Gulf Coast Journal with Jack Perkins; 202; Fossil Digging Program, Author Tim O'Brien, Sarasota Film Festival, Herb Silverstein

The family has a special presentation of w. we do YOU Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota old bones and young kids of the mayor brings them together. Students meeting the author booth words they've been reading. The glitter and glare of a film festival. And a talented man who can provide either a creek or a creek might for the ear of a Gulf Coast Journal. This w edu production is exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice envisioning a region known for in doubtful land a vital nonprofit community and the ability to address emerging issues. With.

Your journal. You walk the beaches of this Gulf Coast and. Every now and then you look down and you see sharks to. Our beaches are known for them. But you might also look down and find things like these. These two are fossils fossilized bones from a million years ago and from what kind of animals. Well I don't always know but I know a man who knows and He loves to share his knowledge. How. Many. High so. Many lives in the. Program you're thinking looking for to see. I know you.

Have. Your. Head. You. Ready Joe. The job in the shell Pip was seven miles from the Gulf Coast. A group of Venice Elementary first graders prepare for a treasure hunt. Yeah. How correct. OK. I hope I find a little hurt right. Yeah we'll find some bird of prey. Sharky. Sharky. Thing about looking Chinese doesn't matter to the food crew named after their teacher whom they call Mission Group. Heart of a mouth plate of the stammering A most people who live in this area walk on our beaches daily and have no idea the things that they're stepping on are tens of thousands of years old.

Her. Was looking around big or small the group cruise discoveries can repeal some unusually residents from the past. Not only did we have the it the elephants the mammoths and the nested onstream can bring on serous. So when every funny thing from a loss ratio know immediately it's at least four million years old. Looking to find something. Dean Calomiris is the official tour guide on this journey just grandfathers and which are paleontologist and oh yes he's the mayor of Venice. Did you find out when I moved to Florida that 25 years ago I secured a Venice beach chair looking for sharks teeth and generally the reason you start finding other things you know that are not sharks but there's something about perhaps it was destiny that Dean Calomiris became mayor of the shark's tooth capital of the world. I actually did this before I came out here I was always interested in fossils and things but it would open more doors and I would people call me to ask me to come and speak to him. I was

given the option you want to talk about Venice and politics you know I hear about age in Florida and fossils were just fine. Over there over the years he has collected whale vertebra camel toes mammoth teeth that's right here at the Thomas ranch burro Pippi uncovered the complete jawbone of an Ice Age horse you just never know. You know when they may come down here and I find anything there the next time we come down we'll find 20 or 30 things. Dean and I are pretty sure that over the 10 years we've been taking the kids to their Thomas Ranch area that we've pretty much just pulled out an entire whale from the pet and this might have been a postcard. Hold on to their teacher Sherry Valentia comercial aka mission has known Dean since she was a little girl that's been a regular guest in her classroom for more than a decade. Just the fact that he's able to share his love with so many kids and so many people that he speaks to about fossils and the history of this area just delicious that he's

interested in and leaving a legacy for this town that's much bigger than his three terms as mayor. Yeah. That. Here in the pet titles are important. To prove he is simply mister she is just more fun than being a mayor. Well this is this is part of the fun of being the mayor. We really don't know why but about 10000 years ago the last horse isn't in the United States. Disappeared. The history lesson begins in the classroom before the field trip. Mr. Xi shows the kids his vast collection of fossils so they know what to search for when they pick up a shark's tooth on the beach that sharks teeth. There's typically a five to 12 million years old and you're holding something in your hand that's that old in there and I try to press it and say this is. Millions of years old think about that. And they were here just for a dot in time. So that that's what makes it exciting. I mean it is a. Dark Side to. Give you. This is a whale shark.

Only that they've named. The precocious first graders learn things about their own backyard that many adults don't even know. Wonder why he was covering covering. Covering the room. Right. We've learned that Florida in different millennia was covered with ocean and by finding fossils and sharks teeth and whale bone seven miles away from the current ocean. They're really able to prove that that's the way it was back at the pit when hard work pays off. Can you repeat. That. He go to an Ivy League One. Leaders gathered no church compared. The neat thing about kids is no matter what kind of fossils they find even if they're really insignificant in the paleontological world they get so excited about it. And the best thing about trips like that is they get to take it home and it's a piece of history that they get to keep forever.

To bring this to the kids might be a thrill for you but this is one of the most satisfying things that I do. The trip that they take out here today they'll remember that for a long long time and I'll talk about it. And it's a treasure Mr. Xi you will remember for a long long time. One that didn't require any digging on his part at all. A reluctant visitor came to the Gulf Coast recently a renowned author who somehow got persuaded to come to Venice Florida to talk to a group of high school students of all things. Well these are remarkable high school students and it was a remarkable time. Enlightening for all. Jim O'Brien walks with purpose even on a leisurely stroll along the quay. Each step a testament to how far he has.

