Affiliate notice

Affiliate links may be included in posts, as on sidebar ads, for which compensation may be received.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Valley Radio Reading Service - Springfield, Massachusetts

With the year winding down and the celebrations a couple days away, I'd like to take a moment draw your attention to the Valley Radio Reading Service, which provides a local news source for the blind and vision impaired in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts.

I've been volunteering as a reader for them for over a year, reading local news in a recording booth, and sometimes live.  I've been invited to read from one of my books, so for the past several weeks I've been reading from my novel on the Quabbin Reservoir and the Swift River Valley residents who had to leave their homes to make way for the construction -- Beside the Still Waters.

Community news is a very important aspect of our daily lives, and this is one area where the blind and vision impaired are at a loss.  They are able to get a wide array of national news from television or radio, but community news from daily newspapers -- and also in weekly newspapers of small distribution -- are lost to them.  The Valley Radio Reading Service helps them to connect with their community and to remain a vibrant part of it.  Local events and attractions, club news, meetings, and especially the local obituaries -- all are grist to our mill at the VRRS.  And one novel about the Quabbin.

The readers are volunteers.  But funds are needed constantly to maintain the broadcast equipment, the office, and keep our subscribers to this vital service informed and entertained.  If you care to make a donation, please contact the Valley Radio Reading Service at this website, or write to the VRRS at 44 Hampden Street, Springfield, MA, 01103, or call 413-747-7337.  Tell them I sent you, and thanks.


Tuesday, December 22, 2015

For Christmas - Two eBook Offers

This is to announce a Christmas special offer of my book on the career of actress Ann Blyth. 


Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star., eBook version, will be priced at 99 cents for Christmas Day only (Eastern US Time) on Amazon.  That is a savings of $9 for the eBook.  The price of the print book remains the same.

UPDATE:  The sale price will be $1.99 - Amazon will not allow a 99-cent price for this eBook - but this is still a savings of $8.00.  Sorry for the change.  Merry Christmas.

Also for the holiday, our new children's picture book featuring cartoon illustrations by my twin brother John: Bob the Bear's Christmas Party. The continuing adventures of Bob the Bear and his little buddy Pedro the Pelican and their friends, and the complications of trying not to eat all the Christmas cookies. 

May I wish all those who celebrate a very Merry Christmas.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Berkshire Theatre Group - A Christmas Carol - Pittsfield, Massachusetts

OPENING THIS WEEKEND!
BTG's 10th Annual 
A Christmas Carol

 
by Charles Dickens
adapted by Eric Hill
co-directed by Eric Hill and Travis G. Daly 

at The Colonial Theatre
Tickets: Adults: $37 Children 16 and under: $27

Sponsored by: Founding Sponsors Blantyre, Country Curtains and The Red Lion Inn, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Greylock Insurance Agency, Berkshire Health Systems, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and Enterprise Holdings Foundation


Performance Dates:

Saturday, December 12 at 7pm 
Sunday, December 13 at 2pm
Thursday, December 17 at 7pm
Friday, December 18 at 7pm
Saturday, December 19 at 2pm and 7pm
Sunday, December 20 at 2pm and 7pm
Monday, December 21 at 7pm
Tuesday, December 22 at 7pm 
Celebrate the timeless holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol with the whole family and revel in the joy and redemptive power of Christmas as told in the timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, the infamous miser who is shown the error of his ways and reformed by four spirits. Journey back to Victorian England and experience the classic story filled with holiday carols and the wonderment of the season.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Preview: 2016 Cape Playhouse Season - Dennis, Massachusetts





LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS
by Neil Simon
June 7-18, 2016
TALLEY'S FOLLY
by Lanford Wilson
June 21-July 2, 2016
THE MUSIC MAN
Book, Music & Lyrics by Meredith Wilson
July 5-23, 2016
THE MAY QUEEN
by Molly Smith Metzler
July 26-August 6, 2016
CABARET
Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb
August 9-20, 2016
THE MOUSETRAP
by Agatha Christie
August 23-September 3, 2016

The Cape Playhouse
820 Route 6A
Dennis Village, Massachusetts 02638
Box Office 508.385.3911
Administration 508.385.3838

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Giving Tuesday - Valley Radio Reading Service - Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts

After Black Friday and Cyber Monday - Please support us on Tuesday, December 1st!



Our Vision. Your Sight. We broadcast local news and information critical to vision impaired listeners throughout the Pioneer Valley.

Our volunteer-driven organization is on the cusp of making great strides.  We are moving into the 21st century with our technology which will improve reception and give more options for our listeners to hear us.  Our news is more up-to-date with the addition of MassLive reporting and other sources.  We are gaining more local support and greater awareness in the Pioneer Valley.  Our country just celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  We have made progress, but we have a lot more to do. No one with visual and physical challenges should be at risk of further isolation and depression due to lack of community connection, news, and information.

Use this link to donate now!!!!:


Valley Radio Reading Service
44 Hampden Street, Springfield, MA 01103

Now Available