Remember the scene in the SEX AND THE CITY MOVIE where Carrie has her friends vote on her wardrobe, requiring a majority vote if a certain item is to be kept? No? At any rate, I started cleaning my office this weekend. I’ve occupied this space for eight years, which means a lot got tossed years ago. Now I am confronted with some items I’m not sure I should save, including:
* My contract with CBS News, when I was a 20-year-old hired to be the co-hostess on a kiddie version of Charles Kuralt’s Going Places, although without as much bigamy. (Sorry. Coudn’t resist.)
* My name, which was pasted on the side of the van during my segments and one page of the script.
* The TV Guide with a listing for the airing of the pilot.
* A sheaf of my favorite clippings from my career at The Sun.
* Press badges from the Republican National Convention 1988, including one that says SECURITY, a favor bestowed on me by Tom Benson’s assistant because otherwise I never would have gotten the floor access I needed. At one point, someone barked at me to clear an aisle.
* A press badge from Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to San Antonio, although I was on rewrite and never left the newsroom.
* Badges from various mystery conventions, including 1999 Bouchercon, which I would like to send to Jon and Ruth Jordan, who met there and married a year later
*A proof copy of the street edition of the Evening Sun, dated Nov. 26. 1991, in which I have three of the six page-one stories.
*A Lynda Barry poster, POODLE WITH A MOHAWK.
So far, the only thing I feel committed to keeping is that Evening Sun page one, which I think I should frame.
Thoughts? And where would you put yourself on the pat rack continuum? I thought I was fairly good about throwing stuff out, but I’m clearly kidding myself.
You’re teasing me, right? I’m never going to write a memoir!
Pack it in a special box/container and keep it. Years in the future, you may want to reminisce about how you got to where you are.
Besides,the Smithsonian may need it one day for their Laura Lippman collection !!!
<font size=”1″><i>"I’m never going to write a memoir!"</i></font>
Laura, I’ve lived long enough to see many people do things that they said they never would. Something could happen in 15 years that makes you change your mind.
I also agree with Melodie, the Smithsonian, or other outstanding institution, may want to have your ‘junque’ for their permanent Lippman Exhibit.
That’s interesting, B.G.
Last January, my Dad passed away. And a short time after that I received 400+ press passes my dad saved over his 33years at CBS and NBC News. “President Kennedy’s Trip to Ireland” “Moscow Summit” and lots of Rep. and Dem Conventions. (1950-1980).
I have been thinking of digitizing them and contacting the Newseum in DC for the Corrigan exhibit.
do the diplomas come in sturdy fake-leather folders? if so, keep them and use them under plants to protect plant stands and shelves. good way to make use of those diplomas.
Save the clippings. You never know.
Sometimes it is really nice to take an unplanned walk down memory lane, and remember who we were then and compare that person with who we are now.
If only I had some plants! I have a feeling some folks would be shocked at what I’ve tossed today. Because the thing is, very few things in are triggering an “aw” response. Although the Bouchercon program for 2008 merited saving, as did a flier for the liars panel at that con.
Meanwhile, I’m collecting usable-but-not-to-me stuff in a box and plan to offer it for free on my neighborhood’s listserv.
I say do keep the one-of-a-kind things until you know for sure that you don’t mind tossing them and never seeing them again. If things fall into the “maybe keep” category, keep them for now. You don’t have to keep them in your office. Get a plastic, rolls-under-the-bed size container or two and pack the stuff away so that you office feels lighter to you. Put the stuff under the bed in the guest room. Visit the stuff again in a year or two and decide again. You have a whole house, so you do have to luxury of keeping stuff if you want to. That’s my opinion! –Marjorie
I’m with Alafair. Who needs toasters?
Scan it and burn to a CD. Takes up less space.
I think you should send me the Poodle with a Mohawk poster. I copyedited four of your books, and all they sent me was money. (Hi, Laura!)
Seriously, I’ve been coveting the one in my vet’s office for years. If you’re getting rid of yours, I’ll even pay the postage. Otherwise I’ll have to steal his.
I am tempted to forward this list to the folks at the Harry Ransom Center and have them weigh in.
Somewhat more seriously: does video of that pilot exist and YouTube-able?
Truly more seriously: what thoughts have you had with regards to archive preservation? While I think much of this list probably has some literary merit, there is something to be said for picking and choosing (Nicholas Meyer, he of THE SEVENTH PERCENT SOLUTION and STAR TREK II fame, basically packed his archives off to the University of Iowa and only years later realized they had cataloged everything…including frequent flyer mile listings.)
