Incoming PU Freshman Crane Rows Across Atlantic, Setting Record, Learning Life Lessons on Voyage

ATLANTIC ADVENTURE: Oliver Crane celebrates in Antigua this past January after rowing across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Crane, a resident of Lawrenceville who is headed to Princeton University, rowed the 3,000-mile journey in 44 days, and at age 19, became the youngest person to ever row solo across the Atlantic.

By Bill Alden

It took a while for Oliver Crane to develop a passion for rowing.

“I first experienced crew at Mercer Rowing Club in eighth grade, but I didn’t really row much then,” said Crane, a resident of Lawrenceville.

“All through middle school my main sport was ice hockey, but I ended up getting five concussions so I couldn’t do contact sports anymore. I ended up doing cross country and rowing at Peddie and fell in love with rowing after that.” more

Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival Ticket Giveaway

 

Enter for a chance to win tickets to The Second Annual Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival.  
 
PRIZE: 2 winners will be randomly chosen. WINNER NUMBER 1 will receive: TWO tickets for the Opening Night Event on Thursday, April 12, 2018, and WINNER NUMBER 2 will receive: TWO tickets for the Closing Night Film on Sunday, April 15, 2018. 


Follow us on Instagram @princeton_magazine
and like the post to enter.

Winners will be chosen on April 11, at noon EST.


The Second Annual Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival organizers are thrilled to announce this year’s opening night feature film is BLAZE (2018), co-written and directed by Ethan Hawke, starring Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat, Josh Hamilton, and Charlie Sexton. 

BLAZE is inspired by the life of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw music movement that spawned the likes of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. The film weaves together three different periods of time, braiding re-imagined versions of Blaze’s past, present and future. The different strands explore his love affair with Sybil Rosen; his last, dark night on earth; and the impact his songs and death had on his fans, friends, and foes. The braided storyline terminates in a bittersweet ending that acknowledges Blaze’s profound highs and lows, as well as the impressions he made on the people who shared his journey.

JTIFF will present 93 films from 17 countries, eight world premieres, 16 East Coast premieres, 30 Pennsylvania premieres, and eight Lehigh Valley premieres on a 30-foot screen. The selections were culled from more than 750 submissions of every genre and subject – from gritty underground and experimental fare to bigger Hollywood level films.

For more information about the festival visit:

Floating Above: Princeton Architect Michael Farewell Designs a Striking Home in Bucks County, PA.

Photo Courtesy of Michael Chiarella

By Anne Levin

During the week, David and Pam Anderson live in a house on the grounds of Saint Luke’s Parish in Darien, Connecticut, where David is pastor. Since the house doesn’t belong to them, the couple don’t have to do much in the way of maintenance.

But from most Thursdays through Saturdays and whenever they can get away, the Andersons can be found doing the things that homeowners do at the house they built in a valley in Springtown, in Bucks County, Pa. “This house has become our pleasure,” says David Anderson. “We work on the land, we chop wood, we mow the lawn. We baby it.” more

HHH in ’68

 

 

Heather Howard’s Journey in Politics and Policy

By Donald Gilpin

Images courtesy of Heather Howard

Readers old enough to have been politically aware in 1968 will probably recognize the slogan “HHH in ’68!”  Hubert H. Humphrey lost his bid for the presidency that year to Richard Nixon. But Humphrey was not the only triple H political figure on the scene then. Princeton Councilwoman Heather Harding Howard, lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, faculty affiliate of the Center for Health and Wellbeing, and director of State Health and Value Strategies, was born that year. And she owns a couple of “HHH in ’68” posters to commemorate that fact. more

Princeton Insider: Ivy League Style

Photo Source: @WarbyParker

Get that quintessential Ivy League look with these key pieces. 

 more

Spring Awakening: How Does Your Garden Grow?

Brian Sullivan, NYBG’s vice president for landscape and glasshouses, teaches a horticulture class in the native plant garden. (Photo courtesy of New York Botanical Garden)

Classes online and on-site offer an array of horticultural help

By Wendy Greenberg

The air is warmer and daylight lingers longer. Lime green leaves are painting roadside landscapes.  So often spring awakens an urge to seek greener thumbs, or greener yards.  After all, it is the Garden State.

If you are so inspired, you are in luck. A bounty of classes and programs beckons to help would-be plant whisperers find their voices. Some of the area’s most respected and scenic public gardens are at your service with on-site and online courses, ranging from landscape design to wellness and therapy, to native flora, and some unusual offerings. more

The Power Of Music And Dance

The Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins Centennials

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Legendary American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) once said, “I can’t live one day without hearing music, playing it, studying it, or thinking about it.” Audiences and museum visitors are having multiple opportunities this year to hear Bernstein’s music and think about it. In March, Princeton University’s Richardson Chamber Players presented “Bernstein and Friends: A Centennial Celebration.” Institutions such as Symphony Space and the National Museum of American Jewish History also will celebrate the maestro’s centennial. Aficionados of the work of choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) will have similar opportunities. more

Birds in Your Worlds

Princeton’s Institute Woods is among the best places to view spring migrators

By Ilene Dube

Photo-Illustrations by Jeffrey E. Tryon

Birds by Maria Stezhko (shutterstock.com) 

At this writing—a cold gray winter day—it’s hard to imagine that in May, the skies will fill with migrating birds, bringing color, song, and beauty to the treetops.

