Passages

 

Mark Rydell was director, producer and actor, who helmed several Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), and The River (1984). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981). He passed away at 97 on 13 August. 

He started as an actor in the mid 1950s, appearing on the soap operas The Edge of Night and As The World Turns. In the early 1960s, he turned to directing (he did act on occasion, including giving a striking performance as a violent Jewish mob kingpin in Robert Altman's 1973 film The Long Goodbye and in the 2002 Woody Allen film Hollywood Ending), mostly episodic TV that included Mr. Novak; Ben Casey; The Reporter; Slattery's People; I Spy; The Wild Wild West; The Long, Hot Summer; and Gunsmoke. His first feature film was 1967’s The Fox, which was hit and led to The Reivers in 1969 with Steve McQueen. He made a string of films in the 1970s, but it was 1979’s crowd pleasing The Rose and the film introduced the world to Bette Midler, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, that became his first well known film. In 1981, he was nominated for Best Director for On Golden Pond, the film that scored both Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn’s their final Oscar wins. He followed up that with The River starring Sissy Specek and Mel Gibson. While that film was not a success, he continued to make various films and would work with Midler again, along with James Caan, for 1991’s For the Boys. He directed the 1993 TV movie McBride and Groom, and the feature films Intersection (1994) and Crime of the Century (1996), and the 2006 film Easy Money. 

 American poet, novelist and writer of children's books, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, passed away on July 28^th at 71. While he wrote 5 books of poetry, multiple children’s books, he also published six YA titles, two which he is more or less known for, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and its sequel Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World. Both books won accolades for their portrayal of two Mexican-American teenagers, Aristotle "Ari" Mendoza and Dante Quintana, and their friendship, and their struggles with racial and ethnic identity, sexuality, and family relationships. Since its publication, the novels have received widespread critical acclaim. A film version of the first book was released in 2022.

Books: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (2012)

 

"Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself. But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other―and the power of their friendship―can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side." 

There is so much to love in novel for the YA (and adult) crowd. A lyrical tale of two teens who meet at the time the universe needs them most, one a light skinned Mexican and the other, a darker skinned one. Light and dark, one who has open and supportive parents, one who is also supportive ones, but both Ari’s parents have dark secrets that have been –unintentionally- transferred to their youngest son. I can understand Ari a lot –a teenager who has no friends (and doesn’t want them) - who is angry at the world. And he has no understanding exactly why this is, why he feels this way. But Ari understands that the world has written his story, knows its ending, and easily accepts he’ll travel down the road his older brother Bernardo went –who is in prison, but Ari’s parent refuse to talk about it.

Dante is the light that Ari has been searching for and it’s very clear early on that he’s in love with Ari of -course the Ari does not catch on right away. Their friendship is portrayed very honestly here, with realistic dialogue and writer Benjamin Alire Sáenz gorgeous prose filled with poetry and visual trickery. Set in El Pasco in 1987, Alire Sáenz captures the era with fine detail and almost dream-like feelings. It will remind many older readers of time when things were complicated, but still simple. When friendship meant everything and where you can –if you try- learn to reject what the outside universe expects of you