We've received news that award-winning author Sybil Rosen has completed the memoirs of her time with Depty Dawg (a.k.a. Blaze Foley). Ms. Rosen has been working on her book for three years and tells us that her draft, the sixth and final version, is ready to be "announced, reviewed (gulp) and enjoyed." The book, "Living in the Woods in Trees," tells of their life together in Georgia when they lived in a tree house and their time in Austin and Chicago in the mid-1970s. Her story is one re-discovery of "Dep" after burying his memory for over 20 years. She was witness to his birth as songwriter Blaze Foley but was unaware, until 2002, of the details of his life and work, following their break-up in the late 1970s. She is the reason for his signature song, If I Could Only Fly.
Joe Weaver is our newest editing assistant and he's busy re-capturing our video and I have to say, it's looking good. I'd forgotten how many great stories we recorded during our massive interview phase in 2002. Wow, 2002! This year is going to fly by fast!
Good news!! Rita Sanders, who's just wrapping up a major feature-length documentary about slam poetry, has agreed to join the project as co-editor in March. She's working with me now to organize the project and get everything ready so that she can begin the mountainous task of assembling rough cuts.
I'm talking with Front Steps, a local homeless community help center in Austin, used to be called Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, about sponsoring the documentary. In doing so, we would be able to apply for grants and donations and they would receive a percentage of money we raise plus income from the movie. I'm hoping they sponsor the movie because Blaze supported ARCH when he was still alive and it would be too cool if Blaze was continuing to help even after his death.