The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 53

MAY 14, 2006 BOSTON bUNDAY It uiooeaoum 11 Letters window fashion for every style of home. 't .71 I I 1 A 1 I 1 I i 1 1 1 tv A Ai, 1 f' i Hours: Mon-Sat 10-6, Thur Fri 10-8, Sun 12-5 JOHN TLUMACKIGLOBE STAFF Jazz singer Rebecca Parris works in her backyard garden in Duxbury. Parris back on stage again CrOuntryCuitains RETAIL SHOP Pembroke Crossing 15 Columbia Road, Pembroke, MA 781-826-7722 Pro-peace groups are here and everywhere Beyond his comments that he sees the antiwar movement in this country as limp, if not dead, I am wondering just what the point was that Michael Kryzanek was trying to make in his May 4 article in Globe South not Iraq, on people's Perhaps he wanted to deride the movement's effectiveness; perhaps he was complaining that we of the antiwar movement are not doing enough. I have been standing out on street corners with Citizens for an Informed Community before we formally invaded Iraq before we even evolved into a group. Our goal has been to bring information and new ideas to our neighbors, the citizens of the South Shore.

And I think we've been effective in that effort. When we first appeared in Bridgewater, our neighbors gestured obscenely and angrily shouted that we were either ungrateful societal leeches or traitors. Now, over three years later, the response is overwhelmingly positive thumbs up, waves, even people bringing us water or coffee and stopping to thank us for what we're doing. This reflects the changing attitude in our country about the war in Iraq and other US foreign policy. Students at Bridgewater State College have been a big help to us in our educational efforts; in collaboration, we have held educational forums on Middle East policy, the Patriot Act, and the war in Iraq.

They have attended our film presentations about similar subjects. We are not shouting we are working to provide new ideas We are pro peace, pro thoughtfulness, not a tired antiwar. There are peace groups, environmental groups, grass-roots groups for social change in Hingham, Duxbury, Milton, Plymouth, Brockton, Fall River, Taunton, and towns all around the Cape to name a few. We are everywhere. We are small here, but there were 200,000 to 300,000 of us in New York last month.

Perhaps Professor Kryzanek missed the coverage on television that night; I almost did, too it was over in a fraction of a second. If we have more participation, we will grow to be alive and vibrant. We will be standing out on May 20 in Bridgewater center from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and in East Bridgewater on June 3 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The movement for social change is not dead.

Come join us. Linda Jacobs Halifax Sun whmyodkaaif tSL Create a sunny retreat for entertaining and relaxing with 1 awnings that extend when you need them or quickly roll and out of the way. The choice is yours. HOME IMPROVEMENT VISIT OUR SHOWROOM: once-6-foot diva said with a rueful smile. "It's been a drag, man." She patted the cane by her side, then added: "But I'm coming back." She's especially glad to return to her gardening at the house she shares with her daughter; her partner of 22 years, the pianist Paul McWilliams; and her dogs, Eubie and Louis.

She's also happy to be able to resume walks on the beach. "Duxbury Beach is my solace, my place to heal," she said. "I wouldn't live anywhere but here." She was raised in Newton, but her family always summered at a beach cottage in Kingston's Rocky Nook. Those, Parris said, were the happiest times in her childhood and adolescence. She's grateful for her concert-pianist mother and her teacher father, who always encouraged her to pursue her dream to perform on stage, without ever pushing her.

The youngest of three daughters, Parris was born Ruth Blair MacCloskey in 1951. She later changed her first name to Rebecca because she liked the name Becky, and her last name to Parris after the song "Paris in the Spring." Her uncle, Blair MacCloskey, was a world-famous vocal coach who helped hone her talent. By age 6, she was appearing in Boston summer stock. After high school, Parris studied opera and theater at the Boston Conservatory of Music, then moved to New York City to conquer Broadway. "I thought I'd be the next Mary Martin or Julie Andrews," she said.

"But that was the 70s, and it was all "Hair" and rock musicals." So she came home to Boston and began singing Top 40 and rock music in clubs. But pop music wasn't enough for Parris. In the early 1980s, she made a permanent switch to jazz and never looked back. Seven CDs and nine Boston Music Awards later, Parris still performs regularly. She also teaches singing to select students, including Sonya Kitchell, the 17-year-old jazz sensation from Western Massachusetts.

It's getting harder for musicians to make ends meet these days, she said. She bemoans the fact that fewer people venture out to clubs to see live music, and blames MTV, the VCR, and anything else that causes the public to settle for at-home entertainment. "They say that if you look to the end of any great civilization, you'll see that music and art were the first things to go," she said. "It's the beginning of the demise." More music education in school, she says, would encourage youngsters to appreciate and create melody. She bristles at the notion of "rap music." "Please, please, don't call rap, music," she said.

"It's beat poetry, and some of it's groovy. But if you can't hum it, it's not music." 94 Reservoir Park Drive, Rockland MONDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 9AM-1PM 0RBYAPPT. www.evanshomeimprovement.com 18003394619 FREE ESTIMATES Licensed and Insured Reg. 100892 Ely BS PARRIS Continuedfrom Page 1 just like always. She's a consummate professional, and her fans are passionate about her." On Saturday, Parris takes the stage at The Real Deal again, this time in much better health both physically and emotionally, she says than 14 months ago.

