As a fourteen year veteran manning the circulation desk at the Fanwood Memorial Library, I often encounter pleasant reminders of my previous life as a working partner in an international talent management agency and a career in publicity and public relations that spanned close to fifty years.
Books and recordings of clients that we represented such as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, etc., etc. elicit tiny tugs of memories when they pass through my hands in the course of a day’s work at the library. One small note of recognition might generate a series of instant remembrances that happened many years ago.
The other day a patron borrowed a copy of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s new book, Cavendon Hall. I took a quick glance at the author’s photo and it revived memories of working with this gracious lady and her husband, Bob, back in 1979 when her first big success, A Woman of Substance was published and then went on to become a major, top-rated television drama. The many meetings-into-the-night, interviews, rehearsals and conversations we had at that time, riding the crest of her talent and good fortune, revived lovely thoughts of long ago.
It appears that the time I spend at FML has a definite and positive therapeutic effect on me.
More later…
Dan Weiss
Dan is currently the director of the Fanwood (NJ) Memorial Library. Since he accepted that position in 1997 he has dramatically taken this small suburban library into the 21st century with improvements in facilities, staffing and service. He has served locally, regionally and state wide on many civic and library related committees and boards. In his current position Dan gets to do it all, from overseeing web development, graphics design and renovations, to public relations and fund-raising, all while being the go-to-guy for overflowing toilets and salting the front walk. With his colleague, Meg Kolaya, Dan started the consulting firm Library Connections that developed the nationally recognized and award-winning Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected project. They produced a customer service training video (updated in 2014) and website primarily for library staff to help them serve individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families more effectively. Dan and Meg have given many customer service and autism workshop presentations and keynote addresses, participated in conferences, taught online courses and consulted both locally and around the United States. After hours, Dan continues his varied music career, now with well over 50 years of performing, singing and playing the guitar. He loves all kinds of music with a special fondness for vocalists (Hank Williams, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday and George Jones), bluegrass, honky-tonk, and acoustic roots country. Check www.dannyweiss.com to find out where to hear him next.