Today I went to Skylight Bookstore at 1818 North Vermont Avenue for the celebration of my writing mentor’s – John Rechy’s – 50th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking book, City of Night. John was interviewed for over an hour by his biographer, Charles Casillo, who was introduced by author/director/actor/activist Michael Kearns. John was greeted by a standing-room-only crowd of admirers, former students, and well-wishers. Several of my classmates from John’s Master Class were present, and it was wonderful to see them again. I, personally, was in John Rechy’s Master class for at least five years; others made my tenure look lightweight. I know one man who had been making those weekly meetings for over fifteen years.
John’s face lit up when I went up to greet him after the interview. He seemed pleased to see me again, and I certainly was happy to see him. I grew quite attached to him after so much time together. I must say that he was a fine writing teacher – taking my writing seriously and providing solid guidance all the way through an advanced draft of my first novel.
My old writing friends and I have pledged to come together soon for a potluck. Also, I plan to promote one of my former classmate’s newly published novels on my blog using an interview format. Of course, I will be emailing John again soon and letting him know what a wonderful event this celebration was.
To my writing mentor, I will be forever grateful. His writing wisdom is deeply embedded into my consciousness, and I can hear his voice clear and strong whenever I sit down to write. “Be brutally honest on the page…do not waste your reader’s time with banal dialogue…celebrate the act of revision, that’s where the real writing begins.”
And to my writing friends with whom I shared such a long and productive (and sometime frustrating) time, I just need to say, “Thank you.” You are a singular group of serious writers whose continued support keeps me writing everyday.
As for John, his wit is as razor-sharp as ever and he is loads of fun. That is another reason we all kept going back, year after year, to his Master class.
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