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Blogs by William F DeVault
the interview 1/12/2005 6:24:29 AM
Had a good time being interviewed in the real world. Got a note the other day from E.J. that he'd gotten an email from the Daily Athenaeum (the student newspaper at WVU) regarding granting an interview. No problem.
We joke a lot about how Morgantown doesn't particularly like me...the local paper has yet to acknowledge me, my own alma mater, Morgantown High, does not only not list me in their website list of "accomplished alumni" but also has me in their alumni database as "Gene DeVault"...or at least, they have a 1973 graduate by that name. And no mention of me. The local public library has some of my books, but the copies I donated to the high school library vanished. And, this past august, when E.J. emailed every English teacher in the county about having me drop by their classes we got...no...responses. Not response of "no"...not even an acknowldgement.
So, whent he DA (which profiled me 2-1/2 years ago when I came through here on my "Love Gods of a Forgotten Religion" book tour) seeks me out, I cooperate. Funny thing was, one of the angles the interviewer was going for was wanting my take on why Morgantown doesn't seem to be particularly aware of me (I can name multiple high schools, in other states, where I am taught in their units on contemporary American poets...and those are just the ones I know of. I've been paid and flown in to do readings at colleges. I've headlined poetry tours.). I shrugged and quoted "A prophet is not without honor..."
I told him I wasn't particularly ticked about it, I'm old enough to have said I love you more than once to someone who didn't say it back (right, Karla?) and to be doing a book about Morgantown for a local arts advocacy group is something I want to do, regardless of anyy recognition I get. Yes, I am frustrated by the stubborness and ignorance, as I think they are wasting an opportunity for synergy. And, yes, it is amusing that I can be more anonymous in a town of 20,000 than in a major metropolis.
Anyway, the interviewer was a nice guy, he had read his C.S. Lewis (if you want to impress me in an interview, know your Lewis. I liked his work enough to name two of my children out of his books, and his "Screwtpae Letters" and "Screwtape Proposes a Toast" were instrumental in my evolving theology) and we discussed value systems, the evolution of the local arts scene and language shifts. He was shocked to find out that you could be arrested for saying the "f-word" when I was in college, but could yell the "n-word" with impunity (a direct shift of nowadays when people wear all sorts of vulgarisms on their bumpers and t-shirts).
He didn't know about the encroachment of the tavern districts on downtown since the dissolution of the stadium bridge. But, being almost three decades younger than me, he can dazzle students in thirty years with the way things were "back then".
I went to the DA online archives and read some of his pieces, good stuff. I am sure I said a few things I shouldn't...but I am curious to see what comes of the interview when the paper comes out on Thursday...
Counterpoint to this was my visit, just an hour before the interview, the the Dominion Post offices. Three previous emails to see about getting permission to use an old photo of me by local photog Ron Rittenhouse, which had appeared on the front page of the paper in 1974, had gone unanswered, so I took a xerox of the photo with me and headed on down.
The editor was in a meeting, and would have to get back to me. The admin I spoke with had no idea who I was, was not allowed to accept a copy of "PanthEon" as a gift, and took my contact info. Should be a slam-dunk answer...yes, no or more info required. So far, nothing. No email, no phone call. I told the admin that if they want attribution, I'm fine with that.
If they want payment, since I never signed a release, I am a private citizen and it is my image, I will either go ahead and use it and let them piss and moan (although Mark Twain warned about getting into fights with newspapers) or tell them to stuff it and go to plan B...when I think of it.
I'm still recovering from the worst cold I can recall having gotten in years, but am looking forward to getting back into the saddle with the teaching position next month. Missing being in a relationship, but that's driving some nice writing.
