As I write this, I'm listening to WCVE's live broadcast of Texas-born rockabilly singer Lance Lipinsky's final set at the fifth Richmond Folk Festival; my husband, Andrew, and his twin from Nashville are there in person, listening to Ralph Stanley sing "Pretty Polly" on another stage. It will be a weekend long remembered.Later this week, Richmond will be saying hello to glass master Dale Chihuly, with a 12,000-square-foot exhibition opening Oct. 20 at the VMFA. His massive, glowing blue chandelier in the McGlothlin wing's window is a sight to behold at night. As a perfect bookend, on Nov. 8, the Visual Arts Center opens its show featuring Harvey K. Littleton — a studio-glass pioneer with whom Chihuly studied.
Also on Nov. 8, the day before Steven Spielberg's Lincoln opens in New York City and L.A., an invited Richmond audience will see the film. The city has been anticipating its release ever since it was filmed in our region last fall. This month's Lincoln feature package covers a behind-the-scenes advisor, extras on the set and the women surrounding Lincoln: Mary Todd (read Joan Tupponce's Q&A with Sally Field) and Elizabeth Keckly, a Dinwiddie woman who was a seamstress and confidante to Mrs. Lincoln. (For more information, visit petersburgarea.org.)
As I read Team of Rivals, the movie's springboard, every few pages proved revelatory. I learned that another member of Lincoln's cabinet, Attorney General Edward Bates, was born in Goochland County. And I realized that the elementary school I attended in Western New York was named for DeWitt Clinton, an admired governor whom Lincoln wanted to emulate in Illinois. And I also learned more about Lincoln's compassion. People were discussing what to do with Jefferson Davis if he were apprehended, and one person said he must be hanged, to which Lincoln replied, "Let us judge not, that we be not judged."
It's amazing to think that Lincoln, with his son Tad in tow, walked our streets the day after the city burned, making his way to the White House of the Confederacy. As bodyguard William Crook wrote, it was "nothing short of miraculous that some attempt on Lincoln's life was not made. It is to the everlasting glory of the South that he was permitted to come and go in peace."
Finally, on Nov. 9, Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story premieres at CenterStage. Turn to Page 72 and read how the spirit of this St. Catherine's alum continues to make an impact following the 2011 tsunami in Japan.
Dash for Cash
On Sunday, Nov. 4, get a team together and go on a treasure hunt through downtown. Your squad could win up to $2,000. Presented by Congregation Or Atid and sponsored by Ravenchase Adventures, 103.7 the River and Richmond magazine, this new event kicks off "Feed Richmond" week, a fundraiser for FeedMore. For details, visit dashforcashrva.com.
