LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME (25th Anni Edition)!

LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME 
(TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

9 January 2018!

Check or ask for the 25th Anniversary Edition at your **local indie bookstores or online at Amazon (pre-order now).  Out in just two days!!!!

LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME, published to acclaim 25 YEARS AGO and always in print, is being released 9 January 2018 in a new, updated 25th Anniversary Edition (LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME (TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)!!!!!  

http://www.abramsbooks.com/product/life-doesnt-frighten-me_9781419727481/ 

https://www.facebook.com/Life-Doesnt-Frighten-Me-The-Book-1961738740734795/?pnref=lhc

LIFE is the first book I created and edited, pairing the expressive art of Jean-Michel Basquiat and the empowering l978 poem by Dr. Maya Angelou. In LIFE25, I am delighted to have been able to update these amazing artists' biographies and add an afterword and Abrams has honored LIFE by creating a new trim size and wrapped it in a very beautiful clothbound edition that honors its success while also appealing to not only youth but the many adults, graduating students and others to whom LIFE has meant so much.  Dr. Maya Angelou's so beautifully crafted and powerful words and Jean-Michel Basquiat's expressive art continue to inspire and give us strength and resolve.

Read more about LIFE25 on the Abrams Books site and on my LIFE25 FB page LIFE DOESNT FRIGHTEN ME - THE BOOK.  I'll be updating the FB page continually, including indie bookstores carrying LIFE25 and events being planned.  On the FB page, read the "About" to understand why I created this wonderful book and what it has meant already to so many.

NOW, delighted to share here the first review, published on Shelf Awareness by reviewer Terry Hong, resident blogger, among many other activities, for the Smithsonian. Asian Pacific American Center's BOOK DRAGON.  http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3156#m38936

AND ... a lovely honor: the first author invited to share a bit about writing process on Anastasia Suen's popular blog site for her new Sunday Guest Post Series, published today!

Oh and BTW, here are just some of the awards and reviews of the original LIFE, published in 1993.  With LIFE25, the impact, basic design and wonder remains!

Below, just two pages from LIFE25 ...  Let me know what you think and pass it on!

Thank you to all my readers and others who have always made me aware of what LIFE meant to them.  It has inspired me to continue writing (and photographing) so that I can share with all of you the individuals, the places, the ideas of where we live, work, and create.

**If you have a special 

Indie bookstore (always my favorite!) that is carrying LIFE25, let me know and I'll list it here!  I already know that in Detroit, my favorite second city (the one of my birth), Source Booksellers and Eric's I've Been Framed had always carried the original LIFE and will NOW have LIFE25!

LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME

(25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

RELEASE 9 JANUARY 2018

It's official: The release date of LIFE DOESNT FRIGHTEN ME (Twenty Fifth Anniversary Edition) is set for JANUARY 9, 2018.


Beloved by so many children and adults and still in print, this classic has been refreshed with updated graphics, updated biographies of both of these icons of American creativity, Dr. Maya Angelou and Jean-Michel Basquiat plus an afterword by me as to why I created this book, and new resources to check out the work of both of the poet and artist.

So excited by this.

There will be more to come but know at present that I am hoping to be out and about with the book, for book signings and some events, at the least in February, Black History Month and beyond.  We were delighted to be so generously advised by Caged Bird Legacy, the Estate of Dr. Angelou, that there will be events surrounding what would have been her 90th (!) birthday this coming April 2018.  BTW, April is also Poetry Month, so fitting for this powerful poet.  What a gift to all of us she has been.

Just before her death, Dr. Angleou recorded several of her writings, including LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME and we are so happy to be able to hear it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6yAhMOnMpM

As well, there is great new publicity for Jean-Michel Basquiat, always contemporary, involving his current exhibition in London at the Barbican, a new documentary focusing on his teen years and then, next year an exhibition, again in Europe, at the startling and vital Foundation Vuitton in Paris, an awe-inspiring museum designed by our own Los Angeles architectural genius, Frank Gehry.

We - Abrams Books, myself the creator/editor of LIFE, Caged Bird Legacy - the powerful presence today of the Estate of Maya Angelou - and those so involved in continuing the focus of one of the great artists of the 20th Century, Jean-Michel Basquiat - are so proud that we can bring this book out to all you new readers and those that have known it as a classic for so long.

More to come!!!

If you would like to know where I will be, especially in February, email me and/or check into this blogger post!

