The Gangsters of Hollywood
You could be forgiven for thinking "Tinseltown Gangsters" refers to every last person in an executive position in Hollywood. But no, Jeffrey Sussman is talking about the brass-tacks, hard-boiled Mob, and its influence on the entertainment biz, from Bugsy Siegel, the tough from the Lower East Side who hobnobbed with the stars before an associate put a bullet in his head, to the dispiriting proliferation of pornography.
Mr. Sussman, an East Hamptoner and legendary P.R. man, is much to be admired for his authorial interests — the heyday of boxing, particularly pugilists of the Jewish persuasion, America's swinging midcentury in general, and of course gangsters of all stripes. Now he'll read from "Tinseltown Gangsters," out this week from Rowman & Littlefield, at two libraries here: East Hampton on Saturday at 2 p.m. and John Jermain in Sag Harbor on Sunday, also at 2.
Writers Conference Scholarships
Even though we've turned the corner into March, and even though it came in like a lamb, summer still seems a long way off. So why mention it? Because provided society holds together long enough, that's when the Writers Conference happens on the Stony Brook Southampton campus. Yes? And? And now is the time to apply for scholarships, as the deadline is Friday, March 15.
There's a partial one for a first-generation college graduate or someone attending college and looking to take part in a five-day workshop. A full scholarship called Local Voices is for a commuting year-round resident of anywhere from Riverhead east out either fork. And there's another full one for a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation.
The conference runs from July 10 to 14, and the faculty includes Julia Phillips on the novel, Billy Collins and Diana Khoi Nguyen in poetry, Matthew Klam in fiction and nonfiction, and Frederic Tuten on the short story, with other workshops in memoir, young-adult fiction, and picture books. The general deadline is April 15. The full cost of a workshop for the week, with all talks and readings, is $1,495. Further information is at stonybrook.edu/writers.