “The finished vault has the capacity to hold 4.5 million seed samples. At present, it holds 930,000 varieties of food crops. There are over 150,000 samples each of wheat and rice, but there are also samples of lesser known plants with archaic names like wolf’s bane, skullcap, and saltbush.”

Sicilian Donkeys + Art

JUNE 2017

Sean Andrew Murray Temple of the Great Fish pen, ink, watercolor Art Director: David Perry

2018

“Towns that work have civic engagement. They aren’t playing on each other’s fears, and they accommodate the right mix of voices in finding solutions to each challenge. That kind of ethos means that whether you’re running for government or connecting to it as a citizen, government itself flows pretty naturally from the citizens.” —Dar Williams From an interview with the musician in the January issue FEBRUARY 2018

Meredith Heuer Colorfield # 13 giclee print Art Director: David Perry

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In the June issue, Vittorio Calabrese, director of Magazzino, the new art center focused on Arte Povera, a school of mid-20th century Italian art, had this to say to our correspondent Sparrow: “Italy is not only Botticelli, it’s not only Baroque, it’s not only Futurism—there’s an entire part of our art history that’s actually unknown.” The art center also houses a number of adorable Sicilian donkeys.

Mahoney’s Cojones In the April issue, we received the best rhyming critique of Chronogram’s editorial director since a reader called him “phony baloney Mahoney” in 2006. Scot Sedey and Kathleen Finn wrote in to say: “We are concerned about the lack of focus, piss vinegar, and pizzaz in Brian’s Mahoney’s recent writings. What was once looked to as a monthly joy which my wife and I read aloud to one another is now a run-of-themill letter from the editor. Bring back Mahoney’s cojones.”

Friday Night Brights Marie Doyon wrote the text to accompany a photo essay by Roy Gumpel about the dirt racetrack the Accord Speedway: “Every Friday night from April through September, a dopplered whir spreads out across the hills and dales of the Rondout Valley—the familiar roar of the Accord Speedway. And it’s been the cause of more than a few complaints, lawsuits, and failed real estate deals over the years. But the little dirt track has prevailed, a world unto itself, nestled back in the winding back roads of rural Ulster County.”

An Anniversary Redesign For our 25th anniversary issue in November, we refeshed Chronogram’s design. One big change was dropping calendar listings from the magazine, shifting the listings completely to our website. We expected a reader backlash—there was none.

Pod Bless America In February, we spoke with Vassar College philosophy professor and podcaster Barry Lam about his podcast “Hi-Phi Nation,” which features contemporary issues of philosophy. More than twice as many Americans listen to podcasts weekly than watch “Monday Night Football.”

Undocumented in the Hudson Valley Following the arrest of New Paltz businessman Luis Martinez, Michael Frank examined how his detention and possible deportation both diverges from and typifies recent crackdowns by ICE.

In Dreams Awake Lynn Woods profiled Woodstock-based artist Kathy Ruttenberg, whose mythological, hybrid animalhuman sculptures were installed in Manhattan along Broadway for the May issue.

The Big Scoop While Jane’s Ice Cream pioneered the artisanal ice cream movement in 1985, Lindsay Lennon reported on a slew of newcomers who were making the region a burgeoning center of dairy-fueled delights.

Green Gold Rush As legislators once again failed to pass the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act, Phillip Pantuso reported on the crowded field of competing camps and the roadblocks to legalizing cannabis, kicking off our ongoing coverage of cannabis and the continued challenges of the adult-use rollout.

At Least We Started Out Well “Well, hello there, 2020. Hello and hallelujah to the promise of a new year, a new decade, a blank slate where everything is possible.” Thus began Wendy Kagan’s article in the January issue, “Getting Unstuck,” on breaking with unhealthy patterns. Little did we know at the time, but very soon all of us would be stuck for quite a long time.

The Great Pivot After lockdown began in March, we scrambled to rejigger the content of the April issue to reflect our new reality. Instead of restaurant reviews and concert previews, we published pandemic-friendly fare like “Five Dishes to Inspire Your Freewheeling Quarantine Meal Planning” and “Expand Your Conmtemporary Art Appreciation While in Quarantine with These Artists.” Chronogram never stoppd publishing during the pandemic.

Chronogrammies Over 20,000 people cast just under 100,000 votes in the inaugural run of our readers’ choice awards.

