Arnie Reisman

Arnie Reisman is an awardwinning writer, producer, and performer. At present he writes a column, “The Washashore Chronicles,” for the Vineyard Gazette. What began as musings from the point of view of an Island newcomer have turned into chapters of a memoir. In 2009, with Ann Carol Grossman, he produced for PBS “The Powder & the Glory,” a 90-minute film on the business rivalry of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. The film begat the stage musical “War Paint.” Starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, the Broadway production played at the Nederlander from March through November 2017. In 2015, the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse produced his play, “Not Constantinople.” His national telecasts include “Hollywood on Trial” (Oscar-nominated documentary on the blacklist) and “The Other Side of the Moon” (90-minute PBS special for the 20th anniversary of the lunar landing). In 2014 he was named Martha’s Vineyard poet laureate. He has authored two books of poems, “Clara Bow Died for Our Sins” (2015) and “Sodom and Costello” (June 2016). Since the series began in 1996, he has been a panelist on National Public Radio’s “Says You!” weekly comedy quiz show, sitting next to his wife, Paula Lyons, former national consumer reporter.