October 28. Issue #146 - Paul Yanuziello

Nature’s first green is gold. Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief. So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Robert Frost 1874-1963

Hello all. Welcome to my monthly journal. A place for me to share with you what I’ve been up to this past month. In this month’s journal, Indie Author Book Festival, Toronto trails, books, music and more.

Samba in Switzerland is coming along. The illustrations by Joshua Miller are fantastic. Next month I will have some samples for you to check out.

There are lots of events planned for November. I have a few appearances scheduled. Reading my books for the children in local schools. Get in touch if you want me to bring Scratchy, Samba or Ariela to your school.

1. Indie Author Day is happening and on November 5th I will be at the Richmond Hill Central Library, 1 Atkinson St. The library is hosting an Indie Author Book Fair. Come out and meet local authors and buy some books. I’ll have Samba, Ariela and Scratchy with me. My books will all be on sale for the entire week.

2. Autumn leaves: the colour of the leaves is striking at this time of year. If summer wasn’t my favourite time of the year then fall just might be. The featured photo is one I took during a visit to the Scarborough Bluffs Yacht Club.

I went to the outer edges of Toronto and hiked through the Scarborough Bluffs. I had no idea this treasure existed so close to downtown Toronto.

3. What I’m reading this month is a couple of books, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, an amazing read. I don’t know how he can make something so bizarre seem so interesting. Just a great storyteller.

Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope. Fascinating! A first-hand account of a retreat at Kripalu Yoga Centre that turned into a life-changing experience.

4. I’ve been in Toronto these past couple of weeks, and the only thing I like about it, is visiting the martial arts dojos. Black Tiger Karate and Dynamic Martial Arts are my favourites.

This past week I took my partner Nina with me to Black Tiger and she taught a beautiful stretch class. The students enjoyed the stretching and learned some new exercises. We may make this a regular Tuesday evening class. Anyone for stretching?

5. My listening pleasure this month, well, when not practising jazz standards on my chromatic harmonica. The music of Cuba.

Master musicians such as Chucho Valdes and Paquito D’Rivera. The Toronto connection to Cuba via Hilario Duran and David Virielles. The trumpet masters, Alexander Brown, and Alexis Baro, an awesome performance by Alexis at Lula Lounge this past year.

Then there are the fantastic saxophonist, Luis Deniz, this Link is of a performance that features trumpeter Alexander Brown too. Yosvany Terry is another sax player whose music is wonderful. Just a couple of names that come to mind and have filled my airwaves with their sweet sounds this month.

Many of these musicians have new albums out now to get more information check: latinjazznet

Thank you for reading, if you think someone you know would be interested in my newsletter please pass it along.

All of my books are now available at your favourite bookstores, support local bookstores with your online purchases. Make sure you get out and about this summer. Visit a book store, or the library and pick up some books. If you’re looking for a great early reader chapter book get my book Scratchy the Squirrel: A Time for Friends. Or one of my picture books, Samba on a Snowy Day or Samba in Brazil.

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.