Some publisher in Philadelphia writes to us

Dear SooToday.com,

I read Mr. Ed's post about the Rocky statue.

You may have heard by now that the move to the [Philadelphia Museum of Art] steps was approved this morning by the Arts Commission and it will be dedicated on Friday.

I also thought you should know about the upcoming book Rocky Stories by two Philadelphia Inquirer journalists. (November publication date).

You can read about it here.

- Will Schofield, Paul Dry Books

About the book:

Pulitzer Prize-winners Michael Vitez and Tom Gralish of the Philadelphia Inquirer spent a year visiting the Philadelphia Museum of Art to observe, photograph, meet, and capture the stories of "Rocky runners," who come from all over the world to run up America's most famous steps - just as Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky.

As one runner says, "It gives you the feeling that anything is possible."

In his introduction, Michael Vitez writes: "The movie premiered in 1976, thirty years ago, yet they still come - a high-school track team from Belfast, three busloads of professional wrestling fans from Australia, a college rower from Maine, a librarian and her fiancé from Lake Tahoe, a race-car driver (he ran the steps for good luck) ... The story of Rocky inspired them, stirred them."

The book includes interviews with Oscar-winning director John G. Avildsen, composer Bill Conti, and cameraman Garrett Brown.

It ties into the 30th anniversary of the first Rocky film (1976).

The final movie in the series, Rocky Balboa, will be released in December.

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"You can't borrow Superman's cape. You can't use the Jedi laser sword. But the steps are there. The steps are accessible. And standing up there, you kind of have a piece of the Rocky pie."

– from the foreword by Sylvester Stallone

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(Photo taken by T. Leonardi on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.)

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