celebrating Mike Nichols

Sometimes I am so enthralled by something on television, I think of my friends who proudly live without it and shake my head. Tonight, on PBS's American Masters series, a portrait of the director, producer, writer and actor Mike Nichols that was so good, moving, interesting, I took notes all the way through. Unforgettable. (Directed, I found out later, by his longterm improv partner Elaine May.)

I learned years ago, to my surprise, that Nichols was Jewish, but didn't know he was actually born a German Jew and was seven when he arrived in America as a refugee, knowing no English. And all the way through his life, I proudly note, he was surrounded by incredibly talented Jews, Elaine May, Neil Simon and the New York theatre set, and the Hollywood moguls who produced his films. (May herself debuted as a small child in the Yiddish theatre and so almost certainly performed in the plays of my great-grandfather. Should I send her my book?)

Nicols was both brilliant intellectually and extremely funny, two qualities that don't necessarily go together. He was a very nice man, adored by his actors, which also is not that common for directors. After years as an actor and improvisor, he said that as soon as he started directing, he knew this was what he was meant to do. "Directing is what, without knowing it, I'd been getting ready to do all along."

That really struck me. I thought, perhaps that's what teaching memoir writing was for me. Because from the start, it did feel like exactly the right place to be. Though Nicols had a tiny bit more success than I in his chosen profession, with a string of Broadway and Hollywood hits, wealth and fame, Tonys and Oscars and White House honours. However.

He talked about humour. "Funny," he quoted May as saying, "is where stuff goes into your heart."
And he talked of realizing, as he directed the movie Silkwood, that it was actually about himself. "It was about someone who's asleep who wakes up. And I realized that was me. All my work was, finally, about me."

And finally, in an overview of his work, he said, "People say, about a work of theatre or film, Why are you telling me this? And one answer is, 'Because it's funny.' But that's not enough; it doesn't fill the gaps between laughs. The second answer is, Because it's about you."

I have an old record of his work with May and will put it on tonight and toast them both, groundbreaking, brave, brilliant artists who made us laugh but more, showed us ourselves. With thanks.

today's favourite things

Vancouver, where soon I'm going to spend a month - you can practically see Bruce's apartment, which he'd lending me, right on the inlet in the lower left. Lived there 8 1/2 years, from 1975 to 1983, want to revisit old friends and haunts, and my younger self. And drink in sea and mountains and a little bit of rain. Lucky me.

An avuncular Seinfeld on the Daily Show. Trevor Noah is hitting his stride; I'm back to watching when I can. A much-needed voice of sanity.

 Speaking of which ... Still deeply deeply missed, our Jon.

Hilarious! For writers and English majors, at least.

blessings

Here's a gorgeous small girl who learned to dance from the internet - amazing.
https://www.facebook.com/fusionmedianetwork/videos/1313808838645091/

And here's a gorgeous woman who visited today with her two children and a very welcome Wayson:

Love that t-shirt: #HUNK. All fourteen pounds of him.

So True Sunday Feb. 28

All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography. 

-Federico Fellini, film director, and writer (20 Jan 1920-1993) 

This is a month away. Mon dieu, I have a lot of work to do! Mark your calendars now. Check our website sotrue.ca for previous stories and information. Many pearls and a good time guaranteed.

Tuesday, January, keeping warm, onward

These are a few of my favourite things:

This handsome bartender is a close relative.

The adorable James Norton, who plays Prince Andrey in the BBC's "War and Peace," is unfortunately not a close relative but I'd love to change that. It's a beautiful series, though showing on AandE and so crammed with commercials as to be virtually unwatchable. But so well done, I'm sticking with it. That Tolstoy guy sure could write. Thrilling. They sing a lot in Russian, haunting minor-key melodies which make me shiver. I guess it's my Russian blood. But not as much as Mr. Norton makes Natasha and me shiver. 

 Two cute guys. Talk about yin and yang - even more than John and Paul are Keef and Paul.

Yikes! The ghastly stories about these two never stop.

And this, which make me shriek with laughter because it's me: I spent an hour yesterday on the phone with Hewlett-Packard when my two-year old printer suddenly, out of the blue, for no @## reason, stopped working:

https://www.facebook.com/ToMakeYouLaugh/videos/4863677081725/

Went with friend Gretchen to "Big Mouth" on Sunday at the Panasonic - what fascinating stuff Mr. Mirvish is bringing in for our delectation. This is a Belgian actor's one man show, spouting speeches from Pericles to Ann Coulter to show how orators through the millennia have used words to move us. Flawed but always interesting.

And then Downton. Perfection! Wonderful to see my friend Dame Harriet Walter back on as Lady Shackleton, sparring with Dame Maggie. (I wonder if the actors who played Matthew and Sybil and who left this series have come to regret what seems a rash decision. Where are they now?)

Yesterday, Monday, a meeting with the brand new Ontario chapter of the Creative Non-fiction Collective, a small, select group. Much discussion of how little money there is in our profession, but also laughs and encouragement. Good to meet other crazy people.

Heard from a former student today, a beautiful note that meant a great deal.

Every step of this journey has taught me so much; but I found the most valuable thing of all in your classes, readings, and summer writing workshop — my voice!

You helped give me the courage to dig deep and to write ‘true’. Without your support and encouragement, I’d likely still be looking at a blank piece of paper instead of over 200 garbled, incoherent pages that I now hope to wrestle into some kind of readable form.

Keep on teaching and writing — you have a passion and a gift for both

Thank you, dear friend. I don't know about the gift but I do know, for sure, about the passion.