Jason Gay Reads From New Book as Mom Steals the Show

Photo: Stealing the show: Author Jason Gay with his proud mother, Marilyn.  

You can go home again. But you’ll probably have to share the moment with your mother.

And that was the case for the Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay as the Belmont-raised writer came back to his old hometown for a reading of his first book, Little Victories: Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living” (224 pages, Random House) at the Belmont Public Library on Nov. 12.

While the night was advertised as a night with Gay, someone forgot to tell his “mommy,” long-time and well-known Winn Brook Elementary teacher Marilyn Gay, who, like any proud mother, was ever present to provide praise and more than a few words of encouragement for her son.

Gay did note his mother rated his book on the book website Goodreads with four stars out of five. While saying he’d happily take a four-star review from any other reviewer, “this is my mother!”

“Even if mom thought the book was above average, four-star material, isn’t your mom suppose to give you a charity star?” pondered Gay.

“Had I done something to offend mom?” said Gay, going so far as to think maybe the fourth star was the charity star. When he finally broached the subject with her, Gay’s mother said, “I thought I gave you four our of four. Let me change that right NOW!”

IMG_2220

“Anyone who knows me knows about my immense technological skills,” said Mrs. Gay.

“Mommy, this is my reading,” said Gay, to the amusement of the overflow crowd.

“For those of you who bought the book, Marilyn Gay will be signing them at the end of the evening,” he said. 

It was more a reunion than a book reading as the Assembly Room was well-packed – Gay said he was thankful a fire official wasn’t in attendance – with longtime friends, his mother’s longtime friends, relatives, family, neighbors, former Chenery Middle School English teachers, those who took tennis lessons from Jason and on-and-on.

“This is not necessarily thought I would say when I left Belmont in 1988 … There’s nothing like the passage of time to make you appreciate a place. And there is certainly nothing like having children of one’s own to understand what brought your parents to a place like this,” said Gay.

IMG_2196

After a journalistic odyssey that included stops at a weekly newspaper in Martha’s Vineyard, the Boston Phoenix, New York Observer, GQ, and Rolling Stone, Gay is the WSJ’s humorous sports columnist, which he wrote in the book is “about as stupid as lucky a job you can have.” 

“The kind of job that makes you think that one day a stern-faced man will appear at the door and say, ‘There’s been a terrible mistake. You’re supposed to be managing a karaoke bar for dogs’.”

Gay’s quirky and wry observations of sports and its absurdities has won him a following among Journal readers. He is also known for his annual column on rules for the Thanksgiving afternoon family football game.

The book has been receiving outstanding reviews – People magazine called it “Hilarious … a tasty collection of advice about, for instance, mastering the office Christmas party or how to dress a slightly exhausted hipster dad.” – making it an Amazon Best Book for November.

The collection of “advice” trends from the humorous (the family Thanksgiving chapter), pointed (the impact of being fired) and heartfelt.

Gay said with two very young children back with his wife in Brooklyn, “I will go anywhere to support this book. This could be a truck stop on Route 9,”

When asking a fellow writer from Brooklyn who Gay calls “the cynical author guy” told Gay to get used to readings at libraries or bookstores “where no one will be there!” Gay pulled out his phone and took a “selfie” with the overflow audience to send to his “grizzled” acquaintance.

“I’m going to send this to Sebastian Junger,” said Gay, noting his fellow Belmont-raised author “got just about the same number of people.

Little Victories “began as a silly idea” as “a rule book basically for people who can’t follow rules,”

But it changed to a collection of incidents, events in Gay’s life that were every day but still important. 

“This is the truth. I don’t really believe that … the most important things in life are these seismic events, whether it’s going to college or having a family or … swimming under all the chairs at the Underwood Pool. The truth is it’s often the little things – if I can remember to plug my cell phone in before going to bed, if I can get the children out the door without either one of them crying, if I can get the children out the door without me crying – those are little victories.”

IMG_2182

Gay then relayed the story of his father, educator and Cambridge Ringe and Latin tennis coach Ward Gay, and his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in 2014, and how friends and colleagues would be there for him, providing “simple things such as companionship, a conversation, a walk around the block when he felt up to [it].”

“These were small things, mundane life events but they became incredibly meaningful to all of us,” Gay recalled. And towards the end of his father’s life, it was “giving my dad these little victories, a little happiness, a little joy.”

“This isn’t just a business trip for me to come here to talk about a book. This is very personal not just because I grew up here but because my family has the deepest of deep roots here. This community has been here for my family repeatedly so thank you so much for that,” he said.