The Future Is Now Chronogram won an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Award for “The Future Is Now,” a special section in the July issue in reaction to the disruption wrought by Covid 19 and the racial reckoning brought on by the murder of George Floyd and the rapid mainstreaming of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

“Black and Latina women die from preventable diseases such as cervical cancer and breast cancer at almost four times the rate that Caucasian women do because they do not access preventive services.”

2019

—Ruth-Ellen Blodgett From an interview in the January issue with the CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Mid-Hudson Valley APRIL 2019

Franco Vogt and David Perry Why Is This Man in Jail? Franco Vogt photograph Art Director: David Perry

“All the nonabolitionist reforms to policing have been tried, and still we find ourselves amid a global outcry against police abuse. What if, then, our ‘rational’ belief in the viability of the police is actually a kind of wish-casting?”

2020

—Kwame Holmes From “Why Abolish the Police: Because We Can Replace Them” from the July issue

APRIL 2020

David McIntyre Be Strong photograph Art Director: David Perry

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM FEATURE 75

2021

“Direct primary care brings [the power] back again to the doctor and patient relationship. It empowers people on both sides to think about providing healthcare in a mutually acceptable way.” —Dr. Catherine Agricola From “Rethinking Primary Care,” an article in the October issue

What Change Looks Like In a collaboration with Scenic Hudson, we profiled 12 local changemakers working in the fields of sustainable agriculture, clean energy, enivronmental activism, housing, and transportation.

Unmasked In late March, Franco Vogt photographed Dr. Neal Smoller of Woodstock Apothecary and members of his 150-strong squad of volunteer vaccinators who had vaccinated more than 6,000 local residents in less than a month for the April issue. The strangest thing: They were nearly all unmasked, a shocking sight in 2021.

Rethinking Primary Care In the October issue, Wendy Kagan reported on direct primary care, an alternative form of primary care that cuts insurance companies out of the equation—and for a monthly membership fee comparable to the cost of a cellphone plan—it gives patients the kind of access to a doctor that hasn’t been available since the days of house calls.

Meals on Wheels

MAY 2021

Annika Tucksmith Phantom Limb oil on canvas Art Director: David Perry

2022

“It’s hard to articulate exactly what makes a song a good candidate for parody. I tend to pick songs that have a strong musical or lyrical hook. Hopefully the song isn’t too repetitive—I need to have enough words to play around with. And it also helps if the lyrics are overly sincere or heartfelt—it’s a lot easier to tweak those for comic effect.” —Weird Al Yankovic From an interview with the musician in April issue AUGUST 2022

Emily Ritz Our Selves watercolor and pen on paper Art Director: David Perry

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In September 2018, Rolling Grocer 19 hit the streets of Columbia County with a retrofitted, refrigerated 16-foot trailer, stocking a range of fresh and frozen provisions, local produce, meat, seafood, and some hygiene products. Marie Doyon profiled the community-driven response to the challenges of food and economic insecurity in the November issue.

In Memoriam In the February issue, we said goodbye to two beloved local figures. One was Michael Lang, who put the region on the map in 1969 with that little festival out in Bethel. The other was less well known but no less adored. Kevin Archambault, the artistic director of the Center for Perfoming Arts at Rhinebeck, who directed nearly 50 shows at the community theater.

Community Portraits For the Saugerties Community Pages feature, we rolled out a new wrinkle for the March issue. At the instigation of photographer David McIntyre, we set up a pop-up portrait studio inside Jane St. Art Center and invited members of the community to get their picture taken. Over two dozen residents of Saugerties took us up on our offer. To date, we’ve set up pop-up portrait shoots in a dozen spots in the region and photographed over 1,000 people. The good folks of New Paltz are featured this month, starting on page 49.

High Degree of Uncertainty After the passage of the Marihuana Regulation & Taxation Act in April, the state promised that adult-use dispensaries would be open by the end of the year. As Noah Eckstein reported in August, the state’s goal was likely just a smokescreen.

Year of the Puppy For the December issue, Brian K. Mahoney interviewed dog cognition researcher and author Alexandra Horowitz about her scientific memoir, The Year of the Puppy, in which Horowitz charts her pup’s early development from birth to first birthday.

Life (and Death) Cycle In just over two years, four cyclists were killed on the streets of Kingston, despite the city’s effort to establish a Safe Streets program to protect cyclists and pedestrians. Abby Gierke reported on the tragedies for the March issue.

