My Degree of Separation from David Sedaris

Do not deny yourself--read "Do Not Deny Me" or any of Jean's books.

1987. A hot, humid day in Champaign, Ill. Mike and I are perched on stools at the Esquire Lounge. My folded cane sits atop the bar, forming a rigid white line that separates my beer glass from Mike’s. The discussion? How can I get to the pool on my own to swim laps.

The stranger sitting next to me interrupts. Her name was Jean, she said, and she couldn’t help but eavesdrop. “Are you talking about getting to the pool on campus?” she asked. I nodded. Newly blind back then, I didn’t have a Seeing Eye dog yet. I could hardly make it to the mailbox down the street. How was I going to get to the bus stop on my own? Not to mention the locker room, then to the edge of the pool to swim?

“That’s easy!” Jean said. She was a swimmer. “I drive over to the campus pool every other day. I’ll just pick you up and take you with me.”

And that’s how I met Jean Thompson. During our drives to the pool, I found out she was a writer. She taught creative writing at University of Illinois. Jean was a natural-born teacher, really — she knew when to set me free, let me try taking the bus and handle the pool on my own.

I’ve been swimming on my own ever since. I’ve been Jean’s friend ever since, too. And what a generous friend she’s been to me. Jean was encouraging when I got to work on my own book, Long Time, No See and generously offered to critique my first draft. Smart gal that she is, Jean didn’t hand her critique over to me on sheets of paper. She sat down at home and recorded them onto a cassette. That way I could access the notes on my own. It was Jean who taught me how to use dialogue, and Jean is the one who explained what those three magical words “show, don’t tell” mean when it comes to writing.

In 1999, Jean’s short story collection Who Do You Love was a finalist for the National Book Award. Usually only novels get that sort of recognition – rarely do short story collections become finalists in the fiction category. Jean became an instant celebrity, especially in Champaign-Urbana. I was pitching Long Time, No See to publishers at the time, and Jean offered to drive me over to University of Illinois Press and walk me in. Everyone inside recognized Jean and congratulated her. They couldn’t help but notice me, attached at the award-winning elbow. University of Illinois Press accepted my manuscript. Long Time, No See was published in 2003. One of the blurbs on the back cover is written by Jean Thompson.

It’s been twenty-plus years since Jean and I met on those barstools. In that time:

• she’s had five more books published, which makes nine books in all.
• a number of her stories have been published in The New Yorker.
• One of her short stories was selected for Children Playing Before A Statue of Hercules, a collection of the “short stories David Sedaris loves most.” Other notable writers in David’s collection: Alice Munro, Tobias Wolff, Lorrie Moore, and Joyce Carol Oates.

Jean’s most recent short story collection — Do Not Deny Me — is getting rave reviews all over the place. The Chicago Tribune published a favorable review on May 23:

Move over, Alice Munro, this gifted writer now sits in my mind near the throne of the short-story queens and kings of old. [Thompson] is a master of dialogue, character, pacing and plot, and—anyone who loves the form will have to cheer about this…the dialogue—pitch perfect.

National Public Radio aired a glowing review by Alan Cheuse last Monday, and this week Jean’s in… People!

Jean still lives in Urbana, but she’s coming to Chicago on July 15 to participate in a reading series at Hop Leaf Bar. I plan to get there early and find a seat right at the bar. Because, of course, you never know what wonderful person might belly up right next to you!

Bloggin’ at The Bark

Hanni is my co-pilot. (Photo by Kaitlyn Cashman)

A story in the San Francisco Weekly last week described Tita, a Chihuahua service dog who works with a man suffering from bipolar disorder. A happy, feel-good story, except for one thing.

Tita bites people.

“She’s vicious,” Esler says with a smile, cradling the dog, which licks his face with abandon.

Once the story hit the newsstands, I was contacted by the blog moderator at The Bark. She wanted to know if I’d be willing to write a guest post about the service dog who bites.

What? You call yourself a dog lover, and you’ve never heard of The Bark?! Here’s a description of the four-color glossy magazine from their web site:

Taking the magazine’s slogan to heart—Dog Is My Co-Pilot—Bark became the first magazine to tap into the exploding phenomena of dog culture and lifestyle, focusing on the growing bond between individuals and their pet companions. Over the past ten years, Bark has chronicled the America’s love affair with dogs, the evolving status of canine pets and their role in society, as well as the incredible rise in services and products. Bark has become the recognized expert on the social/cultural world of dogs in America, and what they mean to us.

