|
|
Dec. 15, 2006
Granny Rapper going strong
Davidson's new book is just one of many projects in the works.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
When you meet Roz Davidson, aka the Granny Rapper, what strikes
you most is her energy and enthusiasm. An award-winning composer,
poet, novelist, screenwriter and teacher, her new book, Are Flowers
Jewish?, gives readers an even deeper appreciation of her strength
and determination – she has had some harrowing experiences
on the road to success.
"This book was written to enjoy being Jewish," Davidson
told the Independent in an e-mail interview. A collection
of short stories, Flowers includes tales about shtetl life,
motherhood, Jewish singledom, orphans and klezmer-mania. As she
writes in the book's introduction, she evokes "memories of
horse-drawn merchant carts, sawdust-strewn shops, delis with barrels
of 'a nickel-a-shtikl' dills, the aromas of pumpernickel, challah,
blueberry buns and other delicacies permeating the snow-covered
sidewalk-banks, emanating from College Street bakeries, each with
their own specialties."
"The stories take place in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and
even Florida," she explained. "Working for several newspapers
as a features writer, teacher and performer in my original children
and adult shows, I learned a lot from seniors I interviewed, sang
for and met along the way, giving me the tastes of their eras and
mores, helping me to write the first portion of this book."
The second part of Flowers is called "Rememberings"
and is more personal.
"I bare my unusual Toronto life (starting at age five), from
three different houses on Crawford Street, right up to puberty,"
she writes. "I share my mom, dad, bubbie, uncles, other relatives,
friends; life and death in revealing ribbons of reality, sometimes
raw at the seams." She is able to include such details in her
stories because she doesn't rely purely on her memory to tell them.
"Suffering derision, mockery, bullying and anti-Semitism, I
turned to my notebook to 'tell all,' " said Davidson, "keeping
a painful record of unpleasant events that would serve me later
in life as a reminder of what the word 'courage' truly means!"
There are 20 stories in Flowers, ranging from lighthearted
to touching to horrific. In the title story, for example, Davidson,
at age five, encounters violent and physically painful anti-Semitism,
in the form of a neighborhood boy who, among other things, sticks
a shard of glass in Davidson's eye. Most of the tales feature Davidson,
or someone else, overcoming some type of obstacle. They are the
product of many months' work.
"I wrote reams of stories over this past year (and then some),
later culling what I thought would be the most amusing and heartwarming
for use in the book," Davidson told the Independent, adding
that she still has dozens left to tell.
"My artistic inspiration started at age eight, when the Toronto
Board of Education published my first book of poetry," she
said. "With the help of Lorne Greene, my mentor, I was able
to learn the art of discipline in the ways of performance, writing,
art, music and literature. The world of make-believe, a wonderful
world where magic happens every minute, was a much more pleasant
world than the real one, where I faced recurring illness throughout
my childhood."
In addition to Greene, Davidson said her grandmother and other relatives
were also mentors. Some of these "characters" appear in
Flowers.
Given her history, it is no wonder that Davidson came out of retirement
in 1999 to record a children's album called Roz's Story World.
Aimed at helping kids to like themselves and appreciate others who
are different, it includes recordings such as "The Bully-Bully
Rap," which teaches children how to properly respond if they
are being harassed.
"Bullying is still a mind-boggling problem for kids,"
said Davidson, "as is discrimination due to color, appearance
and culture."
Among her many awards and achievements is special recognition, in
1999, by the U.S. Congress for her work in the arts, promoting multiculturalism.
(She lived in the United States during the 1980s and returned to
Canada in 2000.) Davidson was also honored with the City of Vancouver's
Cultural Harmony Award in 2004.
It doesn't look like she will be retiring again any time soon.
"Retirement? What's that? I'm working on another short story
book (totally different from Are Flowers Jewish?), a novel
about a Jewish senior sleuth, a screenplay, a musical, preparing
an animated 'Granny Roz' video using my new anti-gang, anti-bullying,
anti-discrimination rap and, in between, adding pages to my husband
Howard's experiences in the Korean war and his part in the truce,
entitled Back-Spaced.
"I'm busier than I ever was before retirement! Besides all
this, I'm still doing my Granny Roz touring show (with the help
of Grandpa Howie), in schools and libraries, with bookings into
late spring of '07. Nu? Why not? I'm 72 and he's only 78! We should
stay home and kvetch instead?"
Roz's Story World is available in libraries throughout North
America, as well as being sold on www.amazon.com
and on Davidson's website, www.talkatale.com.
The poetry book, The Wizard of Roz, which Davidson describes
as dealing with "social justice, women's issues, nature and
just plain whimsies," is also in libraries across the continent
and available via her website.
Anyone interested in Davidson's Flowers and her upcoming
projects should keep an eye on www.talkatale.com,
as, no doubt, there will always be new things to see and hear.
"I never plan on growing up!" said Davidson. "Why
bother – it's more fun being an older kid!"
^TOP
|
|
