Time Changes Everything

I just got home from my book tour in the wee hours of this morning and in the early afternoon, Reenie and I headed out for our walk. I was stunned by the magnificent changes and the absolute beauty that had transpired in the past month I have been away.

Knudson Park is a nine acre woodland public park adjacent to my home on two sides. It has dirt trails, wooden bridges, deer paths, rocky crags, meadows, eagles’ nests, owls’ nests, - in other words, it is a wild woods and Reenie and I usually walk there daily.

Before I left to go on the book tour, it was still a winter park, muddy, lots of water, not much greenery and lots of old resting growth. Today I walked into a wonderland. The first thing to get my attention was the incredible fragrance – it smelled so fresh and so summery, I broke out in a grin. Then I noticed all the green – paths that had been bare a month ago were now almost invisible under knee height green growth. We walked over a wooden bridge, up into a meadow and were met by a field of blue that literally took my breath away. Another meadow was pink, yet another all red. The wildflowers were painting earth’s pallet.

The symphony of the song birds was a new one to my ears – so many new choruses and voices, I just started singing along with them.

I had seen my lilac tree at first light this morning – when I left almost a month ago, it barely had buds. Today it is in full bloom, fragrant, beautiful, being all that a full-grown lilac tree should be. Twenty years ago, she was a sickly bunch of broken twigs in a lot in Vancouver that was being sold. I carefully dug her up and planted her in my back yard. She struggled there for a year, but she was winning. Then I sold my Vancouver house and moved to Salt Spring Island – of course I brought her with me, and planted her on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. For ten years she thrived on that hill, growing and blooming a bit more each year. Then I sold that property and moved to Victoria. Naturally, she came along. That was when she really came into her own. She grew tall and filled out, and each year seems to have more and more beautiful blooms. I realized today as I was walking in the woods that my relationship with this lilac tree is one of the longest relationships I’ve had with things or people. We take good care of each other. Seeing her today in full bloom after being away was like a wonderful gift. I am so grateful she is in my life.

Reenie and I did not want to leave the woods. She slogged about in the swamp, chest deep in the cold water, one of her favourite activities. We walked up hills and over rocks where tiny flowers grew. Everywhere was colour and freshness. I could have just lain down there and stayed. But the fact that I had not yet unpacked my suitcases weighed heavily upon me. With a sigh, I motioned to my wonderful animal companion, and we headed homeward to unpack and settle in again. I had not been aware of time so acutely in a long while. In one month, the changes that took place in the woods were stunning. I can only imagine that similar changes have taken place within myself. Time: at times a roller coaster, at times a gently moving concept, always with us, never leaves us, until our last breath. What changes it wroughts!

New York, Last Stop

I am not overly fond of NY – I know that I am in a minority among my friends.  When I was younger, I even lived here for a summer and visited often and adored the city then, but now, it is way too huge for me, and I feel somewhat claustrophobic.  Having said that, we’ve had a great time here.  I just am not too keen on the kazillions of people everywhere.

The day we arrived we checked into our hotel and went exploring the neighbourhood – Upper West Side.  Then we grabbed a cab and met our cousins Maddy and Marc for dinner in the village.  That was spectacularly wonderful, as I haven’t seen Maddy for very many decades (Judi had seen her more recently) and we talked about family for hours and hours, catching up on everyone and having wonderful discussions.  It was a most pleasant evening – couldn’t think of a better way to spend our first night here.

The weather has been cold and overcast – although when I travel, weather is pretty insignificant really.  If it rains, you get wet.  If it’s hot, you sweat.  No problem either way.

The following day we met my friend Alixe Dancer in Chinatown.  Alixe and I have had a lot of adventures together, travelling the world, living on a farm in Greece, climbing mountains in Switzerland, attending a Macedonian dance camp in Yugoslavia, for example.  But I hadn’t seen her for twenty years.  Once more this book tour has brought someone from my past whom I love back into my life.   First Alixe, Judi and I went for dim sum and then walked around Chinatown for a bit – I felt as though I could have done that for hours.  After nosing around in some of the shops, we hopped a cab and went to the Folk Art Museum, next to MOMA.  It was very interesting, but my back only allows me to walk slowly in a museum for so long; after a few hours, we found a cafe near the hotel, had coffee and bid adieu to Alixe for the day. 

