‘Friends of New Journalism’ come together to party and hail ‘Rag Blog’ editor Thorne Dreyer on the occasion of his 69th trip around the sun.
The tribe gathered for Thorne Dreyer’s 69th birthday party at Maria’s Taco Xpress in Austin, Friday, August 1. (Dreyer’s the smug one up front in the loud blue shirt and “Goofy” cap!) Photo by Carlos Lowry / The Rag Blog.
AUSTIN — The tribe gathered Friday night, August 1st. The call was to “Come and Party Like It’s 1969” in honor of our hard-working Rag Blog editor, Rag Radio host, and birthday boy, Mr. Thorne Webb Dreyer. Thorne has now completed 69 trips around the sun, and that’s reason enough to party.
But 69 is a fun number in itself, what with the famous sex position and the past history of using the number to hassle censors and the general excesses of the time, so maybe we tried harder, because it really was a good party. (See the photo above. And those pictured were only the cats we could herd!)
Tracey Schulz photo.
We definitely maintained the standard of Friends of New Journalism-sponsored Rag Blog happy hours at Maria’s Taco Xpress and our other community events — meaning a boisterous bunch of old friends and new ones immersed themselves in lively conversation amidst the cake and the food and the drink and within earshot of the music out on the patio courtesy of Leeann Atherton and her band.
We don’t think anyone actually partied like it was 1969 (after all, those of us who did it then are still here, so we must have learned to temper ourselves over the years). A lot of people did have a darn good time partying like it is 2014, and that might be a harder thing to do.
In lieu of birthday gifts, we asked our friends to contribute to the New Journalism Project [the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that publishes The Rag Blog and supports the syndicated weekly Rag Radio show produced at KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin]. And the results were truly gratifying.
If you couldn’t be there to party with us in person, you can still join in the spirit of the fun and, at the same time, help us in our continuing efforts to build a strong alternative voice to corporate-dominated mainstream media. You can make tax deductible donations to the New Journalism Project through PayPal at this link. Or send a check to the New Journalism Project, PO Box 16442, Austin, TX 78761-16442.
Partying like it’s ’69! Photo by Beverly Baker Moore / The Rag Blog.
It takes a community to keep the Rag Blog digests in print and Rag Radio interviews on the air. One way you can provide ongoing support is to become a “Friend of New Journalism” by making a tax deductible individual contribution of $100 (or $10 or more per month) or an annual business/organization yearly contribution of $150 or more. You or your organization will be listed as a Friend of New Journalism on the left sidebar of the Rag Blog website. Or you can choose to keep it anonymous. For more details about how you can help, please go to our “Donate” page.
Also, if you don’t already receive the free weekly Rag Blog Digest and Rag Radio mailings, go here to sign up.
Until we meet again, enjoy reading The Rag Blog and listening to the Friday afternoon broadcasts. And look for the announcement of our next event…because sitting down to talk together really is the best. See you next time.
[Beverly Baker Moore, an Austin-based writer, teacher, and activist, is a contributing editor to The Rag Blog. Find more articles by Beverly Baker Moore on The Rag Blog.]
At least six unherded cats remained sitting behind this group, not realizing until it was really too late to push their way through to the front of the group (they being mostly shorter cats) that the actual assembling was underway.
Meow.
Good job Bev!!