Subject:WYADUCK: Report From the Inside
Date:27 Jul 1998 05:48:17 GMT
From:wyaduck@aol.com (WYADUCK)
WYADUCK here...
I'm in NYC with my laptop. Just got back from spending the weekend with KV at
his Long Island place. I can't stay on-line long, and don't know when I'll be
on next, but here's a few snippets to hold you.
-- He's tan, healthy nd relaxed. Swims in his pool every day. (Just got off a
crutch after twisting his ankle recently, while working around the pool,
causing him to actually fall in. (If only a video camera had been running, it
might have won $10,000 on America's Funniest Celebrity Home Videos.)
-- He'll be returning to Dresden soon for some PR for the German release of
"Timequake." If the timing works out, I may follow him for my
documentary.(Though it's unlikely as I'm tied up on my Lenny Bruce film 'til
September.)
-- Still writes on his electric typewriter. Occasionally uses a laptop. Both
are on a low table. He hunches over them from an old office chair. I said to
him, "So, you're not into the whole 'Ergonomic' craze, I see." He hadn't even
heard of the word but was interested in its derivation.
-- He does not "hate" Jerry Rivers (aka Geraldo Rivera). Runs into him
occasionally and they are polite to each other when they meet.
-- Was flattered about "Slaughterhouse" being #18 on the top 100 list. Said
that most people can't get through "Ulysses" (#1), but the list was compiled by
authors and literary people. He said the book is awfully admired by writers, if
not the public.
-- On the outside walls of his house, he has hand painted quotes from Mark
Twain nd William Blake. The Twain quote is something like, "Plant your garden
as if you will live forever." Kurt does have a beautiful garden, though the
grass is struggling in the heat.
-- Saturday night, we went out for dinner, then rented a VHS of the Marx Bros.'
"Duck Soup." He hadn't seen it all the way through since it came out in 1932.
-- He hadn't heard about the Vonnegut reference in the film "Can't Hardly
Wait." He didn't have much of a response, but I believe on some level he's
pleased by these things. The thing he's most pleased about is that all of his
books are still in print.)
-- He was invited to three different roughcut screenings of "Breakfast of
Champions" but declined, figuring he'll wait to see the finished film. He has
no idea whether it will be any good.
-- He still smokes Pall Malls like they were going out of style.
-- He still laughs more than anyone I've ever known.
It's 1:50 in the AM. I have to go to bed. If I think of anything relevant and
have the time, I'll post again. I'm sure I'll also see him again before I
return to L.A. I've mentioned the goings on of this NG to him on numerous
occasions. So in some way, he knows you all exist.
Cheers,
-W.
Subject: Re: WYADUCK: Report From the Inside
From: fixedmycat@aol.com (FIXEDmyCAT)
Date: 1998/07/27
>I've mentioned the goings on of this NG to him on numerous
>occasions. So in some way, he knows you all exist.
>
You have no idea how good that makes me feel. Seriously. OK, this is obvious
hero worship on my part, but it's nothing new, I've been "worshiping" the man
since I was 15. I'm just glad to know that he knows that we're out here and
that he means so much to us.
Wyaduck, if you have time, give us a post sometime relating to Kurt's general
attitude about his fans... especially ones like me get sticky-eyed and choked
up when we talk about some of the books. Does he find his most "gonzo" fans a
bit creepy? Everytime I tell people how much KV's work means to me, they give
me this look as though they were talking to Mark David Chapman.
I found myself laughing and feeling horror-stricken at the same time when I
read about Kurt falling into his pool and getting hurt. Appropriate, since
that mixture of humor and agitation is what I've gotten out of his books all
this time.
Wyaduck, you just spent the weekend hanging out with my single greatest hero.
I hope you know that, deep in the mountains of Virginia lurks a man so envious
of you he's about to explode. Just as well, though. I'd have spent the
weekend just stairing blankly at him and saying things like "Are you really
him?" and "Do you realize who you are?" I'd make him pretty uncomfortable with
my wide-eyed awe, I guess.
God bless him. God bless him. There've been times when only his books could
give me any comfort.
Darrell in Virginia (FIXEDmyCAT)
