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Adjacent to Pratt Institute AFTERNOON JAZZ IN THE GARDEN Antiques • Books • Clothing Plants • Adornments • Collectibles ^ commun ,,, m 20 min. by aubway ^ from Sheridan, W. 4th, Aator For Info: |71B) 522-2B13 BACA DOWNTOWN PRESENTS MAY SCHEDULE In The Theater Bill Coleman & Judy Milstein FrI May 1 at 8pm John King & Rajeckas & Intraub Sat May 2 at 8pm Amy Sue Rosen & Brenda Upson Fri May 8 at 8pm Richard Lee & Thomas PInnock Sal May 9 at 8pm Tickets: J7 or TDF + 12 In The Gallery Solo Exhibition Rochelle Shicoff Opening Fri. May 1, 6'8pm 111 Willoughby St. (betw. Bridge & Dulfield) Brooklyn, N.Y. “RR” (Lawrence St.). “A, ‘ \F” (Jay St.-Boro Hall). 2. 3 (Hoyt St.). 4,5 (Boro Hall), B. N. D (DeKalb Ave.) BACA DOWNTOWN B e a G jnversation S tarter ! Shell out $12.50 and get The Villager every week— But only if you want to know BEFO R E everyone is talking about it! Send Check or Money Order lo: The Villager 63 East 411) Si., NYC, NY 10003 I I $12.50(one year) N a m e _____________ LI $20.00 (two years) Address City _ START ME NOW -RIGHT NOW— I WANT TO KNOW! Bridge Tolls Hurting Lower Manhattan BY MIRIAM FRIKDLANDER The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement clearly confinns my long held view that the Verrazano Bridge one-way toll has caused major damage to the Environ ment, economy and traffic patterns of Lower Manhattan. Responding to the clamor of elected of ficials and community groups in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Courts ordered that an EIS be prepared in accordance with the State En vironmental Quality Review Act (SEQHA). The State Dept, of Transportation and Dept, of Environmental (Conservation are evaluating the study in order to determine whether Governor Cuomo should request U.S. Dept, of Transporation Secretary Elizabeth Dole to cancel the one-way toll ex periment. The Draft Environmental Impact State ment found that the doubling of westbound tolls and the elimination of eastbound fees Miriam Friedlander Is City Coon- cOmember from the Lower Manhattan Se cond (Coundbnanlc District. created a devastating effect on Lower Manhattan. This ‘‘experiment” has resulted in; la loss of $7 million due to reduced west bound B ri^e traffic; 1 already unacceptable traffic congestion in Lower Manhattan becoming worse; traffic on (Canal, Varick and Hudson Streets has slowed to a crawl with huge traffic back-up during peak travel times; 1 trucks januning narrow streets to avoid paying tolls, thus creating hazards for pedestrians and other vehicles; 1 the creation of new ‘‘hot spots\ on Canal and Varick Streets due to increased carbon monoxide; 1 traffic congestion causing business and community facilities to suffer and making deliveries ahnost impossible. Based upon this excellent study of the issue, 1 urge Governor Cuomo to request that this disastrous experiment come to an end. At the same time, a plan should be developed to improve the traffic flow at the Verrazano Bridge State Island Toll Plaza to eliminate the traffic back-up and environmental pollu tion. Calvin Trillin Talks A bout Writing A bout Humor BY DAVID GOODWIN “The first thing to say about humor,” said Calvin Trillin, who spoke on the “Art and Science of Humor,” on April 23 at the Hudson Public Library, “is that it’s hard to make a living writing humor... .1 long ago decided that the average shelf life of an average trade book is somewhere between milk and yogurt. The books of Irving Wallace or any member of his family have a longer shelf life because they have preservatives,\ When Trillin began writing a column for The Nation, he said his editor, who he described as “wily and parsimonious Victor Navasky,” initially offered an amount “in the high two figures” for each of his col umns. This amount was negotiated upward to $100 or “a century” by Trillin’s “high powered literary agent, Robert Slowly Lusher.” The money Trillin makes at The Nation sometimes forced him to cut comers. He said, “A month or two after 1 started writing the column, Navasky came to me and said, ‘What about these quotes?” 1 said, ‘What quotes?’ He said, ‘Did John Foster Dulles really say “you can’t fool all the people all the time; but you might as well give it your best shot.’” I said ‘At these rates, Navasky, you can’t expect real quotes.’” Trillin, dressed this Thursday evening like an impoverished humorist in scuffed brown shoes, grey pants, a blue shirt, a yellpw spreckled tie and greenish sport coat, stood on a raised platform behind a large brown desk with, thanks to the diligence of the librarian, many of his 11 published works layed out before him. To the left of Trillin, a sign printed in large red type stated: “Occupancy by more than 105 persons is dangerous and unlawful.” About twice that number and then some placed themselves in danger to hear the man William Shawn,, the former editor of the New Yorker, has described as one of the finest reporters in America. The hundred or so seats set up by the library filled early, and by the 6:30 p.m. start, bodies were sitting or standing in the remaining floor space with some admirers spilling out into the hall. The crowd’s sympathy toward Trillin — it laughed at all of his jokes and often before his punchlines were delivered — was matched only by the extremist nature of The Nation’s readership. This was embodied by someone Trillin referred to as Harold-the- Committed. Harold-the Committed did not think that Trillin’s writings contained sufficient The Dangers Posed by the Military-Indus trial Complex. 1 said, ‘Harold we don’t have anybody at home who can sew that well.’” On top of readership difficulties and made- quate pay, Trillin pointed to a more “serious problem” with humor writing, particularily if the humorist is trying to comment topical ly. Trillin called it the Harry Golden Rule, after Harry Golden who published the Car olina Isrealite in North (Carolina during the 50’s and 60's. Harry Golden discovered, Trillin said, that the whites in his part of North Carolina didn't mind standing with blacks, they just wouldn’t sit down with them. As a joke, Harry Golden suggested that the way to integrate the On top o f readership difficulties and inadequate pay, Trillin pointed to a more ''seriousproblem' with humor writing, particularly if the humorist is trying to coment topically. schools in the south was to take all of the seats; it was called the Golden Plan of Ver tical Integration in the Schools. “Naturally,” Trillin said, “Some library was ordered integrated and the first thing they did was take the chairs out.” “This is the Harry Golden Rule,” said Trillin, “Which is that in this country, if you’re trying to comment humorously on the issues of the day, it’s hard to think of something so bizarre that it may not come to pass before your article gets into the magazine: This is called getthig blindsided by the truth. (The Reagan) administration has been a terrible trial for m e.. . . ” It has also been a trial for the copy editor at The Nation, “The person with the most dif ficult job in magazines,” according to Trillin. Her job is difficult for reasons similar to the Harry Golden Rule, he said. \She was supposed to tell me how clever 1 was about jokes and check the things that .......................................... the ‘ ' political content and that he was not raising his children with an adequate political grounding. “(Harold) was particuiariy ir ritated that the girls would not take his sug gestions for costumes for the Village Hallo ween Day Parade....He wanted my older daughter to go as Emma Goldman .;. and then had what he thought was a great idea for my younger daughter. He w ant^ her to go as were real; And she couldn’t tell the dif ference. During the Line of the Day business...! had mentioned in the column that every morning at 8:15 a.m. somebody at the press office at the White House called the various press officers in all the agencies of government in some electronic, miraculous hook up and tells them what the answer is no matter what the question is that day. That’s the line of the day.. .everybody had it. She said, ‘That is very clever,” ‘New York Times,’ I said. ‘I got it out of the New York Times.' ‘Where did you get this part that Reagan thinks Polaris is a denture cleanser?' ‘I made it up’” said Trillin, with an Impish grin. It was the first and only thne he broke his dead-pan delivery all evening. Page 6, THE VILLAGER, April 30,1987
