Truth & Beauty, cover of Ann Patchett’s Truth & Beauty, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 2008, all photos © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
It’s been a long couple of weeks. Sometimes it feels like the world’s gone mad. Where do you go to find ground? Go to what soothes you. For me it is my practices. One of those practices is gratitude.
When I was thinking of what I wanted to post at week’s end, I returned to our Poetry & Meditation group of a few weeks ago. After Robert Frost, homemade rhubarb cookies, and chamomile tea, I asked Teri if I could take another look at her postcard from Ann Patchett.
See the hardcover of Truth & Beauty, the one with the box and the egg? Well, there’s another cover, a paperback, with an illustration of a grasshopper and an ant. Teri wrote to Ann, thanked her for her work, and asked — why two covers? And what’s the meaning behind the box and the egg?
Ann wrote back.
Here’s what she said:
Dear Teri,
Sorry to be so slow in answering your question about the cover of Truth & Beauty. I had nothing to do with it but I like it a lot. I think you’re right — fragile egg, protective box = Lucy + me, but I like the fact that it’s open to interpretation. It’s a cover that makes you think instead of being an illustration. Also, I love the paperback cover of the grasshopper and ant.
Thanks for reading!
Yours,
Ann Patchett
I read the postcard again, turned the handwriting over in my hands, and felt immense gratitude at Patchett’s willingness to give back to a fellow writer. Perhaps it’s a small thing. But I don’t think so. She probably gets hundreds of postcards. A writer’s time is valuable. She didn’t have to write back.
And so, it is with gratitude I end the week. On one of those Fridays when I’m sure the world has gone insane, I’m happy to express my appreciation for one of the writers who came before us. And raise a glass to a few moments of peace.
We are big fans of Ann Patchett on red Ravine. To read more about this accomplished author, check out these posts:
- The Ant & The Grasshopper – Ann Patchett & Lucy Grealy — in-depth essay on Truth & Beauty, Autobiography of a Face, and the symbolism behind the Ant and the Grasshopper, including a beautiful pen and ink color illustration
- Ann Patchett – On Truth, Beauty, & The Adventures Of “Opera Girl” — notes and photographs from an evening with Ann Patchett at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota
- Book Talk – Do You Let Yourself Read? — discussion of literature, books, and reading, along with photographs of the paperback Ant and Grasshopper cover of Truth & Beauty
- The Parking Is Free — short excerpt from Truth & Beauty: A Friendship
Post Script: Is there anything you’re grateful for this week? It helps me to make a list (the little things count the most). Gratitude to Teri for sharing her postcard with us. And for taking the risk of writing it. It was almost exactly a year ago (October 16th, 2007) when we sat in the Fitzgerald Theater together to hear Ann speak.
It’s been my experience that many famous writers are generous with their time and energy, and encouraging to fledgling, up-and-coming writers. If you have a favorite writer or poet, maybe you’ll want to take a chance — write to them. You might one day open your mailbox to a pleasant surprise.
Truth & Beauty II, Handwriting, cover of Truth & Beauty, postcard from Ann Patchett, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 2008, all photos © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
-posted on red Ravine, Friday, October 3rd, 2008
QM, Thank you for this post and its good reminder to all of us to acknowledge our gratitude on a regular basis, which is most important! It has been a crazy week for me, as well. Our County Archives had to move; lock, stock, and thousands of documents, photographs and equipment to a new location and be ready for an Open House in one week!! There only two of us that staff this office, and it seemed to be an overwhelming, daunting task, even without its very short deadline!
I am so grateful for the volunteers who cheerfully donated their time to help us with unpacking. The unflappable, patient moving crew of five “jolly giants” were experts. We could not have done it without them!
The Open House is tomorrow and coincides with the library’s, our new “next-door neighbor.” My partner and I are exhausted, but ready for the expected several thousand curious people.
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I have been quite filled with fear these last few months in large part due to the madness of the national elections where the world seems split into two factions almost at war. The thing for which I am most grateful is the friendship and love of the people like you, QuoinMonkey, and ybonesy and Teri and the other people from the writing intensive who continue to give me hope for the world and our country. Blessed be.
