Archives for June 2014

At the end of June I will be shooting a series of images for Richard Brown, a well known running coach and author, whose latest book is being published by Human Kinetics. Richard or “Dick Brown” as he is commonly known, is 76 and in his 4th year of recovery from Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He is a soft spoken guy whose wife of many years, Barbara, adores him. The two of them have smiles to light up the room like a double sunrise .

He and I met to discuss the shoot and while we were talking I took this shot. He had just shown me a picture of himself when he was at the naval academy – he bore a strong resemblance to George Reeves of Superman fame in both his good looks and his hellacious athlete’s body. When I left the house, I felt better about things than I have for months. My friend Joe Henderson, he of many books said to me when I answered his phone call that I sounded happier than I had in a long while. I said I had just met with Richard. “That explains it” said he. All I could say in response was to smile.

A guy who loves it is my photo editor. Proof of the old Texas expression that the sun will shine on every Old Dog’s butt from time to time. This kind of thing makes me happy.

 Photo Credit

Photo by Michael Lebowitz. All rights reserved.

This morning I went into my office to upload these images only to find that my internet was down. I used the opportunity to restock the bathroom with TP, just in case, and thence to clean the floor. I went to the storage closet to get the TP and two large rolls of paper towels – recycled to be sure. In the storage closet I knocked over the paper towels in their large plastic wrapped container. On their way to the floor they caught the edge of large box containing a year’s supply of packing popcorn which in its fall to earth managed to spread the contents all over the floor. This required a delicate cleanup process since the door no longer opened fully due to a myriad of door stops in its way. After a time, I retrieved all the popcorn. I stepped backward into the closet whereupon I dislodged a stored painting and watched while its broken glass, following the dictates of gravity, shattered on the floor. Found my inner Gandhi, cleaned up the shattered glass, during which process I murmured a short, string of profanity, several MF’s followed by several emphatic CS’s. I went back inside at peace, fixed the internet and uploaded these two images.

Without art, life can be a series of unconnected meaningless small tragedies, no?

Photo Credits

Photos by Michael Lebowitz. All rights reserved.