Yes, indeed. I remember in prepping for my Ph.D. oral exams also thinking how mothers and sons always getting a raw deal from their husbands and fathers was suspect, to put it mildly. In some ways, my first novel (You Don't Know The Half Of It), which I've been sending out to agents, etc., is a rewrite of As I Lay Dying and my primary objection/rage--why the fuck does Anse get everything he wants? These days I'm trying to learn enough about radioactive truths and lies during WWII, and the controversies between doctors and the military on withholding so many truths about plutonium and the bomb (small subjects, huh) to write some scenes that will help me figure out my characters and conflicts for a new novel I'm temporarily calling Behind The Barrier. The seed lies in the fact that my father, an electrical engineer from MIT, worked for the Manhattan Project at Hanford 1947-48 and died of cancer in 1961, and that I found out after my mom died from a routine bronchoscopy that struck a blood vessel in 2006 (she was 84) that she too had a (blood) cancer from living in Richland during those years (the manufactured town just south of the Hanford area in southeast Washington and had tried to be part of a failed class action suit. The denial of the dangers of plutonium exposure and radiation is all over the place, as you know--not by doctors but by the military intent on the bomb and power. Sigh. Old story. Very old story. And yet the violence persists.... Nice to be in touch.
Thanks, Jody. I could write an essay about the Prodigal Son. Even as a little boy when my religious studies teacher told us the story I thought, Hey, wait a sec. There is something seriously unjust and mean-spirited going on here. All my sympathies are with the younger brother. Nowadays, we would assume the old father had dementia and file a lawsuit. :)
Ah, I didn't realize or I forgot that you started Numéro Cinq! Thank you for bringing me to Keith. I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of him. Of course, I've ordered Twin Studies and downloaded Fatherless.
Ok can’t wait! If you are in the area come visit me this summer. I keep thinking of cool historical things to show you - not quite as good as the McCall/Fairchild cemetery on Halloween though.
Yes, indeed. I remember in prepping for my Ph.D. oral exams also thinking how mothers and sons always getting a raw deal from their husbands and fathers was suspect, to put it mildly. In some ways, my first novel (You Don't Know The Half Of It), which I've been sending out to agents, etc., is a rewrite of As I Lay Dying and my primary objection/rage--why the fuck does Anse get everything he wants? These days I'm trying to learn enough about radioactive truths and lies during WWII, and the controversies between doctors and the military on withholding so many truths about plutonium and the bomb (small subjects, huh) to write some scenes that will help me figure out my characters and conflicts for a new novel I'm temporarily calling Behind The Barrier. The seed lies in the fact that my father, an electrical engineer from MIT, worked for the Manhattan Project at Hanford 1947-48 and died of cancer in 1961, and that I found out after my mom died from a routine bronchoscopy that struck a blood vessel in 2006 (she was 84) that she too had a (blood) cancer from living in Richland during those years (the manufactured town just south of the Hanford area in southeast Washington and had tried to be part of a failed class action suit. The denial of the dangers of plutonium exposure and radiation is all over the place, as you know--not by doctors but by the military intent on the bomb and power. Sigh. Old story. Very old story. And yet the violence persists.... Nice to be in touch.
Did you see this? Published in Numero Cinq. About Richland.
https://numerocinqmagazine.com/2011/03/29/from-fatherless-nonfiction-by-keith-maillard/
Love this!
Thank you, Heather. Really nice of you to give it a read. Wait till you read the second part. It gets better.
Wow! And I'm chuckling at how you ended the piece. Wry man such that you are.
Thanks, Jody. I could write an essay about the Prodigal Son. Even as a little boy when my religious studies teacher told us the story I thought, Hey, wait a sec. There is something seriously unjust and mean-spirited going on here. All my sympathies are with the younger brother. Nowadays, we would assume the old father had dementia and file a lawsuit. :)
Wow. Doug, I am impressed by the cast of characters you have presented in these genealogical explorations but also by the research they show.
Ah, I didn't realize or I forgot that you started Numéro Cinq! Thank you for bringing me to Keith. I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of him. Of course, I've ordered Twin Studies and downloaded Fatherless.
:)
Yikes, I see he wrote a novel called Twin Studies!!!??? So he's a twin, too?
Wow. I'm midway reading it now and realize, his father must have known my father?!!!
Thank you!!! No, I didn't see it. Grateful.
Ok can’t wait! If you are in the area come visit me this summer. I keep thinking of cool historical things to show you - not quite as good as the McCall/Fairchild cemetery on Halloween though.
Late June or July. I'll let you know.