Kevin Van Valkenburg on writing, choices, and the closing of Elaine's

[Nigel Tufnel]

Apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere, but I just saw it and thought it was great. The Sun's lucky to have him.

http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com...kevin-van.html

I think when people look back on seminal moments in their lives, they tend to imagine all the complicated realities and What Ifs, and pause as they remember where the road forked, reflecting on why they went left as opposed to right. I do it frequently, I suppose because I'm nostalgic at heart, and also because I'm forever curious about the way we're all shaped by our choices. What I remember specifically about that night is how worried I was that I did not belong at Elaine's, rubbing elbows and tapping glasses with writers who, for years, might as well have been my North Star. Elaine's was a place where legends had talked about the craft and nibbled on bad food since well before I was born. That night, a group had gathered to say goodbye to one of the true masters of the form, Bill Heinz, and even though I could almost recite “Death of A Racehorse” from memory, all I could think was how unworthy I felt to be in attendance. This was a place writers like Gay Talese and George Plimpton called home, writers who could manipulate a sentence like a magician, and a novice like me would be sniffed out immediately, and shamed into the street.

[K.V.V.]

Thanks, Nigel. Very kind of you to say.

[weams]

Apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere, but I just saw it and thought it was great. The Sun's lucky to have him.

http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com...kevin-van.html

"I can feel the rain falling, and I can hear the thunder in the distance."

Wow Kev.

[K.V.V.]

Don't know how many of you all will be interested in this, but I thought some of you might, so I'm posting it here. It's a Q&A I did where I talked about where I'm from, and talked a little bit about the Sun, and a lot about writing.

http://tvfury.wordpress.com/2011/12/...an-valkenburg/