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Anne’s work is BEAUTIFUL! And this is a lovely post. What I am grateful for this week is the inspiration of others – like Bob above said. The opportunity of a new way of seeing things.
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deepest gratitude,
to teachers and friends on path:
bowing from the waist
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I’m grateful for the beautiful mornings of autumn, the way the light comes in at a lower angle and hits my back as I write. I’m grateful for a chance to take a break from my otherwise pressing obsession with the elections. I’m grateful for the doodle I’m working on, and the practice of doodling; it calmed me before bed last night and helped me to sleep well. I’m grateful for Jim, for being my ally. I’m grateful for this place and this community and for you, QM, for being a mentor.
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Naturally, I love this post. 🙂
Writers like Ann give us a wonderful standard, should we ever have the good fortune to “make it” as she has. If my home was on fire, what would I take? My postcards from writers.
I’m grateful this stressful week is over for our country. The problems aren’t solved, but the strain of Thursday’s debate and indecision about the bailout package aren’t pressing at us like they were. I feel like we’ve been collectively in a terrible pressure cooker, and today I can breath little bit easier.
I am extremely grateful for my writing community including writing friends, Intensive friends, and the red Ravine community.
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I’m grateful for today, my day of house arrest, otherwise known as home study traffic school, my pennance for a speeding ticket I received in July.
Each page of the course has a minimum time requirement, usually about four minutes per page. So after I finish reading each page in a minute or two, I have some spare minutes to cruise the web.
A googling of two of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott and Elizabeth Gilbert, led me to your web site, and for that I am grateful. It’s a wonderful, thought-provoking place with a kind, warm tone. I’m so glad I found it. Finding it may even be worth traffic school.
I especially enjoyed reading the responses to “If You Can’t Say Something Nice…” Last week I found myself listening to NPR and crying for fear of our country’s future and tonight I found myself crying tears of hope after I read those kind responses.
Thank you so much for your work here. I promise to return… and to be a better driver.
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QM, I attribute a lot of my happiness to my ability to feel grateful for “small” things. I sometimes wonder, though, whether I am happier because I feel grateful for small things, or grateful for small things because my life is happier these days?
@ Ybonesy: You are grateful for the practice of doodling, too?!! I foolishly imagined I was the only one who felt grateful to doodle! Now, each time I smile to myself in amusement at feeling grateful for such a “silly little thing” I will remember you too feel the same way. Thank you for sharing that!
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Sixteen years ago Alexandra Stoddard wrote me back, just a quick postcard. But it made me who I am today.
You just never know how a simple kindness can make a difference.
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Hey, Teri, I think it may be on another post, but can you remind me how you find authors’ addresses? I love this kind of postcard connection. How wonderful that you have a precious collection!
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breathepeace,
I first read the author’s bio on their website or Wikipedia. From those sources, I know the state (and sometimes the city) where they live. It has also told me the year they were born.
Then I go to a “people search” engine; I’ve found http://www.zabasearch.com to be the best. It’s free, and it breaks people down by state and year they were born. You can search yourself on zabasearch, and you’ll see how easily it works. Most people have several addresses, so you just have to pick the one that looks the most promising.
Since I started my Poetry and Meditation Group, two of our thank-you letters have come back as undeliverable. One of them was Ann Patchett, the other was Rita Dove. For Ann, I went back to zabasearch, and tried another address. It worked. On Rita, I knew from her bio that she teaches at the University of Virginia, so on my second attempt I sent it to her school. It worked. I put the first, undeliverable envelope (still sealed) in a larger mailer. They’ll see I’ve had the first one sent back to me, and that I’m really putting some effort into getting a piece of mail to them.
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Wow, what wonderful comments on this post. Give such a warm feeling as I’m checking in this morning after a day away from the Internet. I’m grateful for the beautiful and perfect Fall day we had yesterday. I went to a gathering at Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk over in St. Paul. More about that later. I hope to get time to do a future post. If not, I’ll drop more details into a poetry comment.
