From Gene L

John, I have two poems coming out, one just published this spring; I've purchased five hundred copies of the journal with the plan of selling them at the door of our next reunion and will do the same for the second poem when it gets to print. I have a smaller number of dissertation copies also available at the door of whatever place the class has its dinner. And I can print up copies of a talk I gave in Massachusetts this past January. Obviously, I'll discount the price to members of the Class of '63, although if people want my autograph, well...that will cost them something, including the time spent figuring out what my autograph is worth. My wife cautions that charging for it could get us into debt. What possibly could she be getting at? Go figure. Surely, I tell her, that signing with my right hand is worth something, that hand being the very one that shook the hand of Jerry Coleman, who you will remember played second base for the Yankees in the '56 World Series.
Here's the truth: in my dotage I'm getting much more interested in class issues and I've stumbled onto a book of narrative non-fiction called "Limbo" about blue-collar kids moving into the professional class. So much of it feels right, as if it is my story, one that accounts for my dis-ease and cynicism, and I'm wondering if I was the only blue-collar person in our general arena of acquaintances at Aragon or if there are others out there interested in commenting on class issues as they experienced those issues in their youth. Do white collar folks take their background for granted--the easy assuming of an acceptance of themselves (a not-having-to-change their basic sense of self) in American culture? How does one view the world if one's assumptions are based on the necessity of changing oneself...or on not having to do so?
Hmmmm...then again, maybe I just need a nap.
Best, Gene