Our friend Gordon White is a clown with Cirque du Soleil.  Gordon very graciously helped us get our room at the Beacon Hotel and gave us comp tickets to the Dress Rehearsal for the new Cirque show Banana Shpeel.  Gordon’s wife Elaine, a friend of mine and one of the most incredible artists I know, was also there.  For those of you who have been to my house, Elaine did the large sculpture of Reenie and me in the big yellow chair which sits in the sunroom.  Gordon and Elaine live in Fort Langley where Elaine has her studio and Gordon is often on the road with Cirque.  It was great fun being part of the Dress Rehearsal – they announced that they might have to stop the show, but they didn’t.  It was a vaudeville themed show and had typical Cirque type acts (jugglers, acrobats, etc), big production dance numbers, lots of clowns and slapstick, and some very very funny bits. 

I was lucky enough to have a quick breakfast with them both the day I left as well so we could have a quiet chat and catch up on things.  They are very wonderful people and I’m so honoured to know them and have them in my life.

Even though the show finished early and we are in New York after all, Judi and I were both exhausted, so returned to our room for a bite to eat, to watch a movie and have an early night.  I slept over ten hours!  I was tired.

The following morning Alixe came to the hotel and off we went to the local Sunday flea market.  We walked around there for hours, people watching and looking at all the flea wares – some incredible stuff was for sale – I have no idea how most of it ended up in New York.  There were things from every corner of the world, including Junkland.  It was fun.

The reading took place Sunday evening in Williamsburg.  Now I have always thought of Williamsburg as the black hat (orthodox Jews) district, but the area where the bookstore was located was a trendy upscale yuppified neighbourhood with lots of young people on the street and in the bars and restaurants.

We hired a car service to drive the three of us (Alixe was still with Judi and me) over to Williamsburg and on the way, we passed Ground Zero where we got out to have a look.  There is tons of construction around the area, even on a Sunday evening, with huge cranes everywhere, looking as though they might topple over at any moment.  We went into a building that was dedicated to the Ground Zero Monument. There were continuous movies and slide shows of the tragedy on the walls and a full model of the monument-to-be, plus many books about 9/11, artifacts from that time, and more.  There was something a bit macabre about being there – I wanted to be there yet felt I shouldn’t be there at the same time.  It was a quiet crowd and the mood was somewhat somber. I think 9/11 changed the whole world more than any other one thing in the past several centuries and the effect was so profound it is still palpable at the site which spans many New York blocks.  I did not expect to be as emotionally affected as I was.  Clearly this feeling was shared with most of the others there.  It was a strange experience, but one worth stopping for.

The bookstore where the reading was held was called bookthugnation.  A bunch of guys used to sell books on the street, found this place and built it into a very small but unique book store.  Once more, the crowd (okay, that word may be a bit of an exaggeration) was small but enthusiastic – about twelve people were there, but we are still pretty much consistently selling books at the rate of about 50%.

Some of my relatives showed up for the reading and afterwards, we went out for dinner and talked family. I had not met some of them before and once again, it was quite wonderful to connect.  It was especially wonderful that Maddy was one of the relatives along with her brother Bruce and family and so we could continue our conversations of the other evening.

We said goodbye to Alixe and returned to the hotel to pack.  Seeing Alixe has been a special treat – we had so many wonderful adventures in the 80’s and it’s always very reaffirming to know that the people I loved years or decades ago are still people I love.  This has proven true in city after city of this trip.  I think that aspect of this tour, reconnecting with people from my past, has been the best experience I have had in a long time.  Donn wins the long-time-no-see contest, my not having seen him since 1965. Eileen I haven’t seen for a very long time; we lived together in the 60’s and I last saw her about fifteen years ago.  Wei Zhen and family have been part of my life since 1985, yet I had never met them until this trip. Corky and Alixe both were in my life in the 80’s and I hadn’t seen them since. Matthew and Jill, my nephew and niece, I haven’t seen for at least a decade, and I met some brand new family in New York whom I didn’t know at all.  Phyllis and Wanda I see fairly regularly, but it was still a treat to visit with them for a few days. It’s these people I know who enrich my life so much, I believe, and this trip has brought back so many important people to me.  For that I am incredibly grateful and if nothing else ever came of this tour, that would be worth it alone.

