The Coast News, March 22, 2013

MARCH 22, 2013
THE COAST NEWS
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
Novelist seeks interesting people
By Sandy Coronilla
RANCHO SANTA FE —
Drawing from his own experiences
growing up in
Rochester, N.Y., author Ross
Talarico’s new novel “Sled
Run,” is a modern day Robin
Hood tale about a teenage
boy Rosey who’s seduced by
the dazzle (and 1959 candyapple
red Mercury convertible)
of a local Mafioso, Carm
Carlotta.
It isn’t difficult f or
Rosey, growing up in a poor
Italian community, to be
drawn toward Carm’s success
and the pur suit of the
American dream. He’s an
easy recruit for Carm who
needs help with Sled Run,
the annual event where the
Mafioso steals fr om warehouses
and stores to give to
orphanages at
Christmastime.
“Sled Run is a bout
being in both worlds — the
world of trying to do right,
and the world of trying to be
accepted,” Talarico said.
“The American dream comes
from just wanting to have
expensive things and what
you’ll do for them.That translates
into everybody’s life —
how much you compromise
of your values to do w ell
financially.”
The novel is a blend of
fiction and memoir, Talarico
said. In it he captures the
1964 Rochester race riot that
was sparked by allegations of
police brutality against the
African American community.
Rosey loses a friend in the
riot and, in an act of revenge,
an African American kid is
also killed.
Talarico, an award-winning
multi-genre writer who
made a name for himself as a
poet, knows something about
underprivileged urban kids
from his hometo wn. As
Rochester’s writer-in-residence
during the 1980s,
Talarico had a unique task —
to implement a g rassroots
program in creative expression
that would bring together
a community of poor and
ARTS
CALENDAR
Got an item for Arts calendar?
Send the details via email to
calendar@coastnewsgroup.com.
MARCH 22
MUSICAL REVOLUTION
Emma’s Revolution, with Pat
Humphries and Sandy O, will be
performing at 8 p.m. March 22
Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship of San Dieguito ,
1036 Solana Dri ve, Solana
Beach.Tickets are $18 and available
at UUFSD or online at
emmasrevolution.com/live.
SEEKING YOUNG TALENT
Apply now for the San Marcos
Youth Talent Competition to be
held April 20 at San Marcos
Community Center, 3 Civic
Center Drive. Children ages 5 to
17 may compete in four categories:
dance, vocal, instrumental
and novelty. Entry forms are
online at san-mar cos.net.
Deadline to enter is April 11.
For further inf ormation, call
(760) 744-9000.
BENNETT AND MATHIS
Tickets are available now for
Rancho Santa Fe resident and author Ross Talarico is releasing his
new novel, “Sled Run,” now in stores and online. He is also looking to
start a new project, the telling of people’s lives in the long form.
Courtesy photo
privileged.
One strategy was to start
a poetry basketball program.
“At first they couldn’t
play basketball on a Friday
night unless they took the
poetry workshop,” Talarico
said. “Eventually kids came
and didn’t want to play basketball.
They just wanted to
be part of the program. This
was a rough neighborhood
and everything was always
ripped up e xcept the billboard
where we put our
poems. It had status.”
The end r esult of his
work in Rochester was the
publication called,
“Spreading the Word: Poetry
and the Sur vival of
Community in America,” a
veritable blueprint for writers
seeking to engage communities.
It also garner ed
him the prestigious Mina P.
Shaughnessy Prize for outstanding
book of the year on
literature and writing.
Talarico’s made a career
of eliciting stories from others
in short f orm. From
Italian Americans to Indians,
he’s found he has a talent for
translating oral histories into
accomplished works of literary
art. His collection of stories
from the elderly, “Hearts
Tony Bennett perf orming at
7:30 p.m. May 18, and Johnny
Mathis performing June 22 at
Pala Casino Spa & Resort in the
Palomar Starlight Theater. Get
tickets at the Pala box office, or
call (877) 946-7252 or at (800)
585-3737, or at startickets.com.
MARCH 23
ART VS. ELECTRONICS
Oceanside Museum of Art
invites you to “Why Sculpture is
Relevant in the Age of Texting”
from 2 to 4 p.m. March 23, with
artists James Hubbell, TJ Dixon
and Kenneth Capps along with
city of San Diego public art
coordinator Dana Springs, at
704 Pier View Way, Oceanside.
Visit oma-online.org or call
(760) 435-3720.
WORLD OF HARPS The
Museum of Making Music presents
a r eception and concert
with Yolanda Kondonassis to
celebrate the opening of “The
Harp: A Global Story of Man,
Music and Medicine” at 6 p.m.
March 23 at 5790 Armada Drive,
Carlsbad. Tickets are $30. Call
(760) 438-5996 or visit museumofmakingmusic.org.
MARCH 24
NEW AT LUX Lux Art
and Times: The Literature of
Memory,” was made into a
play in Chicago.
And in San Diego, he’s
worked with Nati ve
American teenagers in
Bonsall and elder s of the
Pala Band of Mission
Indians.
