Sarah Montague

Sarah Montague appears in the following:

Talk To Me: Happy Story Endings

Friday, January 08, 2010

Writers Colm McCann, Jonathan Dee and Rich Benjamen dug deep into the heart of America: white America, urban America, rootless America. They were all in the house for the Happy Ending series at Joe’s Pub

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Tiny, Mighty, and Endangered

Thursday, January 07, 2010

(Photo courtesy of the ASPCA)

(Photo courtesy of the ASPCA)

“Tiny, but mighty,” is how Chihuahuas are described (by a Chihuahua) in Drew Barrymore’s hit film Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but this engaging Mexican breed, which may date back to the ancient Mayans ...

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Talk to Me: Out To Sea

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Stream Adam Gopnik's perspective on Jung's expression of artistic turbulence.

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Sherlock Holmes as Hamlet

Friday, December 25, 2009

Robert Downey Jr., who stars in the new movie "Sherlock Holmes," is the latest actor to take on this iconic role. Guy Ritchie, the film's director, says Holmes' persona is an even divide between enigma and accessibility. WNYC's Sarah Montague traces the character's evolution and ...

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Talk To Me: Activist and Poet Adrienne Rich

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Poetry can be a battlefield; it can be an attic; it can be a dream. And when Adrienne Rich is involved, poetry is all these things and more. The 92nd Street Y’s Unterberg Poetry Center presented a reading by Rich.

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Cat and Dog Fanciers Meet at "Meet the Breeds"

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

French Bulldog at

French Bulldog at Meet the Breeds (photo by Gilles Mingasson)

Dogs originating from China, cats whose ancestors knew the Pharaohs, three-pound Chihuahuas, and 150-pound Mastiffs were just a few of ...

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Top Dogs/All Dogs: The American Kennel Club at 125

Thursday, September 17, 2009

My dimwitted Bullmastiff answers to “Batty,” but his full name is Louis, First Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and his mother was Princess Beatrice. The Portuguese Water Dog currently enjoying life (probably more than the rest of the residents) at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is Amigo’s New Hope (“Bo” to you), and his entire family tree can be viewed here.

These facts come to you by way of the American Kennel Club, or AKC, which celebrates its 125th anniversary today. AKC Executive Secretary James Crowley talks about what the dog world was like in the late 19th century.

A match show at Jeremy Shaw’s Queen’s Head Tavern, 1855.  From an oil painting by R. Marshall, 1855.

A match show at Jeremy Shaw’s Queen’s Head Tavern, 1855. From an oil painting by R. Marshall, 1855.


So, basically, the AKC was founded by 12 toffs in top hats, rather like the types in this picture of an early dog match. Here’s James Crowley on their pedigree:

But today’s AKC is a very different organization, reflecting a very different world, says Club spokeswoman Lisa Peterson:

If your idea of what to do with your dog involves Frisbees, or long walks, or hair bows, you may be surprised by the range of activities that come under the Club’s auspices, according to James Crowley.
Here’s an Irish Terrier, aptly named “No Retreat” showing his form at an early agility show.

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Colson Whitehead Appears at Happy Ending Series

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Author Colson Whitehead’s critically praised novels look imaginatively at race relations and pop culture.

REPORTER: Whitehead's new novel, Sag Harbor, is a coming-of-age story, and he read from it earlier this week at the Happy Ending Reading Series at Joe’s Pub. His main character, Benji, recalls ...

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Dogs in Art

Monday, March 23, 2009

The walls of Doyle Auctioneers’ showroom were crowded with pointers and pugs, hounds and hares, 19th century sporting prints and 20th century canine portraits, while the showroom floor was equally crowded with dogs of all shapes and sizes and their human escorts sporting dual purpose name tags (person/dog).

The occasion was the 11th annual Dogs in Art Brunch, a preview of the Doyle sale that will take place this coming Tuesday. Both the brunch and a portion of the sale revenues benefit Angels on a Leash, the Westminster Kennel Club’s canine therapy program. Volunteers from the program visit patients at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, and many were on hand on Sunday.

Angels on a Leash board member Richard Dienst says his black lab was on of the first volunteers for the organization.
Richard Dienst and Fawna. (Mary Bloom)

Richard Dienst and Fawna. (Mary Bloom)

Unlike the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, which has rigorous aesthetic standards for participants in its annual show, any dog with the right temperament can be a therapy dog. Gay Cropper’s one-eyed Brussels Griffon, Mr. Gryffed Babian, has a thriving career.

