Welcome to the blogosphere, Martin Lanaux!

There's nothing better than introducing a grand person to the world of blog...so, welcome to the virtual world Martin Lanaux, Bookseller.

The Gypsy Queen Cab has talked about Over The Transom bookstore and Martin. Now Martin has joined the ranks of the literary wunderkind and their kinfolk. And, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood on the bay.

On the Breath of Dawn

This afternoon at the Gulf we said our goodbyes to Karen Cater. Her nineteen year-old son Reid did his mama proud and told us all, "If my mother had her way, we'd all be dancing in the aisles, clapping and singing, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'..." Of course she'd want the Rolling Stones. It would figure that Karen would take her last bow on Mardi Gras day. We wept, but Reid told us that wasn't what Karen would have wanted.

So we reminisced about our own experiences with the globe-trotting photographer and actress. Photographs of Karen brought back memories...a flower child in New York City, an actress, a very pregnant mom in a string bikini...ooh la la Karen

If you ran in off-Broadway theater circles in New York you may have met her. If you were in children's theater in Gulf Shores, or Chicago, or Fairhope, you may have met her. You certainly would never forget her if you heard her husky laugh and wonderful rich voice. Karen was a friend who gave as good as she got. She always looked like a gypsy floating into rooms waving a cigarette and toasting with a glass of wine. Her wolf, ancient and shaggy and white, followed her with his eyes when he grew too old and tired to be her shadow. The rest of us followed her lead as if she were the Pied Piper.

Dance with the angels, Karen.

Dimming the lights on Broadway

Someone great and grand, and larger than life, left life yesterday.

Karen Cater choose Mardi Gras day to take her final bow on this great stage where she lived life to the fullest. With contagious enthusiasm, kicking her shoes off while she danced on tabletops, Karen wove magic in her life and in the lives of all she touched.

We will miss you, Karen. Dream with the angels.

Come day, go day, God send Sunday

When the Gypsy Queen Cab toured the Blue Ridge Mountains and dropped in on Mr. Jefferson's University in Charlottesville for a few years, a favored English professor and his wife produced a documentary film...Come day, go day, God send Sunday. The title resonated and from time to time in the workaday world, this cab hears the lament and refrain from folks who toil in the corporate fields--another form of slavery.

A short history lecture: the expression, and the documentary title, was one that was voiced by African-Americans who worked in low paying, or no-paying, back breaking jobs from Monday through Friday, and who received little, if any, respect from their white bosses. On Sunday, those same janitors and house keepers and yard men became deacons and elders and preachers in their churches. On Sunday, those hard working individuals found respect, an opportunity to fortify themselves spiritually for the coming work week.

The Gypsy Queen Cab rarely tours a political landscape, but on this eve it somehow seems appropriate.

Photos from the Hair Ball at Beauty and the Book

News Flash, Gypsy Queen fans! The photos from the Hair Ball are available for viewing on the Beauty and the Book website. Check out the pix and see if you can find mystery writer Carolyn Haines! Take a close look at some other photos, and you'll see Beauty and the Book owner Kathy Patrick singing with the inimitable Marshall Chapman.

Kathy and I share a passion for Michael Morris's books...and if you haven't read them, well just rush right out and buy them. Call the cab for a lift if you don't have transportation to your local independent bookstore! Michael recently published Live Like You Were Dying, which followed Slow Way Home. His first novel A Place Called Wiregrass is a story with a big heart...just like Michael. And, all his stories have heart.

And Baby Makes...A Designer's Dreams Come True!

Once upon a time, not too many years ago, a young Martin Lanaux--now proprietor of the rare and used books at Over The Transom Bookstore--lived on Bayview with his young bride Gina and a baby girl...

But that was then, and this is now...Martin still has his lovely bride Gina, and two beautiful daughters. Martin knows everyone on the bay and he tells me that Javis Davis on Church Street is one of the best kept secrets in town. The leader in custom bedding for infants and children features "Custom-made bedding at ready-made prices!" What a treat is in store for those who make an appointment to visit and create sweet dreams for their own children or grandchildren. Some folks visit in person, while others from all parts of the country make a virtual tour to buy Mary Lou Cothran's custom designs.

The gypsy queen cab may need to order some toile pillows for the back seat just to add a touch of that je ne sais quoi.

Gee's Bend and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Southern Writers' Project Festival of New Plays starts in Montgomery on Friday, Feb. 4 and goes through Sunday, Feb. 6th. For those maskers who might enjoy dramatic diversion that doesn't take place in the streets of Mobile, why not schedule a trip to ASF's Southern Writers' Project and meet, among others, Sena Jeter Naslund, author of two extraordinary novels Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits.

Oh, and this gypsy queen cab just loves to share good news...especially when sworn to secrecy before the announcement: Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder was awarded a Southern Writers' Project commission to develop a play about Gee's Bend! That red-headed dynamo just flew in town from the other coast (Los Angeles) and is on her way to Montgomery right this minute.

And, friends on the bay, it goes without saying that Alabama Writers' Forum Executive Director Jeanie Thompson will be hosting her Spalding buddies--including Sena--for some of the weekend's activities. If the Gypsy Queen Cab ever gets down off the cinder blocks in the barn, we'll share an up close and personal account of the writers, actors, and readings.