However, I think more than that happened – I feel confident that if people can just hear me read, then they become interested in the book.  The question is how to connect with more people.  This trip has imbued me with confidence and a good feeling about travelling with the book.  I am very comfortable doing a reading and love the questions afterwards.  But I have to say, I could not have managed anything else without my sister Judi, who managed me, the stores, the books, the people coming to the readings, the business, the travel and everything else that needed any kind of managing.  And she did it with such expertise and skill that now I’m spoiled and don’t want to go anywhere without her.

So that’s the book tour blog.  I will continue writing the blog periodically and keeping people apprised of how marketing the book is progressing, including the screenplay.  Thanks for reading.

 

 

Washington, DC

I flew into DC, and met Judi at the airport, where she flew in from California.  We rented a car and drove out to Arlington, Virginia, to the home of my old friend, Dr. Donn Murphy. I have written about him before - he directed me in "The Importance of Being Ernest" in 1965 at Chestnut Lodge, and I had not seen him since!  Over the past year, we have rekindled our friendship via cyberspace, but the last time I laid eyes on him before this DC trip was actually 1965.  Donn and his partner Jon had very kindly invited Judi and me to stay with them in their beautiful home. 

We drove in around 6ish, dumped our prodigious luggage, and Judi and I immediately headed back out into heavy rush hour traffic to pick up Eileen and Kanny.  For those of you who have read "The Jagged Years", Eileen and Kanny are talked about in the epilogue. I hadn't seen them for a while. Eileen was my teacher at Trinity College in the 1960's, then my partner for a time, and she and Kanny have been together now since 1969, I believe.  But I'm in Washington, which means Maryland, which means CRABS - one of my favourite meals in the whole world, so off we go to the Bethesda Crab House for a crab feast.  As is usual, the tables are covered with newspapers and the crabs are just dumped onto them.  Everyone gets very messy.  Especially this one.  I ate more than anyone - probably more than any two!  As much as I love those Chesapeake Bay crabs, I have to say my favourite crabs, I now know, are the ones I regularly eat at Hope Key Restaurant in Victoria - I believe they prepare them there better than anywhere else in the world I have ever eaten crabs.  But the Bethesda Crab House was no slouch- it was a fine meal indeed.

The next day, Donn, Judi and I hopped in the car, picked up Eileen and drove out to find Chestnut Lodge - the hospital where I spent several years in the 1960's.  Now I knew that the main building, the one I had been housed in,  had burned down about a year and a half ago (arson was suspected) and I knew that developers were considering building, but I was not ready for what we found.  First of all, we almost didn't find it.  Rockville has changed so much, from a small Southern town to a city full of freeways and on and off ramps and huge buildings, that we almost couldn't locate the right street - it used to be one straight line down the Rockville Pike and there you are.  No longer.  Finally we found 500 W. Montgomery Ave, and the sign did say Chestnut Lodge - but even the sign was an up-scale yuppie version of the name carved in stone; the long narrow blacktopped driveway lined with huge trees was supplanted by a curved paved road with no trees and a housing development in bits and pieces along the sides.  We knew it was the right place because: a) it was called Chestnut Lodge; b) we were on Bullard Drive, and Dr Bullard used to own Chestnut Lodge and c) we came across the old barn I used to frequent while there (read the book).  Other than that old barn, there was not one familiar piece of terrain or familiar building.  Lots of housing developments, no trees, no kiosk, no Center, no Main Building ashes, no nothing that was a vestige of a life lived long ago.  In a way, it was a positive experience because now it is totally behind me.  I couldn't go back there if I wanted to which of course I don't.  It was an okay way to say good-bye, I suppose.  Better than having it still be intact.  It was a long drive there and a long drive back and an even longer drive in my mind to say good-bye, but say good-bye I did.  As did Donn.

