Catherine Revland
Portfolio Samples
Journal articles
The following links are to recent articles I have written for
WestView News, a monthly newspaper of Greenwich Village. Consequently, they focus on local history, news, and personalities as well as the interests of the publisher. Nevertheless, they are representative of my approach to any assignment: make it accurate but also make it interesting.
Profiles/Bios
An Indian Gives Thanks – WestView News.
A Yankton Sioux tribal historian from Lake Andes, South Dakota, falls in love with New York City.
Learning To Love The Tourists – WestView News.
A comedian/ actor/ bus tour guide and Bronx native delights in providing his passengers with an authentic version, complete with accent, of the “real” Big Apple.
Brunch at the Brevoort – WestView News.
The brief residency of Sinclair Lewis on Charles Street in the Village changed his world view forever.
Business/Science/Industry
Bell Labs, The War Years – WestView News.
How the country’s largest corporation helped defeat the Nazi war machine, one of the best-kept secrets of World War II.
Playground For Geniuses: Bell Labs in the 1930s – WestView News.
An unusual approach toward inventors and industrial research resulted in Bell Labs’ becoming the corporate gold standard for scientific innovation.
From Natural to Super-Natural: The Ungreening of Mrs. Green’s – WestView News
How a once-successful mom-and-pop organic produce chain got mismanaged by its parent company.Billionaires Behaving Badly: Connecting The Dots to the Hudson River Park Board – WestView News.
Investigative reporting that uncovers a connection between the Hudson River Park Trust and a controversial zoning rights law that allows for a potential boondoggle for developers and financiers.
History
Which Way Did Our Ancestors Walk? – WestView News.
How DNA is rewriting the story of early human migration in a way that corroborates Native American oral history.
Grove Street – The Waterfront Rebellion – WestView News.
The real-life story behind the movie On The Waterfront: Father Corrigan (played by Karl Malden) stands up to the Mob and corrupt organized labor.
It Doesn’t Have to be Bloody You Know – a History Lesson For the 99 Percent – WestView News.
The failure of Occupy Wall Street contrasted with a similar but little-known success story about my home state of North Dakota.
The Education of Frederick Douglass – WestView News.
A story about a famous historical figure provides little-known information with a local point of view.
Greenwich Village – The Harlem of Antebellum New York – WestView News.
Where black music, art, theater, and culture flourished before its gradual move uptown.
News/Current Events
Will Westbeth Be the Next St. Vincent’s? – WestView News.
The controversy over the inequity of the policies at Westbeth resemble too closely the demise of St. Vincents.
An Untenable Situation – WestView News.
What Hurricane Sandy revealed about Manhattan’s largest hospitals: The only ones still standing are on the waterfront. The rest, including famous St. Vincent’s, have been demolished to make room for more luxury high-rises.
The Guest at the Dinner Table – A Detective Story – WestView News.
Two women discover that a house on their block was the only documented Underground Railroad site in New York City.
On The Side Of The Angels – An Activist’s Success Story – WestView News.
How neighborhood activists and a famous attorney won a two-year battle to landmark the site.
Books
Books
Authored
Slipcover Chic
A guide to refurbishing old pieces of furniture by fashioning stylish slipcovers. Written as a step-by-step how-to with illustrations.
Books
Ghostwritten
The Draper Touch
A scintillating biography of the genius of Dorothy Draper, designer and decorator of such icons as the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia and the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan
Color Magic
All about the psychological aspects of color, with practical advice on decorating one’s home.
Conquering Stroke
An as-told-to story of the survivor of a major stroke, for which I interviewed top experts in neuroscience, stroke medicine, and stroke recovery.
Down Home
– Instructions for people interested in how to harmonize and decorate a country-style home, and how to best showcase antique furniture and quilts.
From A to Z
– Ideas, plans and tips for decorating every room in the house, in easy-to-follow A to Z format.
Room By Room
– Start with a thought-provoking 25 question quiz, then let this decorating book guide you through every room in your home.
Staying In Shape
– Learn what it means “to spa” and the wide variations among the famous spas of the world, from spartan to OMG.
There’s No Place Like Home
– Some of the world’s great living spaces are discussed in this emotion-evoking book.