MFPOE in Blogland

Reading Ray Bradbury

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:29:02 -0700

I’m on a Ray Bradbury jag, having just finished his classic Fahrenheit 451 and the lesser known Death Is a Lonely Business, an homage to the Los Angeles school of noir detective stories, set in the strange, foggy world of Venice Beach of 1949 and featuring a cast of eccentric, endearing characters -- including the narrator, a fledgling writer who is clearly the young Ray Bradbury.

Mr. Bradbury opens the Santa Barbara Writers Conference every year with a talk to inspire the several hundred attending writers to jump out of bed each morning and write what they love. I teach a travel writing workshop at the conference, and for me Ray Bradbury’s exuberant talk is always the highlight.

Now in a wheelchair (he had a stroke a while back), Ray Bradbury emanates a feeling of love and connection that’s actually tangible. With difficulty talking at length, he will simply hold your hand -- a blessing, like being in the presence of a Buddhist master.

Read Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing for a guided tour of the mysterious realm of creativity. Summed up, he advises you to write what you love every day, and to write in your own inimitable voice. Deceptively simple, the wisdom of Ray Bradbury makes sense for all of us: Follow your bliss. To thine own self be true.

For My Favorite Place on Earth, Mr. Bradbury talked with me about Paris. On his numerous visits, he’d start out in the morning with a copy of Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night under his arm and walk across the city. He’d stop at cafes for an espresso or an apertif and read for a bit, then walk on. By sunset he had crossed Paris from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame Cathedral, and read the book once again -- his “way of taking in the ambience of Paris and enjoying our greatest writer.” (See this week’s Excerpt for the full text.)

Check out Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Website

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 20:57:05 -0700

Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society is a worthy outfit to support. Have a look at their fascinating website to learn about the oceans, Cousteau’s award-winning films, membership, and how you can help.

My Favorite Place on Earth is proud to be featured on Ocean Futures Society’s website. You can also read Jean-Michel Cousteau’s chapter from the book here.

Jean-Michel Cousteau is on Facebook, too. Go here!

Unusual “Favorite Places”

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:32:37 -0700

Radio interviewers have been asking me who named destinations that were real surprises for My Favorite Place on Earth. Here are two:
You might expect the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor, to choose a marble monument in the nation’s capital. Instead, she chose Arizona -- which makes sense when you find out she grew up on a hardscrabble ranch there and is a member of the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi chose his parents’ garage when he was growing up in Brooklyn. On a do-it-yourself stage he put on elaborate puppet shows -- and now he realizes that sewing costumes for marionettes gave him his first experience in designing and tailoring.

Jack White:The Real America

Wed, 3 Jun 2009 10:55:44 -0700

Back in 1906 a railroad hoping to attract passengers coined the slogan “See America First.” But which America?

A fantastic musician and mannerly gentleman from My Favorite Place on Earth has some ideas. For his spot, Jack White of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs chose Clarksdale, Mississippi, a town that stands among plowed fields at the legendary crossroads where Highway 49 meets Highway 61. It has been home to blues singers Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Jack White’s hero, Son House.

“I didn’t expect to feel the way I do about Clarksdale,” Jack told me. “I thought maybe I’d find that it’s all Wal-Marts and commercialized chain stores, like a lot of the western world now. When you’re driving around the country, you think it would be nice to pull off the road and eat at a mom-and-pop diner or café, but you can’t do that anymore. They’re gone, and it’s really sad. Now it’s “Take your pick of what corporation you want to have lunch at.” So I was worried that my idea of Mississippi wasn’t going to be there anymore. But that wasn’t the case. Clarksdale was the Mississippi I had in my head.

“The culture there hadn’t been chopped up and homogenized and made into something plastic. It was still alive, like a field of grass. It was breathing. Walking around Clarksdale made me feel like I was living in the real United States of America.”

I hope when the rest of us hit the road this summer, we’ll look for what’s real. “A lot of towns in America make the mistake of knocking down their historical areas, and then they recreate them in a Hollywood style,” Jack observed. “But it’s a shame to see a replica of something. This is a generation when “replica” and “retro” and “relic” – all those words that start with “re” – are okay with everybody. It’s acceptable to have a place in Vegas that looks exactly like Manhattan, and you take your photo in front of it, and that’s good enough. But that’s never been good enough for me. I despise it and cringe at all that. I’m trying to find something to grab hold of that makes sense.”

Which highway will we put in front of our wheels this summer? Any road that runs to the real America. (For the rest of the view from Jack White’s head, check out My Favorite Place on Earth.)

Entertainment Weekly - and Wisconsin Public Radio!

Fri, 15 May 2009 09:40:29 -0700

The current issue of Entertainment Weekly devotes half a page to My Favorite Place on Earth. To see which of the book’s celebrities they featured, please click on “In the News” at the top of this page.

I just finished a pleasant hour-long interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, talking with the honey-voiced and thoroughly prepared Veronica Rueckert. I’m in California and was on the air at 7 a.m. (my time) for a 9 a.m. drive-time radio show in the Midwest. (It’s like those television promos: “Tune in at 7:00 -- 9:00 Central!”) It’s odd the way time shifts when you travel -- whether it’s by jet airplane or over the airwaves.

To listen to the show, go to www.wpr.org. Under “WPR Shows” click on Veronica Rueckert and peruse her archives. The interview is dated 5-15 at 9 a.m.

I’m grateful that the media are shining a light on My Favorite Place on Earth. Thanks for the coverage!