Famous, but anonymous: The enigma that is Zane
Ben Nuckols
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Zane never intended to surround herself in mystery and intrigue.
The author, whose steamy sex novels set among black professionals have propelled her onto The New York Times list of best sellers, says if she could do it over, she’d have chosen a less provocative pseudonym.
About a decade ago, she was in an America Online chat room and needed to call herself something. She picked Zane because it was the first thing that popped into her head; she’s always liked the name. Full story
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Iconic soul label Stax hoping for new life
Woody Baird
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The sound was never exactly polished, but it had plenty of soul, and the Memphis sound created at Stax Records has found its own special place in the history of American music.
Some of pop’s most cherished recordings came out of the Stax studio, including Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man,” Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” and Isaac Hayes’ Oscar-winning “Theme from Shaft.”
Now, 50 years after a white country-fiddle player started down the road that led him to open a recording studio in a predominantly black, inner-city neighborhood, the Stax label is trying to make a comeback.
Full story
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‘Love’ amuses despite murky male messages
Kam Williams
Julie Davidson (Vanessa Williams) thought she knew what she was doing when she decided to be impregnated via artificial insemination. As a swamped reporter for Metropolitan Magazine, she had simply been too busy to date and didn’t want to wait for a husband, so she went to a sperm bank and she picked out a tall, dark and handsome donor with a high SAT score, an Ivy League education and a law degree. Or so she thought.
You can imagine Julie’s surprise when she got the news that her six-year-old son Jake (Jeremy Gumbs) had been pegged as an academic underachiever and diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Figuring that his biological father, Paul Cooper (Kevin Daniels), might have some answers about whether this unfortunate condition had been inherited or was a genetic anomaly, the concerned mom tracks him down and is shocked to learn that the dude is actually a depressed, unemployed, alcoholic, freeloading dropout living in the ’hood. Full story
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Nat’l Black Theatre Festival founder dies
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Larry Leon Hamlin, who started the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, has died after a long-term illness, festival organizers said. He was 58.
Nigel Alston, co-chairman of the theater festival’s fundraising committee, said Hamlin died early on June 6. Hamlin’s family declined to comment on his cause of death, but had previously said he was recovering at home after a stint in intensive care.
At a news conference last Wednesday at Arts Council Theatre, Alston and others offered remembrances of Hamlin, who was the festival’s founding artistic director and producer.
“Larry did a great job of creating a solid foundation for the future,” Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said. “He was such an important part of the Winston-Salem mosaic.” Full story
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