Readying for SCBWI

Guess I might call myself again an author!

It is Summer 2018 and while continuing heavily with photography, I am about to join fellow authors and illustrators, many old friends and hopefully many new, at the annual Society of Children's Book Writers And Illustrators (SCBWI) conference here in Los Angeles.  It's time to recommence working on my craft.

And this with news:


LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME: Still in print after its release to acclaim in 1993, my pairing of the expressive artwork of the late artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat with a 1978 poem by one of our American idols, Maya Angelou is about to be re-marketed by Abrams Books for Young Readers in a 25th Anniversary Edition, to be released next January 2018.

In this edition, I have the privilege of writing and adding an afterword, updating the biographies and resource materials and helping create a new look for this classic.  Here is the proposed cover!

 

COME FLY A KITE: SATURDAYS AT THE BEACH WITH TYRUS WONG:

 

My friend, Tyrus Wong, died at the end of last year 2016 at the venerable age of 106.  I last photographed him out at Southern California's Santa Monica Beach last summer when he was 105.

At his death, his life was celebrated worldwide, including the front page of the New York Times with my photographic portrait of him, and in the documentary by filmmaker Pamela Tom, set to broadcast  on PBS American Masters on 8 September this year.  

The major retrospective of Tyrus' artwork, including his early drawings for Walt Disney's Bambi was held at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco in 2013 and again at the Museum of Chinese in America in NYC.  In both exhibitions, I was asked to create the photographic "story" of Tyrus and his kites.    A small version of that exhibition - many of the kites and my photographs - is now on view in Malibu, CA at their City Hall through the end of July.

I am so pleased to announce that I am working on a book for youth on Tyrus' 40+ years after he retired  and learning how to make and fly his artistic kites!  I had created a promo book about them as part of my photographic project process (can be seen online at https://issuu.com/sarajaneboyersphoto/docs/sjboyers_goflyakite_1)  and now, it seems time to share the work and Tyrus' amazing life with young readers.  Look soon for further news!!!!!

OTHER BOOK PROJECTS: 

 Much of the work I hope to do now revolves around my favorite format: illustrated picture books.  Presently my goal is to write and photo-illustrate. With major interest and investment in the arts  throughout my life, it feels that this is where I fit.

I hope some of you, former readers and new ones, will join me in this exploration. Whether for youth or, as in the case of my two long-term photo projects - FINDING CHINATOWN: AN AMERICAN STORY and DETROIT:DEFINITION - that I am merging as well into books (and of course, exhibition), there are always stories to present for a variety of ages. 

It is good to be back.


OTHER NEWS, PART BOOK AND PART PHOTOGRAPHY:

A written essay by me, " .... No, It's Not the East," will be published this summer by Belt Publishing in their DETROIT NEIGHBORHOOD GUIDEBOOK.

An article on a house designed by the respected mid-century California-based architect, Pierre Koenig, and featuring my photography was just published in the Summer2017 issue of MODERN MAGAZINE, to be online soon but now on the racks!

Old Into New: My return to Books. My continuance in Photography

As many know,  in the first years of the millennium while promoting and writing what was probably one of the first "blogs" - then an periodic email - relating to my 2000 book, TEEN POWER POLITICS: MAKE YOURSELF HEARD, I started to shift my creative career toward my passion since youth: photography. 

I loved the three books that I had created, wrote and edited for the youth market, several of which crossed-over to adult reader, but it seemed time to also pursue what had always been so central to my life in helping me capture experience and story: photography.  I had no intention of leaving writing, as the sheer delight of being able to bring joy, beauty and critical thinking all in one package to youth and their families has always been a goal.  Rather I took a sabbatical to explore what else I was capable of doing.

I have still been writing whether for the small portfolio books/catalogues that I created for my photographic work these many years (viewable online at issuu) or, since the sensibility of a writer is always present in terms of creating a project, in editing and presenting a portfolio.  Much that I explored photographically has also given rise to book ideas and I have been making dummies, many of them using my photographic imagery as the story, or a part of it.

Now, it is 15+ years down the road and I have an active fine art photographic career with exhibits in galleries, museums and most recently a small participation in the U.S. Pavilion at the prestigious Venice Biennale/Architecture!  It is time to combine both of my loves - words and visuals - and several book projects will be soon out to publishers.  I even have a new children's literary agent  for my new book projects, one I have always admired and with whom I really look forward to working!

