Patti Smith will take another look back in a new memoir, 'Bread of Angels'
NEW YORK — Even after publishing a handful of memoirs, including the classic 'Just Kids,' Patti Smith has a lot more to say about her life.
The poet-writer-musician's 'Bread of Angels' will be published Nov. 4, Random House announced Wednesday. In 'Just Kids,' winner of the National Book Award in 2010, Smith looked back on her early years in New York City and her romance and friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. In her new book, according to Random House, she reflects on her childhood 'in working class Philadelphia and South Jersey,' her marriage to guitarist Fred 'Sonic' Smith , her move to a home in Michigan by Lake Saint Clair, to raise a family and her grief over the death of her husband, in 1994.
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Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Not just a party': World Pride celebrations end with defiant politics on display
WASHINGTON — After the raucous rainbow-hued festivities of Saturday's parade, the final day of World Pride 2025 in the nation's capital kicked off on a more downbeat note. More than 1,000 people gathered under gray skies Sunday morning at the Lincoln Memorial for a rally that will lead into a protest march, as the community gathers its strength for a looming fight under President Trump's second administration. 'This is not just a party,' Ashley Smith, board president of Capital Pride Alliance. 'This is a rally for our lives.' Smith acknowledged that international attendance numbers for the biannual World Pride were measurably down, with many potential attendees avoiding travel to the U.S. because of either fear of harassment or in protest of Trump's policies. 'That should disturb us and mobilize us,' Smith said. More than 1,000 people cheered on LGBTQ+ activists taking the stage while waving traditional Pride flags and flags representing transgender, bisexual, intersex and other communities. Many had rainbow glitter and rhinestones adorning their faces. They held signs declaring, 'Fight back,' 'Gay is good,' 'Ban bombs not bathrooms' and 'We will not be erased.' Trump's campaign against transgender protections and oft-stated antipathy for drag shows have set the community on edge, with some hoping to see a renewed wave of street politics in response. 'Trans people just want to be loved. Everybody wants to live their own lives and I don't understand the problem with it all,' said Tyler Cargill, who came wearing an elaborate costume with a hat topped by a replica of the U.S. Capitol building. Wes Kincaid drove roughly six hours from Charlotte, N.C., to attend this year. Sitting on a park bench near the reflecting pond, Kincaid said he made a point of attending this year, 'because it's more important than ever to show up for our community.' Reminders of the cuts to federal government programs were on full display Sunday. One attendee waved a massive rainbow flag affixed on the same staff as a large USAID flag; another held a 'Proud gay federal worker' sign; and a third held an umbrella with the logos of various federal programs facing cuts — including the PBS logo. Trump's anti-trans rhetoric had fueled fears of violence or protests targeting World Pride participants; at one point earlier this spring, rumors circulated that the Proud Boys were planning to disrupt this weekend's celebrations. Those concerns prompted organizers to install security fencing around the entire two-day street party on a multi-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue. But so far, the only clear act of aggression has been the vandalizing of a queer bar last week. Late Saturday night, there was a pair of violent incidents near Dupont Circle — one of the epicenters of the World Pride celebrations. Two juveniles were stabbed and a man was shot in the foot in separate incidents. The Metropolitan Police Department says it is not clear if either incident was directly related to World Pride. Fernando, Hussein, Martin and Pesoli write for the Associated Press.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: Esa-Pekka Salonen's next-to-last S.F. Symphony concerts promise renewal
Composer Gabriella Smith knows how to make a lasting impression. Her organ concerto ' Breathing Forests ' was a highlight of the San Francisco Symphony's 2023-24 season, a work of tremendous power and originality. Smith is back with a Symphony commission called 'Rewilding,' a paean to birds, insects and the process of returning the Earth to its natural state by undoing human damage and disruption. The 33-year-old Berkeley native has been dedicated to environmental concerns since her high school days, and these issues are major sources of inspiration for her music. 'Rewilding' had its world premiere on Friday, June 6, at Davies Symphony Hall on a program conducted by outgoing Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. The audience's enthusiasm for Salonen overmatched the poignancy of his impending departure. Before the performance, Smith talked about her work in ecological restoration, most recently on a project to rewild a former military runway in Seattle. She cited the failure of current politicians to address the climate crisis but ended on a message of hope. 'There are people all around (you) who are taking action,' she said Like 'Breathing Forests,' 'Rewilding' is a work of startling inventiveness, a cascade of astonishing sounds unfolding over about 25 minutes. Smith's music has an immense sonic palette, owing not only to her expressive skill with orchestration but also her penchant for unusual instrumentation. Bicycle frames, unshelled walnuts, metal mixing bowls, water bottles, twigs and branches are some of the everyday objects put to musical use. In Smith's orchestra, you can't always tell where a particular sound is coming from. Strings slither from one note to the next while the winds bend their pitches, clouding the texture for the sake of achieving a particular color. 'Rewilding' may incorporate certain minimalist techniques — and the score introduces an element of chance by instructing the strings to play out of sync with each other — but the music's scope and riotous colors are anything but minimal or random, even if the structure isn't always clear. The orchestra hummed, buzzed and yipped with the imagined sounds of insects, birds and maybe even canines. Popping noises arose, frogs ribbitted, a chorus of woodpeckers went wild. The sonorities pass from one group of instruments to another, thickening, bubbling, thinning out. 'Rewilding' builds, fades, builds again. A high-pitched section gives way to the lower strings and then to massed brass. After the last fade-out, you hear only bicycle wheels turning. Listeners curious about where Smith will go next can get another peek into her imagination next April, when she's scheduled to curate a pair of SoundBox concerts for the Symphony. Salonen opened the evening with a swift, sometimes very loud account of Richard Strauss' early tone poem 'Don Juan' — the same titular libertine who inspired Mozart's 'Don Giovanni.' In under 20 minutes, Strauss' vivid scene-setting does nearly as much with the character as that three-hour opera does. The performance was a blazing display of the orchestra's virtuosity, starting with the sleekly lustrous strings and trumpets. Highlights included principal oboe Eugene Izotov's lyrical solo and his interplay with principal clarinet Carey Bell and principal bassoon Joshua Elmore. And then there was the brilliant horn section, led by guest Daniel Hawkins, a former member of the orchestra and now principal horn of the Dallas Symphony. Hawkins and company took charge in 'Don Juan' and in the program's concluding selection, 'Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks,' also by Strauss. If you've ever wondered whether music can be sarcastic, this is the place to look for it. Salonen's interpretation had all the wit and cheek required. Alexander Barantschik nimbly dispatched the brief violin solo, and Matthew Griffith shone on E-flat clarinet. The evening also included Jean Sibelius ' mysterious Symphony No. 7, the Finnish composer's final completed work in that form. (Sibelius is believed to have labored for some years over an Eighth Symphony, burning whatever existed of the score sometime in the 1940s.) Brooding, monumental and yet compact — consisting of only a single 20-minute movement — the Seventh, like other Sibelius works, implies a vast physical and spiritual landscape. Salonen led the music with solemn grandeur, shaping it firmly.
