John Lithgow Welcomes you to Yellow Springs, Ohio.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- Friend of HearHere, John Lithgow, recently sat down behind a microphone and recorded a series of personal recollections of towns in the United States that he’s lived or visited. And his stories are great!
For those that aren’t familiar with John, here’s his bio in a nutshell: He’s an actor, poet, author, and singer. Prolific in film, television, and on stage, he’s won (or at least been nominated) basically every major acting award, including; two Golden Globe Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Tony Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards, and four Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame, and of course, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Quite the resume!
If that wasn’t enough, he has recorded three albums of children’s music and regularly tours performing concerts. His concerts are called Kid-Sized, and they bring him all over the United States. Plus he’s crisscrossed the country doing one-man theater performances. In one of his HearHere recordings, he tells the story of his visits to Kansas City. He was only there twice, but he recalls his memories so vividly and enthusiastically, it’s wonderful to listen to and you can do so here.
Acting is in John’s blood. For eight years - until John was in the eighth grade - his father staged a Shakespeare Festival at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, so that’s where he grew up. You can also hear the pride John has for his father in this story.
After Antioch, his father took a position at the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens as its first Executive Director. The historic property is an estate sitting on 70 acres in Akron, Ohio. It includes a greenhouse, carriage house, and the main mansion, one of the largest houses in the United States. It was the home of F. A. Seiberling, co-founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. In 1957, the six Seiberling children donated it to the newly formed Stan Hywet Hall Foundation, a non-profit organization formed for the preservation of the estate. It’s now a historic house museum and country estate, open seasonally to the public, but back in 1960 John and his family lived there.
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I love John Lithgow 's book "Drama, An Actor's Education". A great book of his memoir and a lovely, heartfelt tribute to his father, Arthur Lithgow.
Also my hometown. I love it there and still have many friends who live there. If you are fortunate enough to go, stop in at The Yellow Springs Toy Company...a fabulous shop of fun and educational toys. Also The old Oten Gallery between Speedway and The Inn, Art in masonry.
I love Yellow Springs
If John were in Yellow Springs now he might be shocked by the great number of ultra conservatives that aren't leaving.
"Surely, the most liberal, if not lefty, town in the state of Ohio."
You can keep it.
"Be Ashamed to die until you have won some victory for Humanity".... HORACE MANN from his first commencement address
as someone who was a school-mate, it is always fun to hear John's distinctive voice again. I would disagree with him that the Y.S. is a trickle, as it is numbers of gallons per minute, from a beautiful stone wall that was designed by another family friend Louise Odiorne, in the early 50's. the color is actually orange, from the iron in the water, which colors whatever it runs over. as for Y.S. while it was once a "hotbed" of "liberalism", that no longer scares people so the tenor of the town is much changed from John's time here. for the moment there is still a sense of community, but will it pertain?
Hi John.I went to Antioch College and graduated in 93..... Yes, YS is a great little town. Love it.!
Love you John.. Thanks for sharing.
TOO leftist for me. AND MINE.
Y'know, the town itself really isn't so "Leftist" as Lithgow describes. The town board of trustees is pro-business, and refused to pass an ordinance protecting the town's trees after the owner of a bar on the main drag cut down two iconic Osage Orange trees to make room for a little expansion. The police department there is pretty provincial, and, like most police departments, is nearly all white and politically to the Right. A couple of years ago officers assaulted folks in the street during a New Years celebration. There is twice-a -year street fair that is run by the Chamber of Commerce and not really juried. The Chamber has doubled the fees for artists there, shifting the focus from hand-made art to serially produced things. The college was shuttered for a year or so as it didn't have the funds to keep operating, and one of the directors was in cahoots with the nearby military complex that apparently wanted the land. Alumni rallied to rescue the college and to re-open it on a limited basis. There is a radio station there, WYSO, that is mostly an NPR clone with some local music shows. A former manager there tried to corporatize the station, adding more syndicated shows and cutting local volunteers. Folks in the community tried, but failed, to make the station more community-oriented.
Yes, Antioch, when it was flourishing was one of the first racially integrated colleges, and Yellow Springs itself was founded as a utopian socialist colony in the 1800's, but the rural community that surrounds Yellow Springs is just like most of the rest of rural Ohio - flat farmland, pickup trucks, and the occasional Trump flag.
Most of the residual radicalism lives with the shopkeepers and long-time residents who are artists, professionals, and taxpayers who are involved with the town's life and administration, making positive contributions. Most people visiting Yellow Springs simply see attractive stores, and galleries, a small art-film theater, several nice eateries, a couple of bars, and the adjacent nature preserve and bike path, etc.
So, if that's too much for you....
@@smedlybutlerista The place is surrounded by Trump supporters. I live in a rural town just 25 miles from there and it, and ALL surrounding, including the more city like areas IS STAUNCH Christian Conservative thru and thru (AS IS 3/4 PLUS of America and the Planet!! Thank God! Adhering to our origins and NOT the devil's wiles and ways....) And the overabundance of blm /antifa worship in Yellow Springs is truly UN- American.
not surprising after looking at how insane your playlists are
@@smedlybutlerista I was part of the effort to save Antioch. The stuff about the military and the hijacking of the University by military interests was definitely odd and messed up.. Glad the college divested and regained it's freedom> I remember there was an excercise using homeland security funding where they took over the Campus Library for some terrorism excercize.. (ithere was a video floating around on that). Yeah... Struggles.. push pull from both the far right AND the far Left definitly. Demonziing Dave Chappelle over his wanting to build a comedy place in the old Firehouse.. and "devlopers" pushing out some crazy propaganda about how he is "against affordable housing".. (despite the developer not building affordable housing.. it was all a PR Ruse..) just ridiculous typical power plays.
@@smedlybutlerista That college was crap and didn't it have a drug problem? In fact Yellow Springs had a drug problem going back decades from what I understand. I did have a teacher at Sinclair from Antioch. She'd try and screw with your grade if you weren't a lefty.
I did like running around John Bryan park. And I didn't hate the town. But I don't know. Some of those people irked me. Dressing poor if they were rich. That poser elitist lefty stuff. Maybe that was more the college. I just had the feeling they were trying too hard or something.
But compared to West or East Dayton. Well Dayton anywhere really. The city anyway. It was a mess. Most be all the lost jobs and industry. High taxes, crime. I remember driving I think down Salem Ave. at about 4pm. Hookers all over the street. Even in the road. Houses without roofs in west Dayton. Honestly I should have left the area a lot sooner than I did.
Sodom and Gomorrah town...we all know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah!!