In 1969, L.S. Ayres invited native son Kurt Vonnegut to sign copies of his latest novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, in the downtown department store. At earlier stops on the book tour, the literary icon had drawn throngs of fans; here, he was met with indifference—and the irony didn’t escape him. “I sold thirteen books in two hours, every one of them to a relative,” Vonnegut wrote to fellow novelist and Shortridge High grad Dan Wakefield. “Word of honor.”
If the soreness of one’s writing hand is a gauge of literary success, Indy-based novelist John Green is on a tear. He recently inscribed every copy of his new young-adult book, The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton Juvenile), out this month, and needed steroid treatments to sign all 150,000 autographs. “When I did a bad one, I wrote a secret URL on the page that takes you to a video of me apologizing for the bad signature,” says the 34-year-old, who has a huge fan base online. Half a million people subscribe to his YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, on which Green and his brother Hank do stuff like perform Star Trek parody songs and discuss the travails of the writing process. Like Twihards and Gleeks, their fans even have a nickname: Nerdfighters.
The downtown canal was supposed to be used for transportation, but the city ran out of money in the 19th century before fully realizing the vision. Nevertheless, 21st century Naptowners have found ways to use the water, and the IUPUI Regatta is our favorite. Tomorrow’s canoe-race festival gives us a reason to lounge on the north basin’s large terrace steps, which we usually jog or bike past, thinking, One of these days, we’re going to hang out on the steps and watch the world go by. The regatta—one of downtown’s best free festivals all year—is the perfect time to make good on that promise. The event has gotten so big after just four years, it attracts 112 teams, thousands of spectators, and live bands, and it even has its own app. It also answers that burning question: Would you contract a skin disease by falling into the canal? The verdict appears to be no—members of the IUPUI swim team actually stand chest-deep in the cold water to position the boats, and so far, none of them have gotten E. coli. “It may seem gross because there are a lot of different things floating around in the canal, like leaves and bugs and other squishy things, but it is such a help to those who plan the regatta that it is definitely worth it,” says Elizabeth Bourgeois, a swimmer taking her fourth plunge in the canal tomorrow.
Sept. 17, 2012: “I don’t want to make money; I just love to sell guns!” A man entered the well-known westside store that Don Davis owns today, rented a gun, and moments later opened fire, wounding a clerk, who reportedly returned one shot, killing the man. The employee was in serious condition but expected to […]
Publicly dedicated in August 2008, Lucas Oil Stadium has stood 49 months strong (“ColtsStrong” to some) for quite some time, really, and yet I just made my virgin voyage to an Indianapolis Colts game this past Sunday. I know, how shabby of me. But in all fairness, tickets had come my way a few times, though I was unable ultimately to use them, to attend, for one reason or another. And I did take in the Evansville F. J. Reitz versus Indianapolis Cathedral high school 5A football final there in 2009, a raucous game between southern Indiana and local Catholic pigskin powerhouses. That was a great time.
Jeffrey Hatcher has adapted several plays, refashioning Tuesdays with Morrie and The Turn of the Screw, both of which have been performed at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. His latest show there, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was originally commissioned for the Arizona Theatre Company and received a 2009 Edgar Award nomination for Best Play. I caught up with the playwright at his show’s opening night reception at the IRT, and we talked about his vision for it and the novel choice to make Hyde a four-person role.
It seems as though my high school taught me well—when you went to the Indiana Repertory Theatre for a field trip, you dressed nice. And sure enough, a night out at the theater still seems to be quite the occasion here in Indy, with much of the crowd attending Friday’s opening night of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, the first show of the 2012-13 season, decked out in blazers, button-ups, and cocktail dresses. (See photos from the show’s opening night soirees at the IRT here.)
In the end, it was the Real American Hero who took home the gold medal, as it were, in the Children’s Museum’s interactive project, “Top 100 Toys (& their Stories) that Define Our Childhood.” Voters cast more than 24,000 nods online, and G.I. Joe was named the No. 1 favorite toy of the past 100 years. It seems children of the 1980s rocked the vote in full force, as Transformers landed in the No. 2 slot, followed by LEGO sets in third place. The iconic Cabbage Patch Kids proved to be underdogs, snagging the seventh spot, and Indiana native Raggedy Ann finished just outside the Top 10 at No. 11. Here’s the full Top 20 roster.
The Forrest Lucas mansion provided a crisp, perfect evening backdrop for the BMW Pro-Am selection party on Tuesday in Carmel. The dapper crowd of more than 300 golfers was treated to great food and drinks prior to the fast-paced selection countdown. PGA pro Rory McIlroy, a native of Northern Ireland who clinched the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts this past weekend, was in attendance at the soiree, notably without his usual arm candy, Danish tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki. (McIlroy warded off another star player in this BMW Championship in that Deutsch Bank final round: one Tiger Woods, conspicuously absent on this night.)
