Thank you, Mr. Lau.
On 1/20/10, BaxDeal@aol.com <BaxDeal@aol.com> wrote:
>
> a stunning eulogy, Mr. Jeter
>
> John Lau
>
>
>
> Vaya con Carné
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Jeter <michael.damian.jeter@gmail.com>
> To: rara-avis-l <rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tue, Jan 19, 2010 5:32 pm
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Our Heroes will Stand a bit Smaller
>
>
> Robert Parker has died. Many will discuss his work, pointing to the
> holes, and I cannot deny those holes. The characters I know best,
> Spenser, Susan, and Hawk, did not always play, in the minds of many,
> as real. Would someone like Spenser call someone like Hawk not
> ¨sidekick,¨ but ¨friend¨? Would a couple like Spenser and Susan really
> exist? Isn´t she just a projection of the male libido? But, I submit,
> the fantastic – the possibility that we can be more than what we are,
> that we can rise above the mundane, that we can run ten miles around
> Boston every day, cook gourmet level food, have a meaningful and
> passionate love affair after many years, call our opposite our friend,
> and have an mentoautomatic repulsion, disgust, for evil in all its
> forms, not because of any creed or membership, but just because our
> inner compass knows the true, north and otherwise. And if we cannot do
> these things, it´s nice to believe that someone can.
>
> I met Parker´s work through the 1980s television series, Spenser for
> Hire, with Robert Urich, Avery Brooks, and Barbara Stock in the roles
> of Spenser, Hawk, and Susan, respectively. Parker claimed he was never
> satisfied with the series, though it had nothing to do with the
> actors. Robert Urich said its was his favorite role, and one way in
> which the television series affected the novels is in the character of
> Hawk. In the early books, Hawk is monosyllabic, and tende to speak
> very stereotypically. Howard University Professor Avery Brooks told
> Parker he knew people like Hawk, and just because a man had to use his
> body did not mean he could not also use his mind. In college, I began
> reading the novels. I think Pale Kings and Princes, A Catskill Eagle,
> and Valediction were among my firsts. I read more. Did he often tell
> the same story? Yeah – itś a great story of heroism, friendship,
> trust, honor, honesty, and love.
>
> My favorite Parker is Early Autumn. Spenser mentors Paul Giacomin,
> providing him something he has never had: an adult who gives a damn.
> In a conversation with Susan, Spenser says:
>
>
> ¨The kid´s never been taught how to act. He doesn´t know anything.
> He´s got no pride. He´s got nothing he´s good at. He´s got nothing but
> the tube.¨
>
> ¨And you plan to teach him.¨
>
> ¨Iĺl teach him what I know. I know how to do carpentry. I know how to
> cook. I know how to punch. I know how to act.¨(90)
>
>
> As a teenager, my father was making some repairs and needed me to hold
> a light. I did not understand the concept of ¨the spot,¨ and I let the
> spot drift. Dad yelled at me, but if no one ever tells you these
> things, you don´t know. So many young men need a Spenser to teach them
> ¨how to act.¨
>
>
> I do not need heroes who are like me. I understand and appreciate the
> ¨anti – hero,” probably a character I am more like than any – not
> exactly evil, but not quite sure I have ever done ¨good.¨
>
> So yeah, the Spenser mythos revolves around a man larger than life, a
> man born in a cabin he built with his own hands, a paladin, a hero.
> And most of us do not, cannot measure up to that
>
>
> ¨But a man´s reach must exceed his grasp,
>
> Or else what´s a heaven for?¨ – Robert Browning
>
>
> RIP, Dr. Parker.
>
> --
> Michael Damian Jeter
> New Orleans, LA
> Literacy, Music, and Democracy
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
-- Michael Damian Jeter New Orleans, LA Literacy, Music, and Democracy
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