A Writer's Moment: Concise, emotional, powerful

A Writer's Moment: Concise and emotional:   “The awful thing, as a kid reading, was that you came to the end of the story, and that was it. I mean, it would be heartbreaking that the...

Concise, emotional, powerful

 “The awful thing, as a kid reading, was that you came to the end of the story, and that was it. I mean, it would be heartbreaking that there was no more of it.” – Robert Creeley

 

Born in Arlington, MA on May 21, 1926 (he died in 2005) Creeley authored more than 60 books of poems and one novel.  Widely recognized as one of the most important and influential American poets of the 20th century, he wrote poems noted for their concision and emotional power.   Winner of the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award, he also received the Robert Frost Medal and the Bollingen Prize and was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.   For Saturday’s Poem, here are Creeley’s, 

Love Comes Quietly         and                       Oh No !

Love comes quietly,                                 If you wander far enough                           
finally, drops                                              you will come to it
about me, on me,                                      and when you get there
in the old ways.                                         they will give you a place to sit    

What did I know                                       for yourself only, in a nice chair.
thinking myself                                         And all your friends will be there
able to go                                                     with smiles on their faces,

alone all the way.                                     they will likewise all have places.

A Writer's Moment: 'Finding a little closure and peace'

A Writer's Moment: 'Finding a little closure and peace':   “We all lose somebody we care about and want to find some comforting way of dealing with it, something that will give us a little closure,...

'Finding a little closure and peace'

 

“We all lose somebody we care about and want to find some comforting way of dealing with it, something that will give us a little closure, a little peace.” – Mitch Albom

 

On Memorial Day weekend, the words of best-selling author, journalist and screenwriter Albom resonate ever stronger.  His books have sold over 35 million copies, led by the poignent Tuesdays With Morrie, equally successful as a play and a movie.  The story continues to touch people’s lives through the wisdom that Albom was able to share from conversations with his dying friend. 

 

Born in Passaic, NJ on this date in 1958, Albom was first a successful sportswriter before becoming – almost by accident – a phenomenal chronicler of people’s lives and hopes and the inspiration they brought to others.

 

“At the core I always say to myself, 'Is this something people want to read?'” Albom noted.  “I believe that you live on inside the hearts and minds of everyone you've touched while you were here on earth.”

A Writer's Moment: Stocking the brain attic is 'Elementary'

A Writer's Moment: Stocking the brain attic is 'Elementary':   “A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the l...

Stocking the brain attic is 'Elementary'

 

“A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.” –Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Born in Scotland on this date in 1859, Doyle is the creator of Sherlock Holmes, one of the iconic figures in literary history.     Noted for his to-the-point comments while solving mysteries, Holmes once pointed out that, “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”  

 

Originally a physician (I always thought that he resembled what I imagined Dr. Watson to look like), Doyle wrote his first Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887.  It was the first of just four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson, but he “filled out” the Holmes library of tales with over 50 short stories featuring the famous detective.  

 

The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction, tales that spawned many dozens (if not more) uses of Holmes by other writers, dozens of movies and television programs and the bringing of Deerstalker hats and Meerschaum pipes into vogue.   A prolific writer, Doyle also wrote poetry and many fantasy and science fiction stories, plays and historical novels.  

 

“Once you eliminate the impossible,” Doyle wrote in a saying that is now part of the lexicon, “whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

A Writer's Moment: 'The Magic of imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The Magic of imagination': “I discovered writing children's books was a way to keep living in my imagination like a child. So I wrote a number of books before I st...