Michael C. Williams On With His Next 'Project'

I got to do a profile of Michael C. Williams, whose name you probably do not know, but who's face you might, and whose work you probably do. 

Williams played Mike in The Blair Witch Project, the wildly successful found-footage horror film that premiered 25 years ago. 

These days, he and his wife Toni direct the plays at the New York high school they both attended, and at the middle school as well. Our kids go to Westlake High School, and the plays are pretty amazing. Up next is Elf at the middle school in late January. 

Williams is also a guidance counselor at a New York middle school. 

He had grown close to his own guidance counselor while at Westlake High, as Donna Garr helped him focus when his father died and his mother battled alcohol. She suggested he study theater in college while he was considering the military. 

Many years later, after Blair Watch, Williams' acting work was unsteady, and he thought about a career change that might be better suited for his growing family. He reached out to Garr, and started his master's in school counseling. 

My piece is kind of short. I wish I'd had more room to tell Williams' story. But it's a good story nonetheless. 

[photo credit Michael C. Williams]

You are Cordially Invited to Check Out My Book Review Column 'A Novel Concept' on Substack

I write a column called A Novel Concept on Substack. Subscribers get my book review emailed to them each week, and it is free of charge. It launched in October 2021, and will shift to every two weeks in the new year, so I can finally read large novels like Fredrik Backman's The Winners. 

My columns have focused on Colson Whitehead's Crook Manifesto, Geraldine Brooks's Horse, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, and even Jimmy Buffett's Where is Joe Merchant?, because Buffett died. 

Please give 'em a read and, if you enjoy them, and find books to add to your to-read list, or gift ideas for loved ones, maybe even subscribe. 

Book Review: A Prominent Author Who Fought For the Environment Decades Before Other Celebs Did

 I reviewed Lucky Mud & Other Foma, a look at Kurt Vonnegut, his books, and his dedication to the environment and to humankind, for the East Hampton Star. Christina Jarvis wrote the book. 

"This book tells the story of Vonnegut's planetary citizenship," Ms. Jarvis, a professor of English at the State University at Fredonia, writes in the introduction. "It discovers the origins of his environmental stewardship in lessons from Vonnegut's Orchard School teacher Hillis Howie and the ethics and political ideals forged during his teenage Western adventures. It also explores Vonnegut's deep attachments to place and the profound ways his biology, chemistry, and anthropology studies shaped his planetary thinking."

As one might suspect in a book about Vonnegut, the title is odd. Lucky mud and foma are aspects of Vonnegut's invented religion, Bokononism, in his novel Cat's Cradle. Lucky mud refers to mud tapped by God to sit up and take in the Earth around it, while foma denotes a harmless untruth. 

My review said, "The reader may, at times, wonder if it would've worked better as, say, a 10,000-word New Yorker article, articulating Vonnegut's vision for a better Earth while freeing up a bit of time for the reader. 

But true fans of Vonnegut will enjoy "Lucky Mud," and will respect how he was a champion of our planet's health several decades before other writers, celebrities, and citizens took up the cause."