Workshop wonders...

This will be a fairly short post this week, as I'm in the midst of our fall workshop in Haverford, PA. I arrived a day early, and sometime in the first half of the Steeler game Sunday I made my way to Kelly's Pub up on Lancaster to grab a bite and watch the game. As it turned out, a gang of Steeler fans were there, celebrating someone's birthday, and I unwittingly became part of the party, even signing the birthday boy's t-shirt.

It's only my second time in Haverford, but it always reminds me of the Richard Powell book, The Philadelphian. It was a bestseller in its day and was made into the film The Young Philadelphians with Paul Newman, Grace Kelly, Robert Vaughn, and Brian Keith. It's another novel I first read in Reader's Digest Condensed Books, and then later read the unedited version. I finally have my own copy, battered from years of avid reading.

One of the things Lisa Cron talked about this morning was the importance of specificity - not being ambiguous. Powell's book takes you into the heart of what it was to live in Philadelphia at a certain time and place, and the hidden tensions of a society that came to be known as Main Line Philadelphia. I highly recommend it if you haven't read it. There's a great courtroom scene in both the film and the book that you'll enjoy.

Take care,

Doc