Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Edith Bunker is a feminist icon, even though she’s known primarily as the somewhat batty wife of an amiably bigoted husband, Archie Bunker. Sometimes in the early 1980s and thereafter I would seek out reruns of All in The Family, Norman Lear’s groundbreaking drama, a show that was recognized with 22 Emmys and five spinoffs, the most of any prime-time television series. I watched Edith carefully and admiringly not because I was a big fan of the show when it aired originally (I was rather young), but because Jean Stapleton was a family friend whom I had seen on stage and conversed with many times. When I was a youth, she was the most famous person that I called a friend.
Every summer throughout her teens and 20s, and most summers thereafter that she lived in and around Washington DC, my actress step-mother did summer stock at The Totem Pole Playhouse, a theatre in Caledonia, Pennsylvania that would host tour-bus after tour-bus of theatre-lovers and octogenarians, of curious tourists who would come from New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC to see a troupe of players that often included Jean Stapleton. It was a family affair. Jean’s husband Bill Putch founded the theatre and gave my step-mom her first real acting job; Jean and Bill’s children John and Pam Putch were often seen onstage with their Mom. I fondly remember a production of Oklahoma in which all three sang and danced with a company of New York and regional actors who relished the opportunity to share a stage with such an important actress (who played Aunt Eller, who was also often played on stage by Margaret Hamilton). At after-parties Jean would talk to me about the satisfaction she gained from being in the same room with her audience, how the immediacy and excitement of a live performance trumped that she gained from her film and television work (though All in the Family was filmed before a live studio audience).
The children in our family grew up, and so did Jean’s, and California lured most of us away from Caledonia, Pennsylvania and other eastern cities. When my dad and stepmother married in a small ceremony at the family summer home, they invited only family, knowing that none of their friends should be offended at being excluded if they made a point of excluding ALL their friends. Well, Jean Stapleton’s husband Bill Putch found out about the date and place, and showed up uninvited. Looking back on the pictures from that day, I realize that John represents the closest we had to family outside the family. Except on TV and the big screen, I hadn’t seen Jean in years, but today I mourn her passing, and celebrate her for the decades of thought-provoking and comedic performances as an actress, and for the kindness and mentorship that she shared with our family.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will include a question about Jean Stapleton, favorite sports, as well as a variety of other topics: household appliances, Billy the Kid, people whose last names starts with H, monsters and such, keeping up with the Jones’s, Tom Toms, mononyms, Harris polls, Texas, teeth, Frederick Douglass, fireworks, two and a half syllable words, calamari, mixed drinks (hello John!), TV shows that the kids like, gloominess, primates that teach classes, classical music (for Rachel), Italians, Scottish culture, testosterone in the 20s, Oscar-nominated films, authors of 21 best-sellers, alkanes, nuclear energy, basketball, QR codes, Spain, and Shakespeare.
See you tonight!
Your Quizmaster
Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Mottos and Slogans. What brand of Scotch Whiskey uses the slogan “Keep Walking”?
- Internet Culture. Who bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion?
- Newspaper Headlines. The AP reported that protests against what Missouri-based company took place in at least 52 countries and 436 cities on Saturday?
- Four for Four. Which three of the following are the actual names of species of duck? Saxony Duck, Shetland Duck, Silver Appleyard Duck, Snopes Duck.
- Mall Stores. According to CEO Mike Jeffries, what clothes retailer makes a point not to market to plus-sized women?
P.S. This coming Thursday night is Poetry Night!
The Poetry Night Reading Series is proud to welcome Rae Gouirand and Sarah Pape on Thursday, June 6th at 8 P.M. They will be performing at the John Natsoulas Gallery at 521 1st Street. In addition to poetry (perhaps), Gouirand and Pape will be reading from non-fiction prose.
Rae Gouirand’s first collection of poetry, Open Winter, was selected by Elaine Equi for the 2011 Bellday Prize, and won a 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award and the 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Award. Her new work has appeared most recently in American Poetry Review, PANK, Handsome, The Brooklyner, Gertrude, and The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. An adjunct lecturer in the Department of English at UC-Davis, she has led numerous private and grant-funded workshops in poetry and prose throughout the region over the last decade (allonehum.wordpress.com).
Sarah Pape teaches English and works as the Managing Editor of Watershed Review at California State University, Chico. Her poetry and prose has recently been published in The California Prose Directory, California Northern, The Superstition Review, The Southeast Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and Cadence of Hooves: A Celebration of Horses. Her chapbook, Road Z, was published by Yarroway Mountain Press. Committed to community arts and literary collaboration, she is on the board of the 1078 Gallery and leads creative writing workshops.
Attendees are encouraged to arrive early at the John Natsoulas Gallery to secure a seat, and to sign up for a spot on the Open Mic list. The Poetry Night Reading Series, hosted by Andy Jones and produced by Leanne Watkins, occurs on the first and third Thursday of every month at the John Natsoulas Gallery.
Who: Rae Gouirand and Sarah Pape
What: The Poetry Night Reading Series
When: Thursday, June 6th at 8 P.M.
Where: John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street
Media Contact: Leanne Watkins
Email: leawatkins@ucdavis.edu
The John Natsoulas Gallery 530-756-3938
www.poetryindavis.com
See the Facebook page for this event: https://www.facebook.com/events/419942004770174/
You are also invited to join the Poetry in Davis Facebook group mailing list:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2290130152&ref=ts