Bark’s impeccable pedigree includes publishing many of today’s most acclaimed authors including Ann Patchett, Augusten Burroughs, Rick Bass, Amy Hempel, and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver.

Hmm. Must be a proofreading error there. Somehow they left award-winning Children’s book author Beth Finke off that list. Because, of course, I’ve published a few articles in The Bark, too. It’s always a thrill to be contacted by their staff — it gives me the opportunity to brag that I write for the same magazine Ann Patchett writes for! You can read my guest blog at The Bark’s site and link to other Bark stories there, too—if you like dogs, trust me, you’ll like The Bark.

Martha Speaks…Again!

Remember my post last April about the kids TV show Martha Speaks? WGBH in Boston had contacted my children’s book publisher back then to order copies of our book for a new program they were testing out in Boston and New York City. Hundreds of paperback copies of Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound were given to students in city schools, and our book was added to Martha’s list of recommended picture books about dogs.

Well, that pilot program in New York and Boston must have been a hit — WGBH just ordered 180 more copies of Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound For their sister station, WGBY. WGBY is public television for western New England, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. And this time, they ordered hardcover books!

If you’ve never seen Martha Speaks on TV, you can link here to watch videos to see what Martha’s show is like. I also found a good description of the show in the Club Kids Quarterly newsletter from the PBS station in Springfield, Illinois:

What happens when a dog accidentally eats alphabet soup? She learns to talk! Martha in Martha Speaks is outspoken, confident, smart and has an amazing vocabulary. She loves learning — and using — new words.

The goal of the series is to increase children’s oral vocabulary — the words they use when talking. It is also designed to encourage children to practice using new words on a daily basis.

Produced by the creators of Curious George and Arthur, Martha Speaks is based on the children’s book series by Susan Meddaugh. The series targets children ages 4 to 7.

People tell me Martha looks a little like Hanni –I can’t vouch for that, of course. You’ll have to check out the show on PBS to see for yourself!

Root, Root, Root for the…White Sox? Brewers? Cubbies?!??

Anyone who lives in Chicago knows. You are either a Sox fan or a Cubs fan – THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN. Chicago fans are not exactly fond of the folks who root for the team on the other side of town. For years, Sox fans have rooted for any team playing against the Cubs. And ever since the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, I notice more and more Cub fans doing the same – rooting for any team playing the Sox.

And so, we Chicagoans have a very confusing weekend ahead of us. Thanks to interleague play (a concept too confusing to bother explaining if you are not already a baseball fan) the White Sox are playing the Brewers this weekend, and the Cubs are playing the Twins. The Brewers are in first place in the Cubs division. The Twins are one-and-a-half games ahead of the White Sox in their division.

Talk about “hope” and “change.” If my math is right, Cub fans have to root for the White Sox this weekend. And Sox fans will be forced to root for the Cubs.

My God.

My husband Mike, our son Gus and I will endure our own cross-family rivalry this weekend – we are heading to Milwaukee to see the White Sox play the Brewers at Miller Park on Sunday. Our son Gus lives in Watertown, Wisconsin. He’s a Brewers fan. After going to a few games with him I’ve become a Milwaukee fan myself. The team – and the fans – are spirited, I love Ricky Weeks and Prince Fielder, Miller Park is terrific, and there is no one who calls a game better than Bob Uecker on WTMJ-AM.

Mike, of course, is a White Sox fan through and through. “But I see what you guys have planned,” he told me the other day. “You and Gus are gonna gang up on me on Sunday!” Not true. For one, these tickets were given to Mike as a birthday gift. It wouldn’t be right to gang up on him while he’s celebrating. For two, I’m planning on rooting for both teams, wearing my Brewers t-shirt, my White Sox hat. Guess it’ll be left to Hanni to split the difference.

Blindsided at Printers Row Lit Fest

A year ago I gave a presentation in the BookKids department at BookPeople in Austin, Tex. I started the presentation by explaining that even though my eyes are open I can’t see. “When I was little, I went to school just like you — and then when I lost my sight I had to go to school and learn to do things all over again,” I told the kids.

Only trouble was, there were no kids in the audience — I had no idea that I was talking to a bunch of adults!

A similar thing happened at the Memoir Writing Workshop at Printers Row Lit Fest yesterday, only in reverse. Wanda Bridgeforth, a student from the memoir-writing class I teach for Chicago’s senior citizens, presented with me, and I assumed the audience was full of seniors like her, eager to learn how to get started writing their own life stories. I talked about how writing can be therapeutic, how memoir-writing in particular is good for memory. Searching for the right word really makes our brains work hard, I told my audience. Knowing that we’ll be writing these memories down on paper makes it all feel more official. That makes us think even harder about the words we use — that’s good for our brains. Wanda chimed in then, saying that when she sees the doctor the very first thing he asks her is, “Are you still writing?” When she answers yes, he says, “Keep it up! It’s good for you!”

