Meeting Avery Brooks

My fellow SNW alumnist Jim Johnson (Solem Duty, SNW VII) and his wife Andi invited me to an open house at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. This open house was for the play Othello, played by none other than Avery Brooks. I had a nice conversation with Mr. Brooks, who was charming, deep and funny. We spoke about my story "Isolation Ward 4," in which he seemed quite interested. He mentioned how powerful it was to play Benny Russell in the DS9 episode "Far Beyond The Stars," and how he would have liked to revisit that character on the show. A few years ago, I saw Mr. Brooks in a production of the Oedipus Plays, which was amazing, and as the master of ceremonies for a Martin Luther King tribute concert. This concert was so moving that it made me want to be a black baptist. I strongly recommend to anyone, if you get an opportunity to see Avery Brooks live on stage, do so. He's brilliant!