I really enjoyed having storyteller Jack Dueck speak to us in class on Wednesday. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but whatever my expectations were, Jack exceeded them. I was touched by his dedication to the stories he tells and the way they continue to move him, despite being stories he's no doubt told numerous times.
Jack was full of good little anecdotes about Mennonites, and stories and writing. It was refreshing to see someone so satisfied in what he was doing, especially since (as I've recently been learning in Memoir and Feature Writing) it is rare that writers are able to reap tangible rewards for their efforts. So it's nice to see that even if the rewards of writing aren't tangible, at least they're meaningful.
I particularly enjoyed the story Jack told about the two Mennonite families in a tiff, and despite the tiff one family's son marries the other family's daughter. I thought I detected Jack getting a little emotionaly during the end of this story, and it made me hope that I can someday tell stories that are as meaningful to me as Jack's are to him.
I loved Jack's visit as well. I think it really was the emotional dedication he put into the storytelling that ultimately allowed me to connect with the stories. The emotion made them feel personal, inspirational and real.
ReplyDeletePlus, to have a writer still be inspired so deeply by their stories (even after the process of writing...editing...rereading them) was so touching. Gives me hope that inspiration doesn't just die out with repetition!
I agree, it was so neat to see Jack responding to what he was doing. I think it really showed how invested he is in his work and his stories, whether about love or grace. It certainly made the work of struggling with words seem like a worthy cause.
ReplyDeleteIt was really nice to have a real, live storyteller tell us stories for an hour. I feel like we've been having 100% more interaction with people behind the Menno Lit. cannon than I ever expected to - from the dialogue with Sidney King, to the slightly confrontational conversation on Mennonites and wealth, to Mr. Dueck. I guess that makes sense when one of them is teaching our class. :)
ReplyDeleteI also noticed how close his emotions were to the surface, how much these stories still touch him. That was lovely. And, like a good memoir student, I noticed the details that stood out - the "I saw mommy kissing santa claus" song in the bank lobby, the borscht and bread, the banana cream pie, the old woman standing in the door of her shack backlit by the stove.
I am really curious as to how he manages to support himself as a storyteller. I guess he writes books and articles now, but I feel like storyteller is a profession that hasn't been profitable since the Renaissance.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed his stories. I think that the story about the pie definitely had a lesson to be learned in it. What was it about the story of the two Mennonite families that you particularly liked or was it just that one person from each family married each other?
ReplyDeleteJosh--FYI, Jack has a day job as a consultant.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone record this? I would love to catch up on the wisdom of Jack Dueck. He was my English Prof back in 1984 and it has been a long time.
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