Sep 11, 2023Liked by Matt Layne, Tonya Morton, Paul Vlachos
Just got finished reading Exit Culture. I requested our library buy it here in central Ontario Canada and it came in this week.
I feel a strong kinship with the author even though he seems to be about a decade older than me and kept nodding my head in agreement throughout. Great book and highly recommended. All the pictures were cool and the essays insightful.
I was on a hitchhiking/busking trip through Eastern Canada and NYC just before 9/11. When I would walk around Manhattan (I was staying with a friend in Brooklyn) I would use the twin towers as guides. I had just gotten home to Vancouver on a Greyhound bus and was watching my friends little TV when we saw the second plane hit the tower.
My thoughts go out to everyone who was affected on that day..
My personal opinion is that everything in the whole western world changed dramatically on that day. And not really for the better There are definitely some good things but I feel like we lost something huge. The 20th century was over and the 21st had begun.
Thanks so much for taking the time to make this comment. It made my day! And yes, that was the day everything changed, partly because of what came after 9/11.
I haven't been back to NYC since 2001 so I only have second hand knowledge of everything that's happened since then. All I can say is I had an epic time in those two weeks I was there. I saw concerts in small clubs and Prospect Park, visited book and record stores I had only heard about word of mouth and walked Harlem streets straight out of legend, from the folk singers to the Beats to jazz and punk musicians of the 20th century. It was an incredible trip. I was even moved by taking the Staten island ferry and seeing the statue of liberty. Seeing where the grafitti on the trains all started and the sub sandwiches in the corner stores in Park Slope.
Thanks for your comment. I stand in solidarity with workers as well all the immigrants that seek a good life for them and their families so I know what you mean Constance.
This piece is one to be encased in history. It tells so much of the intimate story of 911. Bravo, Paul.
Thanks, Sue. It's not like I want to forget that day - couldn't if I tried - but writing this piece a few years ago was a way to try to move on.
Great piece and ace photos!
Thank you for your memory and your vision and your words, Paul.
It takes me back there. What a strange time we have lived in.
I appreciate all you do and all you write.
Likewise, Matt. Stranger than I'd have ever thought. I guess you never see it coming until it hits you.
Great piece and ace photos!
Thanks, Ned!
Just got finished reading Exit Culture. I requested our library buy it here in central Ontario Canada and it came in this week.
I feel a strong kinship with the author even though he seems to be about a decade older than me and kept nodding my head in agreement throughout. Great book and highly recommended. All the pictures were cool and the essays insightful.
I was on a hitchhiking/busking trip through Eastern Canada and NYC just before 9/11. When I would walk around Manhattan (I was staying with a friend in Brooklyn) I would use the twin towers as guides. I had just gotten home to Vancouver on a Greyhound bus and was watching my friends little TV when we saw the second plane hit the tower.
My thoughts go out to everyone who was affected on that day..
My personal opinion is that everything in the whole western world changed dramatically on that day. And not really for the better There are definitely some good things but I feel like we lost something huge. The 20th century was over and the 21st had begun.
Thanks so much for taking the time to make this comment. It made my day! And yes, that was the day everything changed, partly because of what came after 9/11.
I haven't been back to NYC since 2001 so I only have second hand knowledge of everything that's happened since then. All I can say is I had an epic time in those two weeks I was there. I saw concerts in small clubs and Prospect Park, visited book and record stores I had only heard about word of mouth and walked Harlem streets straight out of legend, from the folk singers to the Beats to jazz and punk musicians of the 20th century. It was an incredible trip. I was even moved by taking the Staten island ferry and seeing the statue of liberty. Seeing where the grafitti on the trains all started and the sub sandwiches in the corner stores in Park Slope.
Thanks for your comment. I stand in solidarity with workers as well all the immigrants that seek a good life for them and their families so I know what you mean Constance.
"Memory without works is dead." What a stellar paraphrase. Thank you, Paul. I relate madly to the specifics & the feelings expressed here.
Thanks, El!
I wish you would credit the photos. I take it the b&w ones are yours.
They're all Paul's photos. If you look, under the last photo, it credits all the photos to Paul.
Thanks, Connie. I'd love to see those photos. I love your story here.