Pale Blue School

“Whenever I read or see a beautiful thing, I think of you. In fact, for a moment, I am you. How would you appraise, for instance, Jane Campion’s The Piano or her biopic about the writer Janet Frame, An Angel At My Table? Do you know that Frame is dear to me, as is Campion? Are you as moved as I am by the fact that Janet was spared a lobotomy after she won a literary prize in New Zealand? Imagine she hadn’t won that prize. It is ghastly and horrifying how much comes down to chance. Yes, there is hard work and talent, but so much more happenstance. You wouldn’t be surprised to learn about my ardent love for Janet, I suspect. But then again, maybe you would be. A person can always surprise you.”