Chapter Two: Age Before Beauty
Last evening, something quite unexpected happened at the Cipriani ballroom at the awards ceremony honoring the finalists and winners of the 2027 National Book Awards. The ceremony was predictably unconventional in that it was hosted by the legendary comedian, writer and banjo player Steve Martin. Following dinner, Martin appeared on stage with his signature arrow through his head, and was accompanied by his bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers, on his song, “Daddy Played the Banjo.”
Martin, who turned 81 this past August, had the same crazy squint, and, from where I sat in the rear of the auditorium, appeared younger than his years. Since the comedian’s continued to maintain a schedule of appearances on stage, and has been a regular on Saturday Night Live for decades, his act was familiar to all of the nearly 800 guests in attendance who enjoyed his “shtick”, applauded his banjo playing, and were prepared to laugh at every pause, even when Martin grew serious.
He told the crowd that there was a theme for the evening, if perhaps only one he invented for his speech, but an appropriate metaphor nevertheless, considering his age and the connections between himself, William Wharton, the posthumous recipient of the National Book Award Lifetime Achievement Award, and one of the 25 nominees competing for an award this evening.
Martin spoke briefly about Wharton’s career as an artist and his late start as a writer at the age of 53 and the publication of his book Birdy, and how Wharton wrote a total of 18 books before his death in 2008. In a jocular manner, Martin spoke of his own career path leading up to his first book, the novella Shopgirl, which he penned at the age of 54. He then referred to one of the nominees in the audience, Ted Arundson, who began writing novels at the age of 72, and how he self-published seven books before finding an agent for his most recent novel, Predictions, published earlier this year.
He then called to the podium Drew Saunders, an art dealer who met Wharton in France in the 1980s, but who failed to convince him to sell his paintings in the United States because as a writer the artist had made enough money from his books, and the films based on them, that he didn’t need to expand the market for his paintings. Saunders then met Arundson in the early 2000s, and saw similarities in the two artists/writers who lived a generation apart, but who grew up within a half mile of each other, and even graduated from the same high school. Saunders then presented Wharton’s lifetime achievement medal to Matt and Camille, two of the author’s surviving children.
From that point on, the ceremony focused on the five sets of nominees who were introduced by the chair of each panel: Young People’s Literature, Translated Literature, Poetry, Nonfiction and Fiction. The panel chair for Fiction, Jennifer Harad, told of her team’s difficulty in selecting a winner when the writing styles of the nominees were so radically different that each book was deemed worthy to win on its own special merits.
Before announcing the winning Fiction author, Harad paused thoughtfully and spoke off-script.
“I never met the recipient of this year’s award. If his name and resumé would have appeared on my work desk along with his novel, I would most likely have placed the book in the pile on the floor for removal without ever having looked further than the title page. The person had no credentials, little education, and a list of self-published books written prior to the one submitted by Penguin for National Book Award’s consideration. The copy of the book I received was well used, and had post-it notes on it from previous readers who had highly recommended it, so despite my hesitation, I began to read it.
“It took me a few chapters for it to draw me in, and a few more before I couldn’t put the novel down. At the finish, I wondered how the author had been so overlooked and under-appreciated. The answer was easy. Nobody of any influence or notoriety had read it until, by nothing other than luck, the book got into the hands of an agent who took the time to start it, and then read it through, and a publisher who valued the agent’s opinion enough to take the chance and bring it to market.”
Harad then spoke of wisdom, as opposed to fashion, and how many voices are lost to prejudice. “In my own estimation, from the resumé I received, I would never have read the novel.”
Besides the agent and the publisher, Harad gave kudos to those at the publishing house who had the courage to submit the book for consideration by the National Book Award review board.
Harad then announced Ted Arundson’s name and called him up to the podium to accept his award. The crowd applauded, but most had no knowledge of the author or his book. Harad asked the audience to cease its applause, and then began to speak to Ted directly:
“Over the past several years, we’ve given top prizes to authors of many ancestries, races, and beliefs. We’ve even created categories to honor special literary accomplishments. And our endeavor has always been to judge works by authors on their merit alone...without prejudice.
“It appears from what I now know, Ted, that your abilities and talents have been overlooked largely by a discrimination of age. It’s not that we don’t admire unknown writers, but we are often guided by a belief that if someone hasn’t accomplished a goal before a certain time, that the person, or author, in this case, is not worth our time.”
She closed with, “Ted, your book is magnificent, and I want to thank my agent, Emily Forland, for championing it, and Penguin Books for publishing it.”
As of yet, I have not had the privilege of reading Predictions. Since I only learned of its existence last night, I tried to purchase it when I arrived home from the event, and was only able to download a Kindle version. The softcover version is out of stock and it may take some time for the stock to be replenished.
First editions of the paperback version of Predictions are selling on eBay for $75- $250 each. The Singular Mind, Version 1.0 (without revisions) is for sale, as is, for $450.
In researching Ted and his career, I discovered that he personally designed, typeset and produced images for all of the visuals for all the books he’s written. His editor, Fred Roesler, not a professional but a friend who has done a masterful job, took on Ted’s books as a challenge after retiring from a career with the U.S. Treasury Department. I also learned a few moments ago that Penguin Books is arranging to purchase the rights to all of Ted’s books. In the meantime, current editions of his 11 previous novels, shorts stories and his memoir are available from Outlander Press.
-----------------
Predictions
All Rights Reserved
Comments
Post a Comment