Bytes from the Bean by Joe Manning 10-1-0012:00AM / Sunday, October 01, 2000
When Steeples was published in November 1997, it had taken me about nine months to write it and five months to put it together and get it printed. "Steeples" was the product of a big and sustained burst of energy, sort of like running a marathon. But after the initial excitement of seeing it in print and doing book signings and readings, I experienced a huge letdown. I asked myself, "Now what?"
Writing the book had led me to take a great interest in the urban renewal project on the south side of Main Street. I wanted to know why and how it took place. In January 1998, I made a few inquiries around town; and by the end of the month, I decided that the only way to get rid of my "letdown" was to write another book.
On a strangely warm day in February, I interviewed the late Louis Sinclitico at McDonald's, where he often hung out with his old friends in the morning. He served on the North Adams Redevelopment Authority during most of the urban renewal project. As his buddies would tell you, Louis was full of a well-worn array of jokes and wisecracks that kept me on my toes. He was fun to talk to. At the end of a very productive two-hour interview, he said, "How about if I jump in your car, and you can drive me around the city? I want to show you some things." And so he did. I learned a lot. For that, I will always be grateful.
Well, here I am more than two and a half years later telling you that I have just finished writing that new book. I still have to design it and get it printed, so it may not be out until around March. It will be called Disappearing Into North Adams.
Originally, the book was to be about urban renewal and nothing else. After several months of preliminary research and several more interviews, the subject matter began to get depressing. I realized that I needed to broaden my scope and come up with a theme. Several of my North Adams friends persuaded me to put a little of myself in the book; you know, why I come here, what I do, what I see, and so on.
The turning point for me was when I interviewed several young people in town who were excited about the future. To them, MASS MoCA represented a kind of rebirth. They had no reason to feel bad about the demolition of the south side; they weren't around then. They were full of hope; not regret.
So what's the book going to look like, and how will it compare to Steeples? For one thing, Disappearing Into North Adams will be a lot bigger, perhaps nearly three times bigger! For Steeples, I conducted twenty-eight interviews, only one of which was not included. This time, I conducted over 100 interviews, and over sixty will appear. And most of them will be much longer.
You will notice the familiar format of photographs, old and new, and my personal observations through short poems. This time, however, I will include many essays, some of which are based on my columns in "Bytes From the Bean." Through these essays, you will experience some of my adventures in the city, and you will get to know me, and how I feel about what's happened over the past thirty years. There will also be a few surprises.
For the next few months, I will include some brief samples of Disappearing Into North Adams in this column, mostly in the context of whatever I'm writing about. Stay tuned.
Putting this book together is a stressful and time-consuming exercise. There is a lot of editing to do. That explains the brevity of this month's column. Somehow, it will all get done. Soon, I will have a stack of cardboard boxes of shrink-wrapped books in my basement. I don't have that much storage space, so I hope I can sell a few of them.
Once the work is done, I will be able to relax and go disappearing into North Adams without having to schedule appointments and do painstaking research at the library. However, I fear that by next summer, I will probably be asking myself once again, "What now?"
Visit Joe's website at: www.sevensteeples.com.
Email Joe at: manningfamily@rcn.com |
