Note by Hunterbear: This note to my friend, Bill Mandel, gives a good indication of what I'm doing writing-wise. In addition to this activist material of a personal nature, I'm also quite involved with my on-going work on the life and times of Maurice Travis, courageous and much attacked Mine-Mill leader during the worst of the Cold War Red Scare era. http://www.hunterbear.org/travis.htm
And, of course, we are much involved in current Idaho and regional human rights issues. In Solidarity - Hunter [Hunterbear] Mr Bill Mandel. Dear Bill: I appreciate very much the recent contacts you've made with your good screen writing friend -- both times -- and certainly his thoughtful responses. You have placed this on Redbadbear and I'm putting this on the SNCC and a few other lists as well -- and am also sending it to a number of friends and several family members for purely informational purposes. [It's presently very early in the morning here in Idaho, much cooler, several coyotes howling. Interestingly, my cd player has just started the poignantly appealing theme -- "Call of the Far Away Hills" -- from one of my great film favorites, Shane. The locale for that, the Tetons, is close.] In the past, though it's been a good while, I have done well received short stories. As you know, I put my award-winning Mainstream story, "The Destroyers," on-line via our website several weeks ago. http://www.hunterbear.org/the%20short%20story.htm This, of course -- essentially quite autobiographical but with fictional clothing -- involves very virulent and extremely violent anti-Black racial hatred in the context of a massive Northern Arizona forest fire as witnessed by a kind of Any Boy. And, also on line, I have a number of -- if I say so myself -- the very positive reviews received by my non-fictional book, Jackson Mississippi: An American Chronicle of Struggle and Schism. http://www.hunterbear.org/jackson.htm What I'm doing now, with all of these various pieces like "Coming of Age in the Red" and "When the Red Leaves Fall" [and many others], is obviously non-fictional, autobiographical. Initially, when I began doing these kinds of relatively personal things, they just sort of began -- simply experiential posts with a reasonably sharp and appropriate radical point. They've been well received. And then, under your urging and that of Sam Friedman and others -- and members of my family as well -- I began thinking of some sort of autobiographical thing -- perhaps a substantial compendium which would incorporate older published material of mine over many decades with much new, fresh stuff . My primary focus is always, of course, as contemporary and futuristic as I can make it. But all of these things, so often transcending the specific canyons of time, flow forward together in a single and very intensive river. One key dimension in all of this is my development from a loner "nature boy" [with a Native father and Anglo mother and a very strong Native socio-cultural focus] -- a kid camped as frequently as possible in the remote wilderness regions of Northern Arizona -- into a radical industrial unionist and general social justice activist and, concurrently, via many crucibles, a Left political socialist [always, of course, with some Wobbly-type feathers and very, very much with my Native orientation!] So now, when I write these things, they have both a direct point for Lists and Cause and are also designed, ultimately some way, for a non-fictional and autobiographical book. And, of course, at this point and with each post, I do a bit of final polishing etc and then place it on our large website. On the other hand, that particular ultimate vision -- a book of some sort -- while certainly a Real Form hovering over the close-by mountains is not yet, in my mind, precisely defined and fully feathered. It's very possible that, out of all of this book focus, may come a spin-off piece of something to take once again to your kind screen-writing friend. In any case, this Writing Trail continues. And to you and those others who continue to goad me, I am indeed honored and deeply appreciative. Yours - Hunter [Hunterbear] Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] www.hunterbear.org (strawberry socialism) Protected by NaŽshdoŽiŽbaŽiŽ ----- Original Message ----- From: "William Mandel" To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 9:07 PM Subject: [Redbadbear] [Fwd: WHEN THE RED LEAVES FALL] > Hunter: This is from the screenwriter friend I referred to in a previous > post. > Bill > > Steph wrote: > > > > Dear Bill, > > > > Thanks for sending this along. There's some good writing as well as > > fascinating recollection here. > > > > However, to be grist for a movie, a great deal of synthesis would have > > to occur, resulting in a discreet story. Perhaps it could be done as a > > novel or novelette first. Then, one could look at it and see if a > > castable, bankable movie was there. > > > > Instructive examples of the last 10 years might be 'Legends of the Fall' > > and 'A River Runs Through It.' > > > > Great to see you. Hope you're feeling better. Keep in touch. > > > > s > > -- > > > _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
