Gazette Volume 22, No
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GAZETTE Volume 22, No. 20 • May 20, 2011 • A weekly publication for Library staff Songwriters Make Music For Congress At ASCAP By Mark Hartsell Paul Williams knows all about the blood, sweat, tears and toil that go into creating a memorable piece of music. Courtesy of Gravitas Docufilms “It all begins with a blank piece of The Library’s Liz Stanley and George Willeman examine film in a scene from “Shadows.” paper,” said Williams, an Oscar-winning songwriter. “You stay up half the night. You write something. You pour blood on Film Registry, Preservation the paper. … You know that you have written something that is going to change the world. You get a little sleep. You get Find Spotlight in ‘Shadows’ up and look at what you’ve written, and “The sta- you realize you’ve rewritten “O Little Town By Mark Hartsell tistics were of Bethlehem.” shocking to Williams’ joke about the trials of the ost people, Paul Mariano says, me,” Mariano songwriter kicked off a program at the automatically assume that just says. “It wasn’t Library of Congress on May 10 that was M about every movie ever made is just sad – it was much more about celebration than heart- preserved somewhere on some format – shocking.” ache. film, tape, DVD, laserdisc, Blu-ray, what- That shock The American Society of Compos- ever. ultimately led ers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Mariano never thought much about Mariano and Foundation staged “We Write the Songs” preservation himself until he read a news- Kurt Norton on at the Coolidge Auditorium, a night of paper story a few years ago announcing a nearly three- songwriters performing their own tunes the annual selections for the National year journey to and telling the stories behind their cre- Film Registry. co-direct a documentary on the subject: ations – with a lot of laughs thrown in The story quoted Librarian of Congress “These Amazing Shadows” is part paean for good measure. James H. Billington as saying that up to to the movies, part the story of the registry The event was the third staged by half the movies produced in the United and part an address on the importance ASCAP at the Coolidge since the orga- States before 1950 no longer existed. The of film preservation. nization donated its vast papers to the films, he said, are “lost forever.” The documentary features interviews Library in 2009. Mariano considered himself a cineph- with a half-dozen members of the Library ASCAP, founded in 1914, protects the ile but knew nothing about the registry staff and sequences shot at the Packard rights of composers and songwriters and – the films selected for preservation in Campus and in the Jefferson Building ensures that they are compensated for the Library of Congress because of their (“It’s like going into the Sistine Chapel,” the use of their works. cultural or aesthetic significance – or the The organization’s membership – state of America’s film heritage. SHADOWS, continued on page 4 ASCAP, continued on page 6 2 T H E LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GA ZETTE MAY 20, 2011 EVENTS Upcoming GAZETTE Clued In: Secrets of Writing Historical Mysteries www.loc.gov/staff/gazette JENNIFER GAVIN “History in the Mystery” Acting Executive Editor MARK HARTSELL May 23, noon Editor Mumford Room, Madison Building Contributing Editors: Erin Allen, Calendar; Carlin “René” Sayles, Moving On and Length of Service; ducting research; weighing fiction vs. Lisa Davis, Donated Leave nonfiction; and getting published. Proofreader: George Thuronyi Design and Production: Ashley Jones Corrigan serves as a critic-in-resi- PETER BRAESTRUP GAIL FINEBERG JAMES W. McCLUNG dence and lecturer in the Department Founder Founding Editor Founding Publisher of English at Georgetown University (1990 – 1997) (1990 – 2009) (1990 – 1994) and a book critic for the Washington Post and for National Public Radio’s An official publication of the Library of Congress, The Gazette encourages Library managers and staff to submit articles and “Fresh Air” program. photographs of general interest. Submissions will be edited to convey the most necessary information. Bayard is the author of historical Deadline for submission of articles is 5 p.m. Wednesday, one What do Sir Walter Raleigh, Harry mysteries such as “The Pale Blue Eye,” week prior to publication date. Please submit text in digital form via e-mail ([email protected]) preferably as an attached Houdini, Sherlock Holmes, Edgar “The Black Tower” and, most recently, Microsoft Word file. Allan Poe, Thomas Jefferson and a “The School of Night.” Back issues of The Gazette in print are available in the Public Affairs Office, LM 105. current-day vintner from Virginia have Crosby is the author of the “Wine Country Mystery” series set in contem- Electronic archived issues and the a color PDF file of the current in common? issue are available online at www.loc.gov/staff/gazette. They’re all characters