OF NOTE- People In The News: Thursday, December 12

Author E.J. Koh. Photo via Twitter.

Writer E.J. KOH will join CRYSTAL HANA KIM, author of the bestseller “If You Leave Me,” for a conversation on Koh’s debut memoir, “The Magical Language of Others,” at Books are Magic next month. Koh, a poet, letter writer, dancer and artist, first caught the public eye with the viral success “The Love Letters Project,” in which she hand-wrote 1,000 love letters to strangers. Her new book explores her early life as the daughter of Korean immigrants and the role that letters between her mother and herself played in keeping her family together. NICOLE CHUNG called “The Magical Language of Others” a “beautifully crafted saga, and a testament to how the most complicated, elusive truths and inheritances can shape us and reverberate across generations.” Koh will be in Brooklyn Jan. 23 at Books are Magic, 225 Smith St. 

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Rapper and congressional hopeful Paperboy Love Prince.
Eagle photo by Christian Spencer

A nonbinary rapper, artist and internet personality is mounting a longshot campaign against a 26-year incumbent Representative. PAPERBOY LOVE PRINCE, who uses they/them pronouns, is campaigning to unseat U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who represents Congressional District 7. Prince is just 26, born the year Velázquez took office. Among their proposals to shake up politics-as-usual are building a mobile app to allow constituents to vote on their rep’s day-to-day actions, universal basic income and Medicare for all. Prince identifies as a radical, but not a progressive. “I want to stand out. To let people know it’s okay to be themselves,” they told the Brooklyn Eagle

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Brooklyn-based artist ERIC HAZE got the gig of a lifetime recently when he was asked to design the 2019-20 jersey for the Brooklyn Nets. Haze created a uniform with hand-drawn letters spelling “BKLYN” across the chest, as a contemporary twist on one of the team’s most iconic throwback looks. Haze also played a role in creating last year’s jersey, which paid tribute to rapper The Notorious B.I.G. with a *BED-STUY* logo across the bottom of the uniform. The Nets will wear the jerseys, which officially debuted last month, in 22 games this season. 

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Vice President of the Henry I. Lott Preservation Association Alyssa Loorya.
Photo via Twitter

Marine Park’s Hendrick I. Lott House turned 300 years old last weekend, and more than 500 area residents came out to the home on E. 36th Street between Fillmore Avenue and Avenue S. to celebrate the historic structure. “One of the highlights were just how many people came out on Saturday,” ALYSSA LOORYA, vice president of the Hendrick I. Lott House Preservation Association, told Brooklyn Paper. “It shows how the home is such a fixture in Marine Park. There is an interest in where we came from,” she added. The lot where the home sits was purchased in 1719 by the Lott family, who constructed the residence, which remained in their family for 283 years until it was sold to the city in 2002. Local historian THOMAS CAMPANELLA also took part in the celebration, greeting guests and signing copies of his book, “Brooklyn: Once and Future City” at Saturday’s party. 

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“Brooklyn: The Once and Future City” author Thomas Campanella

At the annual Canarsie holiday light display last week, FRANK SEDDIO, local Democratic Party boss, flipped the switch and turned on more than 100,000 lights and 200 animatronic figures. The display at Seddio’s Canarsie home costs roughly $350,000 and has been a tradition in the Seddio family since 1963, inspired, he says, by the Dyker Heights lights display. “Many of the lights of Dyker Heights are copies of our Christmas decorations,” Seddio told Brooklyn Paper. The display features areas with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa decorations, a massive Ferris wheel, a giant toy soldier and a flying zeppelin. The display will be up until Jan. 6. 

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The Center for Early Detection of Cancer is launching a pilot program to provide free lung cancer screenings, and the first stop is Brooklyn. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in New York City, and Brooklyn is one of the hardest hit boroughs, recording almost 800 lung cancer deaths each year. Early detection is the best way to reduce deaths, according to real estate developer and philanthropist BRUCE RATNER, who established the CEDC in memory of his brother Michael, who died from cancer in 2016. “Through this campaign, we can make sure that others have the chance that our loved ones regrettably did not,” Ratner said. The mobile screening unit will be at MetroTech Plaza in front of 5 MetroTech Center in Brooklyn from Dec. 9 through Dec. 23. 

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