MOVABLE ERJ Dear Diary
Ellen G.K. Rubin Scarsdale, New York
Dear Diary; The cliché, "Time marches on" rings so true, and it's miraculous how soon a date one never thought would arrive, does. It's been two years since the last Movable Book Society convention and almost three since the inception of the exhibition, "Brooklyn Pops Up! The History and Art ofthe Movable Book." Tuesday's opening of the exhibition seemed to be a great success (despite my not having other openings to compare it to). Robert Sabuda, Ann Montanaro and I (the curators) were smiling proudly the whole time. The best surprise was the appearance of Ken Wilson-Max who just showed up from London, an angel with dreadlocks. Now it's time to loosen up a little and welcome the people who were our target audience for the exhibition, members of the Movable Book Society. I was so euphoric but so intent on my role in all of this, Dear Diary, that I apologize in advance for any omissions I commit.
VOLUME 8 NUMBER 4 NOVEMBER
2000
City provides. Sitting in the waiting area is Carla Dijs poring over . . book contracts? One could pick her out of the crowd as the European artist she is with her black, thick-rimmed glasses beneath black spiky hair. She might have made the short walk to the hotel from the Art Students' League on West 57th Street. Kees (pronounced, case) Moerbeek, her husband, is not yet in evidence. The U.S. is well represented with conventioneers (no we weren't wearing funny hats!) from Washington, San Diego, Santa Fe, Detroit, and Connecticut.
600 pm Thursday, September 21 2000 Warwick Hotel/New York City Dear Diary, People are slow to arrive but the air is instantly convivial. Like a big family everyone immediately falls into old patterns with the "Show 'n' Tell" coming out and the Of opening lines, "Did you see the pop-up book with . course, Andy Baron, now with wife Paula patiently in the wings, is spreading out his amazing books, this time Percys Park, a panorama with multiple movables. We are Wowed! A small group of us keep talking and sharing news until the waiters have remade every table but ours. It's late. Unable to break up, we reconvene in Lin Sasman's room. Feeling like The Three Bears walking in on Goldilocks, Lin's roommate, Laura Hopeman, is already in bed but regally holds court from her "throne." More "Show 'n' Tell." We can't seem to help ourselves.
9:00 a.m. Friday, September 22, Dear Diary: This is our first full day and despite sleepy, jet-lagged eyes, we are ready to begin. Coffee will not be served until the first break at 10 o'clock and there is a minor frantic search for it. Not to worry. This is the Big Apple and the
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Ann Montanaro, Ellen Rubin, Robert Sabuda
Ann Montanaro calls us to order, warmly welcomes us, and turns the program over to Roy Dicks, who had graciously agreed to put together the convention's program. Roy, with his friendly but no-nonsense approach, is determined to stick to the time-line of the program and introduces Adie Pefia to discuss his collection of pop-ups with a musical theme. Those of us who have met Adie before know of his extensive collection lovingly housed in what he calls, The Museo Mobiblio. His slide show, he announces, will be "Collector Friendly," meaning he will make us drool but will also provide buckets. He speaks of his love of music, hence, his partiality to pop-ups with musical themes. S. Louis Giraud and Kubaita, Continued on page 14