Dakota student reporter Sara Tezel encouraged making the trek to Fargo on Saturday to see Wally Lamb and yes, it's incredible to see a professional in action. I had scheduled a brief meeting with Wally thanks to publisher Harper Collins and the NDSU bookstore manager Carol Miller. When I asked Wally about his recreational reading in college I received a torrent of wonderful information that I frantically tried to memorize as I pulled out notebook and pen. I shouldn't have been surprised -- he must have given thousands of interviews because of his Oprah book club fame.Later I listened to him reading an autobiographical essay and a section from his newest work, The Hour I First Believed. The audience was in turns laughing, uncomfortably quiet, close to tears, and energized. During the Q & A session he told us how at ease he felt with us and how he ran the risk of getting carried away and making a fool of himself. He said his father had been a great storyteller who liked to make people laugh--even if that meant telling a slightly dirty joke. Wally himself was quite animated retelling his "role as victim" to bossy older sisters and girl cousins while growing up.
I will share his message to UND students in the coming weeks as we promote Wally Lamb as "author of the month." An English/Creative writing teacher on the high school and college level, his caring nature is evident in his work. His support of female prison inmates who needed to tell their stories resulted in two books, Couldn’t Keep It to Myself: Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters and I'll Fly Away: Further Testimonies from the Women of York Prison. His newest work grapples with the traumas to the collective American consciousness resulting from the Columbine school shooting, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the War in Iraq. His connection with people -- whether via an audience, one-on-one in the book signing line or through his written word -- comes from genuine concern for his fellow human beings.
