A Life Lived Backwards: One Man's Life

Larry Ruttman
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An audio series based on the new memoir entitled, “Larry Ruttman – A Life Lived Backwards: An Existential Triad of Friendship, Inquisitiveness and Maturation.”

  1. 08/15/2024

    INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS THE BOOK, PART 03

    “I think “Intimate Conversations” works well in the way I wrote it in my own vernacular and style in plain words where you don’t have to go the dictionary to understand what I’m saying. Several people have said to me they feel like they’re looking over my shoulder as I talk to these musicians. I do not look at these as conversations as interviews. We are conversing. It is a give and take, but not in arcane musical terminology, but in everyday words as understood by regular non-musically trained folks like myself. Some novels not really about anything meaningful, sell 100,000 copies. Books on classical musical sell way less. Yet, this book is about something important to all of us. It is about life and music, and whether they are the same. Last night I reread parts of “Intimate Conversations” about why music is so important in our lives anytime, but especially in bad times like now. I wrote the book because I want to share my wonderment of music with others, and the thrill of entering their world. As I reread my own book, I was sort of amazed I did it. It was like reading a book written by someone else. I said to myself, “I said that!” But I did it. It really is for all of you out there. If I’ve come to know some things about music, musicians, and life itself you want to know, then reading this book, you’ll know!” I suppose I could have written this note telling you a little about the 21 world class musicians in the book, from Renee Fleming, John Harbison, Benjamin Zander, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Susan Graham, Ran Blake, and all those others. That would have been sort of boiler plate in light of what I chose to write above. As you listen to these podcasts you will hear a bit about each of them. If you read the book, you will learn lots more about each, what it is that makes each great, what lies deep in their psyches allowing them to create and play, and most of all why music is much more than about life, but is life itself! People, always people

  2. 08/08/2024

    INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS THE BOOK, PART 02

    “I think “Intimate Conversations” works well in the way I wrote it in my own vernacular and style in plain words where you don’t have to go the dictionary to understand what I’m saying. Several people have said to me they feel like they’re looking over my shoulder as I talk to these musicians. I do not look at these as conversations as interviews. We are conversing. It is a give and take, but not in arcane musical terminology, but in everyday words as understood by regular non-musically trained folks like myself. Some novels not really about anything meaningful, sell 100,000 copies. Books on classical musical sell way less. Yet, this book is about something important to all of us. It is about life and music, and whether they are the same. Last night I reread parts of “Intimate Conversations” about why music is so important in our lives anytime, but especially in bad times like now. I wrote the book because I want to share my wonderment of music with others, and the thrill of entering their world. As I reread my own book, I was sort of amazed I did it. It was like reading a book written by someone else. I said to myself, “I said that!” But I did it. It really is for all of you out there. If I’ve come to know some things about music, musicians, and life itself you want to know, then reading this book, you’ll know!” I suppose I could have written this note telling you a little about the 21 world class musicians in the book, from Renee Fleming, John Harbison, Benjamin Zander, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Susan Graham, Ran Blake, and all those others. That would have been sort of boiler plate in light of what I chose to write above. As you listen to these podcasts you will hear a bit about each of them. If you read the book, you will learn lots more about each, what it is that makes each great, what lies deep in their psyches allowing them to create and play, and most of all why music is much more than about life, but is life itself! People, always people

