Cover, Pay Attention

     November 9, 2007 – Cold, cloudy. Have a photo show tonight at the Georgi Museum in Shushan. Will talk tonight and also Sunday at 2 p.m. at the museum. Izzy and Lenore are coming.
    Big news. Am beginning work on a paperback photo book with some text tentatively titled “Pay Attention” to be published by the Troy Bookmakers before the end of the year. I am doing the book with my friend Anthony Armstrong, a concrete designer and artist. The book is based on our friendship and journey together after Anthony was diagnosed with severe adult ADD earlier this year, and also began treatment for chronic sexual and emotional abuse suffered outside of his family as an adolescent.
  Anthony, whose sister Felicia was found shot to death in Rupert, Vermont last week, suffered a near breakdown earlier this year. He quite bravely faced this disorder, entered treatment, and has battled his way back, building a concrete countertop and design business, and putting his emotional and physical life and business together. I served as his friend,  decision coach, and pill reminder until he was able to do much of that for himself. I learned much about this disorder, most of which shocked and surprised me, including the fact that I almost surely have it.
  It was an extraordinary experience for both of us. It is a story of friendship, commitment, differing values and in his case, of courage. Also a story that tells much about health care in rural areas. Part of this story will also be told in my next Random House book, which also deals with my dog Izzy and our experiences in the hospice movement.
   It’s odd how things can change you. I was fortunate enough to capture Anthony’s experience in pictures. In fact, I was so shocked by the emotion, grief, pain and joy I was catching in my photos of Anthony that I got serious about photography, am showing my own photos and will soon have my own picture site, photosbyjonkatz.com.
  The book will be edited by Maria Heinrich, an artist and friend. I will have about 70 pictures, hopefully capturing Anthony’s frightening and powerful journey. He and I will write introductions, and text and captions to explain the pictures and the story.
  Anthony likes the title “Pay Attention,” and so do I. In many ways, his is the story of a talented and energetic person who struggled to focus and succeed all of his life, and was branded as a troublemaker, or stupid or hostile. He couldn’t get things right and couldn’t figure out why.
  Nobody seemed to deal with the struggles he was having in life, and with which he grappled for decades. Anthony is a bright, talented and generous human. People like that ought not get lost in the shuffle.
  Since entering treatment for ADD, which has included medication, the care of two fine local doctors and psychiatrists, and the nationally respected ADD author and expert Edward Hallowell of Boston and New York, Anthony’s life has changed radically, from his work to his ability to focus and concentrate, to his emergence as a talented artist and sculpture showing and selling his work all over the area.
  His is definitely a success story. He has emerged strong and functional and optimistic about his future, and also as a gifted and respected artist. He just sold a concrete sculpture to an art lover in California for serious money.
  For me, the opportunity to catch this experience in pictures has been transforming. Our friendship made me into a photographer as well as a writer.
  Anthony, who is 30 years old,  did the work, but I was there with him for much of it, and that was a rare privilege, and quite an inspiration. I think I just may have captured this remarkable emotional drama in photos. At least I tried. Anthony is astonishingly photogenic, and it almost possible to follow his very painful experience through his face and posture. Whatever he is feeling, and that is quite a lot, comes out in his face (often his mouth, too).
  He gave me complete access to his life, and I appreciate it.
  The book opens with his work and life, then his collapse, then his recovery and decision to reveal the abuse he experienced, then a series of triumphs and successes. It is a happy book, all in all, despite some very difficult turns. It is also a plea for people to enter the lives of other people, when appropriate, and try and help.
  So we are finished taking pictures, and will be writing the text for book in the next week or so. Maria will be organizing it and keeping it all coherent, which she is great at.
   The book will be dedicated to those people nobody pays attention to. It will be sold in bookstores and, of course, at my readings and appearances. I will post our progress on this site, as well. I am profoundly excited about this book, and eager to see it come out. December is our estimate of publication.
  Above is the cover, below a shot I took of Anthony this morning in his workshop, Armstrong Stone, in Salem. You can also check out his website armstrongstone.com