The campaign stuff is actually valuable. And your brand is valuable. Stick the stuff in a box and give it to a charity that has an ebay presence. Tons of charities are doing this the rewards are plentiful. Congratulations on the editing, you don’t seem bummed at all,unlike most people.
Maureen,
I would be thrilled to send you the poster. Send your address to TEMonaghan@aol.com.
Sarah,
I don’t expect to be archived anywhere, but as a librarian’s daughter and a museum lover, I think I have a good idea about what’s valuable. My clippings will probably be readily available in various formats. I’ve saved all my correspondence for years and, via AOL’s mail system, all my OPENED e-mail since 2005. I almost never throw photos away. I don’t think a collection of badges is that interesting, but I cannot throw away the index cards used for TO THE POWER OF THREE, still connected by seven different shades of curling ribbon.
Meanwhile, I still own every computer I’ve ever used, save one, a really problematic laptop that was left in the trunk of my Toyota when I traded it in for a new car eight years ago. And I have most of the early novels on diskettes.
Where’s my mommy when I need her? (She’s a longtime librarian. Alas, she spends her winters in Georgia.)
I throw everything out except letters people have sent me, pictures, and ephemera from events that are important to me. These actually don’t amount to more than a few boxes in closet for grandchildren to throw out one day.
I used to keep everything until my NY apartment forced me to become a minimalist, and this list makes me miss the days of hoarding. You should save it all and throw out a toaster instead.
I agree with Alafair…keep it, repack it and move the box somewhere else but keep it…revisit the idea every ten years of so.
Easy peasy!
Frame page one and make the rest into a collage.
I’ve already tossed all the mystery con badges, with the exception of 1999.
I also found a letter from my editor, Michele Slung, which indicates that I wanted to use Charlotte Hayes as my pseudonym while writing erotica, but there was such a writer. Oh, how clever I was, with my Nabokovian allusions.
I want to toss the diplomas! It’s not as if anyone comes into my office and needs to see proof of my education.
Keep anything that may come in handy when/if you write your memoirs. The badges can go if you have other reminders of cons you’ve attended.
Me, I’m a post-doctoral fellow in pack-ratology. I keep everything. Of course when I need/want somethng, I either don’t remember it’s there or can’t find it.
Are you sure you can’t make a deal to sell the whole kit and kaboodle alng with periodic future shipments to the Harry Ransom Center or the Beinicke?
For those of you who advocated that I box up archival papers, here’s a discovery: The notes I took when my agent called to tell me she had started getting offers on my first book. It includes a page that looks like this:
“is pregnant
Revisions
Pick up the pace
Some cutting
Dialogue more than exposition
Writing wonderful”
This clearly centers on Carrie Feron, who has been my editor ever since. And her daughter Charlotte turned 14 this year if my math is on target.
Laura, I just realized I failed to thank you for your wonderful compliment re my “poetry”. Syd would have been proud of me.
Clifford, if out-of-date stuff is so valuable, why are the 900+ LP records still in my basement?
Whoa there!! Forget all this other stuff – what caught my attention was this sentence – which LL slipped into a comment above:
“I also found a letter from my editor, Michele Slung, which indicates that I wanted to use Charlotte Hayes as my pseudonym while writing erotica, but there was such a writer.”
Erotica?
Forget ebay – I open the bidding for whatever smutty stories LL has, and/or for the pen name she ended up using is, $40.
PS – Michele Slung wouldn’t be a half-bad erotica pen name, come to think of it
brian, LL mentioned this part of her early published works at the book signing that I attended in Brooklyn for “Life Sentences” and I hoped that the info would come to light some time. Perhaps you can convince her to reveal all of the exciting details!
–Marjorie
Once you have “Michele Slung” — the very real name of the very real person to whom I basically owe my career — you’ve got all you need.
You’re right! What did the S. stand for? (Maybe I should become a P.I. or a research librarian in my next life. I love the hunt, especially when provided with good starting clues!) Thanks.
–Marjorie
Perhaps I will fill one box with potential contributions — and throw the diplomas in there.
I’ve tried to save most of the paper from my writing, although the early manuscripts were lost in a tragically slipshod basement cleaning ten years ago. My agent correspondence and US contracts are punch-holed and filed in chronological order in labeled binders.
By the way — the short note I received from Stephen Sondheim, thanking me for the copies of To the Power of Three and Homicide? I’m keeping that.
