By Heidi Simmons
The Second Annual Rancho Mirage Writers Festival celebrated the craft of writing and the joy of reading.
With 800 people in attendance and 40 authors, it was an exciting event with multiple programs at three different venues.
Here are some highlights from the Rancho Mirage Library venue:
Fiction authors Mona Simpson, Casebook, and Lorrie Moore, Bark, participated in a conversation with Los Angeles Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Patt Morrison. As is her trademark, Morrison wore a big floppy hat.
Both fiction writers, Simpson and Moore, had very different processes for writing. Simpson works daily, focused and disciplined. Moore, who teaches fulltime at the University of Wisconsin, works when she has the time. She confessed that drinking many cups of coffee helps her writing.
Simpson likes to use an interconnection between the characters in her stories, where as Moore does not like to carry over her characters from book to book.
About the writing process, Moore added, “I think there should be surprises for the author and the reader.”
Nonfiction author Bob Colacello, whose memoir Holy Terror is about his relationship as a young man sucked into Andy Warhol’s world, gave an insightful talk about the late pop artist’s private life.
Colacello worked and traveled with Warhol, meeting and partying with his friends and celebrities. He said although people saw Warhol as a shy character, he was actually very driven and persuasive. Colacello said Warhol wanted to be thought of as a Picasso.
“Andy believed if it wasn’t fast, easy and simple, it wasn’t worth doing,” said Colacello. “He believed if you had to force it, or work too hard on it, it wasn’t for you.”
According to Colacello, Warhol had a religious side and thought pop culture symbolized what we most believe as true and relevant.
Art Historian and author Debra Solomon, who wrote American Mirror: The Life of Norman Rockwell, shared her thoughts about the artist’s life. Talking and showing slides of Rockwell and his paintings, Solomon said that Rockwell had an innate genius in portraying heartland American culture.
Surprisingly, she said that Rockwell could not draw without a model and that he always felt he was cheating because he could not paint from his imagination. Rockwell was married three times. “I believe artists save the best parts of themselves for their work,” said Solomon. “And that is difficult on their wives.”
Solomon suggested that Rockwell might have been homosexual. She said Rockwell was the quintessential painter of American boyhood and there was a parallel between his life and his work. Asked if his homosexuality was important or made a difference, Solomon replied, “Anything that informs us about the artist is indeed something to be considered.”
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer is a story of a family coping with loss as narrated by Matthew who is a schizophrenic. Filer shared that he worked as a nurse in a psychiatric ward and was compelled to write a story through their eyes.
Filer admitted that when he started the novel it was a completely different vision and that as the writing process continued his story changed. “Writing is a very difficult thing to do,” Filer said. “Nothing in the first draft survived.” The book took seven years to write and the publisher found the title in the first chapter. Filer never had a working title.
The audience asked questions about mental illness and the healthcare system.
Debra Tate spoke frankly about her book Sharon Tate: Recollection, a pictorial she put together that celebrates her sister’s beautiful life as a pop icon, model and actress. Debra noticed that the Internet Generation ages 15 to 25 did not know about her sister’s achievements – only her horrific demise.
Tate began by addressing the elephant in the room. “In my book, there is no mention of the two M’s – Manson and murder,” said Tate. “I wanted this book to show the world how special and beautiful my sister was and all that she had accomplished.” Tate had 600 pictures when she delivered the book to the publisher, who promptly demanded she cut it to 230 photos.
Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate’s husband at the time of her murder, wrote the forward. Many celebrities include notes that accompany the amazing photos of Sharon.
Reluctantly, Tate did indeed address the murder and Manson. With a deep breath and a moment of consideration, she decided to tell the audience what she really thought. “Manson is not the monster,” Tate said. “It was the Family who decided to kill my sister.” Sharon Tate was pregnant with Polanski’s baby when she was bound and tortured to death.
Debra Tate continues to be an outspoken Victim’s Rights advocate. This February 16, killer Bobby Beausoleil is up for parole. Tate plans on being there to stop the killer from getting out, but it might not be so simple. She needs help from the public and requested letters be sent to her through her website sharontate.net
Sam Wasson, author of Fosse, gave a dynamic presentation that included film clips from the dancer, writer, director and choreographer. Wasson worked three and half years on the book, interviewing more than 300 people. “Talking about Bob brings him back to me,” Wasson said. “I never met him, but as an author I fell in love with him.”
Wasson wanted to set the record straight about “jazz hands.” He said jazz hands were never a Fosse move. In fact, his move was not high open fluttering hands, but was the opposite with low, open, still hands. He demonstrated the move.
Wasson said that Fosse lived with constant insecurity and self-loathing and that he understood that all of us are in show business because everyday we disguise our fears and self-doubt with an artificial demeanor.
The Rancho Mirage Writers Festival is a delight and a wonderful addition to our valley’s quality cultural programs and events. This affair allows for intimate discussions between readers and writers. Get your tickets now for 2016, because this event sells out quickly and seating is limited.