“That got a little heavy there for a second,” Gay said, flashing his trademark impish smile.

The remainder of the night was filled with stories, acknowledgements, and readings before both Gay and his mother ended the night autographing books.

Belmontians Stock Up on Winter Reading at Friend’s Sale

Photo: A final buyer on Sunday afternoon at the Friends of the Belmont Public Library’s Fall Book Sale. 

Nancy Dignan, president of the Friends of the Belmont Public Library, has a theory about the group’s annual fall book sale and the coming winter that doesn’t bode well for those hoping for a reprise from last year’s massive snow totals.

“People said they were loading up on books like they did last year feeling they’ll be stuck inside!” Dignan said Sunday afternoon, Oct. 18.

 

She and her crew of Friends and volunteers from the Chenery Middle School were waiting for the final shoppers fill books into grocery bags and boxes – only $5 a bag for as many books as you could carry – before  starting the final task of the two-day yearly sale: putting all the unwanted books into barrels that a recycler would take away.

“What’s not to like about a bag of books,” said one of the final stragglers before heading out the door. 

According to Dignan, this year’s sale “was very civil” with a half a dozen book dealers who came on Friday night’s Members sale “and we moved a lot of books.”

“This is one of our major fundraisers for the year, maybe 50 percent of what we raise comes from the annual book sale,” said Dignan, raising about $5,000 after expenses.

The money will go to funded discount passes to local museums, young adult and children’s programs, author and music series, the One Book One Belmont community read and other gifts to the library.

Annual Belmont Library Fall Book Sale Saturday, Sunday, Oct. 17-18

Photo: Patrons of the Friends of Belmont Library’s book sale.

If you love books but not looking to pay and arm and a leg for them, this is your weekend to stock up on fiction, non-fiction, children’s and every other sort of book as the Friends of the Belmont Public Library holds its annual Fall Book Sale.

The sale takes place on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Assembly and Flett rooms at the library, 336 Concord Ave.

The sale’s proceeds allow the Friends to purchase museum memberships, bring authors and demonstrations to the library while adding to the technology available to patrons.

Superheroes on Film at the Library this Summer

Photo: Ironman is coming to the Belmont Public Library next week, July 28.

This summer the Friends of the Belmont Public Library will use its superpowers to transform the library’s Assembly Room into a showcase for your favorite (mostly) Marvel heroes at the “Chillin’ With Villains Movie Series.”

For the next month, head to the library to enjoy freshly popped popcorn or a sweet snow cone and watch your favorite comics come to life.

The schedule is:

Tuesday, July 21, 6:30 p.m.: The Avengers (2012) (PG-13) 142 min.

• Tuesday, July 28, 6:30 p.m.Iron Man (2008) (PG-13) 125 min.

• Tuesday, August 4, 6:30 p.m.Amazing Spiderman (2012) (PG-13) 136 min.

• Monday, August 10, 6:30 p.m.: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) (PG-13) 136 min

• Friday, August 21, 2 p.m.:  Dick Tracy (1990) (PG) 101 min.

Babysitting 101: Library Holding Workshop for Kids and Teens

Photo:

Many of the first paid jobs young teens have is babysitting for siblings or neighborhood children. They learn and demonstrate responsibility, autonomy from parental control while coming up with their own spending money. 
The Belmont Public Library is holding a Babysitting Workshop this Saturday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Flett Room. Presented by Janice Nolan Henry, R.N., M.Ed, learn the basics of babysitting, child safety, age-appropriate play and basic first aid to become a great care provider. Students aged 10 years and older are eligible to sign up for the course. Bring luck and a doll.
Registration fills up quickly, so go to the library’s registration site, or call 617-993-2870.

Finalist for Belmont Top Librarian Spot Had Short Stay in Arlington

Photo: Peter Struzziero, the finalist to become director of the Belmont Public Library director. (LinkedIn)

He was an on-line movie reviewer, a performer at Disney World, portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi for a workshop he created to inspire other librarians to promoting reading and was Mr. August 2013 in the Tattooed Youth Librarians of Massachusetts calendar.

And now Peter Struzziero can add (pending) director of the Belmont’s Public Library as the Board of Library Trustees named the 31-year-old its finalist to lead the town’s library services, in a press release dated Monday, March 23. He will replace Maureen Connors, who retired after two decades on the job in October 2014.

Struzziero’s resume also indicates an extremely short tenure as Arlington’s library director, serving less than two months on the job before agreeing with town officials that he should leave his position on Feb. 18.