who show up porary Virginia wine country. Stashower has written nonfiction in historical mysteries and are likely to Library of Congress be discussed during the panel “History works such as “The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Washington, DC 20540-1620 Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe and the Editorial: Mark Hartsell, 7-9194, [email protected] in the Mystery.” Design and production: Ashley Jones, The panel – moderated by Mau- Invention of Murder”; “Arthur Conan 7-9193, [email protected] reen Corrigan and featuring authors Doyle: A Life in Letters”; and“Teller ISSN 1049-8184 Printed on paper that contains recycled paper by the Louis Bayard, Ellen Crosby and Daniel of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Printing Management Section, Office Systems Services Stashower – will take place on May 23 Doyle.” in the Mumford Room of the Madison The event, sponsored by the Human- Gazette Welcomes Letters from Staff Building. ities and Social Sciences Division, is Staff is invited to use the Forum pages for lively and thoughtful debate relevant to Library issues. However, just as other newspa- The panel’s authors will share free and open to the public. No tickets per editors exercise discretion over which letters to publish and how to edit them, so do we. In deciding whether or how much insights on writing mysteries – finding or reservations are needed. Book sales to publish, we consider content (including misstatements of fact, and signings will follow the program. libel, innuendo, ridicule of individuals or the institution, personal inspiration for plots and characters; con- attacks, and redundancy) and length (the limit is 600 words). Letters must be signed by the author, whose place of work and telephone extension should be included so we can verify author- ship. Letter writers should understand that when they sign their letters and release them to us for publication they are relinquishing privacy. If a letter calls for management response, for example, an explanation of a policy or actions or clarification of fact, we Donated Time will ask for management response.—Ed. The following Library employees have satisfied the eligibility requirements Gazette Deadlines to receive leave donations from other staff members. Contact Lisa Davis at The deadline for editorial copy for the June 3 7-0033. Gazette is Wednesday, May 25. E-mail editorial copy and letters to the editor Jason Bryant Letitia Reigle to [email protected]. To promote events through the Library’s David Clemons Catherine Rowland online calendar (www.loc.gov/loc/events) Robert Goedecke Suzanne Salgado and the Gazette Calendar, e-mail event and contact information to [email protected] by Ashley Greek Malvina Shimanov 9 a.m. Monday of the week of publication. Donald Marcus Jamie Stevenson Boxed announcements should be submitted David Miller Albert Tyas electronically (text files) by 9 a.m. Monday Arlene Peters the week of publication to [email protected]. MAY 20, 2011 T H E LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GA ZETTE 3 NEWS Historian, Dramatist Prove to be Tense Roles for Reston By Erin Allen Sam Rockwell has played him in a movie. He’s taken legal action against the likes of director Ridley Scott. One could say that James Reston Jr. has led a storied life. Rather, stories are his life. Reston, a distinguished visiting scholar at the Library’s John W. Kluge Center, discussed the process of com- pressing history into drama and the inher- ent tension that incites during a lecture on May 11. “Is creative nonfiction art or litera- ture?” Reston asked. “I believe it’s a young art that has grown in the last 30 years.” Abby Brack Virginia Woolf once observed that Historian James Reston Jr. discusses his experiences with screenplays. biography is the search for the fertile ning, including the first reading at table,” creative nonfiction, including his legal fact or creative fact. Her essay, “The Art he said of the play. action in 2005 against Ridley Scott for of Biography,” has had a profound influ- Reston recalled arguing with Peter alleged plagiarism in the script of Scott’s ence on Reston’s writing. One could say Morgan, the playwright and film writer, film “Kingdom of Heaven.” it’s guided his approach: to first master about extending the script and in par- Reston argued that the script was the historical material, then identify the ticular the scene in which Richard Nixon based on his book “Warriors of God: creative facts and finally build the rich apologizes to the American people for Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in environment of the story by linking the participating in the Watergate cover-up. the Third Crusade.” Ultimately, Reston facts. According to Reston, what happened over dropped the case for financial reasons. “One could say that’s not far from a period of 48 hours was condensed to “My final satisfaction is that ‘Kingdom what a screenwriter does,” Reston said.