Friday, May 16, 2008

The Mount: foreclosure deadline extended to October 31

From the Berkshire Eagle

October climax set for The Mount
By Benning W. De La Mater, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Article Last Updated: 05/14/2008 09:44:51 AM EDT

Wednesday, May 14
LENOX — An agreement between The Mount and its creditors has staved off foreclosure and a May 31 deadline that would have forced Edith Wharton Restoration Inc. to raise $3 million by the end of the month.

Instead, the historic home of the Gilded Age writer will be open to the public all summer without a threat of foreclosure by Berkshire Bank. The new fundraising deadline has been set for Oct. 31.

Susan Wissler, The Mount's acting CEO and president, said the spirits of the staff were high after they received word of the reprieve Monday. And if opening weekend was any barometer (The Mount opened on Friday), then Wharton's fans are pulling for the home to make it through the financial crisis: Wissler said attendance was up 50 percent from average opening weekends and nearly $8,000 in revenue was generated during the first three days.

"We hope that was a strong harbinger of what's to come," Wissler said. "A lot of the customers were talking about our situation. We had a couple fly in from Seattle just to see The Mount."

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Young Indy

From a review of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Volume Three - The Years of Change at Blogcritics:
The First World War is essentially over and continues for only the first two episodes. The intrigue of that war and what destruction it wrought on a whole generation still make it the most interesting backdrop for these Indiana Jones stories. The first one, "Tales Of Innocence" is a simple tale and maybe my favorite in this collection. The two stories - Indy and Ernest Hemingway falling in love with the same woman and Indy and Edith Wharton developing a forbidden attraction to each other while Indy searches for a traitor - are light on the surface but that belies a hidden depth. These unrequited loves hint at what will become the post-war "Lost Generation." After what Indy has seen in the War, what meaning will there be in life? And how does he truly give his heart when he's seen so much death and destruction?