I’m grateful to friends, family, community, and especially our readers who are intelligent, thoughtful, supportive, and write from the heart. What better? And to my blog partner, ybonesy, who hangs in there with me day after day. I’m grateful for her strong presence in my life.
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oliverowl, I hope your Open House went well yesterday. And that you had the same perfect weather we did here in Minnesota. So great to hear from you. I’ve missed you!
Bob, thank you. I feel the same for many of the writing friends I have met through classes I’ve taken with Natalie or through the Intensive. And people ybonesy and I’ve met through red Ravine. I could not do it without all of my different communities.
Sibyllae, thanks. Openings into new ways of seeing things — invaluable in these days and times!
breathepeace, thank you for the gratitude haiku. And for inspiring my practice of haiku.
ybonesy, we make a great team. I’m thankful for you everyday.
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Tracey, I’m so happy you found us at home study traffic school. 8) You just never know where people will run into us. I sure hope you return when you get a chance. Welcome to red Ravine.
Paul, I think it’s kind of reciprocal. The gratitude attracts happier things to my life. I feel happier and am able to be even more grateful. Which doesn’t mean life is a picnic. Not by a long shot. Just that I don’t stay as long at the up peaks or in the downslides. ybonesy’s a fantasic artist and doodler. Hope she publishes a new one soon. 8)
Jannie, the simplest kindness makes a huge difference. I just have to remind myself to stop, take the time to notice! Thank you for sharing about about your own postcard.
Teri, thanks for inspiring this gratitude post. I felt so much better posting it last Friday, going into the weekend. Not everything is rosy. But I took a much needed reprieve.
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She is a favourite writer of mine ever since I discovered Bel Canto then devoured everything else. I love that she wrote back…….
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That was the same thing that happened to me, Jo.
Tracey, I chuckled when I approved your comment last night. You seem to have a great sense of humor. Thanks for the kind words, too, about the Gilbert/Lamott post. That was written by a guest, and I also thought it was a great piece—very warm and personal.
Hey, Paul, yes, I love doodling. It is an instantly calming activity for me. And usually something happens where I go from just playing around with it to getting serious in the drawing that I’m doodling. That’s what happened this weekend with a little drawing I started a few weeks ago. I just sort of plugged away at it, and then boom, I couldn’t put it down. (QM, it will be coming out this week.)
OK, today I am grateful for the heavy rain we got last night. It hasn’t rained this hard since I can remember. It’s too bad that the rain grounded the balloons for this second day of the Balloon Fiesta, but at the same time, our earth needed the moisture.
I’m grateful for a day that cooperates with my mood. I’m kind of slow and inside myself today, and because of the wet outside and the gray sky, I’ll end up being slow and inside the house today.
I’m grateful for the spurt of energy I had yesterday that prompted me to clean up my sitting/writing room. It’s cozy in here, and clean.
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Teri, thanks for adding the piece about how you communicate with these writers. I remembered that you said Ann Patchett’s postcard came back to you, and that you sent it out again. That is persistence and your effort paid off. Perhaps there will be a postcard from Rita Dove one day. Or the next letter you send.
Hey, I wondered…now that we’ve moved on to the Dead Poets Society — like Frost, Dickinson — do you miss the ritual of our poetry group sending out the gratitude postcards to the poets? I kind of miss that.
_________________
I’m grateful for the delicious stew cooking in the crock pot, for a lazy Sunday with Liz and the cats, for time to read, for downtime. 8)
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breathepeace, is there a particular writer you are thinking of writing? I was just curious if you wanted to share. It’s okay if you don’t want to, too. You might want to just hold it close. 8)
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Wow. I’m so in awe with this post. AND like QM said (#12), there are so many wonderful comments to this post that I just don’t know what to say! That’s why I like writing with other writers so much. You gain the kind of experiences, insight, and encouragement from a community that takes the time to understand why they write and why writing is an essential and influential power to have in a writer’s life. That in itself fuels great thinkers for the younger generations no matter if you are published or unpublished writer.
Secondly, I’ve never read anything by Ann Patchett, but you got me intrigued! Now I have to add her books to my to-read list!
