THE LEGACY OF MANNY FRIED -
by ANTHONY CHASE
photo: Jim Bush
Emanuel “Manny” Fried was a beloved Buffalo educator, actor, playwright and labor activist. He documented and explored his experiences and the impact on his family of being targeted and blacklisted by the anti-Communist “red scare” of the 1950s in numerous plays and in his memoir, The Un-American. Manny died in 2011 at the age of 97. In Buffalo, a theater, a writing series, and a playwriting award have been named in his honor.
This weekend, Friday Nov. 18 and Saturday Nov. 19, Manny’s daughter, Mindy Fried will be in Buffalo for a series of free events celebrating Manny’s legacy, and what organizers are calling “two generations of compassion, creativity and caring in a culturally iconic Buffalo family.”
“In the aftermath of the election, I think people are eager to come together to talk about these issues,” said Mindy Fried.
“FRIED & FRIED IN BUFFALO” EVENTS
Friday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.: “Forum on Aging, Caregiving and Social Policy” in Allen Hall on the South Campus of the University at Buffalo. A conversation with scholars, students, and practitioners. Dr. Mindy Fried, sociologist and author of Caring for Red: A Daughter’s Memoir; Dr. Louanne Bakk, UB’s Institute on Innovative Aging Policy; and Practice; Timothy Hogues, Erie County Commissioner of Senior Services
Friday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.: “Fried & Fried: Crossing Generations” in the Burchfield Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Avenue. Mindy Fried will read excerpts from her newly released book, Caring for Red: A Daughter’s Memoir, which offers a moving and colorful account of caring for Manny, her fiercely independent, ninety-seven-year-old father in the last years of his life, preceded by a reading from the play, The Un-American, by Anna Kay France, based on the autobiographical novel by Manny Fried. Actors in the play reading are: Richard Lambert, Lisa Vitrano, Philip Knoerzer and Greg Natale. Host for the evening is Anthony Chase, Theater Editor, Artvoice.
Saturday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m.: “Intersection: Social Justice and Theater Arts” in Allen Hall on UB’s South Campus, featuring a reading from the play The Mark of Cain by Gary Earl Ross. Actors include Lawrence Rowswell, Murry Galloway, Brendan Cunningham and playwright Ross. The reading will be followed by an open dialogue with Western New York theater artists including Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Victoria Pérez, Anne Hartley Pfohl, and Kurt Schneiderman, facilitated by Jon Elston. There will also be “songs in the key of Fried” by Philip Knoerzer.
All of the events are free and open to everyone.
Co-sponsors of “Fried & Fried in Buffalo” include: Partnership for the Public Good, Theatre for Change, Open Buffalo, Western New York Area Labor Federation, Just Buffalo Literary Center, Talking Leaves Books, Ujima Theatre Company, Subversive Theatre Collective, Road Less Traveled Productions, Burchfield Penney Art Center, SUNY Buffalo State, University at Buffalo School of Social Work, Erie County Department of Senior Services and Erie County Department of Social Services.
