KARSH 100

BOSTON, Mass. (11/24/2008) -- Sunday is a day for art. Deciding to venture into the Museum of Fine Arts on a frigid afternoon in Boston seemed like a unique idea, one that only I could have conjured up. Yet, as the warmth of the heating system in the building sucked me into the foyer of the MFA, it was surprising to discover the volume of people within the walls of the museum.

Knowing my purpose for trekking through the cold that afternoon, I wasted no time heading straight through the West Wing of the museum, past the bookstore and the Galleria to the Rabb Gallery. It was then that I reached my destination: a world captured by Karsh.

Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh was one of the few humans that had the opportunity during his lifetime to play God. Karsh once said that it was “his goal to photograph the great in spirit, whether they be famous or humble.” And that’s exactly what he did.

Walking through the exhibit, it is easy to feel as if one is attending the Oscars, showcased on the walls are the most famous celebrities throughout the past century. Karsh seems to have photographed everyone who was ever anyone; his pieces range from portraits of Pablo Picasso to Audrey Hepburn.

Through the lens of his camera, Karsh shot negatives of history’s stars such a Jacques Cousteau and Eleanor Roosevelt. Yet, in the gallery, these celebrities hang side by side with a simple portrait of Karsh’s own wife, Estrellita. This is a form of realism that is unique to Karsh’s work. The humanity of the famous is something that is often forgotten, and for that reason, Karsh’s portraits resonated deeply with his audience.

Karsh did not take pictures by merely clicking the button of his Kodak camera. Karsh was an artist in all aspects of his profession. His professionalism was deeply rooted in his character. The National Portrait Gallery depicts Karsh as an internationally renowned photographer, but nonetheless, a gentleman. He put his subjects at ease while he photographed them—allowing him to produce the most accurate depictions possible.

The Museum of Fine Arts states, “Privileged individuals trusted Karsh to record their likeliness in a way that would protect their reputation.” Because of his way with people, Karsh photographed over 15,000 sittings throughout the course of his career. He always chose to present his sitters in the most formal manner, gaining him respect from his subjects that boosted his own reputation.

Walking through the gallery past portrait after portrait of celebrities, it is easy to see why Karsh’s work is so well loved. His images are sharp, so precisely focused that each print almost blinds the eye upon first glance. Every portrait is done black and white print, Karsh’s work revealing an aspect of the man’s character. Karsh did not emphasize the color of the subject’s skin, hair, or clothing. He looked at the inside of the individual and at his or her character.

The one painting that does pop out from amidst the sea of black and white is a portrait of the actress, Sophia Loren. Completed in 1981, it is a Chromogenic print, rich in color. The photo captures the delighted face of the actress, smiling from under a crimson wide-brimmed hat. Loren is depicted only in the bottom third of the portrait, leaving the other two thirds of the photo, black, empty space. The museum text alongside the portrait explains that the color in the print was necessary for the portrait’s replication in Life, Time, and Newsweek magazines, but it was not Karsh’s medium of choice.

The detailed beauty of all of Karsh’s portraits is found not only in the medium that he chose or in the outwardly aesthetic, but also in the inner spirit of each of his subjects. Karsh often focused on the face of his subject, dramatically lighting each visage with artificial light. This depicts Karsh’s fascination with the “inward power” of his sitters, as he later wrote in a memoir.

CBS News did a “60 Minutes” episode on Karsh in 1977 that traced his successful 60-year career as a photographer. The show’s host, Morley Safer, emphasized Karsh’s great love for the artists that he photographed.

Safer said that Karsh was enthralled with people’s faces and the stories that they told. “To Karsh, their greatness was the greatness if historical continuity,” said Safer.

Yousuf Karsh had his own history to tell; perhaps that is why he is so quick to capture the history of the subjects that he photographs.

Karsh arrived in Halifax, Canada in 1925, a 17-year old boy all on his own. He was an Armenian immigrant, escaping Turkish persecution and genocide to find a new life in North America.

Karsh writes in his own brief autobiography, “My first glimpse of the New World on a steely, cold sunny winter day was the Halifax wharf, covered in snow. I could not yet begin to imagine the infinite promise of this new land.”

The young immigrant grew up to be one of the most defined photographers of the 20^th century, but he left behind a sad childhood, one that he never forgot. “My recollection of those days comprise a strange mixture of blood and beauty, of persecution and peace,” said Karsh. His past haunted him throughout his career.

