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Summer Reading Turtle Bay has long been home to many of the literary types who traditionally gravitate to New York. These include Kurt Vonnegut, Henry Kissinger, and Walter Cronkite, to name a few bright stars, but we also have many who, while perhaps not quite so well known, are actively and successfully engaged in the literary craft. Ferreting them out is not easy - they tend to be rather private people - and very busy people as well. Jeannie Sakol To visit Jeannie Sakol is to spend an hour in the presence of a bundle of energy and enthusiasm - it's easy to see why she has become such a prolific writer (with some 20 books published), as well as entrepreneur and community activist! We met for a chat in the apartment on East 48th Street, which has been her home base for over 30 years, and from which she has observed with her keen eye the many changes in Turtle Bay. For a time she ran the Turtle Bay Historical Society, for which she created a mobile exhibit of old photographs and memorabilia. She has also occasionally used the neighborhood as the locale for her fiction. Jeannie's special writing interests include fiction, history and folklore (both British and American) and the impact of sexual freedom on contemporary life. She has touched on everything from the British Royal Family to the Kennedys and to screenplays and documentaries on Bruce Springsteen and the Beatles. Her early writings were novels that were then serialized in Cosmopolitan, and which began an ongoing relationship with the magazine. She has at times lived in London and in the Greek Isles, which provided more food for thought and writing. Some of her novels have been translated and published in Germany and Russia. Jeannie was co-founder and editorial director of Delilah Communications (1975-1987), publishers and packagers of over 100 titles. These included the first Rock bio to make The New York Times best-seller list, "Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story," by Dave Marsh. She was the executive producer of an award-winning two-hour documentary, "The Compleat Beatles." Currently she is involved in developing a multi-purpose consultancy, and a new magazine, The Movie Lover, for classic film lovers. As if such projects were not enough to keep her busy, Jeannie is now also working on a TV documentary covering the life styles of women in the 30-40 year age range - the young, successful Generation X'ers, and how they feel about their future and about friends, family, and marriage. She is also working on a new novel and thinking about doing a memoir of her own early life, based on the various places she lived while growing up in this city. A true native New Yorker!
The Turtle Bay Association is a nonprofit (501c3) community organization.
224 East 47th Street, New York City 10017 |
