Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

Meeting Annie

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Shuggy:
Last night [Shuggy'sman] and I went to "An Evening with Annie Proulx" - $NZ20 and a glass of wine - at a hotel meeting room, with the usual hard chairs, low ceiling, dim lighting, etc. (In fact we could hardly see her.)

She spoke almost off the cuff, very lucidly about Bird Cloud and its writing, writing in general, Brokeback and the reaction (apparently a lot of people in Wyoming would not believe there had ever been any gay people in Wyoming). (Cold) weather and protection against it figured strongly. The first words of the woman whose place she was using to write when she first went to Wyoming were "Let me show you the furnace!" She's a striking personality, warmth tempered by strength. One odd thing was how little her family figured. If she had a husband, or her children a father, we never learnt his name.

We were almost first in line to see her afterward since we'd already bought our book, not Bird Cloud, of course but Close Range of course, the edition with Jack and Heath on the cover. She took it and signed it before she spoke to us, so no message. Just her name in tiny handwriting. (Does she have Parkinson's? Micrographia is a symptom.) Then we stumbled over each other to tell her how BBM had changed our lives, by kickstarting us into living together, and when she got it she shook our hands and said "Grand!" I think that's the kind of changing the ending she likes.

Meryl:
That's great, Shuggy!  Thanks for the report.  We're part of a sub-flock of Brokies who can say they've met Annie.  I've seen her twice in New York with other Brokies, once at a museum talking about art and another time at a New York Times book event.  Yes, she does have teeny tiny writing, and yes, she is one smart, lucid woman.  It's great that you got to tell her how Brokeback had influenced your lives.  8)

What town in New Zealand are you in?  She sure is going far afield on her book tour.

Monika:

--- Quote from: Shuggy on March 20, 2011, 09:00:18 pm ---Last night Tim and I went to "An Evening with Annie Proulx" - $N20 and a glass of wine - at a hotel meeting room, with the usual hard chairs, low ceiling, dim lighting, etc. (In fact we could hardly see her.)

She spoke almost off the cuff, very lucidly about Bird Cloud and its writing, writing in general, Brokeback and the reaction (apparently a lot of people in Wyoming would not believe there had ever been any gay people in Wyoming). (Cold) weather and protection against it figured strongly. The first words of the woman whose place she was using to write when she first went to Wyoming were "Let me show you the furnace!" She's a striking personality, warmth tempered by strength. One odd thing was how little her family figured. If she had a husband, or her children a father, we never learnt his name.

We were almost first in line to see her afterward since we'd already bought our book, not Bird Cloud, of course but Close Range of course, the edition with Jack and Heath on the cover. She took it and signed it before she spoke to us, so no message. Just her name in tiny handwriting. (Does she have Parkinson's? Micrographia is a symptom.) Then we stumbled over each other to tell her how BBM had changed our lives, by kickstarting us into living together, and when she got it she shook our hands and said "Grand!" I think that's the kind of changing the ending she likes.

--- End quote ---

Thanks for sharing, Shruggy. Very interesting to hear about your experience.

Monika:

--- Quote from: Meryl on March 20, 2011, 09:17:40 pm ---That's great, Shuggy!  Thanks for the report.  We're part of a sub-flock of Brokies who can say they've met Annie.  
--- End quote ---
Yes you are - and lucky you. Will she ever come to any of the Nordic countries, I wonder...

Shuggy:

--- Quote from: Meryl on March 20, 2011, 09:17:40 pm ---What town in New Zealand are you in?  She sure is going far afield on her book tour.

--- End quote ---
Near Wellington. The gathering was in Wellington. She was going to visit Christchurch, but that was cancelled. A pity, because she would have written something very interesting about Christchurch.

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