Media reports from last month suggested Arlington Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine told Struzziero he should pursue other opportunities. There is no other public information or comment suggesting what prompted Arlington town officials to take their action.

“Yes, Mr. Struzziero has left the employment of the Town of Arlington,” Chapdelaine told the Belmontonian on Tuesday.

When asked about Struzziero’s quick departure from the Arlington top spot, Belmont Trustee Elaine Alligood told the Belmontonian, “Great question – come and ask it,” referring to the public “meet and greet” with Struzziero on Thursday, March 26, at 6:30pm in the library’s Assembly Room, led by Alligood.

Struzziero’s sudden move out of Arlington apparently did not hurt his chances taking over in Belmont, according to Alligood.

“The trustees have interviewed him twice in both recruitments and are fully vetting his credentials, references and experience,” Alligood told the Belmontonian.

Alligood’s response indicates that Struzziero was considered with a slew of applicants in the first attempt by the trustees to find a director. That initial effort was ended in November 2014 without anyone being named at the time. 

Not that Struzziero’s quick move to Belmont would be without precedence; current Belmont High School Principal Dr. Dan Richards returned to Belmont after a year as Melrose High’s principal when the top job opened up at the high school where he was a long-time assistant principal.

Struzziero previously worked as the director of the Arlington Public Library, and the Winthrop Public Library. Struzziero also served as the Teen Librarian for Scituate Public Library. Prior to Scituate, Struzziero was the Nevins Memorial Library Young Adult and Readers’ Services Librarian in Methuen.

Struzziero is a graduate of the New England Library Leadership Symposium NELLS, a six state sponsored training program, and Simmons College.

For further information, please call the Belmont Public Library 617-489-2000.

This Week: Learn About Gap Years, Affordable Housing in Belmont and The Great War

On the government side of This Week:

  • The Belmont Board of Selectmen has a light agenda before them on Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. The group looking to build a cul-de-sac and two houses at 863 Concord Ave. near McLean Hospital will before the Board of Survey (which the Selectmen also are) while the Selectmen will continue a deliberation on whether to award a beer and wine license to Jimmy’s Food Mart at 297 Belmont St. (the former Shore Drug). 
  • The Planning Board will meet Monday, March 16 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall to deliberate issuing special permits and potential cases while discuss preparing for a zoning forum. 
  • The Selectmen will hold the second of two Precinct Meeting on the fiscal ’16 budget, the Financial Task Force’s final report and the proposed Proposition 2 1/2 override at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., at 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20. 
  • The School Committee is meeting on Friday, March 20 at 3:30 p.m. No agenda so I can’t tell where or what they will be doing, but I’m guess it has something to do with the precinct meeting. 

• The annual Chenery Middle School Honors Concert, which includes band, chorus and orchestra ensembles, will perform Monday, March 16 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School.

Tuesday is story time at both of Belmont libraries. 

  • Pre-School Story Time at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library, at 10:30 a.m. Stories and crafts for children age 3 to 5. Parents or caregivers must attend. Siblings may attend with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is located at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.
  • The Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue will be holding two sessions of Story Time for 2′s and 3′s, at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. 

• The staff from U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark’s office will be holding office hours in Belmont at the Beech Street Center, on Tuesday, March 17, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

• Join Heather Hurd of Blue Cross Blue Shield for a lecture, Heart Health, on Tuesday, March 17, at 1:15 p.m. at the Beech Street Center about how aging can cause changes in the heart and blood vessels which may increase a person’s risk of heart disease. The good news is there is much that seniors can do to delay, lower, or possibly avoid or reverse their risk.

• The Belmont Art Association is meeting Tuesday, March 17 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the  Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. 

• Learn all about the advantages and challenges of taking a gap year after graduating from Belmont High as parents and students are invited to attend “A Gap Year Panel” being held in the Belmont High School Library on Tuesday, March 17 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Peeps dioramas will be assembled in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library on Wednesday, March 18 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. 

• The Belmont Historical Society presents former Belmont Selectman Dan Leclerc who will will speak about Belmont and World War I in his talk, “The Yankee Division in the Great War,” on Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. Leclerc, a retired history teacher and former vice-president of the Belmont Historical Society, will speak about heroic roles played by Belmont residents in the division’s action during World War I.  

• The Chenery Middle School PTO will hear a school budget presentation on Thursday, March 19 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School, 95 Washington St. 

