BUZZWORTHY
To be considered for Buzzworthy, contact Cindy Schweich Handler at [email protected]
ON THE MOVE
In Rules for Moving (Lake
Union, to be published
May 19) Montclair author
NANCY STAR follows up on
her bestselling Sisters One,
Two, Three with another
touching look at a family’s
secrets and confessions. The
STAR
novel’s central character is an
advice columnist whose husband dies in
a freak accident, son has issues, work
gets complicated, and family has a
mysterious past that she needs to
uncover. Julia Phillips, National Book Award finalist and author of
Disappearing Earth, called Rules for Moving “a tender exploration of
family, friendship, and what it means to be the black sheep.”
Montclair
FUNDRAISE WITHOUT
LEAVING YOUR COUCH
Think of a fundraising marathon, and
images of runners pushing past finish
lines come to mind. But four years ago,
Montclair Film executive director Tom
Hall and Luke Parker Bowles, a board
member and co-founder of the new
Bellevue Theater in Upper Montclair, fig-
ured out a way to raise money for children in poverty without even
having to leave home. Their method is perfectly suited for the COVID-
19 age, when closed schools are preventing kids in need from getting
subsidized meals and before- and after-school care. HALL AND PARKER
BOWLES’ MOVIE MARATHON is part of the global phenomenon called
RED NOSE DAY, observed this year in America on May 21. The way it
works is this: Participants set up a fundraising page by going to
Fundraise.RedNoseDay.org/Movie-Marathon and clicking Join Team.
The goal is to watch as many films as possible (Parker Bowles has done
this for 24 hours straight in the past, and vows this year to do it for far
longer). As with conventional marathons, supporters pledge funds in
honor of their efforts. Over the past four years, MF’s annual movie
marathon has raised over $60,000. Red Nose Day is an international
effort based in Britain that raised nearly $80 million last year to end
child poverty. It has a Montclair connection, in that the organization
that supports it, Comic Relief, was launched in 1985 by renowned
filmmaker and Friend of the Festival Richard Curtis. Noting that the
organization has incorporated the effort that began in Montclair,
Parker Bowles says that “This is now the main fundraiser of the
national campaign. It’s become a big deal.” For more information, go
to rednoseday.org/news/movie-marathon-fundraiser-how-guide.
6
MAY 2020 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
Montclair
HOME OF THE SPORTS BRA
If the definition of a great
invention is that it changes
the way we live, then the
sports bra definitely quali-
fies; by giving women the
support they need to stay
active, they make it easier
to compete and stay fit.
And we have two Montclair natives, LISA LINDAHL
and POLLY SMITH, as well as their colleague,
Hinda Miller, to thank (Smith and Lindahl flank
Miller in this photo). This year, the three are being
inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame,
which, in partnership with the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office, planned to honor them at an
event in Washington, D.C.; the ceremony is on
hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Montclair
REPORTING
ON A CRISIS
Long before our
current pandemic,
a local health crisis
plagued Flint, Michigan.
In 2014, government
officials switched the
city’s water source from
Lake Huron to the
Flint River. Within
months, residents were
experiencing rashes,
mysterious illnesses and
stunted growth among children.
Though the water emanating from
city faucets was murky and foul-
smelling, officials failed to take action.
COOPER
In Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of
Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and
Warned the Nation, Montclair resident and
investigative journalist CANDY COOPER, with
writer-editor and Maplewood resident MARC
ARONSON, digs deep into not only this story, but
the backstory of local segregation and bias that
preceded it, and how the people of Flint fought
back. The book, to be published on May 19 by
Bloomsbury Children’s Books, is targeted to
readers ages 10 and up.
PUBLISHING;
CHILDREN’S
Montclair