11,860 stories from Trav S.D.
First, a reminder that the Coney Island Book Fair is this Sunday, May 17, 1-5pm. We’d love to see you there. And June 4, myself and others will be presenting at the Lambs’ Club on the se…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 12, 2026 are about the late Rex Reed, and Jazz Age singer Scrappy Lambert. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 12 (in no particular order) include ones …
When you despair that everything is horrible and the nation and the world are spiraling into a chaos from which we will never emerge, at least we can derive some solace today from the knowle…
It’s high time we pay obeisance to Jazz Age vocalist Scrappy Lambert (Harold Lambert, 1901-1987). Lambert was a kid from New Brunswick, New Jersey who had the good luck to attend nearby Ru…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 11, 2026 are about Eric Burdon and The Animals and the vaudeville team of Cross and Dunn. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 11 (in no particular order…
This post is so-titled because a previous one dealt only with one song, the 1968 hit “Sky Pilot”. It used to be be anchored by a Youtube clip of the song, but it went dead so I pulled it…
As always, I gotta crow a little bit when I’ve actually done a bit of primary research and now present to you the only complete article on the internet about a notable vaudeville act. I st…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 10, 2026 are about The Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (150 years ago today), the Pacifist Origins of Mother’s Day (Happy Mother’s Day!), and t…
150 years ago today (May 10, 1876) saw the launch of the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine in Philadelphia, generally shortened to the Centen…
Could there be a better name for a child performer than Mary Small (1922-2007)? Small was a second generation vaudevillian, born and raised in Baltimore. Taught to sing from earliest childho…
Decades before it became a commercial opportunity for card shops and florists, Mother’s Day was conceived by Julia Ward Howe (“Battle Hymn of the Republic”) as a female-driven holiday …
This post does triple duty: 1) it’s World Collage Day; 2) we’re a week out from International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia and we’re a couple of weeks out from the …
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 9, 2026 are about: Lucy Sante and Her Collages, the life and music of Billy Joel, and the late playwright Robert Heide. Earlier Travalanche posts for …
This won’t be a review of the recent two-part HBO “documentary” Billy Joel: And So It Goes (2025) per se, apart from the fact that I saw it recently and became aware of several aspects…
Downtown playwright Robert Heide (Robert Heitke, 1934-2025) passed away back in December (thanks for the alert, Eve Golden); as I often do, I opted to wait until the decedent’s next birthd…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 8, 2026 are about Nan Wynn, Mary Lou Williams, Sam Lufkin, and some exciting new Al Hirschfeld stuff. May 8 is also VE Day, and I’ve blogged about t…
I stopped by the Algonquin yesterday to visit with my old friend David Leopold of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. We hatched some crazy plans (about which more in due course), and David took m…
May 8 was the birthday of jazz genius Mary Lou Williams (Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, 1910-1981). Born in Atlanta, raised in Pittsburgh, Williams was a child prodigy who was supporting her family …
We are interested to note that the popular singer and actress Nan Wynn (Masha Vatz, 1915-1971) is not a Wynn at all. (For that matter, neither was Ed Wynn, nor are his progeny. The family na…
Born on May 8, supporting player Sam Lufkin (1891-1952). Lufkin appeared in nearly 200 films between 1920 and the end of his life, ranging from foil parts in the Edgar Kennedy/ Vernon Dent m…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 7, 2026 are about hypnotist Pat Collins and stage and screen actress May Cloy. Earlier Travalanche posts for May 7 (in no particular order) include on…
Her name sounds like a warning label on a bottle of floral perfume — or maybe one of her movies, but May Cloy (Mabel Larsen, 1880-1977) went by it anyhow. We’ve just been able to find so…
May 7 was the birthday of glamorous lady hypnotist Pat Collins (1935-1997). Collins was well paid for her specialty, even ran her own Hollywood club, and was featured in movies and on televi…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for May 6, 2026 are about the late Ted Turner, and the much later June Gittelson. For No Diet Day: The Travalanche Hall of Plus-Sized Comedians Earlier Traval…
Well, I was about to leave it at one blogpost today and give myself a break but this one is too big to ignore. Ted Turner (1938-2026) has passed away at the age of 87. Younger folks may not …