“Spring warbler watching is not just birding. It is a social phenomenon, a ritual, a happening like maple sugaring in Vermont or the opening day of trout season in Pennsylvania,” writes eminent ornithologist Pete Dunne. “People who never lift binoculars at any other time of year X out their Saturday mornings in May and join thousands of kindred souls searching for treasure in the treetops.”  more

Women Making History and Art

By Stuart Mitchner 

In Hillary Clinton’s What Happened (Simon and Schuster $30), published less than a year after her shocking defeat, she says of women: “We’re not the ones up there behind the podium rallying crowds…. It’s discordant to tune into a political rally and hear a woman’s voice booming (‘screaming,’ ‘screeching’) forth. Even the simple fact of a woman standing up and speaking to a crowd is relatively new.”  more

Landscaping Programs for the Everyday Dabbler

Image from Artifact Interactive’s Garden Planner

By William Uhl

There are countless programs for landscape and garden planning available, ranging from free web apps to hundred-dollar software packages. For the average homeowner thinking of planning out a new garden or backyard pool, it can be confusing and time consuming to find an up-to-date program at a reasonable price. The following three selections are low- or no-cost options for any adventurous amateur. more

A Well-Designed Life: Part I

A Well-Designed Life: Part II

Bill Murray at McCarter Theatre, April 5

New Worlds: Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends

Bill Murray, actor
Jan Vogler, cello
Mira Wang, violin
Vanessa Perez, piano

Thursday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m.

“Spot on. The evening’s journey was unpredictable and affecting – old-fashioned entertainment that was sophisticated but with zip and heart.” – Globe & Mail more

Photographing the First Lady: Michelle Obama, Up Close and Personal

First Lady Michelle Obama tours the Mirror Room in the Italian Pavilion with Mrs. Agnese Landini at the Milan Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy, June 18, 2015. Mrs. Obama led the presidential delegation to the expo, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

By Anne Levin // Photos Courtesy of Amanda Lucidon from Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House Photographer (Ten Speed Press). 

This past November, photographer Amanda Lucidon spoke at Princeton Public Library about her new book Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House Photographer. The large crowd that turned out was no surprise. Princeton is a very blue town in a blue state, and the evening promised a bit of nostalgia for those who miss the days when Barack and Michelle Obama, Malia, Sasha, and their dogs were in the White House. more

The Princeton Baby Lab: Big Research From Small Subjects

By Wendy Greenberg // Photography by Fotobuddy Photography 

Where in Princeton can parents take their babies and older siblings to play in a bright space with books, toys, and engaging staff?

Playgroup? Toddler gym? Wrong. Welcome to the Princeton Baby Lab, run by a research group in Princeton University’s psychology department. more

Blushing Bride

Dapper Groom

The Road to Freedom

344 Nassau Street, known in the 19th Century as the “Robert Horner House”

TRACING THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN NEW JERSEY

By Doug Wallack // Photographs Courtesy of The Historical Society of Princeton

The Underground Railroad has long captivated the American popular imagination; as a nation in turmoil struggled to reckon with its moral realities, this network of safe houses and volunteers conveying fugitive slaves to free states and Canada was a beacon of grassroots resistance, an instance of interracial cooperation, and the setting of countless tales of individual and collective courage. more

I Thee Wed…

A wedding in front of The Nine Muses by Carlos Dorrien at Grounds For Sculpture (Courtesy of Grounds For Sculpture).

Unique Wedding Venues for Your Special Day

By Laurie Pellichero

When it comes to choosing the perfect wedding venue, one size definitely does not fit all. Fortunately, whether you want an intimate ceremony at a vineyard, farm, or the shore, or a large-scale celebration in an elegant ballroom, New Jersey is home to many unique spots that are sure to provide just the right fit for your special day. more

A Home Away From Home: Finding The Right Camp For Those With Different Needs

By Wendy Greenberg 

Princeton University freshman Jack Aiello credits a special New Jersey camp for giving him the confidence to climb the Himalayas with the challenges associated with type 1 diabetes.

Despite the unpredictable effect elevation can have on metabolism, his blood sugar numbers stayed under control. In a blog on the camp website he wrote, “Eight summers of living with peers and counselors who have diabetes have given me a tremendous amount of knowledge and confidence in managing diabetes…Camp gave me counselors who spent weeks camping in the wilderness, friends who cycled thousands of miles competitively, and dozens of role models and friends who always kept their diabetes under control—not the other way around.”  more