I will never forget
the day I was introduced to Crescent Dragonwagon - writer, blogger,
animal lover, former restaurant owner and fellow human being - not
because it was so unusual but just because it was, for me, a lucky
accident. (Please understand: I didn't actually meet her; I suppose I
should say that I "discovered" her one day.)
A few years ago, my husband and I were at a bookstore (probably Barnes & Noble) looking for a cookbook containing recipes for South American (specifically Peruvian) meals. One of his sisters was having a milestone birthday (turning 60, as I recall) and the family was planning a surprise dinner that would be comprised of some of her favorite foods. She had married a Peruvian and lived in Peru for 30 years before moving back to New England ten years ago to be near her children and grandchildren.
We weren't having much luck with our quest, but we kept looking, hoping to spot some lone title proclaiming "The Best 100 Recipes of South America, Featuring Peru!" when a little book with an attractive cover caught my eye. It said, simply, "Soup & Bread" and, being someone who loves soup and bread, I picked it up. After looking through it, I put it back thinking, "I'd better see who wrote this because I want to buy it the next time I'm here, or online, or something..." and that's when my jaw dropped. The author's name was Crescent Dragonwagon.
Seriously????
Yes. That is her name. Crescent Dragonwagon. For me, it was love at first sight, if one can indeed love a personal pronoun.
As soon as I got back home I looked her up on the Internet. I also found some pretty good Peruvian recipes online, which I could have done without a trip to the book store, but then I would never have "met" this woman, this writer, this troubadour of life. And although I still haven't bought her book about soup and bread, I am now a huge fan of her writing.
You see, she's written several cookbooks, quite a few children's books and she puts out a wonderfully and thoughtfully written blog called "Nothing Is Wasted On The Writer." This is a blog I would be proud to put my name to, especially if my name was as incredibly inventive as Crescent Dragonwagon. She chose the name for herself, back when she was younger and more rebellious.
On this blog is a FAQ where she addresses such questions as "Is that your real name?" and other marauding mysteries about herself. She comes from good solid writing stock, too: Her mother, Charlotte Zolotow, wrote children's books and her father, Maurice Zolotow, wrote interviews and notable biographies about such celebrities as Marilyn Monroe. She writes about the vagaries of life (mostly hers, which to me is mind-bendingly fascinating and heart-breakingly moving), as well as the wonders of nature, the whimsy of love, the joys of family, the pain of loss, the comfort of food and other seemingly tepid topics, only when SHE writes about them, it's done is such a way that it makes you want to examine your own experiences and write about them with as much openness and honesty and perception as she does.
Just below her blog title is this marvelous header:
"Cooking, eating, living, loving, writing, reading, thinking. Listening, tasting, sniffing. Cozying up to mystery at midlife. I think we're all part of the narrative life tells itself about itself."
One of my goals is to attend "The Whole Enchilada" writing workshop that she hosts every September. The event involves several days and nights of writing, talking, cooking, eating and many other succulent activities, and I really want to be a part of something like that. It costs several hundred dollars, so I really have to start saving up for next year (I've said that before, but this time I mean it) and some day I will be there, laughing and listening and learning how to really write and/or create, as in "learn how to unlock and unleash my muse."
Meanwhile, I'll just keep tapping away at the keyboard and sitting upstairs in my unorganized "studio" trying to figure out what the hell I need to be writing about or creating or doing in my spare time - as if that will ever become vividly apparent to me (as in "apparition" or "epiphany") or come to me in one of those sorts of revelatory "a-ha" moments we can only dream about.
Check out her blog. Live life to the fullest. And wish me luck!
A few years ago, my husband and I were at a bookstore (probably Barnes & Noble) looking for a cookbook containing recipes for South American (specifically Peruvian) meals. One of his sisters was having a milestone birthday (turning 60, as I recall) and the family was planning a surprise dinner that would be comprised of some of her favorite foods. She had married a Peruvian and lived in Peru for 30 years before moving back to New England ten years ago to be near her children and grandchildren.
We weren't having much luck with our quest, but we kept looking, hoping to spot some lone title proclaiming "The Best 100 Recipes of South America, Featuring Peru!" when a little book with an attractive cover caught my eye. It said, simply, "Soup & Bread" and, being someone who loves soup and bread, I picked it up. After looking through it, I put it back thinking, "I'd better see who wrote this because I want to buy it the next time I'm here, or online, or something..." and that's when my jaw dropped. The author's name was Crescent Dragonwagon.
Seriously????
Yes. That is her name. Crescent Dragonwagon. For me, it was love at first sight, if one can indeed love a personal pronoun.
As soon as I got back home I looked her up on the Internet. I also found some pretty good Peruvian recipes online, which I could have done without a trip to the book store, but then I would never have "met" this woman, this writer, this troubadour of life. And although I still haven't bought her book about soup and bread, I am now a huge fan of her writing.
You see, she's written several cookbooks, quite a few children's books and she puts out a wonderfully and thoughtfully written blog called "Nothing Is Wasted On The Writer." This is a blog I would be proud to put my name to, especially if my name was as incredibly inventive as Crescent Dragonwagon. She chose the name for herself, back when she was younger and more rebellious.
On this blog is a FAQ where she addresses such questions as "Is that your real name?" and other marauding mysteries about herself. She comes from good solid writing stock, too: Her mother, Charlotte Zolotow, wrote children's books and her father, Maurice Zolotow, wrote interviews and notable biographies about such celebrities as Marilyn Monroe. She writes about the vagaries of life (mostly hers, which to me is mind-bendingly fascinating and heart-breakingly moving), as well as the wonders of nature, the whimsy of love, the joys of family, the pain of loss, the comfort of food and other seemingly tepid topics, only when SHE writes about them, it's done is such a way that it makes you want to examine your own experiences and write about them with as much openness and honesty and perception as she does.
Just below her blog title is this marvelous header:
"Cooking, eating, living, loving, writing, reading, thinking. Listening, tasting, sniffing. Cozying up to mystery at midlife. I think we're all part of the narrative life tells itself about itself."
One of my goals is to attend "The Whole Enchilada" writing workshop that she hosts every September. The event involves several days and nights of writing, talking, cooking, eating and many other succulent activities, and I really want to be a part of something like that. It costs several hundred dollars, so I really have to start saving up for next year (I've said that before, but this time I mean it) and some day I will be there, laughing and listening and learning how to really write and/or create, as in "learn how to unlock and unleash my muse."
Meanwhile, I'll just keep tapping away at the keyboard and sitting upstairs in my unorganized "studio" trying to figure out what the hell I need to be writing about or creating or doing in my spare time - as if that will ever become vividly apparent to me (as in "apparition" or "epiphany") or come to me in one of those sorts of revelatory "a-ha" moments we can only dream about.
Check out her blog. Live life to the fullest. And wish me luck!
1 comment:
Wonderful post - loved hearing your voice come through on this one. I added her blog to my RSS feeds, can't wait to check in on her! Thank you for this!
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