Kurt Vonnegut Dies
I let out a gasp when I read the front page of The Boston Globe today before I even really processed what made me gasp. Kurt Vonnegut is dead. I was lucky enough to be able to hear one of his lectures while I was in grad school. I remember being amazed by it and vowing to read even more of his books. The thing I remember most about his talk is the end. (That’s not as bad as it sounds.) He told us to turn to the person beside us and tell him or her the name of a teacher we had who made a positive impact in our life. I turned to my friend Jason and said a name or two (I don’t remember specifics now: Dr. Dube, Ms. Peeples, Mr. Carter (Yes, Lincoln, _that_ Mr. Carter), Fr. McElveen, Ms. Bussey) and when we looked back up, Vonnegut had left the stage. That was it. He was gone and didn’t come back out.
One of my spiritual guides often talks about Slaughterhouse Five. I can’t remember now if I read it as part of a class or if I just read it on my own. I did a lot of reading in high school of the books they wouldn’t teach at my school. (What happened to those days when I had time to read?) I loved the book. It might make more sense to me now because my knowledge of World War II, prison camps, and the like has increased significantly. I can’t remember if I’ve read other pieces he’s written. I know quite a few are on my list of things to read.
And so it goes. And so it goes.
April 15th, 2007 at 9:43 am
I was sad as well to hear as well that he had passed. I remember in high school , we had to read the his short story “Harrison Burgeron.”I loved that story and afterward I tracked down a copy of “Slaughterhouse Five”. That was an amazing book — it veered from harsh realities to off-the-wall science fiction without missing a beat. God bless him.
-Flash
April 15th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
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