AitN: July 27, 2020

Cassius Michael Kim ’02 is a producer of the documentary Stockton on My Mind, which will debut on HBO on July 28. The film profiles Michael Tubbs, who became the first African-American mayor of Stockton, Calif., at 26. The film “follows Tubbs’ personal and political journey, exploring how growing up amid poverty and violence shaped his vision for innovative change.”

New York magazine ran an excerpt from the late artist John Giorno ’58’s memoirs, Great Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment, in its July 20 issue. The book will be released on August 4; Giorno died last October, weeks after submitting his memoirs for publication. From the excerpt: “We began shooting Sleep Wednesday, July 10. We had just come from a screening at the Bleecker Street Cinema and a loft party downtown. We stopped by Andy [Warhol]’s house and picked up the camera and lights. We got to my place and began shooting about one o’clock. I was a little drunk and made myself a vodka-and-soda. I took off my clothes, dropping them on the floor. Andy did the setup: two 150-watt aluminum reflector clip-on lights, tripod and Bolex camera, light meter and film. He was awkward and his hands trembled. He had never done it before. It was his first big film.”

On July 19, Akiva Tor ’85 was appointed as Israel’s ambassador to South Korea, based in Seoul.

WNYC and The Public Theater presented Shakespeare’s Richard II as four nights of serialized radio drama, from July 13 to 16. James Shapiro ’77, author of Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future, provided commentary on the production.