Bookwaves/Artwaves

Bookwaves/Artwaves – March 25, 2021: Margaret Maron – Sue Grafton

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Links to on-line and streaming local theater & book events

 

Bookwaves

Margaret Maron (1938-2021) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff on the Probabilities radio program on KPFA, recorded June 6, 1994 while she was on tour for the third Deborah Knott mystery, Shooting at Loons.

Margaret Maron died of a stroke on February 23, 2021 at the age of 82. At the time of her death she’d written twenty Judge Deborah Knott mysteries, nine Sigrid Harald mysteries, two other novels, and two collections of short stories. Along with writing about complex women characters, her books also focused on her native North Carolina, its life and its politics.

Following the interview, her next book was in the Sigrid Harald series, Fugitive Colors, published in 1995. She stayed away from that series until 2017, when she wrote Take Out, which turned out to be her last novel. She won an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1993 and for Best Short Story in 2002 and was named a Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America in 2013.

After Shooting at Loons, she wrote seventeen more Deborah Knott novels. Also, over the course of her career, she became a major spokeswoman and advocate for the organization Sisters in Crime, and served as its first Vice President, and later its President.  Despite the success of her novels, to date none of her books or stories have been adapted for film or television, according to IMDb.

This interview was digitized and re-edited in March, 2021 and represents the first time it has been heard in over a quarter century. Extended 40-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.

 

 

Bookwaves

Sue Grafton died on December 28, 2017 at the age of seventy-seven. Best known as the author of a series of mysteries featuring the detective Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton was at the forefront of the Sisters in Crime movement — women authors who wrote crime fiction – starting with her first mystery, A is for Alibi in 1982, and continuing the alphabet through Y is for Yesterday. The final book in the series, Z is for Zero, was never written.

On April 17, 1989, on a book tour for F is for Fugitive, and again on April 13, 1992, for I Is for Innocent, Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff  spoke with Sue Grafton about the history of her career and her writing process. This program is taken from those two interviews.

Complete 1989 interview

Complete 1992 interview

:The complete 39 minute version of this program can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast.

 

Announcement Links

Bay Area Book Festival May 1-9: Virtual Festival; Kazuo Ishiguro, Sunday May 2, 2 pm.
Books Inc  Eli Brown and Anne Nesbet, Tuesday March 30, 5 pm; Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall, Tuesday, April 6, 5 pm.
Book Passage. Lisa Scottoline and Lisa See, March 27, 6 pm. Sharon Stone, March 30, 7 pm. Sue Monk Kidd, April 3, 4 pm; Michio Kaku, April 6, 5 pm; Jazmin Darznik, April 17, 4 pm.
The Booksmith   Ji Hyang Padma, March 30, 5:30 pm;
Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, the author of Travesty Generator, Thursday April 15, 7:30 pm.
Kepler’s Books Julie Lythcott-Haims with Adam Smiley Poswolsky, April 6, 6 pm.

American Conservatory Theatre Act Out Loud, Virtual Play Reading Series: Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress, March 29 – April 4; Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw, April 12-16, The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, April 26 – May 2.
Aurora Theatre Streaming now: The Flats, written by Lauren Gunderson, Cleaven Smith and Jonathan Spector, with Lauren English, Anthony Fusco and Khary L. Moye, directed by Josh Costello, Aurora Connects conversations every Friday, 4 pm. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, adapted for audio, starts on April 9th.
Berkeley Rep 10-episode audio series: Place/Settings: Berkeley, all episodes available now.  What’s in a Play, Mondays 6:30 & 8 pm. Zoom, Registration required. June, 2021: Swept Away, a new musical.
Brava Theatre Center: See website for upcoming events.
California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes) Truth and Meaning at Play, Finn Lefever, April 2, 5:30 pm.
Central Works Audio plays: Bystanders by Patricia Milton, streaming now. The Human Ounce by Nicole Parizeau, streaming now.  .
Cinnabar Theatre. Mac Beth, an update of Shakespeare’s play, adapted by Erica Schmidt, starts April 16.
Contra Costa Civic Theatre see website for upcoming events.
Curran Theater: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child set to resume May 30, 2021.
Custom Made Theatre Undiscovered Works: The Re-education of Fernando Morales by Justin P. Lopez, April 2, 7 pm.
42nd Street Moon. You Can’t Stop the Beat, virtual gala, rebroadcast streaming. Third Tuesday Talks Over the Moon, 8 pm: Every other Friday at 8 pm: Full Moon Fridays Cabaret. Sundays at 8 pm: Quiz Me Kate: Musical Theatre Trivia.
Magic Theatre. Upcoming schedule to be announced.
Marin Theatre Company The Catastrophist by Lauren Gunderson, streaming through July 24, 2021. Natural Shocks by Lauren Gunderson, streaming through Soundcloud.
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts See website for upcoming events.
New Conservatory Theatre Center Interlude by Harrison David Rivers streams March 1 – April 14, pay as you wish.
Pear Theater. Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas, streams March 12-April 11.
Ray of Light: See website for listings.
Remote Theater. The Art of Sacrifice by Anthony Clarvoe. With Lauren English & Susi Damilano. Music by Paul Dresher. Streaming March 18-25.
San Francisco Playhouse. (Heiroglyph) by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, directed by Margo Hall, filmed onstage at SF Playhouse. Streaming through April 3, 2021. I Was Right Here by Julia Brothers, streams March 27-April 17, 2021.
SFBATCO Live with Rod and Marce on Twitch TV, every Thursday at 6 pm. Playday Informal Reading Series, March 18, 6 pm. Hella Theatre, April 8, 6 pm.
Shotgun Players. Every Time I Feel the Spirit by Noelle Vinas, a Zoom commission, begins April 2, 2021.
The Breath Project. Complete collection streaming on demand.
The Marsh: See calendar for listings.
Theatre Rhino Thursday performance conceived and performed by John Fisher on Facebook Live and Zoom at 8 pm: March 25: CATS!!. Pandemic Performances benefit Friday April 2, 7 pm. Free Zoom reading: Falling Skies by Brayden Frascome, April 8, 2021, free.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Hershey Felder live from Florence: Anna and Sergei (Sergei Rachmaninoff), May 16, 2021.

National, Misc:
Chamber Music San Francisco: Five Concerts: February 13, March 6, March 20, April 10, April 24, all 7 pm. April 10: Quauor Arod from Paris.
Dance Mission Theatre. See website for listings
Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Streaming now: Talking Back, a six part web series. On-demand audio recordings of early plays; videos of Indigenous Peoples Day 2020, etc.
Atlantic Theatre Company. See website for listings.
Irish Repertory Theatre. Home Winter Festival, See website for date and times (shows stream on different days and specific times). Free, with reservations: Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel; Yes, Reflections on Molly Bloom based on Ulysses by James Joyce; The Weir by Conor McPherson; Love, Noel; Belfast Blues by Geraldine Hughes; Give Me Your Hand: A Stroll Through England’s National Gallery; A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O’Neill; On Beckett with Bill Irwin; Meet Me in St. Louis. Through March 7 (check website for extensions).
Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.
National Theatrical Streaming: Upcoming plays from around the country.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]