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
ESPN teammate chides Stephen A. Smith as new SiriusXM Radio radio show drama continues
The list keeps growing of those annoyed by Stephen A. Smith's new SiriusXM Radio show. ESPN's Joe Fortenbaugh, who co-hosts 'Carlin vs. Joe' weekdays from 12-3 p.m. ET on ESPN Radio, called out Stephen A. Smith on Thursday over his new show that will now compete in that time slot in a back-and-forth that alternated between joking and serious tones. The exchange came on the heels of Michelle Beadle calling out Smith after the reveal that his new show would take her spot on SiriusXM, which led to her and co-host Cody Decker being fired. Advertisement 'This guy, what's with this new radio show?' Fortenbaugh asked Smith on 'First Take' on Thursday. 'You realize you're going up against me and my time slot, aren't ya? What are ya doing?' 5 Joe Fortenbaugh will now be competing against Smith. @awfulannouncing/X Advertisement Smith, whose show is set to launch Sept. 2 on Mad Dog Sports Radio, per The Hollywood Reporter, then defended his actions and attempted to play nice. 'I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sorry to hear that,' Smith said before Game 1 of the NBA Finals. 'I didn't take that into consideration, but opportunities arose, not just for me, myself, but for my production company and I couldn't turn it down. I'm sure you could appreciate that. You're a star here at ESPN, but if you ever need another job, I'm happy to bring you on board, I love you, Joe, you know that.' 5 Molly Qerim (l), Fortenbaugh (c) and Stephen A. Smith (r). @awfulannouncing/X 'First Take' host Molly Qerim then asked Fortenbaugh if she will have to choose who she's going to listen to and that's when the the latter took a dig at Smith. Advertisement 'It's not a decision. You listen to so much of this all day, do you want more of this?' Fortenbaugh said. Qerim responded: 'You're right. I'm not listening to SiriusXM radio, I got you.' 5 Qerim making her point to Smith. @awfulannouncing/X Smith didn't seem to take her remarks in a joking fashion. Advertisement 'I'm not interested in Molly listening to me, I really am not. That's not my target audience,' Smith said. 'There's a whole bunch of ladies out there that show me a hell of a lot more love than she ever would, and a whole bunch of people like Joe who would show me more love as well. I'm not worried.' Qerim then clapped back. 'I got it, your target audience is yes men and yes women, OK, not people that give you the truth,' she said. Smith retorted: 'Call it whatever you want.' 5 Smith has a new radio show coming on Sirius XM. @awfulannouncing/X This exchange adds to a week in which Smith has come under fire from Beadle since his arrival led to her exit. Beadle said she was 'blindsided' and 'really embarrassed' upon learning of the fate of her 'Beadle and Decker' show through a report, and then went after Smith. Smith will also have a second show with SiriusXM. Advertisement 5 Michelle Beadle in 2016. Scott Clarke / ESPN Images 'I don't respect him,' Beadle told Front Office Sports. 'I don't respect his work. He doesn't like me. This goes back to the Ray Rice stuff. He made some really piggish comments on the air. I responded; he got suspended for like two weeks. I think that was sort of the beginning of the end for anything. 'I just don't respect him. I think he gets things wrong all the time. I'm not talking about opinions; those can never be wrong. But factually, when you spread yourself so thin, it's hard to be right. Not a fan.' Smith attempted to distance himself from the manner in which Beadle learned of the developments. Advertisement 'I want to state for the record just so everyone knows what kind of man I am and what kind of teammate I am. I had no idea that folks did not know,' Smith said Wednesday on SiriusXM's VSiN Live program with Patrick Meagher and Dustin Swedelson prior to Beadle's Front Office Sports interview. 'I was told by SiriusXM to wait until this morning on 'The Howard Stern Show' to make the announcement. Whatever communication they had with anybody who's there, where they're staying, where they're being moved to. Who's staying, who's going or whatever. It's none of my business.'
