Mary Lee Adler: a sculptor, a friend (Remains to Be Seen)

I met Mary Lee Adler in Miami. She was (in her smart, loving, embracing way) overseeing the young writers of the National YoungArts program. Making sure they were heard. Making sure they were seen. Making sure they were experiencing all that week-long program had to give them.

But here's the thing: If those YoungArts writers did nothing more than meet Mary Lee, their week in the Miami sun would have been worth it. I've rarely enjoyed conversation as much as I enjoyed my conversation with this reader/maker/doer. I've rarely felt so privileged.

A Vanderbilt graduate with an English degree, a woman who has traveled the world, a woman who doesn't give up on love or its possibilities, Mary Lee is also a sculptor—a maker of exquisite urns, among other things.

Today I'm celebrating Mary Lee and her artful renditions of the everlasting. Please visit her web site to learn more.

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Hairography: coming to a mailbox near you

I'm not actually done talking about those fabulous YoungArts writers yet. Indeed, for the past several weeks, I've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Hairography, the book my husband and I created to celebrate the work of these super novas. Bill took the gorgeous portraits; he designed the book. I encouraged and prodded. The National YoungArts Foundation made the publication possible. Mary Lee Adler made it possible, too. She makes everything possible.

Today Hairography arrives in the students' mailboxes. I am immeasurably happy about that. This, above, is Miss Shelley Hucks, whose beautiful words close the book. And here are some of my words, from the preface:
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The thing about being a “master” teacher in the National YoungArts Foundation program is that there are no rules. You are invited to come to Miami in early January, to stand among the finalists of a rigorous national contest, and to divulge (perhaps) who you’ve been, where you’ve traveled, what you’ve learned, what failure taught you, what the dream looks like on the opposite side of the moon. As a writer who has experimented with all genres and published in most, as a person who takes greatest pleasure from watching others soar, as a woman more inclined to listen than to speak, I chose to invite the two dozen bright lights to see themselves new and to report back on their adventures. 

Hairography I called it. What does the stuff on the top of your head have to say? How will it say it? What is the mood, the tone, the diction, the lexiconical reach? How does the hair manage to think when it is perpetually leaving itself behind? Is it at peace? Can it know peace? Find the pronoun, name the gender, consider plurals and singulars, tense and tone, or don’t. Write the autobiography of your hair.

Postscript: I've been asked if copies of Hairography can be purchased. They can be, at cost, from Blurb. The link is here: http://www.blurb.com/b/4073531-hairography

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Julia Hogan, Peter LaBerge, Jamie-Lee Josselyn: at home at Penn

I'm kinda tired and I'm kinda cold, but I'm not settling down on the couch beneath a blanket with my mug of warm apple cider and my memoir of the week before I post this photograph, taken at the end of a Saturday at Penn.

The highlights: Sharing the campus with my brother, sister-in-law, and super smart nephew Owen. Buying my beautiful son a quick lunch, a hot chocolate, and two party-colored pretzels. Meeting Julia Elizabeth Hogan and Peter LaBerge of National YoungArts Foundation fame for a quickish tour, a too-short conversation, and some hummus. Getting to know Julia's mom (who took this expert photo at the door to the building where I currently teach) and dad, despite the small radial arrangements in the restaurant.

And: Seeing Jamie-Lee Josselyn, associate director of recruitment and instructor in the creative writing program at Penn, at work at the Kelly Writers House. Jamie-Lee has a plan for Penn, and that plan is simply this: Let the best young writers in the world know about this university of ours, about this unique creation that is Kelly Writers House, about the gathering of word-hungry souls around the hearth. Creative, loving, persistent, Jamie-Lee crisscrosses the country, tells students the truth, and brings them to the campus for a look see. She'll even come to Manayunk on a wet day to meet the teen writers I pull together for a workshop and festival; she'll stay and chat. It's because of Jamie-Lee's efforts that I had the pleasure of seeing Julia and Peter again today. It's because of her that I have brilliant young writers entering my classroom.

To the day. To the snow that wants to fall. To the mug of cider I have earned and the book that I will read.

To continuity and friendship.

Oh, and by the way, Miss Mary Lee Adler: We did some talking about you, oh yes we did. We all love you. Hugely.

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