Jane Sullivan

To call Jane Sullivan a pioneer might be an understatement. As director of the Santa Cruz Film Festival, she’s a wild ball of energy. And, in the seven years she’s presided over the local film festival, she has managed to pull off phenomenal feats on a very big scale. It hasn’t been without plenty of hard work, too many volunteers to mention and probably a headache or two.

17th Avenue Studios offers a ‘hip’ open house

To say that Lenny Gerstein makes no bones about his artwork is an understatement. He’ll admit that he’s not expecting to make a fat paycheck off his stunning wood sculptures, and that’s just fine with him, thank you very much. He’s already had a successful career—this part of his life is dessert.

Inside a bestseller’s second memoir and why writing is major discipline

Books penned by Isabel Allende usually remain at the top of a “must read” list. Allende’s new English language release of “The Sum of Our Days,” will be no different. Published last year overseas, “Sum” is a sequel to Allende’s first memoir, “Paula,” a story told in a letter to her deceased adult daughter, Paula. This book picks up years after Paula has been gone, and is also told in a letter writing style to Allende’s child.

How Warren Knox works outside—and often on top of—the box

At age 16, Warren Knox was already an entrepreneur. He came up with a one-of-a-kind business venture—making elevated garden boxes for people who couldn’t bend down. In essence, he made them for people like his grandfather who was fond of gardening but either didn’t have the appropriate dirt for planting carrots and such, or simply couldn’t reach a ground-level planter box. Since then, Knox has been building these garden boxes on legs and shipping them across the country.

MAH’s most breathtaking work of the season delves into the art and history of China

Enter. Then clap. Now look around—quickly. Did you catch it? Stand by the eccentric greenhouse sculpture in the main lobby of the Museum of Art & History at the McPherson Center in downtown Santa Cruz. Now clap again. If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that a horde of fake flowers in cozy pots will dance when you clap your hands. It’s a rather adorable sight, surrounded by a rather not-so-adorable concept: global warming. The piece, “Green House Tent Dress,” is “a comment on how the U.S. and China need to work on our policies of conservation,” says museum spokesperson Theresa Myers. And the twirling flowers that dance? “I think it has to do with paying attention,” says Susan Hillhouse, curator for the museum. “We’re living things and we want to survive.”

Inside the prolific local poet and writer’s latest read, and why it’s one of his biggest milestones yet

I have known Morton Marcus, or “Mort” as his friends call him, for many years now, and I’ve interviewed him numerous times. I can recall two specific interviews in which he helped me enormously in providing an overwhelming amount of information needed for my journalistic assignments. This much I can say about “Mort”: He does things in a grandiose way. Whether it’s through his prolific poetry or serving fine cheeses, coffee and baguettes over two hours of conversing about Santa Cruz writers (that’s story No. 1) or inviting me to join “The Breakfast Club” (story No. 2) with himself, Sandy Lydon, Geoffrey Dunn, George Ow, Jr. and the late Tony Hill, for waffles and fruit at the Walnut Avenue Café for a series of interviews on a book that Ow published a few years back.

Camryn Manheim on show biz, reality checks and the importance of keeping close ties to UC Santa Cruz

She was the woman who shouted, “This is for all the fat girls,” during her unforgettable Emmy acceptance speech in 1998. Camryn Manheim—then and now—leads a very full life: There was the time she auditioned for David Kelley and challenged the television producer to a game of cribbage—it won her a role on The Practice. There’s her work for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); her support of the size acceptance movement; and there’s the blessed job of mother to her 7-year-old son who will go to university, she says, quite emphatically. With her warm and big-hearted personality, it’s no surprise that UC Santa Cruz has invited one of the school’s most famous alumni back for a special event. On Feb. 9, Manheim will be the keynote speaker at the school’s fifth annual Scholarship Benefit Dinner.

Digital Media Factory launches new television show

Some cities keep their cultural evolution on the pause button, but not Santa Cruz. It continues to move in a fast forward motion, especially when it comes to the arts, as is the case with a new invention taking off at the Digital Media Factory (DMF) on the Westside of town.

After six years of research, Paul Tutwiler compiles an extensive text on local spirituality

When the rains hit on Jan. 4, in that memorable recent storm that knocked out power lines across the county, I thought I’d try to interview someone up in Bonny Doon. Dumb idea. Fighting the rain and torrential winds on Highway 1, I eventually made my way onto Bonny Doon Road, only to be turned around by a giant tree crossing—the ultimate speed bump. Outside, the weather seemed strangely divine, as if God was maybe speaking to us—loudly. The journey also had that otherworldly feeling to it—the spiritual sense of the weather, joined by the man I was supposed to interview—Paul Tutwiler, a former Catholic priest and the writer of a spiritually dense and fascinating e-book, “Santa Cruz Spirituality.”

Is it just us, or can this woman actually save the human race?

Sandra Bernhard rocks on stage, brightens up a scene whenever she’s got a co-starring TV gig, and happens to be one of the most outspoken comediennes/performance artists around. Fortunately, for us, Bernhard wants everybody to be ready—if not really conscious—for 2008. I caught up with The B recently and we got down and dirty. Read on …

Q: People love you here in Northern California.

A: And I love them.