It is that balance of blood and beauty that Karsh freezes within each of his portraits; for a second the past surfaces in the face of the portrait’s subject, regardless of who the subject is or what story he or she holds.

The first of his Karsh’s portraits depicts Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Taken in 1941 during a visit Churchill paid to Canada, the photo shows Churchill’s hostility on the occasion. According to the museum, Churchill had not been previously informed that he was required to sit for a portrait. He therefore, took out a fat cigar and began to smoke. After asking him politely to refrain from smoking, Karsh forcefully removed the cigar from Churchill’s mouth. The resulting portrait is one of defiance and the “indomitable spirit of the statesman and his besieged country.”

Hanging alongside Churchill, many fifty other black and white Gelatin silver prints hang with austerity. American President Dwight D. Eisenhower stares at the passerby with piercing eyes; Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro’s unwieldy beard fills the bottom half of his portrait and seems eccentric and wild next to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s regal pose in all white.

Throughout the 20^th century, Karsh took over 150,000 photographic negatives, each unique by the nature of the diversity of his subjects. Many of the portraits are displayed in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ Rabb Gallery exhibition, titled “Karsh 100: A Biography in Images.”

By CATHERINE MOORE (camoore@bu.edu)

Finding Community

BOSTON, Mass. (11/24/2008) -- Ethan Rubin does not believe in the Christian God, per se. Instead, Rubin believes that God is a “sort of infinite sum of being.” He believes that all religions are seeking the same thing.

Rubin’s unconventional beliefs don’t stop him, however, from waking up for an eight a.m. Sunday morning church service every week. A junior enrolled in Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences, Rubin plays bass guitar in a church worship band in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Rubin, 20, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is also one of over 45 students from all over the Boston region who participates in the Inner Strength Gospel Choir. Although the group meets and performs at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, it is not strictly for BU students. Religious belief is also optional. Participation is not.

Choir director and chapel staff member, Herbert Jones, said that personal faith does not always determine an individual’s dedication to the choir. Jones said that Rubin is one of the most reliable, consistent members of the crew.

“He’s actually been more faithful and more committed than some of the choir members,” said Jones.

Rubin, wearing a fire engine red t-shirt with a chainsaw manual printed on the front that reads, “Lumber assassin,” plays the bass guitar. He has been actively involved with music since age six.

The son of Dr. Emanuel Rubin and Dr. Linda Haegle, Rubin was always encouraged to pursue music. On his sixth birthday, he was told that it was “time to choose an instrument.” Rubin decided on playing the violin. Always up for a new challenge he transitioned to the mandolin by the time he was 12.

While taking mandolin lessons from a violin teacher with a background in classical jazz, Rubin became hooked on the bass. He likes how everything with the bass is so much more relaxed and less symmetrical than the violin. He said that he could relax more, when playing guitar.

“It’s easy to move things around and change key,” said Rubin, demonstrating the way he changes chords with his left hand on the fingerboard of the guitar. Rubin moves with the ease of someone who is handling the familiar.

And Rubin likes things that are familiar. Comfort is something that he seeks in all aspects of his life. That’s why he’s come back for a third year as a member of the Inner Strength Gospel Choir.

“The choir is probably the only reason that I’m still at BU,” said Rubin. “The only place that I felt at home was the choir, people were happy to see me here.”

According to Herbert Jones, that’s one of the unique aspects of the group. Jones said that the choir brings people together and gives them a sense of community. “A lot of people come from different singing backgrounds, not only in church,” said Jones. “The choir allows them to express themselves and to find an anchor and their place on campus.”

John Mason, a sophomore geology major at Tufts University-- eleven miles outside Boston-- is just now finding his anchor in the choir. Saturday afternoon is his first practice as a member of the Inner Strength Gospel Choir. Recruited to play tenor saxophone in the group, Mason is excited to join a choir such as this.

“I’m kinda religious too,” Mason said, adding that the group will provide religious meaning, as well as community involvement. “I don’t know. I just play music. I try to play as much as I can.”

Rubin and Mason, after meeting ten minutes prior, are already in deep conversation as they set up their instruments for rehearsal. The Inner Strength Gospel Choir is preparing for their annual winter performance Friday, November 21, but the boys are not discussing the concert. Rubin, making small talk with comfort and ease, is helping the newcomer, Mason, feel right at home.

