Meeting Robert James Waller
Sometime in the early 1990's my wife, Mary and I heard about a get-together that was going to be held at a small hotel in New York City with the author of The Bridges of Madison County Robert James Waller. We were living in the city so it was easy to get to the hotel where the meeting was held. I thought at first it as going to be a book signing, as his 1992 book was a big hit and a movie was made from it. We both loved the book and couldn't wait to meet him. Fortunately, the meeting turned out to be much more than a book signing.
The entrance to the hotel in Manhattan was somewhat underwhelming and the room for the meeting was even more so. With seats for only 30 or 40, it was small, dark and low-ceilinged. You had to call for reservations so I guess they knew that only a few of us were coming, and they were right. It was a cold, blustery night and I guess not too many folks wanted to venture out to meet an unknown author.
As far as I knew, this was his first book and while it was on the NYT bestseller list, some of the critics were rather harsh in their criticism of Waller's writing style. Janet Maslin criticized the "vapidity of the material" in her overall praise of the movie, but the public loved the book and the movie. As the audience started to arrive it seemed to be mad up of residents of Greenwich Village more than highbrows from the Upper East Side. I really didn't know what to expect, but I probably expected more of a chic-flic audience than the Village folk.
Being one of the first there, we sat near the front on metal chairs 8 in a row with an aisle down the middle. A hotel podium was on the left in front of us and a 15' movie screen took up the rest of the front of the room. The rest of the audience were scattered among the remaining 5 or 6 rows behind us. If I was Waller, I would have been disappointed in the turnout, but given the weather and the hotel I guess it was to be expected.
Around 8 pm he wandered in, tall, lanky and quiet. A big man. Raw-boned. Not what I expected at all. He wore a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, a dark shirt and dungarees with orange suspenders and a big cowboy belt buckle. He carried a guitar and a Nikon F-2 camera. He looked the part of the main character in his book, Robert Kincaid. He shook hands, shyly, as he moved to the front of the room.
He began to decribe himself. He described his schooling and life prior to writing "Bridges." Seems he was an academic and not one in the arts or literature fields. He was a financial guy, of all things! But besides that, he was a photographer, and he showed us several of his photography projects. Now, I know a bit about amateur photography and he is good! He then said he did a bit of guitar playing and composing and he played and sang several of his songs and they were great! I bought a CD after the show and still play it regularly. He told us how the CD got produced and it was a fascinating tale of talent and serendipity coming together to make a thing real beauty.
So here we were expecting to hear an author talk about writing his bestselling book and for the first house he just entertained us with his other talents. I don't remember much about his talk about the book itself, but the scene he set with his manner and his clothes and his singing and pictures, left me with a memory that is as clear as yester day. What a wonderful evening...
I've bought every one of his books and was never disappointed.
Ken Wright, January 8, 2018
Being one of the first there, we sat near the front on metal chairs 8 in a row with an aisle down the middle. A hotel podium was on the left in front of us and a 15' movie screen took up the rest of the front of the room. The rest of the audience were scattered among the remaining 5 or 6 rows behind us. If I was Waller, I would have been disappointed in the turnout, but given the weather and the hotel I guess it was to be expected.
Around 8 pm he wandered in, tall, lanky and quiet. A big man. Raw-boned. Not what I expected at all. He wore a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, a dark shirt and dungarees with orange suspenders and a big cowboy belt buckle. He carried a guitar and a Nikon F-2 camera. He looked the part of the main character in his book, Robert Kincaid. He shook hands, shyly, as he moved to the front of the room.
He began to decribe himself. He described his schooling and life prior to writing "Bridges." Seems he was an academic and not one in the arts or literature fields. He was a financial guy, of all things! But besides that, he was a photographer, and he showed us several of his photography projects. Now, I know a bit about amateur photography and he is good! He then said he did a bit of guitar playing and composing and he played and sang several of his songs and they were great! I bought a CD after the show and still play it regularly. He told us how the CD got produced and it was a fascinating tale of talent and serendipity coming together to make a thing real beauty.
So here we were expecting to hear an author talk about writing his bestselling book and for the first house he just entertained us with his other talents. I don't remember much about his talk about the book itself, but the scene he set with his manner and his clothes and his singing and pictures, left me with a memory that is as clear as yester day. What a wonderful evening...
I've bought every one of his books and was never disappointed.
Ken Wright, January 8, 2018
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