  3. 08/04/2024

    INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS THE BOOK, PART 01

    “I think “Intimate Conversations” works well in the way I wrote it in my own vernacular and style in plain words where you don’t have to go the dictionary to understand what I’m saying. Several people have said to me they feel like they’re looking over my shoulder as I talk to these musicians. I do not look at these as conversations as interviews. We are conversing. It is a give and take, but not in arcane musical terminology, but in everyday words as understood by regular non-musically trained folks like myself. Some novels not really about anything meaningful, sell 100,000 copies. Books on classical musical sell way less. Yet, this book is about something important to all of us. It is about life and music, and whether they are the same. Last night I reread parts of “Intimate Conversations” about why music is so important in our lives anytime, but especially in bad times like now. I wrote the book because I want to share my wonderment of music with others, and the thrill of entering their world. As I reread my own book, I was sort of amazed I did it. It was like reading a book written by someone else. I said to myself, “I said that!” But I did it. It really is for all of you out there. If I’ve come to know some things about music, musicians, and life itself you want to know, then reading this book, you’ll know!” I suppose I could have written this note telling you a little about the 21 world class musicians in the book, from Renee Fleming, John Harbison, Benjamin Zander, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Susan Graham, Ran Blake, and all those others. That would have been sort of boiler plate in light of what I chose to write above. As you listen to these podcasts you will hear a bit about each of them. If you read the book, you will learn lots more about each, what it is that makes each great, what lies deep in their psyches allowing them to create and play, and most of all why music is much more than about life, but is life itself! People, always people

  4. 06/24/2024

    WHAT SENIORS SURRENDER

    The incredible twenty-four-year pitching career of Roger Clemens in which he won 354 games, 163 of them after Red Sox GM Dan Duquette allowed him to depart Boston, intoning that Roger was “in the twilight” of his career, may seem an odd place to begin this note. Actually, it isn’t, because belief in one’s self at any age is the key to living long and accomplishing much. But it is also true that one cannot escape advancing years. At ninety-three I know both sides of that coin. I describe both in this podcast. It seemed I could do whatever I wanted until my late eighties, even managing to avoid getting trampled by the descending onrushing phalanx at Penn Station in NYC when my train was called. Now only four years later I wouldn’t chance that if someone gave me the long end at 100-1 that I wouldn’t get to the train on time. Why? Because the disease of peripheral neuropathy has slowed my step, made me a bit unbalanced and less strong, and affected the coordination between my brain and my feet. Although I can still walk unaided, two minor rear-enders persuaded me to yield to my wife’s demand some months ago that I give up the keys to my car. Lucky is the man who has a wife who says she will take you about, and keeps her word. So yes, that decision changes your life. But as Lois said, the next time could have been another’s life, or my own. There are compensations. As the months passed, I realized that I had never enjoyed my houses in Brookline and Wellfleet so much. Always good to go, I found it good to stay. My perceptions were sharpened. My attention to my surroundings in and out of those houses became more focused. I appreciated more sharply simple pleasures like quiet, sunlight and darkness, The Milky Way, clouds, wind, rain, fog, snow, trees, leaves rustling, birds, parks, flora and fauna, water vital for life in oceans, rivers, lakes, and canals. I now better understand how people with seemingly impossible limitations learned to enjoy life. I appreciated how lucky I am to have most of what I ever had. I learned that PT could aid the neuropathy. “Motion to motion,” as Jordan said. And that my ability to write was unaffected by age. A book contract just signed, another on the way. In short that I had lots on my plate to be thankful for. Sure, there were other problems of old age. An implant that failed, and the loss of two other teeth, some reflux and sleep problems, but so far nothing life-threatening, having beaten a melanoma to the punch! The highly respected gerontologist, Dr. Lew Lipsitz, recently advised me optimistically about my future with his no nonsense, non-boiler plate advice consonant with his view of my persona, based on this and our past meetings. “That’s life, “as Sinatra tells us. You can’t beat Mother Nature. Sooner or later, she claims you. Later if you put to use the resources, she gave you in the first place! People, always people

