Well, we rather knew that all along, didn't we? But boy, have I got a treat for you today. I emailed Michael Perry, author of Population 485, and asked him two of the questions from last week's Book Menage. And boy, how he answered them! Here were the questions:
Did you ask your whole family to read the "Sarah" chapter before you published? Or, how did you choose such divergent activities as writing and being an EMT? (I said "or" because I didn't want him to feel he had to answer both, if he didn't have time.)
And here is what he emailed back:
"My mother read the 'Sarah' chapter. She corrected some things in it. My brother gave me permission to write about it, but said he didn’t think he could read it. Sometime later (a year or two) he did read it and sent me a kind note. I actually already had a final chapter already written (I don’t work in a straight line) when Sarah’s death occurred. I wrote the new final chapter with my brother’s permission because those events so synthesized what I was trying to convey about the good side of small town/rural life even/especially in the face of tragedy.
Mom is my number one fact-checker. I have removed at least one delightful anecdote after she told me I got it wrong. I really do my best to get the facts right (Truth with a capital “T” is a much more elusive matter). Double-check, confirm in print when possible. Consult with family, other folks. Check old newspapers. But sometimes I flat-out make mistakes. When I discover them, I try to be very open about it. I even have a tag on my blog called 'OOPS!'. If you click on it you’ll find mistakes I’ve acknowledged about the most recent book.
Then there are times when three of us in the immediate family simply remember an anecdote differently. Obviously nobody is 'lying' in the standard sense. So in those cases I usually do my best to synthesize and/or check the stories against each other in an attempt to identify the items that do match up.
Memoir is a much-mangled form. I try to write honestly and from the heart and check the facts. But of course the books are a distillation…what may be missing is any given Tuesday in dirty socks, the standard boring stuff, filling out insurance forms, renewing the license plates, being grumpy and boring for days on end, straightening up the garage, and so on.
As far as the divergent activities of writing and EMT-ing, there was no plan. I became an EMT somewhat on a whim because I wanted to be able to do something if someone fell over. Plus I admit to wondering about what went on inside the fast-moving vehicle with the flashing lights. I became a writer after a lifetime of incidental coincidences beginning when I fell in love with books as a toddler, continuing when a 7th grade teacher let me write a free-verse poem and my first short essay, on through a college creative writing course and gigantic nursing course papers, right up until a friend mentioned she had written a piece for a magazine and sold it and it occurred to me that maybe I could try the same thing, so I went to the library and got a book on freelance writing and now here we are.
As a young freelancer looking for work, it made sense to start writing about what I was already doing. That included being an EMT. So I wrote about that for rescue magazines and non-rescue magazines, and just kept doing both. Nowadays I continue my involvement with EMS because it is a daily reminder that I am not a writer but rather a human and one day I’ll be the one needing help. I find it keeps me utterly grounded to reality and grateful for life itself, whereas writing – for all the delights it has brought and continues to bring – often allows me to remain (quite happily) in the floaty little world I carry between my ears.
So rather than a divergence, I see these two things as an essential knot holding me together."
I don't know about you, but I'm going to steal his "floaty little world I carry between my ears" line. What a guy. What an author. Thanks again for all of your participation in the Menage (and thanks to Michael Perry as well). Now go forth and read all his books! And do please tune in tomorrow for another Book Menage treat!
"Mom is my number one fact-checker."
Now that's the truth. My husband and I have to check with my mom when we forget how long we've been married. She's in her 80s.
A big thank you to Michael Perry for responding to the menage questions!
Posted by: Venta | 30 July 2009 at 09:15 AM
Venta,
Ha! So true. Luckily I have Mr. CR too, who has a mind like a steel trap, while mine is definitely more sieve-ish.
I too was blown away by Michael Perry's lengthy answers, and join you in thanking him.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 30 July 2009 at 09:36 AM
I may have to run out and pick up this book. I've always liked authors who can take a few to answer nagging questions from the proletariat.
Posted by: Brandon | 30 July 2009 at 12:02 PM
That was awesome! You must have some clout.
...I'm feeling smug because he validated my point about different people in a family remembering events differently.
Posted by: Jessica | 30 July 2009 at 12:53 PM
Brandon,
I would like to hear what you think about this one. I don't think it would be too sentimental for you, but I'd be interested to find out.
Jessica,
I have no clout, but I think authors are being encouraged to take book clubs (even online ones) seriously, so that worked in our favor. Yes, I too thought his remarks on memories and memoir were really interesting. And validating to your remarks as well!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 30 July 2009 at 03:20 PM
Also: I think we got nice answers back from these authors because they're nice people. (Didn't mean to sound so jaded about authors answering because they're interested in book groups.)
