Driving my car over the familiar "back way" route I devised from Big Rapids to Mount Pleasant it was interesting to note landmarks afresh -- since it's been almost four weeks since leaving CMU. One thing that was particularly attractive -- all the greenery after a winter/spring while not severe, seemed to last a long time this year.
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We arrived in plenty of time to greet and chat with former CMU Libraries colleagues and then moved into the Park Library auditorium to hear Paula McLain discuss writing, and more specifically, The Paris Wife.
Paula turned out to be a wonderful speaker--funny, interesting, and fascinating.
Paula studied and graduated from Central Michigan University before moving on to the University of Michigan to earn a M.F.A. degree. Her ambition was to be a poet and she was rather glib about the economic prospects of writing and publishing poetry (and she has published a couple of collections of poetry). She detailed the evolution of her writing -- through a novel and a autobiographical account of her life as a foster child in California. She claimed her inspiration to write The Paris Wife was her chance reading of Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, his last work, published posthumously three years after his 1961 suicide. While Paula adjudged that Hemingway dealt tenderly with his first marriage, Hadley was not described in detail and it occurred to Paula to write an account of those Paris years from Hadley's point of view.
Paula credited three previous biographies of Hadley and Hemingway's four wives as essential background material for her fictionalized account she put together. In the Q&A session after her lecture Paula explained that apart from a direct quote from Hemingway at the beginning of her work, she did not consult with the Hemingway family, nor did she seek their permission for what she wrote. Paula clarified that in a work of fiction, such conventions are not required. Regardless, she described herself as a human Hoover vacuum cleaner, reading through the extensive correspondence between Ernest and Hadley (love letters) that survive, as well as many accounts of the Paris expatriates. As a result, although she did not quote directly from these sources, she suggested that as much as 80-90% of what she wrote in The Paris Wife actually did happen.
I was intrigued by Paula's rich description of the places Ernest and Hadley lived in the south of France, Switzerland, Spain, as well as Paris. During the Q&A session I asked whether she had personally visited the places she described, to get the essence of the places. As it turned out she did most of the writing as a Starbucks in Cleveland Heights and did not retrace the Hemingways' steps until after The Paris Wife was a success (it has now sold over a million copies), and she had money to do it! I pursued my question a little further at the book signing after lunch and Paula stated that in addition to voluminous reading, she used Google Earth as a means to trace Hadley and Ernest's travels, to better visualize the places they stayed.
All in all it was a terrific afternoon. Lunch was plentiful and tasty, but I left half the portion (chicken cordon bleu) as well as the dessert on the table.
Paula's son, Connor, was seated at our table and I snapped a picture of the two of them when Paula was making her way around the room.
Connor was a freshman at Central Michigan University this past year, studying ceramic art.
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After lunch, which was the largest Friends of the CMU Libraries event ever held (about 105 people were present), Paula signed copies of her book, including ours.
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But the day was not over, for a trip to the mighty metropolis of Mount Pleasant meant places to purchase goods unobtainable in Big Rapids, namely clothing. With my diminishing frame, my wardrobe is looking like "clown clothes." So, off we went, bargain hunting and ended up with a trove of togs that are a marked departure from my "suits every day" routine.
Dockers 'n jeans, and casual shirts -- and nary a silk tie to be seen! Summer in Big Rapids, I'm ready!
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We also stopped by a hardware store and picked up supplies to launch my next house projects -- mortar to do tuck pointing around our foundation and concrete to anchor posts around a sagging portion of our wooden back fence (our student neighbors have backed into it a few too many times).
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One place we did not stop on the way home, though we drove past, was the Mecosta Book Gallery, the proprietors of which (John and Alex Rau) are fabulous folk. I have Jennifer's annual gift certificate from the MBG burning a hole in my pocket, but it was already after 4 p.m. and we were tired from a long day out and about. A visit with John and/or Alex will have to wait for another day.
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