OK – breaking format and visiting ‘the Google’ armed with the name Michele Slung, we find two collections – Slow Hand: Women Writing Erotica, and Seduce Me
Assuming that LL is in there somewhere, and assuming that the chunk of the table of contents that we can see includes her contribution (two completely unwarranted assumptions – but hey – I’m no Tesser, you know!), we have these choices:
(From Sow Hand)
In the Prick of Time by Susan Dooley,
Reasons Not to Go to Fort Lauderdale by Liz Clarke,
Blessed Immortal Self: How the Jewels Shone on Your Skin by Susan Swan,
Blue Feathers by Anne Rhyd,
The American Qoman in the Chinese Hat by Caole Maso;
Windows by Idious Buguise,
The Mango Tree by Sabina Faye,
Eros in Overtime by Kay Kemp;
Anecdote by Catherin S;
Treats by Rebecca Battle;
Too Tall for Grace by Susan J Leonardi
(From Seduce Me)
In Her Garden by Mia Mason
The Butler Did It by Theresa Roland
Southern Comfort by Laurel Gross
Mama Said by Maura Anne Wahl
A Taste of Rebecca by Susan St Aubin
A Guide to Alien Dating by Leigh Ward
Life Class by Georgi Mayr
In the Dark by Dana Clare
Let Me Help by Beth Miller
Vanessa Takes Wing by Cansada Jones
Rising Son by Gracia McWilliams
Touching by Susanna Foster
So, looking at alliterative names, titles that have Lippmanian echos, and other technically unexplainable criteria and considerations, I reduced it to these possibilities:
Reasons Not to Go to Fort Lauderdale by Liz Clarke (sounds humorous, plus LL travels all over the place)
The Butler Did It by Theresa Roland (sounds like a whodunit with a twist; and you gotta love erotic whodunits)
Life Class by Georgi Mayr (I don’t really think this one is it, but ‘Life Class’ just sounds Lippmanian)
Vanessa Takes Wing by Cansada Jones (women often take wing in her books, plus Cansada has a certain ring)
The Mango Tree by Sabina Faye (I’m thnking Sabine River, Texas/Louisiana)
The Mango Tree sounds the most interesting (don’t aske me why) – or if it’s one of the ones I didn’t pick, then the one that turns my head is A Taste of Rebecca by an author with an alliterative name!
(and THIS is why I’m in the cheap seats, and not on the stage!)
Laura, like it or not, you are a public figure and a lot of your stuff would be considered important. For the rest of you, if you don’t fit into that category, do your families a favor and cull, cull, cull.
As the widow of a man with a PhD in ratpacking, I can only tell you that saving every little thing from childhood to death is not fun for the one who has to get rid of it. He had lived in this house for 40 years, brought with him much from about age 8, and died at 79. Truth be told, after a number of years he often couldn’t find what he was looking for, or if he had kept it or G-d forbid, tossed it. A year later and I have barely made a dent in the mass of stuff.
Having made inquiries, I have also learned that what we think might be important as archival material is not. What we think might have monetary value is not. If you’ve done a yard sale you must have learned that used is just that, ebay aside. Although–his boyscout sash, missing only one badge for Eagle Scout, did bring $65. (He never did learn to swim.)
June,
I kept only a slender file of my favorite Sun articles. The profile of Syd was one of them. Those last two lines, about the Boy Scout sash? Absolute poetry.
Laura, his pile of clippings on you was not slim.
Laura, is there going to be some major change in your life? You mentioned you must be finished with this cleaning project by April 5th.
brian, is that really your email with the % sign in it? I don’t expect Laura to confirm or deny at this point, but I have a strong feeling that you didn’t guess correctly and I think I have it figured out. But email me if you’d like to and we can debate this off the comments board. Not everyone likes some good feminist erotica as much as I do. Or perhaps as much as you do! LOL.
Laura, I am the Anti-Rat-Packer. I sold my cousin Syd’s sash on ebay. Never throw anything away without first listing it on eBay. In 12 years I have sold things that should have been trashed years before.
With that being said (a favorite thing to say in S.E. New England)I am now faced with some personal items that my children have no interest in. Perhaps you might like them: A menu from the Nevele Country Club in Ellenville NY where we spent our honeymoon in 1961. (Back then it was honeymoon heaven…we arrived with all the stuff one needs on a honeymoon…we returned 25 years later when it was senior heaven and of course we brought our Maalox and Pepto Bismol)
Remember..your trash is somebody’s treasure!
[written in Fall River MA]
I have such a dysfunctional relationship with mailing that I’m not sure I can handle the shipping end of eBay. Plus, I’m working against a tight deadline. Need to finish this cleaning project by April 5!
I empathize greatly as I’m sorting through things for my upcoming move. I vote for what Unclutterer has to say: take digital pics of the really cool stuff and then toss it. Badges…we don’t need no steenkin badges. I tossed out about 25 of those suckers!
Best of luck on the rest of the cleaning!
It’s no big secret — it’s been referenced in one interview — but I like Brian’s sleuthing. I will say this much: of the two books cited, one is not an anthology in which I participated and the other one appears to have an incomplete author list.
Meanwhile, it’s time to redo the closet and paint my office, and there’s no way to do that without getting everything out of there. So it goes. I’m rather stunned that I’ve been at the current address for eight years.
For the record, I now also have the strong feeling that Marjorie has the case cracked. But – the proof is in the pudding (so to speak), so I think I shall have to get a copy of Slow Hand and read the collection (and one in particular)….
purely in the name or “research” – mind you!
I will say that Reasons Not to Go to Fort Lauderdale, which I did not write, is hilarious.
I think the press badges would make a nice montage to be framed. You could always hang it in my bookstore in Towson.
Totally off topic, but I wanted to mention that Harper Collins put in a great plug to about a thousand or so librarians for I’d Know You Anywhere at ‘Book Buzz’ today. Book Buzz is a highly anticipated event at the Public Library Association biannual conference. It’s moderated by Nancy Pearl and various publishers tell librarians what their best and hottest upcoming books are (“must haves” for the collection). I learned that I’d Know You Anywhere is “dark and twisty” and one of your best. I was hoping to score an ARC but none were to be had and I had to console myself with an ARC of the new Elizabeth George.
(As an on-topic aside, the Library of Congress name authority record does not list any pseudonyms for Laura Madeline Lippman. It should if there are any and so this is perhaps a better kept secret than you realize. The reference librarian in me can’t resist an unanswered question like this and so I will work on this once I get back from the conference.)
Thanks, Marjorie. Ukazoo is a great bookstore. Before going there, I was expecting a small, dusty, used bookstore. Boy, did I get fooled. It’s large, bright, well laid out, and well stocked with new and used books.
You’re welcome. It makes me sad that I have no indie bookstores for an hour in either direction from me here in southern Connecticut. I have ordered from the Poisoned Pen, but it’s not the same as going in person.
Although there are some very early galleys (no cover art), I think the big push will come in May at BEA. And I’m going to ALA in June, too! I do think this might be my best book to date. It certainly features the single most likable character I’ve ever written outside the series. And let’s be honest: Tess has a cranky side.
I am a poet/activist from b more who works at the jail and loves l.l.- her sense of place- also guru meister david s who made the ny times magazine last sun- dave u’ve finally arrived- (dave, bubbles is over here at the jail now) and as a pesterer of the sun namely zurawik and rodricks who won’t spk to me i deserve pity and yet andy green does and i am an anal obsessive collector of books and memorabilia and my basement can always hold one more thing along w my (in order of priorities) rachmaninoff editions, botannical books, eliot porter photography, 60′s radical stuff, paintings- and everything abt wifredo lam (know him?- chek him out) and also i have been asked to give it a rest on the read street blog- why?- i am deserving and insightful and myt web site david eberhardt poetry and prose and my 2 unselling chapbks- “The Tree Calendar” and “Blue Running Lights” sanmd u can tell by those titles what a genius i am and i write a great runon sentence!!!?
Ed Whitfill, which is your bookstore?
I was quite taken by Heloise (twice) and the older detective in the stand-alones. I don’t remember his name, but LL renders a man with brains who does NOT let the little head think for the big one – unlike his tom-cat(ish) younger partner (Infante?).
I will always buy any book they’re in.
june, I think I can decipher from Ed’s email that the store is:
http://ukazoo.com/
which is in Towson, Maryland. Is that right, Ed?
“Tess has a cranky side.”
Which is one of the reasons that I like her so much. Makes her more human and multi-dimensional.
–Marjorie of Crankyville
Enjoy ALA. I hear that it is fabulous (from a librarian perspective at least). My boss always wonders why I don’t want to go to ALA but I always pick PLA instead–it’s smaller and I don’t have to worry about getting lost or accidetally wandering into something for academic libraians, etc.