---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Fwd: Alice's treatise
From: "Jan Notzon" <janotzon(a)aol.com>
Date: Tue, March 26, 2013 2:39 pm
To: jan(a)jannotzon.com
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For some reason, I had to write this on my aol account, send to this site,
so that I could send it out to you. I hope to God it works!
-----Original Message-----
From: Jan Notzon <janotzon(a)aol.com>
To: winedale-l <winedale-l(a)lists.wikimedia.or>
Sent: Tue, Mar 26, 2013 10:54 am
Subject: Alice's treatise
Dear Alice,
After the celebrations, the reunions, the tearful nostalgia, the
festivities and joyous fun, Lynn showed me with her copy of your
treatise on Shakespeare at Winedale. I wish to bestow on you perhaps
the greatest accolade I can imagine giving to a writer: Damn you!
Your extraordinary grasp and ability to convey in such powerful and
moving prose such an ineffable phenomenon sent me back to a place I
had long forgotten: that excruciating moment when, at the end of such
a transformative experience, one I shared with you, with Michael,
Nick, Robert, Donald, my adored Terry and so many others, it had come
to a heart-rending end. It was a time of inexpressible loss, when the
euphoria of creative ensemble and boundless love had arrived at its
inevitable hiatus. It was a time when (forgive the overused term) the
magic of the creative impulse and passion for the communal exploration
of the greatest literature in the history of man, that had given us
such meaning and purpose and connection and sheer joy, gave its
reluctant, oh so reluctant, way and sent us on our solitary journeys,
aching for that ecstasy once again.
So I was left, at your hand, yearning once again for that boundless
joy, full of tears and painful self-discovery, but all the more joyous
for it; left, once again, feeling parts of my soul torn from their
moorings and searching, searching for that unique sense of communion
and grace.
But please, please, know that I will be eternally grateful to you for
allowing me to know that intolerable ache once again. There is no more
potent reminder of life, of love, of the piercing joy of existence.
Life is nothing without loss, for without that profound sense of loss,
it is certain that our life had never known such wondrous gain.
So, thank you for reminding me of all that I have gained and for
realizing that it was never really lost. For as long as we can say, "I
miss it so much," it is never really gone. No, Shakespeare at Winedale
is indelibly engraved on our souls, and a river of tears could never
wash it away.
God bless you and Doc and all who have contributed their unique
passion in making Shakespeare at Winedale what it is.
Love,
Jan