I just want to add my own voice to the chorus of praise for "Barn Dance."
As it happens, I donated my papers to the Briscoe Historical Center last year. And in gratitude for my donation, the Briscoe folks sent me copies of THE TEXAS BOOK and THE TEXAS BOOK TWO, the latter of which has Alice's lovely piece in it.
The book occupies an honored place on my (now much reduced) bookshelves.
--Mike
On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 8:31 PM, Alice Gordon alicegordon@earthlink.net wrote:
Dear Jan, and to all you copied on this message,
Wow, did you make my day, or what!? And I thought just getting to be onstage with you again was the major treat.
Whatever your techno problems were, I'm grateful you solved them, because it was such a lovely, gratifying surprise to get this note. It means the world to me that "Barn Dance" moved you, and that it took you time-traveling. Writing the piece did that for me, deeply immersed me into a living past, as you describe the process of reentering the SAW memory zone so well. You must indeed have your signed copy! I'm going to UT Press to get a few copies at my author discount rate tomorrow, and I would be happy to get you one, and sign it and send it your way. So do please send me your address.
And thank you Doc, Michael, Joy, and all who reiterated their appreciation for the essay. As we all know, we owe it all to Doc's deciding to teach Shakespeare, and to fate putting us in the right place at the right time. Whew! Oh, lucky lucky stars.
Even an apostate can steal from the Bible: My cup runneth over.
Happy future Shakespeare's birthday, Robin's birthday, Bruce's birthday, and Mary's anniversary!
Love, to all, Alice
PS I am happy to send the script out, so just holler if you want it.
On Mar 26, 2013, at 2:07 PM, Jan Notzon wrote:
---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- Subject: Fwd: Alice's treatise From: "Jan Notzon" janotzon@aol.com Date: Tue, March 26, 2013 2:39 pm To: jan@jannotzon.com
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@aol.com To: winedale-l winedale-l@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
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