INCREDIBLY COOL PEOPLE I'VE MET BECAUSE OF MY BOOK

By Steve Ludwig

As a result of getting the word out there about my first book, SEE YOU IN CCU - A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY, I've had the good fortune and extreme pleasure of meeting, and befriending, some really cool people.

AND, I've developed an appreciation for the independent artists and entrepreneurial scene I've come across during my journey.

It all started back in March of this year. A friend of mine (let's call her Mare [because that's her name!]) contacted me and told me a friend of hers hosts an internet radio show, called "Legends Radio," and he'd be nice enough to interview me on his show to talk about my book. Wow! Imagine that. I contacted the host - Evan Ginzburg - and he couldn't have been a cooler guy. If you're a movie buff, I'm sure you've heard of  The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. Well, Evan is the Associate Producer of that movie, and he acted in it. That's not the only movie Evan's acted in. He's also appeared in The Nowhere Room (which I'll talk about in a bit), A Story About Ian, as wel as quite a few wrestling documentaries.

Evan gave me a choice of a twenty-minute time block I'd like to be on the show. A full twenty  minutes for an unknown like me to talk about my book!

Check out this ninety-second promo about Legends Radio, and be you'll be amazed at the diversity of guests Evan's had on his show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dptXJEdrgI

Allow me to backtrack a bit. Mare is the mom of a former student of mine (I'm a teacher). Her son is named Rye Joseph. Mare and Rye met Evan through their mutual admiration of professional wrestling. Since school, Rye has gone on to become an award-winning director, and along with Evan (and singer Theresa Sareo), they've produced the award-winning documentary Theresa Sareo, Alive Again. Theresa is a New York-based singer who was the victim of an impaired driver of an SUV. She was struck by the SUV, and as a result of this horrible accident, one of her legs had to be amputated. Evan, Rye, and Theresa produced this inspiring story (which Rye also directed) of Theresa's amazing comeback after her operation. I was fortunate enough to see the movie. I guarantee you'll be inspired, but a warning: you'll shed more than a few tears (some of joy, some of sadness) along the way. Here's the link to the official promo for Theresa Sareo, Alive Again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K_o38wG3x4

Speaking of promos, may I take a moment to do some shameless plugging of my own? 

Rye Joseph never forgot his ol' teacher. Rye contacted me and asked if he could shoot a promo for my book. HE asked ME, not the other way around! How nice was that? So one Saturday afternoon, Rye, his girlfriend YuMei, my wife Sue, and I met in Central Park to shoot the promo. Here's the result of that day's shoot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlKnapX8VrY

Back to Evan Ginzburg. Not only does Evan host Legends Radio each Wednesday from 7-9:20 PM, he is also the talent booker for Gizzi's Cafe, at 16 West 8th St., NY, deep in heart of Greenwich Village. Guess what? Evan also invited me to do a book-reading at Gizzi's, ten days after my radio appearance!

So while I was talking about my book on his show, Evan also publicized my appearance at Gizzi's. Gizzi's is a an extremely cool place. Here's the link to upcoming events:

 http://www.gizzisnyc.com/news-events/gizzis-news/

I still ask myself, how did I get to be so lucky? Well, one thing I've learned is that people in the independent artists field look out for each other; they help one another. 

That's why I'm dedicating this week's blog to getting the word out about these cool independent artists I've met along the way. 

Now, Evan is such a multi-faceted artist, I could easily fill this entire blog just writing about him! Evan's also the author of two books: Apartment 4B, Like in Brooklyn (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Apartment-4B-Like-in-Brooklyn/247449945372696), a true, tender reminiscence by Evan of his growing up in Brooklyn, and Hey Cabby, A New York Cab Driver's Million Miles Behind the Wheel (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hey-Cabby-A-New-York-Cab-Drivers-Million-Miles-Behind-The-Wheel/348546495230714), Evan's loving tribute to his dad and all the stories Evan was told as a kid by his dad.

As I alluded to earlier, Evan is a walking encyclopedia of all things professional wrestling. Visit Evan's website,  http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling3/thenandnow/, for a look at all things wrestling.

And for an overview of all things Ginzburg, visit Evan's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/evan.ginzburg).

If not for Mare's introducing me to Evan, and Evan himself, none of the things I've experienced as a result of publicity for my book would have happened.

So Evan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You didn't have to do any of what you did, yet you went above and beyond what a first-time author deserves.

