Review of Garrison Keillor at the Oregon Bach Festival

For people who read my comments about Garrison Keillor, the show he did for the Oregon Bach Festival was a "happy to be there" event for me and the capacity audience. I was going to write about it but, after reading Marilyn Farwell's excellent review of the show, I decided to post her story instead. Enjoy!

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Review of Garrison Keillor at the Oregon Bach Festival

The Cartoon Cover: A Rorschach Inkblot

Of all the stories and analysis I've read about the "satirical" cartoon of Barack and Michelle Obama on the cover of The New Yorker, today's political commentary in the Oregonian best hits the mark.

Cynthia-Lou Coleman, associate professor of communication at Portland State University, writes that Journalists assume they get it, you don't. I especially appreciated her comment that the cartoon is "not just a mirror; the cover is a Rorschach inkblot that allows you to peer into the picture and interpret its meaning through your own prism. Problem is, our prisms are not the same, and it's folly to assume what others are thinking based on our own individualistic viewpoint."

How did you interpret the cover? And what do you think of the "folly" of assuming what others think about it?

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The Cartoon Cover: A Rorschach Inkblot

Literary Influences of Writers (with Billy Collins)

Reading poet Billy Collins story in the Weekend Journal brought to mind my boyhood in western Minnesota and the Saturday morning's I enjoyed at the Hollywood Theater. His article, Inspired by a Bunny Wabbit, spoke to the "question of literary influence" on writers. Collins confesses that his "own poetry would not have developed in the direction it did, for better or worse, were it not for the spell that was cast over me as a boy by Warner Bros. cartoons."

I can relate to the "spell" of cartoons I watched most every Saturday when I was a boy. Like Billy Collins, I watched Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd on the big screen at the "Hollywood" (we actually had another movie theater a half a block away and a drive-in theater on the outskirts of town -- the Star-Lite -- in our town of less than 6000 people).

But unlike the former U.S. poet laureate, my not-so-literary influences were the ever-present cowboys -- Gene Autry (always singing!), Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers (and Dale Evans), and the Lone Ranger (and Tonto). I don't remember a single film title, just lots of good guys (white hats) chasing bad guys (black hats) riding horses across the dusty prairies of the West. Of course, the good guys were always successful in their chase and the bad guys ended up "behind bars" for the rest of their days (or until next Saturday's movie).

Whether or not watching cowboy movies on Saturday mornings in the 1950's has "inspired" my writing, I've written thousands of words over the years about "good guys" (good products, good services, good news, good people). I haven't written very much about "bad guys" except references to competitive products and services (most not really "bad", just less good). Of course, the "chase" seems to have been a consistent theme ... find the right product, the right service, the right words ... throughout my years in the business world.

No doubt, my writing would have taken a different direction if I would have been influenced (as Billy Collins was) by Looney Tunes' cartoons always ending with "the unmistakable bull's-eye and Porky Pig letting us know that that is, indeed, all, folks."

Who are your literary influences? Who or what inspires your writing today?


NOTE: Photo of Hollywood Theater (no longer showing movies) by S McGee on Flickr.

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Literary Influences of Writers (with Billy Collins)

Writing About Creative Artists

For over a year, I've been writing about local artists and their creative work. What started as blog postings coupled with photos of art ended up being a series of articles published in our weekly newspaper (now defunct) and continuing today in a start-up monthly city magazine.

When I started the series, I decided to ask every artist I interviewed the same four questions:

1. What or who inspired you to begin your work as an artist?

2. Did you have mentors to guide you (or favorite artists/teachers)

3. What difference does creating art make to the quality of your life?

4. What legacy as an artist would you like to leave future generations?

I intended to use their answers as direct quotes "in the artist's own words." I also posed another question to help provide a focus for me in describing their work:

In a few words, how would you describe your art?

Along with the questions, I gathered information "About the Artist" (birthplace, arts education, shows, etc.) to include in each blog posting.

My goal of "50 Artists" interviewed in one year (the Emerald Art Center's 50th Anniversary year) turned out to be too aggressive to achieve. Even so, I expect to reach the goal of 50 stories yet this year.

The interviewing and writing experience has been very inspiring for me -- meeting so many creative people and learning about their art, their mentors, and their lives as artists. It has also challenged me, especially when I didn't "connect" with the art or the artist.

Overall, I've received positive feedback about the articles and in only one case did the artist protest to me that "I didn't get it" (what he was trying to convey to the world with his art). I invited his comments for publication but he chose not to respond.

The "50 Artists" blog has generated 4669 visits by 3385 unique visitors since its inception in May 2007 and has generated 10,298 page views to date. In addition, the newspaper had a readership of 8000+ people each week and the new city magazine's online and print readership tops 5000 people in just its fourth month.