“Storytelling is what we
are,” Talarico said. “It is how
we pass on our thoughts
about life, our values, what
we choose to do, what we
choose not to do. It doesn’t
come alive in a Boy Scout
handbook where they give
you a list of things. It comes
in a more subtle, complex
way and from telling stories
to each other.”
Now Talarico, who lives
in nearby Rancho Santa Fe
in a home overlooking Lake
Hodges, has announced he’s
seeking interesting people
for a new project — writing
their stories in long form.
“I do something as a
writer, by being able to capture
that moment in people’s
stories that really makes it
outstanding,” Talarico said.
“Most people just don’t know
how to do it. Maybe they can
do it with their own work but
Institute welcomes artist-in-residence
painter James Chronister
through April 13 at 1550 S. El
Camino Real, Encinitas.Visitors
can watch Chronister work on a
40-inch-by-40-inch pointillist
painting. Call (760) 436-6611 or
visit luxartinstitute.org
MARCH 28
ART, ART AND MORE ART
Cruise the Art Scene from 5:30
p.m. to 8:30 p.m. March 28, as
the COAL Gallery, Oceanside
Art Gallery, Phantom Gallery,
Lynn Forbes Sculpture Gallery
and other Carlsbad Village art
venues
present
l i v e
music,
refreshments
and lots
of art. A
list of
participating galleries are available
at the COAL Gallery, 300
Carlsbad Village Drive Suite
101, Carlsbad, or visit coalartgallery.com
or call ( 760) 434-
8497.
MARCH 30
ART AND THEATER The
artists of The Foundry Studios at
New Village Arts present
“Inside the Cuckoo’s Nest,” art
themed to the New Village Arts
Theatre production of “One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
The art will be in the lobby at
New Village Arts Theatre, 2787
State St. in Carlsbad Village
noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through
Sunday March 30 through, April
21. Opening reception will be 6
to 8 p.m. March 30. For information,
call (760) 433-3245 or visit
NewVillageArts.org.
Send your arts & entertainment
news to arts@thecoastnews.com
Going from ‘foodie’ to author
By Lillian Cox
SANTALUZ — In 2006,
Lori Lange left her job as a
teacher at Solana Santa Fe
Elementary to devote more
time to her son, Brooks.
“I was looking for things
to do and to use my creativity,”
she recalled. “I had a
friend who had an Internet
business and suggested I do a
website about something I
was passionate about.”
A foodie who lo ved
entertaining, Lange began
creating a database of recipes
for a blo g she planned to
launch one day. She started
with family recipes, then
added recipes from magazines
and cookbooks she
experimented with until she
eventually began developing
her own.
“The blog was a hobby at
first and I didn’t expect to
make money,” she added.
Today, recipegirl.com
boasts more than 23,000 subscribers,
850,000 unique visitors
and 1.8 million page
views a month from devotees
who click on the website to
search a database of 2,600
recipes, indexed by categories
and ingredients. Recipes run
the gamut, from gluten- and
dairy-free to vegetarian and
vegan and ethnic foods from
Mexico, Sweden and
Portugal. There are also
recipes for Weight Watchers
followers who ar e counting
points.
“I am some body who
believes in moderation and
have recipes for decadent
desserts along with healthy
salads,” she said.
What’s more, the blog has
led to publication of “The
Recipe Girl Cookbook” by
Houghton Mifflin, which will
be released on April 15. The
volume is fun and f amilyfriendly
with 195 new menu
ideas that involve kids in both
meal-planning and pr eparation.
Lange’s been a ble to
accomplish all of this, and still
be a stay-at-home mom. While
some boys may beg for Legos kitchen," he explained. “I
or a video game for their 10th love the feeling of eating
birthday, Brooks asked for a something that I’ve created.”
URL last y ear and got it. Mother and son attend
Today he has developed his food conferences together
own food blog at and also serve as spokespeo-
recipeboy.com where he ple for McCormick spice’s
writes and posts original pho- Generation Fresh, inspiring
tographs and videos demon- Americans to mak e more
strating his own method of healthful meals at home with
food preparation for his 1,000 the help of flavorful herbs
subscribers, many of whom and spices.
are classmates at Black Like Brooks, Lange
Mountain Middle School. remembers cooking dinner
Mom teaches Brooks how to with her mom growing up in
adapt recipes and sometimes Carson City, Nev. It was while
makes cameo appearances on she attended San Diego State
the videos.
that she got more interested
TURN TO NOVELIST ON A28
“My mom and I have a
lot of fun together in the
TURN TO FOODIE ON A28
Visit us
A21
“I come to Chino Farms when I have something special going on,”
explained Lori Lange, author of upcoming The Recipe Girl Cookbook. “I
try to use fresh ingredients and shop seasonally. They have lots of different
greens, fresh peas that are just amazing and tiny, sweet strawberries
that are so good.” Photo by Lillian Cox
coastnewsgroup.com