Yale roommates collaborate on a new novel
Calhoun roommates in ’68-’69, Scott Howard and Bob Brush have a lot in common: They sang together in the 1966-68 Baker’s Dozen and were founding members of the Roll and Pin Society (along with Bob Wheeler, James Hallet, Wayne Henderson, Charlie Peck, Brad Davenport and Bo Riehle).
Recently, they decided to collaborate in the creation of a first novel, with Bob as the author and Scott as the illustrator. This may be a first. Have any other classmates jointly produced a book or other work of art? (If so, please be sure to login and leave a comment below.)
The Piazza: Stories from Piazza Santa Caterina Piccola
On a tiny piazza in an obscure Italian hilltop town, circa 1933, remarkable things are happening. From the window of his mother’s bakery a young boy, sees it all: a pickpocket who purloins human emotions; a beggar who summons the voice of God from the town well; two young lovers whose passion changes history; a blind silent-movie accompanist.
An exotic princess held captive in the local nunnery, a blackshirt bent on revenge and, hovering over all, the looming shadow of fascism and Benito Mussolini. In The Piazza: Stories from Piazza Santa Caterina Piccola citizens of this unexpected and improbable place find themselves bound together by their hopes, their lies, their humanity and their destiny, unbowed in the face of onrushing war and certain catastrophe. It’s a heartwarming, heartbreaking, always funny, sometimes tragic, fantastical love song to a time and place that no longer exist – if in fact they ever existed at all.
About the Author
BOB BRUSH is the Emmy Award winning writer and Executive Producer of ABC’s The Wonder Years, for which he also received Peabody and Humanitas Awards. He wrote and produced the CBS hit series Early Edition and ABC’s Karen Sisco as well as adapting the novels The Prince of Tides and Scruples for television. He composed the score for the Broadway musical The First, about baseball immortal Jackie Robinson. He was the pitchpipe of the Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1969. He lives in Hudson, NY with his
wife, actress Mel Harris. Their four children live all over the place. The
Piazza: Stories from Piazza Santa Caterina Piccola is his first book.
SCOTT HOWARD, a native of New Orleans, has retired from a commercial banking career after 36 years of experience at three financial institutions – J.P. Morgan, Hibernia National Bank, and Regions Bank. He has shifted his interest in creative problem solving to daily struggles with painting pictures and working with a handful of non-profit organizations that interest him. He and his wife Janet live in New Orleans, where their two sons also reside with their wives and children.
A tremendously rewarding book. But don’t lend it to anyone–you’ll want to re-read it all too soon.
A wonderfully creative read. The stories and vignettes, centered around the piazza and the people of a small Italian hill town, are magical and full of insights about humanity and the foibles of man. I often wonder what is reality in relation to what emanates from the flawed perceptions of our minds. Maybe they are the same.
Tom Igoe