The experience of writing (and photographing art) has kept me focused on "creativity" and continues to energize my work as a writer. And it led me into a new business venture creating websites for artists!

For writers seeking an inspiring outlet for their creative energy and a focus for their work, I encourage you to visit your local arts organizations and art galleries to find an artist (or 50!) to write about for a year or more. Let me know about your experience.

Writing About Creative Artists

Where J-School Led Me

Forty-three years ago I climbed the two levels of concrete steps of Murphy Hall and opened the door to the "J" School for the first time. I had decided that journalism would be my new major at the University of Minnesota. I had no idea where journalism and my college education would lead me. At the time, I was more concerned about keeping my draft deferment to stay out of the Vietnam War.

I did get my degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. And did not go to Vietnam. But my six years of Army Reserve duty in Ohio nearly got me to Kent State University on that tragic May 4th in 1970. Our unit was told that we could be called up to replace Ohio National Guard troops at any time. It didn't happen. But four students were killed and nine wounded by the 67 shots that rang out for 13 seconds that day in May.

My journalism degree ultimately led me into the marketing communications business. I didn't have the "stuff" to be a news reporter or feature writer. Newspaper reporting required "speed-writing" on daily deadlines. And magazine writing required story-telling skills I didn't have.

So instead, over the years I've written about hundreds of technical products -- from industrial diamonds, carbon disc brakes, and aerospace technology to spectrophotometers, plastic caskets, and computer software. Plus written advertising and publicity to market industrial magazines, training services, outdoor and city publications, retail businesses, and professional services. More recently, I've created websites for artists and small businesses and written blogs for an art center and my own business ventures.

The "selectric"typewriter days of J-School are long gone as are paste-up of ads for "lean, meaty spareribs" during my internship days at the Minneapolis Star & Tribune. I sit here at my laptop "tic-tic-tic-ing" away on the keyboard, "grabbing" a digital photo from the hard disc, checking my email, and "googling" the internet for a world of information. All inconceivable when I took those first steps into Murphy Hall.

Looking back at my worklife, the writing skills I learned in journalism school have blessed me in inconceivable ways as well. I received the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" skills to write about anything and everything. And my love of learning and curiosity about life are still with me -- even greater now than in my 20's. For all that and more, I say "thank you" to the teachers inside Murphy Hall -- Jim Barton, Virginia Harris, George Hage, Mitch Charnley, Don Gillmor, and others.

And I'm excited about being in the audience at the Bach Festival next week when a guy who wandered Murphy Hall when I was there (even though he was an English major!), Garrison Keillor, spins his tales of Lake Wobegon and sings with Maria Jette. I suspect we won't be the only Minnesota (and Iowa)-born folks in the Hult Center that night.

Where J-School Led Me

Good Writing from "A Writer's Coach"

The best book I've read about writing in recent years is Jack Hart's, "A Writer's Coach." In the introduction to his book, Hart shares answers from participants in his writing workshops about the qualities of good writing.

"Good writing, they say:

• radiates energy, crackling with a vigor that pulls readers along. It has internal strength, an inherent force that moves readers.
• gets to the point, regardless of what the point may be. Good writers don't waste their readers' time.
• transports them, putting them into a scene where they can see the autumn light and smell the fallen leaves crunching underfoot. It's rich, in other words, in what journalists call color.
• has personality, a tone both appropriate to the subject and inviting for the reader. The words sound right. They fit with one another and the mood of the reading occasion.
• can dance. Good writing has a rhythm that pleases in its own right, creating cadences that give pleasure regardless of content.
• is clear. You never have to read a well-written sentence twice--unless it's for the sheer pleasure of the experience.
• is mechanically correct. Good writers know their tools, and they never trip readers up with lapses of grammar, usage, or style.

There's broad agreement on the goals. The trick is to achieve them in your own writing, regardless of the purpose."

Seven goals for good writing. And, as Jack Hart says, "The inspiration is up to you."

Good Writing from "A Writer's Coach"

"Must Reading" and Best Writing About Oregon

My favorite local newspaper columnist, Bob Welch, offered a "must reading" list today for people visiting for the Olympic Trials. His list included 10 books "to read by Trials' end to understand us from all angles." He also adds 10 more Best of the Rest books (and Ray Atkeson's photography books) on his blog.

Lots of great writing and great reading about Oregon and Oregonians. I'm a 20-year "transplant" from Minnesota so I'm still learning about our beautiful state, its people, and many fine writers.

"Must Reading" and Best Writing About Oregon