We returned "home", picked up Jon, went out for dinner and then returned to watch a movie - Donn and Jon have a movie theatre - right up my alley - and I was very happy to sit in their comfortable chair and watch Gosford Park, which I had never seen before.

The day of the reading, Donn, Judi and I drove into DC.  Immediately across from the National Theatre (which is across from the White House) was a huge rally - The Tea Party - far right people apparently against taxes, government, medicare, for sure Obama (mostly because he is black), and against anything else that seemed to make sense to me.  Most of these folks are pro-gun, are armed, and are called the "open carriers" because they want to carry guns everywhere. There were many hundreds of them, all with Sarah Palin buttons, and signs that were not at all like our peace march signs, and lots of megaphones making ugly noise.

We walked into the National Theatre and up to the Helen Hayes Gallery where the reading was to be held.  One woman walked into the room and commented: "Those people on the street are a lot crazier than those at Chestnut Lodge!"  I couldn't agree with her more.  They were loud and outrageously more far right than the far right fundamentalist radio host in San Diego.  But enough about them. 

The Helen Hayes Gallery in the National Theatre is a delightful space.  We did not have a huge crowd but we had a good one - about fifteen people, including my niece Jill who drove over four hours from North Carolina to attend, my friend Bonnie Morris, who ran over in between teaching classes at George Washington University, and Eileen.  Besides Donn, all the others were unknown to me, but very interested, and asked a lot of good questions and bought books. Donn seemed pleased with the reading as I was.  It seems that everywhere I read, at least several people come up to me to say:  "Hey, that should be a movie!" to which I reply: "I'm trying - the script is in Hollywood right now."  Of course, so are thousands of other scripts.  It's like trying to get on Ellen or Oprah - everyone says I should do that, but me and ten million other people are trying on any one day.  I would love to as would all the other nine million and ninety-nine whatevers.

Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein just opened two days ago at the National Theatre and Donn gave us comp tickets - a box no less, and to my utter delight,, Jill, my niece was able to join us. We sat right over the stage and watched a great production.  I had seen Harvey when Torch Song Trilogy first opened on Broadway, and then had long discussions with him at one of the Marches on Washington (for lesbian and gay rights) - he did a very good job of Tevye.  The music is wonderful, the dancing, exciting - a very enjoyable evening in the theatre.  After the performance, we drove Jill to the metro station for her to retrieve her car which she had parked in Virginia to avoid the traffic (which was made worse by all the Tea Party demonstrators- they were out in front of the George Washington Monument in the evening).

I can't explain how touched and pleased I was that my niece Jill drove for over four hours to get to the reading, and then after the show this evening, drove back the same way so she could be at work early in the morning.  Jill is Matthew's (from Austin) sister, and I hadn't seen her for ten years as well.  It was so great seeing the wonderful adult she has become.  I felt as though I could speak with her for hours and hours and hope I get a chance to do just that in the very near future.

Donn picked us up after the theatre - he has been absolutely wonderful - I could not ask for a more perfect host - and he and Judi and I went out to a diner for a late dinner.  We returned home to pack for the airport the next morning.  We're off to New York!

RIVER FALLS, Part Three

These hands belong to Phyllis who is an exception pianist. I could listen to her forever. She composed and performed the music on my two videos (www.jaggedyears.ca) and when I first heard that music, it brought tears to my eyes (and still does).  I love listening to her play.

The days at River Falls have been very full and a bit of a blur.  I know we went to the pool at the Y several times which I thoroughly enjoyed.  One evening we went into Minneapolis to the Theatre to see "Beyond Ballroom", an excellent show of dancing.  At intermission, the audience is encouraged to come up on the stage to dance and they were almost as good as the performance.

One night we went to the University to hear the Air Force Wind Band - they were phenomenal. Plus I learned a lot I didn't know - for example, did you know that only 4% of people in the Air Force are pilots?  I didn't know that at all!  The music was exceptionally fine.

Prior to the concert, once more I tagged along with Phyllis and Wanda as we went on their monthly peace march.  It used to be weekly, but now every month, a group of them gather, each one taking a sign and marching down the street and back again.  My sign said: "Money for human needs, not for war" on one side, and "Demand peace, justice and equality" on the other.  I was proud to carry it.  Then we had a pot luck dinner. Of course.