It wasn’t until the q&a session afterwards that it started dawning on me. The voices asking the questions were young voices, and if that wasn’t enough of a clue, the questions they asked betrayed their youth. I’d misjudged my audience. They were closer to senior high than they were to senior citizenry.

It stinks being blind sometimes! Had I been able to see, I would have adjusted my talk, spoken more about creative ways to get personal essays and stories published and less about how memoir — writing is good for keeping our brains alert.

Ah, well, couldn’t spend too much time fretting about all that. Session over, it was time to celebrate with my sisters, Flo, Wanda and her family at the author hospitality suite. My sister Marilee sat next to me there, and she quietly acknowledged that my suspicions were right. Most of the audience probably had come looking for something different from our session. She was quick to point out, though, that the younger people could have snuck out early if they wanted. None of them did, she said. “They liked you and Wanda!” We toasted to that sentiment over our sandwiches and sodas, and then again later that afternoon — at Hackney’s, of course!

At last! The great Billy Balducci and the irrepressible Flo meet.

Our Hackney's bartender Billy makes a mean drink, and he takes a mean picture, too. Left to right: Flo, the sisters--Bev, yours truly, Marilee--and our chaperone Mike

Hear my Mustang Ride for Yourself

The great comments you left after reading my post about driving a Mustang convertible got me thinking. Maybe Chicago Public radio would be interested in airing a piece about my 80 mph experience.

Most commentators read their public radio essays.

But that doesn’t work for me. I can read Braille, but I’m very slow. So Joe DeCeault, one of my favorite producers, puts me in front of a microphone, asks me what my essay was about, and I retell the story. Joe refers to my printed essay while we record, which was especially helpful for this car-driving piece. Anyone who has been around me in the past month knows how I can go on and on and on about that Mustang I drove –using my written piece as a guide, Joe cut me off when I gushed over race car driver Tommy Kendall too much. He interrupted if he found something I’d forgotten to mention.

“Tell me about your sister’s 1967 Mustang,” he’d say. Or, “What did they tell you during the safety drill before your ride?”

The resulting radio piece is, in my humble opinion, a joy to listen to. The folks I worked with during my drive in Phoenix sent some sound clips from the event– Joe wove them into the piece. He used some priceless rock ‘n’ roll tunes in the background, too.

Joe’s sound-bit magic brought me right back behind the wheel again. In the driver’s seat. The piece aired this morning on Chicago Public Radio’s 848 show. If you missed it, you can take a listen online. Just be sure to buckle your seat belt first.

That's Tommy Kendall behind the wheel before we headed out and switched places. It was over 100 degrees in Arizona, but he was cool as a cucumber. Thanks to Tommy, at 80 mph, so was I. (Photo by Mike Maez, M2 Autophoto)

Now’s your Chance to Meet Flo in Person

Flo, having her cake and eating it, too, at 93.

You know her as the birthday gal who dances with younger men at jazz clubs, the sophisticate who insists on having a phone near the toilet when she stays in a hotel room, the athlete who bounces back from serious injuries – broken pelvis, for example – in record time. Now’s your chance to meet Wonder Woman in person. Flo, my mom, is coming to Printers Row this Sunday!

My sister Marilee is flying in from Florida, too, and my sister Bev is coming by train from Michigan. Along with Mike, all three of them will escort Flo to my Memoir Writing Workshop at noon on Sunday, June 7.

June 7 (Sunday), noon
Printer’s Row Lit Fest
Memoir Writing Workshop
University Center
Multi-Media Room
525 S. State St.
Chicago, IL
www.printersrowlitfest.org

Wanda Bridgeforth, a student from the memoir-writing class I teach for Chicago’s senior citizens, will be reading from her work at our session. Flo has heard Wanda on Chicago Public Radio, and she’s enjoyed reading the first volume of essays in Wanda’s book, On the Move. Now, this Sunday, they’ll be able to meet in person. You can meet them, too — just come on over to University Center at noon.

If you can’t make it to the session, though, you might have one last chance. Billy Balducci is bartending at Hackney’s until 5 on Sunday, and he says if we can get Flo through the Printers Row crowds and over to the tavern, he’ll save a seat there for her. “I’ll reserve a seat for Flo all day until she gets here!” he exclaimed. “I’m all about Flo.” Printers Row may never be the same.