As the days grow shorter and the old year draws to a close, is it possible to find an evening of uplifting entertainment and thoughtprovoking discussion on life, God, and other subjects of high import anywhere in Manhattan (including wine and hors d’oeuvres) for $20?
Do you ever wish that someone would start a broadcast company that provides worthwhile, visionary entertainment that’s substantial and wholesome without being saccharine and wrapped in cast-iron nostalgia?
Would you like to make someone special a gift of one of the most charming, beautifully illustrated children’s Christmas books you could imagine for the upcoming holidays?
If you’re depressed and at a loss, there’s a person with the answers to the previous questions. He’s Eric Metaxas, a relentlessly upbeat Manhattanite who justifiably earns the overworked appellation of “renaissance man.” The astounding Yale alumnus is a well-regarded author of children’s books, an upcoming talk-show host, an emcee, a lecturer, a film critic, and the list goes on and on.
I met the boyishly handsome Mr. Metaxas for lunch at Mendy’s on East 34th Street, and soon the Episcopalian and this Roman Catholic discovered that ordering cheeseburgers was a nono because Mendy’s is a glatt kosher restaurant. Nevertheless, the food was delish and the conversation inspiring.
Mr. Metaxas is the host of “Socrates in the City,” a series of lectures he started three years ago because although New York has a reputation for being a deeply cynical, intensely secular city, millions of hard-working, hard-playing, hard-bitten Gothamites attend churches, synagogues, and mosques.
So how, he wondered, do you get people to stop rushing around for a second and start thinking about the big issues: Where am I going? What’s the meaning of all this? Is there a God and where is He when I need him?
Mr. Metaxas was confident that folks would want to find out, which is why he named the series after Socrates, who famously said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” And then he began to recruit lecturers of renown to speak on themes along the lines of just such an examination.
The most recent guest speaker was a physicist and past president of Queens College at Cambridge University, Sir John Polkinghorne. The topic was “Belief in God in a World of Science.” Other recent guests have been a professor of philosophy at Boston College, Peter Kreeft; and an associate clinical professor at Harvard Medical School, Armand Nicholi, the author of “The Question of God.”
Does that sound too intellectually hefty? It’s not, because Mr. Metaxas mixes it up.
Next month’s guest lecturer,for example,will be the author of 20 books, Dr.Os Guinness, but he’ll be speaking on bridging the chasm between academic learning and popular knowledge.
While this may sound like a caravan of cerebral cargo, as host, Mr. Metaxas makes sure his audience can count on at least 12 minutes of humorous dialogue as a prelude to the stimulating guest lecturers. Attendees also get to mingle while they’re treated to refreshments.
These unique intellectual events are usually held in posh private clubs throughout Manhattan, such as the Metropolitan Club, the Harvard Club, and the Union League. Anyone interested in being included on the mailing list should send an e-mail to socratesnewyork@aol.com.
Mr. Metaxas also is forming a broadcast industry company that will provide wholesome entertainment, the kind that Hollywood seems unable to provide for discriminating family audiences who understand that our society is being inundated with garbage unsuitable for children.
For example, I saw the movie “Love Actually,” which is supposed to be a film about love involving several different couples during the Christmas season.
It could have been a delightful, funny, poignant experience except for the fact that one of the couples meets while making a pornographic film. The scenes are graphic and unnecessary, and they detracted from the enjoyment.
A collective sound of disgust arose during those explicit scenes. One would think Hollywood studios would take a look at the top “grossing” films of all time and note that most of them received a PG-13 rating or milder.
It’s not enough to complain or simply turn off the television set. There needs to be product out there to combat the hedonistic fare with something that is challenging, engaging, wholesome yet marketable, and that’s why Mr. Metaxas has teamed up with other likeminded entrepreneurs to form a broadcast corporation.
He is also in the process of making a pilot for a talk show to air on PBS. Mr. Metaxas regards the Dick Cavett show as the model format, for it combined intellectual conversation with lively wit.
Lastly, Mr. Metaxas is also a renowned author. His “Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving” won Amazon.com’s no. 1 best-seller award for Thanksgiving 1999.
As for that wonderful book? Alas, “Uncle Mugsy and the Terrible Twin’s Christmas” is out of print but the author can be e-mailed at ejmetaxas@aol.com and may have copies available.
I fell in love with “Uncle Mugsy” immediately because it brought me back to a time when literature for children was innocent, elevating, and charming. It is a large book meant to be read to a child sitting next to you at bedtime.
Turning each page — delightfully illustrated by Tim Raglin — while reading Mr. Metaxas’s humorous tale is a perfect sendoff to dreamland for an innocent child at this time of year.
Ironic, isn’t it? Madonna, the raunchy, mixed-up, erstwhile sex goddess, has a children’s book that’s a best seller, yet “Uncle Mugsy” is out of print. Do not despair, gentle reader. Soon the days will get longer and there’s a renaissance man about town.
