I hadn’t thought of the book about a little boy named Turky until I got a letter recently from a reader who fondly remembered reading it as a child. “Turky Trott and the Black Santa”…
Category: Books
The questions were plentiful and the conversation was lively at my Art Talk and Book signing Oct. 26, 2021, at Moody Jones Gallery in Glenside, PA. Thanks to all who attended, including Vernoca L. Michael…
It’s been more than a month since I self-published my book “ART WITH HEART: How I Built a Sweet Collection by Buying Cheap at Auction.” The book tells the story of how I amassed a…
Connecting with a 19th-century Black history & art collector
Posted in Art, Black history, Books, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
William Henry Dorsey was not only an artist but a collector. That’s not unusual. What is unusual is that he was both at a time when Black folks were struggling to survive the dehumanization of…
Back in 1960, a young New York couple bought a small Jacob Lawrence painting at a charity art auction. Apparently unbeknownst to them, it was No. 16 of 30 paintings (or panels) in his series…
Children’s books illustrated by African American artist John Wilson
Posted in Art, Black history, and Books
I knew exactly what I was looking for as I flipped through the carts of children’s books lined up in a hallway outside the abandoned school library. I wondered if there were any books with…
How us auction enthusiasts miss ‘being’ there
Posted in Auction, Black history, Books, collectibles, and Decorating
Previewing the online auction, I only saw a few books that looked promising. Two lots of about three books each already had bids on them at prices way beyond what I was willing to pay.…
Robert Purvis, a black abolitionist you may have never heard of
Posted in Black history, Books, history, and slavery
I could tell that the book had some years on it because the pages had lost their white edges and the cover was frail. The discolored cover bore no title, just a fancy design in…
Old cookbook ads are just as notable as the recipes
Posted in Advertising, Books, and Cooking
The cookbook was a mess. Its cover was so dusty that I could barely read the title. Its spine was unglued, its pages were brittle and pockmarked with brown stains – which surely were made…
Freda DeKnight’s Ebony cookbook embraced black chefs, cooks & caterers
Posted in Black history, Books, Cooking, and food
Louis Armstrong loved ham hocks and red beans: “Have you ever tried ham hocks and red beans? Old man, season them well! Add the right spices at the right time, and man, you have a…