New Haven Museum Appearance



I gave a talk at the New Haven Museum (Historical Society) on Wednesday night. It was a big success, with 25 or so people showing up, and everything going smoothly. Everything that is, except the power going out on the upper floor! However, we set up in the room you see here, and it worked out great. There was a moment when we thought we'd have standing room only in there, but we brought in a couple extra chairs and everything was fine. Of course, you can see there were two open seats in the front row, too...it's just like students in a classroom. No one wants to sit there!

Barnes and Noble North Haven



Here is my signing at the B&N in North Haven on Saturday, May 22. It was a beautiful day and there wasn't a huge turnout (though I had a great talk with those five or six people who did show). However, that store has already sold over 30 of my books, and the first month of sales isn't even up yet. Nor have I been featured in the newspaper yet. Hopefully, it is a sign of things to come.

Phi Kappa Phi Initiation







As some of you may know, I currently serve as the president for the UB chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. I was happy this year to serve the students who have earned this incredible distinction. I was not as pleased to wear the yellow thing that made me look like a bishop, but you can judge for yourselves from the photos.

Bridgeport: The Musical





Here are some pictures from the recent play by the Wednesday Afternoon Musical Club (founded in 1897). They used my book, Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City, to provide text in between songs. I particularly liked the way they worked in Catherine Moore, lighthouse keeper extraordinaire. You can see her carrying her lantern around the church in picture one.

It took place in Easton at the Jesse Lee Methodist Church, and the Club wants to take it on the road. It really gives a sense of pride about a much maligned city!

Finalist!

My novella, A City of Old Stories, was chosen as a finalist for the Snake Nation Press Serena McDonald Kennedy Award. I see that they put me at the top of the list, too. Maybe that means the editors (who usually pick the finalists in these cases) liked mine the best. Too bad the judge did not, but it's a good sign for the future.

I have been told by several people who read it that it is the best thing I have written (so far). I hope someday that you all will get to judge that for yourselves.

Dear Joyce Carol Oates

I’m writing to you about our mutual problem. You know what I’m referring to – the tendency to write a little too much every year, a few too many novels every decade. I’m working on four books at once right now and I’m not going to get the Nobel Prize doing that, no ma’am. I mean, how can we think that we’re going to create the luminous literature of eternity without more serious reflection?

Slow down, I tell myself. I don’t want to be like you, writing too much, too often, with too little editing. But I can’t help it; I’m addicted to language. Even this letter should have been more carefully considered and revised. I should have sat on it for a year at least, mulling over content and form, choosing each word with a nearly psychotic deliberation. But I didn’t. Why? Are we victims of the same lexicographic disease?

Perhaps we think that through this extraordinary volume the magic expressions will appear, the magic combination that will finally grant us a throne in the pantheon of giants. And maybe that strategy will work; maybe sheer quantity will convince the critics and readers to give us the approbation we know we deserve. But something tells me that more precise and particularized verbiage would be the smarter course and so I’m passing on this thought to you. Who knows what works of genius await someone of your obvious talent?

I just want what all writers want: to write one perfect sentence. I know you do, too, Ms. Oates. Let’s work on that together.

Your humble servant,
Eric D. Lehman