The Buck and Mike Blog

Alexander Solzhenitsyn—Nobel Prize-winning Russian novelist, historian, and essayist—died today in Moscow at the age of 89. He isn’t my hero because I agree with all he said and wrote about, but because he cared enough about his beliefs he was willing to go the distance. He risked everything for his convictions, pushing against the authoritarianism he felt was abusive and fighting for the freedom to think and write about what he thought was important.

My first introduction to Solzhenitsyn was in 1971 when I saw One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich a fabulous film adapted from his 1962 novel of the same title. I was so intrigued I went back and read the novel. Simple in form, it follows the daily routine of an ordinary guy, a Gulag prisoner during Stalin’s repressive regime. It was revolutionary in that it was the first time a writer had exposed the brutality of those times.
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Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Gulag

Sister-in-law Marsha shared with me a new and amazingly ambitious photographic animation piece by Blu. The video, “MUTO,” is an animation by BLU, painted on public walls. Made in Buenos Aires and in Baden. Produced by Mercurio Film with music by Andrea Martignoni.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo

animation, BLU, Mercurio Film, Andrea Martignoni

It is so easy to get tired in cyberspace. The results of our hard work are not obvious. Perfectionists like me take way too long to write something that can be read in 30 seconds and forgotten by all. We are all busy with our lives and wonder why anyone would be interested in what we have to say.

People do read and some people actually find it interesting. That’s because our personal blog, like those of others, is the place where the events, ideas, people, and stories important to us intersect to create a mix not found anywhere else. » Read the rest of this entry »

This past Saturday night, Buckley took me to the 9:30 Club to see Rufus Wainwright perform. We’ve loved his music since he released his first CD. He is a wonderful performer, coming from a long line of performers — his dad is singer/humorist Loudoun Wainwright III, and his mother is Kate McGarrigle of the duo Kate and Anna McGarrigle. » Read the rest of this entry »

Rufus Wainwright, Loudoun Wainwright III, Kate and Anna McGarrigle

I’m blogging a bit backward here, reviewing a book I finished reading while in a cabin in West Virginia, before blogging about my trips to Australia (during which I also read this book — it’s long, but worth it) and West Virginia.

I picked up “The Lost” in an airport as Buckley and I flew out of Albuquerque about two months ago or so. It sounded interesting, with the subtitle “A Search for Six of Six Million.” The first few pages of the book reminded me very much of my own childhood growing up among a large Jewish family in South Florida.

But from there the book gets to be so much more. It has caused me to rethink so many things: what is family, what do our pasts and our ancestry mean, even what is a book. There was one part in particular that I read while in Australia that was so horrifying (and true) that I had to put the book down for a couple of days to catch my breath. » Read the rest of this entry »

The Lost, A Search for Six of Six Million

“Nessun Dorma” is my contribution for Story Salon Saturday. It is a story rooted in my past but very much about what matters to me today: love, beauty, and family. I recorded it today here in Washington, DC. Enjoy the podcast! (Note: Be patient, as it takes a couple of minutes to load.)

Puccini, Turandot, Nessun Dorma, Story Salon

In honor of Story Salon and Story Salon Saturday, and the fact that the idea of standing in front of people to tell a story scares the heck out of me, I’ve recorded my story and have my first podcast!

Tell your story this Saturday!

From the Story Salon site:

STORY SALON began in a North Hollywood coffee house in 1996. The rules of the show are simple: Five to seven minutes of original material performed by the writer. This open policy, embracing a sort of “free-range” writing, results in one of the most eclectic hours of performance available.

Story Salon

My favorite (and only) older sister Marsha and my favorite (and only) niece Skylar both belong to L.A.’s Story Salon. Marsha sent me a flyer about this cool Story Salon event for the whole world:

Story Salon invites storytellers around the globe to fill the world with stories on Saturday, October 20th: Story Salon Saturday. Pick a time on that special Saturday to tell a story…to friends, to strangers, in a coffeehouse or your living room. Then send an e-mail to storysalon@gmail.com and let us know what, where, and when you’re going to be joining storytellers around the world.

Listen in to Story Salon’s series of special podcasts to be posted throughout the day starting at 12:01 A.M. Saturday, October 20th (GMT) during which we’ll give a shout-out to every individual participant in the event.

Story Salon, Story Salon Saturday

My favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut, died yesterday at 84. My favorite high school English teacher, Alma Anthony, introduced many of us to Vonnegut and we were enraptured. I believe the first Vonnegut book we read was Cat’s Cradle, still one of my favorites. (A year ago, I bought and read it again, and rediscovered what was inside.) Most recently I read his book A Man Without A Country, recommended to me by my friend Eljay. (She was my girlfriend in high school more than 40 years ago, and we still e-mail each other from time to time.) I highly recommend you read that book. It’s not a novel, but more of a commentary on life in America. Other Vonnegut favorites of mine: Player Piano, the short story collection Welcome to the Monkey House, the classics Slaughterhouse Five and Sirens of Titan, the brilliant Mother Night, and the play Happy Birthday, Wanda June. (I know Vonnegut said later that he didn’t like Wanda June, but some of the ideas in it were brilliant nonetheless, particularly the notion that older people play shuffleboard because they are being prepared for the afterlife, where shuffleboard is the all-consuming pastime.) Adieu, Mr. Vonnegut. And thank you, Alma, for giving Vonnegut to us.

I have been thinking lately of a few of my favorite people and why they are so important in my life. One of them is Seattle artist Marjorie Masel.

I first met Marjorie in 1987 when I was working at Gibbs Smith, Publisher, and a book proposal for Marjorie’s The Boxers Project crossed my desk. I was immediately struck with her playfulness coupled with her ability to capture the essence of people in her photographs. We published the book the following year and have remained friends since then.

Marjorie is one of my heroes because I admire her imagination and creativity. Her imagination gives her power to envision things that do not exist, and her creativity shows her power to make those things real. It is this dual power that I find so attractive.
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