Anne Lamott

 "Would you like a mask?" Anne Lamott asked me. I already had one, but star-struck, I gushed, "Oh, yes, thank you!" She was greeting folks at the historic Englert Theater as the audience shuffled in, bristling with the 40 degree drop in temperature during the day. I'm still in awe that Iowa City scored an evening with Anne Lamott...maybe the strong writing programs? My book club women were either sick or out of town, and it was raining. But I drove myself anyway, in the old car, with the bad windshield wipers. The deer lose their minds in rutting season so Mister didn't want me to drive the good car. Anne's honest, clear-eyed writing cuts through religious trappings and refreshes Christianity for me. Plus, she's hilarious. Anne Stuckey introduced her to me in the 90s, quoting her line: "that would make Jesus want to drink gin from the cat dish." Lamott strayed delightfully from the interviewer's questions. She said sometimes we need a story more than we need food. Anne's Bird by Bird on how to write gave me helpful ideas and I recommend it. It's a writers' manual but it's also entertaining and fun! She also gave nods to her family's work; her husband Neal Allen's book Shapes of Truth: Discover God Inside You is one I want to read. And her son, Sam Lamott, has a podcast series called Hello Humans, where folks are interviewed about being human. It looks great. And finally, being election week, someone asked how one survives on a blue island in a red state. Anne said, never give up and do acts of service. She talked about how she doesn't hate DJT anymore, because she has identified narcissism in herself and understands he is the result of not being loved. I may need to read more about his family story. She ended with a great quote from Martin Luther King, "Don't let them get you to hate them." Words to live by as we move into another cycle of elected officials taking office.