Gary Corbin of Vancouver will see the comedy he wrote, “PS, I Love Your Daughter,” staged by Coho Theater in Portland June 17-20.
The play will be directed by another Vancouver resident, Erin Thomas, 26.
Corbin, 50, makes his living writing for corporate clients, but turned his skills to writing plays a couple of years ago. Earlier, he dabbled in comedy improv.
His play, “Happy Anniversary,” was performed as a staged reading at the Fertile Ground festival in Portland in January.
“Both of these have romantic elements,” Corbin said. “They tend to focus on relationships.”
Goops Unlimited releases titles, moves
Changes are under way for Goops Unlimited Children’s Publishing and its co-publishers, Barbara Ross of Battle Ground and Nicholas Beatty of Vancouver. Goops is moving from a home office in Battle Ground to a spot on Main Street in Uptown Village. The company also has recently expanded the scope of its books with an imprint, Family Academy, focused on activities parents and children can do together. It also has a free online parenting magazine (http://www.familyacademyonline.com).
Goops will have a grand opening today during Craft in the Village to celebrate its new headquarters, as well as the release of its latest books, “The Goops Circus: A Whimsical Telling of Do-Good Tales” and “Baking with Friends: Recipes, Tips and Fun Facts for Teaching Kids to Bake.”
Goops Unlimited (http://www.thegoops.com) got its start — and its name — from the Goops stories from the early to mid-1900s by Gelett Burgess. These stories impart on children the importance of manners and good behavior.
Ross, 80, and Beatty, 30, have reproduced some of Burgess’ Goops books and have created their own Goops stories based on Burgess’ characters.
Goops Unlimited books draw on some local talent. “The Goops Circus” is illustrated by former Vancouver artist Diana Camille, who currently lives in Oregon City, Ore. Both “The Goops Circus” and “Baking with Friends” come with CDs narrated by Pam Atherton, a voice-over talent and radio talk show host who used to live in Vancouver.
Though they’ve been around for more than 100 years, Beatty thinks the message of the Goops books is as important today as ever.
“Their core message is it’s good to be good,” he said. “To mind your manners, and know that it’s not necessarily boring to wash your hands or say please and thank you.”
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