Suffolk County 2nd Precinct officers arrested a Huntington Station resident for possession of a handgun on Saturday, July 23, in the early morning.
Mugshot of Cristian Rodriguez. Photo from SCPD
Police officers responded to a shot spotter activation, a system that picks up shots fired, just before 5 a.m. on Lenox Road in Huntington Station.
Officers arrived and arrested Cristian Rodriguez for possessing an unloaded 9mm handgun.
Rodriguez, 24, was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was held overnight and is scheduled to return to the First District Court in Central Islip on July 26. His attorney did not return calls for comment.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Second Squad at 631-854-8252 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.
Boats cover Northport Harbor during last year’s event.Photo from Bob Slingo
Centerport Yacht Club will be hosting the second annual Let’s Take a Veteran Sailing event on Saturday, July 30. The event was created by SailAhead, a nonprofit organization that works to support and heal wounded veterans.
Sailboats will come from near and far to join the fleet of 45 boats. With the support of American Legion Greenlawn Post 1244, 140 registered veterans, mostly from Long Island, will attend this event. The purposes of the event is to spread post-traumatic stress disorder awareness throughout the community, as well as spread awareness of the SailAhead program so that more wounded veterans can be helped.
The sailing event will last four hours and the flotilla will sail on the Long Island Sound.
Kids signed up for Summer Youth Connection, a free summer camp hosted by Huntington along with other groups and nonprofits. Photo by A.J. Carter
Huntington Town is kicking off its second year of the Summer Youth Connection, a variety of free educational and recreational activities for kids in the community.
Started last year by Councilwoman Tracey Edwards (D), the camp runs five evenings a week through Aug. 19
More than 200 teenagers participated last year, and this summer Edwards said she is hoping to reach at least 300 kids enrolled. This camp is presented in conjunction with Suffolk County and a multitude of corporate, not-for-profit partners and volunteers.
“Summer Youth Connection is a remarkable cooperative effort encompassing government, not-for-profit groups, companies and community volunteers to help keep our youth engaged in positive activities during what could be a long, hot summer,” Edwards said at the opening ceremony last week. “I thank all of the participating groups and individuals, with a special thank you to the South Huntington school district for hosting us.”
The summer camp offers programs spanning from basketball and golf to creative writing, photography and robotics.
“Summer Youth Connection is a remarkable cooperative effort encompassing government, not-for-profit groups, companies and community volunteers”
— Tracey Edwards
Councilwoman Susan Berland (D) encouraged the kids to try an activity that is new to them.
“You are going to have so much fun,” she said to the kids at the event. “My suggestion is to take a class of something you have never done before, so that way you can learn something new, and it will be a great and exciting experience for you.”
The camp runs from 5 to 9 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Fridays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. are reserved for special needs youth sport activities.
Supervisor Frank Petrone (D) said he saw countless happy faces at last year’s program.
“Not every kid wants to go to camp,” he said. “They want to be in their neighborhoods. They want to be here and enjoy what we have to offer. I was here last summer. Everybody had a happy smile. Everybody was involved. Everybody was trying new things. We look forward to another great summer this year.”
Suffolk County Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) said at the event that the unity and the excitement shown in the kids participating in the camp is a crucial part of a successful community.
“You are our most precious resource,” he said. “We are invested in you. This has been an extremely tough week in this country, when we look at the violence and hate and the things that try to divide us. But this room is an example of what is great about this country.”
Congressman Lee Zeldin, joined by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini, health professionals, community groups, parents, expresses his support for the package of bills coming to the House floor this week. File photo from Jennifer DiSiena
Major change may be coming to the North Shore, as a drug abuse bill is set to land on U.S. President Barack Obama’s (D) desk this week.
U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) is a co-sponsor of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, which plans to spend $8.3 billion to help combat widespread drug addiction, especially addiction to heroin, on Long Island.
“As addiction and overdose deaths continue to climb, tearing families apart, it is essential that the President sign CARA into law to start delivering help to those suffering,”
— Lee Zeldin
CARA passed through the House of Representatives last week with a bipartisan vote of 407 to 5, and the Senate this week with a bipartisan vote 92 to 2.
Zeldin, who is a member of The Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic, said he has been a proud supporter of this bill for more than a year now, and is happy to see Congress backing it.
