Meet the main characters of Camp '67

In 1967 Cathy Wilkes created Camp Hopenoke, an engaging safe space where children of all races or creeds could come together and learn to be friends in a world that was severely, racially divided. While the camp at large may not have had a lasting impact on all of the campers there were a few who took something away from their time at Camp Hopenoke… 

Nicky was shorter than most of the boys and even some of the girls in his grade. He didn’t care much about his appearance or his hygiene. Mr. Amoretti was a rather large man with a thick mustache and a head full of graying hair that he kept manicured. He owned two small car lots, a smoke shop, and was preparing to open up a bar. Sitting in the passenger seat was his wife and Nicky’s mother, Mrs. Amoretti. She was a very stunning woman for her age with brunette hair and a keen eye for fashion. While her husband worked Mrs. Amoretti played homemaker, happily raising their family in a sumptuous suburban lifestyle.

Nicky’s oldest brother Luca was 25 years old and lived out of town with his wife and newborn son. The Amoretti’s middle child Mike was preparing for his freshman semester at an out of state college in the fall. Nicky was very close to Mike and imitated everything he did. He looked up to his big brother like most boys would. Nicky wore the same jersey number Mike wore during his first year as a member of the town’s junior high football team. Even Nicky’s resemblance to Mike caused many of his teachers to mistakenly address Nicky by his older brother‘s name.

My Truth, My Fiction

Fiction is more than just a genre. It is most often a mirror that reflects the world of which we live in. Sometimes the fictional worlds that we consume can tell us more about reality than we can understand on our own.

Cleveland is the basis for all of my writing. I was born here, raised here and I hope to make a living here. Artists have always reflected on their lives through their work. Picasso’s “Terror and Annihilation” depicted his negative feelings towards WWI and it’s no secret that Spike Lee shares his sociological views through such films as School Daze and Do the Right Thing.

When I first decided to pursue creative writing I had no idea how much of my subconscious and memories would unlock themselves and become exposed on the page. I started off as a hopeful journalist in high school but by college I had figured out that I wanted to become an author and screenwriter because of the power of creativity.

My first short novel, A Summer In Harlem, told the story of 14 year old Beloit, Alabama native Thad as he traveled alone to Harlem during the summer of 1948 to visit his aunt and three cousins. Originally I was trying to create my own Gatsby-esque storyline. The story in turn ended up becoming a representation of the urban life I knew growing up in Cleveland’s east side neighborhood of Hough. Much like a drive from Downtown Cleveland into the upper east side the scenery is telling of Thad’s surroundings.

A Summer In Harlem, Chapter 2:
“In New York the entire street was filled with cars and buses and trucks. And it wasn’t just one street. On every street it seemed like there was traffic from one intersection to the next. Thad hoped the scenery in Harlem was as beautiful as this...

Blought #28: Solving Mysteries to Learn Lessons

From left to right: Eric Anderson, Casey Daniels, Laura Walter,

Kevin Keating and Shelly Costa participate in a panel discussion.

During my final semester at Cleveland State I enrolled into Dr. Anup Kumar’s "Specialized Writing" course focusing on writing narrative long form journalism. One of the most important pieces of advice that I can still remember Dr. Kumar offering the class was learning to have the ability to read a piece on a topic that you may not be familiar with, but one that you can learn from. I personally preferred a good op-ed piece on a pressing sports issue while Dr. Kumar made us read an article about Joan Rivers during the first week of the course.

After taking Dr. Kumar’s class I especially learned to appreciate journalism that focused on technology and science even though I need Wikipedia open to fully understand Einstein’s theory of gravitational waves. When Lee Chilcote, co-counder and cordinator of Lirerary Cleveland invited me to Literary Cleveland’s Winter Fictionfest I was elated.  The workshop and mini-conference took place at Loganberry Books on Larchmere in beautiful Shaker Heights and focused mainly on the elements and style of mystery and suspense fiction.

Blought #22: National Live Theater Presents 'Hamlet" at The Barbican

The opening Scene of Lyndsey Turner's 'Hamlet'

Theater is a beautiful thing. The stage design, production value, costumes and actors’ performances all coming together to tell a story live and in your face is a true marvel. Especially when it’s the all time great playwright William Shakespeare. I read some Shakespeare in high school including Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet. It wasn’t until last summer when I was able to watch a live performance of Shakespeare. The 13th Summer Season of the Ohio Shakespeare Festival was performing Henry IV part one.

The production was directed by the festival’s artistic director Terry Burgler and starred David McNees as King Henry IV and Andrew Cruse as Henry, Prince of Wales. The production was staged at the Stan Hywet Hall & Graden in Akron, Ohio. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my first Shakespeare experience. After I left I wondered when I would get to see my next live Shakespeare experience.

Last week I was invited to director Lyndsey Turner’s rendition of Hamlet. Hamlet is the story of Prince Hamlet who is grieving over the death of his father, King Hamlet of Denmark. When Hamlet sees his father’s ghost, the ghost tells Hamlet that his own brother and Hamlet's uncle Claudius, killed him so that he could take the thrown and his wife as his own.

Go Support #YoungLangston on November 1st!!!

Later this week I will be launching an Indie Go-Go campaign to raise funds to print copies of A Summer In Harlem and When the Crows Come Home along with my promotional bookmarks and laptop stickers. Here is the promotional video for the campaign set to begin on November 1st. I will be posting a link for the campaign in the near future. Thank to all of my supporters, Peace...



 

Chapter 1 of 'A Summer In Harlem' by Brendan Whitt

     “Thad, Thad, Thaddeus Leon Thomas! If I gotta call your name one more time to get up boy!” The loud and bellowing voice forced Thad to wake up. He pulled his blanket from over his head as the sun shined brightly through his bedroom window and into his face. He sat up for a moment and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before letting out a big yawn. Standing in the doorway staring at him was his grandmother. She was a large and portly black woman with a head full of grey hair. Standing right behind was her fat yellowish orange cat named Precious.
       “Glad to see you‘re finally up,” his grandmother said. “I’m headed out to run a few errands. Your breakfast is downstairs but you have to make your own eggs. You know how they get when their cold. When I get back we can head for the train station.” She took two steps out of Thad’s room before turning around, “Oh, and feed Precious” she added. Almost instinctively Precious turned around and followed Thad’s grandmother out of the room. When he could hear her footsteps heading down the stairs he pulled his covers completely off of his body and got out of bed. Thad was a relatively scrawny kid with dark skin and short black hair. He had just finished his first year of high school and had aspirations of becoming an engineer after college. He wanted to go to Tuskegee where one of his idols George Washington Carver had taught. Thad was a very intelligent kid who always garnered high praise from his teachers in regards to his academic accomplishments and behavior. He rarely got into any serious trouble or mischief. Outside of school Thad hung out with his same friends from when he was a child. He was just your run of the mill teenager from Beloit, Alabama in 1948.

Blought #5 'Gotta Love Sparknotes'

At the tender age of 21 I have spent 76% of my life in school. I've written countless papers and essays and I've taken plenty of test. I've also been forced to read a decent amount of books that I didn't like. The coolest thing about my generation is that invention called the Internet. Thanks to Google Scholar and Wikipedia fuck all encyclopedias. Now, thanks to Sparknotes I never have to read another lame book again. I was recently assigned “Northanger Abbey” by Jane Austen. Sorry, but most straight men don’t do Jane Austen and her lame ass 18th century literature.

Thanks to Sparknotes, I turned that little teenaged love fest into a quick ten minute read. Sparknotes not only gives you the plot, but it also gives you a character list and  a list of themes used in the story. All the garbage your professor wants you to look for and you don’t care for is there. Writing a five page analysis has never been easier. Only downside is some titles aren't there. Most of the time some of your bigger name titles are there. Sparknotes is sure to get you through those 250-page novels that don’t grab your attention but you have to write a paper on it. All I can say is thank god I’m not an English major.