I mentioned that Evan had set up an appearance for me at Gizzi's. Well, on that evening, Evan introduced me to another really cool guy. His name is Solomon Chertok. Solomon is an independent movie producer, screenwriter, and actor, and on that evening at Gizzi's, a behind-the-scenes sneak preview of one of his films, The Nowhere Room, was the main event. Here's the intriguing trailer of the movie:

http://vimeo.com/43054669

A bit of background on Solomon: It would seem "film" was always in Solomon's blood. He's related to filmmaker Paul Mazursky, as well as the late actors Edward G. Robinson and Zero Mostel. Author/Writer Joel Eisner (he wrote a Batman book about the 1960s Adam West TV show) is also a relation to Solomon.

Solomon himself has acted in numerous independent shorts. In addition to the Nowhere Room, Solomon has produced Double, The Cost of Living, Little Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Magic Scrolls, and others.

Check out Solomon's movie work at his IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1760964/

From 2005-2008, Solomon created a New York City film event, "Sundays in the City Movie Marathon." Independent features, shorts, animation, and documentaries have screened at this film event.

So on this evening at Gizzi's, there were scores of media people there to speak to the makers of The Nowhere Room. One member of the media was TV interviewer Cognac Wellerlane. Cognac has a unique online interview show. See for yourself!

http://www.cognacscornermag.com/

Now here's what I mean about how super independent artists are, how they look our for their own. Evan introduced me to Solomon that night; I had not met Solomon at this point. Solomon told me that, although he couldn't promise me anything, he'd try to get me an interview on Cognac Wellerlane's show. 

This was too good to be true! Here were Evan and Solomon,  each with a million things on their minds that evening, yet they found the time to help me out. 

My friend, Lloyd Gold, was my musical accompanist that evening (more on Lloyd in a bit), and he and I were indeed interviewed by Cognac. Here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y_sKw0Sa4A

One thing had led to another thanks to Evan and Solomon. Lloyd and I appeared on the Staten Island cable TV show, Home Invaders, hosted by Hector Bosa. A fellow guest on the show was health coach, Kirsi Paalanen. 

Lloyd and I met Kirsi about an hour before airtime, and it was plain to see she knew her stuff! 

Kirsi is the founder of My Orange Villa (http://myorangevilla.com/). The mission of My Orange Villa is to help you look and feel your best on the inside and out, both passionately and healthily.

Kirsi's appeared on the Dr. Oz Show, and she has worked in consulting and marketing for a number of Fortune 500 companies.

 I've been lucky to have benefited from Kirsi's vast knowledge of all thing healthy.

A few years ago, I had quintuple open-heart bypass surgery; pretty serious stuff, right? Needless to say, it's important that I maintain as much of a healthy, nutritious lifestyle as I can. Well, every now and then, I get cocky and eat some things I shouldn't. As a result, I find myself putting on a few pounds. 

I mentioned this to Kirsi, and thanks to her expertise, I was able to lose eleven pounds in ten weeks! Kirsi suggested a sensible, safe way to do this. There are many products Kirsi has available on her website to meet the varying needs of her clientele. For my needs, she suggested a weight management shake (SiseLean) and a liquid, one-teaspoon-three-times-a-day supplement containing resveratrol. 

Before allowing me to order these products, Kirsi wisely insisted I first get the OK from my cardiologist. He ok'd them, and thus started my eleven-pound weight loss. I remember while we were being interviewed on Home Invaders, and I was good-naturedly joking with Kirsi about adding the resveratrol to some wine. She joked right along with me; that easy-going manner of Kirsi's is evident when you visit her site, My Orange Villa, and view her accompanying videos. Check out Kirsi's Facebook page, too: http://www.facebook.com/myorangevilla

Here's picture from that day on Home Invaders (Lloyd, Kirsi, Hector, and yours truly):

Hey, also, when you get a minute, check out Hector's fun-filled Home Invaders website: http://www.rarobertsonproductions.com/HI/HomeInvaders/index.html

Back in July, I received a text message from Solomon to give a gentleman named Gary Scudero a call. Gary hosts a Queens cable TV show called Talents Unlimited. Solomon told me to mention his name to Gary, and sure enough Gary was happy to have me as guest.

(By the way, if you'd like to appear on Gary's show, email him at  bartlby@juno.com.) 

