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Maya And Ray...
Apr. 29th, 2002 07:09 pmI’m not a big reader of poetry; here and there I read something I really like, but I can’t really read it as a steady diet. However, I find it fascinating when I hear an author reading their own work, the combination of words and rhythm that they created. I was disappointed not to be able to attend the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend. I had wanted to take the kids; there were a bunch of kid’s programs scheduled, including Blue’s Clues, a favorite of Angus and Gareth’s. This afternoon, John came out of the bedroom and said, “hey, the book festival is on TV.” The TV was showing Ray Bradbury talking to callers, followed by Maya Angelou. I have not read much of her work, but I love to hear her speak. What a lovely and inspiring woman. I wish I had taped it. I only hope I can be gracious and joyous (and funny!) when I am her age. She seemed genuinely happy to speak to anyone who asked her a question. Someone asked how she went about writing everyday and she responded:
“I leave about 5:30 in the morning and go to a hotel where I have a room reserved. There is nothing on the walls - there is only the bed and the table and a supply of ballpoint pens and yellow pads, and of course a bottle of sherry.”
Hee, hee. She also said that it can take her up to three months to write a poem (Ray Bradbury said “about three minutes, but passionately!”)
I’m going to have to go get a copy of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” when I go to get “The Shadow of the Torturer” for my book group. Or maybe a tape.
Ray Bradbury, was also fun to listen to, although I only heard the last few minutes of it. He looked like an unmade bed of course, and seemed to have a little trouble hearing through the earphone. Someone called who had driven him in a taxi somewhere and Mr. B. had written him a poem. “I remember the back of your head,“ Bradbury told him. I went to see him speak a few years ago, in Beaumont of all places, a tiny desert town on the way out to Palm Springs. It was a benefit for the public library, and before it started, he sat in the hallway at a table and signed books. I brought new copies of “The Martian Chronicles” and a collection of short stories he had just published. He was wearing a seersucker suit which looked as if he had slept in for the past couple of days and his hair hadn’t seen a comb for a few days longer. The picture on the back of his books is obviously a couple of decades old. I don’t remember all of what he spoke about, except for his experience of going to Ireland to write the screenplay for “Moby Dick” when he had never before read the book, and his advice to “Never watch the local news - you will always get the worst of human nature because they are only looking for ratings.” Hear, Hear. I don’t agree with all of his views, but he was wonderful to listen to, nevertheless.
Oh, I just heard they will be showing it again - I’ve got to go set my VCR…..(runs off excitedly).
(Thanks to John for being a channel surfer - otherwise I wouldn’t have known about this)
Quote of the Day - “The day I wake up and read in the Times that ‘The Pope's Period is Late’ is the day I will let a Catholic priest tell me what kind of birth control I should use.” Susan Newman, author of Oh God - a Black Woman's guide to Sex and Spirituality
“I leave about 5:30 in the morning and go to a hotel where I have a room reserved. There is nothing on the walls - there is only the bed and the table and a supply of ballpoint pens and yellow pads, and of course a bottle of sherry.”
Hee, hee. She also said that it can take her up to three months to write a poem (Ray Bradbury said “about three minutes, but passionately!”)
I’m going to have to go get a copy of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” when I go to get “The Shadow of the Torturer” for my book group. Or maybe a tape.
Ray Bradbury, was also fun to listen to, although I only heard the last few minutes of it. He looked like an unmade bed of course, and seemed to have a little trouble hearing through the earphone. Someone called who had driven him in a taxi somewhere and Mr. B. had written him a poem. “I remember the back of your head,“ Bradbury told him. I went to see him speak a few years ago, in Beaumont of all places, a tiny desert town on the way out to Palm Springs. It was a benefit for the public library, and before it started, he sat in the hallway at a table and signed books. I brought new copies of “The Martian Chronicles” and a collection of short stories he had just published. He was wearing a seersucker suit which looked as if he had slept in for the past couple of days and his hair hadn’t seen a comb for a few days longer. The picture on the back of his books is obviously a couple of decades old. I don’t remember all of what he spoke about, except for his experience of going to Ireland to write the screenplay for “Moby Dick” when he had never before read the book, and his advice to “Never watch the local news - you will always get the worst of human nature because they are only looking for ratings.” Hear, Hear. I don’t agree with all of his views, but he was wonderful to listen to, nevertheless.
Oh, I just heard they will be showing it again - I’ve got to go set my VCR…..(runs off excitedly).
(Thanks to John for being a channel surfer - otherwise I wouldn’t have known about this)
Quote of the Day - “The day I wake up and read in the Times that ‘The Pope's Period is Late’ is the day I will let a Catholic priest tell me what kind of birth control I should use.” Susan Newman, author of Oh God - a Black Woman's guide to Sex and Spirituality