One evening we went to the birthday party of a friend and beside meeting some very nice people, heard two fabulous musicians, Lehto and Wright, who were friends of the birthday woman.  We could have listened to them all evening - in fact, we did, and it was a very late, but wonderful night.

I also had the opportunity to visit Wanda's parents, 94 and 95 years old, both of them with complete mental awareness and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with them about the book.  I had met them both on previous visits, and they had seen me  on TV the other day.  I adore spending time with them.

All in all, the trip to River Falls was full and enjoyable and I'm glad I allowed a few more days to spend visiting with Phyllis and Wanda, two wonderful friends who just outdid themselves with preparation for my reading.  Next to my launch, River Falls was my next biggest crowd, and for that, and everything else they did for me, including having so much fun,  I am incredibly grateful.  

RIVER FALLS Part Two

This sign greeted me before the reading - there was my name - on the street for all to see!  It's pretty small but trust me, it says "Ruth Simkin, Sat 2 pm" and the building beside it is the River Falls Library where the reading took place.  Then there are photos of the readings which Wanda was kind enough to take for us.  After the reading, we meet Pierre, who lives in Phyllis' and Wanda's home with them along with the apricots and daffodils in their front yard.  Then we move on to the famous Landmark Building in St. Paul, where there was a festival celebrating Ghana, as well as some pretty incredible museums.  We saw a spectacular teapot exhibit, and went to the Schubert Museum where Phyllis sat down at a Bechstein piano played by many famous musicians.  They may have been famous, but Phyllis was masterful in her playing and anyone who heard her was enraptured by her musical superbness.  From there we crossed over the Mississippi and you can see Wanda and I at the end, with the famous Mississippi River in the background.  What a wonderful few days.











jn

RIVER FALLS, Part One

I was picked up at the Mpls/St Paul airport by Wanda Brown who together with her wife Phyllis Goldin have been my very good friends for years; Phyllis and I went to high school together in Winnipeg, and then didn’t see each other until the 80’s when we reconnected at a medical conference and the three of us have been fast friends since.  They visit me often, and I have been in their lovely home several times, and I’m sure we all feel as though we have an extra home in another country.  Many years ago, they came up to Victoria to get married once it became legalized (although they have now been partners for thirty-six years).  They had had a beautiful wedding in Beacon Hill Park with Reenie the dog as flower girl. 

Phyllis is a psychiatrist and a musician/composer – she is the one who wrote the little blurb on the back of my book, and composed (and performed) all the music in the two videos about the book (www.jaggedyears.ca).

As we crossed the St. Croix River, going from Minnesota into Wisconsin, Wanda explained to me that the river was the first in the US to be designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act as a protected river.  This was originally sponsored by then Congressman Walter Mondale who of course subsequently became vice-president of the US.  He loved the St. Croix River, which is a tributary of the mighty Mississippi.

Then we drove into River Falls, home of Wanda and Phyllis, and crossed the Kinnickinnic River – I love that name – which runs right through the town.  It is a cold water trout stream and people come from all over the world to fish there.

River Falls is a University town of about 13,000 people, half of which are university students, faculty and staff of the University of Wisconsin – River Falls. Similarly to Austin being a blue dot in a red state, RF is a mecca in Wisconsin for a vibrant culture and community, the university offering such rich diversity to the town.

I learned that, unbelievingly, Spam is making a comeback.  I always thought that Spam’s sole purpose was providing Monty Python with material for jokes in the spam, spam, spam and eggs skit.  But no - Hormel, makers of Spam, is thriving in Minnesota where the company is based.  I have even been seeing bumper stickers saying "I heart spam".

It is now mating season, with Canada geese honking their little Canadian hearts out on the Kinnickinnic River.  The apricot trees are in bloom, the daffodils and tulips are up, and it is very beautiful to be here at this time of year.

