From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #187 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Monday, November 6 2000 Volume 01 : Number 187 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 07:48:52 -0600 From: "Dallas Robbins" Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Favorite Mormon Essays This is surely a hard subject for me to decide on, but for now, today, I would choose the following for my picks: Personal Essay Book Collection: "Making Peace" by Eugene England Devotional/Sermon Book Collection: "Approaching Zion" by Hugh Nibley Individual Personal Essay: "Encounter" by Douglas Alder from Dialogue, and reprinted in "Personal Voices" edited by Mary Lythgoe Bradford Individual Devotional/Sermon: "The False Gods We Worship" by Spencer W. Kimball from Ensign, June 1976, First Presidency Message Dallas Robbins editor@harvestmagazine.com http://www.harvestmagazine.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 21:53:50 -0700 (MST) From: Debbie Wager Subject: [AML] More on Utah Bulwer-Lytton [MOD: Thanks to Debbie Wager for forwarding this article. It was received in the in-box before I sent out the Eric Samuelsen post on his entry, but due to list volume wasn't sent out until today.] This message was sent to you by Debbie Wager (dwager@vii.com). Note: I forward this article not only because it's a real hoot, but also because it includes the name and winning entry of one Eric Samuelsen. Good job! The following story appeared on deseretnews.com on November 02, 2000. ======== Headline: Utah has some great bad writers Author: By Ann Cannon Whoa! When I innocently asked for your faux Bulwer-Lytton bad-writing entries a month ago, I simply had NO IDEA so many of you would respond! Thank you for your giddy sentences. There wasn't a flat one in the bunch. Seriously. Which is why it was hard to pick a winner. Which is why I finally made my class of extremely brilliant and dedicated literature students at Westminster College do it for me as a part of their midterm examination. So, without further ado, I present to you the winners of this year's Deseret News Bad Writing Contest as selected by Ann Cannon's Class of Extremely Brilliant and Dedicated Literature Students. Sentences featuring stupid peasants were popular, including this winner written by Mary Hedengren: "The peasant walked past Stonehenge, that Neolithic structure dedicated by ancients to astronomy, or to religion, or to both, as the fact of the alignment of its famous heelstone coordinates with the rising of the sun on the longest day of the year would suggest a ceremony for sun worshippers; but he knew nothing of that, being just a peasant." Eric Johnsen also turned a neat peasant-intensive sentence: "It was a stark and dormy blight which devoured the peasants' harvest, thus inspiring Osgoth, the imbecile chieftain of their autonomous collective, to once again proclaim a feast wherein the council must devise their plan." Susan Andrews scored with her homage to the enduring appeal of bad boys: "I knew he was trouble as he slouched toward me, like a yuppie James Dean in tasseled loafers, only maybe a little shorter and with straighter hair; and the insolence dripped off him like the water drips off that guy in the shower on those TV deodorant-soap commercials." Jacki Sorensen won points for her timely entry: " 'Honey, I'm home,' Richard weakly called to a hauntingly empty house, as sweat glistened on his face and soaked his shirt, a result of having to walk six miles to his home on a scorching hot day after his special-edition burgundy Toyota 4-Runner had a blowout on one of his Firestone brand tires, which, unknown to him, would shortly be recalled -- an ominous foreshadowing of how his life would soon change." On the other hand, Richard Romney's sentence was admired for its timelessness -- literally. "It was not just a commonplace day, it was a day so ordinary that it was indistinguishable from the day before it, or from the day after it, or from any day a month from now, or a year from now, or any other day in between; and our hero was not just a commonplace man, he was a man so ordinary that he was indistinguishable from any man you met before, or that you might meet any day a month from now, or a year from now, or any other day in between." Ron Pierson impressed the judges with his overwrought local weather report: "It was a bright and sunny day, a day that occurs only rarely in the Utah summer, a day where the pallid blue sky stretched from the top of the Wasatch Mountains on the east, to the bottom of the Bingham Copper Pit on the west, broken only by a single distended cumulus nimbus cloud that slowly changed shape from a pirate ship to a portrait of George Washington to a desert tortoise stranded on its back, with legs flailing back and forth as if they powered the gentle breeze that made the leaves of the quaken asp dance to and fro to the jumbled music of the hidden songbirds; a day so splendid, so perfect, that LaWanda had difficulty believing the weather prognosticators who said it would all change into a dark and stormy night." But in the end, it was Eric Samuelsen's Mormon-Utah-specific sentence that ruled: "The sun set over Utah Lake like a giant orange Jell-O mold, with a Cool Whip layer of clouds above the pineapple chunk mountains, the lake itself like a wavy bed of lettuce, only bluer, and as Heber stared soulfully into Velmina's Peanut-Butter-Cup eyes, in the back of his mind, not for the first time, he reflected how very long Fast Sundays seemed when you were young, and in love." Opening sentences just do not get any better/worse (please choose one) than that! AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you have any desire to enter the real Bulwer-Lytton contest, check out the home page at www.bulwer-lytton.com. Special thanks to Jim "the e-mail virus-slayer" Liddle for sending along this information. E-MAIL: acannon@desnews.com - ---------- Copyright 2000, Deseret News Publishing Co. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2000 09:17:58 -0500 From: "Todd Robert Petersen" Subject: Re: [AML] MN Mormons Oppose "Godspell" D. Michael Martindale wrote: > I, a Christian, would feel very comfortable performing in a play about > Jewish, Hindu, or Native American religious concepts, as long as the > play wasn't promoting those concepts as the true religion. The implication here is that since you wouldn't feel bad about doing a play about a figure from another faith, others shouldn't feel bad either. The fact that you're fine with it does not mean that there is no issue here. > I don't believe the play Godspell says anything about the divinity of Christ, > only his moral teachings. It's historical and cultural, and that sort of > thing is a valid part of--yes--even public education in America. Yes, but in Ogden do you think that this is the issue as interpreted by the people having trouble? My primary point in all of this is that some folks have become outraged at the play and others have become outraged at the outrage. The problem, it seems, comes when politics like these butt up against something we like. If GODSPELL were a horrible play, clearly horrible, the question would be moot. In my mind, only the scriptures have innate value. Everything else has contingent value, and it is this contingent value that can be affected by culture, time, taste, and the like. So there are those on the list who think that the play ought to be produced that people shouldn't try to "micromanage" the artistic affairs of others. I suppose this sould be okay if everyone was on their own; however, we live in communities, and within those communities, there are people who are clearly more or less capable of dealing with certain things (like productions of GODSPELL or A CHILDREN'S HOUR or ANGELS IN AMERICA). Still we're talking about a public school, not a private theater. The issues are clearly different. To ask our neighbors to squelch their outrage seems like an unfair request. We not only have a right to our opinions in this country, but we have a right to march, and to vote, and to try to affect change based on those opinions. D. Michael Martindale has been vociferous in his claims against critics telling him what he can and can't write. Shouldn't the same courtesy be extended to people in their public communications, in their abilities to stand up for what they believe is right, even if we take issue with it? Some of us have been taking issue with these people in Odgen because we think that they are wrong. Had we agreed with them, we'd be leaping to their aid. What if we are wrong in this? What if the "right" thing (in God's eyes) is to NOT do that play at that place and at that time? There hasn't been much discussion at all about that, and it seems like an important avenue of the discussion. Can we imagine circumstances where we would NOT want to do certain plays in certain venues at certain times? Are there points at which we would draw the line? Maybe not at the same point as these other people, but I'm sure the lines are there. D. Michael Martindale's line comes at the point where the play would attempt to represent the "true religion" of the people putting it on. I'd be interested to know if others were as able to indicate the location of their line. In high school I played the Matthew Harrison Brady part in INHERIT THE WIND. I went to a private Catholic high school. Even in that play there is some attempt to understand Brady, to NOT write him off as a one-dimensional simpleton. That move came from his opponent. The urge to demonize is powerful. So is the urge to say that since I'm okay with something, IT is okay in general terms. My students in freshman composition often argue that something is not true because they are the exception (i.e. Christians are not close-minded because I am not close-minded). We can not always ascribe the characteristics of the individual to the characteristics of the group. If this logic really worked, then from my point of view, the Saints would already be perfect . - -- Todd Robert Petersen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 11:46:25 -0500 From: "Debra L. Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Utah Bulwer-Lytton Thank you Eric. I for one, will never look at a jello-mold the same way ever again! Debbie Brown - ----- Original Message ----- From: Eric R. Samuelsen > "The sun set over Utah Lake like a giant orange Jello-O mold, with a Cool Whip layer of clouds above the pineapple chunk mountains, the lake itself like a wavy bed of lettuce, only bluer, and as Heber stared soulfully into Velmina's Peanut-Butter-Cup eyes, in the back of his mind, not for the first time, he reflected how very long Fast Sundays seemed when you were young, and in love." > > It is, I hope you'll all agree, a thoroughly atrocious sentence, and one with definite LDS lit connotations. Thank you very much. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 10:22:24 -0700 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Introductions: Ruth Starkman > LAST of all, I've some thoughts about obtaining Mormon lit >(Signature press gets my >eyeballs b/c of its quality work, its fine range of perspectives >and most importantly >its WEBSITE and b/c it promotes titles on amazon.com. Other Mormon >lit? How do I get it >in San Francisco where I live? The nearest deseret bookstore, >yahoo.com tells me, is 87 >miles away! There's a book store right next to the Oakland Temple, and when I was there in 1996, another LDs bookstore in San Ramon. Thom Duncan - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 11:09:33 -0700 From: "Scott Tarbet" Subject: RE: [AML] MN Fred Adams to address BYU Women Nov. 4: BYU Press Release [MOD: I'm posting this correction although at this point the story is historical. Any reports on what actually happened, what was talked about, etc.?] Fred was double-booked and he's in Denver. His associate producer will be taking the lecture. > From: BYU Press Release > To: Mormon News > Subject: MN Fred Adams to address BYU Women Nov. 4: BYU Press Release > 31Oct00 A2 > Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 19:00:00 -0400 > > [From Mormon-News] > > Fred Adams to address BYU Women Nov. 4 > > PROVO, UTAH -- > Director of the Utah Shakespearean Festival Fred Adams > will present a lecture hosted by BYU Women, "Drama in the Church," on > Saturday (Nov. 4) at 2 p.m. in 2660 Conference Center. > > "The more we are informed about drama and acting, the more we will be > excited about these events," said Jo Scofield, BYU Women president. > In keeping with BYU Women's year-long theme, "Embracing the Arts," > Adams will share his perspective on why some drama, acting and art > pieces are and are not acceptable to the LDS community. > > BYU Women is an organization comprised of BYU female employees and > spouses of BYU employees. The organization hosts a speaker monthly > during the academic year. > > > >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events > Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included > Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites > without permission. Please link to our pages instead. > For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ > > Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com > Put appropriate commands in body of the message: > To join: subscribe mormon-news > To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news > To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest > > > > - > AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature > http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm > - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 12:27:09 -0600 From: "mcnandon" Subject: RE: [AML] MN Mormons Oppose "Godspell" Scott Tarbet wonders if the teacher, who dismissed the students with BoM's on their desks, could be considered an offensive liberal zealot. I don't know the details, but is it possible the kids could have been flaunting their BoM's, trying to make a statement or trying to get a rise out of their teacher? Nan McCulloch - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 16:59:31 EST From: KGrant100@aol.com Subject: [AML] re: Value of Literature Tracie, I think many of us can relate to your feelings. Have you read _The Artist's Way_ and _Right to Write_ by Julia Cameron? I recommend them both strongly. I'd start with _The Artist's Way_: each chapter focuses on a different aspect of creative healing/freedom. I think you'll find some much-needed support and guidance in these books. Kathy > > Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 16:36:51 -0500 > From: "Tracie Laulusa" > Subject: [AML] Value of Literature (was: November Editorial) > > I have been debating with myself over this importance of literature question > for the past several weeks-months even. It wasn't that long ago that I > connected with my desire to write again, and it has been a massively > frustrating experience. > - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2000 15:55:06 -0700 From: "Brent J. Rowley" Subject: Re: [AML] Introductions: Ruth Starkman - --------------2B8C082BB828E7CDC7E0B0EA Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ruth Starkman wrote: > Other Mormon lit? How do I get it in San Francisco where I live? > The nearest deseret bookstore, yahoo.com tells me, is 87 > miles away! > Click on this internet link: http://deseretbook.com/other-booksellers/ and when you get there, select California. There's a fairly long list of (non-Deseret Book) LDS stores all up and down the State, including many in the Bay Area. Good luck, BJ Rowley - --------------2B8C082BB828E7CDC7E0B0EA Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit  
Ruth Starkman wrote:
 
Other Mormon lit? How do I get it in San Francisco where I live?
