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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > September > 19
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Celestine Sibley’s Sweet Apple still filled with sweet memories
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s a reader question that ranks right up there with “Is that your real hair?” AJC aficionados always want to know if our late colleague Celestine Sibley’s beloved Roswell log cabin Sweet Apple still exists, seven years after the legendary columnist’s passing.
To be honest, we couldn’t answer the question until last week, when we were delighted to accept a dinner invitation at Sweet Apple, courtesy of Celestine’s daughter, Susan Bazemore, and her husband, Edward.
We’re pleased to report that the restored log cabin, long the apple of many a real estate developer’s eye, is thriving. The writer’s retreat serves as the summer home for the Bazemores, who also maintain a home in Alford, Fla. Longtime readers will fondly recall Celestine’s constant battle against the encroaching McMansion developments that continue to spring up all around her fixer-upper cabin she first discovered in 1961.
“Oh, the developers still swarm around like vultures,” Susan jokes. “They’ll probably come and get us in our sleep one night!”
Since her mother’s 1999 death, the Bazemores have installed a new roof on the cabin, added a new heating and air system, and closed in some of the gaps between the logs, resulting in less drafty winters there.
This summer, the cabin played host to the Theatre in the Square cast of “Turned Funny,” the world premiere play based on Celestine Sibley’s 1988 memoir. The mammoth stone fireplace remains the living room’s focal point. Books line the shelves. And on the landing of the stairs leading to Celestine’s former bedroom, her much-cherished crepe paper and cardboard angel wings — bestowed by Big Bethel AME Church downtown — are framed on the wall.
The screened-in porch provided the backdrop for an evening of swapping Celestine stories. Among our favorites? Susan told us that shortly after the stretch of Ga. 140 was renamed Celestine Sibley Highway, the writer was pulled over on it — for speeding.
“And the officer ticketed Mother, too!” Susan added, laughing.
Alas, we noted that one of the two street signs marking Celestine’s stretch of road — the sign on Arnold Mill Road — is badly bent. We’re practically certain the repair work order will be placed today. After all, Celestine did pay that speeding ticket.
Changes for Runnicles
There’s trouble in Valhalla. The San Francisco Opera has announced that Donald Runnicles, its music director since 1992 — and current Atlanta Symphony Orchestra principal guest conductor — will end his opera job after the 2008-09 season, when his contract expires.
Runnicles, 51, couldn’t be reached for comment. A statement described the departure as a “mutual decision” between the Scottish-born maestro and the opera’s general director, David Gockley, who took over in January. The news is no surprise: It was widely rumored that Gockley would install his own in-house conductor.
But it is too bad for Runnicles. Although he has several part-time gigs — in Atlanta, as principal conductor of New York’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and as music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyo. — San Francisco was a high-profile international base. His conducting of Wagner’s “Ring” cycles and premieres of John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic” and Olivier Messiaen’s “St. Francis of Assisi” are seen as high points for the company.
Runnicles, his wife and two young daughters live just north of the bay. This season, he’ll conduct five of the opera’s 10 productions, and Gockley has indicated that Runnicles will continue to work in San Francisco, including a “Ring” in 2011. Runnicles’ ASO contract calls for six weeks a year and also runs through the 2008-09 season.
Friends aid chef’s family
On Monday, Buzz Central received the final tallies from the recent benefit for Andrea and Daniel Porubiansky and their family. Andrea, the wife of Seeger’s chef Daniel Porubiansky, has been undergoing treatment for cancer. The “Little Help From Friends” benefit this month at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead attracted 185 guests and raised more than $150,000 to help offset medical expenses.
Bacchanalia, Floataway Café, Star Provisions and Quinones owners/chefs Clifford Harrison and Anne Quatrano organized the event. Some of the city’s most acclaimed chefs clustered in the kitchen included Joël chef Joël Antunes; the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead Dining Room chef Arnaud Berthelier; Shaun’s chef Shaun Doty; Aria pastry chef Kathryn King; Aria owner/chef Gerry Klaskala; Taurus owner/chef Gary Mennie; Sam & Dave’s BBQ chef Dave Roberts; Table 1280 chef Todd Immel; ChikaLicious owner/chef Chika Tillman; and the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey chef Dakota Weiss.
Folks interested in making donations to the Porubiansky family can contact Frances Quatrano at 404-365-0410, Ext. 22.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Adam West (“Batman”) is 76. Actor David McCallum (“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”) is 73. Country singer Trisha Yearwood is 42.
Contributing: Pierre Ruhe and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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