There was a bond my father had with Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway had re-shaped the definition of masculinity of American males in the 1940s and 1950s. A large segment of these men fashioned themselves after Hemingway, taking their cues from his sense of adventurism.
Dr. Arthur Zampella was not immune from the influences of Hemingway’s works as a writer. So much was that influence, that he purchased the sister ship of La Bella Lola [originally christened as the Fairweather] that was built for Hemingway in the Cayman Islands in 1947. In 1948, may dad took the schooner on a Hemingway inspired deep sea fishing trip and landed a 12 foot sailfish off the coast of Venezuela. That fish hangs on the wall of the indoor pool at Idylease to this very day: A relic connected to Ernest Hemingway hanging on walls of Idylease. How cool is that? The boat was moored in the Long Island Sound for many years before it tore loose in a hurricane and ended up on the rocks at Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey. The vessel was unable to be salvaged. A sad ending to a vibrant period of my dads life. At my dads funeral in 1992, his best friend Andy Bertone, laughed about a drunken night in the 50s when they attempted to board the schooner and impress their dates with a stolen row boat. They all gave up because they simply couldn’t find the boat in the pitch dark. Little would my father know that many years later, the connection with Hemingway would culminate with a documentary I produced on Ernest Hemingway with John Mulholland and his daughter Shannon. The film received a Critics Pic from the New York Times in 2013. Post production work was completed at Idylease, with my father being a constant inspiration to help tell the story. Patrick Hemingway; Ernest’s last surviving son, was fascinated by the odd connection between our fathers when we discussed it over dinner at the Yale Club a few years ago.
Special Feature – Writer/Director John Mulholland discusses Ernest Hemingway and his impact on author Elmore Leonard. Elmore Leonard: But Don’t Try to Write is a 2021 Official Selection at this weeks American Documentary and Animation Festival in Palm Springs, California. Produced & Edited by Richard Zampella at Transmultimedia Entertainment. Post production work completed at Idylease. Narrated by Campbell Scott. To learn more, visit: www.elmoredoc.com
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A Multi-Media Presentation at The West Milford Township Public Library on March 12, 2020 at 7PM. Admission is Free.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, West Milford township was a major resort destination in New Jersey. At its height, the area had over forty hotels and boarding houses that catered to the tourists that flocked to the area for its magnificent scenery and healthful climate. Since the turn-of-the-century, West Milford also attracted visitors for its rustic beauty and natural resources. It’s approximately eighty square miles of mountains and lakes have delighted visitors for more than a century. In the mid-1800s, renowned Hudson River School painter Jasper F. Cropsey, captured many West Milford landscapes in their autumnal splendor. He married West Milford resident Maria Cooley at the WM Presbyterian Church in 1847. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many resorts opened in the township and railroads brought wealthy vacationers from New York City to enjoy the countryside. The transportation revolution of the mid 1920’s, caused tourism to decline in this part of New Jersey, with other, more distant locations rising in popularity. Around the turn of the century, the City of Newark, NJ systematically acquired large parcels of land until it owned close to a third of West Milford. The City’s Master Plan called for the razing of buildings that were on the watershed preserve, including most of the hotels and resorts. It was their goal to ensure there would be no development or contamination of the many reservoirs in the area that supply the drinking water for resident of the city. Of all the hotels that once graced the region, only one, the resort hotel know as Idylease remains standing as proof of a once thriving tourism industry. Opened on New Years’s Day in 1903, Idylease thrived during the Ragtime Era. The inn was a short trip from the Newfoundland Train station on the way to tourist-filled Greenwood Lake. Promoted as a health retreat, it sits amid pastoral country in the foot hills of the Kittatinny Mountains in the Highlands Region of NJ. Idylease, with its prominent central gable, was opened in 1902 by Brooklyn doctor Edgar Arthur Day who billed the Inn as “a modern health resort, delightful in autumn.” Visitors described it as a “haven of rest” whose “masseuses are among the best in the country” and where fine meals were served in the 46 room hotel’s main dining room. Idylease attracted a variety of prominent guests, including Thomas Edison. Based in West Orange, Edison opened a self-named mine near Sussex County’s Franklin-Ogdensburg mining district in 1889. When making the trip across North Jersey, Idylease marked the half-way point to the mine from his lab in the Oranges. Edison would have his car serviced at a local garage and spend the night at Idylease before continuing onto the mine the following morning. His plan was to harvest a previously overlooked pocket of lower-quality ore on Sparta Mountain, break up the rock on conveyor belts and suck out the iron with electromagnets. Other noted guests include: Joseph French Johnson, Dean of New York University’s School of Commerce, who hoped to salve his ill health but died there on January 19, 1925. Sports writer William B. Hanna, Civil War correspondent David Banks Sickels, and Grace Abbott, the head of the United States Children’s Bureau from 1921 to 1934. The Inn’s guestbook reveals the names of famous politicians, including New Jersey’s first female congresswoman, Mary T. Norton. At the peak of the once thriving tourism industry in West Milford, NJ, tourists could board a ferry at Debrosses Street in New York City and catch a train from Hackensack to Newfoundland to escape the confines of the city. As Early as 1857, tourists accessed the area by stagecoach when Browns Hotel in Newfoundland instituted coach service to from Paterson with a stop in Newfoundland. The Paterson and Deckertown stage got off to an auspicious start and operated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Agent John P. Brown advertised “Good coaches, fine horses and careful drivers”. The approximately 40-mile trip from Paterson to Deckertown was a bumpy ride along the old Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike. Individuals who wanted to make the trip left Paterson about 10 a.m. Nearly four hours later, they reached Brown’s Hotel in Newfoundland. An untold number of North Jersey residents considered a trip from the Highlands to Paterson something equivalent to a trip across the continent. A tourists account of his visit to West Milford was recorded by E. Hewitt, an English traveler from London in 1819. It tells of his visit to Brown’s Hotel, two years after its completion: “This afternoon, completely drenched with rain, we stayed at a tavern newly erected, in a village called Newfoundland. Here we procured a small private room and a good fire, dried our clothes, and got tea very comfortably. Our landlord, a very intelligent man, spent the evening with us, and related several interesting anecdotes of General Washington, with whom he was personally acquainted. I observed he was always addressed with the title of Squire, being a magistrate. Bears, deer, and wolves are very numerous in this neighborhood in the fall. A barn not exceeding 60 feet by 30 costs here about $125.00; shingles or wood tiles,15 to 20 dollars per thousand. The whip-poor-will we heard for the first time at this place, repeating its plaintive notes through the whole night. Our accommodations at this place were very comfortable. and our charge, including hay, one peck of Indian corn, our room, fuel, liquor, one pound of butter, what milk we chose and tar and tallow for our wagon, three quarters of a dollar. I gave our kind host one dollar, which he accepted with reluctance; and at our setting off, he prepared us a quantity of egg-nog, a mixture of apple spirits, eggs and milk. Terrible roads still, and the bridges over the small streams nothing more than poles laid across”. Although many brave tourists did access the the natural resources of West Milford by coach, by the turn of the century, the railroad became the preferred method to frequent the many resorts that adorned the area. Destinations such as Brown’s Hotel, Idylease, The Hotel Bel Air and the Green Pond Hotel catered to the burgeoning tourists that flocked to the area for its scenic beauty and healthy climate. The 1920’s also marked the height of passenger service provided by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway to the Newfoundland Station. Thirteen passenger trains in each direction stopped at Newfoundland Station on a daily basis. The Great depression struck in October 1929 and lasted well into the late 1930’s and the growth of tourism began to decline. In 1937, the NYS&W declared bankruptcy and shortly thereafter was spun off from its parent, the Erie Railroad, which had controlled it since 1898. Also, the mass production of the automobile by Henry Ford in the 1930s rendered the passenger railroad obsolete, making more distant locales such as the Poconos and the Adirondack accessible by car. Passenger service ceased completely by 1966. The great lawns at the Idylease, once a place where bonneted ladies and jacketed gentlemen relaxed and played croquet, now serves as a landing pad for medivac helicopters under the supervision of the West Milford Office of Emergency Management. Idylease was the first property named on West Milford Township’s list of historic sites, and the last of more than a dozen similar facilities that stood in town during the tourism heyday of the early-20th century. Idylease was initially advertised in 1908 as a modern health resort, offering “All Forms of Hydro-Therapy and Massage.” Idylease was a “quiet, homelike place for Semi-Invalids, Convalescents, Neurasthenics, and Mild Cases of Cardiac, Nephritic and Stomachic Troubles, and for those desiring change of environment. No Tubercular or Objectionable Cases.” The resident physician and superintendent from 1906 until 1943 was Dr. D.E. Drake. A brochure published in about 1930 stressed the round-the-clock availability of staff physicians, Norwegian-trained massage therapists, and the “most approved scientific apparatus for administering baths, sprays, and douches.” Potential guests, in the accepted social order of the day, were reassured by the policy boldly stated on the first page of the brochure: “Hebrew Patronage Not Solicited.” By the late 1930s Dr. Drake understood that declining tourism required