SPOTLIGHT on the Vineyard

IMG_4634Anyone who works at home knows there’s no such thing as a snow day . . . so, though buckets of nasty white stuff are once again blowing around outside with the kind of gusto that promises gargantuan accumulation, I am at my desk. Working. But that’s okay because there’s news to tell!

For fans of the film SPOTLIGHT, tomorrow evening promises to be special. The Vineyard Gazette has a terrific series called “Tuesdays in the Newsroom,” where islanders gather to learn interesting (and fun) bits about the ins and outs of this amazing weekly (twice weekly in season), 170-year old newspaper. On tap tomorrow is a guest speaker: Walter “Robby” Robinson, editor at large at the Boston Globe and head of the now famous SPOTLIGHT team that exposed the horrific story of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The team’s work earned them a Pulitzer Prize; their story was captured in the wonderful film SPOTLIGHT, which has been nominated for six Academy Awards. (Robinson’s part was played by Michael Keaton.) I’ve been told he’ll talk about investigative journalism, which should be terrific . . . as long as this blizzard is out to sea and the boat can get him here!

Speaking of Hollywood . . . in other news, a movie is apparently in development about the “Chappaquiddick incident”—that sad and tragic accident in the summer of 1969 when a young woman drowned in Senator Ted Kennedy’s car, as the headlines screamed back then.

I remember it clearly. I even referred to it in my novels a few times, especially in PLACES BY THE SEA, when two of my characters stood outside Duke’s County Courthouse and watched media frenzy as the story played out on Main Street, Edgartown—a scene that wound up changing both their lives. Most folks on the island don’t, or won’t, discuss the topic now. But Hollywood has knocked on the Vineyard’s door again (please, no references to JAWS), and it will be hard to either anticipate or disregard the antics sure to follow.

Enough said from my end. For details, read the Gazette article at: http://vineyardgazette.com/news/2016/02/04/coming-big-screen-near-you-chappaquiddick-movie.

Time to make more tea and get to work. I refuse watch the weather channel that will surely tell me there are sunny skies today in western Massachusetts!

5 thoughts on “SPOTLIGHT on the Vineyard

  1. No sun in western MA. Light snow – forecast is for 3 to 5 inches AND the schools are closed! I feel like I don’t live in New England anymore. SPOTLIGHT sounds very intersting. Enjoy.

  2. Well, Jean,if it makes you feel any better, we in your old writing group are living in a 3-(or more) inches-every-3-days sort of loop, with a chance of snow again on Wednesday.
    Cling tight to your island and don’t let the winds getcha.

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