Kate Lord Brown, over at What Kate Did Next, posted the above YouTube video. I’m hoping she won’t mind me stealing it from her blog. What Katy Did and What Katy Did Next by Susan Coolidge were among my most-loved books when I was a kid, which is what first drew me to Kate’s blog. If you are an aspiring writer, it has wonderful tips, hints, and links, and is extremely well-written, which is what has kept me going back there.
According to urban legend, the late, oh-so-great Kurt Vonnegut gave Wear Sunscreen as a commencement speech at MIT in 1997. In fact, it was written by a female columnist with the Chicago Tribune, Mary Schmich, where it was published that same year. (I know this because commencement speeches — or, as they are known here in Canada, convocation speeches — are part of my stock-in-trade.)
Kurt Vonnegut was one of the great American writers. If you haven’t read Slaughterhouse-Five, you haven’t lived, IMHO. It’s as good as — some would say better than — that other great anti-war classic, Catch-22.
Anyhoo, that’s all beside the point. Which is, if you’re one of those people who has a hard job coming up with serious resolutions for each new year, this Sunscreen, the musical single released in 1999 and credited to Baz Luhrman, may provide inspiration.
I loved those books too, Tess and thanks for the link to Kate, I’ll be reading her.
XO
WWW
I should have known you did, my kindred spirit! You won’t regret reading Kate, I promise.
Love Kate’s blog.
And I’d never even heard of the books until reading this post, so thanks for expanding my horizons. Although I’m just a tad disappointed that Kate may not have come up with that blog all on her own!
Both Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse-Five very close to my heart. When I was teaching, I once played for my class a recording of Vonnegut reading from his book. The way his voice sounded when he said “…but it wasn’t a melodious owl — it was a FLYING SAUCER from TralFAMadore” is permanently etched in my brain.
It was through Kate’s blog that I found yours, in this global village of blogging we inhabit — that would have blown Marshall McLuhan’s mind, had he lived long enough. The Katy books were very much girl’s books, along the lines of Little Women and its ilk. Highly moralistic to our modern sensibilities, but I can still remember how I longed to become a pale and interesting invalid, like Katy, and blow the doors off everybody with my selflessness and saintly demeanour. Ah, innocence and egotism, thy name is childhood …
P.S. Er, “with that blog all on her own” = “with that blog NAME all on her own.”
Nobody who has read her would doubt that Kate is the “onlie begetter” of her blog, so I guess I knew what you meant and never noticed the slip.
That video has a great message.
Doesn’t it just?
Tessa – thank you. ‘What Kate Did Next’ was a deliberate choice (though I loved the ‘Katy’ books and in fact am still called Katy or Katie by all my family – or Katharine when I am very naughty, Kate is where I’m at. In fact my brother memorably flushed (or attempted to flush) my copy of What Katy Did Next down the loo – karma? Talk about jigsaw pieces falling into place – I never quite understood why I was hearing such simple, philosophical truths through the gym’s speakers – was it really ‘99? I could have sworn I heard it in ‘97 in the uk? Either way, I am somewhat relieved that my heart was touched by Mary rather than Kurt or Baz. Best to all for ‘09 x
Hi Kate. I thought your choice would be deliberate. As you can see from WWW’s comment, the Katy books were very popular in Britain and Ireland — perhaps more so than on this side of the pond? I had my own little sibling drama around it, too. My older sister, who did not read and hated me just for being born, used to wait around and watch until I reached the last few pages of whatever book I was buried in. Then she would grab it from me and hurl it into the kitchen range, adding a good rummage with the poker to make sure I could not fish it out again. For a fairly stupid little girl in other ways, she was fiendishly clever at devising ways to torment me. To this day, I have to resist reading the last three pages of any book.
You may very well be right on the date — I got 1999 from Wikipedia, and we know how reliable that can be …
Well, Tessa, there you go again, leading me to more great blog sites…I will be cruising Katy’s blog for sure…and relieved to read that the Katy books were more indigenous to you Irish than a Canuck like moi…now I have to add more children’s literature to my 2009 reading list…I will also be tailing you on the books of your choice for this year as well…
I guarantee you will love Kate’s blog, and some of her links will be especially interesting to you, since you’re so far ahead (by comparison with the rest of us, ahem) with your novel.
As to trailing me on the reading list, you should start with my second-last read of 2008 then: The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry was a marvellous read, so beautifully written and with a strange little mystery at its heart. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
I said tailing, not trailing…I might even zoom ahead…already checked out your reading list, dont ya know!!!
Eager to read the The Secret Scripture…
Tail. Trail. Same diff, no? You will love The Secret Scripture … and I’ll be happy to interpret some of the topical references, which were one of the facets of the book that I loved most.
Speaking of Sebastian, did you ever see his play The Steward of Christendom? Amazing.
I had ordered the Scripture as the premise was so interesting. Gawd, my books are piling up, you should see, but I imagine your unreads are a leaning tower of Pisa like mine……
XO
WWW
I’d never heard of Sebastian until I saw Secret Scriptures in the long list for the Man Booker Prize. Now, of course, I want to buy everything he’s ever written. I live in terror that the tower of books by the bed will fall over and crush me in my sleep one night. Not that there aren’t worse ways to die …
Great video Tess (or Kate, or Baz or..whoever). I seen it along time ago and completely forgot about it, so thanks for jogging the aul’ memory. I have no idea what the ‘Katy’ books are though… should I have said that… probably not.
Just as well you don’t know the Katy books. I guarantee you’d have been beaten to a pulp in the playground if you’d been reading those books when you were a chiseller! They were junior chick lit.
I loved those books too! In fact they had a special meaning for me because I grew up in a small town in New England and went to the school that What Katy Did at School (hope you didn’t miss that one) was loosely based on.
I had seen the sunscreen video before. Very clever and very smart. I can still use this advice.
I have no memory of What Katy Did at School, so I’m thinking I did miss that one. I’m glad to know that you loved those books. I was beginning to think poor old Susan Coolidge’s audience was primarily abroad. There were so many wonderful books for girls when I was growing up. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was another import from the States; almost as well-loved as the March girls. And, of course, there were the Canadian imports, Anne of Green Gables and the Bobbsey Twins. And wonderful English books, too – by Angela Brazil, Elsie J. Oxenham, Elinor Brent-Dyer. I loved them all. And I had the good fortune to live next door to a houseful of readers — two brothers and a sister, several years older than me — and to be given free rein of their attic, where all these treasures were stored.
I think i’ve heard this before (altho not soon enough apparently) and it’s all great advice…just wish i HAD heard it sooner LOL. Thanks for sharing!
Me too. But it’s never too late …
I will definitely be coming to you for assistance in understanding “topical references”…I am thinking that there must be an encyclopedic chit implanted in your brain, which just keeps sucking old and new information out of the universe…