The nearest deseret bookstore, yahoo.com tells me, is 87
miles away!
 
Click on this internet link:      http://deseretbook.com/other-booksellers/
and when you get there, select California. There's a fairly long list of (non-Deseret Book)
LDS stores all up and down the State, including many in the Bay Area.

Good luck,

BJ Rowley - --------------2B8C082BB828E7CDC7E0B0EA-- - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2000 15:54:59 -0800 From: Rob Pannoni Subject: Re: [AML] MN Mormons Oppose "Godspell" "D. Michael Martindale" wrote: > > Performing Godspell is going to do a lot more good for bringing the > church vs state dichotomy back into the realm of common sense than the > dubious debate about prayer in school. Religious works of art _should_ > be performable in schools--as long as a specific religious outlook isn't > regularly favored--because religion is as much a part of our culture and > heritage as anything else. To pretend in the classroom that religion > doesn't exist is an educational lie. Interesting that the current legal/cultural quagmire is ambiguous enough that different school districts take different approaches. In our area, one school district does not allow Christmas carols to be sung at all. In an adjacent one, they can be sung as long as songs from other traditions are also included. The latter solution makes a lot more sense to me, but the array of cultures in the Bay area is so wide that many groups will always be left out. (We have schools here with students speaking more than a dozen distinct languages). At some point, I suppose you could excuse a district for throwing up its hands and saying no to everything in order to protect itself from potential legal issues. But it is still sort of sad. - -- Rob Pannoni Rapport Systems http://www.rapport-sys.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 18:19:44 -0800 (PST) From: Darlene Young Subject: [AML] AML Writer's Conference [MOD: Reports from those who attended--what was said, what was particularly useful, etc.--would be welcome on the List, and read with interest by those of us too far away to attend in person!] Thanks, D Michael for a fabulous writer's conference! I heard so many interesting things that I hope we'll get to discuss here in the next few days, and I was rejuvenated as a writer and a participant in this exciting community. Good job! ===== Darlene Young __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. http://shopping.yahoo.com/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Nov 2000 09:28:25 MST From: "Marie Knowlton" Subject: Re: [AML] MN Mormons Oppose "Godspell" I couldn't agree more with Eric Snider's comments about the "Godspell" controversy. May I add: The mission of public education is not necessarily mindless inclusion of every student, whether or not those students wish to participate. If we refuse to allow anything at all in the schools that could potentially offend or conflict with anyone's beliefs, what we will ultimately end up with is a resounding void of culture, art, discussion, and critical thinking. All of those elements are crucial to a meaningful education. How ironic that we preach diversity and inclusion, then water down the educational experience so that those very elements, for the sake of political correctness, are omitted! Those who wish to participate in theatre, dance, music, writing, etc. ought to be able to do so unshackled by the restrictive criteria of others whose only interest is leveling the field for people who likely don't even want to play. I trust that those of us who are involved in the performing arts can tolerate and even respect different beliefs, cultures, etc. If we can't, then we need to rethink our own education. [Marie Knowlton] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 18:43:25 -0800 (PST) From: Darlene Young Subject: [AML] Re: AML Writer's Conference At the writer's conference today, Eric Snider and Elbert Peck sat on a panel entitled "How to criticize culture without losing your recommend" (or something like that). The topic was so rich, and we only barely tapped it. I had a question that we didn't have time to discuss, so I would like to ask either of you to address it (or anyone else who wants to). Eric told of a "high-ranking BYU official" who had objected to a humorous column he had written loosely on the subject of General Conference. It seemed clear to Eric (and I believe him because I have read his columns) that the authority had not understood what Eric was trying to do, and so his objection was unjustified. But when someone gets offended, Eric, because they misunderstand, then haven't you failed to communicate? So my question is this: knowing that your audience is LDS and will sometimes misunderstand you, how do you decide where to draw the line? Is it the best policy for a writer to rely solely on her own conscience when deciding whether something is harmless play or possibly offensive? When you have written a column, Eric, or when you are considering printing something, Elbert, on