State Sen. Will Brownsberger office will be holding office hours on Friday, March 20 at 10 a.m. in the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. 

• Judie Feins, a long-time member of the Belmont Housing Trust and the Belmont League of Women Voters, will present a slide show on affordable housing in Belmont called “What’s the Plan?,” part of the League of Women Voters’ Brown Bag Lunch series, being held in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library on Friday, March 20 from noon until 1:30 p.m. Hear about the Town’s housing needs and potential strategies for meeting them.  

This Weekend: Karen K & the Jitterbugs Saturday, Vanessa Trien also Saturday, Battling Robots Sunday, The Art of Teabags

Karen K & the Jitterbugs will be giving a free concert from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday March 14 at Chenery Middle School, sponsored by Belmont Savings Bank.  The show is ideal for kids ages 2 to 7 and their parents. Karen K & the Jitterbugs have been delighting audiences up and down the east coast with their crowd-engaging, theatrical show. Hear some of the music of Karen K & the Jitterbugs here.

Karen K and Belmont Savings request that guests bring a non-perishable food item to the concert for the Belmont Food Pantry.

In addition, parents can enter their kids to be honorary Jitterbugs by uploading a photo of them at the concert to Instagram with the hashtag #belmontsavingsbug. The Instagram post with the most likes will win free Karen K and the Jitterbugs CD and a $25 iTunes gift card. The post with the most “Likes” by 10 a.m. on Monday, March 16 will be the winner. To participate in the bank’s Instagram contest, post settings must be “public,” and participants must be 18 years or older to enter.

Vanessa Trien and the Jumping Monkeys will be in concert supporting the Belmont Coop Nursery School at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 14 in the Social Hall of St. Joseph Church, 130 Common St. There will be great music, an auction, pizza, a bake sale and more. $10 per person with a $30 max for a family. Kids under 2 are in like Flynn. 

• Belmont artist Christiane Corcelle will give a talk on her show (which has been receiving great reviews in arts publications)  Kaleidoscope: The Art of Tea at the Belmont Gallery of Art on Sunday, March 15, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. This eclectic and unique exhibit includes both two and three-dimensional objects created using the common tea bag and its components. The Gallery is located on the third floor of the Homer Building located in the Town Hall complex off Concord Avenue in Belmont Center.

• Don’t miss Lexington High School Robotics’ presentation on the challenging, exciting world of teen competitive team robotics, taking place Sunday, March 15 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. See robots in action, try your hand at building-block robotics, and learn how to start your own team from veteran FIRST competitors.

Novelist Sarah Payne Stuart Stops to Talk ‘Guilt, God and Real Estate’ at BPL Sunday

The Friends of Belmont Public Library’s Author’s Series presents novelist Sarah Payne Stuart who will speak on her book “Perfectly Miserable: Guilt, God and Real Estate in a Small Town,” today, Sunday, March 1, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The book is a wryly comic memoir that examines the pillars of New England WASP culture – class, history, family, money, and, of course, real estate – through the lens of mothers and daughters.

Stuart – who was raised and later lived in Concord – has written for The New Yorker and The New York Times Book Review. She divides her time between Maine and New York.

All are welcome to attend this free program. Books will be available for purchase and signing. The Assembly Room is handicapped accessible.

This Weekend: Stings and Ivory in Concert Saturday – But Call First

Photo: the Arneis Quartet on the move.

It could be quite snowy on Saturday so please call before heading out to these events.

• The Arneis Quartet will make its Belmont premier as part of the Belmont Public Library’s Music on Saturday concert series being held on Saturday, Jan. 243 p.m. to 4 p.m., in the library’s Assembly Room. The string quintet, made up of violinist Heather Braun and Rose Drucker, violist Daniel Dona and cellist Agnes Kim, is the faculty ensemble in residence at the Dana Hall School of Music. The concert will include:

  • Gardel: Por Una Cabeza
  • Wallace: pale reflections …
  • Dvorak: String Quartet in F major, Op. 96, “American”

Music on Saturday concerts are free to all thanks to the sponsorship of the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. Call 617-489-2000 for information.

• The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist will hold its 20th annual Piano and Organ Celebration Concert at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24 at the church, 404 Concord Ave. Proceeds will be used to continue the restoration and maintenance of First Church’s Steinway grand pianos and the pipe organ in the sanctuary. Tickets are $10 at the door. Call 617-484-1054 x 206 or email alfajoy@uubelmont.org for more info. The snow date will be Sunday, Jan. 25. at 7 p.m.