Yet feels a little bit like it was an eternity ago and. A little bit like it happened last night. Brian began his writing career quite literally in the trenches. Has started in a foxhole somewhere in a place I don't know I was lost all the time in Vietnam that. One day after a particularly hideous event. I just got a piece of paper and I just wrote about what happened that day was very short maybe of a long paragraph page and half. From there from that pain in his got in his heart in his head. A writer. Of all. Notes written on tattered scraps of paper carried out of Vietnam were transformed into his book The Things They Carried. The book became a

finalist for the Pulitzer. Brian became a voice from the shadows of war the war was Analysts no targets no visible enemy. There is nothing to shoot back at eight books later. O'Brien's masterful writings are read and analyzed and analyzed some more by high school and college students. But I never conceived of such a young audience. Still. Seems to be against him. They're used to television shows that wrap themselves up in happy endings or sad endings but some sort of ending my books don't have that. For better or for worse are pretty untidy. I kind of understand intellectually what's going on I think it's because they're complicated and frustrating the teachers like to teach them. But the surprising thing as a student seem to like seem to like them. Okay so if he's an expert in the war can he speak for soldiers at Venice High English teacher Michael James is the resident expert on O'Brien.

If you define a soldier through history. From one class to the next interest in O'Brien's war novels blossomed into the school's first literacy festival. Still something was missing. What you learn in terms of the historical perspective you know the teacher learned persistence pays off. He fired off no fewer than 52 emails to Tim O'Brien until. They could be gradually until. They. Learned. To love it you're not a lot of great people. And you know I mean you know they could sum up your life. Will Brian made a rare and memorable visit to a high school. The hype from the kids perspective. I mean Mr. Brown and I were walking on campus a number of kids came up and just went to shake his hand I meet him. He's an author he's not a movie star he's an athlete. And the kids are running up to him and are very apprehensive and scared if you will

to meet him as a result of writing. As an English teacher what more I want. The kids are excited. But the teacher did work more OK for the assignment. What I'd like you to do is interview you know better that assignment open the door of dialogue that had never been opened before between the Adams and your father live as you had in Vietnam. Oh I thought probably because of a family background of a lot of people being in the service. It was my duty to go to war if our country was at war. It seemed to me that it was the best thing that I ever did had done in my life up until that point. And the criticism did hurt but I didn't dwell on that because I tried pretty much to fit in rather than and be confrontational about it. I knew who I was and I knew what I did and I was very proud of it. Katie Adams learned about the struggles of a soldier. The complexities of war

and about her father. He is kind of reserved about it at first but then a couple days later he came out with his uniform and his dog tags and everything. So he opened up a lot to me about it. I think the expression at the time was. Right or wrong my country. That Adam. Tim O'Brien were in Vietnam the same year they never met. They offer differing views but now they're both talking and students are listening. I mean all the stuff you keep kind of private and locked inside. You can let out on paper because you're not talking in the world just talking to yourself. The award winning writer gave students this assignment. Make up grand fabulous wonderful stories for your lives. And then leave them at a great time got a great high school here you're lucky to be here and lucky guy.

From a literacy festival urging people to read to. Another festival urging people not to. But rather dreamers themselves and flashing images on a screen in the stars that make those movies. The annual And each year more impressive the Sarasota Film Festival. You're not kidding we're not in Kansas anymore and we're not in Hollywood or New York or on a movie set somewhere we're in Sarasota which at the moment just happens to look a lot like Hollywood. Opening night of the Seventh Annual Sarasota Film Festival all big blitz you'd expect of a movie premiere intentional town celebrity is autograph seekers photographers glamorous people goal or. For Jodi killed

bossa executive director of the festival and his entire staff the real curtain has been raised. It is Showtime will have nearly 200 filmmakers and stars coming to this town in a 10 day period. We've come a long way with this fast. With the 10 day festival underway. It's time to press the flash past the former actor takes on with delight festival manager Jennifer Silva has known Jodi for many years and says this is a role he is well suited for. Jodi is obviously a very dynamic person and is a wonderful salesman. He's a passionate about what he does and he exudes that passion. Alla time now I just want to break down the overall breakdown of the total down at the bottom where the rich answering and making a never ending stream of phone calls or out hitting the pavement setting up signs an hour before an event pillboxes frenetic pace sets the tone for the entire crew. The.

Urgency. With the smile. I was just inches from a clean getaway. Let's take a lot of work I can tell you that much really has a lot of faith and you know every day just showing up and doing the work I mean a lot of people ask me all the time just for a full time job. And to me that's a stunning question because there's so much to be done to prepare for the festival. There's a tremendous amount of money to be raised there's community support there's all the planning and organization. Jerry Springer is one of the top publicist in the industry and a key player on the Sarasota team. He is impressed with how did Joe to help put the Gulf Coast on Hollywood's man. For the first couple years he was doing it on self. I mean he was one of the Morleys he was killing the stars he was raising the money. And that's you know I mean he was dealing with all of the sponsors and patrons. And really you know. Here at home of course. Joining. Me now is Darla. Regarding masel.