“With both House and Senate passage of CARA, a bill that I proudly cosponsor, we are now only one step away from this bill being signed into law,” Zeldin said in a statement. “78 people [lose] their life every day as a result of an opioid or heroin overdose. Last year — on Long Island alone — 442 people died of a heroin or opiate overdose, up from 403 overdose deaths the year before. As addiction and overdose deaths continue to climb, tearing apart families and communities, it is essential that the President sign CARA into law to start delivering help to those suffering.”
The specifics of CARA include $80 million in funding to help prevent and treat addiction on a local level through community-based education, prevention, treatment and recovery programs; $160 million for the expansion of medication-assisted treatment options; and $103 million to establish a community-based competitive grant program to address and treat the problems of heroin and opioid addiction and abuse. Additional funding will help supply po lice forces and emergency medical responders with higher quantities of naloxone, known more commonly as Narcan, a medication that is proven to reverse an opioid overdose.
Another part of CARA’s funding focuses on pain management and prescription.
According to the bill, the Department of Health and Human Services is required to assemble a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, which will review, modify, and update the best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and examine and identify the need for, development, and availability of medical alternatives to opioids.
The grant aspect of CARA is connected to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. CARA is set to amend that bill to authorize the Department of Justice to award grants to state, local and tribal governments to provide opioid-abuse services, including enhancing collaboration between criminal justice and substance abuse agencies; developing, implementing and expanding programs to prevent, treat, or respond to opioid abuse; training first responders to administer opioid overdose reversal drugs; and investigating unlawful opioid distribution activities.
The North Shore is not immune to the heroin crisis. According to a New York State Opioid Poisoning, Overdose and Prevention Report from 2015, Suffolk County has the highest heroin-related overdose fatalities of any county in New York.
Zeldin has co-sponsored several other bills in the House on this issue.
“While there is not just one piece of legislation that will solve this crisis, we must always continue our fight to provide our local communities with the resources necessary to help stop and prevent drug abuse through treatment, enforcement, and education,” he said.
An aerial view of Plum Island. Photo from U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
By Wenhao Ma
The future of Plum Island, a government-owned isle located in Southhold Town, east of Orient Point, is still unclear, but one North Shore legislator wants to ensure it remains in the government’s hands.
U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) announced on July 7 that the House of Representatives passed another one of his legislative proposals to save Plum Island from being sold to private developers. It was his second piece of legislation passed on this issue since May.
Currently, the federal government owns Plum Island, but a 2008 law required that the government sell the property to the highest bidder.
Zeldin said he think this is the wrong path for the island, which has served as the site for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center for decades.
U.S. Rep Lee Zeldin, far right, listens during his visit to Plum Island. Photo from Zeldin’s office.
“It is time for the United States Senate to act and pass my proposals, so that we can pursue a better direction for Plum Island that would allow for continued research, public access and permanent preservation of the island,” Zeldin said in a statement
Zeldin’s amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2017 prohibits any of the funding within the appropriations bill to be used to market or sell Plum Island.
Both of Zeldin’s proposals were passed with bipartisan support in the House. The May bill would reverse the 2008 federal law that mandated the public sale of Plum Island by the government to the highest bidder. Now, Zeldin is looking for support from the Senate.
“The Senate also must pass this legislation to ensure that Plum Island is not sold to the highest bidder, but rather is preserved for generations to come,” he said.
The congressman said he would work on providing alternative uses for the island, such as a transfer of ownership to another federal agency, the state or local government, a nonprofit, or a combination for the purpose of education, research and conservation.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website, Plum Island was “the nation’s premier defense against accidental or intentional introduction of transboundary animal diseases,” including foot-and-mouth disease, a viral illness most popular in children under the ages of five.
Homeland Security took over ownership of the island in 2003. Five years later, Congress passed Public Law 110-339, which allowed the General Services Administration to close the disease center and sell the island to the highest bidder in order to fund the building of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas — the replacement for the existing center, due to the age and safety levels of the old facility.
Environment groups from both Long Island and Connecticut have been strongly opposing the law, saying that handing the island to private developers could bring damage to the natural environment and resources.
“The Neck” — A view of Plum Island. Photo by Robert Lorenz
“Its location at the convergence of two major estuaries provides an essential habitat for a rich variety of resident and migrating wildlife,” said Kevin McAllister, founder and president of the Sag Harbor-based nonprofit Defend H2O, which protects and restores the environmental quality of groundwater, surface waters, wetlands and beaches on and around Long Island. “Selling the island to developers would open the gates to more water pollution. Giving it away would be a major blow to conservation efforts and be an unconscionable act by the government.”
