Author: Bartleby Press

Marcel Marceau’s 100th Birthday

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It’s been noted that today is the 100th Birthday of Marcel Marceau.

First issued by Caedmon Records in 1971, this conversation on mime, recorded by Marcel Marceau and the American writer William Fifield, is an in-depth look at Marceau’s art.

In this recording Marcel Marceau traces the history of mime and discusses his own role in its renewed popularity. Calling mime the art of “making the invisible visible,” he shares how he developed his signature character, Bip, and began performing all around the world, a tour de force career that has lasted for more than 50 years. He speaks with eloquence about the purpose of his art, which, he says, is to show how life is. And branching off to his interests and experiences off the stage, he talks about his paintings, his belief in the universality of man, and his life during World War II, when he took part in the French Resistance and also had to hide from the Gestapo because his father was Jewish.

Sixty Years Ago Ernie Davis wins the Heisman Trophy

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Sixty years ago, December 6, 1961, Ernie Davis became the first African American the win the Heisman Trophy, symbolic of the best college football player in the nation. His inspirational story is told in Ernie Davis, The Elmira Express, the basis of the film, The Express

Read more about the anniversary in today’s news here

Floyd Little

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Word has come that Floyd Little, three-time All American running back at Syracuse University, who went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Denver Broncos, has died. He was 78. The third of the legendary backs who wore  #44 at Syracuse, behind Jim Brown and Ernie Davis, he will be remembered not only for athletic exploits but also for his impact on everybody he came in contact with.

I came to know him as an acquaintance when he wrote the Introduction to our book, Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express, the Story of  Heisman Trophy Winner. We called it a Remembrance. Later, in his own books, he expanded on his feelings for Davis, who was influential in recruiting him to Syracuse.

In 2007, I encountered him at an SU Sports night in Bethesda, Maryland and told him that Universal Studios had just optioned the rights to our book. I don’t think either of us thought that the film would actually get made.  At the premiere, we reminisced  about that night when first I told him. I know he also sought out the author, Robert Gallagher to congratulate him.

In the movie, Little is played by Chadwick Boseman, in the late actor’s debut role.

Floyd Little was the definition of a  class act.