An Art History Lesson by Ric Hirst

I very much enjoy taking art history courses at Bard College, so tonight's show was wonderful. Ric Hirst, my friend and fellow Italophile, was brilliant in his analysis of the art of Marino Marini. The museum in his honor is one of my favorite museums in Florence located right near my favorite restaurant, La Spada, along the street, via dell Spada. Ric to me is quite mesmerizing, and his presentation was worthy of an art history professor. The show itself went quite smoothly as Ellen did her usual fabulous job of camera work and videography.

I again reminded the audience about my book, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey, which can be reached at my website, Alansitaly.com, Xlibris website, or amazon among many other internet sites. All profits will be donated to the Town of Woodstock to be used to help support the TV studio. Also the book is now on sale at the Woodstock Venue, Jean Turmo, a lovely store on Tinker Street right in the center of town.

I will be doing a library forum in Saugerties 6 PM, Monday evening, Jan 14, to promote the book. I have been creating and re-creating my presentation for quite some time, and now seem to have arrived at a vehicle I feel comfortable with. I will trace my life of Italian travel going through the six Parts of the book through stunning photos, all very personal, including images of the times I have spent with the inspirations for the book, my friends the influential people in my life. There will be photos of me with Lidia, Luca, Franco, of course Laura, my TV engineer, Ellen, and the final Part, just about my past year of amazing experiences. I may do a book reading of a couple of passages that are the most meaningful to me. I hope if you are in this area, you will stop by at 6 PM.

Meanwhile I have moved closer to returning to my real passion to continue teaching mathematics at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. I have been away for almost three years, and am very eager to return.

Next week I will show several video taped interviews of people with whom I am friends. They will talk about their experiences traveling in Italy. The name of the show is Italy in Their Own Words, Part 3, completing the three-part series I started back last spring. I have several more possibilities for interviews in the wings, but right now, this is it. Hope you take a look. Ciao for now !