Jason Garnett, program director of Soundkeeper, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the Long Island Sound, agreed, saying that Plum Island is an important rest location for migrating birds and waterfowl.
“By preserving ecologically important, open coastal spaces such as Plum Island, we are doing the right thing for future generations of people and the creatures that depend on [the island’s] ecological services of clean air and water,” Garnett said.
Soundkeeper was among many organizations and individuals that filed a lawsuit in federal court on Long Island two weeks ago against the Department of Homeland Security and General Services Administration, that accused the department of violating federal laws and failing to protect endangered and threatened species by intending to sell Plum Island.
John Turner, spokesman for the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, is one of the plaintiffs in the suit.
“We think that the government needs to comply with the existing law,” he said.
Zeldin said he is supportive of the local groups’ efforts to prevent the sale of Plum Island.
Besides activist groups, Southold Town also took actions to save the island.
Three years ago, the town passed a zoning law that created two zoning districts on the island, making one a research district and the other a conservation district, where no housing nor any kind of development would be permitted. If the island is sold, a new buyer would have to follow those zoning laws. According to a 2016 Homeland Security report, Alternatives for Final Disposition of Plum Island, the new zoning “sets forth a limited number of allowed uses, restricting the development potential of the property.”
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell (R) said the town has been working well with local environment groups to prevent an uncertain future for the island.
Shanna Brady won two national championships with the University of Maryland
Shanna Brady has been named the new assistant coach at Hofstra University. Photo from Shanna Brady
By Desirée Keegan
A local lacrosse standout with two national championships under her belt is hoping to make a splash on the coaching side of things.
After serving as an assistant coach at Long Island University last year, Shanna Brady has joined the ranks of Hofstra University, serving as assistant coach of the Pride under six-year head coach Shannon Smith.
“Shanna was the perfect candidate,” Smith said. “She brings a lot to the table and is going to help get Hofstra to the next level. She’s very passionate about the game of lacrosse, she loves teaching the student-athletes and she has a wealth of knowledge with her playing career — winning two national championships and being a four-year starter—so that experience she can share with the players, and help develop our defense.”
Shanna Brady competes for the United Women’s Lacrosse League’s Long Island Sound. Photo from Shanna Brady
Brady, a native of Smithtown and graduate of St. Anthony’s High School, graduated from the University of Maryland in 2015. She reached championship weekend all four years of her college career and totaled 75 ground balls, 46 caused turnovers and 20 draw controls during her 92 games played. Brady also served as a coach with the Long Island Express Lacrosse Club from 2011 to 2014, and was a two-year member of Maryland’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during her undergraduate career.
“I always knew I wanted to be coaching,” Brady said. “Lacrosse is such a huge part of my life and I’ve always wanted to be around a lacrosse atmosphere. Hofstra is an incredible university and they have a group of talented athletes and the potential.”
After graduating, she ran into an assistant coach at LIU Post that was leaving, and was able to land that job.
“She was a great person, very sincere, a true competitor, and she has tremendous knowledge of the sport,” said LIU Post head women’s lacrosse coach Meghan McNamara. “She was excited to coach. That’s what drew me to her.”
While there, Brady was also in charge of recruiting, emails and organizing events.
“She is an awesome, awesome well-known coach and I learned a lot from her in communicating with the girls,” Brady said of McNamara. “I learned a lot other than just growing as a coach on the field.”
McNamara liked what her former assistant brought to the team as well. The Pioneers compiled a 17-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
“She brought energy, a lot of knowledge on the defensive side and confidence to the team. She could relate to the girls, being closer in age,” she said. “She was a good balance for the team. I’m so excited for her and very proud of her. It’s her passion.”
Smith said she believes Brady will bring those same smarts and winning mentality to her team.
Shanna Brady coaching on the sideline at Long Island University. Photo from LIU Post
“She’s great with talking to the student-athletes, in the recruiting aspect she knows a lot of people on Long Island and she’s very confident. She’s well spoken, and I’m just excited for her next step at Hofstra,” she said. “She was a phenomenal player in college. She knows what it takes to win.”
