I Believe In The Dull

Live Disasters Are Wonderful Attractions When You're Safe On The Other Side Of Them.

Around The Time I Turned 30, I Wanted To Publish A Novel

I Have A Friend Who Lives In The South Side Of Chicago. I Helped Out At A Church Charity There Where They Try To Give A Bit Of Cohesion To A Desperate Area. Everyone Was Very Welcoming

Organizer Is Kind Of A Grand Term For What I Was Doing. I Answered An Ad That The Presbyterian Church Of Chicago Put Up On College Campuses. I Was At The University Of Kansas, And It's Somewhat Relevant To My Life And Work That I'm A Jew. But They Weren't Doing A Religious Litmus Test. They Wanted Energetic, Civil-rights-committed College Students To Come Help Them Run Some Summer Programs.

These Events Are Swirling Around Them. In The White Community, People Felt Like They Had No Control Over Their Neighborhoods, Their Destiny. In The Black Community, Centuries Of Government And Economic Forces Were Pushing On Them. I Went In With A Kind Of Arrogance, Maybe, That Came From Living In A Very Intellectual Family, And I Left Knowing That There Was A Lot About The Way People Lived That I Didn't Know About.