Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    

 Wow. Do you still have all those photos of Oscar? As for the film, well,
 we have nude beaches and naked farmers, but artsy spiritual films...
 probably not gonna show around here...
  

    

Peter, one thread that recurs throughout the book is family -- starting
with the formidable one into which you were born, of course -- but you
also seem to have put quite a bit of thought into depicting the various
kinds of supplementary (or perhaps substitute) families that many
members of our generation seem to have sought and occasionally found
over the years. And you bring things full circle in the final pages with
your efforts to nurture a connection with your own son across the
generational divide. Was this an integral part of your intention for the
book from the beginning?
  

    
Gary - I think you really hit the proverbial nail on the head when it
comes to family - I almost think of "Rosebud" in Citizen Kane - the
family he always wanted......My own family was special but
dysfunctional - I kept searching for and occasionally finding my own
special "fambly" (as described in my book, those folks who felt more
like family than my "real" family).I'm not sure that it was my intent
from the start, but it certainly evolved that way. I guess I feel
"community" is the key: Be it the Dead, the Spirit, The Vineyard, the
Rastas, the Well, the Nude Beaches, the Mets, or the communes. I'm a
family man. My own family - Ronni, Willie and me - is flesh and blood.
But I long/love to belong to extended families as well. There is such a
special sense of "belonging" that has always meant so much. Thanx for
noticing.....
  

    
Can you say more about Martha's Vineyard? I've never been there, and I'm 
fascinated by your photos of the place, and I've always heard it's a special 
place...?
  

    
All you need to know about the Vineyard or Nantucket  is the secret
slogan for both places:

         "Why pay less?"
  

    
I don't want to derail the discussion here, but I was struck by what
you had to say about family and just had to give you an extended family
shout-out.  I think we are fourth cousins, if I remember rightly what
my father said years ago.

Let's see, that would mean your Simon great-grandfather and mine
shared a set of grandparents . . . that's pretty extended.  I don't
have any family stories that go back that far, but I have stories about
my great-grandfather.  I have to imagine what he might have told me
about his grandfather to picture the connection.  There's a welter of
family along the way. 

When he was a young man, my dad visited briefly with your parents. 
They had just one or two very young children, so I'm not sure whether
you were among them yet.  I think the meeting of our fathers, third
cousins, must have had a slightly awkward, obligatory formality to it. 
My dad was younger, at an earlier stage of life, and still carried
with him the easy, less polished ways of a Nebraska childhood.  He must
have been a little intimidated, although he didn't tell it exactly
that way.  I did get the impression that your father seemed remote and
successful.

My brother and I, perhaps as the result of having our immediate family
pared down to just the two of us, have that tendency to make up and
add to our retinue of "fambly" (I like that).  Or could be it's a Simon
thang, like storytelling.  Maybe I do have a question for you: is
there a tradition of storytelling in your family, and does this
influence your art?
  

    

(just a note to observe that I have really enjoyed this interview, and 
that my Significant Other still sighs heavily when reminiscing about your 
sister's sultry performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the Mets' 
World Series party in 1986. Were you there too?)
  

    

This has been such an enjoyable conversation that I almost don't want to 
issue my usual "two weeks are up and thank you" note.  In fact, there's no 
almost about it.  I don't want to.

These two weeks have sped by in a most enjoyable way.  We loved having 
you, and we thank Gary for such spectacular questions and Peter for such 
spectacular responses.

You are welcome to stick around and continue for as long as you like.

Thanks again, Peter, and Gary!
  

    
Hi there folks - - Thanx for your appreciation, Linda. This has been
fun for me as well. Thanyou for all your thoughtful questions.

I've been away for a few days, taking photos of John Hall's wedding
(he of the group ORLEANS, by the way...)and was at the press run for my
new 2003 calendar, and other fun stuff. Please check my website
occasionally (petersimon.com)for various updates about my latest
products and crazy life. And yes, pLEASE continue to wask questions as
they crop up.

Yes, I was at the world series party. You can get a version of that
song on her boxed set, "Clouds In My Coffee." She's such a fan!! 

Jennifer, it was interesting to read your family history and see that
it may have interesected....What do you do now and where do you live?
Storytelling was always a fun part of my youth, but I don't recall that
it was a MAJOR factor. We were more into card games and twernty
questions, and charades. I still like to tell,  a good tale every once
and a while, a few of them appear in "I and EYE." 

For Jon and Gerard...yes the Islands ARE pricey, but mostly worth it.
Jon, please read the section in "I and EYE" called "A Haven On The
Vineyard." Then there is always "On The Vineyard" III which says it
all. It's a special, spectacularly beautiful place, featuring a laid
back, live and let live lifestyle. Also, there is hardly any crime to
speak of. The only main problem are the PRICES for everything,
especially housing. I'm lucky I bought a place here when I did...I
could never afford it now!!!!I'm too sleepy to go into a longer
dissertation right now, but there is quite a website here called
mvol.com that can answer a lot of the basics. COME VISIT!!!
  

    

Peter Simon has a new book:

REGGAE SCRAPBOOK By Roger Steffens and Peter Simon.  Illustrated. 152 pp.
Insight Editions. $45.

Rave review in the NYT last Sunday:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/books/review/Dreisinger-t.html


>....Reggae Scrapbook,” a dazzling homage to the music and its birthplace.
>Simon’s magnificent photos are interspersed with his and Steffens’s text
>historical morsels, interviews with reggae greats, frontline reminiscences
>about the music scene   and replicated goodies from the archives: concert
>handbills, autographed records, album covers, fliers promoting reggae shows
>in places as far-flung as Israel and Germany. Their work is evidence that
>fandom has all the trappings of religion: here are holy artifacts, tes-
>timonials, even lists of places to worship (i.e., global reggae festivals).

>The book is, above all, fun. Turning page after oversize page, ogling color-
>ful collages and wondering what treats were in store next….
  

    


Peter Simon has started a Kickstarter Campaign

<< The  "Through The Lens - Celebrating 50 Years of Personalized
Photojournalism" DVD has been a dream project of mine for a long time.
I have been shooting photographs from the early sixties. When I
realized I was coming upon the 50th anniversary of my photographic
career, I knew it was finally time to make this a reality.>>


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2000454548/through-the-lens-celebrating-50
-years-of-photograp