Brady said what makes her and Smith’s connection unique, is that she looked up to Smith as a player, watching her and even playing against her in her freshman year, when Smith was still playing for Northwestern University. Now, Smith coaches Brady — who is currently playing professionally for the Long Island Sound of the United Women’s Lacrosse League.
“We really hit it off, we have similar personalities and we’re kind of cut from the same cloth,” Smith said. “Our philosophies get along with one another. Shanna brings a lot of fundamental skills. She is going to be able to adjust to what we need, whether it be something different in a season or specifically in one game, she’s quick on her feet, she’s hardworking.”
Brady is looking forward to the next step in her coaching career as well, having already had the opportunity to get to know her new team and staff, being in and out of the Hofstra office.
“[Shannon Smith] is an incredible person and a talented coach, and I’m excited to be given the opportunity to coach with her and to learn as much as I can about the game and being successful,” Brady said. “Coming from my background, you have that will and that drive that you always want to be at the top. This is an exciting opportunity because we want to get to that next level as a program.”
“The Neck” — A view of Plum Island. Photo by Robert Lorenz
One of the things that instills great pride in North Shore residents is the unparalleled natural beauty of the place we call home. We are grateful to those who came before us for their discernment and diligence in protecting and preserving that — which, once developed, is lost forever.
Conservationists and environmentalists have worked to ensure that open spaces, clean water, nature preserves and pine barrens will continue to exist for future generations to enjoy.
A controversy is roiling Long Islanders and activists nationwide, over the proposed sale of Plum Island by the federal government. In 1954, the island was the secured location of an animal research facility run by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. More recently, responsibility for the island has shifted to the Department of Homeland Security.
Today, Plum Island, an important, pristine, ecological habitat, is in danger of being sold to a developer. The island has seen little human traffic in the last 70 years, which has enabled about 80 percent of the land to revert to its natural state. It is now home to some of our most imperiled species.
As the Plum Island Animal Disease Center has become outmoded, plans are afoot to create a new center in Manhattan, Kansas. To defray the cost of the new facility, the government wants to sell the 843-acre coastal island to the highest bidder.
We applaud the efforts of Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) to block the proposed sale. The House of Representatives has passed two of his legislative proposals to date. Zeldin urges the Senate to act and pass the proposals as well, and we agree with his sentiments. We are hopeful that we can pursue a better direction for Plum Island than just private ownership, one that would allow for continued research, public access and permanent preservation.
A group of kids decked out in Pokémon attire as they search for Pokémon in town. Photo from Benjamin Harris
By Rebecca Anzel
The latest trend sweeping the nation is a throwback from the 1990s with a modern-technology twist: a augmented reality Pokémon game played on smartphones, and residents of Huntington are not immune. Hundreds of kids, teenagers and adults alike took to the streets this week to interact in this new game.
This latest offering from Pokémon evolved the franchise beyond the original cards, television show and video games. Pokémon GO allows players to create an avatar, called a trainer, and walk around their neighborhoods catching various Pokémon. Players can battle one another and get free in-game items from locations chosen by the game.
“Seeing all these people in my town is so new and great, especially when we can all bond over the same thing,”
— Gerard Anthony
The game is getting people of all ages out of their houses and into their neighborhoods. The only way to catch Pokémon is to walk around searching for them, and players have been posting on social media about how far they have traveled around their neighborhood.
One 22-year-old Greenlawn resident said she saw more than 50 kids hunting for Pokémon at parks in Northport and Huntington in one afternoon.
Megan McLafferty introduced the game to two kids she babysits because she thought, “it would be a fun activity to do outside with the kids — and they loved it.”
She said the kids really enjoyed searching different spots for Pokémon.
“I like that it gets you outside, it gets you moving, and it gets you to interact with other people,” she said in an interview. “It seemed like a lot of people were in big groups together [searching for Pokémon].”
Gerard Anthony, an 18-year-old Northport resident agreed that Pokémon GO is a great game to play in groups.
“Seeing all these people in my town is so new and great, especially when we can all bond over the same thing,” Anthony said in an interview. “I am able to go into Northport by myself and meet a new group of people each day.”
The only way to catch Pokémon is to walk around searching for them, and similarly, the only way to get a refill of free in-game item, like pokéballs is to go to Pokéstops.
