Meeting Sherman Alexie

Apparently, I am the antithesis of the fan-girl. I don't know why, but I really don't get into meeting famous people. They are just people. Sometimes they are people who've achieved amazing things, but still just people with both virtues and flaws. Standing in a line with a bunch of squealing fan-girls just to shake hands with a exhausted celeb who probably just wants to go home doesn't appeal. Not usually anyway.

I found out yesterday that Sherman Alexie was doing a signing for his new book Thunder Boy Jr. last night at the Decatur Library. Sherman Alexie I wanted to meet. So with no real warning, I flipped everything around so that I could go. I wouldn't have called myself giddy, but excited sounds about right.

Ryan was amused. Ryan was very amused.

So here's the thing to understand. Cult of the celebrity aside, sometimes people do something or make something that change the lives of others. In Sherman Alexie's case, his books, poetry, and film ("Smoke Signals") combined to produce a tangible difference in the way I view the world. Because I saw "Smoke Signals" (I was 18) I connected to idea of "truth" being different from "fact," and that the story teller's job is expressing truth. It doesn't sound like much, but it was a full-on choir of angels revelation for me. So I started reading Alexie's books. Because of his books, I learned to read novels for more than just story, I learned that not all experience is universal and that culture really matters, and I learned that poetry and prose are not mutually exclusive processes.

Later on, Alexie's book War Dances was part of my decision to leave libraries and become a teacher.

Clearly, Alexie, as an author, is immensely important to me. If only I didn't have this dratted shyness.

The book talk was a book talk. Alexie is a funny, personable guy. He's humble, he's earnest, and he's down-to-earth about his fame and the importance of his literary work. His new children's book struck a chord with me, because of what it had to say about the importance of names and identity for children.

In the Q&A he talked a lot about his experiences with being a "brown" author. While clearly it matters, and it matters to him, he seemed to shy away from making the importance of his work be about the label. He touched on some frustration with over-analysis of symbols. Mostly, he just talked about his experience and cracked jokes.

Later on, while I was waiting in line to get my books signed, I thought about all the things I'd like to say to him about how important his work was to me. I knew I probably wouldn't have time; there were a lot of people there. However, I wanted to say something. Thomas was in a good mood so, it didn't feel like I needed to rush anything. However, when we got to Alexie's table, Thomas made a toddler b-line for the door and Ryan went chasing after him. So, Alexie and I talked about Thomas and toddlers. I got oddly tongue-tied about shifting the conversation.

Ryan and Thomas got back. Alexie posed for a picture with me, and we left. I didn't get to say what was bouncing in my head. But that's ok, it's enough just to have met him and to shake his hand.

It was a good night.