As Rubin plugs in his amp and adjusts the knob on the speakers, he tells Mason how he randomly ended up sitting in the recording studio of the band The Roots, while back in Philly. “It was crazy,” said Rubin. “Wow, that’s dope,” Mason said with a grin.

Rubin, always fascinated with music, has chosen not to make a professional career out of playing the bass.

“In the last three years at college, one of the things I figured out is that I actually don’t want to go into music professionally,” said Rubin. “Not because I don’t love it, more the opposite really. I realized that I don’t want it to become the kind of obligation that I wouldn’t be free to enjoy the way I do now.”

Director Jones says that Rubin is a welcome member of the choir and since he joined the group, he has helped create a new “sound for the choir.”

With his black, thick-rimmed glasses and a gauge earring through each ear, Rubin sets his own individual tone, as well. He likes to listen to music groups such as Brahms, 2pac, and the Dead Milkmen; his favorite movie repertoire includes Full Metal Jacket, the Hustler, and Pulp Fiction; and his favorite thing to eat is steak, in Rubin’s words, there’s “no contest” there.

The son of a pathologist and an oncologist, Rubin was 15 days old when a live-in nanny named Carmela entered his life. He remains in close contact with Carmela and visits her every time he returns home. Carmela taught Rubin to speak in Spanish, a skill that has proven to be beneficial in multiple aspects of his life. She also helped shape Rubin’s faith and his ethical standards.

“I can credit her (Carmela) with a lot of the moral fiber I like to think I have now,” said Rubin. “She always stressed things like hard work, honesty, and kindness.”

Rubin says that Carmela also shared a lot of her culture and beliefs with him and his brother. “She (Carmela) was one of the first to pique my interest in religion,” said Rubin, something his parents never paid much attention to. “I remember being a little kid and sitting on the bed with her when she did her rosary at night, and being impressed with how sincere her faith was.”

With a love for travel and a desire to see Carmela’s home country, Rubin studied abroad this past summer in Argentina. Due to his bilingual capabilities, he has chosen to add a minor in Spanish to his undergraduate philosophy major. He says that he owes this all to Carmela and he will always be grateful to her.

However, Rubin says that he has yet to satisfy his continuous travel itch and he plans to attend graduate school in either Scotland or England in the fall of 2010. He likes the idea of picking a random location and moving there for a time. That’s the type of kid he is.

“I’ve known Ethan (Rubin) for three years. He just showed up to choir practice one day his freshman year,” said Jones. “I’m not even sure how he heard about it. He was good, so we tried to keep him around.”

As Rubin and Mason tune their instruments and Jones takes his place at the piano bench, a group of students sitting on the center pews of the chapel begin to clap their hands to the music.

One soloist stands in the front of the imaginary congregation, rehearsing his number for Friday’s concert. The soloist shouts out, “Lord, you are my shepherd!” The chorus responds, the forsaken textbooks and schoolwork on the student’s laps bounce up and down as they clap their hands and join the song of worship.

Rubin, positioned behind Herb’s left shoulder, hovers over the pianist. Strumming a steady beat on the bass, he maintains his own rhythm despite the many pauses in the choral number.

Unfazed by the actions of his choral peers, Rubin runs a hand through his shaggy blonde hair and continues to pluck away at the strings. Reliable, Consistent, and methodical, Rubin strums to his own beat.

By CATHERINE MOORE (camoore@bu.edu)

Double-Ew

By CATHERINE MOORE, camoore@bu.edu

BOSTON, Mass. (11/3/2008) -- George W. Bush is the type of guy you want to sit down and have a beer with. At least that’s the message Republican political strategist Karl Rove wanted to portray to the American public in the 2000 presidential elections.

Oliver Stone had that same idea in mind while directing Emperor Motion Pictures’ recent film, “W.” that was released October 17, 2008. The film illustrates the life and controversial two-term presidency of George W. Bush, giving the viewer a sense of the American president’s humanity, with a little more negativity than Rove would ever advertise.

President Bush (Josh Brolin) jumpstarts his political career in the same manner that he would get a cow moving on his ranch in Midland, Texas: a nice kick in the behind. Impulsive and flawed of character, Bush is just like any other run of the mill American—except that he’s in the public eye, he’s a Bush.