One-eyed Brussels Griffon, Mr. Gryffed Babian (Mary Bloom)

One-eyed Brussels Griffon, Mr. Gryffed Babian (Mary Bloom)

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Stump Trumps at WKC Show

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The crowd erupted as Best in Show judge Sari Brewster Tietjen announced the winner in the category: Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, a.k.a. 'Stump.'

Jack Grassa©Westminster KC

Jack Grassa©Westminster KC

Judge Tietjen knew perfection when she saw it:

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Gargoyles Beefcake & First Dog Nominee

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Dogue de Bordeaux is competing at Westminster for this first time this year, but this impressive French guard dog has a 600-year pedigree. The first Westminster Kennel Club champion of record is Gargoyles Brando T. Beefcake, shown here.

Jack Grassa © Westminster KC

Jack Grassa © Westminster KC

Jack Grassa © Westminster KC
Jack Grassa © Westminster KC

One handler we spoke with got interested in the breed because of 1989 film Turner and Hootch, which featured Tom Hanks as a policeman reluctantly partnered with a Dogue.

The Portuguese Water Dog has been mentioned as one of the breeds being considered by the Obama family as their “First Dog” choice because it sheds very little (a criteria given that Malia Obama suffers from allergies).

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Clown Hounds and Lola the Bulldog

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The 133rd annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opened in Madison Square Garden, February 9, 2009. This year's winner of Westminster's Best in Show will be announced tonight. Here are a few of the contenders.

Handler Clint Livingstone calls the Petit Bassets Griffons Vendeen’s or PBGVs’ “the clowns of the hound world.” Here’s Best of Breed winner #6 Afterglow Ebeneezer.

Here’s Best of Breed winner #6 Ch Afterglow Ebeneezer. (Jack Grassa©WestminsterKC)

(Jack Grassa©WestminsterKC)

French Bulldog Best of Breed winner, #30 Lebull's Midnight Confessions (Lola) and her handler Wood Warnall, were featured on WNYC’s All Things Considered yesterday. Lola went on to capture second place in the Non-Sporting Group last night at Madison Square Garden.

(Jack Grassa©WestminsterKC)

(Jack Grassa©WestminsterKC)

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A New Beginning for "Happy Ending"

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The "Happy Ending" reading series opened this week at its new home, Joe’s Pub. WNYC's Sarah Montague has a report on Wednesday's show, which featured author Richard Price and guitarist Matthew Caws.

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Sherlockians Celebrate the "Life" of the Great Detective

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The game was afoot all over New York this weekend, as Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts gathered in force. WNYC's Sarah Montague attended a number of annual events that celebrate the "life" of the great detective.

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No Destruction, No Construction

Friday, May 23, 2008

The fireworks display that opens the Beijing Olympic games are being created by one of China’s leading contemporary artists: Cai Guo-Qiang. But you don’t have to wait until August to get a taste of his flashy visual spectacles. There’s one week left to see his ...

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Not Losing His Religion

Friday, February 22, 2008

He was the godfather of science writing. Sir Thomas Browne's exacting observations and gorgeous prose anticipated modern science writers like Rachel Carson, Stephen Jay Gould, and Oliver Sacks. But Browne lived in the 1600s, and his way of reconciling the scriptures with science looks surprisingly like what we ...

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Therapy Dogs: Champions Behind the Scenes

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

REPORTER: Tonight, judges will decide the "Best in Show" at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Madison Square Garden.

As the canine contest was beginning, volunteers from 2 local dog therapy programs gathered at a charity benefit.

The groups, "Angel on a Leash" and the "Good ...

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Shakespeare in the Park

Friday, August 25, 2006

New Yorkers can see Meryl Streep in Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children at the Shakespeare in the Park festival ...

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"Designer Mutts" Make Dr. Suess Proud

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

I couldn’t miss her, as she minced down the street towards me. She was wearing a hot pink vinyl coat and a collar with her name — Lola — spelled out in rhinestones. She looked like dress extra from a Legally Blonde sequel. She also looked, to my prejudiced eye, ...

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Dogs in Art

Tuesday, February 15, 2005



» View a slideshow

At the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, trainers and handlers strive to show 168 breeds and varieties to perfection. Artists have seen perfection in dogs for centuries, and producer Sarah Montague explores the many ways they ...

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