Interviews

Q&A with Tony Horwitz: Midnight Rising
By A&I Staff
John Brown, ca. 1856. Sixth plate daguerreotype
On October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown and eighteen other men raided the United States National Armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Pulitzer Prize winning author, Tony Horwitz has written an historical account of the raid titled “Midnight Rising — John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War. Released October 16, 2011, by Henry Holt and Co. This interview took place in July, 2011.
Madame, I Have No Idea?
Trudy Taylor
I was once in Lugano with my kids in Italy, and I was trying to find out about how they could get little boats so they could row themselves around. I went to the desk fairly soon after our arrival, and I said to the manager — "Did the glaciers go through here?" I was trying to picture this landscape, and he said, "Madame, I have no idea." (Laughter.)
Loss, Grief, and Life
Fat Cells II, Gretchen Feldman
This conversation between Sandy Broyard, Sam Feldman and George Cohn took place on April 24th, 2012. The “article” focuses on a single question: “What is grief, and how might we recover from loss?” The conversation is presented as a Q&A in the interest of living through the words of people who have suffered grief, and who have, each in their own way, recovered from the loss of a life partner. The purpose of this piece is to “sit in” on a conversation on loss and recovery. Through it we share how we as human beings can be resilient in life and discover how people we may know have responded to death and who, after loss, have engaged in vibrant life.
Liz White’s Shearer Summer Theater
By Linsey Lee
Liz White's Shearer Summer Theatre

One of the first summer theater groups to perform on the Island after World War II was Liz White’s Shearer Summer Theater. Liz was an actress, but she felt stymied by the stereotyped African American roles available to her on Broadway. She stayed involved because of her love for theater, working backstage as a dresser helping actors with costume changes during their performances. In the summers, Liz returned to Oak Bluffs where her family owned and operated Shearer Cottage, a popular inn for vacationing African Americans. It was here that she formed the all black repertory group, made up of talented friends and family members. Their first Island performance took place in the gymnasium of the old Oak Bluffs School in 1946. They performed at various locations on the Vineyard until Liz purchased Twin Cottage in Oak Bluffs. She found that the wrap-around porch of this 19th-century house was perfectly suited for a theater stage. The shows she put on drew large audiences.