Connections
Apr. 5th, 2010 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogI can now count, in ever-growing double figures, the number of authors who meet both of these two criteria:
(a) I've read their book(s);
(b) I've met them, at least once, in some cases many times.
I'm finding that it really makes a difference to the way I respond to reading their current or prior work. Kindles and iPads and all those notwithstanding, I suspect that I'll always have the tactile need to hold a real book, turn its pages, set it down with a dog-eared page or an impromptu bookmark (or, as is becoming necessary for the new gym that doesn't provide those plexiglas bookholders for the ellipticals, a binder clip to hold the book open on the slight platform provided by LifeFitness or whoever). Yet whether it's the preferred printed page, or the display of an excerpt on an iPhone, I am finding myself bonding with the authors, and their characters (whether fictional, real or somewhere in between) to a much deeper degree when I've met the author and, in some cases, have heard the backstory from the lips attached to the hand that held the pen or keyboard that produced the book.
It's little details like in the dog book I previewed here last week, and which I just finished last night: Jon Katz's Izzy and Lenore. While it is much more the story of the former, a border collie who trained (with Jon) as a hospice volunteer in the northern reaches of upstate New York, it also features the absolutely irrepressible black lab Lenore, who, like our black lab-mix Ebony, never knew anything but love in her entire life and who seems determined to repay that love to every comer, in every situation.
Without knowing Jon, or having met him, ever so briefly, in his own world, that story would have been touching. Yet after meeting him, and briefly entering his world, it was even more touching to read these words about his young black pup, perhaps more than any of the other words in the book:
A master ride-along dog, she accompanies me on photo shoots. While Izzy (Jon's border collie and more experienced therapy dog) curls up in the backseat and barely moves, Lenore sticks her head out the window to observe me. She never jumps out of the car, except that one time in front of a Chinese restaurant in Glens Falls when a teenager dropped her take-out egg roll on the sidewalk.
On Level One, I laughed at and related to that tale; it's exactly the sort of thing either of our lab-mixes would do in similar moments of opportunism. But having now been to Glens Falls, and knowing that it has no equivalent to London's restaurant-cluster of Gerrard Street, I am pretty sure I passed by that exact spot on the way to drinks with Jon and his daughter; and that, somehow, takes it to Level Two, Three, Infinity and beyond.
----
With that in mind, I am now planning two literary journeys along these lines, one leading to an author we already know, the other leading to a chance to meet one we want to.
Right before my voyage of late last month, we got an email from an old friend with a not-so-old son. Cheryl had joined the church that Eleanor and I had both joined in Rochester not long before we met; she was in a troubled relationship then, but got out of it and into a much better one that has endured. The only child of that second marriage was a little boy a bit younger than Emily, who was born very premature and who struggled through the first weeks of his life. Blessedly, Brennon not only survived those weeks, but thrived, and now, almost 18 years later, he and his mom have published a childrens book that tells the story of a friend of theirs in words and pictures that truly inspires:
(There was a "buy book here" link in that, but at the moment I can't get it to work, so let me know if it interests you.)
----
Then, today, another story entered my life with the chance to expand it to the life of the storyteller. I had a pile of stuff to file in the civil actions section of the downtown clerk's office, and while I waited for the one open lunchtime clerk to finish up the paperwork of the guy ahead of me, I saw that she had posted notices at her workstation for an upcoming reading by the author of a book I'd not heard of, but which sounded amazingly intriguing:
Come and celebrate a new novel by Nadia Shahram, Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran, the story of an ambitious but innocent young Iranian women trapped in the practice of temporary marriage. The event will include a reading and presentation by the author, as well as a recitation of poetry from the book with traditional Persian music.
Sara smiled when I got to the head of the line and asked her why this was being publicized in an office generally reserved for official notices, Bills and Sabres swag, and the celebration of mainline United Statesian holidays. Nadia, it turns out, is a regular filer in their office; she teaches at UB Law School, and her clinic work on behalf of disadvantaged women often brings her in to file papers there.
I showed Eleanor the cover of the book from the Just Buffalo website sponsoring the reading, and asked if she would like to come with for the reading next Sunday. She would. She'd already seen some reference to the book someplace. She understands the connection between The Word and The Wordsmith. One of the many reasons I love her.
----
I've finished Izzy and Lenore. I've yet to lay hands on Cheryl's or Nadia's. So I guess I'll just say goodnight ::hugs::
(a) I've read their book(s);
(b) I've met them, at least once, in some cases many times.