Elected governor of Texas in 1994 and son of one-term American President George H. W. Bush (James Cromwell), Bush Jr. has always been in the people pleasing game when it came to his father. Constantly striving to prove his worth to a disappointed Bush Sr., Stone shows Bush’s vulnerability in the presence of his father and his addiction to alcohol as a result of this pressure to live up to his expectations.

When Bush crashes his car into the front of his family’s home at the wee hours of the morning after a long night of partying and “carrying on,” Bush senior confronts his inebriated son. “My advice to you, Junior, is to get yourself to an AA meeting,” says Bush Sr.

Perhaps as a result of his alcoholism or the nature of his character, Bush seems to be going nowhere in life. “You disappoint me, Junior,” says Bush Sr. at more than one occasion throughout the movie. “You deeply disappoint me. You haven’t kept your word once, not once.”

Scenes such as these evoke a surprising degree of empathy from the viewer, causing him or her to question whether this emotion was what script writer Stanley Weiser intended when he chose to focus the bulk of the film on the dysfunction of the Bush father-son relationship.

Bush, after making it through Yale University by the seat of his pants, tries jobs as an oil worker, a salesman at a sporting goods store, a ranch hand, and a position in the Air National Guard. Bush Sr. pronounces them all failures. Comparing Bush to his older brother, Jeb, Bush Sr. is disgusted with his son’s lack of work ethic and, frankly, his lack of any sort of moral ethic whatsoever.

In one scene towards the beginning of the film, Stone shows Bush returning to his father’s office to ask for help in bailing himself out. This is a pattern that repeats itself throughout the film, as George W. Bush, patronizingly called “Jr.” by his father, consistently fails to live up to the Bush family name.

The epitome of Bush’s corrupt party life during his young adulthood is illustrated in one of these office scenes when Bush pays a visit to daddy. The morning after a carousing night at a bar, Bush wakes up and finds that he has proposed to a woman he has no intention of marrying. When he threatens to end it, she makes up a rumor that has impregnated her. “I use a condom, Pappy, I’m not stupid,” says Bush.

A less than pleased Bush Sr. responds to his son’s continual failures with accumulating frustration. After his son’s multiple mess-ups in the job market and academically, he is at a loss as to how to help him.

“Who do you think you are, a Kennedy?” Bush Sr. says. “You’re a Bush. We’ve always worked for a living and it’s high time you joined us.”

Unbeknownst to his father, Bush takes this advice to heart and after straightening out his life, he decides to make something out of it, or to at least try. In the office of Pastor Earle Hudd (Stacey Keach), Bush finds Jesus. With an over the top southern accent, the pastor instructs a crying Bush to let Jesus lift the weight of sin from his shoulders.

“Born again, W, that’s what you are,” says Pastor Hudd. With hymns playing in the background, Pastor Hudd repeats John 3:16 from the Bible and he tells Bush to “take the baton, reach out and treat everyone you meet like they are going to be dead at midnight.” To this perplexing advice, Pastor Hudd says, “Love without hope of reward.” To push the scene even farther, Stone has Pastor Hudd plant seeds in Bush’s mind that will one day lead him to the Oval Office. “We are a country of wounded sinners,” says Pastor Hudd. “We are a nation, a Christian nation.”

The next scene, go figure, Stone has Bush announcing his presidential aspirations. “What if I tell you that I’m ready to get into the family business?” says Bush to his family and friends one night at his parents’ home. Everyone assumes he means the oil business. Bush means politics. He then reveals his decision to run for President of the United States, to the chagrin of his shocked parents and advisors.

Barbara Bush (Ellen Burstyn), matriarch of the Bush clan, has a harsh reality she feels obligated to relay to her son. “The fact is you can’t win,” says Barbara. “Why do you say that?” says Bush. “Because you’re just like me,” Barbara says. “You have a big mouth and a short fuse.” Bush is not discouraged because he doesn’t see that as an issue.

“I’m in touch with real people everyday,” says Bush at the start of his campaign. He thinks that’s enough to get him to the White House, and it is.

Stone uses Bush’s time on the campaign trail to reveal the first glimpse of his complete lack of intellect. The scenes are shot from in front of Bush, with reporters and newsmen crowded around him, pelting him with questions. Bush’s young librarian wife and fellow Texan, Laura (Elizabeth Banks), follows behind him, pictured over Bush’s left shoulder on the screen. She pretty much keeps her mouth shut like a good southern wife, a slight smile at the corners of her mouth, as if she were humoring her husband.