The first day in River Falls, we started the morning off in what is now becoming a habit – driving early to a TV station (KARE-TV, NBC) and then waiting, waiting, waiting, for the 3 or 4 minute interview on “Showcase Minnesota”.  This time we had a real green room with coffee, a TV and other guests, most notably Kori Linae Carothers, a new age musician, who besides playing the piano, had brought some Native American flutes from the Nez Pierce tribe.  We immediately swapped a CD for a book.  She had two women with her, as I did and we all chatted amiably until Rob came in to meet me.  He was very enthusiastic about the book, and we did a good interview, again with automated cameras (no camerapersons to be seen).

We left KARE-TV and went to Common Grounds Books, Garrison Keillor’s store, where we left them a press kit and a book.

Then off to the Y where the three of us did pool exercises for over an hour.  It felt good to be back in the pool.   We stopped off at an opening art show at the gallery of a friend of W & P before picking up two friends and driving into Minneapolis where we saw “Beyond Ballroom”, a fabulous dance performance.  Apparently this company has a lot of regulars, and at intermission, people are encouraged to get up on the stage and dance.  And they did – some of them being truly magnificent dancers.  Intermission was almost as good as the show!  It was a most enjoyable evening.

Both Phyllis and Wanda went all out for the reading which took place at River Falls Public Library.  Katy, the events coordinator of the library, and a person who was unbelievably helpful and encouraging, used to be Mayor of River Falls!  The building itself was very beautiful and beside the room where I read was a gallery with kite aerial photography by Craig Wilson – quite fascinating photos from on high.

Forty-five people showed up at the reading, which was not bad considering it was a beautiful summer day, one of the first, and really, everyone should have been outside!  I was surprised and very pleased that the mayor attended.  When Wanda welcomed him, I thought she was joking! Phyllis had prepared some fabulous food for a reception so while I was selling and signing books, people were eating deviled eggs and prosciutto rolls and brownies and cookies, and any number of good things.  I think everyone was pleased with the afternoon.  And then a woman who owns the gallery we were in last night came over to say that they might want to carry the books in her store.  So it’s all good.

After a very short rest, it’s off to a party in Minneapolis.  I had purposely allowed myself a few extra days here so I could spend more time with Wanda and Phyllis, who lead incredibly active social and political lives.  So it’s a lot of fun just tagging along with them.  So I'm off tagging again to a party.

Texas Travels

I knew we were heading into new territory when I got on the plane and sat next to a bald-headed tattooed young man in a T-shirt that said “free chorizo” with an arrow pointing down towards his own attached little sausage.  We’re in Texas now.

We landed in Austin and were picked up by Corky.  Now Corky is an important woman in my life, but one I haven’t seen since 1989.  In the mid-1980’s, she was the one who first introduced me to the Women’s Festivals, where I ended up working each summer for well over twelve years.  She was my first real Texan friend. I could listen to her mellifluous speech for hours on end.  It was wonderful seeing her again – after dropping Judi and I off at the hotel, we went out for dinner where we talked for hours and hours.  I look forward to the next few days with her.

I finally got to meet my publicists, since they are based in Austin.  People have asked me why I picked a PR company so far away, but when I was researching I just kept coming back to PR by the Book – it just felt right, and I know I made the right decision.  And they happen to be based in Austin but with emails and telephones, it doesn’t really matter these days where people are, does it?  Judi skypes with her grand-daughter Sophie almost daily, so now I get to see her growing up as well.

Elaine, the PR person in charge of my campaign, picked me up for the Austin TV appearance.  Once more it was the hurry-up-and-wait syndrome.  We got to the station at 3:15, when we were supposed to be there, for the live 4 pm show.  We were ushered into a large conference room.  It wasn’t really a Green Room – it didn’t have a TV, or refreshments or anything like that – just a big conference table.   Very shortly we were seated around the table with a gentleman who was the Executive Chef at Lake Austin Resort and Spa, who brought with him the makings of coconut seviche.  The smell was amazing, as we sat there, hungry, smelling his cartons of food.  Beside him was Yoga Lady, a vivacious woman who was there to talk about her company YogaYoga, but really wanted to talk about her one year old son and how to bring him up properly.  Beside Yoga Lady sat a woman who obviously had just finished chemo, hair barely back in, with a small daughter in tow – they were there to talk about Wonders and Worries – a non-profit that helps kids deal with serious illness that befall important people in their life – a very important job indeed.  Throughout the hour and a half we waited there, a couple of cowboys with guitars would occasionally saunter into the far side of the room, and then leave – we never did figure out what they were doing.

