After being honored by ten acceptances from film festivals based all over the globe, we struck gold, hit the jackpot, hauled in a monster and captured the big time.

Those first ten festivals were our babies. They were established between one to three years ago. As all children do, they gave us naches. (Yiddish: pride and gratification) We loved our babies but we prayed for a more mature festival. One which possessed: history, fame and gravitas. One which was known world-wide in movie-lover circles. One with multiple movie-house venues, including a 2,000 seat theater.

Well our prayers were answered. The 31st Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) has accepted “The Stairs” for admission to its winner’s circle. FLIFF is thirty-one (31) years old—a granddaddy of film festivals. Sundance is only thirty-eight (38) years old.

 During the festival, FLIFF operates five theatrical venues in four different Florida cities:

Cinema Paradiso Lauderdale, (the site of our world premiere— a classic 1926 art house structure);

Cinema Paradiso Hollywood;

Sunrise Civic Center— Sunrise (saw my kids high school graduation here);

Hard Rock Live— Hollywood with a 2,000 seat theater;

Bailey Hall; Davie.

The festival runs its cinematic celebration from November 4-20. We will let you know the date, time and venue of viewing of “The Stairs”. (You guessed it, I’m rooting for the 2,000-seat Hard Rock Casino facility).

Well, I can’t wait for the galas and celebrity guest list, the red carpet, and the cruise brunch.

Hope to see you there and if you are going  please drop me a note.

“The Cabin”

By Mort Laitner

The deed arrived in a dark-brown manila envelope. In bold black Helvetica fonts the words: SPECIAL DELIVERY ran across its face. Affixed to the right-hand corner of the envelope were four stamps. Each stamp pictured a loon gliding across a tranquil lake. In the background of the stamps, I saw a log cabin surrounded by fir trees.

Those stamps brought back memories of the silvery loonie coins I had tendered into the rough-aged hands of owner of the border-town trading post. It was dawn when I rented the canoe. I had crawled out of my cabin in darkness to catch the silence of the morning.

The trading post emanated an odor of fish, coffee and cardboard boxes. Between sips of his freshly made bitter-sweet coffee the store owner asked, “Young man, you planning on fishing this morning? Because if you are you will need to buy a license.”

“I’m not fishing. I’m just trying to recall my days in the Boy Scouts, when I canoed in many a lake in this part of Canada.”

The mention of the scout brought a smile to his face. And then he said, “You’ll love the cries of the loons at this time of day. Those wails will cut across your heart”.

“Thanks for coffee and for the nature tips, I replied. “I’ll be back in around two hours.”

I paddled across the surface of the glass-like waters listening to the wails. The long solitary mournful sound of a diver calling out for its mate. Followed by the mate’s identical response as if they were two yodelers moaning for the return of a long-lost lovers.

I watched them swim, fly and dive for food. Unsuccessfully, I searched for their nests never guessing that I one day would live in their habitat.

But now in my Florida home, I touched the parchment paper and read some of the words on the deed:

For consideration for the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars the grantor hereby bargains, deeds and conveys the following real property to the Grantee forever, free and clear with Warranty Covenants: …

Then typed into this legal document was the foreign property address and legal description of my new home.

I now owned two acres adjacent to the lake, a log cabin and a canoe. I had bought my family a sense of security. I was now officially a neighbor to the loons.

I had faithfully followed the Scout motto: BE PREPARED.

The inauguration was less than a week away. My car was packed and in two days, I would be in my new home listening to the calls of the loons.

Mort’s new short story book, “The Greatest Gift” is now available for purchase on Amazon.

What our readers are saying:

What I most enjoyed about your story Mort is that it brought back, albeit different, good memories for me.  Good lighthearted stories tend to do that.  Good job and thanks for the vehicle to revive my good old days!—Bob

Why become a teacher?  Because you make a difference in student’s life’s.

Professor Laitner,

Thank you very much for all that you’ve helped me with. Your letter of recommendation greatly helped me! I’ve been meaning to write you back. Thank you for your invitation to your film premiere, I wasn’t able to attend because I was in Indiana looking for an apartment. I hope it went well and I hope I can view the film sometime! I finished my copy of  “A Hebraic Obsession” and it was amazing. It was written exactly how you told us to write our healthy stories in class. So much description and detail in your writing and I greatly enjoyed reading about the intricate relationship between you, your father, and your culture and how it has molded you into the individual you are today. I’m a firm believer that culture and family shape us into who we are. Thank you again for drawing my attention to your book and for all the help you have provided me in the past few years. I will keep in touch with you and let know how I’m doing. I hope to end up practicing in South Florida so I’ll keep you posted!

Jose