In what many republicans would label “borderline criminal,” the film is filled with moments which highlight Bush’s ignorance, lack of tact, and plain stupidity.

Bush is shown to be incompetent in press conferences. In one scene, Bush is shown passionately answering a reporter’s question. He says, “Rarely is the question asked, ‘is our children learning?’”

In another scene, Bush just seems so flat out naïve that it is embarrassing for the American people to call him President. He visits a severely burned soldier, hospitalized from fighting in Iraq. He approaches him and immediately begins to speak in his choppy Spanish, assuming that he is Mexican because of the color of his unburnt skin. When he returns Bush’s questions in fluent English, Bush is taken aback. He then gives the soldier’s mother a T-shirt for her son, to commemorate his sacrifice to the country. On his way out, Bush squeezes the soldier’s puss-filled, bandaged thumb in what must have been an excruciating gesture for the soldier.

Highlighting only grammatically incorrect responses such as this, without also showing Bush’s positive leadership role on September 11, 2001, and at other times throughout his political career, leads the viewer to conclude that Stone is out to get Bush. Perhaps in showing the negative in Bush’s life, Stone intends to slander Bush, but his motives may go deeper than that.

It may be that Stone is making a political move. It seems like more than coincidence that a comedic mockery of the present Republican American leadership is released a week before Election Day 2008, an election that remains close between Democrats and republicans. Is it coincidence that the Democrats attack the Republican Party by deeming candidate John McCain, synonymous to Bush? The film makes one question whether he is synonymous to the Bush portrayed in “W” as stupid, incompetent, and flawed of character. Who would want to vote for him?

Tonight

 

Encounter

He cut in front of my intended path of travel.

 

I could feel the sweat droplets freezing between the frown lines of my forehead,

like little beads nestled between corduroy ridges.

The dreaded trek back to my apartment from the gym.

 

I moved to my right and he moved to his left. When we collided, I said, “Excuse me.”

His right eye looked into my eyes, his left eye still in the shadows of the street lamp.

 

He had trash bags in his hands. He was wearing an old flannel shirt.

He must be doing the late-night garbage run.

I kept walking.

 

I looked over my shoulder. He was reaching into the university garbage barrel.

He was lifting things out.

 

He was homeless and he looked just like my Grandpa in that red flannel.

 

By CATHERINE MOORE

 

Merry-Go-Round the Frog Pond

BOSTON, Mass. (10/28/2008) -- Sunday afternoon, 30 horses made their debut at the Boston Common Frog Pond carousel opening.

The General Manager of the Boston Common Frog Pond, Bob McKeown, said that the carousel, which is open for a trial period from October 25 through November 9, received an enthusiastic reception from its clientele. McKeown said that he was surprised that the carousel riders were not just children.

“It’s obviously mostly kids who enjoy the ride,” said McKeown. “But we did receive an enthusiastic comment card from a 50 year-old woman, and a wedding couple stopped by yesterday to take a ride, as well. The guy was still in his tux.”

McKeown said that he tried to snap some photos of the newlyweds riding the carousel with his camera phone, but they came out blurry.

McKeown, General Manager of the Boston Common Frog Pond since May 2008, has over 20 years prior experience in ice rink management. “I’ve been in the skating business for many years,” said McKeown. “In 1988, I started my job running the Arlington Ice Rink. The buck stopped with me. I was there for 14 years.”

McKeown’s career in ice rink management then led him to oversee operations at the Chelmsford Forum ice rink in North Billerica, Massachusetts, where the UMass Lowell hockey team used to play.

Dressed in a light green Boston Common Frog Pond t-shirt, evergreen pants, and a matching hat, McKeown stood out in the rain on Tuesday. He showed off the sleek new herd of horses on the merry-go-round, outside of his pond-side office building.

McKeown refused to take a photograph with the horses, saying that he was not allowed to show the detailed tattoos that snake down both of his bare arms.

“Even though they (the tattoos) are Disney and kid-friendly,” he said, “I really shouldn’t (show them).”

