In Person
Fri., May 22, 1998
"Write like you've had two martinis, better still, have two martinis," Liz Carpenter said, sharing the best advice she'd received at the beginning of her writing career, "and those were some of the happiest days of my life." Amidst beer, barbecue, and books, a packed crowd at Borders listened to a panel of some of Texas' best-known political writers - Carpenter, Molly Ivins, and Jim Hightower - dole out advice. And like that favorite wild aunt or uncle who takes you aside at the family reunion, their words of wisdom were peppered with great stories and good-natured ribbing. Answering the call of an earnest audience member for an annual convening of the Texas Legislature, Carpenter asked, "You want `em back every year?" Ivins added, "You may not want that."
Carpenter, most recently the author of Unplanned Parenthood, was the belle of the ball wearing an outfit accented by a golden-hued straw hat, shiny silver tennis shoes, and a rainbow-colored cane. She asked Ivins to read from her most recent book, You Got to Dance With Them What Brung You and Hightower from his There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos, while Carpenter related her confusion about recent figures in the media: "I cannot keep straight Tara Lipinski and Monica Lewinsky. I don't know which one won the Olympic gold medal and which one had oval sex in the oral office." Carpenter mentioned the recent success of Texas writers, saying, "Writers have been on a roll... Texas is really where it's at right now for literate people," to which Hightower replied, "Then why is Phil Gramm in the U.S. Senate?"
Ivins and Hightower encouraged hopeful writers to enjoy their work more, Hightower saying, "You can fight the gods and still have fun.... All my work is done in coffee shops and bars and the switch comes at about three in the afternoon." Ivins agreed and added, "I think that being in politics and raising hell should be a lot of fun. And all it takes is a little creativity and a little imagination and sometimes a pitcher of beer." Ivins remembered one such time when the KKK was coming to town and she and some friends were thinking, "`Goddamn, the Klan is coming and we got to stand up for the right of these blue-bellied nincompoops to spew whatever vicious drivel they want to. God, I hate being a First Amendment liberal!' It occurred to us that we could use our own First Amendment rights and that was when we mooned `em."
While these may not sound like conventional writers' tales, Hightower advised the audience, "Never, ever believe the conventional wisdom, which is to wisdom what near beer is to beer." -Anne Wick
