So Wayne’s two sons tell us they don’t read books anymore. They’re computer engineers – it’s all about putting stuff on Kindle or iPad or just surfing the web to get a tad beyond the ideas of your close associates to some other flavor of thought. Enough reading by skimming articles sent through your personal fav networks.
For us in this 1900-made funky country cottage, it’s often RSN (reader supported news), MoveOn, Greenaction, Sustainable Petaluma, a bit of Huffington Post, huge variety through friends on Facebook. Continue to be amazed at the fine photos and video and original art and music (!) from friends. Hey! We got artistes aplenty!
But there’s gotta be a place for books. Can’t just let thousands of years of discourse just disappeaaaaarrrr…. OUCH! I love so many and want to share. Stories told me from birth, the 12,000 tomes then-hubby Dennis owned when we were married and lived in Berkeley, from all those I had taken from me when I was in a cult group. Many stories I may or may not retell. Probably yes – I had huge fun and passion coming from all sides then.
And now? Yea, now, too… I am/are we spoiled? At least very very lucky. And you make your own – luck.
So as we visited the sons, here are a few I picked off the still-full shelves at our former Cave residence, the warehouse on Water St. a block from Jungle Vibes:
– New Buffalo, Art Kopecky (The New Buffalo commune in Taos, NM, was founded by Art and friends – wonderful true stories from a Sonoma Cty. singer, bonzai teacher and carpenter who helped produce the play and film Morningstar, about the Mendicino commune of the same name)
– Zlata’s Diary, Zlata Filipovich Zlata was the darling of 3220 Sacramento Street, SF (considered the “Ann Frank of Serajevo,” Zlata was the first of several people who came by “the Gallery” to ask us to help save a whole country! What a challenge…at least we could help her story get told. My part was to get an article on life in Serajevo published in The Atlantic. Will always be a haunted by the image of people jockying for a small space to sleep on – in a stairway. And eating bark and grass to keep from starving. Of course, we knew much of this happens in poor countries at any time – but Serajevo was considered more a modern suburb, an upscale place. Shocking; this world is shocking.
– etcetera, Jesse Reichek Must discuss this with Laure Reicheck, wonderful lady I take French class with! Jesse was a famous artist in Paris and here – and collected an incredible number of friends among my favorite writers in life – Henry Miller, Saul Bellow, Jean Paul Satre. Seriously! A film could so easily be brought out of their story just the Paris years.
– Polyfidelity, Kerista Commune Interesting the reaction of the young sons – they’d hate the “sleeping schedule” of the Commune, a group marriage in the Haight that lasted 20 years and produced not only SF’s largest woman-owned business (first Apple dealer), support for a Kibbutz in Isreal and a village in Africa. My young son, Jonathan, and I used to go to their GG Park monthly picnics and they helped me with computer trouble shooting. I once produced a 3 1/2 hr. presentation on public relations held in the Green Room of the Veteran’s Memorial Building (great venue!) for Kerista friends…and yet they never pushed me to join. Never spent time with a more innocent group, truly. You had to be there. I felt the group broke up after 20 years due to a couple of women wanting to marry just one man! Communes – what a complex social arrangement.
– Yucatan Peninsula Handbook (oh, the young wanderlust!) Wayne told me he always wanted to go there. 17 years later, no travel except to Tijuana, but there’s always year after next!
– Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote About my favorite Capote, a wondrous, romantic girl, Holly Golightly, who takes her own spirit very seriously. In the book, she has disappeared into Africa; a sculpture made of her in a tribal chief’s hut is all that can be found. She still makes her own rules. Yes.
– A Course in Miracles, Vol 1 and 2 (thanks, Judy!) Transcendental writings that echo Buddhism, Christianity, other ecstatic literature, while maintaining their integrity. Some great wisdom is in there and hope I dig it out eventually, though doubt I will get entangled in the practices.
– The Years Best Science Fiction. 23rd Annual Still love SciFi; it tells us so much of the future we are always entering while satisfying our desire for fine stories.
– Insomnia, or the Devil at Large, Henry Miller’s last book Always love Henry Miller, though its tough working through his books for me. He reveled in repeating “forbidden” words – but was extraordinarily passionate in his life – and highly literate, always finding precise words I’ve never heard so you have to learn to read him. Thanks, Henry. In this one, he is 80 and in love with a 21 year old Japanese pianist. Sigh.
So all of THOSE riches – and the KQED Listener list of summer books through Michael Krasny’s Forum. Love this show and this list. Here it is:
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201106020900
Have a wonderful summer!