what do you base your decision about whether or not you've "gone too far"? With the audience you write for, Eric, including people who might misunderstand, do you rely on anything but your own sense of propriety to judge what is OK to mock? Elbert spoke about the importance of being fully honest in our writing. It seems to me that a writer has nothing else but his own sense of propriety and conscience to rely on. But subjectivity increases the possibility of failure in communication, doesn't it? How does a writer make such decisions? ===== Darlene Young __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. http://shopping.yahoo.com/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 12:45:15 -0700 From: "Gae Lyn Henderson" Subject: RE: [AML] MN Mormons Oppose "Godspell" Todd Robert Pererson said: > > > > Isn't there also a problem with being narrow-minded and > judgemental about > > narrow-minded and judgemental people? When that woman was called an > > "offensive zealot," that doesn't strike me as what you're claiming for > > yourself. I think that none of us should be shrill about any of the > > positions. Scott Tarbet replied: > > Circularity upon circularity. If I'm told I'm narrow-minded and > judgemental > for calling someone an "offensive zealot" (wasn't me, but that doesn't > matter), then isn't the person who tells me I'm narrow-minded and > judgemental also open to the same criticism? And don't I open > myself to the > same criticism again by pointing it out? Pardon me while I go swallow my > tail. The term "offensive zealot" was orginally used in support of Eric Samuelson's heartfelt post. However, if the woman in question was being directly addressed, I believe different language might be chosen. But I think Todd has an excellent point! I think there is a huge difference between calling someone an "offensive zealot" and saying, "I disagree with you strongly for these reasons." Elbert Peck at the AML Writers Conference Saturday talked about how writers can be successful at cultural critique without antagonizing and turning off the audience. He advised that we: (1) Say "I'm sad," rather than "I'm mad," (which is exactly what Eric Samuelsen did when he brought this topic up, if I remember correctly). (2) Use words (metaphors) LDS readers are comfortable with, like the advisability of making "growth and progress" rather than a proposal for radical "change and evolution." (3) Use inclusive words. Say "we need to be open-minded" rather than "they need to be open-minded." (4) Own one's feelings. "I feel" rather than labeling "them" and name-calling. (5) Present the evidence and let the audience draw their own conclusions rather than trying to force feed them. The efficacy of communication depends on using appropriate rhetorical strategies. If what we want to do is complain about narrow-minded and uneducated people, then by all means, let us vent our wrath. If the term "offensive zealot" was used to indicate support for Eric's heartfelt post, and I believe it was, then in that instance it may indeed be appropriate diction. But if we are addressing the mother who was trying to respond to her son's tender feelings about portraying the Savior in a new and startling way, then I think we might give her the benefit of the doubt. Who knows, if she could hear the testimonies that have been given on the list about "Godspell" she might change her mind. So if we want to enact change, we must respect other's opinions and treat them with dignity. Cultural enlightenment and education should enable greater tolerance and listening, not less. > > May I submit that nearly any statement anyone makes will offend someone or > other, depending on whether they're looking to take offense. I > don't think > we can freeze ourselves into politically-correct immobility for > the sake of > not offending someone by pointing out that we're offended. We can point it out in a respectful manner. I believe people are more important that insisting that we are right. (I'm paraphrasing Elbert Peck again here--We must tell the truth as we know it, clearly, strongly.) But we must also recognize that zealots everywhere are also trying to tell truth. Only if we listen and then reply will we have the slightest chance of any communication taking place.) > Gae Lyn Henderson - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 16:37:19 -0800 (PST) From: Darlene Young Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Favorite Mormon Essays I couldn't tell if you wanted votes for individual essays or for collections, but my vote for best single essay would have to go to Eugene England for "Why the Church is as True as the Gospel," a classic that I think should be assigned to every adult ward member everywhere. As to collections: Orson Scott Card's "Storyteller in Zion" and Emma Lou Thayne's "As For Me and My House" have my votes. Both drastically changed my thinking on what it means to be a Mormon, a Mormon artist, and a Mormon woman. Both left me hungry for more. ===== Darlene Young __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. http://shopping.yahoo.com/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 00:05:14 -0800 From: "Frank Maxwell" Subject: Re: [AML] Introductions: Ruth Starkman Ruth wrote: > LAST of all, I've some thoughts about obtaining Mormon lit (Signature press > gets my eyeballs b/c of its quality work, its fine range of perspectives and > most importantly its WEBSITE and b/c it promotes titles on amazon.com. Other > Mormon lit? How do I get it in San Francisco where I live? The nearest > deseret bookstore, yahoo.com tells me, is 87 miles away! Okay, now I'm out > of epistolary gas for today. Best, Ruth Starkman > Ruth, you don't have to drive to Sacramento to Deseret Bookstore to find Mormon literature. You can go to Seagull Book & Tape in Oakland. From Berkeley, take Highway 13 to Oakland, and get off at Lincoln Avenue. Instead of turning right as though you're heading to the LDS Temple, turn left and go over the overpass. There'll be a little shopping center on your left. Seagull Book is there, at 5046 Westminster Lane, phone (510) 530-0600 or (800) 805-6667. Bring coins for the parking meter. Or, when you're visiting UCLA, drive down out of Westwood and go to Santa Monica Boulevard. Seagull Book has another store at 10714 Santa Monica Blvd., phone (310) 475-0768 or (800) 666-6257. It's across from the Los Angeles Temple, at Overland and Santa Monica, in a tiny little strip mall with a laundromat, dry cleaners, and 7-11 as neighbors. It's tricky getting into the parking lot, though, because the strip mall is actually on a kind of frontage road parallel to Santa Monica Blvd., and there are traffic lights both at Overland & Santa Monica, and Overland & what I call the frontage road. Or you can contact Seagull Book at www.seagullbook.com Regards, Frank Maxwell Gilroy, California - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 10:18:27 -0600 From: Jonathan Langford Subject: Re: [AML] Attention All Freelance Writers Marianne, I have to endorse much of what has already been said about picking an area of specialty and building connections and relationships. Often enough, it's not a case of "picking" an area but falling into an area, or discovering an area where you're already knowledgeable. In my case, while working on a master's degree I took a job editing/rewriting teacher's guides for an educational technology company. By the time I had finished working for them (three years later) and was moving elsewhere for a PhD program (since given up), I had also worked as an editor and training product writer for the same company. To make a long story short, what I've found is that it's now far easier for me to get more work through my contacts in educational technology than it would be to branch out into other fields, even though I have an interest in other fields as well. My knowledge base makes me a valuable resource for the companies I work for. And I tend to build up long-term relationships with companies (including the one that laid me off--but that's another story) that makes them feel good about working with me. So the moral of the story is: rather than trying to a be a general "writer," you'll probably find that you'll want to focus in on a couple of areas--maybe the ones where you encounter your first success. One thing tends to lead to another, but it takes a while, and it's often tough getting those initial leads. Another thing you need to consider is exactly what type of work you want to do or are qualified to do. You mentioned magazine writing, but that's only one, relatively small facet of this kind of work. Are you interested in/do you have the skills for editing? Proofreading? What about writing other kinds of documents--teacher's guides, manuals, and the like? What about newspaper feature articles? The pay isn't great, but it helps build up your portfolio. If I were you, I'd consider doing an inventory of your interests, hobbies, and areas in which you're knowledgeable. Then think about what kinds of writing opportunities might exist that relate to those areas. Do you know an author you could interview for a feature article somewhere? If so, what would the logical placement for that article be? Sorry I don't have any more concrete suggestions, or any ideas that are more closely related to your specific areas of inquiry. I hope you're able to pick up something worthwhile that fits your individual circumstances. There's a lot out there--but it does take time and connections to get it... Jonathan Langford Speaking for myself, not the List jlangfor@pressenter.