One of those stops is the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in East Setauket. Director Ted Gutmann said once he discovered this, he had to try it. “I caught a few in my office,” he said. “So they’re here!”
The library is busy this time of year because of its summer reading program, but Gutmann said being a Pokéstop is attracting more visitors than usual.
A man captures a Pokemon. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
“The hope is, once they get in here, they’ll stop and read a book or attend one of our programs,” he said.
Gutman added that the library had tried its hand at augmented reality a while ago, implementing the technology in its newsletter. It abandoned the effort because it was not getting enough use at the time, but now that Pokémon GO is increasing the popularity of augmented reality, he said the library may revisit the project.
“There are lots of opportunities to use the technology beyond the game,” he said.
Port Jefferson’s Main Street is also a huge attraction for players. With a multitude of Pokéstops and gyms, the promise of Port Jefferson tempted Chris Aguilar, 23, to travel from Riverhead two days in a row.
Aguilar said there were so many people in the streets on the first night he was in the area, July 13, that mobs of trainers were crossing the streets. They did not begin to clear out until about 2:30 a.m.
“This game is bringing people together in an unprecedented way,” he said. “It’s like an age gap doesn’t exist between players,” who can speak to each other on almost an equal level about the game and trade tips.
Other local hotspots to catch Pokémon include Heritage Parkin Mount Sinai and Sylvan Ave. Park in Miller Place.
Just two days after the game’s release, players were spending an average of 43 minutes and 23 seconds per day playing Pokémon GO, a higher rate than popular apps including Instagram, Snapchat and Whatsapp.
According to SimilarWeb, an information technology company that tracks web analytics, Pokémon GO has so many daily active users that it is projected to soon have more users than Twitter.
But some people are concerned about the safety risks associated with Pokémon GO.
Pedestrians are now wandering around towns, with their eyes faced down at their smartphones. Law enforcement agencies, institutions of higher education and public transportation systems have spoken of the dangers of walking around consumed by a smartphone.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) held a press conference Tuesday to remind residents to exercise caution while playing.
“The safety and well-being of our residents, especially children, is our highest priority,” he said in a statement.
Suffolk County Police CommissionerTim Sini echoed his sentiments at the event.
“There have also been accounts of people using the application while driving,” Sini said. “We are encouraging not just parents, but all users, to practice caution to avoid injury to self and others.”
Stony Brook University also contributed to the conversation, reminding students to watch where they are walking while playing.
Mark Szkolnicki, a student of the university, said that he is always careful.
“I grew up in a bad area, so the whole mugging-for-phones thing has been something that I’ve been cautious of forever,” he said. “But I worry for the youth because it’s a cool concept and it could really grow, but those kinds of obstacles really put a downer on the whole gaming community.”
Stony Brook Office for Marine Sciences Secretary Christina Fink agreed. She said it is important to keep in mind that if players are going hunting for Pokémon at night, they should go with at least one other person.
A Greenlawn man was talking to a woman in front of his house on Lafayette Street on Tuesday night, when he was shot in the face by an unknown person.
Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are investigating the incident which occurred at approximately 11:15 p.m. on July 19.
According to police, multiple shots were fired. The victim was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
No arrests have been made. The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to all the Second Squad at 631-854-8252 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
Chris Lemmon during a ‘Twist of Lemmon‘ performance. Photo courtesy of Chris Lemmon
By Rita J. Egan
The question, “What was it like to be Jack Lemmon’s son,” sent actor Chris Lemmon on a life-long journey to discover the ultimate answer.
“It’s an enormous question,” Lemmon said in a recent telephone interview. His retrospective journey produced a 2006 memoir “A Twist of Lemmon: A Tribute to My Father,” which in turn inspired the multimedia production “Twist of Lemmon,” where he acts, sings, plays piano and shares his personal photos.
On July 28, Long Islanders will get a taste of Lemmon’s heartbreaking as well as heartwarming memories when he presents a new and revised version of “Twist of Lemmon” at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington. The actor, who appeared in television shows such as “Duet” and “Knots Landing,” as well as numerous stage productions, said after the book’s publication, he realized he needed to do more with the story about his Academy-Award-winning actor father.
Chris Lemmon and his father Jack Lemmon in happier times. Photo courtesy of Chris Lemmon
“The book turned into kind of a performance piece that was really touching and moving people, and I thought: Gosh, I would love to take this to the next step, and the next step, I don’t think it’s film or TV, I think it’s theater,” the actor said. “And the only way this can be a piece of theater is if I’m playing a character, and obviously the character has got be Jack.” The last year and a half, Lemmon has performed the one-man show, where he narrates the story from his father’s perspective, at small venues. He said he was “purposely flying under the radar” preparing for a big opening. “I was going with my little bag, my little show in a bag, from theater to theater. That’s what I would do, because it’s the only place you learn,” he said.
Last month at the St. James Theatre in London’s West End, a reworked “Twist of Lemmon,” directed by Hugh Wooldridge, premiered. After a successful three-week run abroad, Lemmon said the revised show, which includes added material, is now “ready for the trail” in the states. He has also increased the pace of the play by riding into the laughs, as his father would have done, instead of waiting for them to stop. The play centers around how Lemmon and his father, who passed away in 2001, mended their estrangement that occurred after the older Lemmon divorced Chris’s mom, Cynthia Stone. With yearly visits to Alaska that began when he was 11 years old, the father and son slowly repaired their relationship. In later years, they also shared a love of golf, which included participating in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am Tournament, where in his first year, the younger Lemmon made the final cut, something his father dreamed of doing for 35 years.
When it comes to his father’s shortcomings, including a battle with alcoholism, Lemmon is candid. “It’s my duty as a narrator to show everything, every bump in the road, to explore his alcoholism, to explore his fallacies and foibles and his faults as a human being as well as my own. Every single one of them,” he said. However, the tale isn’t an accusatory one. Lemmon said his father actively pursued a relationship with his son and handled his alcoholism “in the most gallant possible manner.”
Not only did he get help for his problem but he also admitted his struggle on the television show “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” “That takes guts, man. Back then, it wasn’t vogue. It was tantamount to career suicide. So it gives me great pleasure to tell those stories,” Lemmon said. His advice to those who are estranged from family members is to do the work to repair the relationship. During one of the show’s monologues, Lemmon delivers the lines: “We’re all human. We all make mistakes. If we can understand that about each other, accept it, instead of resenting it, then we can rise above.”
Lemmon is grateful he did all of the above when it came to the relationship with his dad. “He was not just my father; he was my very best friend. I miss everything about him. I still have dreams two or three times a week that he’s back, and we’re fishing or golfing or just doing whatever, driving around and crunching the gears in every exotic car ever made,” he said. “He was just so much fun to be with. I don’t play golf anymore. I don’t fish either. I can’t do it. It’s just not the same.” The actor also treats the audience to a taste of the golden age of Hollywood by playing “Jack” imitating celebrated celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Walter Matthau and more. Also among the photos appearing on a screen are Jack’s movie roles and co-stars.
Chris Lemmon during a ‘Twist of Lemmon’ performance. Photo courtesy of Chris Lemmon
Lemmon hopes to keep not only his father’s but also all of these legendary actors’ memories alive. “These people were not just iconic as celebrities they were really iconic as human beings,” he said. After the play, Lemmon said he will definitely have the energy for the postshow Q-and-A with the audience. “People say this must take such an emotional toll on you, because it is a very deeply, somewhat tragic in its core, father-son story, but, of course, it’s couched in the golden age of Hollywood so there’s all that shenanigans and fun,” Lemmon said. “And, he was just such a human leprechaun himself, full of so much energy. Actually, for me, because I miss him so damn much, it’s really emotionally rewarding.”
At the end of the play, Lemmon said his ultimate goal is to make audiences both laugh and cry. “Because that’s what pop always believed acting should be about — make them laugh and make them cry.”
Jud Newborn, curator of special programs at the Cinema Arts Centre, is looking forward to the “Twist of Lemmon” event. He said Steinway & Sons, Long Island is sponsoring the evening, which will begin with a demonstration of the company’s new high-resolution player piano, the Spirio. A 15-minute screen presentation will feature several pianists but without any sound as the Spirio simultaneously plays what’s displayed on the screen. Lemmon, who is an accomplished pianist, will also be playing the Spirio live during his performance. Newborn said the play will be followed by an audience Q-and-A with the actor as well as a reception in the Sky Room featuring jazz guitarist Mike Soloway.
The Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington, will present “Twist of Lemmon” on Thursday, July 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $46, $38 for members. For more information, call 631-423-7610 or visit www.cinemaartscentre.org.
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