On October 19 we celebrated our 35th Anniversary with a Night of Comedy with Judy Blume & Friends at City Winery. And by friends, we mean the following fearless writers, artists, actors, comedians, musicians and filmmakers who have fought back against censorship: Elna Baker, Richard Belzer, Alice Eve Cohen, Junot Díaz, Rachel Dratch, Hannah Friedman, Liz Garbus, Martin Garbus, Judy Gold, Bob Holman, Michael Izquierdo, Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, Paul Mooney, Joe Paulik, Martha Plimpton, Amy Sohn, and Lizz Winstead; with video tributes by Michelle Branch, Whoopi Goldberg, Chelsea Handler, Mary-Louise Parker, Joan Rivers, and Dar Williams.
What a cast! They read excerpts from Judy’s books, letters from fans and hate mail from non-fans, and they told their own tales. Paul Mooney reminded us to “stick with it” and Judy Gold called Blume “an unbelievable hero to all the girls of my generation.” (I echo that!) She also lamented, “if only Judy had just written one book about a tall Jewish girl who had crushes on other little girls, then perhaps I would have saved a lot of money in therapy.”
Which is why we are here: to support writers who tell the truth, and to protect your bank accounts.
Thanks to everyone who came out to support us! For more about of the evening, visit here, check out our YouTube Channel, and see Flickr for groovy pics.