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 08:44:55 -0800 From: eedh Subject: [AML] Re: Introduction: Ruth Starkman "the idea of a Mormon protagonist faced with challenges both within himself and the outside world is a great one. What a fascinating culture! " Ruth! WOW!! I don't know if you realize how many of us are sitting and staring at our screens, our hearts beating wildly. (At least I am.) We're fascinating! They want us! This has got to be one of the great inspirational posts on AML-list. Thank you! The race to the keyboards is on! - -Beth Hatch - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 17:19:08 GMT From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: [AML] Re: AML Writer's Conference Darlene Young: >At the writer's conference today, Eric Snider and >Elbert Peck sat on a panel entitled "How to criticize >culture without losing your recommend" (or something >like that). The topic was so rich, and we only barely >tapped it. That's for sure! Don't get me started. > >Eric told of a "high-ranking BYU official" who had >objected to a humorous column he had written loosely >on the subject of General Conference. It seemed clear >to Eric (and I believe him because I have read his >columns) that the authority had not understood what >Eric was trying to do, and so his objection was >unjustified. But when someone gets offended, Eric, >because they misunderstand, then haven't you failed to >communicate? I would have to say no. If the fact that someone got offended meant that the writer had failed to communicate, then that would mean nearly every writer in history had failed to communicate. Because frankly, everything -- especially when it uses humor or satire -- can offend someone, somewhere. If a vast majority of my readers got offended by something I wrote, then yes, I'd have to think I'd probably screwed up. But when 99 percent have no problem with it, I can't take the 1 percent who do to mean I've failed. I may have failed to communicate with them, specifically, but most of the people who have been upset by things I've written in my column have been people who were not my target audience anyway. (When I wrote at BYU, for example, my main audience was the students -- and you'll notice it was a BYU official who got upset. I have no idea how to write something that will entertain middle-aged BYU officials; fortunately, they made up only a small part of my readership, so I didn't have to focus on them. I wrote for the students, and I usually knew how to write for them.) >So my question is this: knowing that >your audience is LDS and will sometimes misunderstand >you, how do you decide where to draw the line? Is it >the best policy for a writer to rely solely on her own >conscience when deciding whether something is harmless >play or possibly offensive? ... With the >audience you write for, Eric, including people who >might misunderstand, do you rely on anything but your >own sense of propriety to judge what is OK to mock? Knowing that my audience is very sensitive about certain things, I figure my conscience is the only thing I CAN go by. If I omitted everything I thought MIGHT offend someone, nothing would get written. (This might be seen as a plus to some people.) I have a testimony; I have a sense of "there's a time and place for everything"; I'm pretty good at recognizing things that shouldn't be discussed and/or made light of in public. If I were a non-Mormon trying to do this, I probably wouldn't have the right instincts about it. But since I am LDS, I feel I have the background necessary to know what's "too far." That said, I will tell you that I often think of, and sometimes actually type on my computer, jokes that I know I can't actually get away with because they're too outrageous, too shocking or too insensitive. They're funny to me, and I can probably tell them to certain friends who I know won't be offended. But I know my readers wouldn't stand for it, and I wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on in arguing with them. So I don't publish it. I mention this just to make it clear that "what's appropriate to publish" isn't 100 percent the same as "everything that occurs to me." In other words, if people have been offended by my columns, they should see what I DON'T put it! Eric D. Snider _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 10:33:57 -0700 From: David Hansen Subject: Re: [AML] MN Mormons Oppose "Godspell" While in my mind Godspell does not cross the line into the "bad to be viewed" category, I get more than a little nervous when people make statements that seem to indicate that educated individuals should "toerate" some religious or cultural depiction which may conflict with our own without any boundaries. For example, if Ogden High had chosen to perform the musical "Hair" instead of "Godspell" would it have made a difference? Would the parents who complain be intolerant for not wanting their children to remove their clothes on stage as part of their public school's musical? What if they perform a play glorifying the crucifixion as a justified end to a bad man? Or claiming that Joseph Smith deserved to die? As has already been said, it is to me a matter of individual line drawing. While I may not agree with the complaining Ogden High parents about where they drew their line, IMO saying that we should have no lines is probably worse. Dave Hansen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #187 ******************************