Of Grape Concern In 2002, Fjord Vineyards in Milton lost more than half of its grapes to animals starved of normal food sources due to drought. Local winemakers spoke with Melissa Esposito about how they were preparing for climate change in their vineyards.

The Forever Sound Raven Chacon, who now resides in Dutchess County, was the first Native American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music. Peter Aaron profiled the noise musician for the August issue—whose life was changed by a concert of John Cage’s music as a child—just before it was announced Chacon won a MacArthur “genius” grant.

Special K Ketamine has shown remarkable results both for supporting patients during surgery and for treating depression, anxiety, OCD, addiction, and eating disorders. In the July issue, Jaime Stathis spoke with local medical professionals on ketamine’s role in uncovering and resolving deep trauma.

“At first, I was thinking of AI as a change in the industry like digital art. I wasn’t thinking of it as the existential threat it really is. It’s the end of illustration. I find myself putting blinders on and just focusing on my sketchbook.”

2023

—John Cuneo From an interview with the illustrator in the July issue JANUARY 2023

Amy Hill Woman with Earbuds oil on wood Art Director: David Perry

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! Gateway Hudson Valley Hot Water Solutions

And a shout-out to all the businesses who have worked with Chronogram since our launch in 1993. Thanks for your support—we quite literally could not have done it without you. Each issue of the magazine is a snapshot in time—editorial and advertising side-by-side, telling the compelling story of life in the Hudson Valley.

Dynamic Duo Editor Brian K. Mahoney and Art Director David C. Perry, pictured here in 2008, have been co-conspirators at Chronogram since 2005. They show no signs of stopping.

11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM FEATURE 77

arts profile

Ralph Arlyck filming I Like it Here near his home in Dutchess County. His latest documentary reckons with getting old.

Aging in Place FILMMAKER RALPH ARLYCK’S I LIKE IT HERE FINDS THE POETRY IN MORTALITY By Peter Aaron Getting old. For most of our lives, it’s not something we spend time thinking will happen to us. And then, before we’ve had a chance to even pay attention, boom: We’re there. That’s assuming, hopefully, of course, that one actually gets to get old. And in exchange for being able get old, unfortunately, he, she, or they must increasingly contend with loss and the personal physical changes that come with aging. That’s the unavoidable deal. Yet, along with the varying shades of beauty in the physical world that continue to surround us in our later years, there’s a kind of beauty in the process of aging itself. Blink and you’ll miss it. But it’s there. I Like it Here, area documentarian Ralph Arlyck’s latest film, is a quietly moving meditation on mortality that manages, with artful elan and gorgeous views of the Hudson Valley, to capture that beauty, and, in an unassuming way, celebrate it—although that wasn’t what he set out to do when he began making it in 2018. “I started out to make a film about my neighbor Ernie [Erno Szemes], this Hungarian immigrant who was really old—he was 91 when I started it—but then it became clear that that wasn’t going to happen, he didn’t want any part of it,” says the independently funded Arlyck, 82. “And he was an outlier who lived in 78 THE GUIDE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

a shack in a junkyard with no heat or electricity; since he was a hermit, he was not experiencing old age the way most of us experience it. So then I thought, ‘How am I experiencing aging? How am I confronting it?’ And that, naturally, led me to not only talk in the film about what I was thinking, but also to talk to my other local friends and neighbors and find out what they were experiencing with it. Films need to marinate. If you know exactly what you want to do, you can probably be very articulate about it and you can probably write a good proposal and get some money to make a film. But, for me, I want to discover what the film’s about in the making of it.”

Opening Credits Arlyck was born a red-diaper baby in Brooklyn. When he was five his parents moved their family to Byard Lane, a utopian community in Suffern founded in 1935 as the School of Living. “Downtown there was the Lafayette Theater, which is still open today,” the filmmaker recalls. “When I was in high school, my best friend and I would just say, ‘Hey, let’s go to the movies’ without even knowing what was playing, and we’d go to the Saturday matinees. They’d show cartoons and a newsreel before

the main movie. One day we went, and the feature was Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, which just blew me away.” But although the movie house was a central preoccupation, there would be some experiential time for him before the idea of entering the cinematic world himself came along. After graduating from Colgate University in 1962 with an English degree, Arlyck worked for a year as a reporter at New Jersey’s Bergen Record. With the Vietnam War ramping up, he joined the Peace Corps and spent 1963 to 1965 teaching English in Senegal before returning to New York to attend Columbia University. “At that time Columbia had a one-year journalism program,” says Arlyck. “So I did that, but it gave me an ulcer—it was really hectic, taking classes during the day, writing papers at night, eating all of my meals at Chock full o’ Nuts. Like the Peace Corps, though, [the ulcer] helped keep me from going to Vietnam. But those things didn’t exempt you from being drafted, they just delayed it.” He credits his Columbia professors with deepening his interest in film by introducing him to the work of D.A. Pennebaker, the French New Wave directors, and others. In 1966, Arlyck graduated Columbia and “entered real life.”

