A Portrait of John Langstaff

Subject: RE: A Portrait of John Langstaff
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 09:36 PM

I see the old link to MAGIC MAKER is no longer valid, here
is current link:

https://www.revels.org/store/books/magic-maker-portrait-john-langstaff-creator-christmas-revels/

Magic Maker

Thomas.

Subject: ADD: The Shortest Day (Susan Cooper)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Nov 20 - 08:41 PM

Discussed at the Mudcat Worldwide Singaround today.

The Shortest Day

(Susan Cooper)

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us — listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

Subject: RE: A Portrait of John Langstaff
From: boldreynard
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 11:23 PM

Having enjoyed both The Revels and Susan Cooper's books for years, I'm surprised I never discovered the connection. Thanks for this thread!

Subject: RE: A Portrait of John Langstaff
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 10:21 PM

I wondered if this could be the same Susan Cooper who wrote the beautiful children's book sequence "The Dark is Rising" in the sixties and seventies. Indeed it is:- http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/susan-cooper/

Ross

Subject: A Portrait of John Langstaff
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 28 Nov 11 - 09:42 PM

This newly published memoir should be of interest:

Susan Cooper Releases John Langstaff Book

Even though her salon is sold out, Revels is proud to offer this insightful and personal portrait of Revels founder John Langstaff. According to Susan, "writing The Magic Maker gave me the chance to re-live some of the happiest times of my life - as anyone who's ever been part of a Revels will understand. I joined the Revels family in 1975, after being recruited by Jack backstage at the previous year's Christmas Revels, and for twenty years I wrote verse, short plays, stories, lyrics, program notes, record notes and any other words he felt he needed. "The Magic Maker" isn't a proper biography, nor a full history of The Revels, but I hope it shows how Jack Langstaff's Revels began - and how, more than anyone I've ever met, he illuminated this cloudy world of ours with joy."

The Magic Maker