Michael Lewis on what's holding New Orleans back

Another blogger, Dangermond, attended the Michael Lewis panel this afternoon and recorded Mr. Lewis' thoughts on what's holding the city back post-Katrina. It's well worth a read if you haven't figured it out from the fiendishly clever clue on the left.

Barry Gifford does not take drugs and neither should you

"What kind of drugs are you on?"

That was the first question asked at the Barry Gifford master class this afternoon, which was moderated by New Orleans filmmaker and teacher Mari Kornhauser. The subtitle for the panel was "Translating Life to the Screen," so naturally there was a lot of talk about movies; Gifford was interesting, funny, and articulate, but I would've rather heard about his books (22 of them! in 28 languages!). Gifford was also the founder of Black Lizard Books in the 1980s, which brought back into print a number of wayside-fallen noir authors (his reprint of After Dark, My Sweet was what introduced me to Jim Thompson).

He has two more books coming this spring: Memories from a Sinking Ship (a novel) and The Cavalry Charges: Writings on Books, Films, and Music (essays). But most of the discussion centered on the movie version of his most well-known novel, Wild at Heart, which seems to have a bigger cult following than I knew...and by that, I mean a bigger cult than usually gathers around David Lynch movies. (For the record, he loves Laura Dern and liked Nicolas Cage's interpretation of his character.)

Gifford had so many interesting things to say that I gave up trying to transcribe, but this quote stuck with me all afternoon:

My father was involved in organized crime. I grew up in a world of men, and my role was to sit and observe; that was my university as a writer, and I was fascinated by this. I had very little discipline – I didn’t go to school in the early years – so I would stay up all night and watch the Million Dollar Movie. That's how I developed this sense of narrative. Separating truth from lies...and realizing that there wasn’t much difference.

(Oh, and for the record: Mr. Gifford says he stopped taking drugs in 1970, when they began to interfere with his imagination. Why do you think they call it dope, kids?)

Opening day and master classes

So far, so good; the organizers are walking around looking sanguine, whether that's really how they feel or not. This is the scrum at the checkin table. Somewhere in there is executive director Paul Willis, associate director Karissa Kary, v.p. Doug Brantley, LouAnn Morehouse, and program assistant Marika Christian. Marika was a longtime Festival attendee who just up and moved to New Orleans one day, and the city opened up its magic box for her; she found an attic apartment above the city's most notable TW scholar, Dr. Kenneth Holditch, got a job with the Fest, and is now working on her first novel under the tutelage of local writer Julie Smith...all of which is the sort of thing that happens in New Orleans with alarming regularity if you just strip off your defenses and dive right in.

Here's the table from the Garden District Book Shop, which came through Katrina just fine and is actually bucking the brick-and-mortar bookstore trend by, well, not going out of business and actually making a little bit of scratch. It's in a great area; the Garden District is, if anything, cleaner than it was before the storm, Commander's Palace is (thank God) open again, and all that's missing is the streetcar running up St. Charles Avenue. Taking the "St. Charles bus" just doesn't have that romance to it.


And here's the Festival president, Pat Brady, with her inamorato/main squeeze Michael Ledet. Pat is also the author of Martha Washington: An American Life, which has gotten the sort of reviews that writers could (and have) killed for. Michael, who owns 2 Martini Press with the Gumbo Shop's Richard Stewart, was about to present a master class on self-publishing with Richard and Allain Andry, the author of the children's book Louie the Buoy.

Is anything going wrong? Well, they ran out of free coffee (which is, fortunately, not in short supply in the Quarter), and the out-of-towners are mopping sweat from their brows and looking slightly poleaxed. Wusses! It's only March.

Brad, Angelina, and Tennessee: a generous offer

It's no secret that the French Quarter has two rather well-known recent transplants. Made a couple of movies, I gather. Heard something about them starting a family, too.

After lunch today, I walked past their new house, which has its own history; it was once owned by the New Orleans record producer Cosimo Matassa, who used it as a recording studio. Fats Domino recorded "It's Raining" and "Walkin' to New Orleans" there. Irma Thomas cut "It's Raining." And it's where Ernie K-Doe immortalized his "Mother-in-Law." Once an avocado warehouse near the Mississippi River docks, it's now more Architectural Digest than Avocado Digest.

What has this to do with the Tennessee Williams Festival? Well, among Ms. Jolie's extensive collection of tattoos is this quote emblazoned on the inside of her forearm:

"A PRAYER FOR THE WILD AT HEART KEPT IN CAGES"

It's the subtitle for TW's 1941 play Stairs to the Roof, but it's probably better known today in its abbreviated form as Wild at Heart, the Barry Gifford novel that became a David Lynch film. And since Mr. Gifford is going to be at the Festival...is it completely out of the realm of possibility that Mr. Pitt and Ms. Jolie might walk down the street and attend a panel or two? After all, everyone who's run across them in the Quarter says they're about as nice and down-to-earth as they possibly could be.

