So I attended my first Memoir class session at UW last night. Very good even though I had purchased a parking permit in one of the world's creepiest parking lots. 23 people in the class, all women, I would say I'm one of the oldest. Like the teacher Theo, she uses the same kind of self-deprecating humor that I use.
We talked about how to find your subject... and Theo (the teacher) mentioned that sometimes you have a subject in the back of your mind...you would write about it "If you had the nerve". Yup, that hits that nerve
and from a reading...Theo Nester's interview with Lisa Dale Norton
But the key with memoir is that when you edit out some events and include others you are crafting a specific meaning from a random list of life experiences. What this does is create a version of your past, and that version once published gains momentum and rolls out into the world before you. And the events that are discarded in the name of art, fade. Quickly you forget them. The one version rises and becomes the truth. When this happens you have named meaning; you have named what matters; you have shaped your past, and you have set up a springboard from which your future will issue.
So the idea I've had for awhile is to write a portrait of being a student at UCSC in the early 1970s. Over the years, I've realized that I participated at a unique institution at a unique time. I now live in the Northwest (looks like I'm going to stay) and when I talk with those my age about their college years, it's not the same really at all.
But the whole thing reeks of personal failure to me. I just didn't feel, at the time, and since, that I succeeded, I didn't measure up. So the challenge before me, "Do I have the nerve?" And, if not now, when?" Seize the time, I'm taking the memoir program NOW. I have the time NOW. Time to tackle it NOW.
Reading that quote inspires me that I can change how I frame that time. I don't have to feel a failure, I can celebrate the personal growth, the good times. Get OVER it!
I don't have many pictures at all from that period. Here's one from the little yearbook put together by some students in 1974. Crown College Dining Hall. College Night. Periodically, the college served a special dinner (check out the pitchers, table cloth, etc) and featured some speaker. Maybe we were supposed to dress up a bit?
Who's in the picture? Just the foreground.
Janice Hadlock (now JJ Walton-Hadlock) my roommate
Sandy Ginsburgh (now Sandy Barnes) me
Steven Wesolowski (my boyfriend during those years)
People in the background look familiar but I don't remember who they are. Yes, we all looked better when we are 22. Looks like we are enjoying the program.
I am in regular contact with JJ, have been for years. I'm still hear from Steve irregularly. But he might have some pictures. Brings up another sticky issue. I've been married for 34 years to Dennis, not Steve. That's all good but seems weird to focus on a period when I had a different partner.
Do I have the nerve??
4 comments:
Greetings from the guy in the middle of that photo!
Just stumbled across your post, as I was myself reflecting on those years at Crown. Reflection sparked by a conversation with another fellow student from those times who is doing an oral history interview with the university about the origins of the slug mascot.
So that's me, Steve McClary, looking extraordinarily young and hirsute, and I believe we are at a Crown College Night dinner event. Peeking over Janice Hadlock's shoulder is Pat Murphy, who also designed her own major and ended up as a science and science fiction writer.
An amazing time, and thank you for triggering some warm memories...
Greetings from the guy in the middle of that photo!
Just stumbled across your post, as I was myself reflecting on those years at Crown. Reflection sparked by a conversation with another fellow student from those times who is doing an oral history interview with the university about the origins of the slug mascot.
So that's me, Steve McClary, looking extraordinarily young and hirsute, and I believe we are at a Crown College Night dinner event. Peeking over Janice Hadlock's shoulder is Pat Murphy, who also designed her own major and ended up as a science and science fiction writer.
An amazing time, and thank you for triggering some warm memories...
That's great to hear from you! We were all thinner and had more hair (maybe not you) then. Might have been 1973? Did I ever figure it out?
It's fun to write about old pictures, I might even interpret it differently now than then.
I'm still here in Seattle, writing every day.
I'm so glad you found it and left a comment!
Sandy
Now I remember why I posted the picture. But not the followup. I thought I could write about that period. But I found I could not remember enough clearly. I just couldn't go back there with much clarity or insight. Just too long ago. I wrote a piece for fall quarter; about Priscilla's death. It was good to get that down. But I knew that I couldn't much farther. I couldn't recapture enough feelings nor details.
Post a Comment