Thirdly, it’s also great that she took the time to write a postcard to you! That is wonderful!
And finally, I pray to God every day telling Him how thankful I am to be alive, to do the things I love each day, live each day to the fullest, and for having the most important people around me in my life. Oh, and of course, my love for writing and helping people. However, specifically for this past week, I am truly grateful that my siblings and I are not going to make irrational decisions that would ruin our lives like our parents had always feared that we would. In that one day, it was like a little small crack in the sidewalk that our parents could see that we’re all grown adults (except my youngest sister) and that we’re going to think wisely before we act. And so, I’m glad that they understood that, because in my culture, the family plays a huge role in one’s life. Parents have to know everything and anything and try to shelter the offspring from “the bad” outside of the home, but of course, that is illogical and almost impossible to do so with the kind of world we live in now. I’m just glad that for once my parents can understand that they have to let us grow up as individuals (with our own minds) instead of as a unit. I’m glad that just for that one day, they can appreciate us for being the good children that we try to be and that they have taught us well.
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QM,
Yes, I absolutely miss writing to poets during our current run with the “Dead Poets Society.” I’ve decided when we meet in two weeks for Emily Dickinson, I’m going to have two cards ready: one for The Robert Frost Farm in New Hampshire, and the other for Emily Dickinson’s Home in Amherst, Massachusetts. Both are tourist sites, committed to preserving the homes of these two great poets. If the group is amenable, we can send a note of gratitude to the directors of both.
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What a great idea, Teri. I’m totally behind that. I’m sure the directors of both of those places work long and hard to keep things going so the rest of us can enjoy the legacies of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson. It’s a good way to give back – a simple thank you from a grateful bunch of poetry lovers.
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a~lotus, so good to hear your thoughts and read your gratitude list. So much there in the family, friends, community around you. Thanks for sharing. I like what you said about writers, too — why writing is an essential and influential power to have in life. And how it would be so much harder to sustain that without the support of others.
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QM,
The Open House went very well. I had my office in good order, with art on the walls and books on the shelves.
I only have one post card from a writer. I enjoyed Dave Barry’s column, with his quirky sense of humor. One time he wrote about the weird statues, etc. that are put in public places. I wrote to him, with my list of goofy things in ND, (such as the giant replica of a turtle in Turtle Lake, ND, made from a stack of tires, painted green!) Soon, in my mailbox was his reply, which was one sentence, “Somebody should check the water.”
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I love Ann Patchett’s work. Her sensitivity to people’s feelings and motivations is incredibly fine.
She’s a fine inspiration to writers.
K
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Hey QM: Sorry to be slow in getting back to you. I would like to write to Kate Braestrup, author of the wonderful memoir, “Here if you Need Me.” I found the book up-lifting, which was perfect reading for me as my broken back healed.
And I have a question which you or Teri may be able to answer: When your book group writes gratitude notes to an author, do you include an SAS Postcard, or do the authors respond entirely on their own with postcards?
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oliverowl, sounds like Barry has a good sense of humor. Glad your opening went well.
K, thanks for stopping by with your positive comment. Welcome.
breathepeace, I know the poets send their own postcards, not ones that we send them. What I don’t know is if Teri sends a SAS envelope along with her card or letter to them. Or if she sent an SASE to Ann. If she doesn’t see your comment, I’ll drop her a line and ask. It’s a good question!
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BTW, oliverowl, I’ll have to ask Liz about that green turtle stack of tires in Turtle Lake, ND. I hadn’t heard of it! Do you have any photos? I’ll have to look that one up.
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breathepeace & QuoinMonkey,
I don’t send anything except the envelope that has our thank-you card enclosed. I do, however, write my return address very clearly on the envelope–just in case they want to write back!
Part of the fun has been seeing the postcards they use.