Sean Farrell, the youngest member of a family living above Arlyck in Haight-Ashbury in the late `60s was the subject of two Arlyck films: A 14-minute black-and-white short, Sean in 1969, and of Sean and, 25 years later, Following Sean in 2006.

Go West, Young Man Just as California’s ’60s counterculture was fully flowering, he landed in San Francisco. “I’d seen a story about [pioneering public-supported TV station] KQED, so I drove out there to see if I could get a job in documentary filmmaking there,” says Arlyck, whose interview with the broadcaster didn’t result in a position but did lead to his enrolling at San Franciso State, where he studied film with the Grammy-winning Irving Saraf (1991’s In the Shadow of the Stars). While living downstairs from an eccentric, idealistic couple who’d opened their Haight-Ashbury district house up as a de facto drop-in center for nomadic hippies, he got to know his upstairs neighbors’ then four-year-old son. The boy became the titular subject of Sean, Arlyck’s 1969 debut, an 18-minute black and white documentary. A simultaneously charming, sympathetic, and unflinching glimpse at the lost innocence of the hippie dream, the verite-style Sean sees the streetwise kid (last name withheld) running barefoot on the San Francisco sidewalks, using power tools, living among speed freaks, and talking about smoking pot—at age four. So off camera, was Arlyck ever concerned for the child’s wellbeing? “Not at all,” he says. “He seemed like a really well-adjusted kid. I knew his talk about pot smoking was largely bravado. He was not neglected; was cared for and supervised by his parents but he was also not shielded from life in the crash pad. It was also an earlier time, so what might now feel like neglect just felt like plain old free-spirited California living then.” Generating awards as well as controversy, the film made its way to Cannes and was even lauded by its maker’s hero Francois Truffaut. “I submitted Sean and

Top: Arlyck's neighbor Erno Szemes, an obstreperous 90-year-old, Hungarian immigrant who lives off the grid, having his first medical checkup in 20 years. He opens and closes I Like it Here. Bottom: Lou and Pat Ambrico of Tivoli, married for 60 years, with their horse Savanah. The couple (and the horse) are featured in I Like it Here.

it was shown with [Truffaut’s 1970 film] The Wild Child,” Arlyck says. “After the festival I wrote to Truffaut about the possibility of interning with him, and he wrote back, ‘Mr. Arlyck has nothing to learn from me.’ [Laughs.] But of course, I took that as a huge compliment.” In the wake of Sean’s achievements, the burgeoning cineaste created two well-received 1973 shorts: Acquired Taste, a wry examination of the notion of success in America; and Natural Habitat, a humorous skewering of grinding daily work routines.

Reunion and Reflection With the novelty of the San Francisco scene wearing thin, Arlyck rejoined the Peace Corps, which took him to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There he met his future wife, Elizabeth, a French national who’d come to the US to teach language. The couple soon headed east to be closer to Arlyck’s elderly parents and settled in Poughkeepsie, where Elizabeth took a professorship at Vassar College. Two sons, Kevin and Matthew, eventually arrived, and Arlyck kept making films—the historical Hyde Park (1977); Godzilla Meets Mona Lisa (1986), about Paris’s Pompidou Center; Current Events (1989), a look at liberal causes—some of which, besides playing at arthouses and festivals, became staples on PBS TV. For 2006’s Following Sean, Arlyck reconnected with the star of his 1969 breakthrough, who was by then in his mid-30s. Another fascinating film, it, like much of Arlyck’s work, views the subject at hand through the metaphorical lens of his own experiences, chronicling them while doing the same for Sean’s concurrent life. “I’d stayed in touch with him over the years,” says Arlyck about the Californian, a single father who became an electrician. “It