  5. 05/17/2024

    GETTING A BOOK PUBLISHED

    Not an easy task, especially when it’s one about classical music. Even if it contains stories drawn from face-to-face meetings with over twenty world class musical figures. I had high hopes submitting the manuscript to several major publishers and agents. Some were very admiring, but none said yes. All said the economics were unfavorable. What to do? The title I had chosen for the book is “Intimate Conversations: Face to Face with Matchless Musicians.” Who ever heard of a person with no musical training writing a book about music? I did have a passion for music, classical especially, had attended hundreds of concerts, and read extensively about the lives of its artists here and departed. I never lost faith that the book had appeal, both academically and to the public at large. Having time on my hands, I decided to privately publish the book to friends, family, and those many folks, including its subjects, in an edition that would be produced at a level concordant with its text, to include many illustrations, a complete index, informative front matter, and front and back covers which would draw attention. Over many months and at considerable personal expense, this was done. If the reaction of those to whom I sent it is any indication of its ultimate reception, happy will I be! In short, the book is fait accompli. If any publisher accepted the book, it would be exactly the privately published edition, with only minor changes. Then I was introduced to the relatively new world of hybrid publishing. What is that? t sounds like something done at an arboretum. In the book world it means that the author and publisher combine to produce the book, each sharing in the expense, each sharing in decisions, the author mainly contributing his writing skills, the publisher sharing knowledge of production and marketing required to get the book out to the world. With no agent required, communication is direct, royalties far higher than in the trade publishing world. Sure, both are taking a chance, but each brings their passion for the book to bear. I went in the hybrid direction, thought I had the right one, but they soon proved they were more interested in a sure profit than taking a chance. Then serendipity came along when a major musician I had met along the way who had read and loved my book advocated on my behalf to a “family” oriented publisher, if you will, who loved it too! I was introduced to my “go to,” with whom I quickly formed a simpatico relationship on both a professional and personal level by a very long LD conversation, and a long e-mail exchange. Soon a contract was signed, now work has commenced, and publication is set for Spring, 2024. How refreshing to work with folks for whom money is only one consideration, not the ONLY consideration. Essentially my reason for writing books is to have them read now and, in the future, believing I have something t say. Let us not forget my friend Jordan Rich who has recently published his own memoir. He did it on the basis of Amazon’s books on demand plan. So as you listen you will hear about that popular approach. I will tell of my experiences starting with vanity publishing, publishing with a major academic publisher, the University of Nebraska Press, then to hybrid publishing. In fact, we range over many facets of publishing, starting with Jordan telling why it’s like bringing a child into the world, and the connections one makes with people who have read your book. I will tell you about how I became the hero of a young recently immigrated woman whom to this day I’ve never met, who found my book “American Jews and America’s Game” in the NYPL, and used it to learn English and about America. The most amazing part is how I came to know about it. For that you have to listen to this podcast, which I ended by calling myself a “podcastee,” a word apparently not known in the English language. People, always People.

