Bruce's Journal

Bruce Slutsky was born in New York City in 1949. I retired six years ago after working as a Science/Engineering Librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark for 25 years. I was married to Karen until she passed away in February 2021. I have a son Lee who is now 35 years old. I am very much interested in the popular music of the 1960s, especially Bob Dylan and the Beatles. I am interested in rock and roll radio. I am an enthusiastic fan of the New York Mets.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Comments about the Paley Center

Yesterday Karen and I visited the Paley Center and viewed a seminar from 1996 about the documentary maker Ken Burns. It started out with highlights of some of Burns's works, including, among others: "Brooklyn Bridge" (1981), "Huey Long" (1985), "The Statue of Liberty" (1985), "The Congress" (1988), "The Civil War" (1990), and "Baseball" (1994). Mr. Burns fielded questions from universities across the country about various aspects of making documentaries. We also saw a "Midnight Special" hosted by Wolfman Jack from 1981 that featured performances by David Bowie and Paul Simon.

I have visited the Paley Center at least once a month since I retired and am impressed by their rich and unique collection. I am disappointed when I see so few people in their library viewing programs. Perhaps everyone is at home viewing Youtube and Amazon Prime. I think the Paley Center needs to market themselves more aggressively to the public.