The Peas Were Cold: The Columns of Barry Damsky

by Barry Damsky

Overview

TRUE STORIES FROM A LIFE WELL LIVED! A columnist for an upstate New York rural newspaper, Barry is candid, funny, inspiring and engaging in this compilation of his "best of the best" columns written since 2002. The vignettes in The Peas Were Cold, are a delight, from his days as a theatrical agent in New York and Los Angeles, to the "everydayness" of living in a small American town. During his New York theatrical agency days, Barry placed major talent on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, and The Merv Griffin Show. He shares his unique perspective of meeting Linda Eastman McCartney, Arthur Miller, Sonny & Cher, Johnny Carson, Paul Anka and Dustin Hoffman, among others. And then there's the five years in New York after his agency days, when he was an aspiring actor. He also shares his experience as a contestant on The Dating Game, running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and his years as a radio personality. Stories of "real life" abound - the dedication it takes to pursue a dream, learning how to deal with disappointment when one's desires and dreams seem out of reach and what it's like to be a father and husband. The Peas Were Cold will make you laugh and cry. There is no one quite like Barry Damsky ... yet his stories have a common thread with anyone who lives life fully and is true to the creative and adventuresome spirit that makes each of us human and unique. Barry's engaging personality and writing style will leave you with an appreciation for a life well lived, with the best yet to come. www.BarryDamsky.com

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781432783501
Publisher:	Outskirts Press, Inc.
Publication date:	03/11/2014
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Author Damsky's saga—of an intrepid soul who started small,worked hard, got some breaks, rose to heights, took some falls, and started anew down different paths, is woventhroughout these real-life tales. His messageof dreams, hope, faith, perseverance, and theeffervescence and optimism derived from inner pluck shines through his writing.

From placing talent on The Tonight Show, to rejection as an actor, to opening his own theatrical agency in Los Angeles, to a stint as a country singer recording in Nashville, Barry has tried on a range of creative careers. Ultimately, he settled intofamily life in small-town America, far from New York or Los Angeles, where in the foothills of the Adirondacks, he began anew. This time, he entered local radio in sales and as an on air personality, wrote columns for the 162-year old Boonville Herald and later co-founded an ad agency, leading a calmer but nevertheless happy and professionally satisfying life, much of it due to his faith.

Damsky also is a songwriter and performer with a lifelong passion for song. His unique sound andspiritual viewpoints are showcased on his gospel CD, “We Declare.”

Editorial Reviews

2014-10-09
A new anthology of the previously published musings of an upstate New York newspaper columnist.Damsky may not have achieved his goal of becoming a famous actor or a popular singer, but he has worked in show business, advertising, radio and journalism during his full life. The latter vocation inspired this collection of past columns that he wrote mostly for the Boonville (New York) Herald. It consists of slice-of-life stories, often drawn from Damsky's personal experiences from his childhood to the present day, with a tone similar to those of the late Andy Rooney or Charles Kuralt. Usually, a column begins with a present-day situation that triggers a flashback: a date with Linda Eastman before she became Mrs. Paul McCartney; a phone conversation with Clint Eastwood about an actor Damsky represented; or a foul ball that the author snagged as a child during batting practice at Yankee Stadium. There are many lighthearted moments along the way, such as when a 14-year-old Damsky accidentally drove the family car through closed garage doors. Other recollections are more poignant and serious, including his trip to the Holocaust Museum in Israel; his observations during a visit to communist Cuba in 1957; and his son's return home after a tour of duty in Iraq ("seeing him come through the entranceway of that giant hangar, I have a newer and clearer understanding of what pride means"). Each column usually imparts a moral lesson or words of wisdom, as in a 2005 column about the recently deceased Rosa Parks: "It's really quite incredible, for all she did to alter history, was utter only one rather tiny word—‘No.' " If there is a running theme, it's perseverance, as in the story of his attempts to release his own gospel album. The book's prose style is simple and lively, presented in a conversational tone. Some may not find the G-rated, folksy tone of the stories to their fancy, as there's nothing cynical or snarky about them. Yet they don't come across as overly sentimental, either. If anything, they reveal the personality and character of a columnist who always seemed engaged with the world around him.An often uplifting collection about life's joys, wonders and quirks, shared by a writer who experienced them all.

Kirkus Reviews