Walking out the door early-ish yesterday morning - later than intended, still out before 9:00 - my quick clip of a stride almost stumbled down the step. A book delivery? So early?
In spite of already cutting it fine returning almost-overdue videos before the library opened (thereby dodging a late fee), I took the time to rip into the unexpected delivery. Was it Thing Explainer, ordered for a local 3rd grade class? Maybe The Algonquin Cat, a gift to a young friend staying there this weekend while auditioning for performing arts undergrad programs? Or The Maine Coon's Haiku, a Valentine's Day present for my Keet?
The book was Peggy Freydberg's Poems from the Pond, a collection of poems by a 107-year old poet who started penning verse when she was ninety. Nancy Slonim Aronie - who "discovered" Peggy & wrote the book's foreword - introduced us to her during the writer's workshop.
What a life! Am totally envious of Laurie David, who worked with Nancy to introduce the world outside of Martha's Vineyard to Peggy. That blissed & blessed collaboration - its serendipitous synchronicity - is worth a book of its own. What joy!
Laurie, Nancy & Peggy
My favorite description of how Laurie found Peggy is from an interview she did with Betsy Borns for the LA Times Review of Books:
excerpt -
So how is a 106-year-old poet discovered? In Hollywood fashion, it turns out, by Academy Award–winning producer (An Inconvenient Truth) Laurie David.
BETSY BORNS: What led you to this project?
LAURIE DAVID: I became an empty-nester. When my second daughter went to college, I stayed on my farm in Martha’s Vineyard. Normally I’d go back to LA, get caught up in my kids’ lives, but now I could just stay here. It’s gorgeous, and I still have food in my garden. And since I stayed longer, I made an effort to become part of the community.
How did you meet Peggy?
I heard, thirdhand, about a woman, a local icon, Nancy Slonim Aronie. She runs the Chilmark Writing Workshop on the island. All summer I heard people say, “Do you know about this poet living on Stonewall Pond?” Then I heard Nancy was having a reading of the poet — and it was Peggy Freydberg. When I heard she was 106 years old, I thought, “I have to go. I have to hear this woman.”
So one afternoon, this past fall, I went to Nancy’s reading. I sat in the back and watched this old woman, Peggy, sitting in a chair next to Nancy as different people got up and read her poems (because she can no longer see well enough to read).
Before this, Nancy had reconnected with Peggy after 20 years. When she heard her poems she started weeping and asked Peggy, “Why aren’t you famous? Why doesn’t everyone know your work?” In her humble way, Peggy just said matter of factly, “I don’t know.” So Nancy felt that the one thing she could do for her, at 106, is give her a moment in her studio, with local friends, to be heard — and that’s what I walked in on.
Life changes in an instant. A woman wangles an invitation for a gathering of locals hearing a centenarian's poems read by friends & ends up collaborating to bring the work to the world. Betsy Born was right - Hollywood couldn't have come up with a better plot line.
So, why do so many forget that wonders happen every day - believe, stay open, follow intuition (a whole other part of this story), and be prepared to be amazed? Magical turnings happen every day. Be prepared to welcome them!
Credits:
1, 4) vineyardgazette.com
2) lauriedavid.com
3) mvtimes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment