A sad note: Joan Didion died today at age 87. All the more reason to support future writers. The world needs you; we need you; I need you. Pens and pencils at attention, typewriters greased and ready, here's to the many writers, with us and now gone, who have given so much. Thank you Joan, and thank you George.
Dec 23, 2021·edited Dec 23, 2021Liked by George Saunders
Perhaps prisoners who are using writing programs as part of their rehabilitation would be especially grateful for the opportunity of a scholarship. The image of journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal immediately came to mind as someone who has endured his life sentence through the act of writing and telling stories of his experiences.
I had not heard the news of Joan Didion's passing. The opening lines of "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream" (SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM) are something I cherish and return to over and again. It strikes me now how well that passage of Didion's would rival "Cat in the Rain."
I've been working with a Navajo family of 5 generations that lives on the reservation in the Arizona, Utah area. The oldest son, Sam, left the res when he was a young man to live in Houston because he longed for city life and excitement. He returned to the family sheep ranch (beautiful land with no running water or electricity) to help his mother who went blind a few years back. During the pandemic, he decided to revive his family land by becoming a rancher like his late father. He's replanting, building, and restoring the sheep and cattle herds by himself and he's been writing about it. The stories are so moving and really funny too. Sam, his nephew, and his great nephew who is college age, are all exceptional writers. I'd love if one of them could be involved in this. The education and opportunities that are available to Native Americans on the reservation can be limited. If more information is needed, I'm making a short doc about them that I could send over.
I already feel liberated by this virtual darshan. My tongue is loosed on its pivots. Almost certain someone said that before. Who knows? We may well be reincarnations of Robert Benchley and Walt Whitman, as has yet to be foretold!
“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
I take this to heart every single time. She gave permission to have that be enough reason to think I could write.
Also, relevant to our current cause: As a teenager, Ms. Didion typed out chapters from Hemingway novels to see how they worked. She was deeply influenced by Hemingway’s handling of dialogue and silence.
I just rec’d a call from a “lost dog hotline” — a dog was lost in my neighborhood yesterday. Friends (many) are flattened with COVID and all kinds of holiday plans, upended.
Our GS Story Club has become my “ghost of Christmas present”- redeeming this holiday season! Holiday blessings to you all. And thank you, George Saunders.
George, you have reminded me, with your generous, giving, and talented efforts to raise our spirits through literature, that indeed there are still good people in the world. Merry Christmas!
It's wonderful to know that many young people without means will get a helping hand in developing their ability to express themselves. Being able to express oneself allows a person to see and to value one's own experience and therefore oneself.
The scholarship fund is such a wonderful idea, George! I love the thought of writers (or readers) who otherwise may not have been able to afford it, being given the opportunity to partake in this amazing experience.
A sad note: Joan Didion died today at age 87. All the more reason to support future writers. The world needs you; we need you; I need you. Pens and pencils at attention, typewriters greased and ready, here's to the many writers, with us and now gone, who have given so much. Thank you Joan, and thank you George.
Perhaps prisoners who are using writing programs as part of their rehabilitation would be especially grateful for the opportunity of a scholarship. The image of journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal immediately came to mind as someone who has endured his life sentence through the act of writing and telling stories of his experiences.
I had not heard the news of Joan Didion's passing. The opening lines of "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream" (SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM) are something I cherish and return to over and again. It strikes me now how well that passage of Didion's would rival "Cat in the Rain."
Boom! Four more in your stocking, Santa G.
Excellent! There's a generous spirit to this place.
It's been great to get to connect with other people who read George and love literature in general. I knew there were a lot of us out here!
I've been working with a Navajo family of 5 generations that lives on the reservation in the Arizona, Utah area. The oldest son, Sam, left the res when he was a young man to live in Houston because he longed for city life and excitement. He returned to the family sheep ranch (beautiful land with no running water or electricity) to help his mother who went blind a few years back. During the pandemic, he decided to revive his family land by becoming a rancher like his late father. He's replanting, building, and restoring the sheep and cattle herds by himself and he's been writing about it. The stories are so moving and really funny too. Sam, his nephew, and his great nephew who is college age, are all exceptional writers. I'd love if one of them could be involved in this. The education and opportunities that are available to Native Americans on the reservation can be limited. If more information is needed, I'm making a short doc about them that I could send over.
Came across this….
The Paris Review No. 74 Fall-Winter 1978
"The Art of Fiction"
(https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3439/the-art-of-fiction-no-71-joan-didion)
INTERVIEWER: Did any writer influence you more than others?
DIDION: I always say Hemingway, because he taught me how sentences worked.
I already feel liberated by this virtual darshan. My tongue is loosed on its pivots. Almost certain someone said that before. Who knows? We may well be reincarnations of Robert Benchley and Walt Whitman, as has yet to be foretold!
Maybe that's what happens when you have such a generous guy at the helm. Bravo!
Devastated by Joan Didion's passing.
“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
I take this to heart every single time. She gave permission to have that be enough reason to think I could write.
Also, relevant to our current cause: As a teenager, Ms. Didion typed out chapters from Hemingway novels to see how they worked. She was deeply influenced by Hemingway’s handling of dialogue and silence.
This is great news! George, you & Story Club have redeemed my 2021 and brought together everything I care about. Thank you.
I just rec’d a call from a “lost dog hotline” — a dog was lost in my neighborhood yesterday. Friends (many) are flattened with COVID and all kinds of holiday plans, upended.
Our GS Story Club has become my “ghost of Christmas present”- redeeming this holiday season! Holiday blessings to you all. And thank you, George Saunders.
George, you have reminded me, with your generous, giving, and talented efforts to raise our spirits through literature, that indeed there are still good people in the world. Merry Christmas!
It's wonderful to know that many young people without means will get a helping hand in developing their ability to express themselves. Being able to express oneself allows a person to see and to value one's own experience and therefore oneself.
This is so heartwarming, in every way.
The scholarship fund is such a wonderful idea, George! I love the thought of writers (or readers) who otherwise may not have been able to afford it, being given the opportunity to partake in this amazing experience.