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 30 July 2009 at 03:34 PM
Very kind of Perry to respond and his answers are excellent.
Posted by: Tripp | 30 July 2009 at 05:13 PM
I once accidentally* heard Michael Perry on What Do You Know, and he seemed like a truly decent person--exactly the kind who would answer his readers' questions with more than a modicum of grace. I'm glad that really seems to be true. I'm saving his new book (and the one from Wade Rouse about moving to rural Michigan) for my vacation next month--I can't wait!
*I cannot bear that radio show and normally flip to something else, but couldn't get any other stations in during a long road trip, so I kept it on anyway. I was so happy he was the guest--he was pretty funny and very mellow.
Posted by: Rachael | 30 July 2009 at 05:14 PM
It's funny: I went to the bookstore this afternoon (well, yesterday afternoon--I'm a night owl) and noticed a stack of "Truck: A Love Story" on the bargain shelf. I didn't buy it, as I'm not really convinced that Perry would be my mug of beer. This is going to sound terrible (and Mr. Perry, if you're following this, I'm not trying to be offensive), but these books make me think of Larry the Cable Guy. And I don't like LtCG. (Hell, I don't even have cable. I hate TV.) (God, I hate that I feel like a snob about this, but let's face it: our book tastes are like night and day.) I could still buy it tomorrow (well, today) but I'm worried that it'll just collect dust. Then I'll just feel bad.
Come on, librarian. I need you to convince me.
Posted by: Brandon | 31 July 2009 at 02:45 AM
Another librarian that has met Perry and sat next to him at a fundraiser dinner can attest to the fact that Perry is SO NOT Larry the Cable Guy. I hated even seeing that comparison in writing. Larry the cable guy is a stereotypical southern dimwit character. Perry is an intelligent, thoughtful Wisconsin writer. He writes memoirs not comedy and there's nothing dimwit about him. The cheesy covers of books are decided by publishers, not writers. Perry himself said he was often rallying librarians to make sure this book was not shelved with car repair manuals as it's Dewey Decimal classification suggests. Just so you know...
Posted by: katharine | 31 July 2009 at 11:53 AM
Say, maybe "Truck: A Love Story" *should* be shelved with car repair manuals! That way maybe people who are more into car repair than reading might stumble across it.
My dad is a mechanic, and one of the most prodigious readers in the family. I shudder to think anyone might write off those of us from blue collar backgrounds as less literary.
Posted by: Jessica | 31 July 2009 at 02:55 PM
Okay, Brandon,
You'll note another librarian has jumped in to do my job for me, which I fully support. (Thanks, Katharine!) She also said exactly what I thought regarding Larry the Cable Guy--who is a stereotypical Southern dimwit, but one who is "acted" by a very cold and calculating non-dimwit who figured out that anything dumb is big money in America these days and went with it. Michael Perry is not like that at all. One of my favorite lines is how he's one of the few volunteer firefighters who ever missed a call because he was at a poetry reading. His book reads just exactly like what he seems to be -- an interesting and interested, intelligent guy who has traveled and lived different lives but also wants to feel connected to a home and a community.
If nothing else, I think you might enjoy him because he was raised in what sounds to be a pretty strict fundamentalist religion, and now himself is more of an agnostic.
Come on--your curiosity is piqued, admit it. That said, I wouldn't start with "Truck" or "Coop," they're for when you already have Perry Mania. I would start with "Population 485." Check it out of your library if you don't want to take a chance on buying it--supporting libraries is good too, as they often purchase smaller fiction and nonfiction titles and keep them going.
We're not always that far off on book taste, I don't think. I think we both have an appreciation for books that don't waste our time, and I don't think Pop. 485 is a waste of time.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 01 August 2009 at 11:43 AM
Oh, and Brandon, stop being such a lazy bugger and read both this book and Tom Bissell's The Father of All Things. You like how I'm moving from polite suggestions and reasoning to bullying? It's my religious side coming out.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 01 August 2009 at 11:46 AM
Jessica,
Oh, the argument about where to put Truck has very little to do with what librarians think anyone will read, blue-collar or otherwise. That has more to do with wanting everyone to find a book they might enjoy--because I am too dumb to repair my own car (which is true), librarians worry that I would never find a book like "Truck" because I'll never be browsing the car repair manuals. Anyone who's worked a reference desk knows you can never guess what people will be looking for according to their careers or socioeconomic statuses (or, I should say, we could make some guesses, but we're certainly not always right). I personally say all libraries should purchase two copies of truck and put one in its Dewey spot and one on a little stand at the circ desk with a sign that says "Check this book out--it's awesome."
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 01 August 2009 at 03:08 PM
I'm off to check my library RIGHT NOW.
Posted by: Care | 03 August 2009 at 05:39 PM