got me to go back to San Francisco several times and it was great to reconnect with him. What’s surreal to me is that he’s now middle aged and just recently retired.” Perhaps unsurprisingly to local readers, Arlyck and his wife have been regular patrons of long-running indie film mecca Upstate Films in Rhinebeck since their Poughkeepsie arrival. Such was the theater’s pull that in 2011, after Elizabeth had retired and the couple had decided they’d like to be somewhere significantly more rural—and closer to Upstate—they bought a house right up the road from the cinema, in Tivoli. “I think a lot of what makes Ralph such an iconoclastic filmmaker is that he’s also an excellent journalist,” says Steve Leiber, who cofounded Upstate Films in 1972 and appears in I Like It Here, discussing his having survived a heart attack. “He’s extremely articulate, not just with how he captures his images and edits everything, but also with how he narrates. What he does is hard to pull off, and his films really strike home.” And for Arlyck home is here, permanently: In one of I Like It Here’s many poetically reflective scenes, he and Elizabeth visit Tivoli’s idyllic Red Church Cemetery to pick out plots and even have a laugh or two with their guide. “The title of the film has a double meaning,” he explains. “It’s saying, ‘Hey, I like life’ and it’s also saying, ‘I like where I’m at.’ And that’s how I feel. I’m not ready to stop yet, I’d like to make another film. I’m not going anywhere.” I Like It Here will be screened at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck on November 5 at 11am. A Q&A with the filmmaker will follow. Tickets are $14 (members $10). Upstatefilms.org. 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM THE GUIDE 79

Come see what’s new! Winner Best Museum in the Hudson Valley SAMUEL DORSKY MUSEUM OF ART

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT NEW PALTZ www.newpaltz.edu/museum

Silver Linings Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection September 30, 2023 – January 28, 2024

Betty Blayton, Vibes Penetrated, 1983, acrylic on canvas, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Spelman College Purchase. © Estate of Betty Blayton

80 THE GUIDE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Free and Open to Everyone | vassar.edu/theloeb

live music Charles Owens November 4 at Uncle Cheef Booked by saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the Roots), Uncle Cheef—its moniker a nod to the musician’s nickname—is one of the Hudson Valley’s most intriguing new nightspots. Naturally, with Hendrickson-Smith at the helm, the cocktail/wine club’s got the jazz on lock, and its calendar is packed with many of New York’s top cats. One such hit is this one by his fellow tenor man Charles Owens, who’s played with Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Omer Avital, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brian Blade, Peter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, and others. (Benny Bennack III blows by November 3; KJ Denhert emotes November 10.) 7:30pm. $20. Brewster.

Lissie November 4 at the Bearsville Theater A firm favorite at the Bearsville Theater, country-flavored pop singersongwriter Lissie makes her much-awaited return to the venue for this early November night. The Midwesterner’s 2010 debut, Catching a Tiger, saw her snag success right off the line, selling over 750,000 copies worldwide and going certified gold in the United Kingdom and Norway. Her fifth studio album, Carving Canyons, was released in September 2022 and has garnered comparisons to Fleetwood Mac with the singles “Flowers” and “Night Moves.” (Darlene Love is back with “Love for the Holidays” December 9.) 7pm. $25$40. Bearsville.

Tim Berne November 5 at The Local Tim Berne has been a prime mover on the avant-garde jazz scene for nearly 45 years, and not only as a musician: The saxophonist also founded the seminal Empire and Screwgun record labels, releasing albums by Nels Cline, Olu Dara, Paul Motian, Alex Cline, and other greats. Besides leading his own bands, he’s worked with John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Bobby Previte, and many more. Here, he plays The Local with a trio that also includes cellist Hank Roberts and multi-instrumentalist Aurora Nealand. (Tunisian singer Emel visits November 4; Mexican prog-funksters Troker groove November 12.) 4pm. $29.87-$52.12. Saugerties.

Cover Story

30 Years of Chronogram November 12, 3-5PM Time & Space Ltd. in Hudson Join Chronogram at Time & Space Limited on Sunday, November 12 for a closing reception and conversation featuring Chronogram cover artists. The exhibition features all 351 covers of the magazine published since 1993.

