stories of travel in the United States
photo credit EllisIsland.org Crossing the Atlantic - A Semi-Fictional Story They left all they had, all they knew, to come to America for a better life. The stories of immigrants are as varied as the 51-plus-million who crossed the Atlantic in crowded, unsanitary conditions. For them, the American dream was their only hope, so they [...]
FIFTY FLOORS OF FEAR photo credit: Four Seasons New York One step up a ladder makes my palms sweat. Imagine my near-heart-attack when I stepped onto a scaffolding on the side of the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City: Fifty Floors off the ground. I was filming the reconstruction of the [...]
KDFM Walnut Creek California As a teenager I had a transistor radio glued to my ear. I passionately wanted to be an announcer on a radio station. It wasn’t easy to break into the broadcasting business in 1968, but when you want something bad enough, you find a way. My friend Bill Weil knew [...]
The frantic clown streamed out of the Ringling Brothers - Barnum and Bailey big top at Baraboo, Wisconsin. His over-sized shoes flip-flopped across the pavement as he ran toward us screaming “Dr. Bob! Dr. Bob!!” We thought something had happened inside the tent and a doctor was urgently needed.
Puppy Love Revisited (names were changed to protect the guilty) I was 11, she was much older, at 12. Nicole, her younger brother, Randy, my sister, and dumb, fat Victor would walk up the block to the old, abandoned cemetery and read the headstones. Most were from the 1800s or early 1900s. Weeds were [...]
They Called Him "Prince" Three Personal Prince Tales The First Tale I was 14 in the summer of 1965. My parents had joined the little theater group “Pleasant Hill Playmakers.” To my dismay, the troupe decided that a summer production of ‘Snow White’ would be the perfect way to give hordes of out-of-school adolescents [...]
I Found My Hat! by Marc Curtis ©2017 MarcCurtis.com all rights reserved. Sometimes we hold on to an item because it embraces a special remembrance. Welcome to Small Town America Ord, Nebraska Population: 2200 1.66 square miles Not exactly a tourist mecca, Ord is located in the center of the state. In 1985 it [...]
Joshua Tree National Park Desert Flower Cactus Century Plant Joshua Tree National Park is immense, nearly 800,000 acres, and infinitely variable. It can seem unwelcoming, even brutal during the heat of summer when, in fact, it is delicate and extremely fragile. This is a land shaped by strong [...]
United Vintners of San Francisco Inglenook Vintages Italian Swiss Colony Heublein Cocktails Why write about a troubled, defunct company? The history of wine in the USA is part of the history of me, Marc Curtis. United Vintners of San Francisco has its roots in the depths of [...]
PBS Documentary Films Robert Drew LA Champions Shootout on Imperial Hwy In 1984 I received a call from documentary producer, Robert Drew. I shot several award winning PBS Documentary Films for the Frontline series with him, including: || Warnings From Gangland (1984-85) A Los Angeles gang attacks a [...]