chesterfield | Billy Joel is not touring. His scheduled concerts were canceled following a diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, a condition affecting hearing, vision and balance. I was fortunate enough to see him twice at the Omni in Atlanta in my 20s. I don’t remember what album he was touring the first time, but the second concert heavily promoted Glass Houses, from 1980 and one of his best, which includes his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me.” Count me as a fan. In the absence of Joel in the house, you may want to see and hear Ian Benjamin and his band at the Factory on Oct. 28. Benjamin will play all the hits, and there are many: “Piano Man,” “Uptown Girl,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and literally dozens of others. Whether you grew up with these songs or are hearing them for the first time, they tell stories that feel deeply personal. I’ll say. “Just the Way You Are” was a hit on the radio in 1978 when Annie, my first fiancée, was getting hit on at work and suggested we date other people. I still get a little sick to my stomach whenever I hear that song. Of course, when I had a mobile D.J. business back in the day, the syrupy ballad was requested as much as “Play That Funky Music.” Benjamin, even a bigger fan than I, plays at least 200 shows a year. So, he’s no slouch. Anyhow, tribute artists are just about as good as the real deal, and hella cheaper. A Billy Joel concert nowadays probably would command several hundred dollars, and for seats that were just O.K. Enjoy complimentary parking at the Factory in a well-lit lot for all concerts. For more pianistic details, visit thefactorystl.com.
ladue
A delightful and multitalented husband-and-wife team will present their first books, plural, on Sept. 10, in the Post event space of the county library’s Clark Family Branch, directly across the highway from Plaza Frontenac in Ladue. One is David Eckstein, who’s very familiar to Cardinals Nation as the 2006 World Series MVP. And the other is his wife Ashley Eckstein. The Ecksteins both have written books: His, a memoir of the ups and downs of an MLB career; hers, a novel based on the ups and downs of their courtship and marriage so far. Ashley, with her ‘co-conspirator,’ bestselling romance novelist Samantha Chase, will both appear, presenting Lucky 22, inspired by her love story with David. Her spouse, who wore jersey No. 22 with the Cardinals, will also appear with his co-writer, former Redbirds minor leaguer Jake Gronsky, to present Just Enough, which details the perseverance of an athlete who had constantly been told ‘no’—then finally ‘yes’ by then-skipper Tony La Russa. You still see fans at Busch in Eckstein jerseys. Tickets are available through eventbrite.com. A photo line will follow the presentation, but the authors will not be able to sign additional items brought by guests. Ashley is a celebrity in her own right: An actress known for voicing a character in the Star Wars movie series, she is also a motivational speaker and podcast host—with her own fashion label, natch.
the metro
Sept. 11, 2001, is akin to Nov. 22, 1963, for Baby Boomers, most of whom are able to pinpoint exactly where they were when they first heard of both tragedies. I was in the fourth grade when they rolled a television set into Wilma Ray’s classroom. I remember Walter Cronkite on CBS was choked up while detailing the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. It was surreal. My mother, an active member of the Young Republicans Club, later took my two brothers and I shopping at Hutzler’s, a department store in Baltimore, and I will never forget her expression as I glanced up at her on the escalator. She was in tears, too, along with millions of our fellow Americans. (I don’t remember what Dad said when he got home from work, but I suspect he’d voted for Nixon in 1960.) Fast forward about 38 years, when I was driving to work as news came on the radio that the first airliner had struck the World Trade Center, which was in flames. I was on McKnight at Deer Tracks Trail. I remember exactly which house I’d been looking at. When I got to work downtown, there was already a TV set in the lobby. Not much got done because most of us spent hours watching the horror unfold in real time. Like most Americans, we felt helpless. But on this Sept. 11, thousands will be stepping up for their less-fortunate neighbors in the Bi-State area. Volunteers will fill Chaifetz Arena to pack 400,000 non-perishable meals for St. Louis Area Foodbank. 9/11 Day is the nonprofit responsible for establishing a National Day of Service and Remembrance under federal law. It is now our largest annual day of charitable service, with tens of millions participating annually. Learn more at 911day.org.
notable neighbors
eureka
Six Flags St. Louis is celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, having opened in 1971. But by the time the ever-popular Fright Fest begins on Sept. 12, the beloved theme park will be operating under a new name: Mid America Adventure. In April, Enchanted Parks bought our park and five other theme parks nationwide. And if somebody said the family that plays together stays together, that’s certainly true of Elizabeth and Jerry Gotway and their two sons, Austin, 32, and Wyatt, 28. There must be something in the water out there—all four of them met their significant others at Six Flags! Three still work there: Jerry is quite happy to have retired a few years ago as head of the maintenance department, where Austin is the electrical lead. Wyatt is the admission manager. They started as teenagers, as do so many youths throughout the metro and have made a career in a place where so many people have fun every summer … and fall. “I never dreamed the boys would work here,” exclaims Elizabeth, who’s now the park’s communications manager. She and Jerry (middle, in our photo) met at a work bingo party when he was a carpenter and she was PR coordinator. Their 36th wedding anniversary was July 7. Elizabeth will be of retirement age in just a few years. But unlike Jerry, she says she doesn’t think she’ll welcome the transition as a relief. Rather, she says she feels as much at home at the park as she does at their farm about 30 miles west in St. Clair, which has been in her family since 1904. She and Jerry built a house on the property in 2002, and the boys did most of their growing up out there. Austin (far left in our photo) met Rebeque at the park when she was a special events sales rep and they wed in October 2024. Wyatt (far right in our photo) met Jessica when they were both teenagers dressed as cartoon characters, and they plan to tie the knot Sept. 4, 2027. The Gotways are used to long hours. In a job that provides so much fun for the public, most everyone realizes that working there is a privilege, and as Elizabeth says, there’s the core job, plus, always, “There are other duties as assigned.” Most employees are proud that the place is spic-and-span. None more than did Tommy C. Robertson, former maintenance chief for whom the circulating steam train is named. He was legendary for following employees through the park and cleaning up debris that they hadn’t. “Tommy would follow them inside and drop his trash collection in the middle of their desk,” recalls Jerry, with a smirk. Most of the supervisors, regardless of age, are old-school. “If you can lean, you can clean,” Elizabeth adds. Wyatt has settled into the culture. Long hours some days? Bring it on. “We have to be open when the guests want to visit,” says the youngest Gotway. Say, you want to get scared out of your wits? Fright Fest runs from Sept. 12 to Nov. 1. Visit enchantedparks.com to plan your visit to the 323 acres of Mid America Adventure. Well, just like I-64 will always be Highway 40 to most of us, we’ll probably still call that big playground Six Flags St. Louis!