The Tony Awards may have all the fame but those of us in the theatre world, along the CT shoreline, remember the days of the PIXIE awards – Henry Josten’s personal picks of the best of Connecticut theatre. Henry retired his column in 2008 but he certainly has not stopped working and the Ivoryton Playhouse is proud to announce the publication of his memoirs.
“No Dancing, but…Dealing with the Stars at the Ivoryton Playhouse” is a fascinating collection of stories and anecdotes of his years as the publicist for Milton Stiefel at the Ivoryton Playhouse and as a globetrotting Connecticut “Country Editor”.
Henry began as a copy boy in 1941 with the New Haven Register and more than 65 years later, he called it quits having been a reporter, columnist, publicist, editor, and publisher. For generations of readers, Henry Josten chronicled all the southeastern Connecticut news that’s been fit to print and, week after week, his readers would be entertained by his gossipy “Jottings” or “View From Here” or informed by his reporting or persuaded by his editorials.
Henry’s book begins with his years working with the stars that passed through the Ivoryton Playhouse. From Katharine Hepburn to Marlon Brando, from Tallulah Bankhead to Art Carney, Henry worked with them all and his wry sense of humor and reporter’s attention to detail makes this a fascinating read.
Henry also takes us on a journey around the world and his captivating insights, not only on the places he travelled to but also the people he met and interviewed. Over the years, Josten interviewed several hundred Broadway and Hollywood stars, and political luminaries such as Eleanor Roosevelt who frequently visited Esther Lape in Westbrook where she often wrote her newspaper column, “My Day.”
He had a lengthy interview at the White House with President Jimmy Carter, met or covered Presidents Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and George H.W. Bush.
Josten’s colleagues elected him president of the Connecticut Editorial Association and the New England Press Associations, and in 2000 he was inducted into the New England Newspaper and Press Association Hall of Fame. During his career, he and his newspapers earned over 200 state and national awards for community service and journalistic excellence.
“No Dancing, but…Dealing with the Stars at the Ivoryton Playhouse” is available to purchase at the Ivoryton Playhouse for $10.00 and copies have been donated to area libraries.
For more information, please contact:
Jacqui Hubbard
Artistic / Executive Director
Ivoryton Playhouse
(860) 767-9520 x 202
jhubbard@ivorytonplayhouse.org
To read more about Henry Josten and view a short video interview, click on the link below to an article published by The Hartford Courant:
http://www.courant.com/community/essex/hc-henry-josten-ivoryton-book-20160708-story.html