16 Feb AGM Alert! Walking Tour?

Philadelphia: 26 January 2008

16 February AGM Update

First, many thanks to those who RVSP'ed -- positively, even negatively. It helps! Still, the Warwick/Tavern 17 tells me that there should no problem accommodating late bookings. So if you're undecided, there's still time.

Someone mentioned a walking tour of 'O'Hara's Philly.' Sure. If there's interest -- no pressure -- I'd be happy to gather a group Sunday morning (17 February) for photo-tour, etc., of O'Hara country in Center City (The old P&P, the Racquet Club, Suburban Station, old Brooks Brothers, etc.)

Lastly, if you have any O'Hara mementoes, Firsts, ephemera, and the like, don't be shy in sharing these along, as well.

Other ideas? Send them along!

Richard

Alert: New AGM Venue!

New AGM Venue

Philadelphia: 24 January 2008

Hullo All!
The P&P didn't work out as a dinner venue. Drinks later?

We've moved our dinner site to Tavern 17 at the Warwick Hotel, 220 South 17th Street. (+215.790.1799). As you know, the Warwick was JOH's pied a terre in Philadelphia. Certainly alot has changed, But the basic geography hasn't.

Dinner: 7:30 PM. We have a booked table. Everyone will be on their own re bill for dinner and drinks. (Charge to room, if you're staying at the hotel). Menu ranges from light fare to full menu. Check: http://www.tavern17restaurant.com/ for details. Please, PLEASE, RSVP if you're going to attend so that table can be properly arranged.

Hotel: For 16 February, the guaranteed rate is $ 169.10 + tax per room; or, $152.10 + tax for 60 years and more, per room. When booking, note that you are amongst John O'Hara Society group. Telephone: 215.735.6000.

O'Hara + Philly: To get a grip on O'Hara and Philly, check out www.OHaraSociety.blogspot.com, go to SEARCH, enter O'HARA's PHILLY.

Any questions, ring at +267.253.1086.

O'Hara at War

JOH Keeps 'Intellectual' Out of Trouble

David Denby, in a review of Redacted, a new film by Brian De Palma that looks at a US Army platoon in Iraq, writes in the 19 November 2007 issue of The New Yorker:

'Readacted' is a low-budget experimental film without stars, although there are remnants of the traditional Second World movie. The rough vessels of democracy here include a house intellectual, who reads John O'Hara [emphasis added] and stays out of trouble; the diarist, who thinks his video will get him into film school; two racist buffoons; and a straight arrow named Lawyer McCoy, who tries to argue them out of what they want to do.'

Letter from England

Like-Minded People

From James MacDonald in England:
Thanks for your note and for welcoming me. Unfortunately, because I live in England, I can't attend this year's AGM. But being with such like-minded people as you is like speaking a common language. I agree with you absolutely about O'Hara's pre-eminence as a short-story writer, and I don't believe he was capable of writing a bad novel.

Incidentally, when I was in my late teens, I met a number of older people who swore O'Hara drew on their relations for Appointment in Samarra -- -a testament to his ability to get under people's skins. I could say far more, but I'll leave it for now, apart from closing by thanking God and you that there is this Society.

O'Hara Devotees

New Member Wants to Write to Them

From James MacDonald:

I have been an avid O'Hara fan for 47 years.

My first editions are BUtterfield 8, From the Terrace, Sermons and Soda Water, Assembly, The Big Laugh, The Lockwood Concern, And Other Stories, and The Time Element. As a final-year undergraduate, I crowned my student career with an extended essay tracing Julian English's appearance in O'Hara's work after Appointment in Samarra.

I'd love to correspond with other O'Hara devotees.

Editor's Note: As always, to maintain the privacy of members, I do not release e-mail addresses or other contact details unless the member specifically requests that information be made public. I've found that these 'public' pages are best for 'correspondence' and discussion in that most of the Society's members are equally interested in the topics that are referred to. However, if a member wishes to contact another member personally, please let me know.

O'Hara Siting

O'Hara on Brit Website
From Richard Rabicoff in Maryland:

For once O'Hara is not overlooked. A British Web site devoted to modern authors has a page on O'Hara that pictures the dust jackets of many of his books, British editions, of course. To our chagrin, they lump Files on Parade and Hellbox with the novels, but at least the page is nice to look at. Go to:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/o/john-ohara/

Hear, Hear O'Hara!

O'Hara Gets an Airing
From Richard Rabicoff in Maryland:

Richard,
The ghost of O'Hara is lurking in this week's New Yorker. Lookkee here,
Richard

AUDIO
with E. L. Doctorow January 14, 2008

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/01/14/080114on_audio_doctorow

E. L. Doctorow reads John O'Hara's short story "Graven Image" and discusses O'Hara with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Graven Image" was published in The New Yorker in March, 1943, and is collected in the Modern Library Classics's "Selected Short Stories of John O'Hara." Doctorow's most recent novel is "The March."
Listen to the mp3 on the player above, or right-click here to download.
Subscribe to the monthly fiction podcast to hear a story from the New Yorker archives chosen by a current fiction writer. This and other podcasts are available through iTunes, or through our Feeds page.

Cheers! and...

Saluations!

Hello and Happy New Year. (Almost):

Would it not be fun to be at the Lantenengo Country Club tonight in Gibbsville?

Ah, yes. O'Hara -- a fellow who will never get his full due, so to speak, because he did not play literary politics with all the political correctness demanded by those dealing the prize cards!

Gerard, with you being in film, I wonder whether you've seen the movies BUtterfield 8 with a very young Liz Taylor, or Ten North Frederick or Appointment in Samarra?

A toast to O'Hara!

Christine Goldbeck