Martha's Vineyard Kate Feiffer

When a School Becomes a Press Center

Kate Feiffer | Monday, August 31 2009 - 7:50pm

This feels like an only on Martha’s Vineyard story. Two weeks before the doors to my daughter’s school open for students, the cafeteria and gym are filled with reporters from around the globe. They await the arrival of President Obama and Ben Bernanke, who, after negotiating the narrow two-lane roads leading to the school, on an Island without one traffic light, arrive at the Oak Bluffs School by motorcade. Once inside, the President announces he is reappointing Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The Poetry of Paying Attention

Kate Feiffer

During the last presidential campaign, the poet Naomi Shihab Nye had the daunting task of introducing Caroline Kennedy at an Obama campaign event in San Antonio, Texas. The honor was made particularly formidable because Ms. Kennedy’s plane had been significantly delayed.

Amor Towles: Literary Ascent Begins in West Chop

Kate Feiffer

Edward Dillon doesn’t exist. Longtime readers of the Vineyard Gazette may recall reading about Mr. Dillon’s antics in the West Chop column during the summer of 1977. The column, written by then 12-year-old Amor Towles, reported the comings and goings within the close-knit community. Yet unbeknownst to most readers, the man by the name of Edward Dillon, mentioned in columns throughout the summer, was fictional.

Drawn Into the Adventures Of Funny Girl Phoebe Potts

Kate Feiffer

Some people have all the luck. While Phoebe Potts isn’t one of them, she does say, “I was the right female infertile cartoonist at the right time.” Indeed she was, and because of that, the luck this time is ours.

Guinness Grape Catching Record Goes Down in 189 Great Gulps

Kate Feiffer

By KATE FEIFFER

This one is for the record books. Literally. A few minutes after noon on Wednesday, Ashrita Furman officially set a new world record for the three-minute grape catch, having caught 189 grapes in his mouth. The event took place in the parking lot of the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore. Naturally.

Mr. Furman and accomplished grape-tosser Bipin Larkin, both of Queens, N.Y., are the reigning Guinness Book of World Records three-minute and one-minute grape catch record holders.

Ruin My Life? Not This Mom’s Play

Kate Feiffer

The following journal chronicles Vineyard author Kate Feiffer’s experience on the making of the new play My Mom Is Trying to Ruin My Life, which is having a workshop production at the Vineyard Playhouse on June 11, 12, 18 and 19. M.J. Bruder Munafo, who is also directing, adapted the book to stage.

July 1, 1998: Motherhood began two weeks later than expected. Now that my daughter has been born, I can say with confidence that I will be a cool mom.

When a School Becomes a Press Center

Kate Feiffer

This feels like an only on Martha’s Vineyard story. Two weeks before the doors to my daughter’s school open for students, the cafeteria and gym are filled with reporters from around the globe. They await the arrival of President Obama and Ben Bernanke, who, after negotiating the narrow two-lane roads leading to the school, on an Island without one traffic light, arrive at the Oak Bluffs School by motorcade. Once inside, the President announces he is reappointing Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.