In Memoriam - Jane Lattes

Jane Flax Lattes, a longtime resident of Palisades and Grand View, died in Yarmouth, ME on January 27, 2024, at the age of 88.

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Max Ludington Reflects on His Second Novel, THORN TREE

When Max Ludington’s first novel, Tiger in a Trance, was published in 2003, he had some explaining to do.

The very gritty coming-of-age story is set amid the Grateful Dead touring scene, of which Max had been a part. Years later, after having left that in his past with no regrets, he decided it was good material to use.

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Chul Hyun: Life is a Marathon not a Sprint

On March 10 in Barcelona, Spain Dr. Chul Hyun will run his 118th marathon. It’s an impressive athletic feat by any measure. It’s also a metaphor for the way he lives.

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Parenthood in Palisades, Post-Covid

During the pandemic, parents and children alike faced incredible stress when the lockdown in March 2020 suddenly cut everyone’s normal social connections. One response was that many families chose to leave New York City and join our community. Parents we contacted told us that living in Palisades has helped them to rebound from the disruption.

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In Memorium - Louise Marie Spencer

Louise Spencer, born Louise Marie Due, in Exeter, Nebraska on 18th September 1928, will be remembered fondly by generations of kindergarteners whom she taught in Tappan and Orangeburg, NY. Her energy and strength were awesome! She and her husband Walt built their house on Gerson’s Lane in Palisades, NY, in a community that had grown together at Camp Shanks after WWII, and where their children Linda, Erik and Kent grew up.

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In Memorium – Virginia Dare

Virginia Dare was a beautiful woman with a superb singing voice to match. When I first met her she was 24 and she looked like the Venus of Botticelli – I was 33. I was immediately enchanted by her and she favored me and we started living together immediately. We were together for 13 exuberant and dramatic years. Many things happened and we weathered them all – together, and with my children Diana and John.

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Filmed NOT on location at Carstage

Since silent movies, actors have been filmed in cars. It’s not unusual in old films, where try as they might, the scenes out the windows just look fake. As technology in film evolved from creative jerry-rigged camera cars, background film projection, green screens, to CGI, the quest has been to make as realistic and seamless an interior/ exterior car scene as possible. Carstage, a virtual production studio, is mastering this evolution in realistic filming.

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In Memoriam — Louise Marie Spenser

Louise Spencer, born Louise Marie Due, in Exeter, Nebraska on 18th September 1928, will be remembered fondly by generations of kindergarteners whom she taught in Tappan and Orangeburg, NY. Her energy and strength were awesome! She and her husband Walt built their house on Gerson’s Lane in Palisades, NY, in a community that had grown together at Camp Shanks after WWII, and where their children Linda, Erik and Kent grew up.

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A Life Helping Others

Laurie Ferguson is the fourth generation to join the “family business” as she calls it. “My father, grandfather and great grandfather were all Presbyterian ministers, but I was the first woman,” she says. “None of my three younger brothers were interested. I wanted to be helpful in some way to the world. I considered various professions but decided becoming a minister was where I could be the most helpful.”

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In Memoriam — Lee Sneden

Lee Sneden was born in Palisades on December 9, 1930 and died February 9, 2023 in Chatham, Massachusetts. He was the last of the historic Sneden family to live in Palisades. As an adult Lee moved to Spring Valley, where he worked in sales. He married Marilyn Whetstone of Nyack, started a family, and in 1967 moved to Chatham, Massachusetts where he worked in real estate. Lee and his wife divorced In the 1970s, and Lee moved back to Rockland County where he remarried and started his own successful business as a sales rep for several companies dealing in safety equipment. About nine years ago, Lee and his second wife divorced and Lee moved back to Chatham which he always loved and missed.

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Mushroom Mania

Aaron Hodgins Davis, 38, founder of Hodgins Harvest in Blauvelt, didn’t like mushrooms growing up. “Then, in my mid 20s, my mom prepared some, simply, with butter and salt. She cooked ‘em crispy and I was hooked,” says Davis. “I had never tasted anything like that before.” So, Aaron began – as many who cultivate mushrooms do – by purchasing a grow kit with his daughter. In 2017 he took the plunge and turned his hobby into a business, Hodgins Harvest, operating out of his home in Blauvelt.

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In Memoriam — Mary Ann Garland

Mary Ann Garland, formerly of Tappan, passed away peacefully at her home in Palisades on November 24, 2022 at the age of 95. Mary Ann was born to Edgar and Isabel Lowe and lived the first third of her life on the West Coast. She graduatedfrom Cal Berkeley where she was deeply involved in the Theatre Department. She came to New York in the 1950’s to pursue an acting career, appearing in multiple productions in and around New York City. She met her husband John Garland in a production of Under the Yum Yum Tree in North Conway, NH.

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Richard Rasmussen, an Integral Part of Our Community

Rich Rasmussen has deep roots in Palisades, arriving with his parents in 1965, when he was just two years old. He enjoyed his childhood, making friends first in his neighborhood and then all over Palisades. He was cutting lawns for neighbors from the time he was eight years old.

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Meet Newly Elected Mike Lawler

Republican Mike Lawler won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in a close race last November representing N.Y.’s new 17th district, which covers Rockland and Putnam counties, northern Westchester and a sliver of Dutchess. He has said that 50% of households in his district include a police officer, firefighter, first responder or veteran. Lawler, who ran a “tough on crime” campaign, received the endorsement of law enforcement unions. In an interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS News Hour, Lawler stated that “crime is relatively stagnant in my district.”

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PICTURES FROM THE LIBRARY PARTY AT LOMAR FARMS

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Harriet Publishes New Poetry Book, *Light Reflections and Mind Meanderings*

Harriet Hyams wrote her first poem when a teenager. By the late sixties, in addition to her career as a fine artist, she found writing poetry to be a miraculous release. As months and years multiplied, so did the poetry together with the painting, drawing, sculpture and architectural stained glass.

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READING ABOUT PAST RESIDENTS TO CATCH UP ON LOCAL HISTORY

Many remarkable people have lived in Palisades since it was first settled at the end of the 18th century, and some of them have written about their lives, or been written about by others. Reading these books is a very pleasant way to become familiar with our history. All of them are in the Palisades Free Library. reading about past residents to catch up on local history.

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Reverend Robert J. Chase: A Life Well Lived

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Reverend Robert Chase’s ministry. Throughout the past half century, he has been an author, playwright and award-winning video producer/director with more than 100 productions to his credit.

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In Memorium - Caroline Pool Turoff

Caroline Pool Turoff was born on September 27th 1943 and died on August 20 2022. She grew up in Piqua Ohio and attended the university of Cincinnati , graduating in 1965. Hallmark hired her right out of college and pretty soon she was in New York where she met the love of her life, Allan Turoff, in 1971. They married in 1976, appropriately enough in F.A.O. Schwartz as they were both in the toy business. ( Allen invented BOGGLE and it supported the whole family .)

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Debbie Firestone: Friendly Face Intergenerational Legacy

From 2008 until her retirement earlier this year, Debbie Firestone served as Head of Circulation and Bookkeeper at the Palisades Free Public Library. But she was so much more than that. She was the friendly face of welcome and a trusted research guide for library patrons, young and old. Traditionally, libraries are considered a place of learning for the whole community, but in Debbie’s case, she says, “I learned something new every day.”

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