From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #914 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Wednesday, December 4 2002 Volume 01 : Number 914 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 18:49:43 -0800 From: "Aitken, Neil" Subject: RE: [AML] Gratitude A great memoir on both physical and mental disability is "The Seeing Glass" by Jacquelin Gorman. It's a wonderful memoir -- one of the best that I've read. It's not quite the parent-child scenario of your situation, but it does address the themes of understanding, loving, and struggling with a family member who is suffering from a mental disability. Here's the blurb from Amazon -- << Born into high society on the eastern shore of Maryland, Jacquelin Gorman's family was said to "have everything." But scratch away the paint from this 1960s family portrait and you'll find the oldest son Robin, who was sent away to a mental institution because of his autism when he was 12. In 1991 Gorman mysteriously went blind for 10 months. This heartrending memoir simultaneously defines and inspires resiliency. Rather than succumbing to terror, Gorman allowed her blindness to help her recall the love and memories of her brother that she had dutifully erased so many years before. >> Good reading, Neil Aitken - -----Original Message----- From: Lisa Olsen Tait Someday, perhaps, the thought that Kayley is here on some special pre-ordained mission will be a comfort to me. But first we have to get through puberty, and junior high, and all the milestones that will eventually come--and those that won't. And we have to grieve for that. For now, I've decided that having faith about this situation means that I don't have to put a value judgement on Kayley's disability or on anyone else's. If these things really are according to the Lord's plan, then who am I to rank them? And if they're not? If they're just some accident of mortality? Then I really have to be humble about it. The literary tie-in is that someday I am going to write a memoir about this experience. But first I have to have a little more experience to memoir-ize. Besides "Expecting Adam" can anyone offer any good models? Happy Thanksgiving, all. Lisa Tait - ---------------------------- - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 20:02:50 -0800 From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Gratitude Lisa Tate asked: "Besides "Expecting Adam" can anyone offer any good models?" It's not a memoir, but the novel JEWEL by Brett Lott is a beautiful story of a family dealing with a mentally disabled daughter. It traces their live from her birth up to her later adult years. I highly recommend it. Kim Madsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 19:17:56 -0800 From: Jeff Needle Subject: Re: [AML] New DB Policy This is, of course, a VERY Utah-centered view. The rest of us have to depend on the independent reseller who manages to stay in business. They don't have a good track record here in San Diego. We have Ensign Books here now. The few times I've been there, I was the only customer. How long can they survive? Outside of Utah, Deseret Book is indeed pretty much the *only* outlet for LDS-oriented literature. >* First, Deseret Book, as pointed out, is one of only a very few outlets >for LDS-oriented literature. - ---------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 22:35:55 -0500 From: Richard Johnson Subject: RE: [AML] The Avenging Angel At 11:57 AM 11/28/02 -0700, you wrote: > >You realize, of course, that this is far from a closed issue, as you >seem to imply. If one chose to tell a story wherein the Danites were >the devine hitmen of BY, there is sufficient historial data to justify >it. To prove it, not quite, but the basis for such speculation is >hardly as nebulous as you indicate. > >Thom Duncan > Actually Luman Andros Shurtliff, my maternal grandfather's grandfather writes in his journal a rather detailed story of his career as a Danite, and how the Danites eventually became the Nauvoo Legion, and how frustrating it was that they never really accomplished anything except drilling and using what eventually became temple dialogue as "passwords and signs". Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 20:55:37 -0700 From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] New DB Policy At 05:28 PM 11/27/02 -0800, you wrote: >I think we, as authors, ought to possibly not identify ourselves as Mormon, > >or LDS, and just let our beliefs and religious affiliation show in our work. I picked up a western at the library book sale and was glancing through it when I saw one character say, "Wickedness never was happiness." I e-mailed the author, and she said that yes, she is LDS. I thought that was kind of cool. There was no Mormonism in the book, but ideas like that one certainly showed up. The whole story is about the redemption of an outlaw. barbara hume - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 21:18:07 -0700 (MST) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: RE: [AML] The Avenging Angel > You realize, of course, that this is far from a closed issue, as you > seem to imply. If one chose to tell a story wherein the Danites were > the devine hitmen of BY, there is sufficient historial data to justify > it. To prove it, not quite, but the basis for such speculation is > hardly as nebulous as you indicate. > > Thom Duncan I don't buy it - nearly all the "evidence" comes from the sensationalistic eastern press and anti-mormons of the time - hardly unbiased sources. I have yet to see anyone give anything other than that for evidence. I don't see it - and most repuatable historians (non-mormons included) say that evidence for the Danites in the Utah era is scant and unreliable. However, if you are aware of a good historical source that would disagree with the conclusions I've drawn, by all means, direct me towards it. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 21:29:14 -0700 From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: Re: [AML] Gratitude The notion that I am fortunate, because someone else is even more unfortunate is one I've had to deal with. When I got out of the hospital people were telling my mother she should feel lucky, pointing to people whose children had been killed. One day my mother said, quoting a wise dictum, "I felt sad that I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet. I felt sad I had no feet until I saw a man who had no inches." I guess you had to be there. Paris Anderson - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 21:54:05 -0800 From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Sheri Dew on New DB Policy D. Michael Martindale asked: "Perhaps my book _Brother Brigham_ would be carried by Deseret Book after all, since it definitely exposes and identifies the evil in it. Those of you who have read my book--do you think DB would carry it?" If DB were true to their claim as presented by Sheri Dew, the answer would be yes--but they would ask you to sanitize several of the sexual encounters and then were would the power be? (Not that I found the sex scenes in Br'er Martindale's book offensive [excepting one small part, which I've previously commented to him on], but there you go...) I think DB is going to have a hard time carrying any book that "shows" the evil as opposed to "telling" about it as the scriptures do. Yet we all know that showing in writing is much more powerful than telling. Still, Michael, I think you ought to go for it...(heheh, throwing down the gauntlet...) Kim Madsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 21:21:37 -0700 (MST) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: RE: [AML] The Avenging Angel > In order to interpret Avenging Angel as anti-Mormon, you have to > make certain assumptions and judgments about the intent of the creator. > It's a result of self-fulfilling assumptions, in my opinion. > > Jacob Proffitt Well, as I said - had I seen it at a different time in different clothes, I might have had a wildly different point of view on the movie. And yes, my investigators likely had something deeper going on, but that's easy to see eight years later - when you're a twenty year old missionary under pressure from a numbers worshipping mission pres to baptize, you don't see things with that kind of remove. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 23:23:52 -0700 From: katie@aros.net Subject: Re: [AML]Sheri Dew on New DB Policy All right, guys. I asked permission to post Sister Dew's remarks, so I feel somewhat responsible for the negative comments that have gone out regarding them. Perhaps I should have left her out of it. What she said made a lot of sense to me, and I hoped they would to some of the rest of y'all as well. Obviously it's not that easy. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, and opinions are difficult to change. I don't see an inconsistency with her statements that "This was an economic/business/product decision and not a moral one" and "Believe me, we absolutely could have sold many copies of this book and thus have foregone revenue by the approach we have taken...." because of what else she says: "It is, however, our responsibility to try and fill our shelves with product that our customers want, will appreciate, and will come back for." That's the key. What I feel that she's saying here (my interpretation) is that they could have sold tons of copies of _The Last Promise_; Evans has a great reputation for warm, fuzzy, moral stories. Yes, DB would have made lots of money off of it. BUT how many of these customers will then be bothered by the content of the book once they actually read it? What other books would DB be obligated to carry if they let the Evans book slip through? And how many customers will no longer trust Deseret Book as a place to buy "safe" material? Ultimately this could have a greater impact on their sales. Yes, the Danielle Steele books may be a contradiction here. On the other hand, fans of hers know what to expect. Fans of Richard Paul Evans, without prior warning, will be caught unaware. But I say blame Evans for this one. Granted, he's entitled to write what he wants. But I hope it doesn't alienate the audience he's built, if that matters to him. For those of you bothered by the concept that DB should carry only books that meet certain standards, you're welcome to shop elsewhere. It's not DB's fault that the market for such a selection exists; they're merely catering to it. These people expect DB to take a moral stand. It's a business. If they start having financial problems, maybe they should rethink how they do things. But if they're doing well, they must be doing something right. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. They're filling some need that exists. Maybe it's not your need. But you don't have to shop there. You're welcome to open up a store that fills your needs and those of some of the other folks around. Maybe it will even be profitable. But DB is filling the needs of people who, for whatever reason, want to read books that won't conflict with their values. That doesn't mean that they're stupid, or that DB thinks that they're stupid or that they're trying to take away anyone's free agency. Some people just feel differently about their reading material than other people do. - --Katie Parker - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 22:36:41 -0800 From: Robert Slaven Subject: Re: [AML] Gratitude From: "Lisa Olsen Tait" Lisa, I'm going to ramble for a while here, and I hope that in the babble some useful nuggets of thought will stick out of the mud. > We have three sons and a daughter, Kayley. Kayley just turned 11 last week. > She is a beautiful strawberry blonde who lights up every room she enters. > She is a delight in every way. And she is mentally retarded. She functions > on about a 6 year-old level. She makes progress, but it is excruciatingly > slow. She can read a little, and she's getting better, but numbers are still > pretty much a mystery to her. She is very talkative, but she has a hard time > putting some kinds of sentences together, especially questions. Background: In my second marriage, we have four daughters. Mariann is 9, Kristina (Tina) is 7, Elizabeth (Beth) is 5, and Robin is 4. And Tina is autistic. (Very high-functioning -- "Asperger's Syndrome" -- but still autistic.) > > No one has ever been able to tell us why Kayley is the way Kayley is. > Well-meaning people say all kinds of things. "She looks so normal. You would > never guess there was anything wrong." Or, "Heavenly Father must have a very > special mission for her, or for you, etc." We've been emailed the stories > about awe-inspiring patriarchal blessings revealing all kinds of details > about the pre-mortal existences of various handicapped people. I know these > are meant to be a comfort to us. That kind of stuff, to be frank, drives me a little nuts. It's understandable, but I find it frustrating. > > Kayley is the most "normal" child in her class. She has been with children > whose disabilities are severe and unmistakable ever since she was three > years old. I have found myself, at times, playing the same game you > mentioned: Well, at least Kayley doesn't look like Garett. At least she > isn't in a wheelchair like Nicole. At least she is sociable, unlike her > autistic cousin. And we do the same thing. It's natural, it's normal, it's human. But... > > Ironically, though, there have been times when I have looked at it another > way. If Kayley were recognizably disabled, people would understand better > why her conversation is not so fluent. They would know better what to expect > from her. They would not say things to me like, "Oh, there's nothing wrong > with her. She'll grow out of it." People who don't know Tina just see a bouncy, *very* intelligent, cute little blondie with an impish smile. And when they hear the word 'autism', they start thinking 'Rain Man' and 'institutionalised' and 'never live independently' and so on. > > Finally, I, too, came to the realization that I did not want my feelings of > well-being, or gratitude, to come at someone else's expense. One of two > things happens when we compare ourselves to others: we come away feeling > superior (proud) or we come away feeling depressed (wounded pride). Either > way, it's a useless endeavor. Yup. And I'll expand on this later. > > Someday, perhaps, the thought that Kayley is here on some special > pre-ordained mission will be a comfort to me. But first we have to get > through puberty, and junior high, and all the milestones that will > eventually come--and those that won't. And we have to grieve for that. For > now, I've decided that having faith about this situation means that I don't > have to put a value judgement on Kayley's disability or on anyone else's. If > these things really are according to the Lord's plan, then who am I to rank > them? And if they're not? If they're just some accident of mortality? Then > I really have to be humble about it. Let me go through my kids again. Tina is very bright, and often quite a joy to be with. She can also be rude, physically abusive, verbally abusive (lately, Daddy is more often 'Poo-poo head'), and withdrawn. She will only display these behaviours when she's around people she's comfortable with. The paradoxical result is that those who already know about her get to see all the behaviours, but people who don't know about her don't see the behaviours; they just see her 'nervous smile'. "Ohhh, she's so cute. Look, she's smiling! Surely nothing's bothering her now!" "Uhhh, actually, that's her 'nervous smile', and she's just bottling it up because she doesn't know you well enough. When we get home, Pandora's box will open." But you know what? Nine-year-old Mariann has some symptoms of ADD. She's bright, too, but she's a flibbertygibbet, and can't focus on anything to save her life. Beth was 1 month premature, may have a mild brain disorder called Dandy-Walker Syndrome, and is obviously behind her siblings in intelligence (although certainly not 'retarded'). And Robin seems to be seeing how long she can stretch out the terrible twos, even though her