I’m starting with an announcement and reminder that I am having a reading on June 8 with 3 other writers whose work I love and if you can come, or know someone who lives in LA who would like to come, here’s the info. A reader responded that they would put it in their calendar and I loved that so much (their calendar!) that I thought I needed to rise to the occasion and promote this properly. So here it is, I will post it again in the coming weeks. I hope you can make it.
Thanks, Jeffrey, I can’t stop thinking of the phrase that came to me when I was responding to another reader, “putting them away”. That’s exactly what we do. Very little, if any, healing ever takes place.
Total tangent, but: So I know that "Orange Is the New Black" is black comedy, it's TV, it's this it's that, but it's the first prison show I could stomach ("Oz" was too much) and I just can't stand that so many people in our country are dehumanized like this - even if only 10% of it is true, it's an atrocity.
This has the sort of punch to the gut I get when I see my students arrive at school in filthy clothes and unwashed because mum/dad just don’t give a shit!
I hope you never get used to those body-cams too Deirdre and I really really wish I could be in LA for your readings.. which is about as higher compliment I can pay because I don’t do cities!
A grim story. A human one. With so many things, both in your thoughtful words and also permeating some of the hidden spaces between the lines. Many years ago, doing research for a screenwriting assignment, I spent half a day visiting a high security penitentiary in my adopted home state of Oregon, where the most violent ‘offenders’ were housed, a truly sad and terrible place. Your post revived some old memories. Thank you for sharing it, and in such a compelling way.
Thank you for that. I think about this particular caller a lot because he had been “put away” (what an expression!) for being a drug addict. It is grim, that’s true, the grimmest parts when you see the moments of beauty and sweetness despite everything.
Not being able to help someone is soul crushing, but his last words, oh man, to be in jail for such a long time and feel that the injustice of it all is not a big issue, I guess it’s what one needs to do to not go mad, right?
One thing we seem to have got used to is locking up hundreds of thousands of people every year, as if it's a natural state of affairs. As if humanity has always done this. As if we're incapable of finding or even imagining a better way. Thank you for a powerful and compassionate piece of writing.
Thanks, Jeffrey, I can’t stop thinking of the phrase that came to me when I was responding to another reader, “putting them away”. That’s exactly what we do. Very little, if any, healing ever takes place.
Wham! Devastating.
Total tangent, but: So I know that "Orange Is the New Black" is black comedy, it's TV, it's this it's that, but it's the first prison show I could stomach ("Oz" was too much) and I just can't stand that so many people in our country are dehumanized like this - even if only 10% of it is true, it's an atrocity.
Are Civil Rights still a thing…? One wonders….
This has the sort of punch to the gut I get when I see my students arrive at school in filthy clothes and unwashed because mum/dad just don’t give a shit!
I hope you never get used to those body-cams too Deirdre and I really really wish I could be in LA for your readings.. which is about as higher compliment I can pay because I don’t do cities!
Compliment received! Thank you Susie.
A grim story. A human one. With so many things, both in your thoughtful words and also permeating some of the hidden spaces between the lines. Many years ago, doing research for a screenwriting assignment, I spent half a day visiting a high security penitentiary in my adopted home state of Oregon, where the most violent ‘offenders’ were housed, a truly sad and terrible place. Your post revived some old memories. Thank you for sharing it, and in such a compelling way.
Thank you for that. I think about this particular caller a lot because he had been “put away” (what an expression!) for being a drug addict. It is grim, that’s true, the grimmest parts when you see the moments of beauty and sweetness despite everything.
Not being able to help someone is soul crushing, but his last words, oh man, to be in jail for such a long time and feel that the injustice of it all is not a big issue, I guess it’s what one needs to do to not go mad, right?
Heart break
One thing we seem to have got used to is locking up hundreds of thousands of people every year, as if it's a natural state of affairs. As if humanity has always done this. As if we're incapable of finding or even imagining a better way. Thank you for a powerful and compassionate piece of writing.