KC Public Library Blog
The Mysterious Mind behind Lemony Snicket
What secrets are lurking in the mind of Daniel Handler? I recently had the opportunity to speak with the author, better known as his character/alter-ego Lemony Snicket, the narrator of the 13-book saga A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Program Notes: It Happened One Night (1934)
Watching it today, it’s impossible to imagine It Happened One Night starring anyone but Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Yet director Frank Capra originally had in mind totally different actors.
Tripping the Light Fantastic, and Then Some
May 19, 1907: More than 53,000 people attend the opening day of the newly relocated Electric Park at 46th and The Paseo, which features a bowling alley, Living Statuary, bandstand, alligator farm, swimming pool, dance pavilion, and a roller coaster.
Program Notes: Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blazing Saddles isn’t really a movie. It’s a bunch of funny ideas on a particular topic – in this case the classic Hollywood Western – spun out by the anarchistic mind of Mel Brooks.
Words in Air: the Complete Correspondence of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, ed. Thomas Travisano and Saskia Hamilton
In his poem, "To Sir Henry Wotton," John Donne observes: "Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls, For thus, friends absent speak. This ease controls The tediousness of my life; but for these I could ideate nothing which could please…" This is a sentiment Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell would heartily endorse.
Program Notes: Duck Soup (1933)
Duck Soup is the Marx Brothers' masterpiece, acclaimed not only for its brilliant comic routines but for its satire of nationalism, jingoism, and saber-rattling. There’s no plot to speak of here...mostly the setup provides a framework for some of their most memorable routines.
Heeding the Call
May 6, 1919: Chester Franklin publishes the first edition of the Kansas City Call, a weekly newspaper and will go on to advocate for Kansas City’s African American community.
Staff Reading Picks for May
We are starting a regular blog post here at the Kansas City Public Library: Staff Picks! Every month our staff will list their reading selections. It could be a new release, an old favorite, or just something unique that they have come across.
Program Notes: Annie Hall (1977)
For a film that even its makers were sure was headed for disaster, Annie Hall did just fine. The movie won the Oscar for best picture, while Keaton was named best actress. Allen won statuettes for direction and screenplay.
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
Earlier this year, the final book came out of a series that I have been reading most of my adult life. Its author never lived to see the final books published. The Wheel of Time is a master work and is a treatment of the Epic in prose form for the modern age.
The Case of the Forgotten Canvas and the Third Man - Part 2
Each month, John Horner digs into the Missouri Valley Special Collections to unearth a story from local history and look at it in new light. Here he tells us the conclusion of the story of a missing painting and a mysterious man...
"Her inspiration certainly came from heaven"
May 1, 1894: Elizabeth Bruce Crogman, who will establish the Florence Home for Colored Girls, which provided shelter for single black mothers in Kansas City, is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Program Notes: Some Like It Hot (1959)
Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot is such a beloved movie – in 2000 it was named the best Hollywood comedy ever in an American Film Institute poll – that few remember that the critics disliked it and that the studio didn’t want to make it.
America's Music at the Library
Bob Walkenhorst’s regular gig at the Record Bar in Westport is usually standing room only. And in Norway he’s revered as a rock god. But you don’t have to stand in line, pay a cover charge, or fly to Scandinavia to get an earful of fresh Walkenhorst: He's coming to the Library.
Preserving Kansas City Women’s History
As part of Preservation Week, we are highlighting one of the recent projects here at the Kansas City Public Library: the preservation of the Athenaeum Collection.