Erzsi Deàk
Hen&ink, A Literary Studio
http://henandink.com

erzsi@henandink.com

+336 8993 7475

It is a bit back to square one although I am very proud to say that my first book, LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME, pairing the words of Maya Angelou with the evocative artwork of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and published in l993 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang (now Abrams) is now almost 25 years in print!  It had been more than gratifying to have heard so many tell me how inspirational LIFE has been for them, child and adult, and I certainly hope to create more books that could also attain those goals.

At present, I am reconfiguring SaraJaneBoyersAloud as my temporary literary website to showcase the work before and chat/announce news about this renewed direction.  I look forward to many of you joining me on this journey. When my new website - sarajaneboyersbooks.com - comes online, I'll certainly make a splash announcement!

Those of you new here are welcome to look back on SaraJaneBoyersAloud to see how, during these years in photography, I have yet written about subjects that concern us all and it may be, as the years continue here, that I will do so again, not only about my own books and images, but about life and matters as well.  For now: the books!

Sara Jane Boyers July 2016

In the past, looking forward to the future:

 

Stewart, Tabori & Chang (Abrams Books) 1993

  

Chronicle Books l994

 

MillBrook Books 2000

And BTW: since it is an election year in the US, do wander over to the TEEN POWER POLITICS website at www.teenpowerpolitics.com

 The site and issues are really outdated (2000!) BUT the concerns of this respected non-partisan book for youth on civic and political activism and the information imparted are still relevant today in terms of critical thinking for elections and the book remains on various political websites.

Old Into New: My return to Books. My continuance in Photography

As many know,  in the first years of the millennium while promoting and writing what was probably one of the first "blogs" - then a periodic email - relating to my 2000 book, TEEN POWER POLITICS: MAKE YOURSELF HEARD, I started to shift my creative career toward my passion since youth: photography. 

I loved the three books that I had created, wrote and edited for the youth market, several of which crossed-over to adult reader, but it seemed time to also pursue what had always been so central to my life in helping me capture experience and story: photography.  I had no intention of leaving writing, as the sheer delight of being able to bring joy, beauty and critical thinking all in one package to youth and their families has always been a goal.  Rather I took a sabbatical to explore what else I was capable of doing.

I have still been writing whether for the small portfolio books/catalogues that I created for my photographic work these many years (viewable online at issuu) or, since the sensibility of a writer is always present in terms of creating a project, in editing and presenting a portfolio.  Much that I explored photographically has also given rise to book ideas and I have been making dummies, many of them using my photographic imagery as the story, or a part of it.

Now, it is 15+ years down the road and I have an active fine art photographic career with exhibits in galleries, museums and most recently a small participation in the U.S. Pavilion at the prestigious Venice Biennale/Architecture!  It is time to combine both of my loves - words and visuals - and several book projects will be soon out to publishers.  I even have a new children's literary agent  for my new book projects, one I have always admired and with whom I really look forward to working!

Erzsi Deàk
Hen&ink, A Literary Studio
http://henandink.com

erzsi@henandink.com

+336 8993 7475

It is a bit back to square one although I am very proud to say that my first book, LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME, pairing the words of Maya Angelou with the evocative artwork of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and published in l993 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang (now Abrams) is now almost 25 years in print!  It had been more than gratifying to have heard so many tell me how inspirational LIFE has been for them, child and adult, and I certainly hope to create more books that could also attain those goals.

At present, I am reconfiguring SaraJaneBoyersAloud as my temporary literary website to showcase the work before and chat/announce news about this renewed direction.  I look forward to many of you joining me on this journey. When my new website - sarajaneboyersbooks.com - comes online, I'll certainly make a splash announcement!

Those of you new here are welcome to look back on SaraJaneBoyersAloud to see how, during these years in photography, I have yet written about subjects that concern us all and it may be, as the years continue here, that I will do so again, not only about my own books and images, but about life and matters as well.  For now: the books!

Sara Jane Boyers July 2016

In the past, looking forward to the future:

Stewart, Tabori & Chang (Abrams Books) 1993

  

Chronicle Books l994

 

Millbrook Press 2000

And BTW: since it is an election year in the US, do wander over to the TEEN POWER POLITICS website at www.teenpowerpolitics.com

 The site and issues are really outdated (2000!) BUT the concerns of this respected non-partisan book for youth on civic and political activism and the information imparted are still relevant today in terms of critical thinking for elections and the book remains on various political websites.