Author of the post about the fire here... as it turns out, I was at your talk on Wednesday (I would have checked out the building sooner if I hadn't gone!) and it was super inspiring. I especially liked how you described how you write stories in chunks rather than all at once (at least most of the time). I was also happy to hear that my process of revision is very similar to yours.
Thanks so much for coming to town and giving me lots to think about - and I'm glad I could enlighten you a bit about the fire outside your window!
I wish there was, also. So many people may have spent their professional lives there... Those cobblestones in the photo of the path outside! If possible, the building should have been repurposed to properly house people..
Looks like Beck & Corbitt was a thriving steel warehouse back in the bygone days. Sad to lose this bit of St. Louis history. Gone to a rubble of St. Louis red bricks burnt black on the cobblestones. Dreadful sorrow! I wish these old bricks could talk about what went on there in the late 1800's.
Thank you for this link, Brian! So interesting. If only cities could re-purpose abandoned historic buildings, it would be a win for future generations to witness. Our past deserves respect.
That is interesting. I was in St. Louis a number of years ago for a book event and there was a warehouse fire then too - books, in that case - I think a local publisher's stock.
I totally agree. However, given how bad the fire was (it was a 5-alarm fire with over 100 firefighters) one person found OUTSIDE the structure with lacerations is a pretty good outcome all things told. I mean, it could easily have been worse, especially when one of the brick walls collapsed.
Unseen St. Louis is a great Substack. I'm not from there, but Jackie (the author) has some really interesting stories about the area so I love reading it.
St. Louis is my hometown also and I was going to say that seems pretty typical for StL . . . the beautiful and the ugly are next door neighbors in that city.
You IRON, too?? Oh, George, I always knew there was something special about you. I just didn't know until now just what it was! Good luck in St. Louis!!
Could this be a frame for a whole sequence of short factions, perhaps linked to the salient item for ironing in each of the stops on the road ... if St Louis was Jeans, where was it Shirts, where Vests, etcetera, etcetera.
More seriously what a generous slice of insight into one of the realities of the successful writing life.
I'm waiting for George (since he's being obstinate about the Saunders Plushy - he could be right up there with Beenie Babies and Pikachu!) to debut the Saunders Story Club Shorts line. They'll be Khaki-colored boxers emblazoned with Story Club doodles. This way, even if you're just sitting around in your shorts, you'll be reminded that It's AlwaysTime to Write. (Come to think of it, we could have Saunders Spray Starch too, so your jeans always look crisp and clean. We're missing out on Branding opportunties here!)
Regardless of the height at which it hangs, and even if it's something other than fruit, it's still funny. Maybe a little too inside baseball funny (man, those mixed metaphors!), but still funny.
Got to see you in St Louis, received my copy of Liberation Day, and brought a friend along who still thinks The Great Gatsby is not that big a deal, but was able to lend my copy of Tenth of December to her because she enjoyed your interview. Pleasant travels.
When I caught you in St. Louis, I had no idea you had just been in NYC, England, and Boston. Had I done that, I would have been strumming my lips while curled in a fetal position. You pulled it off with a clear head and heart. Or so it seemed to this peanut in the gallery. Good show!
I was in St. Louis at the beginning of October, during a difficult part of my healing journey. I brought with me a red cap, and when I returned I continued to write.
I write, I write, I write. When I can't exercise my body, I exercise my mind. And somehow, it energizes my spirit.
What you teach (in your words on Substack and On a Pond in the Rain) is ESSENTIAL. And this nurse is very grateful to be on this path, now, in this safe comment section, in virtual life. Your work is new to me, thanks to the words of Nick Offerman and Jeff Tweedy. Both have given me a dose of courage that my life was sorely missing. I don't know, on a scale of 1-10, how bad it hurt... but I'm not quite sure suffering can be measured on a Leikert scale.
Regardless, it's getting better as I move from healing to thriving. And I continue to enjoy the way you engage virtually and on the book I carry in my backpack (and forget in the pet store when I meet a Marco and a Maria, and a few kitties waiting for homes). Medicine. Social Medicine.
One of the best women in my life is also named Jessie. Now I think I know two...
Pain can be healing too. Sometimes you need pain to strip away things blinding you to truth. It ain't fun, of course, and people who have never gone through what you're are or have gone through will never know what it feels like, but you will come out stronger and be a better person and writer for it. Good luck. Fingers crossed for you.
Thank you for your kindness. I FEEL that here. When I go to a Wookiefoot gathering at Reggies in Chicago next weekend, I'll be surrounded in real life. When I went to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the same. When I gather with family in Marengo, and when I land in my bed in Lombard tonight, I will feel home. Accepted. Loved. Belonging. I am radiating gratitude. And Thriving.
Just last night you were in Tulsa. I know because a friend and I were in the audience watching you and Sterlin Harjo "castigating." It was a wonderful evening. I'm looking forward to reading Liberation Day.
I feel the same about "Reservation Dogs" and envied each of you for having a conversation with the other. It was grest fun to watch. Thank you for coming to Tulsa, twice! Hope your book tour continues to be fun!
