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Looked Into
Gill and Laughlin on Video, Joking and Talking About "The New Yawper" and More
Filed under: Looked Into Tagged: books, Brendan Gill, design, James Laughlin, poetry, video
If you went to the Jack Spade website, you'd expect to find snappy bags and leather accessories for men. And indeed you'll find those. But click on 'Happenings' and you'll find some things you simply could never have predicted to find.Man, it's good. Just go. And buy The Way It Wasn't, which the Spade site is presenting along with the video. It's designed by the gifted Rodrigo Corral, is full of fascinating photos and beautiful typography, and it'll make your whole life (not to mention Laughlin's) feel like a poem.The most remarkable of these is the reminiscences on video from James Laughlin (1914-1997), poet, as well as publisher of New Directions. Among its many distinctions, New Directions was the first American publisher of Nabokov. Seated with Laughlin is his old friend Brendan Gill of the New Yorker (his birth and death years happen to match Laughlin's), and the two reminisce about the authors they worked with and befriended.
It's just two old fellows talking, but in our YouTube world of cats playing the piano, we find the talk absolutely spellbinding. Watch it here.
About us
Hello! We are media enthusiasts and culture addicts—not to mention classically trained (as we like to say) professional journalists. This is our collection of generally civilized conversations about magazines, movies, politics, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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They say that dashes “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like em dashes—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is currently written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. (Unsigned posts through October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.)
The site is designed and maintained by House of Pretty and illustrated by Jesse Ewing for Inkleaf Studio. Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (who also draws our daily comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The kissable Emdashes logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World; PDF, p. 20)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, man about town, and New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Report: Learning to read with comic books--that are edited by Françoise Mouly (for Print)
- Interview: Designer Eleanor Grosch (for Print)
- Proposal: a better-designed Metrocard (for A Brief Message)
- Review: Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life by Linda H. Davis (for Newsday)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Review: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Report: Eustace Tilley spruces up for The New Yorker's website redesign (for Print)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Micro-essay: on saving time through inspiration (for A Brief Message)
- Review: books about various New Yorker cartoonists by Liza Donnelly and Iain Topliss (for Newsday)
- Profile: screenwriter and novelist Joe Keenan (for Newsday)
- Review: The Complete New Yorker (for Print)
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Comments
Dear Emily,
As the producer/director of the Gill/Laughlin documentary( still in progress), I am delighted by the warmth of your praise.
In any event, my most finished film will be on PBS/American Masters- Clint Eastwood presents- TONY BENNETT: THE MUSIC NEVER ENDS - Airdate - Sept 12 PBS nationwide.
Thanks,
Bruce Ricker