The boost has come in part from friends in the jazz world who learned that her illness had left her with considerable medical bills and mortgage payments and staged a benefit for her at the Regent Theatre in Arlington last August. "Rebecca has done benefits for every cause she was always there for everyone," said Susan Sloane of Duxbury, a friend who helped organize the event along with Parris's daughter, Maria. "We wanted to raise money for her this time." Virtually every jazz great in Boston including Paul Broadnax, Herb Pomeroy, and Carol Sloane wanted to perform, which meant they were limited to just one song each. Parris herself was helped onstage to close the show with "I'm Glad There Is You," to a standing ovation. "It was a roomful of love for her, which was just what she needed," Hollander said.

Parris, who estimates that her voice has probably raised more for AIDS research and other causes than for her own expenses, said it was strange to be on the receiving end of charity. "But it was an amazing night, amazingly emotional," she said in a recent interview. "And it saved me." Her many fans are surely relieved. Critics have hailed her as a jazz singer in the true sense of the word; one Globe writer said she "handles lyrics as if each syllable was a precious jewel." Her distinctive sound, and gift for making each song her own, result in an uncommon connection between Parris and her audience. She arrived for the interview at a Marsh-field coffee shop with a walking stick, sparkling jewelry, and a wide-brimmed straw hat that barely covered her mane of golden hair.

She spoke in a husky voice, peppered what she said with jazz colloquialisms, and recalled when "Dizzy" used to play the ballroom at the Charles Hotel while she performed at the hotel's famous Regattabar. The two of them would cross the lobby to meet up on their respective stages. "Dizzy was fun, and a real pro," she said. "When you were onstage with him, boy, you had to know what you were doing." She laughed about the time Shirley Horn "stole" her pianist from her but welled up at the mention of her late friends and champions, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, who both died in the early 1990s. She also talked about the heart attack she suffered two years ago, which was followed by early-onset osteoporosis that landed her in a wheelchair for four months.

"When I first stood up from that chair, I found I was about 6 inches shorter," the (T) Grtllrnan Propane Home Hearth Patio Unlocking a forgotten door Continued from preceding page ming, and noise, a.k.a. music, drumming from that now distant room. And the dandelions in the front yard, flowers for so many years, with the banging of that door turn into weeds again. But what you don't know, what no one tells you, is that the door to childhood isn't locked. Turn the handle and there's magic again and you're magic again.

But the trick is that only children can open the door. And adults can enter only when a child takes their hand. My grandbabies have taken mine. They have led me back to a place where I lived when I was a child, where I stayed for many years when my children were young, and where I visited all the summers my young cousin came to stay. For it doesn't have to be your children or your children's children who take you to this place of coloring books and crayons.

Take any child's hand and you're there. Adam grabs my neighbor Kath-erine's watering can and says, "Yook! Water!" and she's there, on the top of the pedestal, too. It's a fine place to be, and I am grateful every time my grandbabies put me there. I know it's not permanent. But I like what I see, my grandchildren, their childhood, my children's childhood, and pieces of my childhood, too.

Pool Heater Service Spring Opening Service Natural Gas, Propane Electric Remove And Dispose Of Debris Clean Burner Tray Check All Safety Switches Test Fire System Factory Trained Hayward, RayPac, Sta-rite, Teledyne-Laars, Minmax, Pentair 4, The Rebecca Parris Quintet, featuring Brad Hatfield, Peter Kontrimas, and Matt Gordy, will perform at The Real Deal in Cambridge on May 20. Go to www.rebeccaparris.com for more wfbrrmttion. Canton resident Beverly Beckham can be reached at bbeckhamgbbe.com. 50 off! Fix your roof and your line of credit! JS 7 Home Equity Line Brought to you every weekday by 6 am. A.

po riffpo mi Like the idea of a home equity line, but concerned about rising interest rates? Here's the answer. Our rate is fixed for three years. After that, it's below prime for the life of the loan. For the most flexible home equity line in the neighborhood, visit any office or apply on line. APR' APR' I 7 No points.

No up front costs. No annual fee. Apply online at www.bridgewatersavings.com BndgewaterSavings Bridgewater Carver Lakeville Raynham Taunton West Bridgewater CendeH Member H)C Member DIP 1-888-MY-GLOBE Che Boston 03lobe The Pulse of Boston Limited-time offer for new subscribers. 'Annual Percentage Rate (APR) effective as of May 11, 2006 and based on the Prime Rate as published in The Wall Street Journal on the last business day of the billing cycle. This rate may increase or decrease monthly.

As of May 11, 2006, the Prime Rate is 8.00. The maximum APR is 18 during the life of the line of credit. Minimum APR is 4.75 during the life of the line of credit. Line amounts from $75,000 to $200,030 for 1 4 family primary residences or second homes within Massachusetts. Bridgewater Savings will waive fees to obtain a Home Equity product providing the line remains open for a minimum of 36 months.

Borrower will be required to reimburse the Lender if the line is terminated within 36 months after the Agreement is signed. Fees to be waived include appraisal fee on single-family homes, credit report fee, flood zone determination lee and legal fees. 80 combined loan to value ratio when using appraisal assessment (excluding condominiums). All home equity products require proof of adequate property nsurance. BostwiVVorktecom Top local companies are looking for you! BostonWbrks Every day in The Boston Globe and online at www.bostonworks.com 11 S2.