Letter from the Editor #18
Roses are red, violets are blue, tomorrow I'll launch a new series for you; Mark your calendars for the 3rd and 4th Oldster events; A question about writing contests for those over 40.
Readers,
Lately I find myself caught in a disorienting paradox, and I wonder if some of you can relate.
The Good News: Things are going pretty well for me, locally, at least. I’m happy in my home, marriage, and family. Oldster and Memoir Land keep growing, and I thoroughly enjoy editing/writing/publishing them, even though it amounts to a ton of work—for which I can always use more support, btw.
Who could have guessed that at 60 I’d be living my best career life? And that after forty years doing some version of this, it could now feel like a new beginning? I couldn’t be happier or more grateful.
The Bad News: All of this is occurring at a time when there’s so much pain and suffering in our country and around the world. You don’t need me to list the sources of cruelty and horror; you know. I feel angry, bereft, scared—my nervous system thrumming in a constant state of high-alert. Aside from the actions I already take on a regular basis—standing up, speaking out, and supporting fundraisers—I feel pretty helpless, not to mention guilty for thriving at this time, and for indulging in what some might deem “frivolous” creative endeavors.
Don’t worry—at a deep level I know what I’m doing is good, important, and valid. It’s just gotten harder to remember. I’ve mentioned this cognitive dissonance before, and have mostly worked it out for myself. You might recall what I wrote in last week’s Letter from the Editor—the part where I shared a quote from artist David Wojnarowicz, which I’ve Scotch-taped to the wall by my desk:
In dark moments I try to remind myself of this:
“…where we want to go back to is beauty. If you let go of that, we don’t have anywhere to go.”
Also, as a matter of basic emotional survival, people need breaks from the grim news. I hope that’s what Oldster is providing. As part of my mission, I aim to keep offering you beauty and uplifting breaks from grim reality.
Stories of love, too. More on that in the next section…
Are you, too, experiencing this kind of cognitive dissonance? Struggling to give yourself permission to be creative, and engage with joy and beauty at this time?
Roses are red, violets are blue, tomorrow I’ll launch a new series for you...
So, yeah, love is a pretty vital commodity at this difficult moment—right up there with beauty. Bad Bunny really drove the point home at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show on Sunday.
Love is the antidote to hate. Right now we have entirely too much of the latter. In the interest of shoring up the love column, tomorrow I’ll launch a new Oldster essay series called “What I Did For Love,” with an essay by wonderful writer, illustrator, and New Yorker cartoonist Carolita Johnson.
The series takes its title from a song featured in the Broadway musical A Chorus Line, one of my favorites. It’s also been the theme of the first two Oldster Variety Hours—the one in Kingston that took place in October—where Carolita told a version of her essay’s story onstage—and the next one March 4th at Joe’s Pub.
Why the focus on love and what we did for it? Hey, I’m a Libra, and if you believe in astrology (which I sometimes do and sometimes don’t), we’re the love bugs of the zodiac. I’ve always been intrigued by matters of the heart, and the ways in which people relate with, and care for, one another. (And sometimes people [earlier versions of myself included] do bananas shit to try and win over the objects of their affection!) And as Hal David wrote in lyrics for a Burt Bacharach song—at a different troubling time in the world—“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love…”
The new series won’t be solely about romantic love, but since Saturday is Valentine’s Day, I’m starting with one in that vein. It’s a sweet, funny, moving story. I have a feeling you’ll enjoy it.
In the meantime, here’s a bunch of Broadway performers singing David and Bacharach’s song in 2016 as part of “Broadway for Orlando,” made after the Pulse nightclub shooting:
Mark your calendars for the 3rd and 4th Oldster events…
Another thing we all need right now to buoy our spirits: joyful, upbeat, thoughtful live events we can attend, in the company of others.
Exciting news on that front: I’m planning two more in-person Oldster events—an evening of piano karaoke at Sid Gold’s Request Room on Weds., June 10th, and another evening of story and song at Joe’s Pub on Friday, August 7th.
I’m also cooking up some kind of Oldster dating event with former relationships-and-sex columnist (and Oldster Questionnaire taker) Emma Tourtelot. Stay tuned for more on all of these…
But first, we still have the March 4th Oldster Variety Hour at Joe’s Pub up ahead. If you want to attend, don’t sleep on grabbing your seats! It’s going to be so great, and it’s almost sold out.
If you do get shut out—or if you don’t live in or near New York City—I’ve got good news for you: I’ve found a way to make remote live streaming available. Remote streaming tickets are just $10. You can watch from anywhere, live, or on your own time for up to a week after the show.
A question about writing contests for those over 40…
Here’s a question for the writers among you, about writing contests for those over 40, which you may have submitted to, or even just heard of.
My friend, novelist jimin Han, writes:
For Poets & Writers Magazine, I’m writing a piece on prose and poetry contests for writers over 40 years old. What are the names of the ones you’ve heard about? Do you know of any for prose, in particular? These seem more scarce in my research. Have you ever submitted to such a prize? If so, would you be willing to share your experience with me? I’d like to hear from you by Feb 15 in order to meet my deadline. My email address: jiminhanwriter@gmail.com
No paywall this week…
This week I’m not putting the bottom part of my Letter from the Editor behind a paywall, as I had in prior installments. Sometimes it takes a paywall to inspire readers to support your work, but I don’t like to exclude people. If you enjoy all that I publish here, I’d love your support. Publishing Oldster takes a lot of work. 🙏
Check out the rest of this series here. P.S. Typos happen. Please forgive me if you find any!
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading, and subscribing. I appreciate it. 🙏💝
My dad who died last November at 105 was all about beauty. He had a passion (some say an addiction) for collecting beautiful things - tropical fish, shells, roses, orchids, mineral crystals. And here's what he said in a morphine haze the night before he died. "Can there be too much beauty in the world? No. There cannot be too much beauty in the world. There cannot be."
I’m so glad you shared the Broadway for Orlando video— I sing on it! (You can hear me harmonizing with my sister, Ann near the end of the song.)
I’ll never forget that recording session—we were so devastated about the Pulse nightclub massacre— to come together in our grief and do something to make a difference was cathartic. We went on to do a Broadway For Orlando concert in Orlando, and we sang What the World Needs Now at the Democratic National Convention. That was a thrill.