About this column:
Arthur Joel Katz (he generally is called “Joel”) was born in the dim past (1928). He graduated from Columbia Law School, practiced for three years and then entered the entertainment business, first in an agency and then for six years with Herb Brodkin’s Plautus Productions as Executive Vice President, where he produced more than 80 shows for network television. He then surrendered to Hollywood, working as a producer or executive for about 25 years for such companies as Universal Pictures, MGM, NBC, Playboy and Westinghouse. He spent the better part of three years in the former USSR producing a mini-series for NBC. He moved to the Saucon Valley about 20 years ago, where he has entertained himself writing columns for various local newspapers and writing “Making Harriet,” a novel about Hollywood.Today, Aug. 4, is Barack Obama's fiftieth birthday. It is probably not a very happy one, because, as Democratic congressman Gary Ackerman said, Obama has just come from a strip poker game in which he started wearing only half his clothes. The congressman was, of course, referring to Obama’s leadership in the debt ceiling settlement where he abandoned his primary position that revenues had to be raised from the wealthy and subsidies ceased to oil and gas companies. Even before that, he was in deep doo doo with the American people, although whether that was due to some fault of his own is open …
Editor's Note: This column initially appeared in the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Patch on June 12. “Public safety is the single most important mission for government, and illegal drugs are the number one threat to public safety in Pennsylvania.” So says our esteemed Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda L. Kelley on her website. Or maybe the statement was left over by the former Attorney General, who is now our Governor. In either event, the statement is wrong. Stupidity is the greatest threat to public safety. For the information of all concerned, the War on Drugs has been lost. Don’t take ye …
Contrary to popular belief, I did have a mother who loved me as I loved her. Unfortunately, she died while I was in early middle age of, egad, liver cancer. And even though I have passed my 83rd birthday, I still miss her and wish she was still around so I could consult with her. Recently, my only sibling, my sister who is 15 years younger than I am, said she was going to New York (from Tampa) to, among other things, clean up mom’s grave. Mom is buried somewhere in the wilds of Long Island. I haven’t seen her grave since my aunt Dorothy, mom’s younger sister, was buried in the same plot about…
A move is underfoot--deep in the slush I hope--for Lower Saucon to withdraw its support of the Bethlehem Area Public Library (BAPL) in favor of supporting the Hellertown Area Public Library. The move can only be pushed by those who are unable to read or choose not to do so. I don’t know most of the folks appointed to the recently-formed Saucon Valley Library Consolidation Feasibility Task Force, but the one school board member appointed I believe never saw a book he was willing to pay for. The BAPL is a major asset to the whole Lehigh Valley. It offers a wide range of books, tapes, CDs, DVDs…
