(I Know This Much Is) True

Listen while you read:  https://youtu.be/AR8D2yqgQ1U

So true
Funny how it seems
Always in time, but never in line for dreams

Head over heels when toe to toe
This is the sound of my soul
This is the sound

I bought a ticket to the world
But now I've come back again
Why do I find it hard to write the next line?
Oh, I want the truth to be said

I know this much is true
I know this much is true

~  Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)

Pretty much their only big hit, Spandau Ballet's "True," from the album of the same name, came out in 1983. A forlorn lover's pitch to his crush, Kemp freely admits to lifting some lines from Nabokov's Lolita. Despite the assistance from Nabokov, the song gets more attention for the gorgeous saxophone and male voices than for the lyrics. The repetition of the signature line, although somewhat annoying, manages to provide a luxurious orchestration for our ears.  Hey, I never get tired of hearing the song.

Fifteen years later, author Wally Lamb reminded us of the song with the release of his second novel, I Know This Much Is True. I was in grad school with Wally when the seed was planted for his first novel. Wally thought he was writing a short story when Gladys Swan, his advisor, told him he had "too many pots on the stove." That short story became his first novel, She's Come Undone, one of Oprah's first Book Club picks.  Despite the fact that Wally's MFA was in Fiction, while mine was in Poetry, we found common ground in our shared profession.  We were both high school English teachers. Having known Wally, I can testify to his big heart.  It's YUGE.

Last week, we learned about the new administration's budget. With so many things wrong with the proposals for how to spend our money, it is hard to pick one to bitch about. But I'm going to let Wally tell you why gutting the National Endowment for the Arts is wrong. So wrong. From Wally's recent Facebook post:

"REGARDING THE DEMISE OF THE NEA: In my book travels, I often hear from readers that I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE is their favorite novel of mine. Please know that this book would not exist without the support of the National Endowment for the Arts. Midway through creating that story, I was about to give up writing. Life had become too complicated. I was balancing a full time teaching job with the needs of two elderly and infirm parents and the challenges of having adopted a special-needs child suffering from PTSD, attachment disorder, and other afflictions. A surprise call from the NEA's Gigi Bradford, telling me I had been awarded a grant from the Endowment, allowed me to take a 6-month leave of absence from teaching and continue working on my story--a novel that was subsequently translated into 16 different languages and chosen as the 17th selection for Oprah's Book Club. Add the demise of the NEA to the list of shameful moves made by the nightmarish administration that's now in charge of our country. I mourn for all the novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, dancers, and other creators of art who will now lack the encouragement of this arts-supportive organization. Thank you, NEA, and RIP. Art colors and illuminates life, Mr Trump. Stop draining the color out of what America stands for..."

Thanks, Wally. We know this much is true. Let the truth be said.