Thank you, George! My thoughts are with you on your book tour. I am sure that there will be marvels along the way but there is a lot of slogging too in unfamiliar places without your loved ones. I am sure that you embrace these journeys whole-heartedly and generously as part of the writer's life, but still I don't think it's easy work. But let's be upbeat. It's a journey and all journeys are interesting in and of themselves. Leaving home can be beneficial even though it's hard for me. My use of the word "marvels" reminded me of The poem "Ithaka" by the Greek poet C. P. Cafavy. Here it is courtesy of the Poetry Foundation:
Ithaka
BY C. P. CAVAFY
TRANSLATED BY EDMUND KEELEY
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
I love this poem (I live in Ithaca most of the time but drive to Virginia every month to Vinegar Hollow). My copy of Liberation Day hasn't arrived yet. I ordered it online from the Random House website. I was hoping to read it during your book tour, but no matter. I am sure it will come. I have a receipt. I look forward to more news of the journey!
Thank you for stopping by in Manchester, George. It was wonderful to hear your valuable insights in person. I'll be picking up a copy of Liberation Day over the weekend. Enjoy the rest of the tour!
You stand there ironing?? Sorry. Couldn't resist.
https://unseenstlouis.substack.com/p/st-louis-history-going-up-in-smoke
I believe this is the story behind that story.
Oh interesting! They were pouring water into that the whole time I was in St Louis.
Author of the post about the fire here... as it turns out, I was at your talk on Wednesday (I would have checked out the building sooner if I hadn't gone!) and it was super inspiring. I especially liked how you described how you write stories in chunks rather than all at once (at least most of the time). I was also happy to hear that my process of revision is very similar to yours.
Thanks so much for coming to town and giving me lots to think about - and I'm glad I could enlighten you a bit about the fire outside your window!
Great reporting on the fire and your city’s disappearing landmarks.
Wow. How scary and sad. I wish there was a way to repurpose these older structures, but I suppose there’s not an easy way to do that.
I wish there was, also. So many people may have spent their professional lives there... Those cobblestones in the photo of the path outside! If possible, the building should have been repurposed to properly house people..
Looks like Beck & Corbitt was a thriving steel warehouse back in the bygone days. Sad to lose this bit of St. Louis history. Gone to a rubble of St. Louis red bricks burnt black on the cobblestones. Dreadful sorrow! I wish these old bricks could talk about what went on there in the late 1800's.
Thank you for this link, Brian! So interesting. If only cities could re-purpose abandoned historic buildings, it would be a win for future generations to witness. Our past deserves respect.
It was a bit of serendipity. The story came across my inbox, and then I watched George's video, and thought, hey, that looks familiar! 😁
That is interesting. I was in St. Louis a number of years ago for a book event and there was a warehouse fire then too - books, in that case - I think a local publisher's stock.
Brian, I owe you a coffee or something. Thanks for linking to my post!
Jackie, if you bring coffee to Brian, you have to share with the entire class...😂
It's just my continual payback for starting Fictionistas!
“Fortunately, only one person was injured.” I’d say not so fortunate for that one person.
I totally agree. However, given how bad the fire was (it was a 5-alarm fire with over 100 firefighters) one person found OUTSIDE the structure with lacerations is a pretty good outcome all things told. I mean, it could easily have been worse, especially when one of the brick walls collapsed.
Thanks for sharing this! St. Louis is my hometown (flying there tomorrow, actually) so I was very curious what went on fire...
Unseen St. Louis is a great Substack. I'm not from there, but Jackie (the author) has some really interesting stories about the area so I love reading it.
St. Louis is my hometown also and I was going to say that seems pretty typical for StL . . . the beautiful and the ugly are next door neighbors in that city.
So true
wow thanks for that. Interesting.
You IRON, too?? Oh, George, I always knew there was something special about you. I just didn't know until now just what it was! Good luck in St. Louis!!
Yes, and you’ll note I was ironing JEANS!
I know, I know, I realize those were jeans on the board, but you'll have to give me a minute. I'm still trying to grasp the ironing part.
You should write a story, “I Stand Here Ironing Jeans”
Could this be a frame for a whole sequence of short factions, perhaps linked to the salient item for ironing in each of the stops on the road ... if St Louis was Jeans, where was it Shirts, where Vests, etcetera, etcetera.
More seriously what a generous slice of insight into one of the realities of the successful writing life.
I'm waiting for George (since he's being obstinate about the Saunders Plushy - he could be right up there with Beenie Babies and Pikachu!) to debut the Saunders Story Club Shorts line. They'll be Khaki-colored boxers emblazoned with Story Club doodles. This way, even if you're just sitting around in your shorts, you'll be reminded that It's AlwaysTime to Write. (Come to think of it, we could have Saunders Spray Starch too, so your jeans always look crisp and clean. We're missing out on Branding opportunties here!)
🤣
That's funny!
Low hanging fruit.
Regardless of the height at which it hangs, and even if it's something other than fruit, it's still funny. Maybe a little too inside baseball funny (man, those mixed metaphors!), but still funny.
"She irons her jeans! She's evil!"
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"She has to be destroyed!"
And your belt, apparently.
Book tours can often make a writer's soul feel like it's on fire!
