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| "Back to Nature" by Jan Barry Puffin Cultural Forum Calendar Feb. 2018 |
Week three of Warrior Writers NJ’s
coronavirus-quarantine, online workshops on Zoom, on Sunday, April 5, reunited
several veterans and military family members peering into laptops and cell
phones at their homes and, in one case, sitting beside a spring-showered river.
The main focus of this gathering was the grievous loss of a major supporter of progressive
artists, writers and musicians, including our veterans’ arts programs: Perry
Rosenstein, the founder of Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck, NJ.
A World War II veteran, Perry provided a welcoming
place for O wow! sorts of thought-provoking art about the horrendous consequences
of war and survivors’ and supporters’ on-going struggles for peace and community
harmony. Perry and his wife Gladys Miller-Rosenstein supported with Puffin
Foundation grants a wide range of progressive groups, including The Nation
magazine; instituted the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, awarded
to Americans who do conspicuously courageous social justice work; and founded
the Teaneck Creek Conservancy, a local environmental jewel they and scores of enthusiastic
volunteers crafted from a trash dump.
This is a selection of our writing workshop meditations.
Puffin
By Jan Barry
The
first time I saw a Puffin
Was
a painting on a chunk of concrete
In
a wooded former dump site
That
somebody had turned into a
Nature
preserve off I-95 in Teaneck—
That
somebody was a retired business guy
Named
Perry Rosenstein
Who
turned his corporate offices
Into
a community culture center
And
spread his transformational actions
Across
Teaneck, New York City, and the world—
Perry
died the other day, at 94
Struck
down by coronavirus,
As
it has ravaged places he loved
RIP, Mr. Rosenstein
By Tara Kraus
RIP,
Mr. Rosenstein
I
thank you for your creation,
your
precious vibrant container,
Puffin
Cultural Foundation
petri-dish
artist skunkworx
of
duende and social justice.
Where
creativity Sparked, Forged, Trussed,
buttressed
soaring truths
for
our imaginal human rights futures, manifests in real time.
Your
container called us forth, our Frontline Arts
brothers
and sisters’ Armistice show on Veterans Day 2018,
I
created my large
Trump
nuclear abolition pop-up.
You
called us
To
go large as artists to stretch our craft
To
raise our voices from a strangled whisper through a gasp of possibility
to
full throated reverberating.
You
call us forth to create the undeniable.
Gratitude.
The Puffin
By JoAnn Drozd
A
place for all to gather
Memories
of an endearing evening of art, writing, and music by a multitude of artists
My
son’s emotional poem about the war machine & his girlfriend at the time,
now wife’s
heart-wrenching
rendition of Pink’s, ‘Dear Mr. President’
Bob
was there beaming with pride & awe.
A
beautiful night filled with solidarity & gratitude.
Thank
you, Perry, for your everlasting donation to the Arts!
Such
moving & historical subject matter to preserve with the community.
And
how crucial a place it is, especially now, to record & keep alive
the
bizarre days the world is experiencing today.
Rest
in Peace, Perry, knowing what a legacy you left behind.
Thank
you….
Puffin
By Sarah Mess
Perry,
he gave us time, space,
And
let our stories and our voices
Echo
off walls of the Puffin
I
read my first poem out loud there
When
Jan Barry made a poet out of me
Perry
was my butterfly in the wind
Who
changed the trajectory of my life
And
my regret is that I never got to tell him
May
he rest in the peace
That
he left behind in so many compromised
And
marginalized voices
Peace
that for some of us
Took
a lifetime to find
A Salute to Perry Rosenstein
By Paula Rogovin
The
puffin
a
bird almost extinct
Pollution,
overfishing, climate change
Diminishing
food supplies –
And
They’re
tasty
Perry
Rosenstein - what a tasty choice
to
name, to house your dream, Puffin Cultural Forum here in Teaneck, NJ,
Progressive
artists, musicians, pets, veterans and military families, news media, nature
lovers,
and
filmmakers
Perry
Rosenstein - your vision will never go extinct.
Perry
Rosenstein - Present
Posts
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