This would be a great idea for several reasons, not the least of which is that there aren't two better people to helm a remake of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Just the thought of her in a white slip and him in an undershirt would probably guarantee sold-out performances for months. (And they both can actually act, which I gather is optional for an "actor" these days.)

So...here's my offer. If you're reading, Angelina and Brad, I will personally pick up the cost of your panel passes if you want to walk up to the Historic New Orleans Collection on Thursday and take in Barry Gifford's master class (if there's room for you). Since tickets are $25 apiece, that's a $50 value.

I will even buy one of you a T-shirt (you can decide which one of you wants it). Think about it.

Thu., Mar. 29
1:30 pm

"Barry Gifford: Translating Life to the Screen" (master class)
Historic New Orleans Collection

Profile: Sharyn McCrumb

A look at some of the personalities at the TW Fest

Sharyn McCrumb is one of America's leading writers about Appalachia, specifically about the lives of people in the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains, in what is known as the "Ballad" series. She's also written nine mystery novels about forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson, and a couple of science-fiction spoofs--including the excellently titled Bimbos of the Death Star.

Her newest book, Once Around the Track, which will be released in May, is a followup to St. Dale, her take on The Canterbury Tales as set in the world of NASCAR. (You can download Chapter 1 here.)

McCrumb has also won a slew of awards, from the Appalachian Writers' Association's Book of the Year to the Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, Macavity, and Nero.

I think she's a great addition to the lineup; sometimes Southern literature focuses almost exclusively on writings from the Deep South to the exclusion of all other areas, and I'd like to know more about Appalachia and the people who live there.

Fri., Mar. 30, 11:30 am
"Head for the Hills: The Mystique of Appalachia"

Fri., Mar. 30, 1:30 pm
"An Interview with Sharyn McCrumb" (master class)

Profile: Michael Lewis

A look at some of the personalities at TW Fest

Michael Lewis went to Newman. I didn't know that, but in New Orleans where you went to high school trumps all; it probably means more, locally, than the fact that he went to Princeton and then the London School of Economics. He hit the big time with Liar's Poker, which was one of the big three 1980s go-go greedfest stories that seemed to sum up the decade (along with The Bonfire of the Vanities and Oliver Stone's Wall Street).

Fortunately for readers, he left Salomon Brothers and followed a writing career; he's now a contributor to the New York Times Sunday Magazine, and he's written a slew of books, including The New New Thing (a look at Silicon Valley) and Moneyball (about the hapless but somehow successful Oakland A's). Right now Michael lives in Berkeley and Paris with his family.

Oh, and remember Tabitha Soren, the anchor from MTV News back in the day? His wife.

Thu., Mar. 29, 3:15 pm:
"Michael Lewis: Behind the Zeitgeist" (master class)
Sat., Mar. 31, 1 pm:
"Politics as Theater/Theater as Politics"

Profile: Yusef Komunyakaa

A look at some of the personalities at the TW Fest

Yusef Komunyakaa was born in Bogalusa, La. (a couple hours' drive north from New Orleans) and served in the Army during the Vietnam War--two experiences that inform his Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry (he won in 1994 for his collection Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems). One of his most famous poems, "Facing It," is a meditation on the Vietnam Veterans' War Memorial in Washington, D.C. He is currently a professor at Princetown University.

Komunyakaa is credited with bringing the syncopations of jazz and Southern music into poetry; he is supposed to be a terrific speaker and a mesmerizing reader. The Academy of American Poets says:

Komunyakaa has long been inspired by the black musicians of the 1950s and 1960s who overcame obstacles of prejudice, crossed color lines in their choice of bandmates, and were embraced by the population as a whole, despite ongoing racism in the culture. To Komunyakaa, their careers demonstrate the ability of music to humanize and unite people, evidence of "democracy in action."

Click here to hear Yusef Komunyakaa read his poem "My Father's Love Letters."

* * *

Fri., Mar. 30, 3:15 pm:
"Yusef Komunyakaa: All That Jazz" (master class)

Sat., Apr. 1, 2:30 pm:
"A Conversation with Yusef Komunyakaa"

Profile: Calvin Trillin

A look at some of the personalities at the TW Fest

Calvin Trillin is a staff writer at The New Yorker, with more than 25 books to his credit (the ones I've read have been about family and food - he's a great food writer). His first book, published in 1964, was a look at the integration of the University of Georgia; his latest book, About Alice, is a look back at his late wife, partner, and inspiration, and it's gotten rave reviews everywhere. Trillin is also a syndicated columnist, and has written more articles for The Nation than any other writer.

Here's a fascinating interview with Mr. Trillin on salon.com, which includes the following factoid:

But despite publishing 16 books (including two novels and a volume of short stories), Trillin didn't debut on the bestseller list until 1993, with Remembering Denny.

Sad for Mr. Trillin, but that should be inspirational to any writer: keep plugging.


Sun., Apr. 1, 10 am:
"Writing From Memory: An Insider's Look at Autobiography"

Sun., Apr. 1, 2:30 pm:
"A Conversation with Calvin Trillin"