Today, scrolling through all of this...today is when Story Club really feels like....a club!
And though I tend to not iron my jeans, I am definitely now considering a Dyson...
George, thanks for this goofy video, perfect counter-programming to today's news....
And looking forward to your next report (possibly) from your beloved Chicagoland....
HA!
Got to see you in St Louis, received my copy of Liberation Day, and brought a friend along who still thinks The Great Gatsby is not that big a deal, but was able to lend my copy of Tenth of December to her because she enjoyed your interview. Pleasant travels.
When I caught you in St. Louis, I had no idea you had just been in NYC, England, and Boston. Had I done that, I would have been strumming my lips while curled in a fetal position. You pulled it off with a clear head and heart. Or so it seemed to this peanut in the gallery. Good show!
I know what you mean. I get all discombobulated when we switch the clocks.
I was in St. Louis at the beginning of October, during a difficult part of my healing journey. I brought with me a red cap, and when I returned I continued to write.
I write, I write, I write. When I can't exercise my body, I exercise my mind. And somehow, it energizes my spirit.
What you teach (in your words on Substack and On a Pond in the Rain) is ESSENTIAL. And this nurse is very grateful to be on this path, now, in this safe comment section, in virtual life. Your work is new to me, thanks to the words of Nick Offerman and Jeff Tweedy. Both have given me a dose of courage that my life was sorely missing. I don't know, on a scale of 1-10, how bad it hurt... but I'm not quite sure suffering can be measured on a Leikert scale.
Regardless, it's getting better as I move from healing to thriving. And I continue to enjoy the way you engage virtually and on the book I carry in my backpack (and forget in the pet store when I meet a Marco and a Maria, and a few kitties waiting for homes). Medicine. Social Medicine.
And time.
Love,
Jessie Hammersmith, RN
Lombard, IL
One of the best women in my life is also named Jessie. Now I think I know two...
Pain can be healing too. Sometimes you need pain to strip away things blinding you to truth. It ain't fun, of course, and people who have never gone through what you're are or have gone through will never know what it feels like, but you will come out stronger and be a better person and writer for it. Good luck. Fingers crossed for you.
Beautifully said, Michael.
And welcome, Jessie. You are definite among friends here.
Thank you for your kindness. I FEEL that here. When I go to a Wookiefoot gathering at Reggies in Chicago next weekend, I'll be surrounded in real life. When I went to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the same. When I gather with family in Marengo, and when I land in my bed in Lombard tonight, I will feel home. Accepted. Loved. Belonging. I am radiating gratitude. And Thriving.
Love,
Jessie
Des Plaines roots, NIU trunk, Lombard branches
Cook and DuPage County spirit
Illinois, Midwest resident
Citizen of planet earth
The glamour, the glamour...
So much fun connecting with you last night in Tulsa, George. Zadie was not bored by your talk. She said you are “a real big brain.” High praise.
Good to see you both two. She seems like an amazingly bright and present person.
This prompted me to search Joel Sternfeld, what a great photographer. Here's a Halloween Sternfeld photo, complete with pumpkins and fire. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jan/11/joel-sternfeld-photographer-america-interview-colour-photographs-1977-88
Thanks for sharing this article. I hadn't heard of Sternfeld. I'm now a fan :)
Just last night you were in Tulsa. I know because a friend and I were in the audience watching you and Sterlin Harjo "castigating." It was a wonderful evening. I'm looking forward to reading Liberation Day.
Yes, that was so fun. He’s a rare gem. Love “Reservation Dogs” so much.
I feel the same about "Reservation Dogs" and envied each of you for having a conversation with the other. It was grest fun to watch. Thank you for coming to Tulsa, twice! Hope your book tour continues to be fun!
Thank you, George! My thoughts are with you on your book tour. I am sure that there will be marvels along the way but there is a lot of slogging too in unfamiliar places without your loved ones. I am sure that you embrace these journeys whole-heartedly and generously as part of the writer's life, but still I don't think it's easy work. But let's be upbeat. It's a journey and all journeys are interesting in and of themselves. Leaving home can be beneficial even though it's hard for me. My use of the word "marvels" reminded me of The poem "Ithaka" by the Greek poet C. P. Cafavy. Here it is courtesy of the Poetry Foundation:
Ithaka
BY C. P. CAVAFY
TRANSLATED BY EDMUND KEELEY
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
I love this poem (I live in Ithaca most of the time but drive to Virginia every month to Vinegar Hollow). My copy of Liberation Day hasn't arrived yet. I ordered it online from the Random House website. I was hoping to read it during your book tour, but no matter. I am sure it will come. I have a receipt. I look forward to more news of the journey!
Will the fire serve the basis of your next short story?
Thank you for stopping by in Manchester, George. It was wonderful to hear your valuable insights in person. I'll be picking up a copy of Liberation Day over the weekend. Enjoy the rest of the tour!
I loved that event. Such a bright & generous audience. And with a protest going on nearby!
Wait...no hookers, blow, or Anya Taylor Joy passed out in your bathtub? George, you're setting a bad example!
I did have a room service cheeseburger WITH FRIES!!
Ahhhh, decadence...