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Deadline Poet
May. 1st, 2008 05:46 pmBeth and I went to see Calvin Trillin talk over at UCI last night. I admire him very much as a writer -- incredibly productive, soulful and witty -- and that wit was very much in evidence. His talk was rambling, a sort of "best of" stump speech which he has probably given many times before, but no one cared, because they were too busy laughing. It was impossible to avoid laughing, to tell you the truth; you could be bound and determined to not crack a smile, but the next sentence would find you collapsing in your seat. I think that I am now Pavlovianly trained to guffaw upon pronunciation of the words "the wily and parsimonious Victor S. Navasky."
He seemed most at home in the past of ten years ago or more. References to Lloyd Bentsen and John Sununu left the under-25 contingent guessing; his remarks on television centered around a critique of the "three major networks." He was left scrambling to answer questions about Jeremiah Wright and Fox News, and didn't, really.
But no one cared. He was just too funny. And for me, he was a sentimental connection to institutions which were a lot better a long time ago, like TIME Magazine and the New Yorker. Soon, people will think of people like Susan Orlean as paradigmatic New Yorker writers, and Trillin will be consigned to the same heaven as Joseph Mitchell. For now, I'm just grateful he's still alive and writing.
He seemed most at home in the past of ten years ago or more. References to Lloyd Bentsen and John Sununu left the under-25 contingent guessing; his remarks on television centered around a critique of the "three major networks." He was left scrambling to answer questions about Jeremiah Wright and Fox News, and didn't, really.
But no one cared. He was just too funny. And for me, he was a sentimental connection to institutions which were a lot better a long time ago, like TIME Magazine and the New Yorker. Soon, people will think of people like Susan Orlean as paradigmatic New Yorker writers, and Trillin will be consigned to the same heaven as Joseph Mitchell. For now, I'm just grateful he's still alive and writing.
