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- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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Tag Archives: Lanford Wilson
“I did not begin to write poetry in earnest until the really emotional part of my life was over.” — poet A.E. Housman
OUCH. He was born in 1859 and he died in 1936. His generation saw so much change it boggles the mind, and I say that as a member of a generation who grew up sans internet – I didn’t get … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged England, George Orwell, Harold Bloom, Hugh MacDiarmid, Lanford Wilson, Michael Schmidt, Philip Larkin, poetry, William Faulkner
1 Comment
R.I.P., Lanford Wilson
Great American playwright Lanford Wilson has died. I got together with Liz and Brooke last night, two of my best old friends from college, and we toasted Mr. Wilson with our chardonnay and talked about his plays, many of which … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Brooke
Due to the recent untimely death of my old friend Brett, I have been feeling very close to my old college crowd. Most of us all still live in the same general area (Mitchell being the notable exception, who is … Continue reading
Sweet Bird of Youth: “Hello There, Chance Wayne. Somebody Said You Were Back In St. Cloud, But I Didn’t Believe Them.”
New Directions has come out with new trade paperback editions of Tennessee Williams’ Camino Real, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Night of the Iguana and The Rose Tattoo. I have received some review copies, and they are gorgeous new editions … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Theatre
Tagged Geraldine Page, Lanford Wilson, Paul Newman, Tennessee Williams
5 Comments
Balm IN Gilead
Someone keeps searching for the term “balms and gilead” in my Search box. I don’t know what they are finding, but it seems they are coming up empty, since the searching for that term continues – and I figure I … Continue reading
Inappropriate hilarity that could not be stopped.
In college, I was in a production of Lanford Wilson’s The Rimers of Eldritch (excerpt here). It is a grim bleak play about a bunch of hopeless people. I was in it with Mitchell, Brooke, Nancy, other dear friends. I’m … Continue reading
The Books: “The Time Is Ripe: The 1940 Journals of Clifford Odets”
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: The Time Is Ripe: The 1940 Journal of Clifford Odets : With an Introduction by William Gibson Clifford Odets (playwright in the 30s and 40s – inspiration to Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, a generation of … Continue reading
“I remember glancing out the window and thinking to myself that someone must have erased the sky.”
My friend Alex is directing Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead right now (excerpt here), and one of the actresses asked her, “What’s it like to do heroin?” Here is Alex’s answer.
The Books: “The Great Nebula in Orion” (Lanford Wilson)
Next in my Daily Book Excerpt: Next on the script shelf Next play in my little unalphabetized pile of Samuel French plays is a one-act by Lanford Wilson – called The Great Nebula in Orion. Two old college friends – … Continue reading
The Books: “Serenading Louie” (Lanford Wilson)
Next up in my Daily Book Excerpt: Next on the script shelf Next play in my little unalphabetized pile of Samuel French plays is another play by the always wonderful Lanford Wilson – this one is a real heartbreaker called … Continue reading