  6. 04/25/2024

    MOOKIE BETTS RETURNS

    Boston fandom was understandably excited about the return of Mookie Betts to Fenway Park in late August, 2023, almost four years after his untimely and hurtful trade to the LA Dodgers. Did Mookie disappoint on that first visit back? Did Mookie ever disappoint? No and No. Mookie undermined the Red Sox with his batting and fielding at two positions in that memorable series. On this podcast Jordan Rich and I, both baseball fans forever, talk about Mookie the exemplary player and man, and I tell of the game of August 26 which Lois and I attended at the invitation of the Red Sox to their VIP box, where we ate a top drawer spread, and rooted for an unlikely tandem of both Mookie and the Red Sox. Here is my description of that day, written later that day to a few dozen friends interested in what would unfold: “To several of my very good friends who are interested in my quest to meet and honor Mookie Betts today: “It seems communication between the Sox and Dodgers was not great, no program to honor Mookie was set up, and he himself had a tight schedule owing to his disciplined athleticism, and his meetings with a plethora of old friends. I’ll send directly to him at his home in LA the inscribed copy of my memoir, My Eighty-Two Year Love Affair with Fenway Park: From Teddy Ballgame to Mookie Betts. “To say that Sox President Sam Kennedy and his associates made up for that in a great way is an understatement. Lois and I were invited to park in the players lot, were given a charming guide to the VIP Suite, which on the spacious inside was provided with an array of food and drink that wanted for nothing (lobster, fruits, cookies, ice cream, sushi, dogs, sausages, chicken, and that only starts the list). Stepping outside a grand view of Fenway Park from on high whetted one’s appetite for the game. And what a game it was! It had everything except a fight, and would have had that if Max Muncy had gotten to the ump’s throat. The Red Sox showed quality this day, as did the Dodgers and Mookie, albeit his well stroked drive to the warning track fell short for the final out. I had the best of both worlds, rooting for both the Sox and Mookie. No way to lose. The atmosphere at the park was like a festival, loud, enjoyable, all being happy. It turned out to be a day to remember. Even leaving driving slowly through the crowd I was chatting with fans, police officers, Fenway personnel. I would say baseball is still America’s game, at least the America I want to inhabit. The nonagenarian and octogenarian loved it!” Not long after that I penned this letter to Mookie: “Mookie Betts Los Angeles, CA Dear Mookie: “I’m still quivering from the events of August 25-27. Your return to Fenway was sensational, and I was fortunate to attend the terrific Saturday game in the VIP suite with my wife, Lois (we celebrate our 60th in November), at the invitation of Sam Kennedy when the meeting with you I had requested to present this inscribed memoir, My Eighty-Two Year Love Affair with Fenway Park: From Teddy Ballgame to Mookie Betts, to you in person, could not be arranged. Had it taken place I would have read the inscription within to you verbatim. “I have no idea whether you have ever seen it or heard my name. If you look at the last page you will see the letter, I wrote to you and fourteen others sent through Red Sox channels, well before your MVP 2018 season had unfolded. Please look at pages 58-59 to read an account of my prediction for your future written to Ben Cherington, and his same day reply, in August, 2014. Thank God on that occasion the Red Sox retained you. I don’t believe any other observer made such a prediction at that early stage. It was based on my view of your many talents on both sides of the ball, and the home run you stroked on August 25 in Toronto showing the striking force of your swing, nine years to the day before your return last Friday. I recall too the grand slam you hit a few days later in St. Petersburg. See too the picture of you and its caption taken when you ran down Josh Reddick’s drive in the 2017 AL Division Series. “Along with millions of others in Red Sox Nation, your departure was a sad day. It still hurts. But we applaud, as you heard, your success here and in LA, and we hope your future there includes many more team and personal triumphs. It is wonderful to see you grow from a very young man, to a polished and thoughtful man of the world whom it seems always does ‘the right thing.’ “May God bless your life and those of your loved ones forever, Mookie. With all good thoughts.” ‘ Larry Here is the signed and dated inscription for Mookie I wrote in the book: “Mookie, I’m honored on this day to help the Red Sox celebrate your years of exemplary service as a player and man to the Red Sox and to the millions of fans, including me, in Red Sox Nation. Your play and person thrilled us every day.” Larry Thus, Mookie’s return to the city where he made his name was an adventure for him, and surely one for me and for Lois too, an adventure that I think has not ended. Stay tuned for the next chapter in this ongoing story. People, always people!

  7. 03/15/2024

    WELLFLEET HISTORY TOLD

    As an historian, I was intrigued to receive a letter from the Wellfleet Historical Society that they planned to undertake an oral history project, to be converted and bound into text, in the Summer of 2023, to gather its fascinating history. I volunteered my services, one thing led to another, and in July I sat opposite the low key and lovely Robin Burns, one of the Directors of the WHS, receiving my instructions on their protocol on how to proceed. I submitted several names of folks I thought would be vital for the task, several having already refused to be interviewed for whatever reason. A nice challenge! Let’s start off with the fact that Wellfleet’s history is quite singular. It was inhabited by native people when the Pilgrims first arrived in 1620. Soon white folks took over its site, and over the last four centuries Wellfleet has become famous for whaling, fishing, piracy, many ships foundering off the often-wild Atlantic shore, the natural beauty of its landscape, its flora and fauna, its ubiquitous oysters which are served in fine restaurants all over the world, commerce, tourism, and now as the second home of many noted figures in the arts and professions, including some Nobel Prize winners. Part of the protocol was myself being interviewed. Soon Wellfleet resident, Beth Whitman’s slender form emerged from the foliage surrounding my house. My own 44-year history in Wellfleet was ably brought out by the well prepared and pleasant Beth. The three who had refused were husband and wife artists, Jack Coughlin and Joan Hopkins Coughlin, owners of the Golden Cod Gallery for over fifty years, and each a highly respected and broadly appreciated artist whose works were always sought and sold. Another was Richard Rosenthal, the Wellfleet Police Chief for twenty years from 1990 to 2010. The fourth was the landscaper for me and many others, Jeremy Young, who was willing, once he could find time from his dual role as the Director of the long-established Holden Inn. Acting upon my belief that everyone has a story to tell, and that with the correct approach, they will tell it, I approached my old friends, Joan and Jack, now, like me, facing old age. Slowly they accepted my entreaties. Joan, whose ancestors were an important part of Wellfleet history over the last few centuries, spoke of them, her childhood in Jamaica, and her colorful and upbeat art, in her mild and warm manner. Jack, famous here and in Europe, and shown in museums like the Met and MOMA in NYC, and galleries in DC, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, as well as several on the continent, answered my queries forthrightly. I sought to underscore a life which was devoted to his art exclusively from before he could walk, until now, when at 92, he is challenged to walk. Jeremy like Jack, knew what he wanted to do from early on, starting his own business at 15, a business thriving today in his mid-thirties, with multiple employees, and a sterling reputation. Chief Richard Rosenthal’s amazing story leaves one in awe as he unfolds it, shining a light on Wellfleet and NYC police history, Rich’s many books, his masterful photography, the vagaries of human nature, friendship, sincerity, forgiveness, and whatever else you might derive from this account of a man I describe as “Renaissance.” A Summer I will never forget! People, always people.

