Walter Dean Myers
and now, Joan Rivers.
I had just written about Joan Rivers after reading Diary of a Mad Diva. I have said before, September is cruelest month.
A lot of people didn't like Joan Rivers. And even I wrote some cruel stuff about her, as I reread my review of Diary of a Mad Diva. I am angry at myself for quoting some web comment somewhere that "Joan River's day has come and gone." As I think back, I was copping out, just trying to be "hip" and "now" and well, the truth is, I didn't even know about River's In Bed with Joan, and I had never watched Melissa and Joan: Joan Knows Best? Because I am not hip, now or anything of the sort. Come on, I am a librarian. That should tell you everything. I was kidding myself.
I knew the old Joan Rivers. I had read The Life and Times and Heidi Ambromovitz and Enter Talking when I was in junior high and high school and Still Talking in college. But I didn't know anything about the glorious later years of Ms. River's career. I only knew that she was part of growing up, an influence during my formative years. In these days following her death, I have read everything I can about her. My dear friend, Mrs. Pintar and I have been mourning together. Jane Velez-Mitchell said this, "You know, she spoke these truths that other people preferred to sugar coat. One of a kind. She did so much for all women who are in-front of the camera. I probably benefited myself from the fact that she was a trail blazer. All women who are in any way shape of form performers benefited from this woman breaking the glass ceiling with her -- ovaries. She had the ovaries to tell the truth."
Of course I will never be a famous performer. And sermons are CERTAINLY not performances. I am not saying that at all. But at the same time, they are done in front of a group of people and it is a very, very humbling and daunting task. To take the most important, precious words in the history of the world and try to convey to a group of people what God has led you to say...well it is hard to describe.
And in the other things that I do, storytime or storytelling or stand up. Those are performances in their own way. So yeah, I benefited greatly from Joan Rivers.
When she died I wondered how the world would react. She was always under fire for many of her comments. I wondered if that would be her legacy. As far as I can tell, she wasn't. I am sure if I looked, I could find articles dwelling on the controversial aspects of her life, but you know, I won't. I did look to see if Westboro Baptist had anything to say and they did, so I figure she was pretty effective in doing the right and good things while she was here on earth.
Does this have anything to do with One Death, Nine Stories? Yes I think so. Any time a person leaves this earthly life, it is going to impact more than just that one person. I hope anyway. Here was have a young man, Kevin, a recent high school graduate who kills himself. The book consists of different people, a sister, a good friend, a former friend, a total stranger.
The book is a collection of short stories, popular authors taking a different chapter and a different POV. I listened to the book, so I couldn't easily go back and know who was writing what, but now that I have looked at who wrote what, and I am not surprised that the stories I enjoyed the most are by authors I really enjoy. Marina Budhos and Rita Williams-Garcia had stories that were five star worthy, but I didn't enjoy the other stories as much.
It just seemed a little chopped up to me. But hey...look at how much the book made me think? So...that is a good thing.
I had just written about Joan Rivers after reading Diary of a Mad Diva. I have said before, September is cruelest month.
A lot of people didn't like Joan Rivers. And even I wrote some cruel stuff about her, as I reread my review of Diary of a Mad Diva. I am angry at myself for quoting some web comment somewhere that "Joan River's day has come and gone." As I think back, I was copping out, just trying to be "hip" and "now" and well, the truth is, I didn't even know about River's In Bed with Joan, and I had never watched Melissa and Joan: Joan Knows Best? Because I am not hip, now or anything of the sort. Come on, I am a librarian. That should tell you everything. I was kidding myself.
I knew the old Joan Rivers. I had read The Life and Times and Heidi Ambromovitz and Enter Talking when I was in junior high and high school and Still Talking in college. But I didn't know anything about the glorious later years of Ms. River's career. I only knew that she was part of growing up, an influence during my formative years. In these days following her death, I have read everything I can about her. My dear friend, Mrs. Pintar and I have been mourning together. Jane Velez-Mitchell said this, "You know, she spoke these truths that other people preferred to sugar coat. One of a kind. She did so much for all women who are in-front of the camera. I probably benefited myself from the fact that she was a trail blazer. All women who are in any way shape of form performers benefited from this woman breaking the glass ceiling with her -- ovaries. She had the ovaries to tell the truth."
Of course I will never be a famous performer. And sermons are CERTAINLY not performances. I am not saying that at all. But at the same time, they are done in front of a group of people and it is a very, very humbling and daunting task. To take the most important, precious words in the history of the world and try to convey to a group of people what God has led you to say...well it is hard to describe.
And in the other things that I do, storytime or storytelling or stand up. Those are performances in their own way. So yeah, I benefited greatly from Joan Rivers.
When she died I wondered how the world would react. She was always under fire for many of her comments. I wondered if that would be her legacy. As far as I can tell, she wasn't. I am sure if I looked, I could find articles dwelling on the controversial aspects of her life, but you know, I won't. I did look to see if Westboro Baptist had anything to say and they did, so I figure she was pretty effective in doing the right and good things while she was here on earth.
Does this have anything to do with One Death, Nine Stories? Yes I think so. Any time a person leaves this earthly life, it is going to impact more than just that one person. I hope anyway. Here was have a young man, Kevin, a recent high school graduate who kills himself. The book consists of different people, a sister, a good friend, a former friend, a total stranger.
The book is a collection of short stories, popular authors taking a different chapter and a different POV. I listened to the book, so I couldn't easily go back and know who was writing what, but now that I have looked at who wrote what, and I am not surprised that the stories I enjoyed the most are by authors I really enjoy. Marina Budhos and Rita Williams-Garcia had stories that were five star worthy, but I didn't enjoy the other stories as much.
It just seemed a little chopped up to me. But hey...look at how much the book made me think? So...that is a good thing.
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