Reserve your ticket:

Squirrel Nut Zippers November 11 at Levon Helm Studios On the alt-rock- and contemporary R&B-dominated 1996 pop charts, the single “Hell” by Squirrel Nut Zippers was a real anomaly: a Cab Callowayesque dip back to 1930s swing and hot jazz. Fittingly, the track came off Hot, the best-selling sophomore album by the North Carolina band, which brasses up Levon Helm Studios with this rare area appearance. With a program titled “Jazz from the Back o’ Town,” the ensemble will play their hits and standards as well as material from newer releases like 2020’s Lost Songs of Doc Souchon. (The Helm Family Midnight Ramble happens November 4; Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia hold forth December 3.) 7:30pm. $40, $60. Woodstock.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

Jackson Whalan November 17 at Dream Away Lodge In 2018, Jackson Whalan pioneered “chamber rap” when he collaborated with cellist Dave Eggar on a reinterpretation of Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden,” a track from 2018’s Millennial Sound. Having spent a few searching years studying integral sustainability in India and turntablism in New York, touring, and living on the West Coast, the Berkshires-born rapper and producer returned to the region, where he recorded 2021’s From the Woods (with a guest appearance by KRS-One). He hits his home-’hood haunt, the revamped Dream Away Lodge, this month. (Chris Murphy fiddles November 10 and 11; Gaby’s Third Thursday Dance Party brings the backwoods disco November 16.) 8pm. Donation suggested. Beckett, Massachusetts.

ATHENS FINE ART SERVICES

Lukas Nelson and POTR November 25 at UPAC “This album is about celebrating the human connection, joy, and excitement,” says Grammy winner Lukas Nelson about Sticks and Stones, his and his band POTR (Promise of the Real)’s newest release. “To me, this album is the perfect setlist.” That setlist and additional numbers will get a rollicking airing when Nelson and POTR pay this visit to UPAC for an evening of ace Americana. And having absorbed much of his craft from his father, the legendary Willie Nelson, he’s learned from the best. (Brit Floyd’s in the pink November 3; the Weight Band and Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams play November 18.) 8pm. $28-$44. Kingston. 11/23 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM THE GUIDE 81

short list International Writers Festival

Long-term view

Mary Heilmann: Starry Night

November 11 at 2pm in Rosendale Got a hankering for world travel? Look no further than the Rosendale Theatre’s International Writers Festival, your oneway ticket to a panoply of exemplary and diverse voices spanning the globe from Belarus to the Bahamas and many others in between. The festival is fourth in the Prosendale Series, all literary in nature, this one a melange of literary flavors from around the world. Attune your ears to the words, and works, of Jai Chakrabarti (India); Laura Shaine Cunningham (Belarus); Gwen Namainga Jones (Zambia); Chiu Yin (China); Margarita Meyendorff (Russia/Estonia); and Christopher Rabley (the Bahamas, UK). Passport not required. Rosendaletheatre.org

“Sweet and Sad”

Beacon and Newburgh residents receive free admission. Dia Beacon Riggio Galleries 3 Beekman Street Beacon, New York diaart.org

Through November 12 in Woodstock Performing Arts of Woodstock, Woodstock’s oldest theater group, is opening its 60th season with Richard Nelson’s “Sweet and Sad” at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center. The play is a follow-up to “That Hopey Changey Thing,” which chronicles the Apple family of Rhinebeck on election night in 2010. In “Sweet and Sad,” the Apples gather on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The events of that day hover just out of sight in this family drama but haunt the proceedings. Ellen Honig directs. Performingartsofwoodstock.org

Little Fugitive

A new experience of Frederic Church’s great picture “The Heart of the Andes” NOVEMBER 19 - MARCH 31

EXHIBITION TICKETS OLANA.ORG HUDSON, NEW YORK

The Olana Partnership is the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit cooperative partner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation at Olana State Historic Site Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900). Heart of the Andes, 1859. Oil on canvas, 66 1/8 x 119 1/4 in. (168 x 302.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Margaret E. Dows, 1909 (09.95)

82 THE GUIDE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

November 18 in Millerton Among film buffs, Ruth Orkin and Morris Engel are known for breaking new ground in both still and moving pictures. This fall, a rare screening of the 1953 classic Little Fugitive (codirected by the iconic duo) and the documentary Ruth Orkin: Frames of Life (directed by Mary Engel, the artists’ daughter) will come to life at The Moviehouse in Millerton, followed by a Q&A with Engel—about her parents’ life, respective creative process, and enduring impact of their work. A reception will follow, at Mad Rose Gallery, where the work of both will be on display through December 31. Madrosegallery.com

“Throwing Stones”

November 19 at Paramount Hudson Valley It’s New Year’s Eve in Wisconsin, and Roz finds herself all alone in the “Ice Palace”—a curling club in her hometown. While preparing for the upcoming bonspiel, in walks Victor (with whom she once shared a passion for myriad things including one another). As the clock ticks toward midnight, the protagonists must reexamine the icy rift between them and decide if a thaw lies ahead. In a staged reading of this new play, Kurt Rhoads and Nance Williamson—the local husbandand-wife team who have performed together 72 times over 40 years—must navigate slippery topics including love, betrayal, Shakespeare, and curling. Paramounthudsonvalley.com

Cold Spring Dance

November 19 at 3pm in Cold Spring Located at the intersection of dance, art history, and nature, the program will feature dancers from Dance Theatre of Harlem, among others, with choreography by Artistic Director Cally Kordaris at the Cold Spring Dance Mountaintop Gardens and Indoor Performance Space. The locale—former home of the late author, architect, engineer, and Columbia University professor Mario Salvadori—stands as testament to the nonprofit’s vision: to engage students by incorporating art and creativity in their everyday lives. Coldspringdance.org

Guided Meditation and Conversation with Dan Harris

November 19 at Troutbeck On the heels of a panic attack while working as an on-air journalist, Harris leaned into mindfulness—a highly sought-after skill in today’s ever-turbulent world. Join the creator of the “Ten Percent Happier” podcast and cocreator of an app of the same name for an intimate talk and introduction to his thinking followed by a guided meditation. All levels, age 14-plus, are welcome. Troutbeck.com

Peter Biskind

November 19 at Spencertown Academy Arts Center Author Peter Biskind and historian David Nasaw join forces for a dialogue about the ebb and flow of television—in its various guises, formats, and utter domination of Americans’ leisure time. Spencertown Academy Arts Center, in collaboration with the Chatham Bookstore, celebrates Biskind’s new book, Pandora’s Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV. Spencertownacademy.org

Buke & Gase Documentary Screening

November 20 at the Orpheum Theater At the height of the pandemic, when tours were canceled and live music went silent, Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez of Buke & Gase refused to stay silent. Instead, they took to the stage at an eerily empty Basilica Hudson for a November 2020 live performance chronicled in a new documentary. Buke & Gase, directed by Steven Pierce, is a smart film that allows the artists to showcase what Stereogum calls, “their unique approach to music, playing dynamic oddball compositions on homemade instruments.” Tickets to the Orpheum Theater screening—part of Upstate Films’ Sonic Wave series— include a pre-film acoustic set by Arone Dyer and a post-film Q&A with musician Majel Connery. Upstatefilms.org —Hannah Van Sickle

music

Like so many other innovations in modern jazz, the idea of pairing a lone saxophone with a string section can be traced to the pioneering genius Charlie Parker: The great Bird had dreamed of recording in such a setting long before the sessions for his two 1950 landmark Charlie Parker with Strings albums. On November 18, another influential jazz giant, Joe McPhee, will bring his take on the “with Strings” concept to the CunneenHackett Arts Center for a special concert that finds him accompanied by an ensemble comprised of a Who’s Who of the region’s leading creative string players. Multi-instrumentalist McPhee’s approach to working with strings on the date, however, owes little to Parker’s records, which consist of arranged with standards sax solos. Instead, his tack is drawn loosely from a later album: 1967’s The Music of Ornette Coleman, which found that master collaborating with the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia’s Quartet. “Ornette plays trumpet on some of that record, although I’m not really playing a lot of trumpet at the moment,” explains the Dutchess County resident and composer. “I’m going to play sax for the gig, and I think I’ll also read some of the poetry that I’ve been writing, which is something I’ve been doing lately [at concerts] that’s been going pretty well.” Joining the McPhee for the performance will be a large improvising group that includes bassists Michael Bisio and Hilliard Greene, cellists Fred Lonberg-Holm and Lester St. Louis, violists Melanie Dyer and Mat Maneri, violinists Rosi Hertlein and Gwen Laster, and guitarists Billy Stein and James Keepnews; the latter

