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Thursday, July 25, 2002
Author digs up fine fodder for fiction in Maine
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||
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Pulitzer-prize winning novelist Richard Russo came to Portland on Wednesday to extol the virtues of public libraries, read from his new collection of short stories and share a trade secret or two. First, the juicy stuff: Russo creates characters who walk outside the lines of mainstream culture because they are more interesting than those who live within it. That's one reason he lives in Maine, because people here are more interesting than those who live elsewhere. He is certain he will love it again someday, but right now he detests his award-winning novel "Empire Falls." "I've been touring with 'Empire Falls' for the better part of two years, and it has become my mortal enemy," Russo told a full house at First Parish Church in downtown Portland, explaining why he would read not from the book that won him a Pulitzer, but from a relatively unknown short story instead. He writes seven days a week, first by putting pen to paper and only later on a computer. Most of the settings for his writing result from his imagination. He creates the towns in his mind, so there's no need to spend brain power trying to figure out if the setting for "Empire Falls" is Waterville, Skowhegan or somewhere else. And, finally, our private lives are far more interesting than our public lives. "Secret lives are the business of a fiction writer," he said. "There is a place within us that is our center, and finding that is the job of a fiction writer, to enter that territory in a respectful way." Russo was in town to help the Portland Public Library raise money for its 2002-2003 fund drive. David Brenerman, president of the library's Board of Trustees, hoped to bring in $5,000 to $10,000, thanks to Russo's star power. "It's not often you have a Pulitzer Prize winner from Maine, and one who's a regular guy, too," said Brenerman. "The library appreciates all the funding it gets from the taxpayers of Portland, but that is not sufficient to implement all the programs that we offer," he said. Last year's inaugural fund-raiser with historian David McCullough drew 1,000 people. Russo didn't quite reach those numbers, but he came close. The former Colby College professor attended a late-afternoon reception in the penthouse of One City Center, then strolled down the block to First Parish Church for a free public speech attended by close to 700 people. In truth, the speech portion of the program amounted to little more than a few polite introductory remarks. He spent the guts of his time at the lectern answering questions and reading from "The Mysteries of Linwood Hart," one of seven stories in the new collection "The Whore's Child." Russo's literary method is to simply set his characters in motion and see where they go. He said he was "absurdly proud" of the just-published short stories, because they presented many more challenges than his full-length novels. If novels are about the places we live, he said, then short stories are about places we visit. Ellie Tetreau of North Yarmouth and Lauren Dinan of Cumberland, both 16, are newcomers to the world of Russo. Neither had read his books before Wednesday, but both said they would. They appreciated the few minutes they spent chatting with him, because he told them he continues to draw inspiration by remembering his youth. "I thought it was interesting how he related back to his teen-age years," said Dinan, clutching a signed copy of "Empire Falls." Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
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