We are big fans of Brian Jay Jones, Washington Irving, and gripping biographies. Thus, we are what you would call a superfan of An American Original, a gripping biography of Irving written by Brian Jay Jones.

Brian is coming to Sunnyside on Saturday as part of Historic Hudson Valley's Legend Daytime program and we're pretty thrilled. He'll be speaking at 11:30 and 2. We caught up with him this week in advance of his talk. The conversation went so well that this will be a two-part post. To be continued tomorrow...

HVBlogger: Greetings Mr. Jones. Long time no chat. Tell our readers a little bit about An American Original.

Brian Jay Jones: My pleasure! Washington Irving: An American Original is both a biography and a celebration of America's first genuine literary celebrity. We all know Irving as a great writer, but I also really wanted people to appreciate his incredible life and his enormous personal charm. While we like to think of our old writers as these stoic looking, very proper busts on the mantelpiece, Irving was actually more like Elvis or Sinatra-he was not just a famous writer, he was a superstar. Politicians wanted to be seen with him. Fellow writers wanted his endorsement. Fans wanted pieces of his blotting paper. Anyone who was anyone paid a trip to Irving at Sunnyside.

HVBlogger: It's funny you mention the stoic bust on the mantelpiece, because there's a rather stoic bust of Irving at Sunnyside, outside though, not on the mantle. We even use it as a Twitter icon!

Brian Jay Jones: He would have loved the Twitter icon, I'm sure. He dodged the paparazzi, created viral marketing campaigns, and cultivated an attractive public persona. And, of course, anything he wrote sold enormously well. In the same way today's readers eagerly anticipate the latest Stephen King or Dan Brown or John Grisham novel, 19^th-century readers couldn't wait to get their hands on the latest book from Irving. He was a groundbreaker in so many ways, and I wanted today's readers to appreciate him as more than just the guy who wrote "Rip Van Winkle."

HVBlogger: He wrote Rip Van Winkle? Haha. Just KIDDING. Of course we knew that. Now, tell us a little bit about Brian Jay Jones.

Brian Jay Jones: I'm a writer, political hack, Beatlemaniac, and pop culture junkie. I spent ten years working in the U.S. Senate, where I served as a policy advisor, speech writer, and ghost writer, and have since worked at the state and local levels as well, giving me the political hat trick of working for elected officials at all three levels of government.

HVBlogger: Oh you poor baby.

Brian Jay Jones: Ha! But I love it! I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, earned a degree in English from the University of New Mexico, and have since spent most of my adult years in the Washington, D.C., area. I currently live in Damascus, Maryland, with my wife, daughter, and a very large dog.

HVBlogger: Very nice, very nice. Do you spend all of your free time in libraries and bookstores and playing Beatles Rock Band?

Brian Jay Jones: Not entirely. While I take words, books, and the Beatles seriously, I also unapologetically love movies, television, and comics. I think Amadeus and Plan 9 From Outer Space are both great movies, that The Brady Bunch is one of the best TV shows ever, that old timey music rocks, and that Batman could beat Spider-Man in a fight.

HVBlogger: Uh, there is NO question on that last point. OK, we will continue with Brian's interview tomorrow!

See Brian Jay Jones on Saturday at Sunnyside as part of the Legend Daytime program. Tickets available at the door or in advance online.

Besides being a rather "enlightening" way to spend an October evening, the Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze also provides bargain hunters and shopaholics alike with plenty of opportunity.

In celebration of Blaze's five year anniversary, the gift shop, your last stop on tour de Blaze, is jam packed with recession busters and cool stuff.  What's special about the gift shop is the large number of items that are unique to Blaze and available nowhere else, not even online! (How rare is that these days?) 

Visitors will find everything from an "I Visited Blaze" game to postcards, notecards, t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, mugs, photos, and magnets - all Blaze original designs. You can even take home actual Jack o' Lanterns carved by the Blaze artists themselves. This year's designs include a bat, witch, cat, and spider.   

Need to pamper palates at your Halloween party? Dying for a pumpkin fix? The gift shop carries pumpkin fudge, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter, pumpkin scone mix, pumpkin pancake mix, and more than a dozen flavors of Halloween coffees. And of course, there will be a bouquet of Halloween candies.

Blaze fans: If you're not on Facebook, you are missing out on a lot of fun. We've got about 1,700 fans (and growing) over there. Posting and commenting and uploading and etc. Check it out if you haven't already.

The Meet the Carvers series is going strong, this time in video format. Check out the first three episodes on YouTube. Click below.

Ticket sales for Blaze are BRISK. If you haven't gotten yours yet, there is still prime availability on Oct. 12, 22, 28, 29, 31, and Nov. 1.

This weekend, Sept 12-13, marks the first annual Hudson River/Champlain Valley Heritage Weekend held on every stretch of the valley from Staten Island all the way up to Fort Montgomery in Rouses Point, NY. That's 345 miles of history, wonder, and awe.

More than 100 museums, historic sites, battlefields, and parks, many open this weekend only, will welcome visitors free or at reduced rates with special events, exhibitions, tours, hikes, performances, reenactments, and even paddles on the river. 

One of the many Heritage Weekend participating sites is Historic Hudson Valley's own Montgomery Place located in Annandale-on-Hudson in Dutchess County. Montgomery Place is a picture-perfect example of a Hudson Valley estate. Its 434 acres hold gardens, an arboretum, woodlands, and orchards. The grounds and the house will be open for free admission from 10-5 on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are not required.

For a full list of sites participating in Heritage Weekend, click here.

For a story about the growing trend of historic house museums emphasizing the stories of slaves and servants, Marketplace reporter Ashley Milne-Tyte recently visited Philipsburg Manor and Van Cortlandt and spoke with our interpreters and our curator, Kate Johnson.

The story aired nationally during the Aug. 7 edition of Marketplace. You can read the transcript or take a listen to this compelling piece online.