fifth birthday is 3 months away. And you know what? Some days, the question "Why did God send her to us?" comes up for *any* or *all* four little darlings. "How on earth did He think we could handle this?" "How are we supposed to be good parents for her?" "How can we ignore the ignorant thing that so-and-so just said about her?" But also, the questions "How were we so lucky to get her in our family?", "What else are we going to learn from this amazing strong spirit?", and "What made God think we were worthy enough to have the amazing responsibility to raise these spirits?" come up every day, for *all* four daughters. What's 'normal'? Who cares? All children are different. All children have strengths. All children have weaknesses. All children have potentials that can be actualized. Sometimes, the weaknesses have labels: Autism. Down's Syndrome. Dandy-Walker Syndrome. ADD/ADHD. Sometimes, they don't. And sometimes, the 'weaknesses' can be strengths. Autistic people often make *excellent* IT/computer workers, for example. I might have been diagnosed as autistic if we'd known in 1970 what we know now about autism spectrum disorders. And I have some 'weaknesses': poor social skills, a warped and cynical and dark sense of humour, difficulties understanding the Spirit, for example. But I have some great strengths that have come out, as well. (Any Jeopardy fans out there? %-) I wish we could get out of the natural (aside: is this part of the 'natural man' we have to overcome?) tendency to define 'normal' as 'most of us', and to then label everyone who's sufficiently 'different', in order to save ourselves the mental and emotional and spiritual energy necessary to see the 'different' ones as spirit children of God, too. Christ sees us all as the same, and yet all as different, too. We need to learn that kind of divine doublethink ourselves, difficult though it may be, if we want to avoid an eternity in ignorant telestial bliss. > > The literary tie-in is that someday I am going to write a memoir about this > experience. But first I have to have a little more experience to memoir-ize. > Besides "Expecting Adam" can anyone offer any good models? Autism <> mental retardation (although there is significant overlap), but there are some good autism-related memoirs, either from parents or from autistic people themselves. Anything by Temple Grandin (an autistic woman who is also a world-renowned researcher into animal behaviour), Donna Williams' duology (or biology? %-) "Nobody Nowhere" and "Somebody Somewhere", Clara Claiborne Park's "Exiting Nirvana", Jacquelin Gorman's "The Seeing Glass", "Sara's Story" by Sandra O. Johnson & Max Desorgher, Glenn Vatter's "Billy", Liane Holliday Willey's "Pretending to be Normal" and "Asperger Syndrome in the Family: Redefining Normal" are all available as examples. They are of varying literary quality (at least the ones I've read; I haven't read all of these), but they can give you some ideas of how to write about stuff like this (or how not to). If your local library doesn't have them, check for a local autism society in your area and ask if you can borrow some of their books. I might write something like this myself, perhaps along the lines of Willey's stuff (she has a child diagnosed as Asperger's, and has decided that she is, too, without a formal diagnosis -- very analogous to my situation). But while hers is (to me) a relatively tedious chronology, I'd want to dig deeper into the emotions behind my life and Tina's life and our family's life/lives. And since that would be roughly equivalent (emotionally, for me) to performing a self-appendectomy with limited anaesthetic, it ain't gonna happen any time soon. But someday.... Until then, I'll keep writing dark twisted near-future SF stories. Robert ********************************************************************** Robert & Linn-Marie Slaven www.robertslaven.ca ...with Stuart, Rebecca, Mariann, Kristina, Elizabeth, and Robin too 'Man is that he might have joy--not guilt trips.' (Russell M. Nelson) - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 02:02:13 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: [AML] Proactive Film Viewing (was: New DB Policy) RichardDutcher@aol.com wrote: > We see what we're looking for, I guess. Some see only boobs in "Titanic." > Others see Christ. An article in the BYU newspaper Universe (altogether too many years ago) was talking about bad elements in film, and invoked _Road Warrior_ as an example. (For you culturally benighted souls who don't know what _Road Warrior_ is, it's the sequel to _Mad Max_). The author used _Road Warrior_ because it's loaded with violence--gratuitous violence, by the author's judgment. (There was also a boob or two, but that seemed to have escaped the author's attention.) I was irritated by this characterization of that movie. When I saw it, I was bowled over by the power of it, inspired by the struggle of the protagonists to survive against all odds, to take their fate into their own hands and put everything on the line to accomplish a dream. I was amazed how the film showed the hero no mercy, beating him down with one failure after another--yet he struggled on, never giving up. The film was rough, gritty, merciless--yet at the same time compassionate, inspiring, hopeful. And the gratuitous violence? There was none. Not a lick of it. Every drop of violence was absolutely necessary to the story. Without it, the struggle of the protagonists would have been cheapened. It was the cruelty of the film that gave power to its compassion, inspiration, and hope. Where the article's author saw an evil film, I saw an uplifting one. This experience is what first caused me to notice the principle Richard is talking about. I realized all those years ago that I had control over how a film affected me. Even if the intent of the creator was to make something gratuitous, I didn't have to play along. I have the power to find good where there may appear to be none, simply by choosing to do so. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 02:21:22 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] New DB Policy Jonathan Langford wrote: > > But the impulse to share my own (not terribly original, nor > terribly informed) opinion has grown too strong to ignore once again... > Frankly--although I guess it's a moot question now--I'd be very close to > supporting a resolution by AML expressing concern about DB's new policy, as > much because I think it will promote simplistic interpretation of > literature as for any other reason. Even if the specific interpretations > aren't simplistic, they inherently reinforce the notion that there is one > particular, specific meaning to be taken out of a literary work, which > resides in the work itself and which can be dug out by proper > interpretation. That in itself is a simplistic view of literature, and, I > venture to claim, a dangerous one. I think your post is a masterful summary of the issues involved, expressed clearly and convincingly, very informed, and even original in spots. As for a resolution expressing AML's official concern, I can't help but wonder if this post has already accomplished that--if Sheri Dew really is listening in on this conversation. As an AML board member, I could support everything you wrote as the opinion of AML. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 03:11:19 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] New DB Policy How to neatly solve this whole dilemma: Deseret Book publicly declares that it should not be considered an official arm of the Church. It is a business, no more no less, and its policies do not in any way indicate official church policy. No one should construe any moral imperative or church representation in Deseret Book's business decisions. Once this declaration is made and widely noised, then Deseret Book can go ahead and make any policy it wants without a complaint from me. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 12:06:51 -0700 (MST) From: err22@email.byu.edu Subject: Re: [AML] Titanic >At 02:52 PM 11/27/02 -0500, you wrote:=20 >>. How can you be offended by a movie you=20 >>haven't seen? Have the opinions of others closed your mind? I would=20 >>be=20 >>interested to know why "Titanic" is so offensive.=20 >=20 >I'm not the one you asked the question, but I'd like to tell you why=20 >I did not see Titanic. My feeling is that if I were to die horribly,=20 >I would not like for thousands of people to entertain themselves by=20 >watching a re-enactment of it while swilling buttered popcorn and=20 >Diet Coke. Hundreds of real people lost their lives. How can that be=20 >enjoyable to watch? I've not become desensitized to movie violence.=20 >It's bad enough when I know they are really actors and after you=20 >say, "Cut! That's a wrap!" or whatever movie jargon you use, the=20 >chick with the bloody head gets up and goes off to wash her hair.=20 >=20 >barbara hume =20 I don=E2=80=99t quite understand this argument. It seems to suggest th= at art=20 should not seek to depict a solemn thing such as a gruesome death and=20 entertain at the same time. I must confess that I have sat back with popcor= n=20 and watched The Lamb of God. And I=E2=80=99m sure at one point they had to = say "cut"=20 and the actor portraying Jesus had to take a shower and put on some clothes= . Entertainment is pretty subjective. I think that learning and growing = is entertaining =E2=80=93 even if that process is somewhat disturbing. You can= watch Saving Private Ryan and be malevolently entertained by the killing or rouse= d by the questions concerning the human condition that it raises and touched by = the messages it sends. The same goes for the seminary video depicting Captain= =20 Moroni and the war against the Lamanites, The Lamb of God, and as Richard= =20 Dutcher pointed out, even for Titanic. Again it falls to perspective. You s= ee=20 what you want to see. Eric Russell - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 09:40:09 -0700 From: margaret young Subject: [AML] Thanksgiving [MOD: (blush) I only wish I did a better job. Sorry, by the way, that there's a current backlog... I'm working on a system that will help spread the work around, but I need time to put the system in place... Maybe over Christmas.] Jonathan, POST THIS. I was talking to Bruce about how many AML posts come in every day, and he was amazed. (He's on a list that sends about 10 a day.) He said our moderator must be a remarkable person, and I agreed. So, even though it's a bit late, THANK YOU to Jonathan Langford for his excellent work and all the time he devotes to this list. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 09:44:42 -0700 From: margaret young Subject: [AML] Samuel Eliason Many of you know list member Eric Eliason. Some of you might not be aware that his son, born in September, is having very serious, even life-threatening, future-threatening health difficulties. Eric has requested prayers for his family and for his son, Samuel. As long as I'm reporting on health issues, I'll also let you know that Darius Gray's health continues to be bad--though you would never know it if you were to hear him speak. He manages to mask it well. Please include all these good folks in your prayers. Margaret Young - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2002 11:16:34 -0800 (PST) From: r talley Subject: Re: [AML] Snide Remarks on DB Controversy - --- "D. Michael Martindale" wrote: > "Eric D. Snider" wrote: > > > There is a stifling air of perfectionism in the > magical world of Deseret Book. > > Things are very cut-and-dried in the books they > sell there. If you say your > > prayers, read your scriptures and go to church, > life will be fantastic. > > I've said my prayers, read my scriptures, and gone > to church. When does > the fantastic part start? > > -- > D. Michael Martindale > dmichael@wwno.com > I say my prayers, read my scriptures, and go to church and my life IS fantastic! Rebecca Talley - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 13:09:33 -0700 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Re: New DB Policy Okay, I've read it now. Found a copy of Richard Paul Evans' The Last = Promise at MediaPlay, and read it standing in the aisle, took me 20 = minutes, which does not, probably, suggest a very in-depth analysis. =20 Lots of people have reviewed the book, and commented on the, ahem, = writing; no need to pile on. Now that I've read the book, the DB policy = does make a certain kind of sense, and also, no sense at all. Okay, Eliana (from Vernal!) is unhappily married to Maurizio, falls in = love with Ross. I have stated pretty strongly, with the firm conviction = of ignorance, that the book's heroine, Eliana, does not commit adultery. = This, it turns out, may not be true. The writing of the scene in which = she and Ross spend the night together is bad enough it's hard to say what = they did. Could be sex. Could be a rousing game of Parcheesi. It's all = ambiguous. Evans gave an interview in which he stated that no adultery = takes place in the book. I've been taking his word for it. I could be = wrong. Point is, I don't know that it matters much. She's in love with Ross. = They hold hands, they hug, they kiss. The whole time, she's married to = Maurizio. So she's engaged, at least, in hanky, whether or not it = actually progresses to panky. =20 Does it matter? The book is silly enough, with a preposterous subplot = involving Ross having been convicted of murdering a previous fiancee, a = murder, it turns out, of course, he didn't commit. Lots of Italian = phrases sprinkled throughout, giving it a touch of old world sophistication= . But Sherri Dew said that DB's decision had to do with evil having been = committed, with no consequences. And that's sort of true; Eliana sort of = cheats on her husband, and it does all work out for her. =20 It's also nuts. Maurizio has, the book informs us, cheated on Eliana for = years. She's fallen out of love with him, because of his persistent = pattern of adultery. She's asked him for a divorce repeatedly, and he = refuses her, and she can't fight it because according to Italian law, = she'd lose custody of her/their son. (I doubt it, but what do I know?) = Who, it turns out, has asthma, which Maury doesn't take seriously, so if = he gets custody, it's curtains for the kid. So she really CAN'T get a = divorce, desperately though she wants one. And Maury beats her up too. = He's a monster, in other words. =20 Okay, so she maybe cheats on him. Ross is her only hope, because he might = be able to support her financially, which the Italian courts need proof of = before she can get custody (this because of the limitless career opportunit= ies America offers ex-cons). But come on, this is Evil, capital E? A = physically and emotionally abused woman who leaves her abuser? Okay, she = sort of cheats and she shouldn't. It's really hard for me to get much = worked up over it. Seriously, are we to understand that this is the moral = evil that DB is taking a not-moral-but-purely-business stand against? = Abused women getting out? =20 I have two sisters-in-law who have been divorced. One was married to an = abuser, and the other married to a serial adulterer. Had either of them = found someone who could love her, and had that provided the impetus to = them to leave, our whole active LDS family would have been both supportive = and tremendously relieved. I don't mean to downplay the evil of adultery. = But surely God recognizes extenuating circumstances. =20 So, once again, DB's policy is nonsense, and I don't buy the spin. I = don't recommend The Last Promise. It's a pretty silly book on a very = serious subject. But Evans has had a career long interest in spouse = abuse. To the extent that this book gives encouragement to women in abuse = situations, more power to him, I say. And phooey on DB. Eric Samuelsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2002 13:11:06 -0800 From: Kathy and Jerry Tyner Subject: Re: [AML] Gratitude What a wondeful post Jeff. I've sometimes experienced that "self-congratulatory thankfulness" and felt uneasy with that feeling. I shouldn't have to see another's woes to take stock and be thankful for what I have. I have also realized that life doesn't have to be the zero sum game that some see it to be. It isn't wrong to be happy that one has a roof over one's head, food to eat, etc. The desire should be to try and see to it others have the same and the means and opportunity for them to provide it for themselves as much as possible. And to help others who can't. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2002 18:31:12 EST From: Mona214@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Gratitude Lisa Thank you for sharing those wonderful insights into your experience with your daughter, gratitude, etc. I enjoyed your post very much. Ramona Siddoway - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 21:23:39 -0600 From: "ldsbox.com" (by way of Jonathan Langford ) Subject: [AML] LDS Film Festival On Tour MAILBOX NEWSLETTER #11/2002 http://www.ldsbox.com feedback@ldsbox.com IN THIS ISSUE: 1. A FESTIVAL FOR WINNERS: 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL BIG SUCCESS 2. "BEST OF 2002" PROGRAM TO TOUR NOW NATIONWIDE AND ABROAD 3. ADDITIONAL SCREENING OF 24-HOUR FILMMAKING MARATHON FILMS 4. LDS FILM FESTIVAL IS LOOKING FOR SPONSORS & PARTNERS - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. A FESTIVAL FOR WINNERS: 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL BIG SUCCESS - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- With over 30 exceptional events and an attendance of 1500, the 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL was a big success. Thank you all for coming and participating! We are already looking forward to next year's 3RD LDS FILM FESTIVAL 2003. Our special thanks go to R. Don Oscarson and the Provo City Library at Academy Square for their generous support of the festival! You can look up the winners of the festival on our website at: http://www.ldsbox.com/cgi-bin/winners2002.php The winners of the Feature Screenplay Competition will be announced next week. One more judge has to finish reading the scripts before we can announce the winners. Please be patient as we try to carefully examine 25 scripts and over 2000 script pages. We would like to thank all the filmmakers and volunteers for their great work! We are looking forward to an exciting next year! Hope to see you and your films there! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. "BEST OF 2002" PROGRAM TO TOUR NOW NATIONWIDE AND ABROAD - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Similar to last year's "Best of 2001" program, the best films of this year's competition will go on a national and international tour. The "Best of 2002" tour program is offered to wards, stakes, institutes, private parties, high schools, university campuses, media arts centers, museums, libraries and independent theaters across the country and abroad. Organizers are free to charge admissions. The program is available for a rental fee of $46.00 (includes shipping). Additional screenings are $19.00 each. The program is only available in English and on VHS. Screenings can now be scheduled. The "Best of 2002" program is a collection of 12 short films and is 135 minutes long. The program includes comedy, drama, documentary, and experimental films. It is enjoyable for all ages and can be appreciated by members and nonmembers alike. If you are interested in organizing a screening of the "Best of 2002" program, go to: http://www.ldsbox.com/cgi-bin/tour.php or contact us at feedback@ldsbox.com - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. ADDITIONAL SCREENING OF 24-HOUR FILMMAKING MARATHON FILMS - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Come and see over 30 short films that were made within only 24 hours or less. We will have an additional screening this coming Friday, December 6, at 9.30 p.m. at MUSE MUSIC in Provo. The theme of the marathon was "redemption." Filmmakers also had to implement an object (a bar of soap) and a dialogue line ("You can't just change..."). A sold out screening of the 24-hour filmmaking marathon films at the LDS Film Festival showed many different approaches to the same theme. Many films were well crafted and impressed the audience. We congratulate all the participating groups for their excellent work and endurance. See them all: Friday, December 6, at 9.30 p.m. @ MuseMusic, 145 North University Avenue, Provo $ 3 at the door - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. LDS FILM FESTIVAL IS LOOKING FOR SPONSORS & PARTNERS - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In its second year, attendance at the LDS Film Festival doubled from 750 to 1500. Over 30 events were held between November 13-16. Over 80 films were screened. Next year the LDS Film Festival will continue to grow and draw more attention and people! The festival has now a solid foundation. We feel ready to invite sponsors to support the growth of the festival. We have put together several sponsorship programs for businesses and individuals interested in supporting young LDS filmmakers and the LDS Film Festival. The programs offer many benefits for sponsors in exchange for their support. Please contact us at feedback@ldsbox.com if you are interested in becoming an official sponsor of the LDS Film Festival. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #914 ******************************