My colleague's just told me (he says he'd been trying to tell me for days, but I didn't/don't listen) Monday he sold a copy of Zbigniew Herbert's Selected Poems to Michael Ondaatje. He fingered him when he looked at the credit card. If you're a fan, I can tell you it was a Visa card. I can't say any more.
My colleague's chagrined, whatever, that in the star-moment he was so gullied, he forgot to discount Ondaatje's poetry book ten percent. Because of this Poetry-Month thing.
If Michael Ondaatje is reading this, we owe you $1.42 store credit.
5 RIDERS:
Clay, I once touched Michael Ondaatje on the butt. I did it surreptitiously, and he never knew about it, but I did.
I was introduced to him as "a very promising poet", and he said something nice along the lines of "looking forward to your work". And he is totally, absurdly dreamy in person. My poetry teacher at the time said every woman in the room shuddered simultaneously when he read The Cinnamon Peeler.
Thus ends my Michael Ondaatje story.
I wonder what he's doing in Berkeley?
maybe he's friends with a local film producer. isn't there a supertech sound mixing studio here, where murch worked, or near here?
i'm officially guessing.
ondaatje was here once before, the store, years ago, when i'd first started working here, just before the release of the film the english patient.
it was sunny and mildly bustling, saturday. ondaatje stepped forward to buy a vic chestnutt CD. i recognized him: i'd seen him in the early 80s doco poetry in motion (with berrigan, creeley, bukowski, et al.; which i'd watched it about a zillion times), and i'd once driven 80 miles through the snow one night to hear him read in cambridge (another new england weather story; forget it), got him to sign a book, and had him tell me what brinjals were.
i didn't know what to say. i just said, "mr. ondaatje," and shook his hand.
my co-workers asked me afterwards: who was that dude you were talking to?
ha! maybe he'll come back for it.
Stories about New England weather are fine. Poems about it are on the predictable side in most cases.
I've also heard Ondaatje is friends with Saul Zaentz, who I think lives here.
Saul was the local film producer I was thinking. But I didn't want to drop another name.
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