tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639729.post473054856580940441..comments2007-09-23T04:20:25.449-07:00Christa M. Forsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15970033224178963081noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13639729.post-25496533685938109462007-09-23T04:20:00.000-07:002007-09-23T04:20:00.000-07:00John Gardner had died in 1982 when I got to Binghamton in 1986. His death was rumored to be a suicide, but all who knew him -- and there were a guard of steadfast students and friends -- thought it to be an accident on his motorcycle that took him. I was surprised to see what you were quoting & trying to guess while I read it: Roth? Kundera? I had read all the Gardner on writing books, given to us in Woiwode's fiction workshops. Gardner didn't prefer "metafiction" and quirky takes on life, the too-narrow or limited first- or third-person p.o.v. To be at Houston after Barthelme's death: well, it didn't go the same way. It was an irony that at Gardner's school, my "experimental" stories were accepted, but at Barthleme's school -- Barthelme, who was so much more experimental -- even death wasn't accepted, and the rule was toward convention, more so. I just read an article abt. Carver, linked at Jilly Dybka's Poetry Hut. People are seeking "Gordon Lish and black wife" at my weblog. He's listed there on my bibliography. All these men knew each other in "real life." AMBAnn_Boglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04999407261486108269noreply@blogger.com