I'm finding that it really makes a difference to the way I respond to reading their current or prior work. Kindles and iPads and all those notwithstanding, I suspect that I'll always have the tactile need to hold a real book, turn its pages, set it down with a dog-eared page or an impromptu bookmark (or, as is becoming necessary for the new gym that doesn't provide those plexiglas bookholders for the ellipticals, a binder clip to hold the book open on the slight platform provided by LifeFitness or whoever). Yet whether it's the preferred printed page, or the display of an excerpt on an iPhone, I am finding myself bonding with the authors, and their characters (whether fictional, real or somewhere in between) to a much deeper degree when I've met the author and, in some cases, have heard the backstory from the lips attached to the hand that held the pen or keyboard that produced the book.
It's little details like in the dog book I previewed here last week, and which I just finished last night: Jon Katz's Izzy and Lenore. While it is much more the story of the former, a border collie who trained (with Jon) as a hospice volunteer in the northern reaches of upstate New York, it also features the absolutely irrepressible black lab Lenore, who, like our black lab-mix Ebony, never knew anything but love in her entire life and who seems determined to repay that love to every comer, in every situation.
Without knowing Jon, or having met him, ever so briefly, in his own world, that story would have been touching. Yet after meeting him, and briefly entering his world, it was even more touching to read these words about his young black pup, perhaps more than any of the other words in the book:
A master ride-along dog, she accompanies me on photo shoots. While Izzy (Jon's border collie and more experienced therapy dog) curls up in the backseat and barely moves, Lenore sticks her head out the window to observe me. She never jumps out of the car, except that one time in front of a Chinese restaurant in Glens Falls when a teenager dropped her take-out egg roll on the sidewalk.
On Level One, I laughed at and related to that tale; it's exactly the sort of thing either of our lab-mixes would do in similar moments of opportunism. But having now been to Glens Falls, and knowing that it has no equivalent to London's restaurant-cluster of Gerrard Street, I am pretty sure I passed by that exact spot on the way to drinks with Jon and his daughter; and that, somehow, takes it to Level Two, Three, Infinity and beyond.
----
With that in mind, I am now planning two literary journeys along these lines, one leading to an author we already know, the other leading to a chance to meet one we want to.
Right before my voyage of late last month, we got an email from an old friend with a not-so-old son. Cheryl had joined the church that Eleanor and I had both joined in Rochester not long before we met; she was in a troubled relationship then, but got out of it and into a much better one that has endured. The only child of that second marriage was a little boy a bit younger than Emily, who was born very premature and who struggled through the first weeks of his life. Blessedly, Brennon not only survived those weeks, but thrived, and now, almost 18 years later, he and his mom have published a childrens book that tells the story of a friend of theirs in words and pictures that truly inspires:
Eli's Rainbow | ||
| ||
Experience the colors of the rainbow through the mind's eye of a child. Eli and Brennon were friends. They shared Sunday mornings together making craft projects, listening to stories or just hanging out. While working on some of these projects, Eli taught Brennon how to “see” without his eyes and it took him to a whole different level of understanding. Eli inspired many. He had the enthusiasm and determination to live life to its fullest. He embraced each moment and showed others how to see the world from a new perspective. He loved Sundays and all the joys of his church community. This book was written as a tribute to this special little boy whose smile was like sunshine. It is a legacy to his spirit and the gifts he shared with all he met. |
----
Then, today, another story entered my life with the chance to expand it to the life of the storyteller. I had a pile of stuff to file in the civil actions section of the downtown clerk's office, and while I waited for the one open lunchtime clerk to finish up the paperwork of the guy ahead of me, I saw that she had posted notices at her workstation for an upcoming reading by the author of a book I'd not heard of, but which sounded amazingly intriguing:
Come and celebrate a new novel by Nadia Shahram, Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran, the story of an ambitious but innocent young Iranian women trapped in the practice of temporary marriage. The event will include a reading and presentation by the author, as well as a recitation of poetry from the book with traditional Persian music.
Sara smiled when I got to the head of the line and asked her why this was being publicized in an office generally reserved for official notices, Bills and Sabres swag, and the celebration of mainline United Statesian holidays. Nadia, it turns out, is a regular filer in their office; she teaches at UB Law School, and her clinic work on behalf of disadvantaged women often brings her in to file papers there.
I showed Eleanor the cover of the book from the Just Buffalo website sponsoring the reading, and asked if she would like to come with for the reading next Sunday. She would. She'd already seen some reference to the book someplace. She understands the connection between The Word and The Wordsmith. One of the many reasons I love her.
----
I've finished Izzy and Lenore. I've yet to lay hands on Cheryl's or Nadia's. So I guess I'll just say goodnight ::hugs::