3rd Q Report 2006

3rd Quarter Report, 2006
for Jay Ruby's Oak Park Research

Oak Park Film Festival

On September 16th, VAL was screened at the Oak Park International Film Festival. The event was held in the Oak Park library. While the crowds were small, many people I knew came to see the film. The response was gratifying even tho the film looked washed out in the projection. It is a problem that I am currently attempting to fix so that I can enter the film in festivals and other similar events. I stayed in Oak Park for a few days at the new home of Bob Trezevant, one of the subject of DOOPERS, an Oak Park Story. I used the time to enjoy myself eating an Italian beef at Johnies, peach ice cream at Peterson's. I also did some more serious work. I sent an almost complete CD-ROM of the last Oak Park Story about the Housing Center to Mike Stewart, the Housing Cener's Marketing Director. I met with him and got some useful feedback and suggestions. I also met with Frank Lipo, Director of the Oak Park River Forest Historical Society. The Society wants to accept all of the research materials I created for this project. I will pack it up and drive to Oak Park to deposit it there this spring. I am delighted that they can accomodate it and make it accessible to anyone interested.

The Last Oak Park Story

As of this date, I have almost completed the final Oak Park Story about the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, the cornerstone of Oak Park's attempt to maintain diversity. The interviews are different from the ones I did for the other Stories in that they are not biographical. Members of the Housing Center staff are talking about what they do and not their life story. The core of the texts is a paper that Evan McKensie and I wrote in 2002. I have taken it apart and revised it. I am waiting from some comments from Bobie Raymond Larson, the Center's founder, and then I can do the tedious but necessary task of copy editing and checking to see if all the links are hot. I will send the complete work to my distributor, DER, no later than October 15th.

Catalog and on the web

DER has added all but the final Oak Park Story to its latest catalog and web site. You can request a copy from:

The Beginning of the End

I am very close to completing this project. I began in 1998. I spent a lot of time learning the technology so that I could put the video clips, text and photographs all on one CD-ROM per Story. All that remains is to promote the work so that people who would be interested can obtain it. The next Quarterly report will be the last one.

As always your comments, suggestions and criticisms are most welcome. Email me at ethnographic@earthlink.net.