  8. 02/25/2024

    PRODUCING YOUR OWN BOOK

    As said, I had some time when getting a trade publisher proved problematical. Then illustrator and friend, Holly Sullo, advised me that as the owner of the copyright to “Intimate Conversations,” I could publish that book privately without undercutting my chances of obtaining a publisher later because there was no agent, and no middleman. I had not been aware of that. Why not do that? So, I set my sails, and embarked on what became an odyssey, one which proved by turns to be joyful, nasty, difficult, tortuous, creative, educational, and collaborative. Over the months I learned how a book is produced and comes to life. As you can imagine, when I finally held in my hands for the first time the printed book created by me and my ‘friends,” I felt great pride and accomplishment. An odyssey is described as “searching” for something. Indeed, I had searched, and had realized the culmination of those deep and personal conversations with twenty-one world class musicians. Along the way the added experience had polished my writing style. Like how to start and end chapters, how to present the subject in the best way to tell of the depth of that person, when and where to switch to the third person to inject necessary and interesting background. I became fully confident in my own style, which Jordan describes as a “stream of consciousness,” It is true that I write in one feel swoop, trying to reach the reader by using ordinary vernacular in a mind catching way, usually only requiring the first draft copy-edited by myself after some thought to reach final form. Lucky am I to never have writer’s block using this approach in which the words flow once I start. Who were my friends? Well, my longtime legal assistant, Cathy Jenness, transcribed all those interviews. Without them there is no book. My longtime formatter and collaborator, Susan Worst, to whom the book is dedicated, aided me every step of the way. Holly Sullo converted my idea for the front and back covers into reality, and created a logo of the hydra-headed monster known as Larry Ruttman, if you will. Susan and Holly have continued to help me on my memoir, “A Life Lived Backwards,” as you will hear. The indexer I chose went beyond my expectations to the point where the comprehensive index added a new dimension to the book, making it useful in the halls of academia wherever. Noted Professor of Music, John Graziano, added a Foreword that spoke of the permanence the book would attain. The permissions required for many of the striking full-page illustrations in the book were generously obtained from their creators without fee solely on the promise to provide each with a copy of the book. The final touches to the book were accomplished in the most intense twelve-day period of my life with Janice Tsai, a Harvard trained collaborator serendipitously brought to my attention, with whom I exchanged hundreds of e-mails over that short period as we combined intro the wee hours to copy edit and put the final touches on the book before printing. Janice assisted me in solving the enigma of the elusive last chapter to be completed! We finished this podcast with me mouthing a vulgarism to describe how I was able to meet with all those musicians. You’ll hear it when you listen. Anyway, it finally got me to the hybrid publisher of my dreams. People always people.

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An audio series based on the new memoir entitled, “Larry Ruttman – A Life Lived Backwards: An Existential Triad of Friendship, Inquisitiveness and Maturation.”

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