The Writer's Almanac for December 11, 2009

View this message on the Web Friday Dec. 11, 2009  LISTEN Searchers by Jim Harrison At dawn Warren is on my bed, a ragged lump of fur listening to the birds as if deciding whether or not to catch one. He has an old man's mimsy delusion. A rabbit runs across the yard and he walks after it thinking he might close the widening distance just as when I followed a lovely woman on boulevard Montparnasse but couldn't equal her rapid pace, the click-click of her shoes moving into the distance, turning the final corner, but when I turned the corner she had disappeared and I looked up into the trees thinking she might have climbed one. When I was young a country girl would climb a tree and throw apples down at my upturned face. Warren and I are both searchers. He's looking for his dead sister Shirley, and I'm wondering about my brother John who left the earth on this voyage all living creatures take. Both cat and man are bathed in pleasant insignificance, their eyes fixed on birds and stars. "Searchers" by Jim Harrison, from Saving Daylight. © Copper Canyon Press, 2006. Reprinted with permission. (buy now) It's the birthday of Jim Harrison, (books by this author) born in Grayling, Michigan (1937). He had a happy childhood in Michigan, growing up in a big family of people who liked to read. But when he was seven years old, he was playing doctor with a friend and she cut his face with a jagged piece of a glass beaker and he went blind in his left eye. He said, "Ever since I was seven and had my eye put out, I'd turn for solace to rivers, rain, trees, birds, lakes, animals." Even though he liked to read as a kid, he wasn't particularly interested in writing, and in fact was more interested in religion. He said, "I finally realized […] that writing, or art as I'd just as soon call it, had absorbed the transference of all my religious impulses at age sixteen. Up to sixteen I wanted to be a preacher, and then one day I did a whirlwind: I jumped from Jesus to John Keats in three days." So he set out to be a poet. He went to school at Michigan State University and married his high school sweetheart. And he got a master's degree, even though he hated grad school, and published his first book of poetry, Plain Song (1965), and got a job teaching in New York. But he didn't really care for the East Coast or for teaching, so he moved back to Michigan and made $2.50 an hour as a construction worker and wrote some more books of poetry — Walking (1967) and Locations (1968). And he liked being back in Michigan. He said, "I figured out that my main obsession is freedom, and if I didn't have the freedom of close access to the natural world, I wasn't going to survive." And he said, "If things are terrible beyond conception and I walk for 25 miles in the forest, they tend to go away for a while. Whereas if I lived in Manhattan I couldn't escape them." Then, in 1970, he was hunting and he hurt his back so badly that he had to stay in bed for months. His friend Thomas McGuane told him he should try writing a novel, so he did, and it was Wolf: A False Memoir (1971). It didn't do very well, and neither did his next couple of novels. Then he was visiting the set of the movie The Missouri Breaks, because Tom McGuane had written the screenplay, and he became friends with Jack Nicholson. Jack Nicholson wanted Harrison to keep on writing, so he ended up lending him a chunk of money to get through the project he had started. And that was Legends of the Fall (1979),a collection of three novellas, and it sold well and got good reviews and made Jim Harrison famous. He's continued to write novels and poetry, most recently his novel The English Major (2008) and his poetry collection In Search of Small Gods (2009), his 12th book of poetry, which came out earlier this year. And it's the birthday of the writer Thomas McGuane, (books by this author) the one who convinced Jim Harrison to write his first novel, born in Wyandotte, Michigan (1939). As a kid, he wanted to be a scientist who studied fish, but when he was 10 years old, he decided to become a writer instead. He and a friend started to write a novel together, but they disagreed about how to describe a sunset and got in a fistfight and that was the end of that novel. He went to college and flunked out, but by the third college he went to, he shaped up and did a lot of writing and ended up graduating with honors. He had a couple of manuscripts rejected, but he won a scholarship to Stanford, and he finished another novel he was working on, and he gave it to Jim Harrison, who passed it on to a friend with connections to a publishing house. And it was accepted, and The Sporting Club came out in 1969. And McGuane has gone on to write nine novels, two books of short stories, and six books of nonfiction. His most recent book is a collection of stories, Gallatin Canyon(2006). He lives on a 3,000-acre ranch in Montana, where he raises cutting horses and runs cattle and writes books. He said: "Literature is still the source of my greatest excitement. My prayer is that it is irreplaceable. Literature can carry the consciousness of human times and social life better than anything else. Look at the movies of the 1920s, watch the Murrow broadcasts, you can't recognize any of the people. Now, read Fitzgerald — that's it. That is the truth of the times. Somebody has to be committed to the idea of truth." Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® sponsor The Poetry Foundation National broadcasts of The Writer's Almanac are supported by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine for over 90 years. The Writer's Almanac is produced by Prairie Home Productions and presented by American Public Media. sponsor Contribute $75 or more today and we'll thank you with the official Writer's Almanac mug. POETS Version of Magnetic Poetry Order today. On the Radio Podcast Web Archive Title Author Date Read highlighted interviews of poets heard on the show. Visit the bookshelf now You received this free e-mail newsletter because you previously subscribed or because it was sent to you by a friend. This e-mail was sent to the following address: mybloghaytham@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Contact Us | Forward to a friend � 2009 American Public Media 480 Cedar Street, Saint Paul, MN USA 55101

Breaking News: Obama administration looks to spin off from TARP a new program for small business, jobs growth

News Alert
08:30 PM EST Thursday, December 10, 2009

Obama administration looks to spin off from TARP a new program for small business, jobs growth

Major initiative could give banks access to the government money without restrictions, such as limits on executive pay, as long as they use it to make loans to small businesses.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com - http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/LI37JS/2LYCF/RT80C8/KP02V5/OUCSE/YT/t

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Local Breaking News: I-495 closed after lumber spill

News Alert
06:37 PM EST Thursday, December 10, 2009

Outer loop near Rte. 4 closed after lumber spill

An accident at just about the worst possible moment at just about the worst possible place turns the Beltway in Prince George's County into a sea of red brake lights.

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Going Out Guide: How to Find a Date + Weekend Best Bets

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going out guide D.C.-area events, nightlife and dining Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009   Mark Gail - The Post Plan your weekend Our picks include a parade of festively decorated boats in Annapolis, roving bands of Santas downtown and dance performances with stepping and poetry. | More holiday events Dating at any age Looking to meet someone new? Take this expert advice. Got Plans? On Thursday afternoon, the Gurus and their readers discussed favorite coffeehouses, pre-theater dining ideas and Virginia bars that allow smoking. Read the Dec. 10 transcript. News & Reviews Restaurants Worth the trip By Tom Sietsema | Food, wine and style draw patrons to Bistro Blanc in Glenelg, Md. Bars & Clubs The new hip-hop haven By Fritz Hahn | DJs and trivia help laidback Lounge of Three make a splash on U Street. Museums A dinner party gone awry By Michael O'Sullivan | A 12-minute movie at the Hirshhorn teeters between film and art. More From Going Out Guide Restaurants Events Theater Bars & Clubs Music Kid-Friendly Movies Museums Visitors Guide TAKE JOY! An Original Strathmore Concert. This world premiere imagines a holiday season filled with light and joy, in a celebration filled with songs and stories and poetry... a new tradition to share with family and friends. December 18-19th. Tickets at 301-581-5100 or Strathmore.org A CHRISTMAS CAROL The holiday tradition returns to Ford's Theatre with an all-new production! Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Featuring Washington favorite Edward Gero as Scrooge. Tickets on sale now! A Feel-Good Farce for the Holidays! THE SOLID GOLD CADILLAC by Howard Teichmann and George S. Kaufman directed by Paul Mullins starring Nancy Robinette. Now Open! Order today: 202.332.3300 or at www.studiotheatre.org Join Us on   Read the latest blog posts and get exclusive updates. Become a Fan.

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DOE Webinar December 16: Introduction to Performance Contracting December 10, 2009 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Assistance Project (TAP) for state and local officials is offering a Web seminar on how state and local governments can use funding from the 2009 Recovery Act to establish performance contracts for energy efficiency. The presentation will take place Wednesday, December 16, from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and is titled "Introduction to Performance Contracting." Two speakers will present at the seminar: Dustin Knutson, performance contracting trainer with the DOE Federal Energy Management Program Jim Arwood, director of the Arizona Energy Office Register to attend the December 16 Webinar. The Web seminar is free of charge, but you must register in advance to obtain a URL for the presentation and call-in phone number. You can register online, find information about the presenters, and read background materials and reports on the TAP Webinar section of the DOE Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program Web site. More Progress Alerts

Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact support@govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE). Visit the Web site at http://www.eere.energy.gov.

 

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Pretty Good Goods View this message on the Web * HOLIDAY SHIPPING ORDER DEADLINES Guaranteed delivery by Christmas for in-stock merchandise Standard Delivery (West of Colorado): Mon., Dec. 14, 11 p.m. EST Standard Delivery (East of Colorado): Wed., Dec. 16, 11 p.m. EST Express 2-Day Air: Mon., Dec. 21, 11 p.m. EST Express 1-Day Air: Mon., Dec. 23, 10 a.m. EST Your purchase helps support public radio. © 2009, American Public Media, 480 Cedar St, Saint Paul, MN 55101 You are receiving this email because you have made a purchase from the Pretty Good Goods Catalog, Lake Wobegon USA Store, Public Radio MusicSource, or Public Radio BookSource, companies that are owned by American Public Media, a non-profit organization that provides long-term financial strength to its supported public radio organizations; or you subscribe to the A Prairie Home Companion newsletter. View our privacy policy. The email address for your subscription is mybloghaytham@gmail.com. If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, follow this link and unsubscribe.     Help others find this email: