Please see my first book review from Publisher's Weekly!!!!

The Last Good War: The Faces and Voices of World War II
Thomas Sanders, text by Veronica Kavass, intro. by Hampton Sides, Welcome, $45 (224p) ISBN 978-1-59962-085-5
Just the cover of this book can break your heart: an aged man in closeup, every wrinkle and blemish visible, holding a U.S. Navy emblem to his forehead, and he appears above the title: The Last Good War. The veterans of that war, WWII, are captured in Sanders's debut--in their 80s and 90s, male and female, black and white. Some wear parts of their original uniforms; others hold artifacts of the time, like battalion photos, newspapers, or canteens. One sailor, dressed in white shirt and tie, still wears his cap at a jaunty angle. Oral historian Kavass has collected brief reminiscences from the veterans that don't underplay the horrors of war, from the Bataan march to the deaths of friends. But most memorable are the faces: solemn, proud, occasionally smiling, some looking directly into the camera, others looking off to the distance as if remembering the events of long ago. Anyone who is close to a member of the "greatest generation" will treasure these wizened faces captured before the entire generation is gone. (Oct.)

I have begun a series photographing older black jazz musicians. I have only photographed a few and there will be more to come.

The first musician is Bobby Brown. I took this photo of Bobby a few weeks ago. I spoke to him recently to make sure he received the photos I had sent him. He told me he got sick and has had to stop playing the saxophone and now has an oxygen tank to help him breathe. Bobby has been playing the sax for 65 years. I sincerely hope he gets better.

Bobby Brown gave me contact information for other jazz musicians. Clint Stacy was one of them. Clint played a jazz CD for me in his van. He drives around in his van listening to instrumental jazz music, and practices singing his lyrics. There was some type of irony for me, standing outside of his van, while he sat inside of the van. The music was cranked loud, and Clint's stage performance was even impressive sitting in his car seat. Even though it was 3 pm and hot as the devil in not the nicest of neighborhoods off the 10 freeway, when he sang the word "moon" he we would look and point at the sky as if the biggest moon you ever saw was 10 feet away. When Clint sang the word "love" he grasped his heart and looked out in the distance, and you would think he was looking at the most beautiful woman to ever live. Yet, there was a empty Burger King cup sitting in the cup holder, and the van had scattered goods all over the backseats. Clint was singing jazz sitting in his van in the driveway, and I was his audience.

I photographed a few images of him singing in the van. Although, I do not think these are necessarily great photos, I want you to see his facial expressions.

I was in Arizona this past weekend on a camping trip with my girl friend, and we went into a Circle K to see if we could find any of the ResQWater advertisement displays I photographed. We found a big display right smack in the middle of the alcohol section. It is a good feeling to be out and about and see a photo I shot in a nation wide store. Below is a shot from my cell!

I found this link today. It discusses the top 20 books for the fall, from independent publishers. LGW is on there!

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/44297-rousing-the-sleepers.html

I met the owner of Ms. B's Soul Food Restaurant a few weeks ago on a shoot. I mentioned to her I was looking to photograph older women in their Sunday's best, and Ms. B said she has lots of women at her place on Sunday's and to come for a visit. So, I went to Ms. B's and set up my lights behind her restaurant and waited for elderly women coming from church to photograph. For the three hours I was there, I was only able to photograph 3 women. They all thought I was a little strange because I was standing in a parking lot, waiting to take their photo! One of the cooks came outside, and I did get a great portrait of him. I feel it is a rather strong image.