Calvin Trillin remembers 9/11 differently from the rest of us
Ten years ago this Sunday, on Sept. 11, 2001, author Calvin Trillin鈥檚 wife, Alice, died of heart problems related to her cancer treatment many years earlier.
The historical coincidence of losing Alice on the same day his home city of New York was being attacked by terrorists is something that Calvin Trillin doesn鈥檛 dwell on. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 have anything to do with what was happening that day,鈥� Trillin said of his wife鈥檚 death.
In a phone interview from Nova Scotia, where he was spending some down time before his book tour for his latest work, Trillin explained why he didn鈥檛 mention the Sept. 11 parallel in his 2006 memoir about his wife, 鈥淎bout Alice.鈥�
鈥淚 wanted the book to be about her life rather than her death,鈥� said Trillin.
He dedicates his new book, Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin, a 40-year retrospective of some of his best work, to Alice鈥檚 memory. 鈥淢y wife, Alice, appears as a character in many of these pieces,鈥� Trillin tells readers of 鈥淨uite Enough of Calvin Trillin,鈥� which goes on sale next Tuesday, Sept. 13. 鈥淏efore her death, in 2001, even the pieces that didn鈥檛 mention her were written in the hope of making her giggle.鈥�
During the Trillins鈥� long marriage, Alice, who was a gifted educator and writer, frequently appeared in Trillin鈥檚 first-person essays on family life and food as the foil to Trillin鈥檚 comic musings.
In 鈥淭ales of a Clean-Plate Ranger,鈥� one of Trillin鈥檚 pieces of culinary reportage that鈥檚 included in the new anthology, Alice makes a typical appearance as the voice of prudence and restraint. 鈥淣ow that it鈥檚 fashionable to reveal details of married life,鈥� Trillin writes, 鈥淚 can state publicly that my wife, Alice, has a weird predilection for limiting our family to three meals a day. I also might as well admit that the most serious threat to our marriage came in 1975, when Alice mentioned my weight just as I was about to sit down at a restaurant named Chez Hel猫ne in New Orleans.鈥�
Trillin once confessed that Alice thought her portrayal in his essays 鈥渕ade her sound like what she called 鈥榓 dietician in sensible shoes.鈥� 鈥� In actuality, Alice was blonde, beautiful, and chic. Since losing Alice, Trillin says he has no particular reader in mind when he writes humor pieces: 鈥淲ith humor, it鈥檚 so subjective that trying to think of what the ideal reader would think would drive you crazy.鈥�
Although Alice is no longer around to act as his sounding board, Trillin does get immediate feedback on his humor as a frequent speaker and talk show guest. He came of age on the talk show circuit as a guest on 鈥�The Tonight Show鈥� during Johnny Carson鈥檚 days, and as Trillin sees it, Carson鈥檚 guileless interview style remains unmatched. 鈥淐arson never said anything that wasn鈥檛 faintly interrogatory,鈥� Trillin recalled. 鈥淚鈥檝e done 'The Daily Show' with Jon Stewart, and he鈥檚 very good, too.鈥�
As a veteran author, Trillin also connects with the public on book tours. His author tour for 鈥淨uite Enough Trillin鈥� will take him to a dozen cities from coast to coast. Trillin readily admits that author complaints about the rigors of book tours could fill an anthology of their own: 鈥淚t would have to be two volumes. The first volume would be authors complaining about their book tours. The second volume would be authors complaining that they didn鈥檛 get a book tour.鈥�
But Trillin said that after his years in journalism, which have involved frequent travels to get a story, he doesn鈥檛 mind book tours. 鈥淏eing on a book tour is a lot easier than reporting,鈥� said Trillin. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 mind being interviewed on television or radio.鈥�
A native of Kansas City and a graduate of Yale University, Trillin began his national journalism career at Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker, where he became known for 鈥淯.S. Journal,鈥� a widely read series of pieces from datelines across the country in which he reported on everything from local murders to one of his favorite topics, regional cuisine. Trillin has also been a syndicated columnist and tongue-in-cheek poet about politics for The Nation, and he鈥檚 written two one-man shows featuring his droll brand of humor.
Even when delivered on the page rather than the stage, Trillin鈥檚 stories are a performance, as in 鈥淒oing My Talent,鈥� an essay in 鈥淨uite Enough of Calvin Trillin鈥� that details his gift for humming and whistling at the same time. 鈥淢y agent had been urging me to do something like this for some years,鈥� Trillin said of his new anthology. Trillin finally obliged, although he says that he feels a little bit guilty reissuing material from previous books, adding that it makes him feel like a WASP who鈥檚 ignored the family advice against 鈥渓iving on your principal.鈥�
Although he鈥檚 widely known for his humor pieces in The New Yorker and his comic poems about politics in The Nation, Trillin describes his humor writing as a sideline. Of the scores of pieces he鈥檚 written for The New Yorker, 鈥渧ery few of them have been humor,鈥� he said. Even so, Trillin said he isn鈥檛 bothered when he meets people and they expect him to be funny. 鈥淚鈥檓 more disturbed,鈥� he said, 鈥渨hen people expect me to be serious.鈥�
Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Baton Rouge Advocate, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�
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