the facility to adapt to advances in medical science in order to ensure the future of Idylease. Idylease’s initial prohibition of tubercular cases reflected modern understanding of tuberculosis as a transmissible infection caused by bacteria. Robert Koch in Germany first isolated the tubercle bacillus in 1882, although it took some years for the medical community to fully accept the infectious nature of the disease. By 1940, Drake conceded to accept guests suffering from Tuberculosis. With this change, Idylease would established itself as one of the most prominent Tubercular Sanitoriums on the East Coast. With the subsequent development of the TB vaccine around 1927, Dr Drake treated patient that had already been infected prior to the vaccine. Throughout the 1940s the number of tubercular patients slowly began to decline and Idylease would face an uncertain future. Dr. Drake would shutter Idylease in 1943 and he would pass away in 1951. Idylease would sit vacant for a period of thirteen years with the windows boarded up and its plumbing shattered. Dr Arthur Zampella had graduated from the Boston University School of Medicine in 1943. He had always had an interest in geriatric care and the elderly. It was his wish to find a facility where he could practice medicine and serve the needs of an aging population. As a lifelong scholar, Zampella’s interest in this area were reflected in his authorship of many published medical articles, chapters and books on various aspects of aging, care of the elderly, as well as ethical, socio-economic and philosophic discussion in these fields. In an article entitled, “Sampling of the Attitudes of the Aged,” Zampella explored the dilemma of the aging process whereby the elderly are striped of their social identities after being admitted to a nursing home. He felt that a sterile environment, devoid of a homelike atmosphere reduced life expectancy. For many years Zampella had searched for a facility suitable to realize his vision for extended geriatric care and in 1954, he was introduced to Idylease. Dr. Zampella purchased Idylease from the Estate of Dr. Daniel Drake and and converted Idylease into a Nursing Home. The renovated facility maintained a staff of 11 doctors and employed 65 people. Idylease Nursing home closed in 1972. #westmilford #history #tourism #public #library The market that Nicholas and Carmela Merola opened in 1930 in the tiny Long Island hamlet of Point Lookout, NY recently re-opened its doors at 40 Lido Boulevard. The New Market is named the Food Mill and will continue to operate from the same location on Lido Boulevard, is something of a throwback, like Point Lookout itself.
The village, surrounded on three sides by water, is a seaside Wobegon within commuting distance of New York City. The speed limit is 15 mph. You have to pick up your own mail at the post office. And celebrity residents have been more on the order of Charles Atlas or Marlene Dietrich than Madonna or Lady Gaga. Proprietors Richard Zampella and Shannon Mulholland know what it takes to run a business in Point Lookout. Their Ice Cream Store, Skipperdees has been voted as the Best Ice Cream Shop on Long Island for 2017 & 2018 and has been serving up sweets to the young and young at heart since 2007. There's Literature... There's Genre... and then there's Elmore Leonard - A Documentary Coming Spring 2019.
Elmore Leonard, one of the most popular and admired authors of his time, wrote more than forty novels and dozens of short stories. Among his many NY Times bestsellers: Tishomingo Blues, Glitz, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, and Rum Punch. Unlike most (so-called) genre writers, however, Leonard is taken seriously, indeed, by those in the literary arena. This documentary film from Transmultimedia Entertainment is Produced/Edited by Richard Zampella and Written/Directed by John Mulholland. Craig Gilbert is Executive Producer and Campbell Scott Narrates. For more info visit: www.elmoredoc.com Nicole Roarke: Executive Chef of Heneghan's Tavern in
Point Lookout, NY Appearing on The Food Network BEAT BOBBY FLAY Thursday, February 18th at 10pm ET/PT Episode: “A Feather in your Cap” Food Network vets Sunny Anderson and Alex Guarnaschelli ruffle some feathers in this epic culinary battle. Fashionista turned chef, Mohan Ismail brings his Singaporean flare against one of Long Island’s All Star chefs, Nicole Roarke. Judges: Wylie Dufresne, Ed Schoenfeld, Frank Pellegrino Jr. About Richard Zampella is the graphic designer and webdesigner for Heneghan’s Tavern located in Point Lookout, NY. Zampella provided consulting services to Heneghan’s Tavern during the design and pre-construction phase of the restaurant. Zampella has designed and deployed over 400 websites in his career and specializes in website SEO and branding for small business nationally. Zampella provides graphic support for various events at the restaurant. He is also the owner & operator of Skipperdee's Sweet parlor located on Lido Blvd. in Point Lookout, NY. To learn more about Richard Zampella & Transmultimedia Visit: www.trans-multimedia.com Writer/Director John Mulholland and Producer Richard Zampella have wrapped up a week in Los Angeles, filming West Coast interviews for their upcoming Elmore Leonard documentary. The interviews explore Leonard's writing and the numerous film adaptations based on his work, such as: Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, Out Of Sight, and the FX television series, Justified.
Among those interviewed: Producer/Writer Gregg Sutter, who served as Leonard's researcher for more than three decades, is editor and contributor to the Library of America's three-volume Elmore Leonard Anthology. Graham Yost created and co-wrote Justified, which concluded its six-season run earlier this year. The series was based on Elmore Leonard's short story, Fire in the Hole. Yost wrote the films, Speed, Broken ARROW and Hard Rain, and worked on such HBO series as Band Of Brothers and The Pacific. Rachel Howzell Hall is author of the critically-acclaimed Detective Elouise Norton novels, Land of Shadows and Skies of Ash (Forge) cited by the LA Times as "Books to Read This Summer" in both 2014 and 2015. Hall's first novel, A Quiet Storm (Scribner), was a Borders' Original Voices selection. Wendy Calhoun, currently co-exec producer on Empire, Fox's hip-hop smash, was a co-producer, story editor and writer for two seasons on Justified. Calhoun was also a writer and producer on the ABC-TV series, Revenge. Cheryl Dorsey, retired LAPD Sergeant, is author of Black & Blue: The Creation of a Manifesto, which offers an unsparing look at the inner workings of the LAPD regarding its black officers, its female officers, and, most especially, its black female officers. Dorsey has appeared on MSNBC and contributes to The Huffington Post. Mulholland wrote/directed the NY Times Critics Pick, Cooper and Hemingway: The True Gen, which explored the 20 year friendship of Ernest Hemingway and Gary Cooper. The feature documentary was produced by Richard Zampella at Transmultimedia Entertainment. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- ATLANTA -- September 11, 2015
CNN Editor's Pic – Daphne Sashin: Producer of Social Discovery • PR Web ATLANTA -- Sept 11, 2015 – Documentary film producer Richard Zampella was awarded an Editor's Pic for his Photo Essay and Article on the September 11th Anniversary. Thanks to all my friends at CNN. Read more: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1269797 Writer and director John Mulholland was joined by producer Richard Zampella for a screening of the documentary "Cooper and Hemingway: The True Gen" on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at the Lyric Theater in Blacksburg, Virginia. Steven Prince -- Professor of Cinema Studies invited Mulholland and Zampella to address classes at the School of Preforming Arts at Virginia Tech on Tuesday, Feb 10. The 130-minute film, narrated by Sam Waterston, features interviews with Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, George Plimpton, and Patricia Neal and explores the 20 year friendship between author Ernest Hemingway and Actor Gary Cooper.
The world received a unique and whimsically fun Christmas present this year: the newly revamped and remarkably hip new Doc Scantlin and His Imperial Palms Orchestra website! This is more than just a long-overdue celebration of what Forbes magazine calls the "world's best band", it's filled with little surprises - such as the old timey radio featuring a bunch of Doc's classic hits that - believe or not - have never been available before in any form of any kind, YouTube-ish or otherwise.
If you who is reading this are a living breathing entity who has any interest in living your life in an entertaining manner, then stop wasting any more time and check this out immediately, it's a historic milestone of 21st century proportions. Click here to read about the brilliant folks at Transmultimedia who are behind this technically creative masterpiece. Click here for the press release! PRLog (Press Release) - Jan. 23, 2014 - NEW YORK -- TransMultimedia Entertainment (www.trans-multimedia.com) has announced that it is remastering its standard definition library which includes over a 1000 hours of never seen before interview footage.
TransMultimedia will bring over 1000 hours of archival interviews featuring subjects of Classic Hollywood actors, directors, fashion designers, producers, authors and more into HD format for Blu-ray or new media exploitation in the years to come. A full list of subject matter will be released in the coming weeks. Richard Zampella, Managing Partner of TransMultimedia, commented: “Our decision to remaster these incredible interviews not only allows existing fans to experience these historical stories of the golden age of Hollywood in high definition, but also encourages a new global audience to discover and see some of these interviews for the first time." “We have an exciting and busy year ahead but are confident that our Blu-ray plans for these treasures will ensure that these informative and educational archival interviews will live on for generations to come.” TransMultimedia is a New York based media company that produces content in all media throughout the world. Learn more on various preservation projects by Managing Partner of TransMultimedia, Richard Zampella at his Historic Continuance blog. TransMultimedia produced the NY Times Critic’s Pick feature documentary in HD/Blu-Ray “Cooper and Hemingway: The True Gen” (cooperhemingway.com) released in theaters in 2013 as well as numerous multimedia projects. |
AuthorRichard Zampella is a documentary film producer who has created content for Warner Home Video and Liongate Entertainment. Archives
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