Wednesday, July 10, 2013

July 10: Digression, Elinor Benedict Introduction, Public Speaking



…”It’s this course where each boy in class has to get up in class and make a speech.  You know.  Spontaneous and all.  And if the boy digresses at all, you’re supposed to yell ‘Digressions!’ at him as fast as you can.  It just about drove me crazy.  I got an F in it.”

Holden doesn’t seem to be a big fan of public speaking.  Or, at least, he’s not a fan of public speaking in which the speaker has to stay on topic and get to the point.  That doesn’t surprise me, since The Catcher in the Rye is one big, long digression in Holden’s life.

I have to do a little public speaking tonight.  At the Vista Theater in Negaunee, Michigan, I have to attend the ceremony at which the first U. P. Poet Laureate is going to be named.  There are five finalists, and I have been invited to introduce the poet for whom I voted.  Elinor Benedict.  I’ve never met Elinor Benedict in my life.  However, I know her poetry and her reputation.  She was the founding editor of Passages North magazine, and she’s won tons of honors and awards.  I could just stand up in front of the audience and read her vita, and she’d probably get a standing ovation.

I have never introduced a writer in my life.  I, myself, have been introduced many times at poetry readings.  However, I’ve never had to perform this particular task in all my years as a poet.  I just spent two hours working on my “impromptu” speech, and I think I feel comfortable enough now to get up in front of a group of strangers and talk.  My worry this Wednesday is that I’m going to make an idiot of myself in front of a large group of fellow poets, and they’re all going to stand up and yell “Digression!” at me.

I’ve never really feared public speaking.  I think pretty quickly on my feet.  I’m hoping that quality will serve me well this evening.  If it doesn’t, I’m going to throw myself off the stage into the orchestra pit.

Saint Marty is going to be much more relaxed at about 8 p.m. tonight when everything is over and done.

No digressions tonight, please

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