Tag: Louise Wareham Leonard

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The Experience Of Experience

Irondequoit Bay from front porch of MacGregors on Empire Boulevard in Rochester, New York
Irondequoit Bay from front porch of MacGregors on Empire Boulevard in Rochester, New York

John Ashbery grew up in Sodus NY, near where our literary friends just bought a house, and he went to school in Rochester, later living on Dartmouth Street where Peggi and I lived when we moved (back here in my case) from Indiana. I di not know much about him until died. I still don’t but I love the snippets o poetry hat have been quoted in his obits and related remembrances.

“I feel the carousel starting slowly
And going faster and faster: desk, papers, books,
Photographs of friends, the window and the trees,
Merging into one neutral band that surrounds
Me on all sides, everywhere I look.
And I cannot explain the action of leveling,
Why it should all boil down to one
Uniform substance, a magma of interiors.”

Ashbery claimed that he was trying to convey “the experience of experience.” What a noble pursuit.

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Book Launch

Peggi, Paul, Louise and Matthew in the arboretum at Durand Eastman Park in Rochester, New York
Peggi, Paul, Louise and Matthew in the arboretum at Durand Eastman Park in Rochester, New York

On Saturday Louise Wareham Leonard’s “52 Men” will officially be available at Amazon and finer bookshops everywhere. Unofficially, we received a hand delivered copy from the author yesterday afternoon. We were just getting out of our car at Aman’s Farm Market, about to buy some fresh corn, when Louise approached us with a loose wrapped surprise.

We bought some ginger beer in Aman’s and headed over to Louise’s place to toast to the book and quickly got into a discussion about whether writers could have a relationship with other writers, artists with other artists and I was thinking it should be possible but I didn’t say so. I think Louise had her doubts whether anyone could have a relationship with either. Louise asked the group if they could channel any artist or writer who it would be. I was considering Philip Guston and trying to play that one out when the topic changed. Louise asked what we did today and we were able to address part of that inquiry. Peggi said we took a walk in the woods. And we went swimming. I really couldn’t remember what we did. I scanned a bunch of old photos that my aunt gave me. I posted something silly on my blog. I played drums while Peggi went to yoga but did I do any work? Thought provoking question and inspiring. I will have a better answer next time.

Peggi would have finished the book in one sitting if we didn’t have to leave the house near midnight to see the Perseid meteor shower. We drove to the beach and were surprised to see the parking lot full. The orange glow from the sodium-vapor lamp along Lakeshore Boulevard sort of impinged on the darkness but the atmosphere was just right. We had a hunch it might be even better above the pool on our street so we headed over there and saw a spectacular display.

Peggi says the book is great! I’ll get my hands on it tomorrow.

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