musician, a frequent Chronogram contributor, is also the brains behind the promotion company Elysium Furnace Works, which is presenting the show. “James organized the night and put the band together for it, and it was actually his suggestion to have all strings,” says McPhee. “I know all the musicians involved and I’ve played with them in other things before; they’re all great players and wonderful people. It’s exciting to be playing with them all together.” Born in Florida and raised in Poughkeepsie, McPhee, 83, is widely revered as one of the most important avant-jazz musicians to take the 1960s “new thing” ideas of icons like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, and Pharoah Sanders to the next level. His discography swells with hundreds of recordings as a leader, on solo dates, with his bands Survival Unit and Trio X, and as a collaborator with Donald Cherry, William Parker, Rashied Ali, Matthew Shipp, DJ Spooky, Peter Brötzman, and other luminous names. He’s a genuine free jazz god in Europe, where he has frequently toured and headlined music festivals and large venues. These days, he’s touring less and is happy for such curated opportunities to perform right up the block, so to speak. “It’s untold, what will happen with the direction of the music,” offers the maestro about what audiences should anticipate. “[The musicians] don’t exactly know how it will unfold—we’ll figure that out when we’re in the process of making it.” —Peter Aaron

Strings Attached JOE MCPHEE AND ENSEMBLE AT THE CUNNEEN-HACKETT ARTS CENTER November 18 at 8pm Mcphee.eventbrite.com. Joe McPhee performing recently at the Lace Mill in Kingston.

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art

Glass Breaks, and Hearts Break “KRISTALLNACHT: A MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION” AT MILDRED I. WASHINGTON ART GALLERY AT DUTCHESS COMMUNITY COLLEGE November 8-December 8 Sunydutchess.edu Photographs from Dean Goldberg's multimedia installation "Kristallnacht."

84 THE GUIDE 30 YEARS OF CHRONOGRAM 11/23

Not everyone would think of Kristallnacht as a setting for a love story. Kristallnacht—or “The Night of Broken Glass”—took place on November 9, 1938. Jewish homes, hospitals, and stores were attacked throughout Germany, Austria, and what is now the Czech Republic. At least 7,000 Jewish businesses were targeted, 30,000 Jewish men arrested and sent to concentration camps. Hundreds died. But the intention was psychological as well, to strike fear into the souls of anti-Nazis. A year later, Germany would attack Poland, beginning World War II. In Dean Goldberg’s multimedia installation “Kristallnacht,” a photograph shows two (unnamed) lovers dancing at a small nightclub in Berlin. He is a Nazi soldier; she is Jewish. He wears a swastika on his arm; a yellow Star of David is sewn on her dress. He knows that the next day will be the Night of Broken Glass. After that, it will be impossible to see his Semitic girlfriend. Wall text reveals that the woman is destined to die in a concentration camp. Eleven larger-than-life-size photographs illustrate the story, which Goldberg sees as stills from an imaginary play. Finding artifacts for this narrative became an obsession for the artist, leading him to scour memorabilia websites. Several of these objects appear in the show, including a burnt baby carriage and a menorah. A recreation of a German child’s bedroom features a 1930s baby doll wrapped in an authentic Nazi blanket. The woman in the photos is artist Erica Hauser, who painted the propaganda poster on the nightclub wall. The placard shows a blonde, handsome, square-jawed man proudly brandishing a Nazi flag. His outfit slightly resembles a Boy Scout uniform. Beside him are the words “Der Deutsche Student.” This poster also appears in the exhibition.

Goldberg prefers to use nonactors, to give a more realistic feel to his work. “I didn’t want it to look like a polished movie,” he explains. After graduating from the Hunter College film school in 1977, Goldberg got a job with David Sawyer, a pioneering political consultant. He worked as a film editor on more than 50 national campaigns, including Ted Kennedy’s 1980 presidential bid—a baptism by fire in the crucible of American politics. In the `90s, Goldberg wrote and directed shows for “Hard Copy,” “A Current Affair,” and other TV news programs. He shot “Kristallnacht” at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, where he was a professor, in 2018. This is the third in a series of projects Goldberg calls “Framing History.” The first evoked a year in his childhood, 1961, and the second tells the story of William Burroughs, the writer, killing his wife, Joan Vollmer, in a tragic accident at a party in Mexico City. “Kristallnacht” is the first of the projects to be exhibited in a gallery. Goldberg’s interests are not purely historical, however. A video in the show begins with images of Kristallnacht and culminates in video of the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The artist is asking: How do masses of normally rational, courteous people go collectively insane? “I always thought that somebody like Hitler would be real smart, but that’s not the case,” Goldberg says of Donald Trump. “We have a thug that’s trying to become our first dictator.” He pauses. “It’s not national, but it’s my one chance to shine a light.” Dr. Werner Steger, the endowed chair of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Dutchess Community College, journalist Rosemary Armao, and Goldberg will take part in a panel discussion at the opening on November 8 at 7pm. —Sparrow