Due to the continuous rain, McKeown said that he had to shut down operations all day Tuesday. “We can’t open because it’s all slippery and wet,” said McKeown. He said that plans to introduce this carousel to Boston Common have been in the works for around four years and the Foundation cannot afford to have any accidents caused by the rain.

Boston Common Frog Pond Foundation Chairman, Thomas A. Kershaw, introduced the carousel idea to the Frog Pond Foundation and has been pushing for its implementation ever since. Kershaw, a Boston Businessman and owner of the Hampshire House, Cheers Beacon Hill, Cheers Faneuil Hall Marketplace, and 75 Chestnut restaurant, is a central figure in the Frog Pond facility management, along with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. The Frog Pond Snack bar is also under the supervision of Kershaw’s restaurant chefs.

The Boston Common Frog Pond, open for winter skating since 1997, continued to expand to what is now an almost year-round gathering place for local residents and visitors. Open November to March for public skating, the Frog Pond becomes a reflecting pool in the spring and fall, and finally it transforms into a wading pool for the months of July and August.

The carousel is a part of the recent effort to expand recreational offerings at Boston Common Frog Pond during the off-season.

“We are trying to fill in those fall and spring months,” said McKeown. “We are hoping, come March, when we close the skating rink that we can have the carousel up and running permanently.”

The Boston Common Frog Pond is more than a recreational facility for public enjoyment. The Foundation also reaches out to the community through Philanthropic work. The Boston Common Frog Pond works with the Red Sox Foundation in the winter to teach kids how to skate and hires summer employees from the Boston Youth Foundation.

McKeown said that the Frog Pond had a great group of high school employees from the Boston Youth Foundation, this past summer.

“I really enjoy teaching young people who have never had a job before,” said McKeown.

Although the addition of a carousel to the Frog Pond was calculated to affect business in the spring and fall, McKeown said that he sees potential for the carousel to function for a longer period of time.

“I know that Tom (Kershaw) would like to see it open until January 1, for the holidays,” said McKeown. “We will never say never.”

McKeown said that the Boston Common Frog Pond Foundation is contemplating several other changes to the events calendar, in addition to the presence of the new carousel. McKeown said that he has been brainstorming and he would like to add some several “theme night” skating events throughout the year, as well as an art show around the reflecting pond, and summer electric sailboat races. He said that he hopes to hire an activities director who could oversee arts and crafts of the facility.

“We are just trying to look to expand programs in whatever way we can,” said McKeown. “I’m all about the children and the senior citizens. It’s that smile on their faces when they come up to the snack bar to purchase a ticket or get a cup of cocoa that gets me.”

November 19, 2008, Boston Mayor, Thomas M. Menino will once again cut the ribbon to open up the Boston Common Frog Pond for the first night of skating in the 2008-2009 season. The opening night festivities will include visits from local sports team mascots including the Boston Red Sox Green Monster, Nutcracker characters from The Boston Ballet, and Lucky from the Boston Celtics. Visit http://www.bosotncommonfrogpond.org/.

By CATHERINE MOORE

Doctors Now Prescribe Books

BOSTON, Mass. (10/21/08)--The heavy, red-furred dog costume, worn by Dr. Perri Klass’s 13 year-old son, Anatol, was just one of several costumes donned by volunteers, Sunday. Story book legends came to life at the Seaport Hotel in Boston Harbor at the annual Reach Out and Read “Read and Romp” event.

Norman Bridwell’s children’s book character, Clifford the Big Red Dog, was led around to greet youngsters on the arm of his mother, one of the early members of the Reach Out and Read organization.

Dr. Perri Klass joined the Reach Out and Read (ROR) organization 16 years ago, with a passion to promote literacy. She said that today, according to Reach Out and Read statistics, 35 percent of children who enter kindergarten lack the basic language skills they will need to learn to read.

These children come from mostly from low-income families. Without intervention, those children will have low literacy skills and poor economic potential in their adult lives. This is where Reach Out and Read comes in, providing books, while promoting literacy by educating parents on the importance of reading to children at early ages.

A journalism and pediatrics professor currently at New York University, Klass returned to Boston this past weekend on her annual trip to Beantown for the Read and Romp. Despite relocating to New York City for her career, Klass continued her volunteer legacy as a Reach out and Read medical doctor on the Board of Directors.

