Good morning. Today is the 271st day of the year. It is the birth anniversary (1901) of Ed Sullivan, best known for his TV variety show of the 1950s and ’60s. Sullivan was popular for hosting such well-known acts as Elvis Presley, the Supremes and the Beatles. Before he began his TV program in 1948, he was an entertainment columnist for the Daily News. Unlike most variety shows of the time, Sullivan insisted that his musical acts perform live.

Other well-known people who were born today include actress Brigitte Bardot, singer Ben E. King (“Spanish Harlem,� “Stand by Me�), actress Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love) and hockey payer Brian Rafalski.

‘YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK (MEN)� Reading in Park Slope.

Brooklyn Reading Works presents a reading, “Young, Gifted and Black (Men)� with Clifford Thompson, Victor LaValle and James Hannahan, Thursday, Oct. 1 at 8 p.m.

James Hannahan’s stories have appeared in The Literary Review, Open City and Nerve. He has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo and the Blue Mountain Center.

Victor LaValle is the author of Slapboxing with Jesus, a collection of stories, and two novels, The Ecstatic and Big Machine.

Clifford Thompson grew up in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Oberlin College. His essays have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Commonweal, Cinetaste, Film Quarterly and more.

The reading will be MC’d by Martha Southgate, the author of several novels. Her most recent, Third Girl from the Left, received the “Best Novel of the Year� award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.

RED HOOK FESTIVAL Dedicated to Robert Guskind.

The Third Annual Red Hook Film Festival will be dedicated to Robert Guskind, the legendary blogger who created the much-missed blog Gowanus Lounge.

The festival’s opening film will be Blue Barn Pictures’ special tribute to Guskind. According to festival planners, “The entire festival is dedicated to Robert Guskind, to the Gowanus Lounge and to local storytelling.�

The Red Hook Film Festival will take place on Oct. 3 and 4 at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition screening at 499 Van Brant St.

The screenings begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3 with Robert Guskind: 1958-2009 by Blue Barn Pictures, followed by a special 10th anniversary screening of the well-known Brooklyn documentary Lavender Lake: Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal directed by Allison Prete.

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