Sorry to be out of touch the last few days– I made a brief pit stop in Austin and was swamped in catch-up chores, from recording radio commentaries to mowing my yard (not to mention dealing with my car, which chose yesterday to go on the fritz and into the shop). My last tour stop was a benefit for WMNF Radio, the very popular and successful community station in Tampa, FL. There was a lively sold-out crowd and it was great fun being with folks who are so appreciative of having such a progressive broadcast asset in their community. The venue itself fit perfectly with the non-conformist theme of our book. Called the Friday Morning Musicale, the 400-seat hall was built by the residents of Tampa’s Hyde Park neighborhood to serve as a space for recitals, plays, lectures and, I suppose, musicales. Residents raised the money for it with door-to-door drives and ran it as a community center. It still operates as a non-profit, and it was a treat for me to be on a stage with such democratic tradition vested in it. Now I’m headed out west again— Santa Cruz, San Fran, Durango, Sandpoint (guess where that is) and Spokane in the next five days.