The Reach Out and Read organization, started in 1989, was an attempt by pediatricians and primary caregivers to become more involved in their clients’ lives. They went beyond conventional healthcare to give low-income children a chance. These doctors and nurses left behind tradition in order to tell parents about the importance of reading in child development. Upon each check –up visit, nurses and doctors provide parents with information on how to read to children at each developmental age as well as sending each child home from his or her appointment with a new book to keep as his or her own.

“The books hold so much meaning, so much pleasure, and so much possibility,” said Klass. “It is so much fun for parents to see their child enjoy a book. It’s inspiring. It’s what we want all children to have. We want every child who comes into the office for medical care, to leave with a book in hand.”

The Read and Romp is a Reach Out and Read event, co-sponsored by the Cabot Corporation, Walden Media, and Scholastic Inc. The event brings in over 80,000 dollars each year that is used to buy books for more than 4,000 ROR programs nation wide. The Read and Romp has helped more than 3.3 million children explore their favorite books.

This year the Seaport Hotel Plaza conference room was transformed into a storybook land, featuring 11 stations, each focusing on a favorite children’s book with an activity to accompany it.

Margaret Wise Bloom’s The Runaway Bunny station gave children the opportunity to coddle live baby bunnies. Next door at Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar station, children make their own butterflies out of clothespins and coffee filters. Laura Joffe Numeroff’s book If you Give a Mouse a Cookie station was in the center of the room and children could decorate their very own cookies. The timeless book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton, recreated a “construction zone” in one corner of the room, with trucks and blocks scattered all over the floor. Throughout the afternoon, the storybook characters literally came to life for the children to enjoy. Clifford the Big Red Dog was joined by Frog and Toad from Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad are Friends as well as several other characters. The children and their parents were busy as bees, moving from station to station as they share each other’s pleasure.

“I think for all of us that work for the program in any capacity,” said Klass. “It’s all about the pleasure that parents and children get together, from reading.”

More than 60 volunteers spent time and energy planning this year’s Read and Romp. Co-chair of the event committee, Kirke Hall from Westwood, MA, said that she has been involved with Reach Out and Read for more than 12 years and she has been working at the Read and Romp for all five years of its existence. “A friend got me involved,” said Hall.

With her husband and both of her children present at the event, Hall said that she got her whole family involved. “ROR can offer its full five year program for a mere $40 per child,” said Hall. “That means that by the time the child enters kindergarten, he or she will have a home library of at least 10 books, and parents who understand the great importance of reading aloud.”

One of a handful of paid employees working the event, Matt Ferraguto has only worked as the communications director for ROR since last December, but he already says that promoting literacy is the “best job ever.” Before ROR, Ferraguto worked as the public relations representative for Senator Kennedy and Congressman Lynch on their political campaigns.

Ferraguto explained that ROR’s crusade is not to teach reading, but to let parents know of their responsibility to read to their children, far before the kids are actually learning to read by themselves.

“I’m about to have my first baby,” said Ferraguto, referring to his wife’s pregnancy. “If it were not for ROR, and if I did not work here, I would never have known that you should read to a 6 month old baby.”

Ferraguto said that studies have shown that spending time talking to a child from infancy to the toddler years can prove to be a much more effective form of preparation for kindergarten than planting children in front of the television.

Abbie Bloom, the event coordinator employed by ROR, said that she thinks the best part about the event is that it is “impossible not to have fun.” Bloom, who has helped to plan the past three Read and Romps, is also planning an ROR fundraiser for adults in the springtime.

“The ‘Read, Romp and Rock’ event is a non-traditional gala fundraiser for adults that will be held on April 3^rd this year.” Bloom said, “It’s at The Estate venue, and it will feature dinner by the bite, music, dancing, and games.”

“It’s the perfect night out for, parents, many of whom have brought their children here today and will continue to show their support for ROR by attending the gala in the spring,” she said.

Michael and Joy Surprenant were not only in attendance at this year’s Read and Romp, but they were also sponsors of the event. The Surprenants said that their monetary donation to the event is a reflection of their investment in the importance of reading. They have been bringing their five year-old son to the event since he could walk and he has come to look forward to it.

“We started to support ROR and attend the Read and Romp while we were still reading out loud to him,” said Mrs. Surprenant. “Now he’s starting to read on his own; beginner books. He loves it. That’s part of why we want to promote ROR, we want to let everyone enjoy reading.”

By CATHERINE MOORE