July 3rd, 2019

Hello again, glad to see you back.

Our first meeting of July was a good meeting although we may have swerved a little off track in the opening discussion. We began by talking about how much truth is required when writing fiction. Peter Frickle led off by reading a piece he'd come across but was unable to remember the author or where he’d read it. A quote from the piece is as follows, “Truth does not have to be ‘the facts.’”

This launched a discussion which may have gotten off track a little but still raised some salient points. How much truth is too much truth? 

We started out looking at fiction writing but veered toward memoir, biographies, and autobiographies. During the discussion we turned toward the expose’ books and articles in vogue today. Some of our group lean toward leaving things alone. One person asks, “Why is it necessary to bring up the less savory aspects of a person’s life when their only claim to fame is the good things they’ve done?” 

Another says, “Just because a person is a jerk and does a few stupid things, does that mean all the good they’ve done is to be negated?”

 What does this have to do with writing? A writer has a responsibility, whether it's to themselves or for a contractual obligation, to produce readable material, believable material, which they think will move their readers. Memoirists, biographers, news writers, and non-fiction writers in general cannot make up facts or delete incidents to enhance the writing. We may not all see truth the same as another, there’s always room for interpretation. Therein lies the quote from Peter’s reading, “Truth does not have to be ‘the facts.’”

About fifty minutes into the meeting we moved on to the reading portion. Nine readers were waiting to share their work. Unfortunately, we were able to hear only seven of them, Don Westerfield and Scott Anderson move to the top of the list for our next meeting, July 17^th.

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When Ernie Ovitz took the floor, we expected to hear about his work about the Roman Empire of Emperor Constantine. Instead, he brought a poem he did not write, Study for Belief With Lines From Star Trek the Original, which he’s chosen to present to a group. In reading the poem he must become part of the poem. He received a full critique of his performance as well as praise for choosing such a poignant piece.

Animals on the Veldt and creatures in his garden provide pleasure and inspiration for Peter Frickle’s writing. His depiction of meerkats searching for food while remaining alert to danger in the form of predators, and giraffes reaching high above all other creatures to procure a meal liken to a small bird in his garden singing and searching for something to eat. In his golden voice and luscious words, I heard the squeaks of the meerkats, the crunch of leaves in the giraffe’s mouth, and felt the song of the bird in his garden.

When a writer makes changes in their work based on comments of others I often wonder if they’ve done the right thing. In the case of Dennis Cathcart’s revisions I agree with most of the changes he’s made to Couley, a story of an adventure in Bimini to collect snakes. It begins with Dennis’ first ever flight in a plane, a Grumman Flying Boat operated out of Miami. Despite the trepidation, they reach Bimini only to find a ferry without a schedule and a blue bus with dubious operational conditions waiting to foil their efforts. But, it all works to perfection in getting our hero to the south end of the island in time to collect specimens for which they’ve come.

Cuba under control of Fidel Castro was not a garden of plenty. Jeff Kutcher’s story of his friend and former Chef Amauri takes us to the solar in Havana where water is scarce, and children grow up quickly. Amauri takes advantage of an opportunity to purchase water from a water treatment plant and transport it to his solar where he sells it for a small profit. He is a bit of a rebel, even at the tender age of nine, and develops a relationship with the daughter of a Russian worker who tells him of living in Russia where life is easier than in the slums of Havana. As a tour guide he meets people from many other countries and his wish to grow up in the Western world of freedom grows each day of his young life.

Does the Garden of Eden still exist? For Susan Haley it does. In the Alaskan mountain range, a park with a name most assuredly rooted in the language of the natives, Chugach she’s found her Eden. In a poem written to honor her departed husband, whose ashes rest in that park, she took us there. We could see the lush greenery and experience a peaceful setting which seemed to surround us as we listened. Thank you, Susan.

Letters From the Front by Bruce Haedrich introduces us to a soldier in the 20^th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the U.S. Civil War. Written in meter like great poems of the past, we learn how the soldiers lived, died, suffered, and rejoiced during the most brutal of conflicts. The work is based on actual letters written by a relative of the author.

When a woman dying from cancer ravaging her body displays power and understanding which, even in death, connects with someone, they must write about it. Parker Converse did just that. His piece entitled Patricia is a moving, emotional piece which left us silent at the conclusion. Great work.

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We ran out of time but not out of enthusiasm, we’ll be back in two weeks. Until then I urge all of you to keep writing.