Because I had met Solomon through Evan, I emailed Evan thinking perhaps Evan first asked Solomon to speak to Gary about me.

Evan replied, "Nope I had nothing to do with this one. It was all Solomon. That's the way he is; Solomon takes care of people."

The goodness of these people is overwhelming. 

When Kirsi had found out I was going to be on Talents Unlimited, she alerted her Facebook and Twitter followers for me, as well.

It's such a neat, friendly network of people.

So Lloyd and I appeared on the first segment of Talents Unlimited. After our segment of the hour-long live show, we stood off camera and watched the second half - a fashion show (can you blame us for hanging around?).

One of the models was wearing this neat little purple number...kind of a retro outfit.

This model came up to me after the show. She had listened offstage to my interview about my open-heart surgery. 

We spoke for a few minutes, and we exchanged business cards.

Her name is Rachel Russo, and she's much more than someone who was "...wearing this neat little purple number."

Rachel has a Masters Degree in marriage and family counseling, a Bachelor's Degree in psychology, and is a certified Intentional Relationship Coach. On her  website, Rachel describes herself as a "Dating, Relationship, and Image Coach for Marriage-Minded Singles and Couples."

Her writings have been featured in many publications, including Elle Magazine.

So much more information is available for you at Rachel's website: http://rachelrusso.com/RR/Home.html

And "...Because You Should Love Your Life No Matter What Your Status," Rachel has an additional website called Status Makeover at http://www.statusmakeover.com/.

Rachel will be a guest on this Wednesday's LegendsRadio.net show with Evan. If you can't catch the live broadcast at 7-9:20 PM (Rachel's segment is at 8:40), catch up afterwards. All of Evan's shows are archived on his website.

I recently had the pleasure of doing a book-reading at a wonderful new coffee house in Ridgefield Park, NJ. It's called The Coffee Machine and it's located at 175 Main St., Ridgefield Park, NJ. It's owned by Pat Silvestri, and he does a really cool thing. 

Pat has an open mic night on Thursdays, plus he showcases local talent, musicians, artists, and authors. Pat was nice enough to allow me to be the first author to do a reading there.

Well, I never would have known about The Coffee Machine had it not been for my friend, and artist, Lynn Paret. She recommended me to Pat, and he in turn booked to me to appear at The Coffee Machine.

Let me tell you about Lynn. 

She's a fantastic artist. Her work has adorned the walls of The Coffee Machine.

Here's a small sampling of her amazing talent:

 

Visit Lynn's Facebook page at Lynn Paret's Portraits: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynn-Paret-Portraits/138696932816457?ref=ts

Lynn's another example of one independent person helping another. Had it not been for her, I wouldn't have been booked at Pat's Coffee Machine.

Lynn's also a reporter for the Cliffview Pilot newspaper (www.cliffviewpilot.com). She's written some really great stories...and, yup, sweet Lynn did a story about my book!

Way earlier, I mentioned my former student, Rye Joseph. Rye has mentioned to me that if you or anyone you know may require his services, you can contact me (Steve) through this blog site, and i'll forward your request directly to Rye.

I also mentioned that my musical accompanist throughout my book-readings and TV appearances has been Lloyd Gold. 

Lloyd is a fellow teacher, and he's been the leader of his band, Lloyd United for over ten years (www.lloydunited.com).

When Evan booked me for my first ever reading at Gizzi's, I knew I'd be nervous about appearing alone on stage, so I asked Lloyd if he'd join me.

He's been helping me out ever since.

here's a sample of Lloyd and me working together at one of my readings, at The Coffee Machine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HcTxX03AOQ.

So thanks to all of you who have helped me promote my book, and to whom I've met along the way.

And if I may request anything at all of you, my dear readers, it's to SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS OF ALL KINDS!!!

I'm proud, in my very small way, to have been welcomed into their community. Please make the independent arts a part of your lives.

Follow me on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/LudGuy

So, hey, I have a radio show called STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE, at www.PlanetLudwig.com. You may enjoy it!!

IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS BLOG, WOULD YOU KINDLY VISIT MY WEBSITE, www.ccubook.com, AND CONSIDER BUYING MY BOOK, SEE YOU IN CCU - A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY...

AND, HEY, IF YOU'RE IN THE MOOD TO VISIT, CHECK OUT MY BROTHER TOM'S BLOG:

 secondgrademinds.wordpress.com.

As always, thanks so much for reading my blog!  --Steve