t8 4 OUT In ‘THE, IVlouNTAINs — MAY 1999 You Always Remember Your First a book review by Barbara Dozetos hen a fiction writer or poet writes, her own experiences and rela- tionships are often woven into the story or poem she spins. Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes only the author knows for sure; sometimes it’s deliber- ate, and other times the author is the last to know. Give those same writers an assignment to tell their own sto- ries and often you’ll find the most prolific artist complaining of writer’s block or producing mate- rial fit only for personal journals. Nisa Donnelly proffered just that assignment to a talented Alyson Books’ Mom: Candid Memoirs by Lesbians About the First Woman in Their Life. According to the authors them-' selves, the essays and poems that appear in the final product repre- sent some of the most difficult work they have ever done — and some of the best. These women surmounted intense emotions to produce an immensely satisfying collection. There is pain in these pages, group of lesbian writers for . but little bittemess. The majority of the writers chose to examine the trials of their relationships with their mothers in the light of how they grew through them. G.L. Morrison’s “Whose Little Girl Are You?” could have been filled with blame and accusa- tions. Instead, it is a bittersweet collection of contradictory emo- tions: love for a father who abused her, empathy for the 'mother who thanked her “for never telling her things she was too weak to hear,” and a forgive- ness for both of them that reflects Morrison’s maturity, not to men- tion her own recovery. Judith Witherow’s “Columbus Day Revisited” is also rife with pain — and not a little sentiment — but it stops short of gratuitous tugs at the heart strings. It’s the story of the apology she demand- ed of her elderly mother’s doctor, who asked why her patient, as poor as she was, would bring so many children into the world. “Mom looked like she had been physically hit. I spoke softly and carefully replied, ‘Whatever would make you think that because someone was poor, they would not make love?” The closing paragraphs of this piece’, in which the author addresses her , mother directly, reduced me to (tears every time I read ' them. “What hap- pened?...You always got better... Each morning when I awake, I’m happy. Then I remember you died, and my breath won’t allow my lungs to expand.” Esteemed novelist Katherine V. Forrest shares the story of her relationship with a non—biologi- cal mother figure in “Jeanie,” and Shelly Roberts sets aside her Rules of Order humor for irony in “The Way to Barstow.” Roberts claims to have eliminated her mother years ago: “I keep waiting for the phone telling me that her body finally figured out that I killed her.” Chocolate Waters’ “There’s No Place Like Home (Thank God)” hits home with the humor we’ve come to expect from the woman dubbed the ‘Poet Laureate of Hell’s Kitchen.’ In “Solstice,” Jess Wells con- fronts her own maternal leanings as she finds a clearer View of her relationship with her newly sober mother. “Today my mother is moving in and out of me, I am my mother...I am not a mother, but I have two daughters...and while she never really left, my mother has returned.” I must confess that I picked up this volume expecting to wade through relentless psychoanalysis and dripping sentiment. Instead, I found beautiful, if often painful, reality. “We are the women our mothers warned us about and, at the same time, the women they made us,” notes Donnelly in her introduction, providing a superb synopsis of the stories to come. I couldn’t pick a favorite from this collection if I tried. But I will be sending a copy to my mother. V Mom: Candid Memoirs by Lesbians About the First Woman in Their Life Edited by Nisa Donnelly Alyson Publications 302 pages, $|2.95 V Everybody. Benefitting ‘S .. ‘‘ We1C0me $ I 0 gets you in the door with“ Q ten cards and ten chances to‘ win’:-’ 3 i More cards availab|e,foij{p‘urchas‘e 2, Light snacks and beilerages availa Vermont Freetlgrh wvvw.Vtfreetomarry.org West Village Meeting House is in W. QraAt’t|eboiro,ii off the south side of Rt. 9, |.l milesilrjestgqn I-9 ljgfexiti 2'; 6° the a ' HUCS of O ama ‘C , le ‘ . Sufi _ ‘ 5’ vfi Q‘ _ ‘? : ~ \ ’:V ( V: ,1, (‘J , A :1‘/E. 3 .6 ii! .3 . ,5, I . g [xi . ». 34-, r 2: “-‘r tb Marry Taskif Saturday May 29, 7pm \\’est Villa,-_.;'e Meeting House, \V. llratitlebnl-0 9‘ 9f ~. ‘in «- .1, 3‘ EC -__ Seeoncli Annual Evening of Camp Canilor & Faaaahulous Prizes W” .. 5' re? » . A Passionate Heart a review bu Elena Taulor—Garcia - irected_ by Middlebury DCollege senior Matthew Groud, a student cast did jus- tice and then some to Larry Kramer’s powerful drama about anger, AIDS, activism, love, and loss. Their passion- ate and sensitive performance played to sold-out audiences all three nights of its recent run. . . _ , The play is set in New York City" during the first years of the AIDS epi-V” demic, 1981-1984. The story unfolds as out gay writer Ned Weeks, played I by talented freshman Joe Varca, watches many of his friends and acquaintances grow sick and die. In desperation, Ned and his friends form an organization to educate the gay community and advocate for govem- ment support and funding. Meanwhile, Ned’s new lover, Felix (Nick Olson) reveals that he, too, is sick. The group elects a closeted bank executive, Bruce Niles (Peter Schmitz) as its president; tensions mount as Bruce shies away from the public eye. Ned seeks free legal representation for the organization from his brother, Ben (Tom Reece) in a‘painful and all-too- familiar scene; at home, Felix’s condi- tion worsens. Like Kramer himself, Ned’s angry, in-your-face demands of the mayor’s office eventually get him kicked out of the organization he found- ed, and he is lefialone to face his own failures and mass death all around him. The Middlebury cast gave Kramer’s heartbreaking script the weight it demands, with tender, some- times playful scenes between lovers Felix and Ned and an excellent perfor- mance by Lindsay Haynes as the out- raged and generous Dr.« Emma Bookner. Peter Schmitz’s Bruce Niles showed the powerlessness _of even the most powerful and the brutality of societal neglect. One memorable scene, in which he described the inhu- manity with which his dying lover was treated, left most of the audience sob- bing. Philip Dean Walker as Tommy Boatwright and Frank Labowitz as Mickey Marcus gave touching and real performances as very different gay men witnessing some of the darkest times in our history. Matthew Groud’s direction showed artistic maturity and a great deal of empathy. He treated specific and polit- ically challenging material with com- mitment and careful attention. I recent- ly heard a gay writer suggest that per- haps one of the most exciting and important functions of writing was to create the beginnings of empathy in the reader through a process of identi- fication. Judging by the number of dry eyes in the audience during the final scenes, Groud and his cast accom- plished the same function with an excellent performance ofthis poignant play.V The Normal Heart Written by Larry Kramer Performed by Theater 705 Hepburn Zoo Theater, Middlebury College April I6 —|8