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[…] Patchett – On Truth, Beauty, & The Adventures Of “Opera Girl” Which Came First, The Grasshopper Or The Egg? The Ant & The Grasshopper – Ann Patchett & Lucy Grealy Book Talk – Do You Let Yourself […]
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[…] -related to posts: Got Poetry? (National Poem In Your Pocket Day), The Poet Writes Back — Gary Soto, Which Came First, The Grasshopper Or The Egg? […]
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I’m going to allow myself the luxury of listening to more authors on tape/CD. While I’m horizontal on my sofa and they can have my full attention. I’m starting with two books I come back to over and over. I picked up Ann reading “Truth and Beauty” and Natalie Goldberg reading “The Great Failure.” I feel rich in experience as I listen to their voices…knowing I’ve studied with Natalie and seen Ann at the Fitzgerald.
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Teri, I’ve been thinking about Ann Patchett as I’ve been going through the photos of the night at the Fitz. She was so warm and genuine. I really loved seeing her in person. Remember the photo we had taken with her? Fun. Truth & Beauty is way up there on my list of favorite memoirs. Their lives are kind of like fiction, almost hard to believe it all happened that way.
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Quoin,
While I’m listening to Ann’s voice, I’m trying to remember that voice on the stage at the Fitz. I frankly can’t place the voice on the tape with the one we heard. I think I was so surprised by her quirkly humor…and how she threw Kerry Miller off her game plan.
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I’m at the Vermont Studio Center, nearing the end of a month-long residency. The last two days I needed something familiar to read, and found a copy of Truth and Beauty in the VSC Library. There is a section where Ann and Lucy go through their residency/fellowship phase. I read that part with renewed interest.
This is a book I read again and again…so good. I may even write to Ann from Vermont. She and Lucy never came to this colony; it was just for visual artists back then.
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Teri, I can’t believe the month is almost over. I remember that part of Truth & Beauty. I loved that book, too. Could not put it down, and almost read it from cover to cover. I hope you write to Ann from Vermont. What better than for a writer to get a letter from a writer at the Vermont Studio Center? I think of you often and can’t wait to hear about your trip. It seems like you’ve been gone forever. You missed 18 inches of snow pack that fell over the Twin Cities yesterday and today. I just finished shoveling about an hour ago! One more blast of Winter.
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QM,
I feel like I’ve been gone from home forever, too. So much snow in Minnesota this weekend. Wow!
I wrote a letter to Ann, and plan to mail it from the one mailbox in Johnson, Vermont. While I was carrying Truth and Beauty around here for a few days, two people said that Ann’s Bel Canto is their favorite novel of all time. One was a 20-something charcoal artist from Brooklyn, the other an old hippie-type who writes like a dream and normally has a whiskey in his hand. Amongst other things in my letter, I told Ann about them, too.
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Teri, good for you! Can’t wait to see if (or maybe when) she responds. I’ve heard from many people that Bel Canto is one of their favorite novels. I’m fond of the The Magician’s Assistant. I recall it was another book I couldn’t put down. Did you see that Ann is coming to Pen Pals in Hopkins? A little spendy but the proceeds go to benefit the Library Foundation. Here’s the info:
Pen Pals Author Lecture Series Hosts Ann Patchett
We are pleased to welcome acclaimed author Ann Patchett to the Pen Pals stage on March 10 and 11.
SPECIAL OFFER: Tickets, priced at $40 and up, benefit the Library Foundation. You can save on ticket purchases if you are a Foundation member or if you come in a group of 3 or more. Link through to the website for details (LINK).
Pen Pals: Ann Patchett
Hopkins Center for the Arts
Thursday, March 10, 7:30 PM
Friday, March 11, 11 AM
Patchett is perhaps best known for Bel Canto, which won both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize, sold over a million copies in the U.S. and has been translated into thirty languages. Her debut novel, The Patron Saint of Liars, was named a New York Times Notable Book in 1992. Her other award-winning works include Taft (awarded the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for the best work of fiction), The Magician’s Assistant (winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship), and Truth & Beauty (named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Entertainment Weekly).
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I’d love to hear Ann again, and I’ve never been to the Hopkins Center for the Arts. She must have a new book coming out soon, eh?
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[…] to posts: The Ant & The Grasshopper – Ann Patchett & Lucy Grealy, Which Came First, The Grasshopper Or The Egg?, Ann Patchett – On Truth, Beauty, & The Adventures Of “Opera […]
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