So we waited and waited and waited and Chemo Lady and her daughter got called out, and then Mr. Executive Chef was excorted to the studio and that just left Yoga Lady and Elaine and I.  Elaine is the mother of two young boys and Yoga Lady was anxious to learn how to parent so they chatted for long periods of time about bringing up boys.  It was fascinating to listen to them.

My turn – I got ushered into a studio where I noticed three very large cameras, moving and focusing, with no operators.  They were all completely computer controlled.  Mr. Executive Chef was up on the set making coconut seviche and I was fascinated by these cameras and the consols operating them. 

I figured out that there must be at least two separate studios running in tandem for this hour long show with short segments.  Executive Chef finished his bit, and his host ran out of the room and presumably into the other studio to do another segment.  The guys in my studio quickly dismantled the chef’s set, and set up two chairs.  I was brought over to one and appropriately mic-ed.  I was sitting looking at an empty chair, still had not met the person who was to interview me and heard, “live in 90 seconds”. 

I sat on that chair, running through my mind what I would do when the segment started and I was all alone, but “in 3” brought Jason running across the room, he sat down in the chair, smiled at me and away we went where I had one of the shortest, but funnest interviews.  Jason was very enthusiastic and within two or three minutes, it was over.  This time when they showed photos of my family and home, they were identified correctly.  It was a good interview but we were many hours at the TV station before we could leave. 

We immediately drove to a restaurant where we were to meet Marika, the head of the PR firm, and my nephew Matt, his partner Heather, and my sister.  Matt and Judi and I had spend part of the day together and I left them when I went off to the TV station.  Heather hooked up with them after work.  I was particularly happy to be with them - I hadn't seen Matt for ten years, and had never met Heather and was so pleased to be able to spend time with both of them.  I hope to see them much more often now.

After a good but quick dinner, we all went to BookWoman, the store where the reading was to be.  I never would have thought I really knew many people in Austin, but there was Corky, with her friend from Morocco, Jackie whom I had met in the 1980’s and who was now a practicing nurse, my own little enterourage, and the Chinese.  Now that’s a story. 

In 1984 I went to school in Shanghai, China.  I had the best medical teacher ever – Wang Yisheng.  (Her last name is Wang and Yisheng means doctor in Chinese).  Wang Yisheng had a teenaged daughter, Wei Zhen/Vivien, who wanted to study in the US, and to make a long story short, my sister Judi and I sponsored her, she moved to Pittsburgh, got her university degree, a husband, moved to Austin, and now has a great job, and  an almost three-year old daughter.  I had never met this young woman, but every single year since 1985, she has written to me, telling me how they are doing, and I have usually written back to her.  I have so looked forward to meeting her, and she and her family came to my reading.  As an extra bonus, Wang Yisheng is visiting her!  The last time I saw Wang Yisheng was in China a few years ago. I was thrilled to be able to meet Vivien and her husband XJ and daughter Leah at last and especially thrilled to see my wonderful medical mentor again.

I enjoyed reading at BookWoman.  There were twenty-three people there, most of whom I knew.  They were a very attentive audience and asked a lot of questions, something I also enjoy.  We stayed around chatting and visiting for quite a while.

I booked an extra day in Austin to visit with Wang Yisheng's family, Corky, and Matt and Heather. The day after the reading, Corky picked us up, and after lunching at a Persian buffet and drinking turkish coffee, we did some power shopping, then rushed back to the hotel to visit with Matt and Heather and then off to the brand new house of Vivien and XJ, their daughter Leah and (grand) mother Wang Yisheng. What a banquet awaited us!  Quite aside from the spectacular food, we had a fabulous visit, chatting about so many different things.  Vivien showed pictures of me working in China with Wang Yisheng that were taken in 1984! I felt as though we could sit and talk with them for hours and hours more. What wonderful people they are!  But Judi leaves at 6 am for California, and I leave a few hours later for Minneapolis/St. Paul and Wisconsin.  Austin was wonderful, especially renewing old friendships and forging new ones. But... the tour continues....Adios Texas.