Little darlins,
Thursday night, I attended an evening with Annie Proulx, leading off the 2011-22012 season of Portland's Arts & Lectures. A sold out house of over 2500.
In a relaxed and twinkling mood, Annie Proulx spoke for an hour about herself and her writing with an understandable emphasis on a new work under way whose theme is world-wide forest degradation. The loss of chestnuts, elms, butternuts, etc.. Then the microphones were opened up for questioning.
I was first: "Ms. Proulx," I said, "The Laramie Project, the play based on the murder of Matthew Shepard, has become a formidable vehicle against Gay bashing and hatred. I know you have said, unlike Charles Dickens, story telling trumps social issues, but given that Brokeback Mountain changed many lives, brought resolution to long lost love, would you bless a stage version that could be performed in rural colleges and by local theater groups? If not, why not?"
With a big smile, she said at the moment no one except some Finns are interested. Then she looked at me. "If you are in theater, perhaps you can take on Brokeback Mountain!" (What? Me?) She then went on to recall seeing the Laramie Project in the town of Laramie and the reaction of the local people.
After the program I caught her exiting the stage door giving her a post card from Hamley's Saddle Store. "In honor Ennis Del Mar," I said. (The catalog was the only thing Ennis liked to read.) "Why I didn't know Hamleys was still around," she said grinning like the cheshire cat. "Sure is," I said. "Over in Pendleton. Love Brokeback Mountain. Like to leave copies in motels on top of the Gideon Bibles." We shook hands and she was off.
