Author, journalist Martha Frankel to speak
by Timothy Cama | Llama Ledger Staff
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: News
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Though Frankel says her talk will likely focus on Hats and Eyeglasses, she will also speak about her work as a freelance entertainment journalist, a career that spanned almost two decades.
New Orleans-based newspaper The Times-Picayune described Hats and Eyeglasses as a "fast-paced and amazingly funny memoir." Other reviews call Frankel's book "frank," and "compulsively readable."
Frankel's memoir takes the reader through her life, describing in detail her upbringing around poker, horse racing and mah jongg, eventually leading to her own addiction to online gambling.
"I thought the gene passed me by," Frankel says of gambling addiction in her warm, loving family. She started Hats and Eyeglasses years ago, as a memoir about her family and gambling.
Frankel herself gambled as well, but it was never much of an addiction. She learned all the tips and tricks from her family, and won constantly.
Then Frankel discovered online poker about 10 years ago. While her family's training helped her to read others' poker faces and make her own, such interaction isn't possible on the Internet. Frankel starting losing, she said.
This addiction, which Frankel has since overcome, became a part of her book, which she sold two and a half years ago to Tarcher, an imprint of the Penguin Group in New York City. It was due to be released in November, she said, but Tarcher moved the release date up to February 14.
Critical reaction to Frankel's memoir has been "unbelievable," she said. "It's insane," she added. As of March 6, she had made 35 radio appearances promoting the book. Frankel was named an "Original Voice" by Borders Books, meaning Hats and Eyeglasses will be placed in the front of their stores.
Though Frankel ended her career as a freelance entertainment journalist when she started writing Hats and Eyeglasses, she speaks highly of her time interviewing celebrities such as Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Stewart, Anne Rice and Spike Lee. Her pieces were run in publications like Details, Redbook and Cosmopolitan.
Frankel wrote her first piece for Details in 1985, and since then has traveled around the country and around the world to interview celebrities. She chose to work as a freelance journalist since it fit her lifestyle and needs best.
Campus Activities Director Valerie Fanarjian met Frankel when Frankel moved to the Catskills, where Fanarjian also lives, in 1986. Both women describe the other as her best friend, and are excited for Frankel's visit.
Frankel first visited Simon's Rock with Fanarjian in May, and she "loved it." Fanarjian invited Frankel to the Conversations series since she is a friend, and a professional who has excelled at her craft, she says.
Hats and Eyeglasses is available in the Simon's Rock Bookstore, according to Fanarjian. Frankel will be available, before and after her talk Thursday, to sign the book.
Currently, Fanarjian has one more guest scheduled in the Conversations series. Philippe Petit, a high-wire artist who crossed the newly-constructed World Trade Center towers in New York City in 1974, will come on March 25 to speak about his high-wire walks.
Previous Conversations have featured actor Melissa Leo, AIDS activist Sean Strub and political activist Eli Pariser.
Contact the author: tcama@llamaledger.com
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