Great. Every year as more and more film buffs and filmmakers flock to Saratoga from all over the world. The buzz surrounding the festival grows by leaps and bounds. We've been told by many that a lot of people considered to be one of the marquee events if not the marquee event on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The list of Hollywood heavy hitters who jet in for this 10 day festival in paradise says grown to stars like Alan Alda. Richard Dreyfus Billy Crystal. Olympia Dukakis. And Patrick Stewart. That's always fun because when you meet a star like naturals gracious incredibly articulate it makes it all worthwhile. Red alerts all Amsterdam stations. Again. So where to now for the festival and its directors.

I like to build things and I'm still in the process of building this so I'm still getting tremendous satisfaction watching the festival grow and I feel that along with the board I've been instrumental in and being a part of that growth and would like to be able to continue that so I guess if I haven't worn out my welcome I'll be here for a while and hope to continue to watch this festival grow. For gas. It's a slice of the Hollywood experience. For those who live it breathe it and help make it a success. It is pure filler a show that's almost like skydiving with people throwing rocks at you when you're going down. It's very very crazy. How the glamorous life in V and A like this hard working visionary. I wouldn't trade for all the fame and fortune in the world. And that's right. One of our great joys here on the Gulf Coast Journal is to be able to introduce you to women and

men of great talent especially those in whom our blended differing talents. Here's an example for the ear. Playing the piano well requires nimble fingers nimble fingers Herb Silverstein proudly displays. He took piano lessons as a child but gave up playing when he went to college. It'd be 30 years before he would again touch the keyboard. My son David brought me home a record of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock and he said that jazz has come back you better listen to this. He listened and he sat down at the piano again. So I started taking lessons at the learn one noted time I was very very painful very difficult to learn at 48 years of age. He practiced in earnest and embraced the music you love the most. Jazz

after 10 years of practice her began recording CDs of his favorite tunes. But side came associated with a wonderful bass player Richard Drexler who gave a lot of inspiration to start writing music which I had done very much. Richard told her by recording cover songs wasn't enough. What you need to do is come up with your own material that gives it really a justification for releasing a new album. I started writing and in the in the few years that I've been with him I've written about 20 songs. This is the title song of his latest CD beach Walker. My plane changed 100 percent when I met Richard Drexler is probably one of the best bassists in the country. I mean he's done 300 CDs and he's. He's a fantastic pianist and he's my teacher.

I know I've got a good student when I start teaching and I learn as much myself as the student probably is learning because you know they they pull it out of you and you wind up explaining things different ways. But this is not about a struggling musician trying to find his way. He'll occasionally say something about I could really develop as Jeff Gaspin have this business to run you know I think that you've got this big building and all these people working for him and of course I know you've been in that field too. All right. Hi how you doing today. That field is medicine surgery OK and the surgery and pain are complete. It's manageable in Sarasota at the Silverstein Institute Herb Silverstein is known as Dr. Silverstein world renowned air specialist.

We wanted to have an encompassing Institute that had everything in it that where we could take care of the patient from the neck up. I can see right through her. Your. Doctor Silverstein is well respected in the medical field for his extensive research and innovative approaches to hearing problems. He developed a less invasive procedure to repair damaged ear drums. He invented a successful treatment for many layers of disease the way I used to research was to try to help me develop new equipment new procedures that would make our treatment for our patients better. Exploring music is an extension of Dr. Silverstein's surgical skills he believes one helps the other. Many times you get into a situation where you know and expect to see what you're seeing and you have to improvise and make up something right on the spot to make the patient be able to hear. So that's very similar to the jazz where you're improvising. On

melodies that you. Created. Or it's songs that you're playing. His musical talents also benefit his research proceeds from his CDs help fund his peer research foundation. We've done nine of them. And we've raised quite a bit of money over one hundred twenty thousand dollars over the last 12 years doing this. We want to sell my music. I love love. Patients love it. They see the doctor another side of him that he's not just a doctor. This is one of my older CD. I've done I have. To her it's about balancing his love of music. And his love of medicine. I've been a researcher all my life and I've developed many operations and instruments and I'm always trying to do things better. So that's what makes medicine exciting for me. Both passions drive him to dig deeper reach further discover

something new. The music is similar to that you're always striving to play better you're never happy and you're. Trying to. Make it better by practicing. Dr. Silberstein success has the ability to treat the cure with the art of medicine. And the art of. Use it. We close this month's volume of a Gulf Coast Journal remembering that it was just a little over a year ago that an 11 year old girl named Carlie Brucia was walking home in Sarasota. Taking a shortcut through the property of a car wash when a man there stepped out and. Took her. It was all caught on surveillance cameras that horrified the nation. Two days later they found Carlie's body. On the property of a church nearby. Well. Today. From that site.

Remembering that horrible crime. Has arisen. A lovely garden. In memory of Carlie. And in honor of that and during face. Which can never be kidnapped. You can order this or any other volume of a Gulf Coast journal with Jack Perkins on a high

quality DVD format for just 999 plus shipping and handling. Call 1 800 3 5 4 9 3 3 8. Or visit our website at W edu dot org. This w edu production has been exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice envisioning a region known for endowed philanthropy a vital nonprofit community. And the ability to address emerging issues.