Lewis Frumkes Honors Lawrence Block at Marymount Manhattan Writing Center Gala
By Pola Rosen, Ed.D.

The elegant Columbus Club, boasting a dome of original Tiffany glass, was the venue of a recent gathering of literary lions in New York City. Presided over by Director Lewis Frumkes, the event was a huge success. Invited guests included Malachy McCourt, Mortimer Levitt (underwriter of the Mortimer Levitt Essay Contest), Bel Kaufman, President and Mrs. Judson Shaver of Marymount Manhattan College, Dean Mary Kay Jeynes, Amsterdam News publisher Ellie Tatum, Mary and Carol Higgins Clark, Jill Krementz, Tama Janowitz, Roy Blount Jr.,   Moby Mudge, and Rona Jaffe, among many others.

After President Shaver welcomed guests noting that the Writing Program was one of the college's great points of pride, Frumkes continued with high praise for the talents of Lawrence Block , Mystery Writer's of America Grandmaster and four time Edgar Allen Poe winner, who was to receive the Writing Center's Logophile Award for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters.

Block's comments kept the audience laughing continuously as he deplored the increasing difficulty of publishing books each year. "Every year there are fewer publishers, every year there are more books published, every year it is more difficult to get published and sell books, and here we are encouraging competition. I don't know if we are doing the right thing. Recently, an acquisitions editor revealed the following startling and upsetting statistic: 94 percent of people who publish a first novel do not publish a second. I said, ‘This is the most encouraging thing I've heard in years!' But we have to do something about the stubborn 6 percent!"

Stay tuned to more news about the essay contest and annual writing conference on June 10, 2004.#

For more information: 212-774-4811, www.mmce.edu.